Louellen Wright interview with Tom and Kate Quinton (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 part one of a two part recording. Tom Qunton starts by discussing theories on how Talking Rock, located in Georgia, got its name. Next at 7:10 he tells a ghost story about a headless rider and talks about a band of criminals who operated in Pickens Country during the Civil War who were famous for stealing food and attacking people indiscriminately. At 17:35 Quinton shares knowledge of herbal medicines such as how to use pennyroyal to treat croup in babies and yellow root to cure mouth infections. Next, he tells two ghost stories about his grandfather mistaking animals for ghosts. In the first, which starts at 25:00, his grandfather stays overnight in an abandoned cabin while possum hunting and the noise of wild pigs scares him, and in the second story a missing cow scares him. At 36:22 he relates a humorous story about a baptism in a creek and discusses what typical church services were like in Talking Rock. At 41:25 he finishes by talking about his grandfathers success at panning for gold when he bought his land in the 1800s. Kate Ophelia Quinton (1905-1984) was born in Talking Rock, Georgia, to John Joseph Waldroup (1877-1936) and Lula Frances Reece (1884-1954). In 1927, she married Jesse James Quinton. They had six children: James (1929- ), Thomas (1941-1980), Don (1934- ), Sue (1936- ), Mary Ann (1939- ), and John (1941-2005). In 1940 the family moved to Maryville, Tennessee, and in 1961 they moved to Jasper, Georgia. Thomas graduated from the University of Tennessee with a degree in Elementary Education, after which he worked as the assistant principal at Jasper Elementary School. Both Thomas and Kate Quinton died in Talking Rock. Makin the Most of What You Got, l Guess Louellen Wright Folklore 301 Spring ~uarter, 1974 Table Q.f. Contents lntroductl.on: I. Talking Rock and Pickens County II, Kate and Tom Quinton III. The Collecting Bxperlenoe Comp/ate Contents of the Tapes The Stories: 1 4 7 10 How Talking Hock Got Its Name 13 The Headless Hider 14 The Jordan Gang 17 Grandpa Goes Possum Huntin' 20 Grandpa and the Ghost 24 Fool At The Baptisin' 26 Little Girl Haunts Church 28 Ghost Rides With Man 30 Preacher Eats Cabbage for Dinner 34 Phony Preachers Discovered 35 Arshmen Think Mosquitoes Carry Lanterns )7 Recitation 39 Fool Stands Her Baby on its HeAd 43 Highway Map of Pickens County Phot,ographs Introduction I, Talking Hook and Pickens County The Appelacian Mountains stretch down the eastern coast of the United States, and come to rest in Pickens county, North Georgi0. Here the little valley towns are typically slow-moving communities, and the art of making the most of what you have is cultivated, The residents are not too concerned with the future1, they cannot see far beyond the next mountain, which may appear luminous, mysterious, and even damnable at times, to anyone who has been caught out in the woods when the clouds settle down and a sudden thunder shower threatens to break, ~efore the rain, refuge is sought, either in a cave among the rook cliffs, or in an old ohuroh house, or, happily, in front of the fireplace at home, Many a family huttled together on a lonely mountain evening, have spun the tales of ghosts, headless riders, and the strange happenings of the old days, made somehow more believable by the idea that the nearest neighbor is perhaps miles away, mven in broad daylight, it is easy to imagine that Indians are lurking behind every tree, as the oountrysiae remains much as it would have looked to the original inhabitants, Whenever a child finds an arrowhead or a piece of pottery, the spirit of things long dead is easily revived, ln any case, the mountains and their idiosyncracies provide very fertile ground for the setting and the telling of stories, Nestled against the mountain prop is Talking Hook, a town whose heritage began as a point along an lndian trade route. -1- The trail ran down from Chattanooga and veered off at Talking Rock toward Athens. rrom there, it made its way to the coast. Talking Rock was literally a rock formation planted to tell travelers of any special conditions they would meet along the way, lt is not unusual to find conch shells off in the woods throughout this section, along with quantz and flint arrowheads, cutting tools, and some pottery left by the Cherokee, especially after a heavy rain, Trees as well are marked, Their branches were topped long ago to train the growth in a certain direction, They remain as pointers to any stray hikers. The trail became a federal road in 1819, as Andrew Jackson cut through with his supply wagons, on his way to confront the Seminole in r1orida, Soon the land was taken from the lndians altogether, and the railroads moved in, The Morrison's and the Darnalla were the first settlers, and they enjoyed a chair factory and a lady's hat shop, as Talking Hoak became an active depot, The language of the railroads came to adorn the mountains, and received its share in return. There's the Hook sye Railroad, one that was too ambitious for an acute mountain slope, which forced it to double over and loop back, And there's the old Hundred and Nine Mountain, against which sits Talking Hock and the homes of the Waldrope, the Reeses, and the ~uintons, Today, their town consists of two ohurches, a grooery store, and a filling station, lt is removed from the main highway, all its industry has moved out, and its commerce has been supplanted to nearby Jasper, the cutting off point between Atlanta and the resort areas of Bent Tree, Walnut Mountain, and others. Marble quarries dot the county, with one at Tate in the southeast, and at Marble Hill to the north, To the west and northwest, lie countryside that is largely unpopulated, Long Swamp, Talons Creek, Town Creek and Ball Creek are sparsely scattered settlements of these areas, whose only non-residential structure may be a Baptist church, Ludville lies to the west, and is approximately the size of Talking Rook, The prominent feature of these miniscule towns is the country Baptist Church, Religious tradition provides a strong cohesive force within static, isolAted communities, and