VOL. <>•
VO. 28.
11 I'llRPS
1IM K>I>A1, M ARCH 1 r». 1951. Itl.ACK MOUNTAIN, N. C.
SECTION II
OPEN WALKER SAYS .
“Uncle Jack” Cordell Has Been
l aughing At Life For 74 Full Years
Hv Oden Walker
tv-four years ago the 10th
Much James Albert Cord
1 V 1 ip°n lif<' an,i lauffhed
IV. - ■' anil has been laughing ever
V l0 the ruination of hia
waistline.
Mr Cordell was born on Bee
T " 1^77 to Russell Cordell and
Walker Cordell, near the
: "f the old Pittman homestead,
VV t-< grandson of the renowned
rV- V preacher, Cncle Joe Cord
V and "president” James \V
Walker. “Ole Pappy" to all his
progeny. , ,,, » ,,
Mr Cordell is known as Jack
to everyone that has ever come in
contact' with him, in fact, few
people know his real name. So we
U ' refer to him as Jack from
here on. so we will know who
we are talking about.
He got a job in his early life
from Wesley Patton braking log
cars out of Laurel Branch. There
was a tram line laid far up the
cove, and the ears were loaded
with logs and ran out on gravity.
So a brakeman that knew his bus
iness was all that was needed. The
cars were pulled back to the woods
with mules. Jack soon learned to
let the car gain speed in order to
have momentum to go around the
elevated curves and level places,
and he soon had a reputation of
being reckless. Wes Patton nick
named his “Jack" after Jack Ed
wards, the famed Southern eng
ineer, who drove the first locomot
ive through the Swannanoa tun
nel. The name has followed since.
When Jack was about three
yars of age the Cordells moved
t . North Fork near Uncle Fate
Burnett’s water-powered corn and
sawmill. They lived there until
hi- father could build a house
farther up the creek. From there
they moved to the Hurricane
Branch, where they lived until
Jack was about 13-years-old, then
they pulled up stakes and went to
[Greenlee in McDowell county
'where they lived about two years,
)
Get Ready
For Spring
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Parm Tools
full line of
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VARNISHES
BRUSHES
Black Mountain
Hardware Co.
Phone 3481
hut the wanderlust had them so
they headed west for Missouri
where the elder Cordells have
lived ever ^ince. So much for fam
ily history—now for some high
lights in the colorful life of this
man.
.lack ;irst went to school at the
Randolph school which was near
the present Wallace pool on North
Fork. The older boys were al
lowed to go outside to study. One
day Jack and Judson Burnett were
lolling on the shady side of the
school. They decided they had
studied their lesson enough, and
started a fast-moving marble
game. Bascom Burnett glanced out
the window and to put an end to
the gaiety went up to ask Mr.
Randolph the meaning of a word,
and whispered a few other well
chosen words in the teacher’s ear.
The teacher came out with blood
in nis eye and a dogwood limb
of such size, that if our present
Black Mountain humane society
caught a man whipping a horse
with it they would hang him to
a sour apple tree. He got Judson
several good larrups, and set in
on Jack. He, being a stalwart lad,
resented such treatment and seized
the brush, broke it in half, and
struck the teacher across the
cheek right on top of a lusciously
ripe boil. The boil erupted like
Vesuvius.
Jack later went to school at
Greenlee, at Greenlee Acadamy,
founded and operated by Hattie
Greenlee Brown. Tuition had to be
paid at both these schools. '
Jack only stayed in Missouri
about 18 months, and gypsied
around while he was there, work
ing on several jobs. The call of
the mountains was too strong, so
he caught a freight train and roll
ed eastward. Times were hard and
railroads didn’t mind fellows
snitching rides, but the town cops
had to he watched. Jack would get
a brake stick and walk around as
if he were a brakeman while the
trains were switching. Between
Knoxville and Morristown part of
the hobos decided they wanted off,
so as the train was going down
grade they got down between the
cars and uncoupled about half of
it. The front end ran on to Morris
town before the back end was
missed. Jack was sitting atop a
carload of horses as they came
through Newport, and a cop
ordered him down, but Jack told
him he was earing for the horses
and the gullible officer let him
alone.
One of Jack’s first jobs was
driving a team for Jasper Souther,
weathly distiller of Old Fort. His
PLAY REVEALS
OPPORTUNITY
FOR MISSIONS
“Chant To The Living,” a play
portraying the conditions of the
Moslem women in North Africa
to reveal the great and urgent op
portunities for Christian missions
in North Africa today, was given
at the meeting of the W.S.C.S. of
the Methodist church Tuesday af
ternoon, March 6, at the church.
Mrs. Mary E. Aleshire was in
charge of the costumes and Mrs.
L. C. Jumper and Miss Caroline
Hall directed the play.
Those taking part were: Mrs.
