Passed and Presence: 1890s

Showing posts with label 1890s. Show all posts

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Dow Oakley

One of Henry Coleman Oakley's sons, Dow , left Gatlinburg, Tennessee, before 1900 and went to live near East Bernstadt and London, in Laurel County, Kentucky. Dow's uncle (Henry's brother) Leonard Henderson Oakley, Jr., lived there with his family.

Dow is shown here with his wife Bessie.

It all began for me with an English assignment back in the days of the original Foxfire series. My cousin and I completed a project that investigated the heritage of our neighborhood near the old Dora Kennedy School off Strawberry Plains Pike in Knox County, TN. In addition to researching our local history, we were also encouraged to speak to our relatives about our family tree. I realized then that I had an insatiable curiosity about such things.

Well, actually, I suppose it began much earlier than that, with the stories I heard from my father and my mother’s mother. Many a weekend afternoon throughout my childhood had been spent listening to “what happened where” as we rode with Daddy up Jones Cove Road to Longbranch and Wilhite in Sevier County. And practically every overnight visit with my grandmother Kitts was liberally sprinkled with tales from her childhood. I’d never thought about the concept of “storytelling” or “oral history.” It was just what we did. Here, I hope to share some of what I’ve heard and preserve it for future generations.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Dow Oakley

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