So, My Ancestors Were "Hillbillies" (Pics)

[SPKrazy]

But they picked a beautiful place to live.

I'm not originally from Arkansas, but my ancestors lived here long before I ever was a gleam in my father's eye, etc.











All taken near Whitehouse, Arkansas

(grainy taken with phone camera)

[fizzgig]

1. those are great pictures

i love old cemeteries. did you take those today?

:hug:

[SPKrazy]

2. Yes, That Is Actually A Family Cemetary

from distant relatives, and not so distant relatives

Taken this morning.

:hug:

[fizzgig]

6. that is so cool

looks like the weather has gotten better out there.

[SPKrazy]

7. It Has Gotten Better

cloudy, a little cold

37 degrees right now

did the wind stop blowing?

[fizzgig]

8. it did

a few of the gusts freaked me out, including the one that made the door creak.

it's cold outside (again) but it's a beautiful day

[SPKrazy]

10. Good

I talked to my Dad in Estes Park today and he said it is still windy there but supposed to get a lot warmer soon.

[fizzgig]

12. supposed to be in the 40s next week

that will be a welcome change. of course, that is assuming it actually happens

[Oeditpus Rex]

3. I can't find Whitehouse on the map

Where's it at? :shrug:



Probably near Fayetteville or Fort Smith or Jonesboro or Little Rock. Nobody's ever from the southeast part. x(

[SPKrazy]

5. Southeast of Fayetteville

[Art_from_Ark]

68. There's some beautiful country in that part of the state

Madison County-- the only Arkansas county that had a state representative who voted against secession in 1861. And home to the Faubus Brothers.

[sasquatch]

4. What are Kentuckians BTW?

They have a nickname in my area (SW Ohio) they're known as briars, and they call themselves briars as well and people from surrounding states call them the same as well:shrug:

In fact my psychology professor called Kentuckians briars too once which shocked me as well. Because they decided to sit out the Civil War I can't exactly call them southerners either.

[Spider Jerusalem]

9. Never heard "briar" for "Kentuckian"...

My maternal grandfather was born in Louisville, and his ancestors had been in Kentucky since the late 1700's, and that's the first time I've heard that term...

[sasquatch]

15. I seriously have heard it ALL MY LIFE!

It must be because of the part of the country I live in.

[Spider Jerusalem]

22. Or the part of Kentucky you're near, maybe

I Googled it, and apparently it refers to people from the hilly part of eastern Kentucky, not Louisville or western KY...

[sasquatch]

65. That would be it then

All the Kentuckians in my area are from the Eastern half of Kentucky. Not to many people from Louisville in my area.

[idgiehkt]

16. off topic

but I am loving this song "Atom Bomb"! I am listening to it right now. Words just can't describe, lol. It, like, does things to me or something, lol.

It's my favorite so far, I am gonna sit and listen to the rest of them later on tonight. Thanks for doing that, when I opened checked my e-mail yesterday I freaked out because I thought I might have spam, lol; that is a new account and I was pretty suprised to have that much mail. It's nice to meet someone who knows about that kind of music since I am clueless. :hi:

[Spider Jerusalem]

19. You're welcome...

glad you like it :) (I'll send more later...using my bandwidth for something else right now)

[Zookeeper]

11. Beautiful!

I remember driving across a bridge through Little Rock and being very impressed by the beauty of the area.

Also crossed into Arkansas from Memphis and looked around a bit. My first time seeing cotton fields!

You are lucky that the family cemetary is so well-maintained. They are disappearing all over the south. (I think one I visited on a hilltop outside of Knoxville probably has a McMansion on it now... :-( )

I can see why you live there, Southpaw!

(BTW, I hope it didn't seem like I was flippant about your "Psychic" thread last night. I think I was too tired for a serious discussion about anything...:pals: )

[SPKrazy]

14. Thanks

I don't remember thinking anything was flippant

In fact I think I remember thinking your reply was similar to my thinking.

Anyway, it is a well maintained family cemetery, and certainly one of the best maintained family cemeteries I've visited of my family in different places.

:hug:

[Zookeeper]

18. Good....

I just felt like I wasn't doing your question justice. (Lazy brain last night...:+ )

[idgiehkt]

13. looks like beatiful country to me

kind of reminds me of appalachia a bit

:hi:

[SPKrazy]

17. Sure It's Similar

this is an area that has some of the highest "hills" in Arkansas, the Boston Mountains

[skygazer]

20. Nice pics - pretty country

My ancestors were Puritans but they eventually smartened up and moved to Vermont. Also pretty country and I loves me an old cemetery.

[SPKrazy]

21. Looks Very Similar Doesn't It

hills and valleys
that stone wall reminds me of Ireland

the cemetery is old and the stones look very old too, but much sturdier than a lot of old cemeteries had.

[skygazer]

23. The stones in that pic are the newer ones

Granite and from the last 100 years or so. These are some of the older ones in the same cemetery - they're slate and go back to the mid-1700's. There are also some soapstone headstones in some Vermont cemeteries, mostly from the early 1800's - they're cool but tend to discolor.

