The Wilder Davidson Story: The End of an Era; Part 1; Life in the Company Towns

Oh. The following program has been made possible in part by a grant from the Tennessee Humanities Council a not for profit corporation whose principal funding is provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities by contributions from businesses and individuals in the upper Cumberland region of Tennessee and by W. S. t e TV when I got the router out of the savings. They with and used to be a pretty place last place to live to down but it just disappeared. People just all go away. I never dreamed about what. That it would be like that always know badly of me out there all my life. I love to live there. Is a good place to live. There was a lot of people in there too.

For six months it was just like a war going on and while he's been here shooting down I'm. King of the hill buddy. They are the only ever playing under this thing. I don't know what got a bad name but never been no better people in the world. Hard to talk about. People who grew up in a wilder Tennessee can never go home again. Nothing remains but trees grow. A burned slag bank a few rotting cross-ties and some crumbling

concrete foundations. Between 19 0 3 and the 1930s the five communities of Wilder Davidson Crawford 20 and Highland thrived as a coal mining complex that was the major economic center of the upper Cumberland region according to former residents. As many as 2000 persons lived in wilder alone before the railroad came in the 1890s. Much of the upper Cumberland region was an isolated area in which a hardy independent people survive largely on subsistence farming and logging. With the railroad However it was possible to tap the rich coal reserves in this mountainous area. Some data mining continued in the wilder Davidson complex through the 1950s. But a nationally prominent mining strike in 1932 33. And the depression of the 1930s brought to an end the boom era of the 1920s.

The wilder Davidson story the end of an era as a community based oral history project that tries through the voices of those who lived there. To preserve the heritage of the region and chronicle the early 20th century industrialisation of an isolated rural area of the upper south. Park. One life in the company towns looks at family life social life community relations social institutions and attitudes toward company officials. During the period 19 0 3 to 1930 before the catastrophic mine strike like so many others Maj Alexander fondly remembers growing up and living in the mining communities in the world. We just lived it. And you know I never dreamed about what. That it would be like that always not badly of out there oh my laughs. Just we loved it everybody that live there.

It was the trip commanding to tell us everything was right we go holler the houses were mostly on hillsides except the area we call black bottom and the houses were small and then you look in on the outside I don't like to think of it exactly because some of the happiest homes I've ever made any and were in the homes of people who live there now although there is no comparison between any other town in the mining thing and in those days the Prius and the people whom say it was remembering told more of the sensational thing. But back before this track a lot of the schools were good and he was talking about Mr. Wu baby who was a principal he believed in children presenting plays and we had lots of plays in groups that we liked it and

it was just entirely different you know you talk to people today and it was just part of the word hell on earth for they and but it wasn't until the trucks trucking. We had some good times better than that. He having time to say a let go a place to stay in it. Most all of me and over in their head you know that's where most people had to go they wanted to call it peddling You know they had little to fear the same thing had sailor. They don't always take the wilder one aka hope will Tom Tom we're talking about. You didn't have no choice but no road to get out there you could. Say that our 21 year old before I know you're getting deposed and wilder But now that could straighten it just a fraction but you would know more.

We would almost tied to that country. We had no money. I will tell you if I didn't have no one to Darden you know. I guess I never thought of it and I've well satisfied and. But the company differ about only at just about the other and you know I've seen the time that you couldn't get out of that holler that's what we called the road. Nothing you would pay Bly where World War nothing but good. I've seen a time when we care a car from the top of the mountain the highway on and couldn't get back out way we went around they were lifted by a coyote in that way and if I reacted a manhole with either didn't bring I would bring him to jail. Couldn't get over here. They turned if turning loose I've seen many a feller that went to jail if they coulda got into Game family to go to you know here we had the Saturday fights when I go home honestly

don't bother. Korn was doing stuff in there that were fights but no one. My list of women women respected a great deal in that Mario's I grew up. My ideals came from Zane Grey and all of the crew would know this group of girls I read books and when I get home so that my mother was always dear to my heart and their BRIC markets and Wolf I want to she say Bill you look in the closet. Mailed you will go to the bed. His mom did you put it over the years. I never knew what she still goes on there was two people slept with the doors unlocked and stuff like that. Now I remember when we first went there and I was just he had there were some man that lived a man across the road from us got key. I don't remember why I think somebody shot him or something but they wasn't much of anything like it. Seem like people just want to

work you know one and let you peaceably Wouter. Back then was the largest community inventors Kenny saw all the politicians that ran for office would do their campaigning all over the county. Early in their lives two or three weeks it just come to Wilder and stay into love election was over because while they could make or break you back fam if you cared while they good you won the election. Looking at this map bring it all back to. The rear. Yeah it helped me get back. Here I want to live like I did and I sure did back then. As a good place to live. There was a lot of people in there too and some good people. I remember one time they were 500 men on the payroll while. You were not there then too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I remember the washer asking you remember where I

