Andrew Wolak interview with Earl “Tige” Pickle, William Miller, and Miriam Miller (part one)

The John Burrison Georgia Folklore Archive recordings contains unedited versions of all interviews. Some material may contain descriptions of violence, offensive language, or negative stereotypes reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. There are instances of racist language and description, particularly in regards to African Americans. These items are presented as part of the historical record. This project is a repository for the stories, accounts, and memories of those who chose to share their experiences for educational purposes. The viewpoints expressed in this project do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of the Atlanta History Center or any of its officers, agents, employees, or volunteers. The Atlanta History Center makes no warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of any information contained in the interviews and expressly disclaims any liability therefore. If you believe you are the copyright holder of any of the content published in this collection and do not want it publicly available, please contact the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center at 404-814-4040 or reference@atlantahistorycenter.com. -- This is the first of a two part recording from interviewer J. Andrew Wolak; in this part, Earl Tige Pickle tells three stories from South Georgia, where he grew up. He starts by recounting a tale about the first airplane that Shade Hicks, a Jenkins, Georgia, resident, saw in the early 20th century. Then he tells a story about when his mothers uncle had to move his horse-drawn buggy off the road to make way for an early motor car in Blakely, Georgia. Next, at minute 4:33, Pickle recounts a humorous story in which old man Henry Jack Robert's bulldog, who he claimed was all bark and no bite immediately bit Grandpa Johnson when he came to visit. -- Earl Tige Pickle (1914-1992) was born in Early County, Georgia, to George Franklin Pickle (1885-1959) and Laura Louelle Lindsey (1888-1982). He graduated from Blakely High School and then from the Southern Business University in Atlanta. He then became a columnist for the Early County News and a radio broadcaster on WBBK Radio in Blakely, Georgia. In 1943, Pickle married Tabitha Ann Spurlock (1923-1994). William Miller (1916-2006) was born near Henpeck, Ohio, to Dudley Lawrence Miller (1890-1982) and Elsie Jane McWilliams (1886-1962). He spent his childhood in Central Ohio, later moving to Eastern Kentucky. In 1945, he married Miriam Camp (1921-1991). Her parents were Hugh Marion Camp (1881-1965) and Sonora Emilie Polk (1887-1975). William and Miriam Miller had three children, Emily Wilbert (1947- ), Robert Miller (1948-2022), and Nancy Sizemore (1954- ). They lived in Quicksand, Kentucky, for ten years while William worked for the United States government on rural development projects. They later moved to Moreland, Georgia. -- FOLK 301 COLLECTION PROJECT STORIES TOLD BY BILL MILLER TO J. ANDREW WOLAK FOLK .301 SPRING 1973 MAY 18, 1973 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1. EMIL BAKER--JAILER OF WHITESBURG ........................... 1 2. NORRATING ................................................................................ 1 3. BAPTISTI>IG . .............. ...... 2 1~. PURE WATER NEAR HELL-FER-CERTAIN ............. 3 5. lJNCI,E ZEK:E/HUNTING BEAR . .................................... 3 6. HOW WHOOPFALARA GOT ITS NAJ.18 . ................. J-i 7. THE DOCTOR WHO HAD TO LEAVE TOWN ........................... 5 8. THE GIRLS AND THE SWIMMING HOLE .......................................... 6 9. A SHORTCUT HOME AFTER LISTENING TO GHOST STORIES ........... 7 10. FOXFIRE. .AN"D C~ING ........ ,, ... ., ................... 8 11. :LEFT FIANDED MONKEY WRENCH,. ......................... 9 12. STEALING WATERMELLONS ....... , ............................. 10 13~ TURNING OVER THE PRryY. ,. ............................ ~ .. . 11 TALE TYPES AND MOTIEFS . ....................................... . 13 INFORMATION ON INFORMANTS ......................................... 14 (Tale numbers l through 13 are used when listing ta1e types and motiefs,) I collected my stories on a Saturday a:rternoon, April 28, 1973. We all sat around in a vecy relaxed atmosphere, drinking coffee and telling stories. My informants are family friends (distant relatives) so there was no strain 11,s far as not knowing the people I was dealing with. My main informant was Bill Miller. He and his wife, Miriam, lived in Quicksand, kentucky for about ten years, while he was with the Federal Government working on rural development projects in Eastern Kentucky. Most of his tales came from his experiences with the people of eastern Kentucky while he was working there. A few of them are from his boyhood in southern Ohio, When Bill was working in Kentucky he would get his hair cut at the small town barber shops, ss these were the places where politics, was discussed, problems brought out and stories told. He picked up many of his stories this way, as well as insights into the problems that he was faced with in