Bell Hill Cemetery Listings Located in Hartford, Tn Mary Cagle 1875 1954 Rhoda Ball Bullington Feb. 17, 1863 Dec. 7, 1950 W. D. Bullington Dec. 3, 1861 June 26, 1929 Eulas J. Hall - May 23, 1926 May 25, 1926 Infant Son of Jim and Ollie Hall James Infant Son of Ada and Jessie James "Ma" Nan Hall Dec. 31, 1933 Flora Bell Hensley Bullington June 11, 1877 May 26, 1960 Caleb Bullington April 26, 1860 July 6, 1930 Ella L. Bullington Jan. 6, 1903 Jan. 13, 1995 Burl Bullington Mar. 26, 1913 ?? 1915 Mattie Bullington Born & Died Feb. 1905 Ressie Bullington Watson Ellison June 6, 1899 Nov. 21, 1972 William Charles Bullington June 16, 1907 Sept. 21, 1997 Curtis Paul Bullington Oct. 13, 1916 Sept. 13, 1978 Allie Simmons Hall Dec. 21, 1900 Nov. 17, 1938 Jake Hall Dec. 9, 1897 Sept. 3, 1931 Emeline Ellison Hall June 3, 1873 May 13, 1926 Wife of Samuel D. Hall Rachel Hall Hall Feb. 9, 1887 May 17, 1921 Wife of James Alec Hall Frances Bullington Hall Mar. 10, 1867 Mar. 27, 1960 John Wesley Hall Feb. 28, 1865 Mar. 7, 1958 Annie Williamson June 3, 1917 Oct. 25, 1918 Isaac Williamson Sept. 19, 1916 Aug. 1, 1918 Henry Edgar Hall Jan. 23, 1911 June 18, 1911 William McGaha Dec. 9, 1922 Flora Hall McGaha 1900 1957 Dewey Fincher 1913 Sarah Lou Fincher 1878 1913 Hiter Hall Dec. 21, 1912 Aug. 17, 1977 Jacob Hall July 13, 1877 Sept. 30, 1956 Amanda Hensley Hall Feb. 23, 1880 Feb. 19, 1935 Hider J. Hensley 1865 1937 Lewis Baxter Feb. 4, 1904 June 19, 1961 Emma Hall Baxter June 7, 1908 Nov. 14, 1996 Ottis Hall Sept. 29, 1911 May 9, 1980 Blair Hall June 1, 1934 June 9, 1934 Graylin Hall Infant Dec. 31, 1957 Seth Hall Mar. 18, 1916 May 12, 1983 Riley Hensley Jan. 20, 1884 Jan. 8, 1945 Kathern Cassey Wines Aug. 3, 1886 Jan. 11, 1968 Wife of Jasper Wines Bertha Wines Raines Feb. 4, 1912 Jan. 28, 1972 Wife of Ira Raines J. R. Hensley 1925 1980 Milburn Hall Feb. 14, 1888 Jan. 3, 1975 Creta Banks Hall Oct. 19, 1896 Sept. 9, 1984 Ila Hall Feb. 12, 1930 Jan. 2, 1986 Infant son of O. and C. Hall 1937 Billy Briggs - unmarked grave James Cemetery (Located Behind Bell Hill Church) Willie James Flu WWI October 13, 1918 Son of Ike James Isaac James Feb. 14, 1857 Aug. 4, 1922 Nancy Jane Bullington James March 10, 1865 June 28, 1948 Tom W. Cogdill Aug. 26, 1882 Dec. 13, 1943 Thanks to Cousin Belinda Hall Hilliard who compiled this list of our ancestors resting place! *Note: The background on this page is of the original Bell Hill Church! A Photos of the New Bell Hill Church. The fire of 1991 destroyed the former church. Family members were saddened, but were quick to build it back! "I'll Meet You By the River" 1. Over on the bright elysian shore, Where the howling tempest comes no more, Alto lead - I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river) Alto - some sweet day (Sop. - some happy day). Far beyond the partings and the tomb, Where the charming roses ever bloom, I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river some sweet day) some happy day. CHORUS I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river) some sweet day (Sop. - some happy day). By the bright and shining river, (Sop. Bright and shining river) far away; (Sop. - so far away;) After we have flown these prison bars to a city far beyond the stars, I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river some sweet day) some happy day. 2. After all the sorrow and the strife, After all the trouble of this life, I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river) some sweet day. (Sop. some happy day.) When we gather far beyond the sea, What a happy meeting that will be, I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river some sweet day.) some happy day. Repeat chorus. 3. After all the disappointments here, After all the shadows disappear, I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river) some sweet day; (Sop. - some happy day;) When the evening sun at last goes down, When we go to wear a robe and crown, I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river some sweet day) some happy day. Repeat Chorus The piano at Bell Hill was donated by James Robert Hall, "Singing" Sam Hall`s son, of Greenville, S.C. Hovie Lister, the famous gospel music pianist and singer, gave piano lessons to the neighborhood children on that piano when he was a young man. Hovie would ride his bicycle to the Hall`s home and teach Bea, Faye, Mildred and Furman. Some of the neighbor´s children would come for lessons as well. Estil Bible 1880 – 1976 After the close of school at Mosheim in May of 1899 1 came home and worked on the, farm. The next summer I took the examination for teachers under Prof. Frank W. Parrott who was Superintendent of Schools at that time and applied for a school in the old 13th District. Mort Bible was School Director in that district