:Perquinians People
> Louis Watson Chappell
* * 4 J.V ??' ' ' '
leaves folklore collection
,
? Special to the Perquimans Weekly
* Louis W. Chappell seized the at
tention of folklorists in America and
| furope decades ago with his book
" ftat established the factual basis of
the John Henry legend.
i Critics hailed "John Henry: A
olklore Study" as a brilliant piece
of scholarship and a lesson in
methodology. Even today the book
remains one of the most analytical
studies of a single ballad.
Yet despite publication of that book
and a second critical work on "Folk
^ Songs of, Roanoke and the
Albemarle," the efforts of the shy
North Carolina folklorist remain
virtually unknown.
But the fact is that during 30 years
of teaching and research at West
Virginia University, Chappell
Smass^d an astonishingly com
prehensive collection of West
Virginia folklore.
| "His collection on West Virginia
folklore is simply the best there is,"
said George W. Parkinson, curator of
the West Virginia and Regional
History Collection.
"And it certainly is one of the best
regional folklore collections of its
kind in the United States."
What has excited WVU archivists
most is a priceless collection of 646
aluminum disc recordings Chappell
made of West Virginia folk musicians
from 1937 to 1947. Chappell presented
the records to the collection shortly
before his death last November.
"The recordings of some 2,500
tunes represent a cross section of
musical traditions dating from a
time when central Appalachia was
relatively isolated," Parkinson said.
"They are a rare opportunity to
study an unexplored primary
resource.
"While some of the contents are of
recent origin, the emphasis is clearly
upon the traditional," he added.
"About four dozen different child
ballads have been identified among
the recordings."
"His work will help establish the
authenticity of some ballads placed
in the dubious category."
"The arechive also provides a
valuable record of traditional Ap
palachian instrumental music. Samll
amounts of banjo, guitar and fife
and-drum music complement a
generous quantity of fiddle music."
Collection archivists also are
sorting through the remainder of his
Louis Watson Chappell was
bora in Belvidere and at
tended school at Belvidere
Academy. He was the son of
the late Mr. and Mrs. George
A; Chappell. He was a
folklorist best known for his
investigations into the "John
Henry" legend, all written in
his book, "John Henry: A
Folk-Lore Study." (Photo
courtesy of Chappell's sisters
Clara Parker and Catherine
Williams.)
BLUEBERRIES
U-PICK ? PERRY'S FARM
3(JV PER POUND
Open 8 A.M. to 5:30 Monday
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^tigns.
County Property For Sale
4;V. ' ? ? (' "V ' *' " , ' ?'
The Board of Commissioners of Perquimans County hereby
requests sealed bids for the purchased of the following property:
* One 1979 Plymouth Volare' 4-dr. Sedan formerly used
by the Perquimans County Sheriff's Dept.
One Snapper riding lawn mower 30" ct ll HP ?
One Snapper riding lawn mower 30" cut 8 HP
All ifems will be sold in their present condition (as is) and
may be seen by contacting the Clerk to the Board in the
Perquimans County Courthouse. Separate bids must be submitted
in wHtmg to the undersigned Clerk on or before 8:00 P.M.,
August 15, 1983. The Board reserves the right to reject all bids.
?f ? - K W . , ,
t", Perquimans County Board of
. ? Commissioners fl. ; V
By: Jeanne C. White, Clerk
papers recently donated to WVU by
his brothers, Sidney G. of Wilson, N.
C. and Fernando R. Chappell of
Elizabeth City, and a sister, Mrs.
Essie C. Twine of Chesapeake, Va.
The gift, which comprises about a
dozen linear feet of material, in
cludes a book of unpublished songs
and ballads of West Virginia that
Chappell coauthored; hundreds of
handwritten manuscripts on
Beowulf, the old English poem; and
numerous books.
"He set out to find every ballad
then current in West Virginia that he
could," Parkinson said. "He wanted
everything, not just traditional
Scottish ballads about maids and
princesses."
Chappell, who was born in
Belvidere, attended Belvidere
Academy before working his way
through Wake Forest University
selling fruit trees and bibles.
He taught at North Carolina State
A&M before joining WVU as an
English instructor in 1922. he
remained at WVU for 30 years with
time off for research and graduate
study at Columbia University, the
university of Chicago and new York
University.
His first major work, the book on
John Henry, was published by a
German press in 1933. He had begun
work on the Albemarle book several
years earlier and published it himself
in 1939.
"In his boyhood, Albemarle was a
very isolated area," Parkinson said.
"His family primarily sustained
itself by subsistence farming."
"For entertainment the Chappells
and their neighbors sang ballads and
told stories and he grew up savoring
these. Unlike most folklorists, his
interest was kindled and nurtured
through his own family traditions."
"I'm fairly certain that he un
derstood West Virginia's folk
traditions and people in terms of his
own heritage," parkinson said. "The
state had a direct link to his own folk
origins."
Chappell did the bulk of his West
Virginia research in the late 1930s
and 1940s with occasional sorties into
bordering states. He carried his
bulky recording equipment literally
to the electric outlet nearest where
the person interviewed lived.
"You have to remember that roads
in West Virginia weren't very good in
those days and that many of the
places he visited were inaccessible
anyway," Parkinson said.
"Many times he would agree to
pick someone up along side a road
and take them to a motel for the
interview."
"But the recordings he made on
that bulky equipment are priceless
today," he added.
"Chappell was a meticulous
scholar, a determined and dedicated
folklorist, much of whose work is yet
to be discovered by others, he is a
sleeper. But that was partly a per
sonal choice."
An analytical listing of ChappeU's
work is contained in "West Virginia ^
Folk Music," a 185-page guide edited
by John A. Cuthbert, curator of the
collection.
Perquimans native Louis
Watson Chappell recorded
over 600 ten-inch 78 rpm discs
with the handmade recording
machine above which he
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? * *
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coke
221-4216
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
TO CONSIDER
LEVY OF m SUPPLEMENTAL
LOCAL GOVERNMENT SALES AND USE TAX
Notice is hereby given that the Board of Commissioners of
Perquimans County will hold a public hearing to consider
the levy of a one-half per cent (tt%) supplemental local govern
ment sales and use tax, at the following time, date and place:
MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 1983 at 7:00 P.M.
PERQUIMANS COUNTY COURTHOUSE (Courtroom)
All interested citizens have the right to be heard and. are
invited to attend and present their views to the Board of
Commissioners as to whether the proposed tax is wise or
unwise; whether the tax should or should not be levied;
whether local conditions require the imposition of the tax;
whether other means of taxation available to the country and
municipalities within the county would be more equitable; and
any other reasons for or against the levy of a one-half per
center (HI) supplemental local government sales and use tax
as an added source of revenue for Perquimans County and the
cities and towns within the county.
(Published by order of the Perquimans
County Board of Commissioners.)
Jeanne C. White
Clerk to the Board ... . , . ^ .
purchased
folklorist
equipment
recordings
in 1937. The
donated this
along with his
to the West
Virginia and Regional
History Collection at Western
Virginia University. (Photo
courtesy of Carl Fleischauer)
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