Pioneer Bamboo Resident Talks
Of Old Days, 98 Years Of Living
By NANCY ALEXANDER
Myra Weaver looked out oo her
Nth summer from the porch of
her daughter's home en the Mil
ler Hill Road about four miles
from Lenoir. She found it a
calm and satisfying one, a seas
on for reflecting. Her birthday
was Friday. August 2nd.
She smiled a greeting from the
tow cane-bottom chair where
she sat busy piecing quilt de
signs Her hair, stiH dark and
tucked neatly at the sides with
amber combs, was pulled into a
tight knot on her head. Over
Iter black and white print dress
spread a neat gingham apron.
Peering through small silver
rinuned glasses, Mrs. Weaver
held up her needle and deftly
pulled a thread through the
small eve.
"I piece quilts to keep busy,"
the remarked, carefully and
aeatly stitching the edges. "I
can see very well. Haven't had
?y glasses (hanged in 40 years."
Reminiscing, she recalled a
century of living. "My folks were
John and Eunice Cook Hartley.
There were 12 of us children.
"I was born and grew up at
Bambo, which is off the Park
way between Blowing Rock and
Boone.
When I was just a little young
un we used to see plenty of wild
animals, catamounts, deer, bears,
and wolves . . . My mother kept
a deer for a pet. I remember
well my pa bringing it home.
He'd kiUed the big deer and
found the little one nearby. He
came bringing the big dead one
and the tiny lively toby one. It
was so friendly it would run to
my aunfs house for protection
when it was frightened.
"My brother, Ed Hartley, had
a pet bear. It grew so big and
got so rough he finally bad to
Set rid of it
"Across a big grassy field in
front of our home was a beau
tiful view of the mountains.
When the men-folks would go
hunting we could often see the
deer they were driving run
through the field where the dogs
-would catch 'em by the legs they
were so tired.
"When I came up children had
to work. I hoed corn and chopped
end carried wood as far as 160
yard* in the new. Sometimes
we ware snowed in for six weeks
at a time-. I've always enjoyed
working and stfll do.
'V didn't get to 80 to school
much, just to a few free schools
that lasted for only a few weeks
or months at a time. One of my
teachers was Tom Day. Some
times we played Fox and Goose.
"We always went to church
an Sundays. We went to two
churches ? Browns Methodist
and lit Vernon Baptist. Wa had
camp meetings, singings and
prayer meetings.
"Wa raised sheep and sheer
ed them and wove the wool Into
thread and spun the cloth. Here's
a blanket I spun the wool for,"
she held up a warm white cov
erlet.
"We'd make ear dye for the
cloth. We couM make any color
we wanted. For the men's clothes
we'd usually use copperas. We'd
aae diffeernl barks, roots and
dye flowers for our eolor*
"We girls thought the finest
thing in the world was to lam
a quilting. We made all of our
blankets and quilts. We knit our
socks and wove the cloth for
our dresses of lmsey-woolen or
jeans cloth.
"Sometimes we'd go to Adam
Critcher's store at Boone for
supplies and a Sunday pair of
shoes; but Manuel Hampton, a
cobbler, would come and stay
at our house about a week to
make most of the shoes for our
family. He brought hides he'd
tanned himself and cut out the
tops and put on solas pegged to
the tops with pieces of maples.
"We dried our fruits. There
wasn't any canning in those
early years. We'd put up scaf
folds in a big room and lay
apples, beans, blaclsjerries,
peaches, and pumpkin on 'em to
dry. We'd kill a beef every fall
and let it dram and then salt it
and hang it up in the room on
sharp sticks to dry. It was good
to eat. Sort of like dried beef
today, but better.
"We made candles of tallow
from the beef fat, frying it out
and putting it in little lamps to
burn. My mother bad one of the
first lamps in that part of the
country. It was a small brass
one.
"She also had one of the first
sewing machines in the settle
ment. They were so scarce folks
would come in buggies from
miles around to have her stitch
around the collars, (town the
fronts, across the back and poc
kets of clothes they'd made.
"Dr. Council! from Boone was
our main doctor; but we never
called him unless someone was
very serious. We made our own
home remedies: pennyroyal for
cokte, bark from a peach tree
or powder made from the lining
of a chicken gizzard for tea for
an upset stomach; Jerusalem
oak seed cooked in molasses for
a laxative.
