xt7zcr5n9g1t_34 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7zcr5n9g1t/data/mets.xml https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7zcr5n9g1t/data/82m1.dao.xml Evans, Herndon J., 1895-1976 3.5 Cubic feet Herndon J. Evans, editor of the Pineville Sun in Bell County, Kentucky, closely followed labor unrest in the Kentucky coalfields, especially in Harlan and Bell Counties, during the early 1930s. The collection contains handbills, leaflets, pamphlets and newspaper clippings collected by Evans primarily from 1931-1933. Also included are handwritten notes, correspondence, and drafts of articles and editorials written by Evans as well as memorabilia such as Communist Party membership books and organizational charts. archival material English University of Kentucky This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed. Permission must be received for subsequent distribution in print or electronically. Physical rights are retained by the owning repository. Copyright is retained in accordance with U. S. copyright laws. For information about permissions to reproduce or publish, contact the Special Collections Research Center. Herndon J. Evans Collection Coal miners--Kentucky Coal mines and mining--Economic conditions. Communism--Kentucky. Editors--Kentucky. Pamphlets. Strikes and lockouts--Coal mining--Kentucky. "Herndon J Evans and the Harlan County Coal Strike," Phillip D. Supina, The Filson Club History Quarterly, July 1982 text "Herndon J Evans and the Harlan County Coal Strike," Phillip D. Supina, The Filson Club History Quarterly, July 1982 2012 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7zcr5n9g1t/data/82m1/82m1_2/82m1_2_23/124213/124213.pdf section false xt7zcr5n9g1t_34 xt7zcr5n9g1t x Vol. 56 Louisville, Kentucky, July, 1982 N0. 3
E c0NTENTs
SUNDAY AFTER FIRST SATURDAY
IN SEPTEMBER ......... Jesse Stuart 247
. THE STRANGE CAREER OF
5 JOHN C. C. MAYO ...... Harry M. Caudill 258
i
a
i FEUDS IN APPALACHIA:
ll AN OVERVIEW ........ I ames C. Klotter 290
5 HERNDON J. EVANS AND THE HARLAN
E COUNTY COAL STRIKE .... Philip D. Supina 318
§;
BOOK REVIEWS ................ 336
NEWS AND COMMENT ............. 347
Z, ‘ A
v
EDITOR’S PAGE ................ 348
+
v
2
r:
Published Quarterly by
THE FILSON CLUB
incorporated
118 West Breckinridge Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40203
Sec0nd—class postage paid at Louisville, Kentucky
Press 0f
General Printing Company
Louisville, Kentucky
v.<.·_:_" I iff, spa;} ii,} U il { .
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i » . - ‘ ` 'V.Qr_ ,, — __ ? {@,.1 ~,r».: V ;¢`
5 " ° -* ‘‘·· aww .V`'' ....T J.
¢ N e! A. 4 Y .,_·. V ‘)`; ' '.`;"
THE FILSON CLUB
Named in honor of John Filson, Kentucky’s iirst
historian, The Filson Club since 1884 has collected
and preserved historic matter pertaining to Ken-
tucky and adjacent states. While privately sup-
ported, the public is welcome.
» THE FILSON CLUB HISTORY QUARTERLY
Te .
J. NELsoN L. DAwsoN, Ph.D., Editor
V · Ormcnas or Tun FILSON CLUB
y W President ...................................................................... Robert M. Nash
f First Vice-President .4.......................t.. Mrs. Phillip B. Newman, III
I y Second Vice-President .............................................. L. Allan Caperton
, Third Vice-President ......................... . ....._....... Mrs. Richard H. Hill
i Secretary .................................................................... James R. Bentley
Treasurer .................................,............................ Oscar S. Bryant, Jr.
