Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Hollers




The better known definition of the word “holler” is “to call out in a loud voice.” But here in my part of the world, the word has another meaning --   a small valley containing a creek between mountains or small hills. It may be (correctly) referred to as a "hollow" elsewhere, but around here it's a "holler."
Grist Mill
zazzle.com


Early settlers to the area sought out these prized locations, which conveniently provided the water needed to sustain life and conduct commerce. In many instances, they built grist mills to grind corn and operated blacksmith shops. Often, entire villages developed and thrived at these sites.

Here in the Southeastern United States the word is capitalized and follows a proper noun, a surname. For instance, hollers were named for the families that lived there. Thus, we have the “Goodman Holler,” “Ingram Holler,” “Nugent Holler,” and “Belue Holler.” There are many others, but these are just the ones I am familiar and have an association with.

The Goodman Holler is no more than one-quarter mile from where I live and is the location where my great-grandfather was killed in 1885. Read the account of the events surrounding his death in my previous post on Thomas Berry Howard.

wikipedia

Another holler just up the road from me is known as the Ingram Holler. The following entry in The Journal of Muscle Shoals History’s Bicentennial Edition, Historic Muscle Shoals, gives the following account of the location:
William Franklin Ingram moved this house from Calicoa, Tennessee, to Anderson while the Indians still occupied Anderson Creek Valley. He built a dam across the creek and established a grist mill, saw mill, woolen factory and blacksmith shop. William Franklin Ingram II, who inherited the house and mills from his father, moved the house a second time from its conspicuous spot on the hill to the edge of the stream in order to get away from Federal soldiers who frequently passed that way on the Lamb’s Ferry Road. Mr. James Ingram of the sixth generation owns the house today.

Other hollers near me include the Belue Holler, Nugent Holler, Corum Holler, Perry Holler and Blowing Springs. The latter is located in a holler but is known only as Blowing Springs. I have a really interesting story to tell about that location but will save it for a later time.


Other well-known hollers:

Country music singer Loretta Lynn's birthplace in Butcher Holler, Kentucky.
wikipedia

Butcher Hollow (Holler) - a coal-mining community located in Johnson County, Kentucky. Its claim to fame is being the birthplace of country music legend Loretta Lynn, who paid tribute to the community in the song Coal Miner's Daughter.

Ichabod Crane pursued by the Headless Horseman,
by F.O.C. Darley, 1849.
wikipedia
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a Halloween-themed short story by Washington Irving contained in his collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, first published in 1820. With Irving's companion piece "Rip Van Winkle", "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is among the earliest examples of American fiction still read today. The story is set in 1790 in the countryside around the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town (historical Tarrytown, New York), in a secluded glen called Sleepy Hollow.





















16 comments:

  1. Very cool pictures and history! I loved the Legend of Sleepy Hollow and constantly compared spooky looking canyons in Southern California with what I imagined Sleepy Hollow would look like.

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    1. Thanks, Beryl. It's been a long time since I read the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I should put it on my reading list.

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  2. beautiful pictures! i'm familiar with the term, but we're up on a bluff here in memphis and don't have many areas like that nearby.

    the irving story can still make chills run down your spine. the best stories last.

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    1. There are numerous "hollers" in south central Tennessee. They are several degrees cooler than the flat land above!

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  3. Hi Sanda, I've been off-line a few days and just catching up on all the posts. I remember the Sleepy Hollow story and the Disney cartoon version, which gave us the thrills and chills as kids. I am unfamiliar with the term Holler, but it makes perfect sense. The picture of the grist mill is very olde worlde charming!

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    1. Patricia, so happy that the worst of the flooding is over in Australia and glad you came through it safely. I don't remember the Disney cartoon. I thought that was a nice photo of the grist mill; found it on the Web.

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  4. Enjoy reading the early American history,my idea of the early history was from films...cowboys/Indians crossing wild spaces to make a new life..this is the follow up to those amazing people.

    Makes a change from hearing about city life. Ida

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    1. Life in the Southeastern U.S. was probably not glamorous enough for Hollywood to portray! They were a hardy bunch, setting out to make a new life in a new land. They endured many hardships Most of the original settlers were Scot-Irish, Irish and English; some Germans.

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  5. Familiar with the term Holler/Hollow but it isn't common in my part of the U.S. However there is an old working grist mill located on our way to the mts. It is now part of a State Park and a couple of days a week they actually grind corn and you can purchase some. So much fun to see the "old ways".

    Darla

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    1. Corn was the staple of everyday life in the old days around here. Corn was grown more abundantly than wheat so there were many corn grist mills, not many of which have survived.

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  6. Sanda,wonderful story about our hollers - I know all of them and it's so good to hear details about all of them. Keep digging/researching and sharing all of these memories. Since they're part of my own past, I love them!! Also, enjoyed re-reading our great-grandfather Thomas Berry Howard's story. Sorry I've been MIA for a few weeks.

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    1. Great to hear from you again, Areeda. And I think I forgot to mention one that's near us: the Moody Holler. Looking forward to seeing you soon.

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  7. As always, such a great and interesting post! I love the diversity of topics you cover and that your posts really make things about things I otherwise wouldn't.
    I did love the film version of Sleepy Hollow, a quirky adaptation that's somewhere between a horror film and a black comedy

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    1. If my posts are anything they are diverse! So hard to categorize my blog. Some are about fashion, cooking and other specific topics but I don't know what category mine belongs in! I did not see the film version of Sleepy Hollow.

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  8. I'm also familiar with these "hollers". Just a part of our history and I remember how scary sometimes it felt riding the schoolbus into these dark places and crossing a creek.
    You are truly diverse in your subjects and I love it. Keep it up - with a recollection of stories from you, we will never forget our past.

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    1. The hollers definitely could be dark and scary places when we were little. Remember that we used to take the car on Sunday afternoons to the Ingram Holler for a wash in the creek? And the Goodman Holler was where your toe got cut badly when we were wading the creek!

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