his work. Most of his problems were based in the tradition orientation of the hill people, which is one of the things that make them such good story tellers. It is unfortunate, but it seems that the price one must pay to overcome the poverty and. ignorance that abounds in that area is to give up the traditional culture where the coiorful practices and stories are .based, Well, we had quite a time in Kentucky for nine and a half years, and I don't know of any place any fuller of tales about people, ah, they just go from ma-mouth to mouth and, uh, one of 1em is about this Emil Baker - up in Whitesburg, Jailer of Whitesburg - he probably isn't now, but he was for forty years and the story is that he and Teddy Roosevelt, uh, were in the, uh, the assault on San Ju-wan (Juan) Hill is what the, uh, Emil called it - and it was during the Spanish-American war. And as they finished their assault and got to the top of San Ju-wan Hill, the, uh, Emil said, "You know, some day one of us will - the - no - Teddy Roosevelt said, "Emil, some day one of us is going to be President for this," and Emil said, "Teddy, you can be President, all I want to be is Jailer of Whitesburg." And at each election he told this tale as he walked, uh, as he, uh, went around town and he was elected - re-elected for forty different - for forty years he was Jailer of Whitesburg, after he got back from San Ju-wan Hill. * * * The, uh, and they - very colorful, very colorful lives there in Eastern Kentucky - in the mountains, and the, uh, one of the reasons they had so many tales - their way of communication was narrating. Now you could narrate something quicker than you could get it in the newspaper and tell it, because the newspaper only Miriam: Bill: Miriam: Bill: Miriam: came out once a week, and you could narrate something overnight - it'd just be narrated all over the community and over the mountains. Narrate? Narrate - I don't know where it comes from, but the - the narration, maybe it's sort of like narration, maybe Oh . But they narrate it. And narrate it all over the, uh ... So they would narrate a tale. And the, uh, if something happened why, uh, everybody knew it before the newspaper ever got it out. But there was this, uh, baptising down at the church (you remember this one) about the baptising down below the church in the creek, where the uh, this uh, brother - heavy set, uh, man was baptised, and the ministers couldn't quite handle him and so they didn't, they didn't let him go over backwards, uh, they they let him go over frontwards because they could handle him better, he could sort of take care of his - himself. So, uh, he had gotten a brand new pair of overalls which had a long bib, and as he leaned over he went way down in the water, and they let him back up and he came up - and there was a waterdog in his overalls and it started barking, and it didn't like being out in the air. So that waterdog started barking - he started shaking to get the waterdog out, and he couldn't get it out of - out of his bib, and he, and his - it got tight around his stomach so he took his overalls off and by that time the waterdog had gotten into his B. V. D.'s, and he began taking the rest of his clothes off and the women were running and screaming and he was taking his clothes off to get the waterdog out, well - They were swooning all over the place * * * -2- Bill: Miriam: Bill: Miriam: Bill: Bill: The, uh, and this wasn't too far from Hell-Fer-Certain. Now Hell-Fer-Certain is an interesting community where you actually can stand in the pool of water and wash your car, and get a drink, and go swimming - all in the same pool of water. It's, the - the - they say that the water is that pure. And they don't go ahead and tell the rest of the tale - that you can stand in this pool of water, and wash your car, and go swimming, and have your fish pole out to catch a fish, and get a drink all at the same time by, er, just looking upward and getting a drink out of the, uh, falls that come down into this pool. And it is - it is pure water. It's a wonderful place, not very far from Hell-Fer-Certain. And the judge of, uh, Leslie County, Judge George Wooten, has more tales to tell than any man in - in the - in the area. That's right, and he came from Hell-Fer-Sartin. He lives in Hell-Fer-Sartin. They - they call it Hell-FerCertain. It's only the tale tellers that come out of that area that call it Hell-Fer-Sartin. It's really Certain. They call it Hell-Fer-Certain. * * * (At this point I stopped the tape to tell them about Leonard Robert's South of Hell-Fer-Sartin which they had not heard of. I promised to send them a copy.) You'll have to check and see if George Wooten's in there. George Wooten tells about this, uh, bear, uh, hunting up there in their community one time - he, he says th-that the power of suggestion is terrible - that, uh, you can just suggest anything - just like this, uh, one time these bu-these old fellows were sitting on the porch an-and talking and Uncle Zeke began to tell about his -3- hunting bear - and he says now when you go out to hunt bear you have to have a good, uh, strong man that isn't afraid to go out into