'i BOARD OF DIRECTORS _
$
='‘ i The six officers and
I`-, Owsley Brown, II S. Tilford Payne, Jr. Dr. Mary K. Bonsteel
, ‘ Tachau
~ James E. Hardy Clay Lyons Morton Frank M. Chamberlain
William M. Rue Charles Farnsley Frank P. Strickler, III
Dmncroa, MAm·1N F. Scnivunr
A . LIBRARIAN, Donormr RUsH
in The Filson Club History Quarterly (ISSN 0015-1874) is pub-
lished in January, April, July, and October by The Filson Club,
l 118 West Breckinridge Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40203.
‘ ` ADDRESS ALL MAIL (subscriptions, change of address, cor-
7 Q _.*c . respondence concerning contributions, manuscripts, books for
( i review, etc.) to Nelson L. Dawson, Editor, The Filson Club.
i ;.c · Subscription price $10.00 a year; single numbers during current
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, cludes a subscription to the Quarterly.
=»-: ’: _. Second-class postage paid at Louisville, Kentucky.
it The Filson Club assumes no responsibility for statements made
A _ by contributors to The Filson Club History Quarterly.
``.i`>i Copyright 1982, by The Filson Club, Incorporated
V ‘:
FOUNDERS OF THE FILSON CLUB, MAY 15, 1884
`;·;·gg;gg.¢-[
RICHARD H. CoLL1Ns ............ 1824-1888 THOMAS W. BULLITT ............ 1838-1910
Jorm MASON BROWN ............ 1837-1890 REUBEN T. DURREPT ............ 1824-1913
GEORGE M. DAvm .................. 1848-1900 BASIL W. DUKE .................... 1838-1916
WILLIAM CHENAULT ............ 1835-1901 JAMES S. PIRTLE .....,.............. 1840-1917
THOMAS SPEED ....................., 1841-1905 ALEXANDER P. HUMRHREY ..1848-1928
PRESIDEN TS OF THE FILSON CLUB
Reuben T. Durrett ................ 1884-1913 Leo T. Wolford .............,...... 1960-1971
James S. Pirtle ....,................. 1913-1917 Richard H. Hill .............,..,... 1972-1973
Alfred Plrtle .......................... 1917-1923 J. Alexander Stewart ........ 1978-1978
R. C. Ballard Thruston ...... 1923-1946 Charles Farnsley .................. 1979-1980
J. Adger Stewart .................. 1947-1949 Owsley Brown, II ................ 1980-1981
Davis W. Edwards .............. 1950-1959
BEN EFACTOR MEMBERS
BISMARCK, COUNTESS M0NA V0N .......... 34 Avenue de New York, Paris, France
fg MARTINI, COUNT Uivisrmro DI [died June 30, 1979] ........................ Paris, France
SCHMIDT, MARTIN F ............................,.................. 5603 River Knolls Dr., Louisville
SCHMIDT, MRS. MARTIN F. ..................,........,.,...... 5603 River Knolls Dr., Louisville
ENDOWMEN T MEMBERS
ABELL, WILLIAM HARr1Nc. [died August 7, 1976] .......................,............ Louisville
ABELL, MRs. WILLIAM HARTING ............,.......,................. 601 Club Lane, Louisville
BALLARD, MRS. CHARLES T. [died November 1, 1933] .............................. Louisville
i BALLARD, G. BREAux [died February 5, 1933] ............,............................. Glenview
Z BALLARD, MRs. S. THRUSTON [died February 27, 1938] ........,................... Glenview
# BANKS, CLARENCE L. [died January 25, 1958] ................,......................... Skylight
BEAM, T. J EREMIAH [died May 2, 1977] ..........,........................................... Louisville
es" BEAM, MRS. T. JEREMIAH .......................... 11 Totem Road, Indian Hills, Louisville
. · BECKLEY, PENDLETON [died March 25, 1955] ..Louisville, Ky., and Paris, France
BELKNAP, WALTER K. [died January 25, 1954] ........................................ Louisville