then and he wrote me that he didn't get my letter in time, but if there was an opening later, he would give me first chance. About two weeks later, I recieved a letter from Mort asking me to come up and he would give me a contract for a school. I went up to see Mort and got a contract for the school now known as Bell Hill (then known as Bullingtons Gap). Originally the school was given to Oscar Easterly who lived at Parrottsville. Oscar taught three days the first week and went home. He came back the next Monday and taught one day and went to Mort that same evening and gave up the school. I found a boarding place at A.L. Rollins and took up school the next Monday morning. For the first week there were only eight or nine pupils who came to school. I began to make inquiries as to why there were no more children coming to school when I knew that there were 40 or more who belonged to the school. The main excuse the ay parents gave for their children not attending school was that they had no books and they were simply too poor to buy them. Some claimed that their children had no clothes to wear to school. I told each family to send their children to school at least one day and I would examine them and find out what books they needed, send to town and buy the books and give the books to the children if only they would send their children to school. To those families who said their children had no suitable clothing, I told them to send them on that there were none of us who wore fine clothes and that if their clothes were patched all over it would make no difference. Several families took me up on my proposition and I found that about all the children needed books for the first and second grades. Books were cheap in those days and by investing about three or four dollars in books for the kids, I built up the school to about 40 students. There was more trouble that developed the first of the school. The school house was built on a sloping place and the lower end was about three feet off the ground and rested on wooden pillars. The hogs in the neighborhood would sleep under the floor and made a perfect breeding place for fleas. My cousin, Emoline Hall, who had four children in school first called my attention to the fleas. I, myself, for some reason I cannot explain am "Fleaproof." They won't stay on me one minute if they can get off. Emoline got up a bunch of neighbors one Saturday and raked all under the house and underpinned it. In just a few days the fleas all disappeared. I found out later that the fleas were the cause of Oscar Easterly giving up the school. Oscar told me that he could rake them off his pants leg with his pocket knife. Mrs. Hall told me that when her children came home of an evening, her youngest child, Minnie, had red blotches all over her body caused by flea bites. I have noticed all my life that there was a great difference in the affect fleas had on different people. I heard of one man who said that if a flea was to get on him while on Gay Street at Knoxville that if there was no place for privacy handy, he would pull off his britches in the middle of the street to get rid of it. Among the students that came to school that year was a little boy who I think was in his second year of school. He knew the alphabet by heart. He could repeat the alphabet from A to Z, but show him one letter with the rest covered up and he could not name it to save his life. He had an old "Blue Back speller" and the page containing the alphabet had been used so much that it was so dirty the letters were almost obliterated. His name was Glen Ball. I worried along with him for a week or more. Then, one day I said, "Glen, we have been on that page long enough. Let's turn over to a new page. There are plenty of ABC's in the rest of the book.," So I started him off spelling words with two and three letters and teaching him to pronounce the words. I could see that as soon as he found out that the letters were used to spell words, he began to perk up and take interest in learning. In just a few days, he knew every letter in the alphabet and was spelling and pronouncing words. One evening on my way. home from school, I met my pupil's father on the road. When he saw me, he grabbed my hand and asked "Mr. Bible, How on earth did you ever learn Glenn his ABC's. I have tried and tried to learn him but I couldn't do it." I have not seen nor heard from this Little boy since that time and I would very much Like to know how he fared in life. There was another amusing incident that took place while I was teaching there that I will never forget. There was a family named James living in a hollow just below the school house. There were several children in the family who attended school that fall and they would go home for their noon meal. I