the woods. And he described th- how this strong man - and pretty soon two of these fellows got up and walked off into the woods - They figured they were strong and they began to-beatin' the woods out there and he said, and you have t' have, uh, some wood, to - if you're going to have a bear, uh, stew, you have to have some wood and said you have to have a very sharp ax and a good strong man an out there pickin" - gettin' the wood. So one fellow got the suggestion and he took off for the woods and started, uh-uh, to get some, uhuh, with his ax and started to get some wood. And he didn't get down the trail very far until he ran into a bear and the - the bear started chasing him. Well, he ran back and just as he got to the porch he stumbled, and the bear went right on into the, into the fir - by the fire place where this old man was sitting there tellin' tales and the, uh, the fellow yelled out at: "Uncle Zeke - Here's the bear - you skin em! 11 - and he locked the door. George tells that one about . . . * * * The, uh, ther - did I ever tell you about Whoopfalara - how it got its.name? Well, (you remember we were up in the mountains one time and went clear across behind back of nowhere - and we stopped back there) Well, there was just - all that's left was this little old building that used to be the post office. But Whoopfalara got its name, uh, from, uh, the - this family lived way back in there - and there were about three families and a post office. And the - rather large family, but the one family had a daughter who was named Larry - and she -4- Miriam: Bill: Miriam: Bill: Miriam: Bill: wasn't quite right and just about every day - a few times a day - she would wander off intothe woods. And the mother got tired so she'd get the first person that was nearby and tell em - "Go and whoop-fer-Larry, go out and whoop-fer-Larry," and that 1s how that little town got its name - Whoopfalara. Yes - cause the girl was just kine of wandering around, being a little touched - Yeah - They couldn't find her for sure, but they-uh, they-uh - was that on the post office - the postmark, Whoopfalara? Yeah, it's still - it's still Well, yes, it's on the map. It's on the - it's on the, uh, Kentucky road map - Whoopfalara. W- let's see ... W-H-0-0-P-F-A-L-A-R-A ((spelled)) they call it now, Whoopfalara. The, uh, I think one of Nevelle Shackleford 1s best tales is about his uncle, who had to leave town. Oh yes, the one who was a doctor - - A doctor. He was a very good doctor - everybody liked Doc Baker. And the, uh, he was - he was, uh, well th- he got tired of being called out in the middle of the night because there was this, uh, one family that, uh, one fellow was getting drunk, and when he got drunk he beat up the family and then called the doctor, and it was always the middle of the night so, uh -his reason for getting drunk was that he had bad teeth and he had to have something to kill the pain, so he would kill the pain for a few hours and then he'd beat up the family for a few hours and then he would just pass out, and they thought he was dying and the, uh, they'd call the doctor - it didn't matter what time, he-uh, usually late at night -5- or sometimes early in the morning. Miriam: And they would have to go get him - Bill: - Go get the doctor - Miriam: - Because they didn't have phones - Bill: - And bring the doctor and the doctor 'ud have to just look at him. So one time while he was passed out the doctor just pulled all of his teeth, and when he came to, he didn't have any teeth to get drunk on and - that wasn't his reason anyway - but the - he sued the doctor and the doctor had to leave town. He just went up into Wisconsin and finished his practice up in Wisconsin. Miriam: - Lived the rest of his life up in Wisconsin - because this man said, uh, he was going to get the law on the doctor. Bill: Yeah - he started to sue. * * * Mrs. Camp: (Somewhat unintelligible) I see you run into somebody who had Bill: the same reason as you for telling old tales from old times and things like that. Mom, did you ever go swimming with the girls at the old swimming hole? Mrs. Camp: No, I don't remember that. Bill: My Dad used to tell about the, uh, their swimming hole - and the boys had a dandy swimming hole. Uh, the - the - just every spring the water 1ud come there and flush it out good and deep and left gravel on the bottom, and one time they went down there and the girls uh, were in - the girls of the community had gone down. Well, the boys thought they'd have some fun so they just took their clothes, and took em up to the barn and strung, uh, strung em up on the barn where the girls could see them. The girls, of course, stayed -6- Miriam: in the pond, in the - in the water hole and they screamed and yelled and hollered and the couldn't - the boys, the boys wouldn't give em their clothes. Finally they - it was getting time to going t.1 have to go anyway, so they started clearin' out and they were running up across the field - some hold, some holdin I their uh, eyes and run- running along and one of em yelled out, uh-uh, no ... thethe, nope, the::- they were holdin' the, uh, different parts of their bodies