BERNI-IEIM, BERNARD [died July 27, 1925] .......,.....................................,.. Louisville
BERNHEIM, MRS. BERNARD [died February 19, 1928] ....................,......... Louisville
BERNHEIM, FRANK D. [died August 23, 1962] .......................................... Louisville
f BERNHEIM, ISAAC W. [died April 1, 1945] ................ Denver Colo., and Louisville
BICKEL, GEORGE R. ................,......... "Landaway," 4010 Lime Kiln Lane, Louisville
BICKEL, MRs. GEORGE R. [died April 19, 1972] ..,....................,................ Louisville
BODLEY, TEMPLE [died November 23, 1940] .............................................. Louisville
BREAUX, GUs1·AvE A. [died August 4, 1953] .......,.................................... Louisville
BRENNAN, ALBERT ANDREWS [died Sept. 29, 1971] ...... Louisville and New York
BRENNAN, MRs. ANNA VIRGINIA BRucE [died May 13, 1908] ................ Louisville
BRENNAN, MRs. BEULAH BRUCE [died Feb. 24, 1952] .... Louisville and New York
, BRENNAN, HENRY MARTYN [died May 29, 1948] ...................................... Louisville
Q BRENNAN, DR. J. Anvm O. [died September 1, 1963] .............................. Louisville
_; BRENNAN, N. BRUCE [died October 8, 1977] .............................................. Louisville
BRENNAN, MRs. N. BRUCE .........................,...,...,,....... 1344 S. Sixth St., Louisville
BRENNAN, DR. ROBERT EMERY [died March 31, 1969] ..New York and Louisville
BRENNAN, THOMAs [died February 27, 1914] ............................................ Louisville
. BROWN, ALFRED M. [died May 3, 1903] ............................................ Elizabethtown
Q; BROWN, J. GRAHAM [died March 30, 1969] .....,........................................ Louisville
BROWN, OWSLEY [died October 31, 1952] ........,................................. Harrods Creek
BROWN, OwsLEv, II .................,.........,.............,...,.. 6501 Longview Lane, Louisville
BROWN, W. L. LYONs [died January 5, 1973] ................................ Harrods Creek
£€Yk}ii.¥3%-Y§E’.e;PS:·T-:J2Z:.‘.i ‘-¤-*¤ ·¤· ‘· · ‘ I ··
BRUCE, MRS. MARY ANN HAWKINS [died June 23, 1908] ..........,........... Louisville
BUCKNER, LT. GEN. SIMON B. (CSA) [died January 8, 1914] ........ Hart County
BUCRNER, GENERAL SIMON B., JR. (U.S.A.) [died June 18, 1945] ..., Hart County
BULLITT, NEVILLE STEELE [died May 9, 1972] .................,..............,....,.... Louisville
BULLITT, MRS. NEVILLE STEELE .......................,........., 609 Logsdon Court, Louisville
BULLITT, THOMAS W. ............................................ 7500 Shelbyville Road, Louisville
CARTER, ALLEN ROGERS [died November 28, 1936] .................................. Louisville
CLARK, EDMUND ROGERS [died September 7, 1950] .................. San Antonio, Texas
CLEMENTS, MISS MARY PARK .................. 2113 Bancroft Place, Washington, D.C.
COBB, HOWARD ..........................,...........................,...,......... 2524 Glenmary, Louisville
CORN, JAMES FRANKLIN ,.........................,.....,. 1609 Ocoee, N.E., Cleveland, Tenn.
COURTEAU, REV. ARTHUR G-T [died December 24, 1971] ..................,..... Louisville
CURRENT, DR. JAMES REVEL .......................,.............,.. 515 Main St., Tell City, Ind.
DARBY, MISS MARIA LOUISE [died March 18, 1955] .... Princeton, Ky. and France
DAYIE, PRESTON [died May 21, 1967] ........,....................................... New York, N.Y.