remember three of the boy's names which were Frank, Jessee and Johnny, but I have forgotten the girl's names. There was a long level ridge running back from the school house where I frequently took a walk at the noon hour. The south side of the mountain was not very steep, but the north side was almost straight up and down. One day while I was taking my walk I heard the awfulest racket. I went to the edge of the mountain to see what it was all about. When I came sight of the James house, I saw that they had a lot of wheat spread out on the porch floor. One of the older boys had a flail and the other older boy, Frank - I think, was picking the banjo and the rest of the children were dancing on the wheat. It looked to me like a pretty effective way of threshing wheat, considering that they were using every means available on the job and enjoying it, too. About three o'clock, I saw the older boys pass the school house with the wheat loaded on a sled with a bull hitched to the sled, taking the wheat to Link Rollins' mill to have it cleaned and ground into flour. Now, I wish to say that most every family who lived in the mountains in those day would plant a small acreage of wheat, sufficient for their needs and harvest it, saving every head, and flail it out by hand. Also, that each family had some kind of animal broken for work to do their heavy hauling and plowing, either a steer, bull, horse, mule or, in some cases that I have heard of, a milk cow was trained to do the job, although have never actually seen a milk cow used as a draft animal. Also, I wish to say that the people with whom I came in contact were the friendliest, warm-hearted and accommodating people to be found anywhere, even in Cocke County which has long been famous for warm hearted and accommodating people. These articles were written between 1972-1975 by Estil Barb Bible for a local newspaper (the "Greeneville Times" in Tennessee). He wrote these articles after he was past ninety years of age, and they appear just as he typed them. As a memorial to him, and to preserve a bit of the past; these articles were published by his granddaughters, Janie Bible Hurley and Elizabeth Bible Wiley. Transcribed by Terri Strotman Brown. Back to the Hall/Bible Page
Mary Cagle 1875 1954 Rhoda Ball Bullington Feb. 17, 1863 Dec. 7, 1950 W. D. Bullington Dec. 3, 1861 June 26, 1929 Eulas J. Hall - May 23, 1926 May 25, 1926 Infant Son of Jim and Ollie Hall James Infant Son of Ada and Jessie James "Ma" Nan Hall Dec. 31, 1933 Flora Bell Hensley Bullington June 11, 1877 May 26, 1960 Caleb Bullington April 26, 1860 July 6, 1930 Ella L. Bullington Jan. 6, 1903 Jan. 13, 1995 Burl Bullington Mar. 26, 1913 ?? 1915 Mattie Bullington Born & Died Feb. 1905 Ressie Bullington Watson Ellison June 6, 1899 Nov. 21, 1972 William Charles Bullington June 16, 1907 Sept. 21, 1997 Curtis Paul Bullington Oct. 13, 1916 Sept. 13, 1978 Allie Simmons Hall Dec. 21, 1900 Nov. 17, 1938 Jake Hall Dec. 9, 1897 Sept. 3, 1931 Emeline Ellison Hall June 3, 1873 May 13, 1926 Wife of Samuel D. Hall Rachel Hall Hall Feb. 9, 1887 May 17, 1921 Wife of James Alec Hall Frances Bullington Hall Mar. 10, 1867 Mar. 27, 1960 John Wesley Hall Feb. 28, 1865 Mar. 7, 1958 Annie Williamson June 3, 1917 Oct. 25, 1918 Isaac Williamson Sept. 19, 1916 Aug. 1, 1918 Henry Edgar Hall Jan. 23, 1911 June 18, 1911 William McGaha Dec. 9, 1922 Flora Hall McGaha 1900 1957 Dewey Fincher 1913 Sarah Lou Fincher 1878 1913 Hiter Hall Dec. 21, 1912 Aug. 17, 1977 Jacob Hall July 13, 1877 Sept. 30, 1956 Amanda Hensley Hall Feb. 23, 1880 Feb. 19, 1935 Hider J. Hensley 1865 1937 Lewis Baxter Feb. 4, 1904 June 19, 1961 Emma Hall Baxter June 7, 1908 Nov. 14, 1996 Ottis Hall Sept. 29, 1911 May 9, 1980 Blair Hall June 1, 1934 June 9, 1934 Graylin Hall Infant Dec. 31, 1957 Seth Hall Mar. 18, 1916 May 12, 1983 Riley Hensley Jan. 20, 1884 Jan. 8, 1945 Kathern Cassey Wines Aug. 3, 1886 Jan. 11, 1968 Wife of Jasper Wines Bertha Wines Raines Feb. 4, 1912 Jan. 28, 1972 Wife of Ira Raines J. R. Hensley 1925 1980 Milburn Hall Feb. 14, 1888 Jan. 3, 1975 Creta Banks Hall Oct. 19, 1896 Sept. 9, 1984 Ila Hall Feb. 12, 1930 Jan. 2, 1986 Infant son of O. and C. Hall 1937 Billy Briggs - unmarked grave James Cemetery (Located Behind Bell Hill Church) Willie James Flu WWI October 13, 1918 Son of Ike James Isaac James Feb. 14, 1857 Aug. 4, 1922 Nancy Jane Bullington James March 10, 1865 June 28, 1948 Tom W. Cogdill Aug. 26, 1882 Dec. 13, 1943 Thanks to Cousin Belinda Hall Hilliard who compiled this list of our ancestors resting place! *Note: The background on this page is of the original Bell Hill Church! A Photos of the New Bell Hill Church. The fire of 1991 destroyed the former church. Family members were saddened, but were quick to build it back! "I'll Meet