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An interview wi t h Robert Proffit by Joseph Skelton and Deloris Proffit,
on October 3, 1980. The interview was conducted at his home.
Mr. Proffit: John Green was probably the first person entering the land
we know as Meat Camp now. This entry was in 1788 and the orginial deeds
which started at the mouth of Howard ~ s c reek to the New river and it
comes up to the lower end of Meat Camp. The line runs through below where
Earl Green lives now, goes pretty well east and wes t across there. And the
Ragan property joined that. I don ~ t have an} P·IIOO f he re r- on l the "first one,
just ex actly where he lived. I don ~ t think Gre en lived in Meat Camp valley
He lived back on the other side where Forrest (G r een) lives in that hollow.
But still the property comes in Heat CAmp. Then the Ragan land begin
with that line and it run thr~ ugh the upper end of the Wilson property
where Darrell Green owns now, and across on each side. And it will cover
the area you are interested in probably alot more. Now Peter Ragan lived
there somewhere, on the land that he entered in the 1780's 90 ~ s. He
had a son named James who inherited all of it as far as I know. I don~t
have the re cords on it, It wa s probably entered but it is certain he lived
in the country at least before 1790 and its certain that James Ragan
owned the property. Now from there on the greater partc of the rest of
Meat Camp was entered by David Miller. There',s tracts here and there
that he missed for sorfie reason. It mifht have been one or two entries
that he didn ! t have, I mean that someone else had got in--while he was
entering it. And do you want to take in the flat woods and Longhope on
this?
Interviewer:
Yes.
Mr. Pro f fit: Well it was up-- James Brown, I think, a Brown anyway entered
the flat woods that was in the 1780 ~ s. Henry Harrison ?fains lived on
LOng hope, he moved there in 1788. And xcept for that I th i nk David Miller
owned practically all the rest of Meat Camp. He entered it in the period
a little after 1800 to maybe 1830 or so. And some of it may have been
entered in his children ~ s names. They inherited all of it, or all of
it he didn ~ t s e ll. Now let !s see you can f lip that off a minute i f you want t o .
Now the Ragan ~ s f amily-- I guess Ralph still owns part of that place
over there where Bud lives. Floyd Norris if he hadn , t sold it owns a
patch in there. His mother was one of them. The rest of it has all been.
sold. It reached from well at least from the top of Chestnut Grove hill
to Riddle's fork. David Miller owned land on Riddle's fork too. He
had one of the fir s t entries ever made but it was over at Green Va lley
school house- That's Just about where his house was. He owned from there
way back over on the big Hill side that was entered by h~ s daddv . And
after he married he started enteru.3 on the creek here.
I'll get this burned down a little and we'll go on but before we turn it on
(in reference to his pipe).
I can give you a list of several people that I've found that lived here.
And I don't know that I've got them all. Do you want a description of who
lived there at this time on the place and things like that now will that help ~
you?
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Interviewer:
Yes, it sure will.
Mr. Proffit: Now Joseph Miller was one of the earliest settlers above the
Greens and Ragans. He settled on this place here about 1834 I'd say. He
was married in 1834 and probably lived here then. And his land went from I
couldn't tell you exactly, but it took in over the top of this ridge over here
and over nearly to Riddle's Fork and it went up the creek to about where Will
Winebar?er lived or a little above there. And the next one William C. Miller
moved to Upper Meat Camp about 1835. He wasn't related to these. His land
joined the land Henry Proffit owns now and Flo Proffit owns. It went up
somewhere near the Pottertown Gap on the right and went back down toward
Zionville on the other side. And he bougnt some of it from David Miller and I
think he entered some. And his house was where Lark's family lives now.
Levi Wilson lived on the other side of the creek where Gladys Moretz lives.
He owned a lot more land than sne owns but his house was somewhere in that
bottom, and he lived there from maybe 1835-40 on to the late 50's, he moved
to that section in 1839 or 40. He moved into the country in 39 he may of moved
there directly or he could ~ have lived somewhere else awhile but he was there
probably by 1840, that's the place they call the Tate place now. Tom Davis
moved from Holdman's Ford in Wilkes County to what they call the Davis place
now. Jack Bryan owns it. You know where it is it's up over the Ridge.
And Joha Proffit moved from Holdman's Ford in 1841. He built just out to
the right of where Henry Winebarger lives. lie had a mill down on the creek
just below Proffit's Grove church. I Can remember when you could see the
timbers where the water wheel ~as mounted. Teey are gone no · but --they
was logs in the creek back 40 years ago.
And this was evidently land that
David Miller1 ·m~ssed. The Proffit boys entered it I think. And then David Miller
moved from Riddle's Fork up on Meat Camp about 1844. !le lived in an old
house do~m just in front of where Roby Wineba~ger lives in that bottom.
Jake Winebarger settled here in about 1848. He built his first house just
behind where Earl Bryan's house is in that little bottom. Then latter on he
built down where Harvey Trivette's house is. You can't remember the old house
can yo81 It was a log house.