traveling preachers were enhancers of the oral tradition, Many of the Preacher Stories" collected from Talking Roc~eem to have promulgated as anecdotes spread by preachers of their own experiences in their travels, Strong family ties also inspire adherence to local mores, set down in history, Stories circulate to recount the horrors of the Civil War, the misadventures of strangers, and the wonders of the outside world, Memorable personages are preserved in instructive legends, The sleepy inhabitants of Pickens County keep a hooded eye to the future, but the pest is firmly established and tradition is sovereign, ~1th time, television and radio may gain more importance as the source for entertainment, But as long as there are lonely mountains and strange noises in the night, the old stories will also persist, -3- 11. Kate and Tom ~uinton Tom ijuinton is an unusual figure among the southern Appelacianers, He is as obese as he is gentle. He does not sport the commonly faded overalls, but homemade clothes serve to contain his abundance. The second of six children, 'l'om was~ on May 16, 1931, at Marble Hill, where his father was working as a miner, ralking Rock was the nearest town, and ~om attended school there, but for only one year. Then his father got a job in Tennessee, the family moved, and Tom completed his elementary education, The Quintons did return to Talking Hock, and sent Tom to Jasper High Rchool. rrom there, he was motivated to attend Walesca Junior College, Piedmont College, and finally, to obtain his Masters Degree in Elementary lduoatlon with Elementary Art as his minor at the University of Tennessee, He presently holds the position of Assistant Principal at the Jasper Elementary School, and appears to be quite secure financially. Mr, ouinton is very conscious of his culture and heritage, He enjoys local reknown for his antique collection, which ls piled into a crude shack he built to store his treasures. He calls it the "Home on the Hill," Much of his energies are spent in efforts to preserve the local folkways and material culture, Last summer, he obtained a federal grant to research some of the socio-political relations of the Civil War period that laid the foundation for the -4- traditional region. ln spite of his own exceptional education, Mr. Quinton admits that, to most folks around Talking Hook, a few months in the Blementary School was considered ample. ln fact, he is atypical in most aspects of his character for the community, Not only his size and his literacy, but his manner as well distinguihes him. He is quite effeminAte. Sitting in his school house office, painting innumerable owls and beetles in acrylic on pebbles of all sizes, as he was during our first meeting, the impression he radiates is one of a silly little girl surrounded by dolls in a doll house who can't wait until she grows up to have children of her own. 'Prue to life, the ouinton home is as petite and doll-like as Tom's personality would suggest. He has never married, but lives with his mother in a cabin her father built as he cleared the land. The four room house contains two bedrooms, a kitchen and a living room, in which are situated several huge chairs and sofas, and a clutterin~ on every available surface of antique vases, bottles, dolls and plates. The front porch is similarly strewn with a cacaphony of potted plants, and the yard houses a flock of quineas, one of chickens, a long, tabby cat, and an assortment of tiny, frolicking dogs. Mrs. ouinton is of a stature comparable to her son's, but arthritus forces her to move about in a painful, wobbly manner, Born in Talking Rock on June 24, 1905, she has never worked, -5- dedicating her life to the task of raising children, Part or her perceived duties included transfering the old tales she learned from her father, John Waldrop. This gentleman was a notorious singer, dancer, and story-toller, Mrs. quinton absorbed most of his orAl talents, and passed them on to Tom, who received them with rapt attention, Both Kate and Tom possess a rollicking sense of humor and their laughter is explosive and contagious, When amused, laughs roll out of them, and they gasp for breath while trying to finish a sentence, The overall effect is one of silly innocence, as when children reveal a special secret, The 11uintons are tefreshing in their frivolity, and reflect old time friendliness and Southern Hospitality, They were delighted to contribute to this project, with the reeling that their stories were indeed valuable and would augment the preservation of their culture, -6- 111, The Collecting Experience 1 drove the sixty-five miles to Burnt Mountain, Pickens County, as 1 have done every weekend of my life, it seems. This time, however, 1 stopped at the gate before entering Tate Mountain Resorts, to speak to Jim Forest, our caretaker. I met his wife first, and after seeing their two-d8Y old setter puppies, I asked Betty if she knew any good stoTies, At first she declined, telling me to ask Jim, but then she remembered something, She culled out to her children, asking, "Who ls that man in Jasper that tells all the stories?" They responded at onoe, "Mr. QUinton," the assistant principal of their school, Jim informed me that he lived in Talking Rook, a town five miles outside of Jasper, 1 drove there and called him on the phone, and we agreed to meet at the Jasper llementary School, dirPctly behind the jail . I could see the prisoners looking out of the windows behind bars as 1 made my way to the school. There, Mr. uuinton was wedged in between his desk and the wall, painting little pebbles with portraits of owls, 1 was received calmly, Mr, '1.uinton told me that he liked to tell the uncle Remus stories as his specialty, but when l asked hi how Talking Hock got its name, he was able to recount an hour and a half's worth of old stories, anecdotes, memorates, ghost tales, and jokes, Several times, he apologised for a lapse of memory, confldin~ that his mother was his source of learning the stories, al14prornised that she would be the more qualified informant, We -7- agreed to meet again during the following week at his home, when Tom assured me sho would be primed for the task