Appalachian History

August 14, 2020 Dave Tabler

Rachel Findlay, slave, won her freedom by suing Virginia. Twice.

It was illegal to enslave Native Americans in colonial VA. Rachel Findlay knew that, sued, & won her freedom. But then her life took a turn.
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July 21, 2020 Dave Tabler

In desperation she started to sing the old German hymn

She started singing this hymn in front of the returned children. When Rebecca heard the tune, she recognized it & came running to her mother.
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August 28, 2019 Dave Tabler

‘My name is Mike Fink!’ was the curt reply

He was the most famous of the keelboatmen, who plied the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers for two decades until displaced by steamboats.
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July 29, 2019 Dave Tabler

Blennerhassett Island – staging ground for high treason

The government proved that Burr raised money & men on Blennerhasset Island. But it couldn’t make anything above a misdemeanor charge stick.
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February 21, 2019 Dave Tabler

The accidental town

There is a town in Maryland’s westernmost county of Garrett that got its name from a happy accident.
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July 26, 2018 Dave Tabler

You hurd of the oald Virginia land grant

Virginia Land grants were issued for services rendered to the governor and to the colony. To stimulate colonization, a headright system offered fifty acres to any person who paid his own transportation to Virginia. Any individual or entrepreneur who paid transportation costs for one or more persons could obtain fifty acres per person.
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May 30, 2018 Dave Tabler

We have been living on the lands of the Shareholders of the Ohio Company

“La Vue Premiere,” by William P. Hopen, depicts the arrival of the first French immigrants who settled in this region in the early 18th century.
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January 17, 2018 Dave Tabler

The shock was so sudden and violent they could not stand it

On January 17, 1781, American General Daniel Morgan scored a stunning victory over British Lieutenant Colonel Banastre “Barbarous Ban” Tarleton’s regulars at the Battle of Cowpens.
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June 29, 2017 Dave Tabler

Squirrels in swarms eat up all the cornfields

Settlers were at the mercy of nature, facing unpredictable floods, droughts, high winds, hail, and early frosts. Other environmental hazards and pests, such as squirrels wolves, bears, wildcats, deer, and raccoons, were easier to deal with but no less dangerous to their well-being.
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July 24, 2014 Dave Tabler

New documentary ‘Daniel Boone and the Opening of the American West’ releases

After producing 6 documentaries, mostly on the Civil War, Kent Masterson Brown determined in 2011 to produce his next one on Daniel Boone.
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March 4, 2014 Dave Tabler

Book Excerpt: ‘John Sevier: Tennessee’s First Hero’

Archivist Gordon Belt examines the life of Tennessee’s first governor, John Sevier, through the lens of history and memory.
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June 12, 2013 Dave Tabler

Did Daniel Boone’s Ghostwriter Let Us See the Real Boone?

Daniel Boone’s biography was ghostwritten by at least one, and perhaps two, others. How does this affect our perception of Boone?
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May 18, 2011 Dave Tabler

How Thomas Jefferson’s rave review put Harper’s Ferry on the map

Think Harper’s Ferry, & three names come to mind: Robert Harper, George Washington, and abolitionist John Brown. Add Jefferson to that list.
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October 24, 2007 Dave Tabler

‘Daniel Boone’ opens at the Palace

For all his prowess, George O’Brien manages to project Daniel Boone as a shy, unassuming adventurer, which is presumably what the man was.
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June 26, 2007 Dave Tabler

The Good Doctor Walker

Doctor Thomas Walker was a friend and confidant of Thomas Jefferson. He discovered the Cumberland Gap (long before it had a European name).
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young boy sits in hay loft in Lost Cove NC

The vanished community of Lost Cove

Neither North Carolina nor Tennessee claimed jurisdiction over Lost Cove. The boundary line wasn’t clear when it was founded. Hence the name.

April 9, 2021 Appalachian speech / Revolutionary War / Wild foraging

Why are they called ‘Molly Moochers’?

How a Revolutionary War hero nicknamed ‘Molly Pitcher’ may have lent her moniker to the morel mushroom in Central Appalachia.

two horses with farm painting behind them

March 29, 2021 Farmers/farming

How can a 2-horse farm have no horses and STILL be a 2-horse farm?

Before modern mechanization, the size of farms across southern Appalachia was usually measured in horses. A two-horse farm was average size.

reward for info postcard for blaize harsell

March 24, 2021 Appalachian crime / Class issues / Courthouses / Legal profession / Moonshiners

Old money, blackmailed judges, moonshine and murder

He hiked without care through the lawless back country of Mitchell County. His tweeds & mahogany cane telegraphed ‘revenuer’ to moonshiners.

closeup from cover of 'blood and treasure'

March 22, 2021 Early settlers vs. native Americans / French & Indian War / Kentucky / Revolutionary War / Writers

Book Review: ‘Blood and Treasure–Daniel Boone and the Fight for America’s First Frontier’

Blood & Treasure gives crucial context to why Boone’s years in Kentucky were, at almost every stage, lived in the constant backdrop of “Indian troubles.”

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