Interviewer:
No
Mr. Proffit: Well Harvey tore it down and built that house thats there now
on the same spot. And he built it in the late 1860's. Now this Winebarger
was a millwright, Carpenter, and cabinet maker; he built yha~ orginal mill
for John Proffit up on b~e creek before th was married. And he built the
Winebarger milJ l Rt t er on. Of course the orginal has been gone a long time
this is, , I think, ~ the fourth mill now. And Levi Blackburn moved from down on
New river to Meat Camp in 1839. He bought land from Joseph Miller there and
he lived on up the hollar above where Richard Greens family lives. He owned
that place too. Now he was a Methodist minister and he started the Hopewell
church about 1850. The orginial building stood just below the old cemetary
down on a little knoll. Latter on they built another one just to the right
of the old cemetary above where the road is now. Around 1900 they built the new
building over on top of the ridge, where it is, of course its been remodelled
and its been moved a little. It blowed off the pillars in 1905 and they
had to do something so they pulled it on up on top of the ridge, it was down
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on this side a little. And they turned it around to face Riddle's Fork.
And there was a man named William Tridy that lived on the upper end of the
creek on 1850 . He was listed in the 1850 census. He evidently wasn't there
so long . There's a place still called the Tridy cabin field, I think Carl
Moretz ' s family o~'lls it now, Some of the Moretz ' s. Corning back down Jerry
Ellison moved in th the iandr that Clyde Winebarger and Herman Bryan owns
now and that was in the 1840's. He married one of the David Miller daughters.
This was iand that she recieved as her inheritance from the orginial Miller
entries. Efird Miller was one of David ' s sons . He lived on the place that _'
Bernard Hodgeson owns now. The Dayton Winebarger place was part of it to.
And he probably moved there in the 1840 ' s. He married one of John Woodring ' s
daughters and she died and then he didn't marry again up until 1850's.
But, I imagine, he probably built there when he first married. John Woodring
settled on what we call the Woodring Hollar somewhere in that section about
1839-or-40. Jesse Vannoy moved here from Wilkes in 1850. He owned the place
now where Dayton Winebarger lives where Willy Proffit lived. Cristian Lewis
married another one of the Miller girls . He moved to this over here where
R. 0. Mains owns and the Claude Norris family and probably more but anyhow
it covered that . I'm not certain where there was any other outside settlers
before that time or not there could have been of course . Now after 1850
most of the new homes in M
eQt Camp was set. up by families; children that was r
raised here. James Ragan had three sons. John built his house a little ,
above where Bud:s house is now . Up in that hollar. Calvin built down on the
place where Earl Green owns--no I'm wrong there - J . B. Green owns . He built
a house just down below where J. B. ' s house is . And Richard built over
here where Austin South lives the old house was down in that little hollar
just the other side of Austin's house. And on the head of the creek William
Proffit built on the land where Claude lived . His house was just above where
Claude's barn is out on that little fidge. John Bryan built up in the hollar
where Herman lives. Oan Johnson bought the place and lived in the s ame ~ house
that John built for years and then he tore it down. Jonathan Miller moved
out :Ln the place where Roy Shipley lives now. The house was, I think, a h
below or maybe behind the Shipley house. And he may have owned the Todd
place too, I don ' t know for certain about that . James Proffit built about
where Ralph Moretz's house is now maybe a little below it . John Proffit Jr .
built over on t he other side abo ut where Jack Bryan ' s barn is. Austin Miller
built pretty close to where Ann Miller's house is or Albert's . John Moretz
built on up where Gene lived . And Edmund Blackburn built over across the hill
here in this hollar, I don ' t know what it ' s called. But anyhow it was on
land that Henry Proffit owned its beens9ld to some bunch of developers now.
But it was between the top of the ridge up here and where Richard Green lived .
Hopewell Methodist church seemed to have been the first one on this Meat
Camp section. It was
determined 1850. Levi Blackburn moved in 1839
and they probably had serv~ c es in homes for awh i le but as far as I know they
didn ' t organize a church until about 1850 possi~ly a little before of after .
I ·-believe I already described where the church stood. The next one was the
Meat Camp church. It was established July 6, 1851. And it was a pretty
strong congregat ~ on, not so strong when it was set up but it was a fast growing
congregation . The orginial meeting house there stood in the little bottom
down below where the church house is now . It belongs to Gladys Gragg's .
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Between 194 and the old cemetary. And I don't know just when the new house
was built but probably 40 to 50 years af ter that . And that ' s the only churches
I know of on Meat Camp before the Civil war .
What I've heard told of, I've
a book on Stoneman's raid and
ed on Meat CAmp at the time.
you would just be things that
Interviewer:
got a little . The Van Noppen waman she wrote
there was a few references to things that happenBut I Can't seperate that. What I can tell
I've heard people tell.
Well.
Mr. Proffit: Well in the war then first calls evidently was for volinteers
they had a conscription too. But they was people volinteered that wouldn't
have been conscripted, to old or physically probably wouldn ' t have passed .
And theymay habe been some I don ' t have. I know some that would have been
consideres, Possibly from Meat Camp, But still they are outside a little
of the scope that we are covering here. I ' ll give you the names of the people
I've found that went into the confedrency service from Meat Camp proper.
That was John Blackburn, John Bryan, Elbert Davis, Albert D~vis, Harvey Davis,
Thomas Davis Jr., William S. Davis, Richard Green, Alferd Miller, David Miller,
Edmund Miller, Elferd Miller, Franklin Miller, John Miller, LOzeno Miller,
John Moretz, David Proffit, Jesse Proffit, Thomas Proffit William Proffit,
Marcus Woodring, Rufus Woodring, Now out of these Thomas Davis Jr . , Richard
Green, David Miller, Edmund Miller, John Miller, David Proffit, Jesse Proffit,
and Thomas Proffit all died in the service . There was a time went the war
was going on there was raids through the country mostly by outlaws. Stoneman's
raid was the only one I know of that was offical. But at times there was
bands that would come through and rob the people and go on. There ' s one
story of some that went to Jacob Winebarger's and took his horse. They went
to William Miller ' s and swapped with him . Left an old pug that looked like
it was dead on it's feet . After the war and the horse was feed up it turned
out to be a good animal. And I ' ve heard them tell my great-grandmother lived
at the Shipley place, it was the Jon a th an Miller place then, he was her uncle .