"My husband was John Weav
er. He lived at Aho not far from
Bamboo. I wasn't quite 18 when
we were masried at Jordan
Cook's old mill place. It was
pretty there that day by the wa
ter. He had machinery of all
kinds for grinding flour and
meal. We built a little house at
Aho. ,
"We had eleven children. Five
of them, William, Mandy Jaae,
Minnie, Grace, and Maude, are
all dead now; Ella (Mrs. Eu
gene Day), Mamie (Mrs. Ervin
Hollars) of Lenoir; Mettie (Mr?.
Bob Triplett) Asburv Weaver of
Norfolk; Ruth (Mrs. Willie
CasUe) of Blowing Rock and
Etabury Weaver of Aho are all
living.
"It was fifty years a#o last
w*k nv husband John was
killed while cutting timber. He
was notching trees when he was
struck by lightning. We buried
faint at Aha.
"I moved <knm here soon
afterward to live with my daugh
ter, Mrs. Day. 1 have V grand
children and 3* great grand
children and eajoy aH <rt them."
she said.
Albert Biggs
Dies In W. Va.
Albert Roy Biggs, age 65, a
resident of Bartley, West Vir
ginia (or 27 years, died August
10 in a Welch, W. Va. hospital.
He was a retired miner.
He was born at Rich Hill in
Ashe county to the late James
and Ellen Williams Biggs.
Funeral services were con
ducted August 13 at the Church
of God in Atwell, W. Va., with
Rev. Paul Heandan officiating.
Interment waa in Crandview
Memory Gardens, Bluefield, Va.
Survivors include his widow,
Mrs. Pearl C. Biggs; five
daughters, Mrs. Marie Daniels
and Mrs. Estel Clark, both of
Clearwater, Fla., Mrs. Geneva
Wright of War, W. Va., Mrs.
Roxanna Biggs and Miss Bon
nie Biggs, both of Bartley, W.
Va.; four sisters, Mrs. Mae
Foster and Mrs. Viller Rash,
both of Newland, N. C? Mrs.
Dollie Fisher of Toledo, Ohio
and Mrs. Bessie Aldridge of
Boone.
BROWN ON RIGHTS M AN
Gov. Edmund G. Brown ~of
California recently told Con
gress that President Kennedy's
proposed civil rights legislation
can be "the second wave" of an
assault that would1 end racial
discrimination in every state in
the union.
Washington News
Washington, D. C. ? It could
be that thU Congress will go
down In history as the long
Congress ? the difference be
tween it and the Long Parlia
ment being a measurement in
months rather than years. Also,
civil war is not being faced,
though civil strife is certainly
the reason tor the prospective
length of this session.
The demands of Negro citi
seas are likely to bring on a fili
buster and some tension, but the
civil rights fight is only one of
many major issues- this first
session of the 88th Congress
finds itself confronted with.
Another is the tax bill, tax
reduction ? which the Kennedy
Administration still lists as its
number-one goal. Rising up to
towering proportions in import
ance is the nuclear test - ban
treaty and the question of ratifi
cation. Both these issues will
require long debate. They are
milestones in the history of the
country, not annual considera
tions.
Another urgent order of busi
ness is the nerd for some kind
of legislaiton to reduce or elimi
nate our international balance
of payments deficit. This acute
problem cannot be ignored. Ei
ther we check the outward flow
of gold and dollars or we will
be forced to devalue the dollar.
There are other special issues,
the dispute between, the rail
roads and the firemen, with a
strike likely to cost billions of
dollars. There is a host *f Ad
ministration bills awaiting ac
tion. And already it is August
and little in the way of final
passage has been accomplished
in either house.
This is why some veteran
observers think this Congress
will run until the end of the
year. And no one knows exactly
what the outcome will be.
though all expect a Dixie fili
buster on the question of pass
age of the President's civil
rights proposals. That filibuster
may absorb a month or two, but
the general concensus is that, la
the end, s civil rights bill will
be passed.
Senator Barry GoMwater's
chance for election should he be
nominated by Republicans at
San Francisco next year, is not
necessarily based sn the popular
opinion polls. In the opinion of
his supporters, and of many po
litical experts, he can be elected
without the votes of a majority.
If Goldwater were elected
with less than a majority of the
popular vote it would not be
the first time this has happened.
But the difference in the Gold
water approach ? the difference
which makes it quite possible
that he will ? is that he would
write off several key industrial
states of the east with big elec
toral votes, if necessary.