You By the River" 1. Over on the bright elysian shore, Where the howling tempest comes no more, Alto lead - I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river) Alto - some sweet day (Sop. - some happy day). Far beyond the partings and the tomb, Where the charming roses ever bloom, I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river some sweet day) some happy day. CHORUS I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river) some sweet day (Sop. - some happy day). By the bright and shining river, (Sop. Bright and shining river) far away; (Sop. - so far away;) After we have flown these prison bars to a city far beyond the stars, I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river some sweet day) some happy day. 2. After all the sorrow and the strife, After all the trouble of this life, I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river) some sweet day. (Sop. some happy day.) When we gather far beyond the sea, What a happy meeting that will be, I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river some sweet day.) some happy day. Repeat chorus. 3. After all the disappointments here, After all the shadows disappear, I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river) some sweet day; (Sop. - some happy day;) When the evening sun at last goes down, When we go to wear a robe and crown, I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river some sweet day) some happy day. Repeat Chorus The piano at Bell Hill was donated by James Robert Hall, "Singing" Sam Hall`s son, of Greenville, S.C. Hovie Lister, the famous gospel music pianist and singer, gave piano lessons to the neighborhood children on that piano when he was a young man. Hovie would ride his bicycle to the Hall`s home and teach Bea, Faye, Mildred and Furman. Some of the neighbor´s children would come for lessons as well. Estil Bible 1880 – 1976 After the close of school at Mosheim in May of 1899 1 came home and worked on the, farm. The next summer I took the examination for teachers under Prof. Frank W. Parrott who was Superintendent of Schools at that time and applied for a school in the old 13th District. Mort Bible was School Director in that district then and he wrote me that he didn't get my letter in time, but if there was an opening later, he would give me first chance. About two weeks later, I recieved a letter from Mort asking me to come up and he would give me a contract for a school. I went up to see Mort and got a contract for the school now known as Bell Hill (then known as Bullingtons Gap). Originally the school was given to Oscar Easterly who lived at Parrottsville. Oscar taught three days the first week and went home. He came back the next Monday and taught one day and went to Mort that same evening and gave up the school. I found a boarding place at A.L. Rollins and took up school the next Monday morning. For the first week there were only eight or nine pupils who came to school. I began to make inquiries as to why there were no more children coming to school when I knew that there were 40 or more who belonged to the school. The main excuse the ay parents gave for their children not attending school was that they had no books and they were simply too poor to buy them. Some claimed that their children had no clothes to wear to school. I told each family to send their children to school at least one day and I would examine them and find out what books they needed, send to town and buy the books and give the books to the children if only they would send their children to school. To those families who said their children had no suitable clothing, I told them to send them on that there were none of us who wore fine clothes and that if their clothes were patched all over it would make no difference. Several families took me up on my proposition and I found that about all the children needed books for the first and second grades. Books were cheap in those days and by investing about three or four dollars in books for the kids, I built up the school to about 40 students. There was more trouble that developed the first of the school. The school house was built on a sloping place and the lower end was about three feet off the ground and rested on wooden pillars. The hogs in the neighborhood would sleep under the floor and made a perfect breeding place for fleas. My cousin, Emoline Hall, who had four children in school first called my attention to the fleas. I, myself, for some reason I cannot explain am "Fleaproof." They won't stay on me one minute if they can get off. Emoline got up a bunch of neighbors one Saturday and raked all under the house and underpinned it. In just a few days the fleas all disappeared. I found out later that the fleas were the cause of Oscar Easterly giving up the