of re-telling her remembrances from her father's repertoire, The iuinton's house is located outside of Talking Hook, on Carns Mill. Road, The passage is unpaved and very scenic, crossing first a railroad track, a bridge, then through a stream twice, before it dead-ends into Tom's front yard, 1 was greeted with a cup of hot coffee and a plate full of cookies in the relaxed, mountain style, Both Tom and Kate readily recounted stories of preachers, hants, and fools, as Tom showed me some of his beautiful quilts, salvaged from the old days. Lastly, 1 was given a sample of their muscadine wine, which was by far the sweetest and most fermented 1 have ever tasted, 1 returned the following weekend to visit Tom's Home on the Hill", a poorly constructed storehouse that is crammed to the rafters with relics from the region, Tom's collection includes everything from lanterns, churns, hand-made wooden rakes, and oharcoAl and electric irons, to porcelain, pottery and photographs, The ensemble is truly an amazing spectacle, made the more so by the helter-okelter arrangement of antiques piled upon antiques, most of which are quite valuable, My experience with the Quintona has greatly enhanced my appreciation of this area 1 have known throughout my life, I found them very polite, and unquestionably receptire. One stipulation was placed by Mr, ~uinton, that 1 not use ant names in the stories, Where such references do occur, I have userl only the initial "'4" -8- of the person in my transcriptions, but this in no way detracts from the essence of the stories, They are presented here in the order in which they'.were recorded, with every effort made to reproduce the phonetics of the dialect, I did not transcribe everything off the tapes, selecting those stories which are most apparent as baing traditional. The quintons did prove to be a stron~ source of representative traditions that arise in part from their isolated existence in an alluring locale. -9- Complete Contents of the Tapes Cassette Number One: \Tom nuinton) :elide One: How Talkin' Rook Got lt's Name The Headless Rider The .Tordan Gang Doctoring Grandpa and the Ghosts Side Two: Grandpa, continued Wool At The Baptisin' The flhoutin' Baptist Gold lVlinin' Cassette Number Two: (Kate and Tom) Side One: The Sage of Talking Rock Little Girl's Ghost Haunts Uhurch Ghost Hides Behind Man Death Oar Preacher Eats Cabbage Phony Preachers Discovered Throwing Snuff Boxes ln Church -10- Side Two: Foot WAshin' and Communion Irishmen Local Haunted House Finding Gold Kate's Recitation The Retired Woman The Taylor lloys The First Streaker Relative Returns From War Uncle Stoke's Itch -11- '.l'he 8 tor 1 es How Talking Hock Got lts Name (Tom r,uinton) Hut the funny theory about it is, that when the white settlers first came in, there's a huge boulder where Talking Kock is now, And carved on this boulder was, TUHN UVIH,'' And it was so huge that no one man could do it, so they had to get a bunch together, And after they got this bunch together, they, uh, used poles, you know, and everything, and they turned it over, And on the other side I it said, NOV/ 'l'U!<N Ml!; BA.UK AND Ll!;'l' Nill: ~uuL 8UlVl]!;J:lUUY lliLSlli." (Laughter,) This rook has never been found, but, you know, this is what we were always told when we were growln' up, that there had been a rook there, -13- The Headless Hider I Tom >iUintonJ 'Phompson's Motif E42,,1.1,3,1, headless ghost rider, pertains hore, It was much easier to turn your corn crop into corn whiskey, or your applo crop into a little apple brandy, you know, ,Just for the stomach's sake, Uh, seein''s that back in the yesrs, there was people in Ueorgia didn't take too highly to the new law that you had to pay taxes, you know, 'l'hey fl. - gured that they'd grown this corn, raised these apples, they were entitled to any profit they could get from it, And a lot of times, this was the only money crop they had. Uh, A lot of the ground was not good for growin', uh, cotton, and, this was the money c1op, Ro, one of the families in the little Holler were noted for their g-o-o-d mountain dew \laughter/, And, uh, this was in the days before automobiles, of course, and strangers were mistrusted because they could be Hevenue Officers, no one knew, So there was this young gentleman, came into the community, and started inquirin' about this family. And no one had much to say, l1ut ho did J.oarn the direction that tl1ey llvad, And, uh, he rode n fine lookin' horRu, so tl10 Rtory goes, un ho rode off into this little valley, lookin' for a still, And he was never seen ae,aln. Me, uh, usually people comin' t.hroue:h, Lhoy, t,hore Wf:\H a, you know, a main roadway, end they came that way, and they left this wny, too. 1l'his mrin was never seon ngain, and later, strange stories circulated about people who had, uh, eoen the headless rider around, This story that l tell the cub scouts is one that actually happened to my mother, Uh, one of the men close by, when mother and her sisters and her family, when they would finish their work, uh, in the fields, you know, got their crops laid back, to get spending money, uh, they would, uh, hire out, as they called it, for a day's work at pickin' peas or ohoppin' cotton, or whatever the work had to be, you know, ln the fall, why, they had gone over to Mister J,A,'s (nnmas withheld upon request), uh, to pick peas. And they wanted to pick as many as they could, you know, you didn't get very much for workin', and so they had worked late, as long es they could see how to pick peas in the field, they had worked, uh, and waited until dusk almost to start home, And they started walkin' home, and, uh, gain' along a country road, and they heard a horse oomln', you know, it was dark and they couldn't see, but they heard this horse very distinctly aomin' 1 uh, up the road, And they moved out of the road and went in single file along the side of the rond 1 waiting for this horse to paiss \pass), and the horse never did paiss (pass), And when they tried to find out, you know, tried to see, there was just no horse there, So we had three soared girls that mede it home (Laughter) mighty fast, for the Headless HorsemRn had (laughs) come up close, He