to hide, and one girl yelled out: "Hide your face, they won't know who you are then"- and they all ran into the barn to get their clothes. * * * Your Dad was an ornery little boy - I mean young boy. I think one of the funniest things I can remember his telling was when - when he and another boy were taking a short - they were young boys and they had gone in from the farm to Brownsville, I believe it was - wasn't it Brownsville? Bill: Yes. Miriam: - And they had listened to the old men sitting around the Bill: Miriam: country store telling tales - ghost type stories, and they - the little boys couldn't bear to leave and finally they did leave, it was getting so late and dark. And they - one way they would have had to gone was by a - - About two miles further, way around the road. - By a cemetery, and they'd just been hearing too much about that and so they decided to take a short cut and go through the pasture. But it was getting very dark, and so the two boys - they were cousins, I believe. A Hyatt boy and Dudley, who was your father - and they climbed over the fence and Dudley was the youngest -7- Bill: Miriam: Bill: Miriam: one - They were running - They were running, it was already dark and they were scared. -And they just took their hands on top of the fence and, uh, Uncle Frank just put his hands on top of the fence and hurdled over the fence into the other - into the pasture, and as he hurdled over the fence he landed on a heifer and took out across the pasture. And Dad said that was the funniest feeling he - they were already scared - Dudley was so scared because it was too dark to see what his cousin was on, but just as he hurdled the fence he just sailed out across the pasture - he was so scared. He then finally fell off the heifer. Mrs. camp: Did he fall off? Miriam: Bill: He fell off of the heifer and then they finally realized what it was. The - he knew that's what he was on then, but Fra-Frank said it was a funny feeling, too. Mrs. Camp: That's a later date than his tale ... (Unintelligible) * * * Miriam: Bill: How about when, uh, you and those boys that you used to run around with, Bill, would go hunting and all and, uh, one - one day youall were - you had some adventures, as young boys. Every night we had adventures. We'd camp out a lot - three of us - and, uh, the one time we went out, uh, camping and we walked in the - we were up out in the, way back at old, uh, Cody Farm, see, uh, Buffalo Bill, uh, was raised there, just not far from where I was - well, he lived there for awhile. He wasn't raised there, he lived -8- Miriam: Bill: there awhile. So out at the old Cody Farm - we were out there at the old cabin and we saw this light dancin', and it dancing around, dancing around - and it wasn't for some time later we found out what it was, but we didn't stick around too for - too late that night to find out. We started - we looked at it just long enough to know that it wasn't somebody earring a lantern and it, uh, it turned out to be a foxfire, one of these gas, uh, fluorescent gas bubbles that floats around in the swamp ter - in a wet meadow. Well, we saw that thing and we headed back and - carrying a lantern. Bob Statler running ahead and - and, uh, Ralph, uh, behind me and I was right between em and pretty soon. I heard something go bludel-ludelludel- ludel, and Ralph had stumbled and that lantern just went flip-flip-flip right past my head and up and-and banged back of Bob Statler and exploded - and he kept on going. Well, we have some friends who won't believe to this day but what we were running away from them. They had heard us and they were coming towards us - they weren't the foxfire - but they were, they were off in a pasture just on the other side - they didn't see the foxfire and they won't believe to this day but what we three were running away from them. was that Betty Baker's husband? No, that wasn't Bob Baker, that was, uh, they, uh, Bob was, uh, he didn't run, ah, too much on that, ah, side. We-we'd do some other things together - * * * But in the town - that little bity town I grew up in where - the kind of place where you go in you have to, uh, you're initiated by being asked to go get a left-handed monkey wrench - just most -9- Miriam: Bill: anybody fixing a tire around town would ask a new boy to go and find a left-handed monkey wrench that John Statler has and Statler'd send you off to Eagle's and Eagle's 'ed send you someplace else still hunting that left-handed monkey wrench - or a nut stretcher. Well, this-this, in this, ah, little bity burg they, uh, uh, there was a - I forgot what I started to say then - * * * Well, might - maybe about Bob Baker and the watermelon patch? Oh, yeah - yeah! It was Bob's watermelon patch. Well, anyway, Bob - eh - Baker always raised watermelons - and he was a very energetic fellow and his, uh, he had a nice big lot down there and his dad was a mechanic and they had, uh, about like Pop here - he could make anything and Bob could too. Well, so Bob had this wonderful watermelon patch that he guarded and, but they - each year they'd disappear and so this year he figured he had us - he had everybody fixed, And he