[SPKrazy]

35. I can't remember how far back the stones in that cemetery go

I'm thinking there are some deaths in the early 1800's and some markers in the very back that are unreadable.

Brand new ones there too.

The family that I'm related to still has relatives in that area, distant cousins looking suspiciously at me as I drove around and stopped to take pics :rofl:

[jarab]

24. Nice photos ..

One line of my KY hillbillies (Collins) became Arkansas hillbillies in the 1840s (the Ozarks). They liked those mountains and hollows, as best as can be ascertained from the records.

...O...

[SPKrazy]

32. Thanks

:hi:

[ulysses]

25. nice pics, southpaw

Reminds me of Sallisaw, OK, where we were briefly in December.

[SPKrazy]

26. Not Terribly Far From Sallisaw As The Crow Flies

probably 80 miles or so

:hi:

[KatyaR]

27. My mother grew up in Scranton, Arkansas,

about an hour or so east/northeast of Ft. Smith, up the road a ways from the Subiaco Abbey. That entire area is beautiful. I haven't been back there in years, but it's always a pretty drive. Mount Magazine outside Paris is really nice. There's a lake toward the top that's great to swim in.

The amazing thing about Arkansas is all these little cemeteries that are so beautifully kept. You find them out in the middle of nowhere, and they're always mowed with flowers on the graves. Years ago we found a little cemetery tucked under a hill on a curve in the road. You actually couldn't see it unless you got out of the car and climbed down the hill. It looked out over a beautiful meadow, and I've always thought it was the perfect resting place.

[SPKrazy]

30. Very Familiar With The Area Of Which You Speak

Scranton
:hi:

[KatyaR]

64. And I'm familiar with yours--

when I was little, Sallisaw was 'the last stop before Ft. Smith' (which is still is, I guess). I always got excited when we hit Sallisaw, because I knew we would soon stop in Ft. Smith and go shopping downtown.

[texanwitch]

28. Mine were to, on my father's side.

Well, not all of them.

Some were German and some native americans.

Some of the native americans mixed with the hillbillies.

[SPKrazy]

29. Mine Were A Mix Of

hillbillies, Native Americans

and on my mother's side Germans

[texanwitch]

33. There were a lot of mixing going on back then.

My father's side of the family goes from very white to very dark skin.

[SPKrazy]

34. People Are People

I'm a mix of all kinds of people.

:pals:

[texanwitch]

37. It is funny.

My brother is very dark skin, and I am very light.

I think that so cool.

[SPKrazy]

38. Cool!

I'm pretty fair skinned, and both my parents were.

[texanwitch]

39. We come in all shades.

My aunt, uncle, several cousins look native american, I wished I did.

I got the blond hair and green eyes.

[SPKrazy]

41. The Blonde Hair

and green eyes

my dad has a native american facial structure, but he also looks more scandinavian, or he did earlier in life.

Me? I surpose I look German or maybe even slavic?

:shrug:

[texanwitch]

49. I am such a mix, I am not sure what I look like.

:shrug:

[SPKrazy]

53. Ya Look Like TW!

and that's how yer supposed to look!

:pals:

[Cabcere]

31. What lovely pictures.

Whitehouse looks like a gorgeous place to live! :)

[SPKrazy]

36. It Does Indeed

it is very rural and most of what seems to be the economic mainstay there now is chicken farming. I imagine at one time there were large farms and lots of cattle there. There still are a lot of cattle that I saw there.

I have no idea how big Whitehouse is. It doesn't make it on any maps I've seen. I just know it is down highway 74 off of US 71 at Winslow, AR.

It is a short stretch of road that connects with another highway.

:)

[cwydro]

40. I wanna come visit.

I love the southland.

Carolina girl originally (though out of Brit parents).

[SPKrazy]

42. Come On And Visit

It isn't really exciting

but in the spring there are some places where there is whitewater to canoe in

hike

bike

run

sightsee

[cwydro]

45. hey

hiking, biking, running, canoeing, sightseeing. You speak my language southern boy. Um. Did you forget drinkin'?

Ya'll ever go tubing?:bounce:

[SPKrazy]

46. Tubing?

like behind a boat tubing?

or down a river tubing?

:shrug:

[cwydro]

47. omg...and you call yourself a southern boy

yes... down the river on an innertube tubing (usually with a cooler along)>

[SPKrazy]

51. Now Listen

'round here people refer to tubing as being pulled behind a fast moving boat on an innertube!

I grew up in Utah and we went tubing down the "canals" which were like little rivers that were pretty evenly deep

Not a lot of the tubing you speak of around here.

You can't do it in the Arkansas, and other rivers around could be done that way, but usually people go in canoes

:shrug:

[cwydro]

54. ok

I'll give you a break since you ain't really a Southern boy. And DURN, I would just like to say how much I appreciate how you stick up for the south with certain posters who like to slam it. You go boy!

I feel ya, because, though I was raised in the south, my parents are British; kind of a strange way to look at the world.

But I'm like you, very loyal to where I live. The south is much maligned and misunderstood.

[SPKrazy]

55. It Is Indeed

and I will stick up for it because I am as much a southern boy as I am anything

I don't consider Utah home

I really consider Oklahoma home, but my family moved away from there

I guess Arkansas is as much home as anywhere, but my heart belongs to Oklahoma

:pals:

The south is maligned and misunderstood in a lot of ways.