Ane she brought some corn over to tne m il ~l that John Proffit had on the creek
and wheb she started back to get her mill she noticed some people coming
through the gap of the mountain on horses and she tried to get to the mill
before they did, but she'd .; ust got her mill and started back when thay rode
up and they took the mill hwa¥ I ~rom her. It was the last she had, and she
had to go ovee to Trade over in tenn . to get some more . And another time
they had some maple sugarburied . They'd made it and got afraid someone would
come in and take it so they buried it in the woods . It started raining and after
a few days of fain they got afraid that would ruin it, and went and took
it up and that night a bunch come and took it away from them . They was other < <r·
things. Out of all this bunch of soldiers Elfird Miller deserted. He ' s the
only one I know of. He got back home and layed out in the mountains till the
war was over.
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Interviewer:
Is that---
Were roost of the men you mentioned were they confederate?
Mr. Proffit:
All confederate .
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Interviewer:
soldiers?
..'Were most of the rad.eds that went on here donel by the northern
Mr. Proffit : Well I suspect mostly it was just what you might call the trash
of the country . Deserters and people who layed out to keep from having to
serve and maybe it could have been some sympathers with the northern cause.
Interviewer: Yeah . I know I was just wandering because of how bad some of
the raids where by northern soldiers further down south. I didn't know i f
maybe it might have been some of them .
Mr . Proffit: Now they was a trail through in the Tenn. Beach creeR c0.yntry .
That was used quite a bit for people who deserted and wanted to get to the
north . And they may have been some gone through1here . Over the Rich mountain
gap, but from what I've heard I think most of the raiding through here was
just you might say a bunch of outlaws. People who had found a way to live
off the other people.
Interviewer:
Yeah.
Mr. Proffit:
in that.
I don't think they was any organized connection with the north
There was a school that stood down in this bottom that belongs to Darrell
Green now. Of course it was just a conscription school. The people who
had children to send payed so much for the course.
Interviewer :
Uh-huh .
Did they pay the teacher?
Is that how they did it?
Mr . Proffit : I think so, yeah. There wasn ' t any school board's anything
like that. Just somebody that was capable of teaching would go through the
community and get parents to agree to pay. Maybe a dollar or so a student.
Interviewer:
something?
Un-huh.
Did he work kinda like a circuit rider preacher of
Mr . Proffit: I don ' t know how that was. Wehad a few people in the country
that was qualified as school teachers. I can remember hearing that my greatgrandmother said all she got to go to school was when she would slip off
and go down to this school. Her daddy wouldn ' t let her go . He wouldn't
pay for the course. As far as I know that was the only school within reach
of this section until after --till after the war.
pause . in tape. l r. -'- t1:, .
Mr . Proffit: He:.;wa·s ' brought r b~ John Moretz. He bought the Cooper place
down on the other side of Big Hill . It included part of Big Hill . He put
in a set of mills there several different kinds of mills and brought Jacob
Winebarger with him to keep up the mill, sharpen his stones and all of that.
Interviewer:
Un-huh .
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Mr. Proffit: Then Winebarger married one of his girls and moved over here
on Meat Camp.
Interviewer:
Un-huh.
Did they have any stores or anything?
Mr. Proffit: Not back at that time. Gargan Council had a store at Boone.
That was-- I think he started maybe in the 1820's. He had the first post
office in the country too.
Interviewer: Un-huh. People were just what more self sufficient than they
needed a store for I guess?
Mr. Proffit: Yeah. All Council could have sold was just mostly stuff they
couldn't raise here. After a while of course they probably got to bringing
in more stuff like it has been ever since. But orginally I think it was
jist finery mostly and maybe salt and stuff like that. The only store I know
of that was anywhere close here was down --was down on Big Hill and that
was after the civil war throgh . You've probably heard it called Soda Hill. - l·
Do you remember hearing that?
P Interviewer:
I can't think, I don't know.
Mr. Proffit: I can remember when they still called it Soda Hill but its
called Big Hill now. But they said the reason they called it that was cause
the i· first soda that was ever sold in this country was brought there.
.)
Uh-Is that drinking soda or baking soda?
No baking soda.
Interviewer:
/
Interviewer:
Mr. Proffit:
5
They still don't call drinks soda here.
Intervierer:
Yeah. I guess that's just where where I'm from.
0 Interviewer:
/
,) Irterviewer:
Yeah.
They call them soda.
Mr. Proffit: Now what do we need after the civil war?
just the same kind of thing?
What particular
Interviewer: Yeah, What kind of schools, churches, were there---Did the area
change a whole lot after the civil war-- were there a lot of changes that
happened in here?
Mr. Proffit: Not that I know of on Meat Camp. There might have been some
Cilffeqmce pt6bablj would· .have been but the way of life all that was the same
on.
Interviewer:
Yeah.
Mr. Proffit: There never was anything here to begin with except just the
natural things and---
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Interviewer:
Well that's enough.