put a wire around the patch and he put floodlights up on the garage and he put a shotgun up there at the floodlights and the, uh, around the patch, this ffiring that was around the patch would trigger the shotgun - so the lights would go on and the shotgun would go off. That was what he - and he could just see what that was going to do to the people stealing his watermelons. Well, we heard about it and decided we'd go down and get us a watermelon, so we got our watermelon and - a piece - and came out and before we left we pulled the string - and the lights went on and the shotgun went off and Bob came out and the shot was - there were lots of shot in his watermelon but there was nobody out there. I told him about that about twenty years later and he didn't -10- Miriam: Bill: Miriam: Bill: appreciate tl).at. That was so funny. We were at a family reunion - because this friend Bob we were talking about, Bob Baker, married his cousin - married Bill's cousin, and so, years and years later we were at a reunion, you know, and I remember when - when you told him that and we were all just knocking ourselves out laughing and he still didn't appreciate it. No, he sure didn't - he finally found out who did that to his watermelons. * * * He also had to take the rap one time - I'm glad my boys - my boy - er, children aren't here. The, uh, some of us got together on the usual Halloween night and the, um - the school superintendent was our Math teacher and we could - and our History teacher also, and when we didn't want to do anything too much that day why we'd, uh, change the subject somehow over to the mathematics of the First World war, or the history of the First World war and we could get him off onto that story rather easily. Well, one time, uh, and, uh, we liked him real well but we also liked to tease him. So one time we went up and, uh, something happened to his, uh, privy. When he got up the next morning after Halloween night the privy was turned over. Well, he decided he would find out who did that. And it turned out that Bob Baker had to take the rap cause he couldn't account for where he was, and his dad sort of suspected him anyway and made him go up and turn that privy back up - and he hadn't done it. He hadn't done it - it was you! I wouldn't say that, I remember of it happening. -11- Andy: Bill: Did he ever find out about that one? No, we never told Bob exactly - wait - yeah, oh yeahl He knew about that cause he knew - he had known who did it but he couldn't convince his dad. But then we went and helped him, uh, he had - he had a little extra job and we heard that he was working on so we went and helped Bob get it straightened up a little better than what he was able to do it by himself. * * * Following this there is an exchange that is irrelevant to the story telling session. After that is the background material that is paraphrased at the beginning of this paper. -12- COLLECTOR: J, .ANDREW WOLAK 3666 CALMER CIRCLE EAST POINT, GA. 3031+4 PRTIA.ARY INFORMANT: WILLIAM MILLER AGE 55 BORN NEAR HENPECK, OHIO ADDRESS: BOX 280, RT, 1 MOREL.AND, GA. (RESIDENCE LOCATED ON CAMP ST., JUST OFF US 29) PARTICIPANTS: MIRIAM MILLER AGE 51 BORN, MOREL.AND, GA, ADDRESS SAME AS BILL MILLER MRS. SENORA CAMP Alim 85 BORN, MORELAND, GA. ADDRESS SAME AS ABOVE SUJlMITTED IN ADDITION TO REQUIREMENT, BUT NOT TRANSCRIBED: 1 TAPE, COLLECTED FROM TYGE PICKLE, BLAKELY, GA, (EARLY COUNTY) COLLECTED BY J, ANDREW WOLAK SPRING QUARl!:ER, 1973 FOLK 301 CONTENTS: LOCAL LEGENDS FROM SOUTH GEORGIA CONTAINS THREE STORIES 1, THE FIRST AIRPLAlllE SHADE HICKS EVER SAW, 2, A HORSE DRAWN BUGGIE MEETS AN EARLY MOTOR CAR 3. THE BULLDOG WHOSE BARK WAS WORSE THAN HIS BITE -- A PDF transcript exists for this recording. Please contact an archivist for access. -- Professor John Burrison founded the Atlanta Folklore Archive Project in 1967 at Georgia State University. He trained undergraduates and graduate students enrolled in his folklore curriculum to conduct oral history interviews. Students interviewed men, women, and children of various demographics in Georgia and across the southeast on crafts, storytelling, music, religion, rural life, and traditions. -- As archivists, we acknowledge our role as stewards of information, which places us inaposition to choose how individuals and organizations are represented and described in our archives. We are not neutral, andbias isreflected in our descriptions, whichmay not convey the racist or offensive aspects of collection materialsaccurately.Archivists make mistakes and might use poor judgment.We often re-use language used by the former owners and creators, which provides context but also includes bias and prejudices of the time it was created.Additionally,our work to use reparative languagewhereLibrary of Congress subject termsareinaccurate and obsolete isongoing. Kenan Research Center welcomes feedback and questions regarding our archival descriptions. If you encounter harmful, offensive, or insensitive terminology or description please let us know by emailingreference@atlantahistorycenter.com. Your comments are essential to our work to create inclusive and thoughtful description.