DENT, DR. PAUL LAWRENCE ..., "Nanjemoy," 4810 Upper River Road, Louisville
DENT, MRS. PAUL LAWRENCE .."Nanjemoy," 4810 Upper River Road, Louisville
DESPAIN, MRS. DAYSIE SPENCER .............. 816 McCul]um Avenue, Elizabethtown
DISHMAN, J. ANTHONY .........................,.......,................ 206 Totem Road, Louisville
EDWARDS, DAVIS W. [died July 20, 1962] ,,....,...,.,...........,......................... Louisville
FENLEY, WILLIAM LOGAN [died June 15, 1975] ....................o................... Louisville
GAGE, MRS. HAROLD MINOT [died August 13, 1960] ........................o....... Louisville
GLAZEBROOK, MRS. JAMES [died July 26, 1950] ...............,.......................o Louisville
GREEN, LAFAYETTE [died January 28, 1907] .................................... Falls of Rough
GREER, WILLIAM HERSHEY, SR. ...................... 1929 McCreary Avenue, Owensboro
GREER, MRS. WILLIAM HERSHEY, SR. ............ 1929 McCreary Avenue, Owensboro
GREER, WILLIAM HERSHEY, JR. ............ 6401 Brookside Drive, Washington, D.C.
HAAS, MRS. ETHEL BERNHEIM [died December 12, 1971] ...........,.......... Louisville
HAGGIN, MRS. JAMES B. [died Jun 8, 1965] ,................................... New York, N.Y.
HICKMAN, R. BAYLOR [died June 23, 1949] ....................................,..,...... Glenview
HICKMAN, MRS. BAYLOR O. [died December 12, 1978] .....,.......................... Goshen
HILL, RICHARD H. [died February 17, 1973] ..............,............................. Louisville
HILL, MRS. RICHARD H. [died June 4, 1982] ........,........C..,.......,......,......., Louisville
HILLIARD, ISAAC [died May 16, 1970] ........................................................ Louisville
HOPKINS , ARTHUR E. [died September 30, 1944] ...................,................ Louisville
HORNER, CHARLES .............................................................. 411 Duff Lane, Louisville
HUMPHREY, ALEXANDER POPE [died August 19, 1928] ............................ Louisville
JOYES, PRESTON POPE, SR. [died October 6, 1970] ................................... Louisville
KINKEAD, MISS LUDIE J. [died December 17, 1970] ......................,......... Louisville
LILLY, ELI [died January 24, 1977] ............................................ Indianapolis, Ind.
MCBRIDE, PIERRE BUSHNELL [died August 4, 1980] ................................ Louisville
MERRIFIELD, GEORGE E. [died July 1, 1974] .................................... Cleveland, Ohio
MORTON, HON. THRUSTON BALLARD ...........,...... 5815 Round Hill Road, Louisville
NORTON, MISS MATTIE A. [died November 21, 1946] ...................,.......... Louisville
OGDEN, MRS. SQUIRE R. ,..................... 402-B Mockingbird Valley Road, Louisville
PEARCE, MARVIN J., SR. [died September 4, 1974] .................... E1 Cerrito, Calif.
PENDERGRASS, EUGENE [died April 1, 1972] ..............................................., Louisville
PENDERGRASS, MRS. EUGENE [died February 13, 1972] .......................... Louisville
PLEISS, GRIFFIN A. [died December 2, 1976] ............................................ Louisville
PORTER, MRS. H. BOONE [died December 27, 1977] ................................ Louisville
REAGER, ALLEN M. [died September 12, 1947] .......................................... Louisville
REAGER, MRS. ALLEN M. [died January 31, 1977] ............,....................... Louisville
REICHLEIN, MRS. JANE TYLER CRAIG .......................... P. O. Box 331, Pearce, Ariz.
ROBBINS, MISS JENNY LORING [died April 1, 1946] ................................ Louisville
ROBINSON, ARCHIBALD MAGILL [died February 5, 1931] ...........,..........., Louisville
ROBINSON, MRS. ARCHIBALD MAGHAL [died July 12, 1950] .,...................... Louisville
ROBSION, MRS. JOHN M., JR. [died December 25, 1980] .... Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
ROGERS, HOPEWELL L. [died February 27, 1948] ...,.............................. Chicago, Ill.