Mr. Proffit: There was no business of
ever carried on here . And there's not
that unless you have improvements . Of
you could pull by tracters things like
was very little change in general. ~~
any kind, farming was all that was
room for a great amount of change in
course after they begin making machinery
that has changed . But I guess there
~
cl' ' ..,::'
Interviewer:
Part of it or something?
Yeah .
Mr . Proffit: It's actually been a part of five counties in its history but
from the time it was settled in here. Wilkes county was formed in 1778 .
I think and it included this. This was all Wilkes county then on some says
to Mississippi others claim it didn't go that far, but anyway it took in a
great part of Tenn . And I don't know I may have given you that date wrong
did I say 1778?
Interviewer:
Yeah.
Mr. Proffit :
Well that's what I meant anyway .
Interviewer :
0 . K.
Mr.
The
and
was
but
Proffit: In 1799, Ashe county was formed and it included all this.
line·-went t not , to far from where it is now between Wilkes county, AShe
Watauga and partof Mitchell was together at that time all of Avery county
in Ashe county. No that ' s wrong part of Avery was formed with Mitchell,
a good part of it was Watauga territory and Watauga was formed in 1849.
Interviewer:
Now Watauga was formed out of thos five counties?
Mr. Proffit: No part of that was took off Watauga . Avery county was in
Watauga county until 1911. The line between Ashe and Watauga is close to
where it was orginially. There's been a few changes to straighten places. And
there ' s been other changes, no point in going into it, a little along . The v Caldwell line and so on . But tis section in here sll that's in Watauga now
was in Ashe until 1849 that's from 1799 on . Now from there was three years that
David Miller represented Watauga county of course he didn't live in Meat CAmp
then he lived on Big Hill. But he owned most of Meat Camp he was representive
in 18-- I think 1810, 11 and 13 . He skipped one year . It was one year terms
then.
Interviewer:
Un-huh.
Mr. Proffit: And as far as I know he was the only politican that we could
clairp, Yeah, I was right 1810, 11, and 13.
~'::.
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Mr . Proffit : I may not have anything down on the others and their homes
latter if I don't we can put it together. You've turned that thing off .
END OF SIDE ONE .
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Interviewer:
Road, about the same as it was then?
Mr . Proffit Yeah, in places the old road bed shows a good it of the way
it was , over in the bootom a little out here . You may have noticed this
low place in the bottom . And up through there I don't know just about where
it left up about Bernard Hodgeson ' s I guess it took up around the spur and went
up around the hill instead of going up the creek. Expept for that it's pretty
well the same. Now down below here it crossed it about 8 or 10 times . But
outside of that well it ' s still about the same instead of going straight it
went the easiest way I reckon.
Interviewer :
What about briages?
They just went through the creek?
Mr. Proffit :
Yeah, had a footlog for walkers--drive horses through the creek .
Interviewer : Did they~I know they did in a lot of the rest of the country .
Did they get --have people volunteer when they started putting--really cuttin
the roads out alot, putting the tops on them. Did they have people volunteer
to do that in this area .
Mr. Proffit: That was appointed. I don't know wheather local, probably was
a state law that a man over 21 years had to serve so many days a year in road
work. When they wanted to patch or repair it, they just had an owerseer that
notified the people to meet at a certain time . I think it was three days that
every man had to give in a year. He could hire somebody if he wanted to, but
somebody had to work in his name.
Interviewer:
Uh- huh.
Was that ever really inconvient for the people here?
Mr . Proffit : I don ' t know of course at that time everybody just worked at home
I guess it wouldn't have made the difference it woild now. After people got on
jobs of course it would be inconvient, but when you ' re just working the farm
I don't imagine it bothered to much .
Interviewer: I was thinking like as times when they might be harvesting and
digging up their crops, that i it might be inconvient for them.
Mr. Proffit:
as possible .
Well, I imagine that was arranged probably to avoid that as much
Interviewer:
Un-huh .
Mr . Proffit: Now on the other things-the work- I mean in the community we had
several people that could do several different kinds of work, blacksmiths, and
cabin makers, and shoe makers and all that. Practically everything was made
in the community.
Interviewer: When people needed something like that or if they wanted a cabinet
made and they went to the cabinet maker did they--I imagine they didn't always
pay them with money . They might have changed services or bartered with them
~.·
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most of the time.
Mr. Proffit: Yeah, that was common if a man didn't have money to pay he might
have something he could swop for it or work a day or something.
Interviewer:
I'd kinda like to do that myself.
Mr. Proffit: And it didn't run to much. It might have cost you maybe a dollar
to have a bed made or--of course that was still alot then waking for about a
quarter a day.
Interviewer: Let's see- as far as the schools what was the first public school
that they had in this area.
Mr. Proffit: I guess Winebarger, no I don't know wheather it was called Winebarger then or not. There was an old school that stood where Proffit's Grove
church is now on the same spot, but I don't think, yeah it probably was a public
school too. I mean open to anybody and it was probably built not to long after
the war. After the building got old they condemned that bottom above where
Wilcox lives and built a school house in it. That was the Winebarger school
there. And I think that's all the schools that's been on Meat Camp. Three's
all I know of.
Interviewer: Did people usually donate their land and the building materials
in order to get a school.
Mr. Proffit: They did on the first. Now I dbn't know about the second school.
I don't have any information on it at all.
Interviewer:
Un-huh.
Mr. Proffit: They condemned the land for the Winebarger school. It belonged
to Chap Proffit and I don't think he wanted to sell it. So they just condemned
it and paid him whatever a comminitee said it was worth.
Interviewer:
Un-huh.