school. Oscar told me that he could rake them off his pants leg with his pocket knife. Mrs. Hall told me that when her children came home of an evening, her youngest child, Minnie, had red blotches all over her body caused by flea bites. I have noticed all my life that there was a great difference in the affect fleas had on different people. I heard of one man who said that if a flea was to get on him while on Gay Street at Knoxville that if there was no place for privacy handy, he would pull off his britches in the middle of the street to get rid of it. Among the students that came to school that year was a little boy who I think was in his second year of school. He knew the alphabet by heart. He could repeat the alphabet from A to Z, but show him one letter with the rest covered up and he could not name it to save his life. He had an old "Blue Back speller" and the page containing the alphabet had been used so much that it was so dirty the letters were almost obliterated. His name was Glen Ball. I worried along with him for a week or more. Then, one day I said, "Glen, we have been on that page long enough. Let's turn over to a new page. There are plenty of ABC's in the rest of the book.," So I started him off spelling words with two and three letters and teaching him to pronounce the words. I could see that as soon as he found out that the letters were used to spell words, he began to perk up and take interest in learning. In just a few days, he knew every letter in the alphabet and was spelling and pronouncing words. One evening on my way. home from school, I met my pupil's father on the road. When he saw me, he grabbed my hand and asked "Mr. Bible, How on earth did you ever learn Glenn his ABC's. I have tried and tried to learn him but I couldn't do it." I have not seen nor heard from this Little boy since that time and I would very much Like to know how he fared in life. There was another amusing incident that took place while I was teaching there that I will never forget. There was a family named James living in a hollow just below the school house. There were several children in the family who attended school that fall and they would go home for their noon meal. I remember three of the boy's names which were Frank, Jessee and Johnny, but I have forgotten the girl's names. There was a long level ridge running back from the school house where I frequently took a walk at the noon hour. The south side of the mountain was not very steep, but the north side was almost straight up and down. One day while I was taking my walk I heard the awfulest racket. I went to the edge of the mountain to see what it was all about. When I came sight of the James house, I saw that they had a lot of wheat spread out on the porch floor. One of the older boys had a flail and the other older boy, Frank - I think, was picking the banjo and the rest of the children were dancing on the wheat. It looked to me like a pretty effective way of threshing wheat, considering that they were using every means available on the job and enjoying it, too. About three o'clock, I saw the older boys pass the school house with the wheat loaded on a sled with a bull hitched to the sled, taking the wheat to Link Rollins' mill to have it cleaned and ground into flour. Now, I wish to say that most every family who lived in the mountains in those day would plant a small acreage of wheat, sufficient for their needs and harvest it, saving every head, and flail it out by hand. Also, that each family had some kind of animal broken for work to do their heavy hauling and plowing, either a steer, bull, horse, mule or, in some cases that I have heard of, a milk cow was trained to do the job, although have never actually seen a milk cow used as a draft animal. Also, I wish to say that the people with whom I came in contact were the friendliest, warm-hearted and accommodating people to be found anywhere, even in Cocke County which has long been famous for warm hearted and accommodating people. These articles were written between 1972-1975 by Estil Barb Bible for a local newspaper (the "Greeneville Times" in Tennessee). He wrote these articles after he was past ninety years of age, and they appear just as he typed them. As a memorial to him, and to preserve a bit of the past; these articles were published by his granddaughters, Janie Bible Hurley and Elizabeth Bible Wiley. Transcribed by Terri Strotman Brown. Back to the Hall/Bible Page
James Cemetery
(Located Behind Bell Hill Church) Willie James Flu WWI October 13, 1918 Son of Ike James Isaac James Feb. 14, 1857 Aug. 4, 1922 Nancy Jane Bullington James March 10, 1865 June 28, 1948 Tom W. Cogdill Aug. 26, 1882 Dec. 13, 1943
Thanks to Cousin Belinda Hall Hilliard who compiled this list of our ancestors resting place!