ROTHERT, OTT0 A. [died March 28, 1956] .................... Greenville and Louisville
SACKHET, FREDERICK M. [died May 18, 1941] .....4...................................... Louisville
SHIRLEY, MRS. R0vENA ALDERsoN ...................... 3700 Norbourne Blvd., Louisville
SPEED, WILLIAM S. [died December 8, 1955] ............................................ Louisville
§* s
STEWART, J. ADGER [died June 15, 1954] ..........................................,......... Louisville
STEWART, MRS. J. ADGER [died March 7, 1954] ........................................ Louisville
STEWART, J. CARTER .......................................... Mockingbird Valley Road, Louisville
STOLL, MRS. BERRY V. .................................................... Lime Kiln Lane, Louisville
THRUSTON, R. C. BALLARD [died December 30, 1946] ............. . ................ Louisville
TUCKER, CoL. CHARLES E. ............................................ 786 Chinoe Road, Lexington
TURNER, MRS. OTIS TALBOT .................................. 2139 Edgeland, Apt. 1, Louisville
VERHOEFF, HERMAN [died March 14, 1893] .............................................. Louisville
VERHOEFF, Miss MARY [died June 25, 1962] ....,....................................... Louisville
WASHINGTON, MRS. MAY BRUcE BRENNAN [died July 10, 1959]
Louisville & N.Y.
WATs0N, MRS. ALEXANDER MACKENZIE [died March 11, 1954] .... Harrods Creek
WHITE, ROBERT L. [died March 13, 1961] ..........,....................................... Louisville
WHITE, MRS. ROBERT L. [died July 18, 1944] ............................................ Louisville
`NHITFIELD, B. W., JR. ......................................................................,............. Brookside
WHITNEY, CORNELIUS VANDERB1LT .................................. P. O. Box 890, Lexington
~ WHITNEY, MRS. CORNELIUS VANDERBILT .......................... P. 0. Box 890, Lexington
WoLFORD, LEo T. [died December 6, 1971] ........................................,.,..... Louisville
r·v7'?é%l’
MEMBERSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS
I ANNUAL PAYMENT MEMBERSHIRS
.
Annual Membership ............................................ $ 18.00
Family Membership ............................,............... 30.00
Contributing Membership ...............,.................. 60.00
Donor Membership .............................................. 120.00
SINGLE PAYMENT MEMBERSHIPS
Life Membership .................................................. $ 360.00
Patron Membership ............................................ 600.00
Endowment Membership .................................... 1200.00
Benefactor Membership .....................,................ 3000.00
Filsonians may work toward Endowment and Bene-
factor memberships by paying the difference in dues
between their present classification and any classifi-
cation above it.
REQUESTS
FORM OF BEQUEST: I give and bequeath to The
Filson Club of Louisville, Kentucky, the sum of
ollars ($— %_), to
become part of the Endowment Fund of said institu-
tion, the net income only to be used for the purposes
of said Club as defined in its charter.
er: -··»v· * ~··r · ·
THE FILSON CLUB
HISTORY QUARTERLY
VoL. 56 LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, JULY, 1982 No. 3
SUNDAY AFTER FIRST SATURDAY IN SEPTEMBER
BY JESSE S;*U.·>.Rr*
When the Sheltons have their Family Reunion on the Sunday
following Labor Day they return from many states to Cousin Stan
Shelton’s big house where he lives alone in the hills of Greenwood
County in east Kentucky. The Sheltons, their in-laws, their families
and next akin, and some friends no akin, come with them from far
away places. Automobiles filled with people packed like sardines
in tin boxes come from Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, West
Virginia-a few come from Colorado, California, Arizona, and
New Mexico — while others come from Pennsylvania, Maryland,
New York, Connecticut, and Maine. They fill the house and yard
at Cousin Stan’s big house.
Cousin Stan is over seventy, has never married but he’s a hand-
some man for his years and has to hide out from old ladies he
used to date when they were young. They’re grandmas now and
widows and Cousin Stan in his big house and on his two acres is
set in his ways. Everybody says the reason he didn’t marry was
he liked to save his money. He had a well-paying job with the
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, lived within his means all his life
at the Roston YMCA, didn’t gamble, didn’t drink but saved his
money. Some of it he invested well and watched it grow. He never
owned a car and learned to drive it until he was seventy, when he
had to accept mandatory retirement.
The people, especially all of Cousin Stan’s living kin and the
widows he used to know when he was young, know he has a barrel
of thousand dollar bills mixed with some fairly large gold coins.
He liked gold coins and could get them when he was young. He
Saved for the rainy day, from the day he earned his first dollar.
Now if it rained pitchforks he could live another seventy-five
years. He could live like a bull in forty acres of sweet clover and he
•In this account of a family reunion, Jassa Sruam changed the names of the locations
and of the families except for the Permingtons. The Sheltons of the essay are really the
Hiltons.
247
248 The Ftlsou Club History Quarterly [Vol. 56
could burn up the highways in his new super car. He’s our cousin
who holds the Shelton Reunion on that great Sunday in early Sep-
tember. This is a reunion of the Shelton Clan who come from all
over to see and be seen, talk, tell big stories of the past and of the
present and each one stuff down his neck enough good grub to
last three days — stuff and stuff some more, like a chicken trying
to get the last grain of corn into its over-stretched craw.
Johnsons, Brenners, Adkins, Shultz, Lawmiller, Sheltons, Penn-
ingtons, Starks, Larks, Lykins, Perkins, Jones, Holbrooks (five
families), Martins from Cincinnati, Youngstown, Dayton, Colum-
» bus, Akron, Cleveland, Chillicothe, Portsmouth, and other parts of
. Ohio—Carters, Stewarts, Mannings, Millers, Sheltons, Jurgens-
meyers from Logan, Huntington, Charleston and Twelvepole, West
Virginia. From Indiana, Gentings, Bates, Sheltons, Petersons,
i n, Johnsons — New Mexico, Penningtons, Burkharts, Sheltons,
I Adamses, and from Arizona more Penningtons, fastest multiplying
family from the start to the present in our Clan. Penningtons,
noted for their early bald heads before their time, have caused
more bald heads among us than all other families put together.
Don’t you think at each reunion in a nice loveable, friendly way the
Penningtons are not told about this by all the others who are blood
} akin to Penningtons and who have shining domes for heads when
i hats are removed and hairpieces fall off —what a family to be a
part of.
We get a few Sheltons and Penningtons from California again
and their inlaws and their next of kin, Vaughs, Alverios, Thomp-
· sons — a few Sheltons, Penningtons from Colorado. North Dakota
~ has our Penningtons, up around Grand Forks, but they don’t get
` back to Cousin Stan Shelton’s Reunion. And more Sheltons,
” Powderjays, Norrises, Penningtons from Pennsylvania —— Norrises,
,Q Penningtons from Maryland and New York State.
Still in Kentucky, we have the majority of kinfolk. There are
too many families akin to count them. Just to mention a few: Sloas
(we call it Sluss here), Penningtons by the scores, McDavids,
Greenes, Sheltons, hundreds who will come hundreds who won’t for
they were divided, parted forever by the Civil War. Same is true
about the Powderjays who married into the Shelton Clan. There
are the North and South Sheltons and the North and South Powder-
jays. They still have little use for each other. I’ve mentioned only
a few Kentucky names. There are the Irish Keeneys who believe
in drink and there are the "totally dry" Baptist Sheltons who won’t
partake of any "wicked water." There are actually some few of
ii ’'‘·? .—--==¤. .-»· -·· ~-
1982] Sunday After First Saturday 249
these who will not chew or smoke the "fragrant weed" - although
they raise tobacco and sell it from their farms. Then, we have the
peaceful, hard-working Darbys; the fun-loving, dancing, ballad
singing, banjo—picking, red-headed Nelsons, often referred to as
peckerwoods because peckerwoods have red heads. We have the
Lileses, hard-working and serious. All of our kin and next of kin
could populate a Kentucky county.