Mr. Proffit: And I don't know now about the building. Who paid for it? It
could have been paid for by state funds . Of course that was--I don't know the
daoe., it could have been after WWl or it could have been before.
Interviewer:
Unl huh.
Mr. Proffit: Proffit's Grove church-if you want more on churches was started
orginally as an arm of Meat CAmp, I think I've got records on that somewhere
if you want me to check it would be better than guessing.
Interviewer:
Sure.
Mr. Proffit: The next church on Meat Camp was the Lutheran Church. I believe.
Do you know what they called it? (Question directed to Laura Proffit)
Laura Proffit:
What?
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Mr. Proffit:
Laura Proffit:
Mr. Proffit:
Laura proffit:
What did they call the Lutheran church what name ,the old one?
The What?
The old Lutheran Church?
Up here; Well what was the name of that church?
Mr. Proffit: Well anyhow it was the Lutheran congregation.
down below Lucy Winebarger lived.
Laura Proffit:
Mr. Proffit:
Laura Proffit:
I know what the---Well just let it go.
But I can't the more think of it than nothing.
Mr. Proffit: When they rebuilt they called the new one
have been the same as the old one but I don't know.
Laura Proffit: I know where the church is and all that.
many and a many of a Sunday up there.
Interviewer:
Now when they rebuilt
~1ount
Well what was it?
Zion it could
I went to Sunday School
Where was the first one located?
Mr. Proffit: It was on the bank just abive where Dayton Winebarger's house
is around a little behind it. Right straight in front of the old Willy house.
And it was--oh-I don't know-50 yds above. the Willy house I guess or above the
road. It's been down for 30,35 years or more.
Laura Proffit: The f irst Christmas card I ever seen. He sent me and Lunda.
Sent it to both of us. Put both our names on it. And I guess its in there
in that old trunk yet. Well what in the world--I don't know.
Mr. Proffit:
Laura Proffit:
not?
Mr. Proffit:
Well let it go.
We'll get on with this.
It wasn't . Mount Zion was it?
I don't know whether it was or
Anyway it vrns started about 1874.
Laura Proffit: Now that one and Hopewell and Meat Camp was the only churches
there was through this country at that time. Ana people went to them all when
there was meetin or something, everybody -people would all go to each of them
and they'd be houses full.
Mr. Proffit: Well drop that now. We're going on. The Proffit's Grove church
according to the minutes of Meat Camp was first established as an arm of Meat
Camp in Feb. 17 or 1890. They had a-- as it says here- a protractal meeting
at the head of Meat Camp. Condu c ted by J. F. Dotson, L.A. Wilson~ David Green
and they reciev ed some members from that and granted premission to hold services
there as f ar as down to Meat Camp and from then on for several years they had
minutes in there records from this arm. They begin making up money then to try
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to build a church house. And I don't know exactly the time I think about 1911
maybe they got it finished and seperated from Meat Camp. That seems to be all
I~ got on that.
Interviewer:
What about the Methodist Church?
M~Proffit:
Yeah, it was--I forget- Ithink there's a sign on the side of the
house there that tells when it was organized- seems like that-- It may have
been around 1911 or 12. I'm not certain now. All the people up there went
to Hopewell to they got that one started. I know in the early 1900's they still
had funeral services for Methodists at Hopewell then. I imagine that it probably
was around 1910 or 11 when it was built. I believe that's the last one until
the Holiness church wasn't it? I don't rememoer that was in the 50's sometime
I don't remember the exact date maybe 55 or 6 somewhere along there could have
been 54.
Interviewer: Have the people in the different churches always interacted pretty
well er have the different churches always interacted pretty well with each
other?
Mr. Proffit: Well, not to a great extent 1n some ways they have. IN community
affairs I think they did pretty much. In there religion they didn't tend to as
much. Each one of them was more of less to themselves a lot of people attained
services other places but that was about the limits of it.
Interviewer: But they did-they were- they did pretty well together in commmnity
affairs and stuff like that?
Mr. Proffit: Yeah, as far as I know there wasn't any what you would say antagonsism
it was just-- .They just differed on what · they believed.
Irterviewer: Have different community affairs or at least needs
community affairs have they changed very much?
i f\' community
M~Proffit:
Yeah there's been a lot of change in the way things are done--back
in the early time according to reports at least they worked together a lot.
In the fall maybe they's have corn s lfckins, bean stringins maybe things like
that. The whole community about would gather in and do whatever was to be done.
In the spring maybe they'd have log rollings clearing fields about all the men
would ho for that. Maybe the women go and cook. I guess that's been the biggest change
you don't find any of that now.
No logs to be rolled no corn to shuck either and
it was said that back in the time after the civil war for years when people
would have there corn in there was a custom more or less to put a gallon of whiskey
under one shuck or pack and when they got down do it. Then whoever get it first
got the first drink out of it.
Interviewer:
M~Proffit:
Then pass it around
Yeah
Interviewer: I thenk its interesting that they were able to take something like
that and make it into a community type of affair and have fun with it as well as
They could take there work and have fun with it. Its kinda hard to do these days.
�12
Mr. Proffit:
Yeah. There conditions was all different. You couldn't very well
get anything now to draw a whole community in. Of course the community is a whole
lot bigger than it was then to, people I mean.
Irterveiwer:
Right
Mr Proffit :
And travel and all that was pretty much restricted to home . You
couldn't go any distance in a day and no roads either . Back when they first settled
this country there wasn't ever a wagon road.
Interveiwer: Do you think. One thing I ' ve noticed about Heat Camp is that there's
not a whole lot of development in this area and ah.
llr _ E roffit ~ :
No
Inte rveiwer
Which I think is good for this area.
would like to see a little bit more development.
Do you think people around here
Mr. Proffit:
I'd say most of them probably wouldn't .
Interveiwer :
Um-huh
Mr . Proffit :
For one thing its pretty well the same families now as it was back
early. Practically everybody in this community is related and with some exceptions
most of land still belongs to the descendants of the orginal families . I think
Probably that would make some difference .
Interveiwer :
I hope so
M~Proffit:
Developing would bring in outsiders . That nobody knows. Of course
this Proffit place over here on the back of the mountain was sold to some developers.
I don ' t know how much of it has been resold . There ' s a few houses been built on
it. I don't know who anybody is . Whether they ' re even from any where in this
country or not . I doubt it .
Interveiwer : Do most of the people-the few that do move into this country-do they
adapt pretty well . Do you think?
Mr Proffit: Well I think so of course some of them just stay to themselves .
They don ' t get acquainted to many. People here don ' t bother them .
Interveiwer :
People still pretty close knit?
MrProffit : Well pretty much . Nows there ' s a few, the Todd family out on the section
toward the flat woods. 0 dpn ' t think they mingle so nuch with the people but yet
they don't slight them or anything like that. They ' ve been here several years and
I think most people who know them seem to like them . There ' s a man bought a place
up here above the mill flune, everyboky that knows him said he ' s a nice man but
they'er was very few that knew him . But I think he's sold it now .
�13
Interveiwer:
Um huh
Mr Proffit: But s-till that's not qu~te the same as a development in the since that
you mean. I mean a family here and there.
Itterveiwer: Right, Yeah I mean like people coming in and building apartments and
that sort of t9ing.
Mr Proffit:
Yeah, I understood what you meant.
Itterviewer: Yeah, I think its really unique to this area compared to the rest
of .Watauga county that that hasn't happened yet and I hope it never does.
Mr. Proffit:
Yeah.
Interviewer: But maybe the strength is in that this area still in the land everythings still owned by the folks who are descends of the orginial settlers. Where
as in so many other places its all just been sold.
Mr. Proffit:
Mostly everybody involves strangers.
Interviewer: They come from some other part of the country, where they come in
here and they, they don't really take the time to look at how people live here
am the way people are here. They kind o f expect them to be the way. that they are,
f rom where they come from.
Mr. Proffit: That makes one considerable difference; you hardly ever find customs
the same in two places. There are people here, practically all of them can trace
connectiona back to some of their earlier families, some of 'em know about all.
Mr. Proffit gets up to clean his pipe and tape is shut off at this point.
Cut back on as Deloris is asking about work ane outside of the area.
Mr. Proffit:
I don't believe I quite understand what you mean.
Interviewer:
Well, I mean like working in Plants.
Mr. Proffit: Well, I don't hardly know that. There wasn't but very little of
it before World War LL. Course there wasn't any factories here in the county
till after the war I guess. Pipe shop at Boone may have been the first to employ
any number of people, it didn't employ a lot. And I'd say that was probably in
the forties--must have been. Tobacco warehouses in Boone went in somewhere along
there, '39 or '40 maybe and that employed a few people at a particular time but
it was just seasonal . Some people went to Lenior and other places to work in
the furniture factories before that, but it was just one here'n there. There
was a hosiery mill--! don't remember the name of it. That could've been in the
'40's. And later on I guess probably that I RC may have been t~e first big
factory. Probably Shadowline was next and the saw plant may be the last one.Vermont American.
Interviewer:
There aren't any plants in the Meat ·Camp area ar all?
�14
Mr. Proffit: There's H & T Chair down here in my place. It's a amall operation.
Course there was a few years that they did a good business. Its still runnin',
but-------I don't know of anything else.
Interviewer: Most other businesses that would be in this community
be like some of the stores?
would ~ just
Mr. Proffit: I suppose it would. I don't think of anything that --nothing that
employs many people or furnishes much business except that.
Interviewer: And farming------that some people might do.
do it on a large scale anymore, do they?
I guess they wouldn't
Mr. Proffit: Not, not much. There's a few people that still with a farm' n
cattle together earn a good bit of money. The Green's down in the lower end.
I don't know, there may be a few others. Farming wouldn't account for too much
through here now.
Interviewer:
Just kind of, you grow what vegetables you need for your own use?
Mr. Proffit:
Yeah.
Interviewer:
Did you have a pretty good year this year?
Mr. Proffit: Well fair, I didn't have as much yeild as I like to have but everything
was good, I mean, all done very well, just didn't turn off too much.
Interviewer:
Yeah- I didn't get much art of my garden this year so I was wondering?
Interviewer: This is off the subject a little but do you know what nationalities
the people were that first came?
M~Proffit:
Pretty well. I'd say that practical all of them, the first one's
English, course its' a mixture after all. We got in t .h e country now, the origial, we got English, Welsh, Irish, Scotish, a trace of Belgian, some Danish,
German, and Dutch. I don't know of anything else. Practically all of us have
got a bit of all of it. Now the Byrans is Danish. Morgan Bryan was born in
Denmark and ·.his wife was Dutch. She was ·born somewhere in the Netherlands
I think.
Interviewer:
Holland probably.
Mr. Pro ff it: Then her family moved to France and she was raised there. ~h'" y
~
me~· in P;;± i ad~lphia . .. , Th~- Prof.fit~ \<!a~ En,giish. - There Is a ·nifxfore ·a f 'possibly
Irish and certainly Scotish in the family. The Lewis'· was Welsh and the Joneses,
course we don't have any Joneses now in the community that I know of, used to be
some, And there's well been another family of two of Welsh connections. The
�15
Greens and certain others were Scottish . The
ijoleman's English but their names supposed to
it ' s called- a Viking settlement in England.
in time. But about all the families here was
than the others. After a while anything runs
Davis ' was Welsh, I overlooked them.
have come from .Danedyher- whatever
They mingled with the English people
principally English I imagine moreso
out, I reckon .
Interviewer: Has un-huh- lets see how to word this. Has as far as where people
are living now, in the homes that their living in--has Meat Camp gotton any smaller
you know people living closer together or do they--is there still a pretty good
distance between homes?
Mr . Proffit: Well, they is a lot closer than they used to be, course they're more
people . P.e say ' s (his uncle) he can remember when there weren't but a half a
dozen or so homes on Meat Camp, on the
------
Interviewer:
Uh-huh .
Are you still able to do a lot of hunting around in this area?
Mr. Proffit: Well you could some if there was anything to hunt for . It's pretty
cleared out of game now . Course the turn loose deer and bear and so on, but I
don't think they allow hunting them yet . The old native games about all gone.
Interviewer :
Were there any doctors that lived in
Mr. Proffit : Uh not that I know of.
(addressed to Uncle)
Tom Proffit:
~he
area?
Wllere did Tom Blackburn live, at Todd?
Yeah, I think so.
Mr. Proffit : I guess he was the closest one, there was one, Sutherland- Stopwell
I think. Some at Boone, but I don ' t think we ever had any on Meat Camp . The doctorin
here was done mostly by the people in the community without a license . Now Granny
Winebarger was a Doctor of sorts . Course she was mainly a midwife, but she treated
people for what they had any knowledge of.
Interviewer: They depended on a lot on the midwifes for a lot of the doctoring,
didn ' tthey? I guess deliverying babies but a lot of general medicine stuff too.
Mr. Proffit : Yeah, they treated fevers and ever so many things like that . Practically
anything except most serious things. I don't suppose they tried to set bones or
anything like that . But they had a pretty good knowledge of most of the general
ailments . Now this Granny Winebarger I mentioned was Jacobs ' wife . The one that
first settled here. Sne had a doctor book . Had, I suppose , a description of simptons
and so on, what to use to treat different things. A lot of it was superstition.
Granny Proffit was a midwife too, I don ' t knm.r if she went in for any other kind of
doctoring or not . Aunt Evan Moretz was , I believe she had a pretty good knowledge
of various things.
Interviewer :
Did they use a lot of they used a lot of herbs I guess, didn't they?
Mr. Proffit :
Oh practically all, even the doctors did back at that time .
�16
Interviewer:
Do they still grow many of those types of herbs or do they grow wild?
Mr. Proffit: They mostly grow wild, I don't know wheather anybody cultivates any
of them or not. You can still find some of them in the woods places.
Interviewer:
Do you remember who some of the first teachers were in this area?
Mr. Proffit:
Well I don't know, about a long way back Epheran Miller was a teacher.
Interviewer:
Is this the same one that was in the Civil war?
Mr. Proffit: No that a different one, his nephew. That would of been at a later
time after the war. Probabably a good many years after. I can't give you the
names of any before then, now. I don't think of any.
Interviewer: Were most of the teachers that came into this area, really at ·any
time were they, were many of them from this area originally?
Mr. Proffit: Well, I suppose they all would've been, early. Ephan w-s raised
I guess in there-- Riddles Fork section, which you would say next door at least.
Well he lived on Meat Camp too, I forgot about after he married he lived in the
Woodring hollar. So I guess he probably did live here when he was teaching here.
Course I can remember on a few would have been teaching, but that's on ahead of
where you wanted I guess.
Interviewer~
·: ~ot, 1 well
( '.Delci>;n-is-
) , Yeah . .
Mr. Proffit: Glayds Moretz was my first teacher. Eleanor Moretz was a teacher,
she lived-uh-well in the house where the Barlow boy lives now. Owen .Winebarger
was the first one I can remember I guess. I don't even know back behind them.
Burt Davis was a teacher but he lived down at Riddles Fork, too or the other side.
Interviewer : How many -uh- months when the schools, like the first schools- were
Proffits Grove church is now- how many months of the year did they go?
Mr. Proffit:
I think that was a three months school.
Interviewer:
You know what year that it was torn down?
Mr. Proffit:
No do you know? (addressed to Uncle)
Torn Proffit:
What?
Mr. Proffit:
The old school house, when was it tore down?
Torn Proffit:
I don't know, the main old one I don't know.
Mr. Proffit: Now they used it for a church building a long time after they quit
using it for a school.
Torn Proffit:
Now when I went to school the main old school that had been there,
�17
it was already tore down. That's been about 80 years ago cause I'm 85 and a little
over and that ' s first school I ever went to when Gutter(?) Moretz was the teacher .
Mr. Proffit: Now he lived on Big Hill.
Interviewer :
He traveled over here?
Mr . Proffit:
to Unclel
Yeah, I suppose he did .
Tom Proffit:
I guess he did.
I guess he went home didn't he? (addressed
Mr . Proffit: At that time they didn't mind 6 or 8 miles so much .
been a pretty good walk, maybe more than that. He lived
Course it had
---
END OF SIDE 11, TAPE 1 .
