Memories of My Childhood

After our mother's death, our family disintegrated. Marcus went to live with Aunt Cynthia and I had left for Mt. Carmel High School. This left Fred, Baxter, Robert, and Cleta, all too young to take care of themselves while my father was at work. He found an elementary boarding school not too far from Mt.Carmel that would take Fred, Baxter, and Robert. The school was named Bethany. Aunt Sallie took Cleta to stay with her. Dad went to stay with Aunt Amanda. She lived at Viper. While he was there, Aunt Amanda introduced him to a widow with five children whose name was Margaret Back. Three months later, they would marry. He moved in with her. He came by Mt. Carmel to see me on his way to get my brothers from the boarding school and take them home. Cleta also came to live them. A few months later, Marcus joined the Army. I have often thought why would my father marry so soon after our mother's death. The only conclusion that came to me was that he wanted his family to be together. He did not sell the property on Scuddy.

In 1898 large oil companies came through the mountains buying mineral rights for pennies on the acre. They had a ninty-nine year lease. In the 1950's the big coal companies started strip mining the mountains. They would come in with their big machines, strip the coal, and leave the ground bare. The mountains of Kentucky are being destroyed. Fortunately the governor at the time made the companies leave the landscape as they found it. Lawsuits were filed to prevent them from mining but everyone was overruled. They came up to our property and met one smart stubborn man. Our father. He told them that he could not prevent them from mining, but they had no right of way across his property to haul it out. It only could be taken out by huge dump trucks. He had a road bulldozed up to the property, and charged each truck $5.00. He made $20,000 and still had his property. He died in 1982 at the age of eighty-six. A few years later, someone burned the house down. Then, the gas companies came in drilling for gas. They found gas where our front yard was located. Two wells were drilled. They paid us $2000.00 to be able to drive their trucks to the wells. in 1995, one of our cousins wanted to buy the property for $10,000 to put a house trailer on it. We agreed to sell because no one was going back.

My brother Marcus and I went back to Scuddy in 2000 to visit our family grave site. I saw a lot of my relatives graves.  Our favorite Uncle Taylor   and Aunt Allie was there. I was surprised and pleased that his name was Reverend Taylor Feltner. His son-in-law was next to him with his name Reverend Paul Wooton on his headstone. My oldest brother Roy and his wife, Agnes, and my twin sisters who died at birth were next to my mother's grave. There was a family there mowing the grave yard.

We introduced ourselves and they informed us that they had been taking care of the cemetary for years free of charge. I gave them $100.00 and asked them if they would keep it up. They promised that they would. This closed a chapter in our lives that will never be forgotten. I told my wife that when I die, bury me wearing a pair of khaki pants and a starched white shirt. She asked me why. I told her that when I was a child to be dressed up was to wear a white shirt and a pair of khaki pants. I told her that as a child, my greatest dream was some day I would wear them.

The hollow had changed somewhat. The house where I was born was still there, but the branch which once was a large stream where one could swim and catch minnows was almost dried up. The road was paved, but still one lane. There were a lot of forty-foot trailers perched on the hillsides. I asked my brother how they ever got them up there. He said by a big truck and very slowly. There was very little sound as it was in my youth. The people were still as friendly as I remembered them to be. All of my friends were either dead or had moved away.

My father would take me through the woods teaching me the name of different trees by looking at the leaves. We had poplar, oak, beech, sycamore. walnut, maple, hickory, pine, persimmon, locust, willow, paw-paw, and chestnut trees. Years later, when the strip mining equipment arrived, everything was gone. The whole hill top was leveled. To this day, the strip mining, or surface mining, is still leveling hilltops and destroying the habitat of all the species of animals that live there. The soil that is removed from the mountain tops is used to fill the valleys. Their argument is that this gives the people a lot of flat farms. These are mountain people and are not interested in flat farming or golf courses. They would rather have it the way it has been since Daniel Boone came through Cumberland Gap from Tennesee to settle in Kentucky. Enviromentalists are stressed out about drilling for oil in Northern Alaska where no harm will be done, but do not give two hoots about what is happening to the Apalachian Mountains. , the jewel of the Eastern United States. Take a look at this website.

No amount of writing about the coal mines and the working and living conditions of  the miners will be adequate. If one picture can say more than a thousand words, then you must visit Roger's World.  His website shows it all and the amount of time that he has put into this site shows his compassion  and love for these people. By all means, please visit it. We are both coal miners' sons and proud of it.

Mountaintop Coal Removal

Everyone wants more coal, but what a trerrible price the people of Appalachia must pay to get it.

You an continue rading about my childhood by going to Mount Carmel High School

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Choices
Royal Feltner
1985

Today

So, as is sit here drinking my tea,
I am wondering what this day will be;
Not matter what happens, I will try
To live a better life before I die.
For this day may be the last day of life