We have about every Christian denomination known in the
Christian faith from Catholic to Hard-Shelled Baptist to Lutheran,
Methodist, Christian, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Holiness, Naza-
rene. Yes, we have Christian Baptist. If all families would come
at full strength we would have twenty-five or more ordained min-
isters among us in the different faiths. We would have more than
a hundred teachers and school administrators among us. But you
wouldn’t know ministers are ministers and teachers are teachers
at Stan Shelton’s, at The Shelton Family Reunion.
We have Democrats, Republicans, and a Socialist or two. The
Socialists are from northern cities. We don’t have any Communists.
A devout, argumentative Communist would hardly be safe at one
of our peaceful family reunions where for just one day there are
few if any arguments about religion or the county, state, and na-
tional affairs. I don’t know of any on food stamps. I know some
that need them, could qualify but won’t accept them and they are
both Democrats and Republicans. When the 1937 flood, biggest by
any measurement we ever had on the Ohio River, nearly swept the
Ohio valley clean, when the Red Cross rushed food and coffee in,
Uncle Mel Shelton wouldn’t accept any Red Cross food or coffee. As
much as he liked good coffee he wouldn’t have Red Cross coffee. He
parched corn and brewed him some corn coffee -— a new brand.
His son, my first cousin, a staunch Democrat and Baptist, Cousin
Penny Shelton had paid into Social Security because its the law
and he had to do it-Now he is due for Social Security but he
won’t accept it. He is sixty-eight, gets up when the stars are shining
and retires when they’re in the evening sky. He operates a small
sawmill and doesn’t make much money but he doesn’t believe in
"stamps" and "Social Security." He says he believes in "the sweat
from the brow" and he practices what he believes.
Now, I’m just a half Shelton. My mother was from the Shelton
Clan. My father was Little Mick Powderj ay, who had his own ideas
about things which never coincided with Shelton ideas-—or, at
least not many of them. He was a Southerner but a "North" man,
a Republican and a Methodist. But, I’m big, broad-shouldered and
250 The Filson Club History Quarterly [Vol. 56
built like my Shelton ancestors, who both men and women are
giants of the earth.
Before the automobile loads started rolling in to Cousin Stan’s
big yard on Sunday after Labor Day, Cousin Stan was as busy as
a bee. He watched carefully to see none of the widows he used to
date turned up. He had actually had to hide in his own home, turn
off his TV or any lights, duck in a clothes press or under the bed
if while a widow went around his house peeping in at the windows to
see if he were there. His car and truck would be parked in his yard
but the widow never found him.
Cousin Stan had young boys of our clan to carry the baskets of
_ l food into his long dining room where women of our clan, including
my wife and sisters, helped arrange food on the table, more than
forty feet long. They plugged in the big coffee makers to about
V every plug-in in this house that was originally designed to be a
xl home for elderly men. There was a huge basement and two floor
{gi? . . .
it levels above. It was built in a square and one could walk a c1rcle
’ · around through the house.
‘ People who came from Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago, Denver,
Phoenix, Tucson, Sacramento, Los Angeles or San Francisco — or
from Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York State or from Logan or
. _ Charleston, West Virginia didn’t have to bring food. They weren’t
l expected to bring it. All they were supposed to do was to bring
themselves. There would be food aplenty for everybody—food to
E spare — enough food for as many again as would come. The house
and yard would be filled —— but Cousin Stan saw to one thing. Not
* anybody would get into his garden. His garden was a precious
piece of earth to him. He was a good gardener. He raised an ex-
cellent garden and gave his vegetables away. He never sold a
vegetable. He not only gave them away, but he delivered them in
his truck. He kept a lock on his garden gate and he didn’t allow
. anyone trespassing through his garden. Not anybody was per-
mitted to trespass here, as Stan said it was his precious piece of
§ earth. He talked at times like he might want to be buried in his
nr garden.