didn't pass but ho came up close, ,.,ha didn't pass, but he came up close." The Jordan Gang (Tom Quinton) During the Civil War, uh, you know, here in ~ickens County we were divided, FAmilies were divided, Part of the D,'s went north to fight on the, for the Union, and part stayed down in the South to fight, to fight, you know, for the Confederate forces. And, uh, (sigh) this had been, we didn't have slaves in this section, very few, The old cemeteries now, over at Long swamp, and at Talking Hock, and maybe over at Antioch, too, you,find the old graves, you know, thatare blocked up with stones, that stand up abbve the ground, the stonework without mortar, it's just, you know, rocks placed, And in these cases, sometimes it's slaves, There were a rew slaves that, uh, attended church at Talking Hock~ back it the old days before the Civil War. Um. But, uh, there wes a lot of division, you know, here i~, uh, Pickens county. And it's said, you know, that Pickens County was the laist (last) to fly the, uh, United States flaig (flag), uh, after the Civil War began. So, uh, the, there was, ali of the able-bodied young men, you know, were gone off to the war, and this left old men and young boys to look after the women and children, And Pickens County wasn't vary widely populated then, you know. And, uh, they couldn't have done a very good job of protecting them anyway because this was a gorilla (Guerrilla) band called the -17- Jordan Gang, And, uh, there is some question now, 1ve been doing some reading about it during last summer. 1 read some about it, the, whether it was politically caused or not, you know, uh, whether there was connections with the govna (governor), Some say that the gov'nA gave, uh, permission, you know, for these men to retaliate against the people of Northern sympathies, But 1 don't think that's been proven. But anyway, the Jordan Gang were a bunch of gorillas, an they would just strike, you know, at any time. And mainly, they stole, you know, what they wanted, and had just, uh, uh, plundered and did things like this. One time they came to the M, home in Talking Hock, and they took the hams out of the smoke house, they took the chickens out of the, uh, uh, barnyard, you know, and everything they could, uh, uh, take, uh, you know, that they wanted like this, they took, ~hen they started to leave, they got the feather beds up on the backs of the horses, and as they rode off, they slished (slashed) them, and rode away in a cloud of feathers, with these, the feather beds being emptied behind them, And there's this story, one of the roaches, l have an uncle, ff,T,, and some of his ancestors were, l believe it was his great-grandfather, that, uh, was killed, He had, uh, not 'gone to war. And, uh, he had old people at home, you know, to look after, and he had decided to come to mill to get corn ground into corn meal. And, uh, he didn't return. And when he didn't return, why they investigated to find that the gorilla band, the Jordon Gang, -18- had, uh, uh, stopped him on his way to mill, and had, uh, hung him and then used his body for target practice. And, uh, things like this, Uh, there was another one. The, you know l was telling you about the ttunred an' Nine mountain? Uh, uh, some of this Jordan Gang was being pursued, by the, uh, {long pause) deputies, l guess. People anyway that were trying to put this type of thing down. And uh, they were in hot pursuit or him, and, uh, he rode up the mountain where the, uh, rock cliff is behind the house? And, uh, (laughs) he was either over the cliff, you know, {laughs) into the water down thar, or (laughs), or else, be caught. And, uh, when we were little, why we used to hear the exciting story of how he jumped from the cliff, you know, to keep from being captured. -19- Grandpa Goes Possum Huntin (Tom quinton) Thomoson's Motif J1785, animals thought to be the devil or ghosts, provides much sporting humor in the stories about Grandpa, Here, a variant of Jl78?,3 (c), loose board or splinter vibrates in wind, is thought to be a ghost, may also be loosely applied. Back in the old days, there was no television and there was no radio or anything like that, and the boys, to amuse themselves, would go possum huntin'. And when they had finished their work, uh, on the farm, you know, why they'd have, they'd have time, why they'd get their dogs together, and their lanterings (lanterns) and they'd stuff their pockets full of sweet potatoes, and they'd go possem huntin'. Way down on Ball Creek, which has always been, you know, a kindly remote section here, lt's in the very western oart of the county, and until recently, they've never had a decent road down through there. Now, in the last twenty years, you know, why they put a good paved road down through there, and they're buildin' that dam, that Carter's Dam off down in there, you know. But anyway, Grandpa and a bunch of boys around Talking Hock decided they'd go possum huntin', And they got their to (tote) sacks, you know, and their sweet potatoes, and their lanterings, and their dogs, and everything, and they took off. And they were having pretty good luck 'cause it was in the fnll of the year, you know, and the possums like the persimmons, and the possums get good and fat, And thiA waA a way, too, They could sell the skins, you know, So they wera careful about how they caught those possems. Uh, -20- the dawgs (dogs) 'ud (would) tree one, the boys'd, you know, climb up the tree, and shake this poseem out, And when he'd hit the ground, it'd usually, you know, stun him enoughithat they could get him, and get the to sack over him before he could get away, you know, and they'd have another possem. Well, they'd caught two or three big possems off down in there that night, One of those sudden thunder showers came up, you know, Oh, they, in the distance, they heard the thunder just rolling, you know, And they were way off from homo, and they was in a section that, you know, wasn't very thickly populated anyway, off down through there, And so they, one of the boys said, 11 know. An old house over thar, an old log house that's been abandoned,'' And said, "We'll just go over thar, and we 1ll just set (sit) around, and build up a fire, and we'll wait til this rain's over, and we oan possem hunt some more tonight,'' So the boys started over there, They got their lanterings and everything, you know, and started. And just as they got into the yard, why g-r-e-a-t big old drops of rein started falling, you know, They didn't have time to gqther wood to burn in the old fireplace, so they just went in and sat down, you know, in the floor, you know, waitin~ for the shower to be over, They were sitting in there, and a great, b-i-g roll of thunder came, you know, and they heard something. And the lightening flAi~hed (fl11sh0d), and the floor just started raisin' up, just like this, t r. quinton does not motion here.) It'd just go up and down~ Great big old wide planks, you know, that timber, that hard pine, l guess, you know, would -21- just rise and fall, Another big boom of thunder would come, and the planks would go up, rise and fall. 