remember when they built the new and. I remember going to be in there that's pretty pong and that led to the math error by that poor house the people who lived in the five mining communities treasure vivid memories of an active social life. It was a big family and like families we had our arguments between ourselves but no one else will comment on start anything with us but we had some thoughts and we had some civic minded. Leaders. Mrs. Jenkins's launderette took interest in the well for the community and the children and she was instrumental in church going around the schools and got the drink of the snow. And the beauty Borjas major stockholder in a thunderstorm coke got married. His wife was very civic minded and they first US kids

love tennis racquets and tennis balls and let us play on McDonald scored some help parties for some of their son Sambo your junior. He started the Scout troop that we had up there we had a good boy scout troop. It took seven itself. Course the strike ended all this when the strike came along. One year I don't remember what year we went on a hike. Sound says the ironic clicks are most flowers and names on one a trip to nice for to the Boy Scout camp. And. I was there I won and I got paid by the company called trip down the camp Boxall which is on a big hog a thriller out and I was full well. And when we come out of the camp they sponsored trip to the.

House of Representatives in the Senate we got to watch him and that clause I'm not. We got to visit with Governor Henry Horton who was governor there and we got to see two free movies and Medco Robson the Little Caesars was one of the movers first talk a movie I will saw and we want to we're off to the boyscout generally three years in a room while we were a scout to. The third year we want down the book we want every event that they had going down as their. Social activities around while they're dancing master. Well you're too much of us boys run together and if we want to be a visual aid raucous back router they'd throw rocks at us from ourselves. We done then same way when they'd gone robot or young would put the rock to them run them back a baby until it was our playtime we would have boxed up or you know posh separate things.

We have many Churchouse we have beauty contests. We would. You know boy. What a pain in your little prostate he got hurt by your life. I remember that. We run in Edith. It's not always just a bad guy and we really we want to use more girls coming there from different places and you know maybe they was going to reach more senior didn't we we've just been drawn needs and we won that the beauty contest for us and things like that and then they'd have they'd have barbecues you know and we had a neck you tour in ECU Sunday school and their teachers. Were labor to take a dip in and they would have parties forced in their homes we call them social. Did you ever go to any beach or. Yeah and we had to be home by a certain time and that was an era when dancing and other days were just considered

sane so we had to slip and dance and. It all started I think with a game they call beta liner which must have come over with the Pilgrims and the Mayflower and the Mayflower Yes and when they clapped their hands it was saying the parents didn't mind them dancing today. Well once they got we got them to accept they I wasn't one of the group I never could square that. But once they got the parents to accept that form of dancing like they got some of the boys to play guitar and three guitars and there was one boy played the mandolin real good and they really racist in 4 or mad they had found out about their day and he didn't like it very much but it was oh you know we were young and didn't do anything that was wrong. I mean really Bay and we played baseball and basketball

and Ray and now that we camped and hurried and feverish did a lot of things like people do their days for their buddies are different Wilder had about a half a baseball teams. And different parts of the community would probably you know each other and then Wilder and Davidson always had a big driver really going home between them say of us which sometimes in volved a fat fees to give someone a view. Everybody in the community could Swayam just about with those they learned to swim early you know. He's way down and lever Holland they go to what called Wouter pond which was a mining pond that they got water out of for the temple. And then they also had a pond at the hive that they piped water from when we would go there and swim and fish too they had lots of

small fish like perch and bass and those we used to make chocolate candy a lot of Woodrow Wilson and he used to teach in wilder and also a park ranger and he was a professor of history down in Tennessee take Woodrow and I used to be good candy makers and we could see who could make the best chocolate candy every once in a while Wilder had real good basketball danger you had to have to go off to hunt competition because they could they could take on anybody around you know in a small town and I do a good job. When I played basketball tennis. In baseball. We call it entirely. We had to base it just like playing baseball resolve but we always played to entirely they had them a Masonic Order they had a large and then seems like the Eastern Star.

And that's that's about the only civic organizations I remember and of course you had church functions you know all the people went to school high as that long building there when we first went there. My dad and his father. And the other good people I don't mean they were the only ones with other good people kept Sunday school. We are always had Sunday school you know. Not much church because there wasn't always the preacher there but preachers would come when they found out. They could get some money while they'd come and they and the company would take so much pay out of the miner's. Pay you know to give to the preacher. They always made pretty good too. When they built the new church house. The Baptists organized a church and they and the Methodists they had organized a church there too. Well the Baptists would meet there one