No candidate for a hundred
years has ever approached the
election with this strategy in
mind. It is not a question of
not wanting the votes, but one
of recognizing that they are not
attainable, for a conservative.
Thus Goldwater might write
off, unofficially, of course, New
York, with more than forty
electoral votes. The popular vote
in that state might go a million
or two against him. But if he
wins enough Southern and Mid
west states, perhaps sometimes
by close margins, he will win
enough electoral votes to offset
the loss of several key states ?
with their minority blocs and'
ultra-liberal groups.
If that trend does prevail,
Goldwater might easily win a
majority oi electoral votes (gen
erally by close or normal mar
gins in his victory states) while
- w
A moment of
sorrow that ?v?ry par
est murt fact. A Mm
of fierce pride . . . of
joy . . . and y?t one
of sadness and Irre
trievable lost. Capture
for all time mm mo
ment that en never
come again.
129 E. King St
Bone, N. C.
264-8425
331 Lower Street
Spruce Pine, N. C.
766-9276
W. Main St
West Jefferson
244-6861
LadsEnjoyCycleTripFromBoone
Into New England States; Cost $40
By GARY D ALTON
How would you like to go on
? 500 mile bicycle ride?
Erie DeGroat Jr., son of Mr.
and Mrs. Eric DeGraat of
Bowie, did it this month with
hi* cousin Cleve Pinnix of
Asheville.
The boy? got the idea last
summer from a "Boy's Life"
article. They debated on wheth
er to gs to Florida or to the
New England states. They fin
losing by whopping margins in
several key states such as New
York. The popular total coijld
very well be against him.
That would not be new. Quite
often a President is elected who
receives less than fifty per cent
of the popular vota, as did Presi
dent Kennedy in I960, but it
sometimes happens that a Presi
dent is elected who receives
fewer votes than his major-,
party opponent. It could be that
Goldwater will win in this way.
ally chose New England be
cause the weather would be
cooler.
The boys left July 21 and re
turned August 13, a trip of 24
days. They bicycled over MO
mile* and pedaled as far aortk
as Connecticut and Mass
achusetts.
They spent one whole week
in New York City. There they
aaw the Statue of Liberty, the
liner Queen Mary, Rockefeller
Center, the Empire State
Building, Radio Center Music
Hall and two plays, "Mary,
Mary" and "Stop the World, I
Want to Get Off."
They also stayed a week with
Eric's grandparents at Newton,
Conn. Another enjoyable stop
was Martha's Vineyard, which
is an island off the Mass
achusetts coast. They spent two
nights there.
Eric and Cleve figure their
trip cost them about $40 apiece.
Most of their money went for
food. They camped out every
night but one.
They uid people ia general
were pretty alee. For eunpte
a man on the second day out let
them (have and shower in his
house. ?>'
Space Agency funds restored
by Seoate panel.
House committee agrees on 4
!. billion foreign ?id.
FISH MOUNTED
YE OLE TAXIDERMY
SHOP
Joe C. Miller ? 2?4-2348
Paul and Ralph Present:
Billie Jo Wilson
Training for All Phases of
Auto and Casualty Dept.
Billy Jo come* U as to All on* of the new position*
onM by oar program of expansion.
She la a 1963 graduate of Coft Creek High School, where
she was an "A" student, member of the National Honor
Society, Secretary of her Senior Claaa and Secretary of
the Student Council. She is a member af Pleasant Grove
Baptist Church.
BUlie Jo la the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clinard Wilson
of Silverstone community.
After 33 years of specializing hi Fire Insurance, the Watauga Insurance
Agency is expanding its operation to embrace all lines of protection.
This change is La keeping witb the modern outlook of our firm, and further
evidence of our desire to maintain our leadership in service to our customers,
as "Package Policy" type insurance protection comes into its own.
WeVe'PMdy'herti'at Watauga Insurance Agency to bring better and fuller -
?J service to our policy holders. ??? 'm'.- bswit9.
?? ! sr*!? ?>v
J. Paul Winkler
Ralph Gual tney
Owners
May Sue Hartley
Faye Greer
Billie Jo Wilson
223 W. King St. ? Box 267 ? Boone, N. C.
Inset:
This Is the old Mystery HU1
as it appeared before fire de
stroyed M.
Photos at left show the new structure as it rose from the
ashes of the old.