For one, we aren't all knuckle dragging creatures that wave confederate flags

[Broken_Hero]

43. Nice pictures,

Looks just like SW Missouri....:D

[SPKrazy]

44. And It Isn't Far From There Petersond

just southeast of Fayetteville over in Madison County (barely) :)

[Broken_Hero]

50. yeah

Fayettevill was noticably different, especially during the fall season...so many colors on their tree's, when they turn. A lot of rolling hills and what not.

[wildhorses]

48. well, you know i can not argue with you about this...

i wish i could remember the name of our swimming hole. we would grill out. it was lovely. i will have to ask my dad. :hi:

[SPKrazy]

52. Could Be Lots Of Places

but when you find out, I might have been there or will have to check it out.

:hi:

how's it goin' wild one?

[Nevernose]

56. Arkansas is my FAVORITE state.

Even my kid -- a desert rat by birth -- is looking at Hendrix or Fayetteville for college.

While I love my wild open Nevada spaces, the Ozarks just hold something magical for me. Insert John Denver song here :).

[SPKrazy]

57. Maybe Some Bluegrass Music Too!

I think I've read that you have a kid looking at Hendrix or Fayetteville.

That's interesting.

:)

[Nevernose]

58. No, no. Not Hendrix the musician: Hendrix the UNIVERSITY?

http://www.hendrix.edu/

From what I've seen -- admittedly not much beyond heresay and the website -- that place is what every institute of higher (or lower) learning should aspire to. It's a little disconcerting that it's in Arkansas, granted, but at least in Arkansas she can learn what it's like to avoid a snapping turtle, or dodge a dangling cottonmouth, or track a wild hog -- if she chooses to live with me, and not in a dorm :). Plus she can learn what it's like to have a word class education, including a year overseas.

And no, Jimi has neither played, nor will play, a role in the function of that particular college. The only drawback to a college called "Hendrix." She's already well-schooled in bluegrass, and as many other types of music that I can think of, thank you very much.

And although I suspect of bluegrass of needing a geographical component as well as a genetic basis, you can find better bluegrass in the "settled" East, the Appalachians. Move a couple of longitudes over, and you'll discover something equally spectacular.

[SPKrazy]

60. LOL

I was making reference to your "insert John Denver" song in here comment, not about Jimi Hendrix :rofl:

No, I know where Hendrix is- Conway Arkansas

good school

I don't know if you find better bluegrass East, maybe. You find similar folk and regional music in the Ozarks too. Mountain Home is a good example of some unique music.

Mountain and hammered dulcimer music sounds great in bluegrass.

:hi:

[Nevernose]

63. My only experience w/ Mountain Home is fishing

Not that I've ever actually FISHED there, mind you, they just won't stop trying to sell me shit to fish with. Burned out on the whole place :).

Do you remember that attempted amusement park? Dogpatch USA? Some of the prettiest country in the USA, even if it is now just a weird collection of privately owned "attractions."

Moving to the Ozarks in a few years -- hillbillies, Republicans, and all -- is what gets me through the day.

And, as someone who has visited rural family in both Arkansas and Tennessee: there are still hillbillies all over the place, though many of us choose to ignore them.

Have you ever read Harriet Arnow's The Doll Maker? Jane Fonda starred in an inferior movie version, but if you get the chance, read the book: the quintessential novel about hillbillies.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

59. It's beautiful country...

:) :hug:

[liberaltrucker]

61. In Alabama, it's "Hill William". thank you!

Seriously, the South is always home. We jest gotta work on
dem thar politics.

Beautiful pics! You did your forebears proud.

:applause:

[Zookeeper]

62. Something about your post rang a bell for me...

I have two books that detail the history of one branch of my family. It started with one ancestor who came to America in 1740. One of his sons was my ancestor, but another son had descendants who, eventually, were pioneers in southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas. Napoleon Bonaparte(!)____, arrived in Jacksonport in 1867. Then opened the first store in Newport in 1871, which up until then consisted of a two box houses in the woods. He went on to build up the town with brick business buildings and residences.

The other place names I noticed from a quick skimming of the book were: Low Gap, Benton, Bentonville, Siloam Springs.

We're talking pretty distant relatives, here. But, I found it interesting to see your photos of the area. It looks very similar to the area from which that one small branch of the family moved.

(If any of this sounds familiar, PM me and I'll send you the name)

:hi:

[SPKrazy]

66. Certainly the Towns Are Familiar To Me

Benton is south of Little Rock, Bentonville is in Northwest Arkansas-the home of Wal-Mart, Siloam Springs is just north of here about 50 miles, Low Gap?

My family apparently lived in Madison County and in Conway County near Little Rock.

Newport is more on the East side I think, but I'm too lazy to grab a map or go to mapquest.

I'll PM you just for grins to see if the family names are the same? Cousin? :rofl:

:hi:

[Zookeeper]

67. I must confess to being on a search for a living relative...

that I actually like. Even if our branches split 8 generations ago. :+

I'd be happy to call you, "Cuz."

:hi: