Beth Durham's Blog, page 5

Remembering our Heritage

This week I had the honor to participate in Cumberland Horizon’s Heritage Day.  This one-day event has been held for the past three years at the Crossville Community Complex and features a number of displays and events aimed at teaching and reminding us of our American heritage. 

This is not a ...

2021 Winter Weather

Whether you’ll spend the winter feeding stock or commuting to an office, the weather affects all of us.  And this is the time of year we start looking down the winter road trying to predict how much cold, snowy-weather we’ll face.

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Whittled Creations

I sat down last week to blog on that age-old pass-time of whittling, but I found myself on the evils of idleness as inspired by the Case Knife advertisement.  Let’s try it again this week.

While my grandpa always said he was making a little stick out of a big one, lots of whittlers can create be...

Idle Hands

“Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.”  Did your Grandma ever tell you that?  It’s long been my mantra and whenever I forget it, I get in trouble.

When I saw the Case Knife advertisement pictured here, I wasn’t thinking deeply or philosophically.  The slogan simply reminded me of something I’ve heard all my life and it was...

A Godly Legacy of Eternal Value

I am sharing the following story with the author’s permission.  The International Board of Jewish Missions (IBJM) and Brother John C. Lawrence are both dear to my heart and I always enjoy reading their magazine, The Everlasting Nation .  This article was printed in The Everlasting Nation’s Special Issue , 2021.  While its scope is beyond the Tennessee Mountains, the heart of these ladies resonates with those of our own ancestors and I felt you good readers would enjoy it.

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Final Thoughts on Key Town

As we leave Key Town, I wanted to share a few, final thoughts.  I’ve said many times that I’m leaving with more questions than answers, and that’s certainly true after assembling these articles on Key Town.   As I write about people and places that appear as familiar as my own life story, I often find that there are unknown layers to the stories and my research seems to never be finished.  I suppose that’s the nature of history and the reason we can spend a lifetime studying it.

I’m always asking...

John Wesley Key Homeplace

John Wesley Key was number six of seven children to grow up in the Stephen Key home in Key Town.  There were only two boys and John Wesley’s older brother was fully 13 years his senior.  They lived a remote and probably somewhat isolated life near the Hurricane Creek – it was the only life John Wesley would ever know as h...

The First Keys

When I started to virtually launch out from the Jack Atkinson place, I realized I mis-named the first of these articles.  Our first stop, at John Mitchell Key’s place, wasn’t really the beginning of the settlement.  In fact, John Mitchell’s father, William Key, was about 10 years old when the Keys first ventured onto the ...

Uncle Jack's House

Pictur of Jack Atkinson From his Son Luther’s book

As we continue our stroll through Key Town, the next stop after leaving John Mitchell Key’s house is Jack Atkinson’s.  He was widely known as Uncle Jack and is remember...

Key Town Beginnings

A few years ago I trekked into the forest with my Daddy and a couple of cousins to see the homeplace of my Great-great-great Grandfather, Stephen Key.  He was the founder of the now-abandoned Key Town.  Now, I don’t think he had any idea of starting a “town” – likely he had little thought of what the place would look like...