*Note: The background on this page is of the original Bell Hill Church!
A Photos of the New Bell Hill Church. The fire of 1991 destroyed the former church. Family members were saddened, but were quick to build it back!
"I'll Meet You By the River"
1. Over on the bright elysian shore, Where the howling tempest comes no more, Alto lead - I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river) Alto - some sweet day (Sop. - some happy day). Far beyond the partings and the tomb, Where the charming roses ever bloom, I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river some sweet day) some happy day.
CHORUS
I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river) some sweet day (Sop. - some happy day). By the bright and shining river, (Sop. Bright and shining river) far away; (Sop. - so far away;) After we have flown these prison bars to a city far beyond the stars, I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river some sweet day) some happy day.
2. After all the sorrow and the strife, After all the trouble of this life, I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river) some sweet day. (Sop. some happy day.) When we gather far beyond the sea, What a happy meeting that will be, I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river some sweet day.) some happy day.
Repeat chorus.
3. After all the disappointments here, After all the shadows disappear, I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river) some sweet day; (Sop. - some happy day;) When the evening sun at last goes down, When we go to wear a robe and crown, I'll meet you by the river, (Soprano - Meet you by the river some sweet day) some happy day. Repeat Chorus
The piano at Bell Hill was donated by James Robert Hall, "Singing" Sam Hall`s son, of Greenville, S.C. Hovie Lister, the famous gospel music pianist and singer, gave piano lessons to the neighborhood children on that piano when he was a young man. Hovie would ride his bicycle to the Hall`s home and teach Bea, Faye, Mildred and Furman. Some of the neighbor´s children would come for lessons as well.
Estil Bible 1880 – 1976 After the close of school at Mosheim in May of 1899 1 came home and worked on the, farm. The next summer I took the examination for teachers under Prof. Frank W. Parrott who was Superintendent of Schools at that time and applied for a school in the old 13th District. Mort Bible was School Director in that district then and he wrote me that he didn't get my letter in time, but if there was an opening later, he would give me first chance. About two weeks later, I recieved a letter from Mort asking me to come up and he would give me a contract for a school. I went up to see Mort and got a contract for the school now known as Bell Hill (then known as Bullingtons Gap). Originally the school was given to Oscar Easterly who lived at Parrottsville. Oscar taught three days the first week and went home. He came back the next Monday and taught one day and went to Mort that same evening and gave up the school. I found a boarding place at A.L. Rollins and took up school the next Monday morning. For the first week there were only eight or nine pupils who came to school. I began to make inquiries as to why there were no more children coming to school when I knew that there were 40 or more who belonged to the school. The main excuse the ay parents gave for their children not attending school was that they had no books and they were simply too poor to buy them. Some claimed that their children had no clothes to wear to school. I told each family to send their children to school at least one day and I would examine them and find out what books they needed, send to town and buy the books and give the books to the children if only they would send their children to school. To those families who said their children had no suitable clothing, I told them to send them on that there were none of us who wore fine clothes and that if their clothes were patched all over it would make no difference. Several families took me up on my proposition and I found that about all the children needed books for the first and second grades. Books were cheap in those days and by investing about three or four dollars in books for the kids, I built up the school to about 40 students. There was more trouble that developed the first of the school. The school house was built on a sloping place and the lower end was about three feet off the ground and rested on wooden pillars. The hogs in the neighborhood would sleep under the floor and made a perfect breeding place for fleas. My cousin, Emoline Hall, who had four children in school first called my attention to the fleas. I, myself, for some reason I cannot explain am "Fleaproof." They