'l'his just peemortally scared them to death, That's, they ran. They left their to' sack with the possems in it, they left their lanterings, they left, you know, And here they went out into the rain running just As hard as they could, They got away from there just as quick as they could. 'Phay decided that that place was hanted, So they made tracks getting back to Talking Rock anyway, ~hen they got in and told the old folks what had happened, that the floor, the floor just actually rose up and then back down. Bverytime the thunder would roll, why the floor would rise up, So the next day, why one of, they ... (Here, l accidentally erased some of the tApe).,. were sure that there we1e some real ghosts down there, ~hy the floor wouldn't raise like that unless there hAd to have been. so, they got off down there, and there was an explanation for it, Back in the old days, you know, they didn't have e stank block,,, (EraRurA), . The pigs, you know, would eat ac0r11R (acorns) in the woods, end roots and thingR like this, you know, instead of being fed. And in tho fnll, you know, theyd go out nncl rounrl em up, in the wi nt,cir 1 11hr.never they wnntctl to kU l oo~k, why they woul,1 ~nui1~ these hogs Upo So, what'd happened, rrhey lH1d gone i.ll Ul1.di;-1r th:: t'loor Lo, L1.., .'~l'l'-!ut the night, you know, they likocl Lo find a place to bed. down, Thoy ltad ~nno "in unflrn1 the rlooP, these pl.!-tnks v.1erH j11st laid ac:r.osis the floor sills, and not nRiled down, And when this loud noise came, it scRre<l them, snd thoy all stood up, And when they stood -22- up, the f].oo~ CA}RO \lPo And when the noise wo1tt; qway, they, that, laid back down, and the floor would go hack down, It was so funny, though, because they were sure, they just kn@w thHt they had found a ho1rn8 Lhfl'l; ro,lly, you know, h,id glurnt,c:. -23- Grandpa ~nd The Ghost (Tom q,uin.ton) This is another story in which Jl785, animals thought to be the devil or ghoets, appears, I'll tall you another one about Grandpa, You know, the cows, all the cattle, animals like that, you know, just ran out, course the cow would, because of habit, would como to be milked at night, you know. One night, Crand1na's old cow didn't corno in, Now this was Great-Grandma W., and her cow didn't come in, so Pa John had to go looking for it, It'd's already gettin' dusky-dark when he started, and he started out lookin' for the cow, and he's callln', you know, they'd call, "~ook haffer, Rook-haffar" lcallod i.n a si.ngrNsonrs 11u1nn0:l'), and the cow, yon know, Nonlcl nsua.1.1.y heal' them callin', and think of the good food she's gonna get, You know, they'd feed her, you .know, As the usual thing, she just ,,., forged " for food, but when they were milkin', why they gave her, uh, uh, corn, corn meal, or nubbin~s. Do you know what a nubbin is? It's the little ears of corn that don't fully develop, you know; it has some kernels of corn, but not much. And this is called nubbin's, and they would feed these to the cow while they were milkin', you know, where Rhe'A was this responAe stqn~ still. Well, the when she heard the c\1, cow got in, you know, it she'd know she was gain to get this food, and so she would come in to be milked, And Grandpa, he CAlled and cal.led. Nothing, He was gettin' uway, and he went even fArthar than he usually had to go, you know, way over, and he's gettin' close to the cemetery, And, most youngsters didn't like to go close to the cemetery at night, And Grandpa, he's -24- gettin' e little more nervous qnd a little more nervous ebout thie thing, and he oeme around the curve in the path, and here was something big end white, and just, he, all he could see was just something white there, you know, where all the rest of the things were dark or dsrk green, you know, enough th1t you co11ldn't see. It was gettin' so dark that all he could tell, that there was just something white there. Soared Grandpa pert near to death, I guess, because he stopped, and they had an old saying, that if you ever saw a ghost or a, something like this, unnaturel, that, that these, that a ghost, you know, was something, somebody who was, uh, who couldn't rest, you know, in death, that they were searchin' for something, something hed been wrong when they died, or they wanted, uh, you know, they even said, you know, that if they'd left money, left buried, why they, the ghost'd come, you know, to show where it was. But they said that they were souls that were not restl11g easy, and so that it you'd just be calm, and speak to them. And you were supposed to say, what in the name of 0od are you doine here?'' So Grandpa, here he was, shivering and shaking, you know, and he said, '' wh-wba in the name of God are y-you doing here?'' And he said just about the time he said it, (laughs) the old cow moved, and lie heard the bell tinkle, and he had been soared by a cow. But ha did find the cow to go home.(Mr. Quinton is laughing heartily throughout this last passage.) -25- Fool at the Baptising (Tom ~uinton) This anecdotn employs humor through Motif Jl?JO, Absurd ignorance. In our community, there was e, our beptisin' s are, we believe in baptisin' in runnin water, you know. None of our churches have a, you know, e baptismal place in the church, This would just be unheard of, 1 guess. No, ive never seen a church, you know, 1 mean, l've never seen e Clount.ry l:leptist Ohurch, you know, that had a place like this, so, uh, they always baptise, you know, in the little streams, end they sometimes have tn dam them up, you know, where the weterll be deep enough, because, you know, it says to be "buried in a liquid grave'', you know, they, our preachers believe in taking the people to be baptised, you know, down deep enough in the water, you know, to where they are . , So, they, uh, had a g-o-o-d revival over at Town Ureek, and several people had been converted, you know. And some of the pretty girls in the community were going to be baptised, And we had a (laughs) man in the community who was not, you know, the Good Lord had not blessed him with too much intelligence, Wverybody knew thia, you know, and they tolerated this, and loved him, and everythinn, you know, and just understood (laughs), somebody went down on Saturdny afternoon before they were going to baptise on Sunday morning, and said that there he stood, with a five-pound bag nf sugar, just a-snrinklin' sugar out into that water, just l ike every thi ng. (1., a Ugh,s ) 'l'hey eslced him, they said, "'1hRt in this world are you doin'?" He says, ''l's a-gonna sweeten up them gals tomorra, \Laughs whole-heartedly.) Like the water was still Ronna be there. \Laughs) ~ut he was really puttin sugar into this hole where they was gonna baptise them, -27- Little ~irl Haunts Church (Kate ~uinton) Several of Thompson's motif's appear here, including s300, abandon-ea or murdered children, E?35,2, ghost returns to demand proper burial, and E33B,2, nonmalevolent ghost haunts church, Motif S3?1, destitute parents abandon children, may also be impliod, You know, the houses are scattered so through this part of the country, and especially back when I was growing up, until, uh, you notice everytlme anybody passes by, People notice whos goin'by and how they look, you know, And this couple come by with this little curly-headed girl who's walkin', And they, uh, later on in the day, they seen the man and woman go by the house, but they didn't have the child with them, And then, uh, there was a chu~ch way back in the country, and there's no houses in sight of the church, and, uh, people got to seein, they'd pass by there and they'd see A little golden haired girl, standln' in the church, go, motionin' with her hand, she'd be motionin like she's wantin' them to come, And there's just different people, just for a good while, would seen her, And it's talked about all about through the parts of the country now, and some men decided how they's gonna investigate, you know, to see if they could find anything wrong, you know, And so they went, and saw where it looked llke the planks of the floora been tampered -28- with, and they took it up, and there's fresh ground under there, Ro they, they dug up the body of this little girl, so there wasn't no more motionin' after that. But she'd, before that (laughing), she'd come to the door like she's callin' for help. Now J's always told, uh, even when I's a kid that. Now whether it 'us true or not, I dont know, (Laughing), -2?- Ghost Rides With Man (Tom Quinton) Two of Thompson's Motifs that appear here are Jl782,6, person in white thought to be ghost, and E27?,?, ghost rides behind rider on horse, In addition, Baughman's Jl495, pereon runs from actual or supposed ghost, also applies, Now this happened right here close by, you know, The, you know, you used to have to, you didn't keep meal, you know, for a long time, The kernel of corn has a covering over it, you know, that keeps it from getting tho musky taste to it, you know, to corn meal, l mean, to the corn as long as it's not ground, but then when it's ground, why they sift this out, you know, or this is ground up as part of the meal, And then, your meal, you dont store it for a long tima, because you like to have fresh meal, so, they would only take, you know, e sack full at the time to get it ground, They'd take it to the miller, you know, and he ud grind this, and he'd take out so much meal for grindin' it. This man in the community had gone, uh, to the mill, hed had his, uh, corn ground, snd he started back in the summer time, And it come up, one of those quick, summer thunder showers, you know. And he's, uh, going through a section, you know, kind of like Ball Creek there, where there's long streches there weren't any houses ..., there, And he saw that it is going, this strom was going to overtake him, you know, that his meal was gonna get wet, There's nothin~ he could do, And he happened to think of the church house, that if he could just get to the church house, you know, he'd be all right, because he could tie his horse out in front, you know, -JOand stay in the church, you know, until the storm was over, and go on home, And that ways, the meal wouldn't be ruined, so he rode the horse pretty faist to get up there. Hut just as he got into the churoh yard, why the g-r-e-a-t (exaggerated), big drops of raiO, you know, started splatterin the dust, you know, And he tied the horse real quickly, and made a run, uh, with hie sack of meal for the church, And the church houses here in the country usually have the vestibule out in front, you know, uh, before you went on in to the meeting house, you know, where the benches were, usually, that's where the bell ringer, you know, would ring the bell when somebody died or when they were fixing to have services and things, you know, And he 'us standin' thar, watchin' the rain come in sheets through thar, you know, And, uh, he heard a noise - just a shufflin' noise, Gourse it was dark, you know, and lightening, um, He looked up toward the front, the alter up there, and there was, he could see something a-moving up there, you know, and he couldn't make out what it was. And, well, you know, he thought it might just be somebody'd gotten in out of the rain, you know and he didn't pay no ttention to it, Another flaish of lightening, you know, and he looked, And here the thing was, just all, just hair just gain' everywhere, you know, just standin' on end, And old shapeless, uh, clothes, just bagged old, you know, like a - no form, no shape to them, you know, And this thing was a-oomin' -31- down the aisle, Soared him, He waited though, til the next flAish of lightening, and the next flaieh of lightening, this thing was already more than half-way down the aisle toward the back. And he decided that, storm or no storm, its time hes a-getting out of there, He jumped out of' there, and down the ,, steps he went, and untied his horse. You know, course the hitchin' post was just right there in the front, you know, And he jumped on the back of that thing, and as he turned the horse, the thing jumped right on behind him, and just grabbed him, just, you know, just he felt the sharp, sharp nails go into him, you know, and somethin' just a-clinging on for dear life, And then, he started screamin' and hollerin', and he rode that horse just as faist as he could down the road, you know, just a, just screamin' and a-hollerin', Way on down the road, oh, you know, little over half a mile, there was a house down there, Hig farmer lived down there, and he had several children, and they heard him a-screamin and ahollerin', and they thought somebody'd been struck by lightening or something, you know, a tragedy had happened in the neighborhood, And they said this man came riding that horse just as faist as it would go, just soreamin' every breath, just screamin', and rode up into the front yard, and fainted dead away, Fell right off \laughs) the horse into the mud and everything, They went runnin' out, He thought sure, the man did, the devil had got him, you know, that he's hangin' on, (Laughing), -32- And what it was, bAck in the old days, you know, they didnt send people to the State Asylum here in the mountains, They figured, you know, the people ought to take care of their own when they were mentally ill, you know, And it was often in times cruel what they did, because they would lock a parson, you know, that was mentally ill,,they'd lock em in a room, you know, Hut they'd look after 'em, They knew about em, you know, and if you sent em off to Milledgeville or someplace like that, they didnt know about em you know. Thnt's a long ways off, and they wouldn't get to visit 'em, and, and they didn't know what klnd of treatment they got, and they'd druther just leave em at home, sverybody looked after their own, you know, lt was kind of like they did the, you know, old folks, The grandma, she, she lived in the family, you know, and the old maid aunts were taken in, you know, and it's the same way with the mentally ill, And this old lady, she's quite harmless, But, uh, she had got away from her family, and she's had, she's in the church house, and she had decided sho wanted to ride with him, (Laughing). And when ho got on the horse, shes goin with him, But (laughing) it sure did give him a scare, \Laughing). ~reacher Bats Cabbage For Dinner (Kate ijUinton) This preacher here was pastor or our church back when 1 1 s growin' up, and, uh, he pastored the church way further on in the mountains than this ls, just way back in the mountains, And this little olo woman would always go to his church, shed be thar everytime, and, uh, she'd always invite him to go home with her to dinner. And he never had gone, and hed put up excuses, so he got ashamed or hisself, you know, for putting up excuses to her so much. So one Saturday, he'd have services on Saturday and Sunday, one Saturday, he went home with her. She asked him, that one, he went, so as soon as they got there, why she started putting her dinner on the table, And she said, nwell, Brother uompton, said, 11 1 don't have muoh. But, N said, u1ve just got cabbage and oorn bread and buttermilk. lt's all 1 have for dinner, but, N said, if you're what you profess to be, it's good enough, and if you ain't, it's too good for ye. 11 so Brother Compton ate cabbage that day, although he had never been able to eat them before. tte said that's the first cabbage, he never could stand it before that, But he ate cabbage that day, -34- ~hony Preachers Discovered (Kate iuinton) This anecdote provides an amusing variant to Motif Jl7/41, priests (schoolmasters) iinorance of Latin, from Thompson's Motif-lndex, These two preachers come through this part of this here country, way back when there wasn't too many churches, you know, And people were hungry to hear the gospel, and they give a (sounds like ' 'pointment '), and just preach anywheres around here, you know, And these two men, theys getting to preach at lots of different places, Tom: So-called preachers, Uh-huh, They made em take up a oolleotion for em, you know, and so theys gettin' quite a bit of money for those days, There wasn't much money goin', And this, uh, night, uh, they's preachin', Unbeknownst to the public, the man who was doin' the preaahin' couldn't read the Bible at all, and the younger man that was with him, they'd always stand up side by side while he was preachin', you know, and, uh, he would whisper. He'a read something fine, you know, and he'd whisper it to the old man, and he'd yell out in a big loud voice when this thing proachin' you know. So one night he's standin' up preachin away, and he's preachin' about Noey (Noah), He said, And Uod said to Noey,,.'' and so he'd got his thumb over the rest of it\ and so -35- one nudged him, and whispered to him, said to move his thumb, so hehollered out,"where it said when t}od said to 1~oah, "Move your thumb,'' (Laughing) And it caught up with him right there, He couldn't read a word to em, up there preaching, so they'd wasted their money gettin' them, Tom: So they'd run em out of the community, Kate: Uh-huh, when they found out he wasn't really a preacher, -36- Arshmen Think Mosquitoes Carry Lanterns (Tom Quinton) This Motif is found in Thomoson's Index as El759,3 numbskull thinks fireflies are mosquitoes carrying' lenterns to find victims, Along the middle of the 18th century~ you know, there was a potato, fomine in Arland (Ireland), nnd thousands and thousands of Arshmen came, you know, to help build tho railroads and work over hP-re. ~n~ th0ro was two young Arsh111f:n who come over from Arland, and they hAd wandered around seekin' their fortune, and they got down in the Appelaciane, you