"Soldier's Sacrifice" Alvin C. York

Instead of doing the regular Artifact Of The Week, this week will be another segment of Soldier's Sacrifice. Soldier's Sacrifice commemorates Scott County's role in World War One which was being waged one hundred years ago this year.

Dr. Fred Phillips was born in Scott County in 1882. After service in the Spanish American War, he graduated from dental school in 1911 and opened a successful practice in Oneida. During WWI he became a registrar helping to enlist men for the service from this area. It was while serving in this role that he had one of his most memorable experiences. He stated:

"The young men going into military service from our area used to come to Oneida, spend the night, and take a fast train out the next day to army camp. There was one, from near-by Fentress County, whom I particularly remember because he was tall, redheaded and carried a Bible under his arm. The next afternoon all of the boys were at the train depot ready to catch the train and again I noticed this tall, red-headed fellow. He was on the platform but off to himself, and he still carried that Bible under his arm. As I was to learn later, that man was Alvin C. York, the conscientious objector who was later to return as America's most decorated hero of World War One."

This information was taken from Dr. Fred Phillips obituary.

Bonus fact: Sergeant York also recorded his overnight stay in Oneida in his wartime diary on November 15, 1917. He stated, "I went to Oneida, Tennessee and stayed there at the hotel until about 2 A.M. next morning when I entrained for Atlanta, Georgia."

Photograph courtesy of Tennessee State Library and Archives

Bee Gum Made From Hollow Tree

This interesting item often causes visitors to ask, "What is it?" This section of hollow tree was put together to serve as a beehive for Appalachian farmers. The ever resourceful farmers would take sections of the black gum tree, which grows hollow, and would use them as hives for their honeybees. They were called bee gums because the black gum tree was often used. Crossed sticks were added in the center to serve as a support for the bees to build their honeycomb on. Small v-shaped notches provided a doorway for the bees and a plank lid, weighed down with rocks, was added to the top. These bee hives are sometimes visible in pictures of old homesteads. Honey was an important food item for families in the past and beeswax extracted from honeycomb was sold to stores to provide cash income.

For more information on honeybees, honey, and bee gums check out Foxfire 2, which is a volume featured in the popular Foxfire Book series. It can be purchased on Amazon.

This is a bee gum made by a farmer as a hive for honeybees. Notice the v-shaped notches on the bottom that served as a doorway for the honeybees.

This photograph shows what a completed bee gum looked like. Notice the sticks that protrude from the side, which served as supports for the bees to build honeycomb on. The photograph was featured in "Foxfire 2" by the Rabun County, Georgia high school class. — at The Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center.

Inside of the bee gum. One of the cross beams has broken in half and notice the remnants of honeycomb on the walls of the gum.

This photograph shows what a modern bee gum looks like. Compare this to the photograph of the bee gum featured earlier.

 

 

 Information and one photograph taken from Foxfire 2 published by the Rabun County High School.

Julia Marcum Spinning Wheel

Julia Marcum, daughter of Hiram and Permelia Marcum, was sixteen years old when the Civil War came to the remote mountains of Scott County. Her father, who made this spinning wheel, was a noted Unionist and he often had to hide to keep from being killed by roving Confederate soldiers. On September 7, 1861 a band of Confederate soldiers came to her house searching for her father. One soldier followed Julia's sister Didama upstairs as she went to get a candle for the family. Julia and her sister Minerva grabbed two axes and began to battle the soldier. Julia was wounded in the scrape when the soldier fired at her and shot her finger off, then stabbing her in the eye with his bayonet. Hiram Marcum heard the struggle and then came and shot the soldier. Julia became a schoolteacher and later in life petitioned Congress for a pension, which was granted to her by a special act in 1885. She died in 1935 at the age of 91. This spinning wheel was built by Hiram Marcum and was in the house when Julia battled the Confederate soldier in 1861. It has been passed down through the family and is on loan to the museum. 

Want to read Julia's story in her own words? Click the URL to be taken to a type written copy in the possession in the Kentucky Historical Society. http://www.kyhistory.com/…/com…/collection/MS/id/10118/rec/2 

Information and photographs courtesy of Kentucky Historical Society collection SC 207 and SC 208.  Additional information provided by owners of artifact.

This spinning wheel was made by Hiram Marcum, who was a Union sympathizer in Scott County. His daughters Julia and Minerva battled a Confederate soldier in 1861.

Julia Marcum when she was twenty years old. She was blinded in her right eye by the bayonet of a Confederate soldier who came to her house when she was sixteen. She and her father killed the soldier. — at Kentucky Historical Society.

Julia Marcum late in her life. She received a pension for her efforts to protect her family during the Civil War by Congress in 1888. — at Kentucky Historical Society.