won't stay on me one minute if they can get off. Emoline got up a bunch of neighbors one Saturday and raked all under the house and underpinned it. In just a few days the fleas all disappeared. I found out later that the fleas were the cause of Oscar Easterly giving up the school. Oscar told me that he could rake them off his pants leg with his pocket knife. Mrs. Hall told me that when her children came home of an evening, her youngest child, Minnie, had red blotches all over her body caused by flea bites. I have noticed all my life that there was a great difference in the affect fleas had on different people. I heard of one man who said that if a flea was to get on him while on Gay Street at Knoxville that if there was no place for privacy handy, he would pull off his britches in the middle of the street to get rid of it. Among the students that came to school that year was a little boy who I think was in his second year of school. He knew the alphabet by heart. He could repeat the alphabet from A to Z, but show him one letter with the rest covered up and he could not name it to save his life. He had an old "Blue Back speller" and the page containing the alphabet had been used so much that it was so dirty the letters were almost obliterated. His name was Glen Ball. I worried along with him for a week or more. Then, one day I said, "Glen, we have been on that page long enough. Let's turn over to a new page. There are plenty of ABC's in the rest of the book.," So I started him off spelling words with two and three letters and teaching him to pronounce the words. I could see that as soon as he found out that the letters were used to spell words, he began to perk up and take interest in learning. In just a few days, he knew every letter in the alphabet and was spelling and pronouncing words. One evening on my way. home from school, I met my pupil's father on the road. When he saw me, he grabbed my hand and asked "Mr. Bible, How on earth did you ever learn Glenn his ABC's. I have tried and tried to learn him but I couldn't do it." I have not seen nor heard from this Little boy since that time and I would very much Like to know how he fared in life. There was another amusing incident that took place while I was teaching there that I will never forget. There was a family named James living in a hollow just below the school house. There were several children in the family who attended school that fall and they would go home for their noon meal. I remember three of the boy's names which were Frank, Jessee and Johnny, but I have forgotten the girl's names. There was a long level ridge running back from the school house where I frequently took a walk at the noon hour. The south side of the mountain was not very steep, but the north side was almost straight up and down. One day while I was taking my walk I heard the awfulest racket. I went to the edge of the mountain to see what it was all about. When I came sight of the James house, I saw that they had a lot of wheat spread out on the porch floor. One of the older boys had a flail and the other older boy, Frank - I think, was picking the banjo and the rest of the children were dancing on the wheat. It looked to me like a pretty effective way of threshing wheat, considering that they were using every means available on the job and enjoying it, too. About three o'clock, I saw the older boys pass the school house with the wheat loaded on a sled with a bull hitched to the sled, taking the wheat to Link Rollins' mill to have it cleaned and ground into flour. Now, I wish to say that most every family who lived in the mountains in those day would plant a small acreage of wheat, sufficient for their needs and harvest it, saving every head, and flail it out by hand. Also, that each family had some kind of animal broken for work to do their heavy hauling and plowing, either a steer, bull, horse, mule or, in some cases that I have heard of, a milk cow was trained to do the job, although have never actually seen a milk cow used as a draft animal. Also, I wish to say that the people with whom I came in contact were the friendliest, warm-hearted and accommodating people to be found anywhere, even in Cocke County which has long been famous for warm hearted and accommodating people. These articles were written between 1972-1975 by Estil Barb Bible for a local newspaper (the "Greeneville Times" in Tennessee). He wrote these articles after he was past ninety years of age, and they appear just as he typed them. As a memorial to him, and to preserve a bit of the past; these articles were published by his granddaughters, Janie Bible Hurley and Elizabeth Bible Wiley. Transcribed by Terri Strotman Brown.
Back to the Hall/Bible Page