know. They came into Pickens County, and they's welkin' the railroad, They, it was gettin' dark, and they went, you know, to ask this man and woman if they could soend the night. Well, there were no hotel accomodations, you knowm anywhere around, and, uh, they told 'em they'd be glad to share what they hAd, you know, So they went in, and they ate with am, you know, and they went to bed early because you had to burn kerosene, you know, if you's gonna keep a light late, They, people were kind of thrifty, you know, and didn't like to use too much kerosene. Ro they, course, didn't hAVB screensLon their windows. They went to bed, and they was mosquitoes. They kept, the mosquitoes kept bitin' them, you know, and they just, oh, they just, just slnp, you know, and they couldn't go to sleep, Theys just e-gettin' stung. The mosquitoes comin' in et the window, you know. So finAlly, one of em, he, he went off, drifted off -37- to sleep (yawns), And the other one, he kept sluppin' at the mosquitoes, you know, Like After a while, he, he reached over and rolled him out of the bed, He said, You just might as well get up from there.Ii Raid, Them dAng things has done got lanterns and come a-lookin' for us," (Laughter) And it was llghtenin' bugs (Laughs) that hAd flown in at the window. (Laughter) He thought sure that the mosquitoes had got lanterns and had come lookin' for 'em, Recitation (Kate Quinton) Motif Hl411, staying in haunted house as fear test, from Thompson's ~f-Index applies here, as do Motifs Jl495, person runs from actual or supposed ghost, and Jl7B2, house noises thought to be ghosts, from Baughman's !1:.!llL !!.!!!l Motif-Index, Dat old hant's house, it hanted yet, And nobody goes thar, no, you bet, The hants' so thick around that old place, It's got to be a plumb disgrace, Atandin' over thar on tho black oak hill, Everything about it so solemn and still, You can't hear an owl or a whip-poor-will, I 'member that place a long time ago, And they hear tales of it long befo'. Nobody lived thar, no sir-ee, The man what owns it, offers it free, Some go there, but as many come away, And the gwine and the ~omln's on de same day, Case night settle down, they just cain't stay, 1 never heard of but one colored men But made up his mind to try his hand, And he sort of took it on the stall.ment plan, Yes sir, Jim Jones was the gentleman's nnme, And AS for a ni~gert you can cull him game, Leastwaye if ye hear whRt he eey 'Bout the number of enemieR he's n-gwine a-sley, '?ell, he breg so stout and he boeet so strong, Thnt folks egreo with him before long, Believe him whether he's right or wrong, Well, ebout the time this fame spread around ~bout a man amongst men what hold his ground, The owner of this hant house cells on him, ''Now, Jim,'' says he,"they tell me That you's e man wht knows no fear, So's I's come all de way over here Just to see if you'll go to that bent house and stey One long night, just to prove to folks Thet all them hant tales ain't nothing but jokes, I'll give you a hundred dollars or so, And your picture in the paper, just to show The bravest man this world'll ever know,'' Well, 1 don't know how Jim feel about this, But hero's a chance that he couldn't miss To prove that he could stand his ground Like he said all the time he's bragging round, So he went, l's gwine a-give him his due, But he fooled Around the gate like he couldn't get through, -40- And (sounds like took in the house from my side of view), "Well now, this 'greemant reads, I believe, That I stny at this house, and never will leave rrom nine or ten o'clock at night Straight on through 'til plumb daylight, But it don't stay i-n the house, you see. So a seat on the steps will about suit me," So, he sat down on the steps and smoked, And thought about hant tales bein' a joke, And tried to smile at the joke but failed, For the thunder rolled and the wind, it wailed, Then there was crashing dere on de floor, And something or another run against de door, Jim said, ''I's a man what hold his ground, I's hunted for hants, and hants I've found, But I ain't going to mix with them, case they got no sense, ~ith that, he set his foot on the fence, And stepped out into de elements, Jim said afterwards, said he didn't run, When thoy sort of teased him to have some fun, But a man what seed the way he's a-gwine Said he had to turn sideways to keep from flying. He might-a held his ground, I don't deny that, But it weren't not the ground where that hant house's at, -41- He never even went back after his hat, Yes sir, thnt old house looks all right Like you look at it now in the broad daylight, And I guess a feller might manage to stay On the steps, like Jim done during the day, But when night comes, and the clouds hang low, And the wailin' winds begins to blow, It's time to go, fool Htands tier Haby Un 1ts Head (Kate ciuinton) Motif Jl730, absurd humor, also applies here, ''!ell, this woman, she was retired' (retArded), pretty bad retired and everything, Hhe didn't marry until later on in life, and married a man who already had a, had raised a big fa~ily. Hut they had children of their own, nnd when her first baby was just small, they lived right close to nnother church, 'I' om: Kate! 'l 1own Creek Baptist Church anrl, uh, t,h0y v,ag havin 1 a funeral there one day, lt was a bad rainy day end, the congre- /l;at,l.on, they had done alrefldy brought the corp.so in nnd, tlrn congre!{~tt,,11 had dono 1lroR~Y got in nnd got RAFtt0d before Myrtle ever come with l1nr baby. And she come in with her baby and, becauHe it was raining, yo,1 know, she wanted to be well wrapped up, and (lflughs) she hsrl wrapped him in a bed blsnket, And, uh, so she just walked in, and she set him down on the bench, and stRrted unwlndln' this blanket, and upwindin' and unwindin, and up stood two little naked feet, and she had it standin' on its head, (Laughter is intersperRed throughtout this passage,) Tom: And this was At the funerr,l, Kate: l didn't see this, but my sister-in-lAw was at the funeral, and she said she never had such" bad time in her life, a-keopin' from laughin' out loud in her life, (Hilarious laughter,) -43- 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.