, .- Cousin Stan, with all his money, departed from his Democratic
ancestors and claimed to be a Socialist. He had departed from the
.. Hardshell and Southern Baptist worship of his ancestors, to wor-
ship Moon, Sun, Stars, Trees, and blades of grass. If one broke a
branch on one of his yard trees or mutilated a flower or tall stem
of grass in his yard, he would hear verbally from Cousin Stan. In
Japan, Cousin Stan would have found his religion Shintoism. But
A
‘
'6 1982] Suuday After First Saturday 251
B Cousin Stan didn’t know a far away country had his faith for he
had not traveled and he’d not read about religions -— not anything
S but daily newspapers and Labor Union and Socialist magazines.
S He had never subscribed to the Daily Worker. All of his family,
’ brothers, sisters and his father, Uncle J ad, in his lifetime, had re-
? garded Stan as a man with "quare idears."
> Now, I watched Cousin Stan move catlike in a circle around
through his big house, shaking hands with ancestors he knew and
V asking their younger offsprings whom he didn’t recognize their
names. I watched him go down the long table looking at the food
and smiling at his first cousins there who were my sisters and two
first cousin Sheltons, Grace and Ersie, as they had arranged
baskets of food on the table until there was no more space. Several
baskets had to be put on a smaller table.
There were barrels of Kentucky fried chicken, crispy and reg-
ular, there was more home fried chicken; there was baked and
boiled chicken; there were big dishes of chicken and dumplings;
there was hickory, sassafras and sourwood smoked country hams
and store-bought ham. There were broiled steaks, swiss steak, pork
ribs, beef ribs, quail, pheasant (these came from farms of our
Ohio clan) ; there were dishes of gravy; there were jellies, pre-
serves of all kinds, apple, peach, quince—- all kinds of berries for
Sheltons and their allied families of close and not-so-close akin
raised berries and fruits of all kinds. Majority of the Sheltons and
their allied families are earth people, soil people, and the best
farmers. The Pennsylvania Dutch can’t surpass them. Cousin
Nathan Johnson, a bachelor, farmed four hundred acres in corn
in the Scioto bottoms in Ohio and fattened corn—fed, from ninety to
one hundred, white—face cattle each year. There just wasn’t enough
land for my cousins in Ohio. They owned and added extra farms
by cash and grain rent. When they came to the Shelton Reunion
they brought the choice steaks.
Now, as far as pies, how many and how many different kinds
on this long table I would not have wanted to count. Each family
brought from one to a half dozen pies. Brother Finn Powderjay’s
wife, my sister-in-law, had a secret receipe for green apple pie.
She made the best. Each woman in our clan tried be the best
cook and show what could be done in preparing the best food. My
wife Deanems baked bread that was unsurpassed. Her chicken,
she’d never buy fried chicken to take, equalled or surpassed Ken-
tucky fried or any other chicken brought to this Shelton Reunion.
252 The Filsou Club History Quarterly [Vol. 56
At least her bread was the first to go, and there was never a ,
piece of her chicken left on the trays.
When the big dinnerbell was rung it was a time for everyone to
stop talking and laughing and shaking hands and slapping each
other on the back. There were groups all over the house, in all the
rooms, in the big basement all talking — also, the yard was filled.
So they stood in silence, for they knew our food had to be blessed.
Cousin Frank Shelton, a minister of many years, plus working with
his hands to make a living, was called on by his double first cousin
Shan (mothers were sisters and their fathers were brothers —
eight sound, bright children, no runts among them, men and women
in either family) to ask the blessing.
· Cousin Frank had surveyed these relatives and brothers and I
sisters of their allied families and he knew well there were sinners
among us as he had once been. He was a Baptist and a stone-dry
Shelton. In his blessing of our good food waiting on the long and
small table for two hundred plus people, he not only blessed our
food and did it well, he prayed for all those among us who
l l ' had not "accepted the way of the Lord, who still imbibed" (Shelton
. ; weakness), and who were in great danger of the future darkness.
S ? He had served his churches with one good eye; he had lost the
other playing semi-pro football — a big man with square shoulders
F J broad as a corncrib door, he stood before us a powerful man phy-
sically, who had treated his opposition rough on the football field.
Now, he was an humble man — humbled by our Lord. Of Yorkshire