Sunday and everybody Methodists and Baptists both go next Sunday the Methodists and have their church and the same damn thing that way one I was meet one Sunday and won the next. Lol they wasn't any friction over this. Everybody just worked together and they would know purity and they all only service they had it in this group. Well they'd have a preacher to call me on and they called it a pound and bacteria he'd stay a week or two. So I will give a pound to be into a can of black bird wounder head to mean the teacher a chasse that everyone went to. So there wasn't any different denominations. Well you would have preachers that would be there you know to hold a revival wants and while that was about it and had lots of brush arbor meetings in the

summer time I had to go out and I would encourage you from polled and put them up and cook them brochures with your current amp over the top of them and be able to grow better if you can. Little poor peer to peer for the preacher to stand behind and I are doing it. Not many people I'd say two or three hundred at most would be. Regular attendance at church. Maybe maybe a Hundred Sundays too. We had the best. There wasn't theatre scanty. And the best teachers we had pressure there being a baby. I can remember that the morning he came to our. I remember it when he was up. And the up stairs rooms and we looked down to the floor Mr. Brady you know and he was one of the I think the best teacher that's ever been in that part of the country and this part of the country I don't know when I was in high school who I grew up here. House of a mind

maybe say that I have more clout more hit me with out your brain. How many teachers do that today he'd tell me to come up. THE MAN. Would give so much a month the elder their pay for school. Now. Maybe it was three dollars I don't remember how much but I know every man had a son. I mean that in my cum they would you know gladly gave whatever was required and because they they wanted their kids to have an education. And they too took something each month out of their pay for the doctor but. If there was a funeral it took so much out for the funeral. And if a man got sick and couldn't work they'd take so much out of every person's body to make some money up for hay I'm told he could get way out and they were very

generous hearted people or good people. When I went to elementary school we had the large storehouse. And then sometime after the strike around thirty two or three the building was it was a huge building Wilder. Had about 2000 people and roughly I guess it was probably the largest to build in the county at the time this was a company office where the records of the amount of money that the man in the mines and they issued script against it or if you. Had any money left for the month of the middle of the month they would pay you all from the case. The next was a company store Mrs. Worldly community gathered to bother most of the bother of goods and stuff and it was gone it was social some too for the man. The third was a post-office and everybody wants the post-office because that's where they got the mail and general delivery at the post office that album

like separate to my own when I asked for it but your name and we had a post mistress from mine Ronnie that post-office was there young women like to go with. I asked for my own when they wanted to get in a book they would make me take off at recess from school go down to the post-office. We went to the store nearly every day. Put on our best right yes. And with the stuff for everybody. And of course we had to have enough food to fix lunch. For the dinner book see. And we had to keep cake all the time we made cakes cakes cakes all of the main company store was wilder and then of Hialeah and they had a store there that was run by different people over the years. They were just general stores you could get anything on the general merchandise say so a little bit of everything you

know the feed for the horses. Kaos hogs that kind of. Farm food for farm animals and then just the general run of groceries is the biggest this company store was ill some in the community because. The man would congregate around my store all day you. Drank cokes and stuff like that on the weekends and Saturdays I'd be. Gone. The store. They sold their goods a little higher than. Neighboring. Owned stores would say was a bunch of them around outside the town of Raleigh that three down the road was all over for down the merchants it was selling down there of the company's store with

the man would maybe talk about it and get on their flights and stuff like that. By the whiskey down on the store and there was some very fine people working. You might say they were slave to that mine. They took all the advice that poor housing. And one they paid him in that screw up. And they had to go without leather collar saying that when they had a script on a place a computer trade it was dial deaf commerce there. And they just took advantage of the law. Things like that that a company could have been adjusted in and give a bonfire showing along the sleigh and the House of course the housing conditions in this section of the country. They wasn't up to par or. Consider what they had most of the people I know are well soon come to want to work and they built so no houses no I don't remember as they moved but they were best pals with the North County.

When we first moved there and I was just a small child the company at Christmas time had a bag of candy and fruit stuff for every child. In the pile and they bought a piece of clothing material grist material for every lady to make her agree. And I felt that was the last thing I'd ever heard. W d Boyer was a general manager of Fentress coal and coke company in the 1920s. Bill Bilbrey shares with many other people good memories of the Boyer family the Bowens Lorena rest of them young people my mom. This is no you know especially in the young people and while they live too nice for I make them up the wall. Before summer they had rocked the cold the cottage and the user brought a bunch of guests with them. Young people from around there and they'd ride horses and stuff you know and they're not all company management

was regarded as highly as the Boyers mining company was king of the hill buddy used to knew bad it was that sample. I mean you lived in their house or use their doctor and play guardian for you always always somebody hanging around was paying them as a matter of some relation. He had a couple of turf you know and I got that far out of somebody or something. I'm glad they're all grown. Do you think in a mining town and in the environment that you have had more of an influence on your life then if you had grown up on a farm or something some other topic environment.

Where everyone goes they have certain environmental factors that impress them one way or another. And of course your your educational background as is all part of it. And he just looked at things differently.