Stanley Garland, Brenda Garland,
Mrs. Austin Dickens, Mrs. Kelly
Benge, Mrs. Gordon Greenwood,
and Mrs. M. J. Wyrick.
Mrs. W. T. Wright presided dur
ing the business meeting. Hostesses
for the afternoon were: Mrs. N.
C. Shuford, Mrs. Harry Made,
Mrs. Finley Stepp, Mrs. Dickens,
and Mrs. Thad McDonald. Moslem
food consisting of kebabs, salata,
dried fruits, crackers and coffee
was served by the hostesses.
Others present were: Mrs. C. C.
Godfrey, Miss Ruby Hall, Mrs. I).
G. Guess, Mrs. Georgia Brown,
Mrs. C. R. Longcoy, Mrs. H. B.
Kerlee, Mrs. Morris Gardner, Mrs.
William Hickey, Mrs. Charles
Carpenter, Mrs. W. E. McDougle,
and Mrs. F. C. Schnelz. _
FIND IT IN THE CLASSIFIEDS!
j°h Nvas hauling in grain, and haul
ing away spirits.
.lack was married Oct. 31, 18S»9,
to Gabriella Walker, and went to
housekeeping in a log house near
where Mr. and Mrs. Howard Will
ett live at present.
( hildren came to the couple as
herbs come in rich mountain soil,
seven pills and three boys. Jack
worked most of the time on timber
jobs, but years ago he took a crew
of men and made a trail from
Montreat to Mt. Mitchell over
which he guided tourists for sev
eral years, driving a "hack” in
between times. Jack always had
a ready answer for the tourists’
questions. One lady asked how
Greybeard got its name, and Jack
told her it was the oldest moun
tain in this country. Our Wicker
sisters were Jack's best customers
in those days, lie says they were
the "hikinest" women he ever saw.
He let Miss Isabel ride an un
broken. white-faced mule to Mt.
Mitchell once without an accident.
While logging on Hail Creek in
the Smoky Mountains Jack got a
broken leg while trying to release
a jack-pot of logs. The doctors did
not get it set right and it had
to be rebroken. He stayed in the
Mission hospital so long that he
got homesick when he got well and
left. He was stable boss on the
Mt. Mitchell job for a number
of years and broke his other leg
while logging on Long Branch on
North Fork. The late Dr. Knoefel
and Dr. Woodcock set the bone
this time and Jack did his con
valescing at home and read every
book in the community. Needless
to say, all this left Jack with a
limp.
He was a steam skidder boss
on Wilson’s Creek under Grand
father Mountain for some time,
and worked as a timber foreman
—Torn to Page 3, this Sec.
Students Told
Of Closing Date
For Contest
Attention, High schools of Black
Mountain, Montreat, Swannanoa,
and Warren Wilson:
Students who are planning to
enter poems, essays, or short
stories in the 1051 creative writ
ing group contest, are reminded
that the deadline is the last Fri
day of April.
Time is passing swiftly. I,et each
one try to win the honor in his
high school.
Mrs. Thomas S. Sharp,
chairman
Miss Edith Chatterton,
associate chairman.
Thimble Club Meets
With Mrs. Connelly
Mrs. Dixon Connelly was host
css to the Thimble Club for a cov
ered dish luncheon, Wednesday,
March 7, at her home in Grove
mont. Members present were
Mrs. Arthur Bannerman, Mrs.
John Miller, and Mrs. Adolph, all
of Warren Wilson college, Mrs.
Justin McSweeney, Mrs. H. D.
Crawford, Mrs. Charles Britton,
Mrs. S. M. Bittinger, Miss Isabel
Sayers, Mrs. II. E. Stincheomb,
and Mrs. C. E. Spencer. Miss Mary
Mary Bittinger, sister-in-law of
Mrs. Bittinger, was a guest at
the meeting.
BACK IN STATES
Glenn W. Fortune of the U. S.
Navy is now in San Diego, Calif.,
after having been out of the
States for some time.
Gastonia Visitor Is
Honored At Party
Mrs. John J. O’Connor honored
Miss Emily Hilliard of Gastonia,
with a party at her home on
Church street last Saturday night.
Arrangements of spring flowers
were used to decorate. After scores
were added Mrs. Ruth Cunningham
held high, Mrs. Woodrow Bedding
field, low, and the floating prize
went to Mrs. W. A. Allison.
A dessert course was served to*
Miss Hilliard, Mrs. Worth Burgess,
Mrs. Cunningham, Mrs. Bedding
field, Mrs. Max Flack, Mrs. Alli
son, Mrs. Harry Barkley, and the
hostess. __
SUNDAY GUEST
Miss Elaine Allison had as a
Sunday guest, Miss Mary Frank
Brown of Troutman.
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Phone 3771 — Black Mountain, N. C.