Tom Proffit:
It was usaally out about Christmas.
Mr . Proffit:
Well it would have been September probably when it started.
Interviewer: Did it interfer very much with things you know like the farming end-of what the students had to do at home?
Mr. Proffit: No I wouldn't think so, They probably would have had the work pretty
well done up by that time. Of course the children that was old enough to do much
worked with it and kept up if there was anything to do anyway.
Interviewer :
know?
What was the average number of students that went up there do you
Mr . Proffit :
Do you know how many went about? (Question addressed to his Uncle)
Tom Proffit: No it was about full, but I don ' t know if they ever kept talley or
not, how many went .
Interviewer:
Who paid the teachers?
Mr . Proffit:
How did they handle the paying then?
Tom Proffit :
I reckon they did, county one, I don't know which .
Did the state pay then or--?
Mr . Proffit : County possibly at that time . Of course the earliest one was subscription
People just paid so much for their own children. The time he's talking about I
guess it was county or state one .
Interviewer : Did teachers back then did they ever like talk to the parents of
the students very much? You know like they've got the PTA today?
Mr. Proffit:
No . No I don ' t think so .
Interviewer:
Un-huh.
�18
Mr. Proffit : How it was, was if the parents didn't like something they'd go down
and jump on the teacher . But as far as any discussion now what you mean is wherehow they are doing in school and all that, I doubt of there was much of that.
Tom Proffit :
No.
Mr. Proffit :
Have you got any other questions?
Interviewer: You mentioned a- one fellow around that was from Meat ·camp that had
been involved in politics back around the civil war .
Mr. Proffit :
Yeah, That was before . It was in the early 1800 ' s .
Interviewer:
Was there anybody after that?
Mr. Proffit: 1 don ' t know of anybody
office above the county level or not.
officers but I don ' t remember anybody
Now Spencer Blackburn was raised over
but I don't think he lived over there
Interviewer:
on Meat CAmp that ever served in any political
Of course we ' ve had commissariers and local
else that went to legislature to congress .
here on the Green Place. He was in Congress
the time he was in congress .
Is that state congress?
Mr. Proffit: No. He was national, but he was raised over close above that place
I told you about that was sold off to the developers, the Edmund Blackburn place.
I don't know how long he served, it was in I think, in the 1890's wouldn ' t it when
he was in.
Tom Proffit :
Probably was.
Mr . Proffit : I don't know how long he served he died in office. But he was a young
man yet when he died so he might not have served more than two or three terms .
Interviewer: As far as Meat CAmp conununity do you-~Has there ever been a time
when it was really ever considered as a community?
Mr . Proffit : Well of course in the earlier times it wouldn't have been . I ' d say
the main development started from about 1835 along there. The Ragan ' s family could
have lived on Meat Camp or it could have been a long ways on either side and still
have been on there property. I don't know where there orginial home was and the Greens
didn ' t live here to latter, I mean, on what we call Meat Camp now, it was on further
down . I expect Joe Miller might have been the first one to live right on--in the
valley here .
Interviewer : Say like about 1835 would they have been having conununity meetings
and that sort of things?
Mr . Proffit : No, that would have been a little to early for that . It was-He lived here then . Billy Miller on the head of the creek 2 miles apart. And
Levi Wilson- 3 or 4 families . They probably wouldn ' t have been much between them
at that time.
�19
Interviewer:
Was it refered to as
~eat
Camp at that time?
Mr. Proffit: Yeah. According to the old tales that we use--the name comes from
back when people from below the mountains would come up and hunt. They'd kill
deer and bear and so on, skin it out. And they had a place where they took the
meat and stored it to they went back. That's what give it the name. There's two
or three places that's been pointed out as the camp. Of course that's just theory
but chances are they are all right, there might have been a camp maybe on the lower
end and one on the upper end too. There's supposed to be one down in the field
I reckon you would call it or use to be a field, belongs to the Greens now. Down
the creek below Meat Camp service station in there. Some claims there was one on
the land, I guess Gene Moretz owns now. And theres a possibility that there was.
They could have stored one time at one place and the other at the other place.
Wouldn't necessarily have to be any conflict in it.
Tom Proffit:
Well the camp burnt.
That's what give it the name Meat Camp I think.
Interview.er: Has there ever been any conflict between any of the families that
have lived in this community?
Proffit: No, nothing more than just ordinary spats. No feuds or anything
like that. Actually the most of what trouble thats been here has been between
people that has moved in from somewhere else,' all the killing that I know of has
been between people that use to live somewhere else and moved in here. Of course
sometimes there'd be fights and people maybe be mad . for a few days. But in general
I imagine its been about as peaceable as any community amoung the originial
settlers.
~r.
Pause in tape
-"') Interviewer:
Do you have any more questions?
0
Interviewer:
Not that I can think of.
J
Interviewer:
I think we've pretty well covered everythin?.
Mr. Proffit:
Are you interested in mills and blacksmiths shops?
Interviewer:
Sure Anythings that's----Yeah.
Mr. Proffit: Well of course the Proffit mill I think was the first one on Meat
CAmp. I don't know when it was built but I'd say brobably by 1850 or maybe a little
before. Jacob Winebarger's very likely was the next. I don't know the date.
Thats been argued at different time but very likely in the 1860's. I think Will
said about about 1873 I think he's a little late oa it I believe it was a little
eearlier than that. I can't give you the dates now or even the order exactly
but Poula(?) Moretz had a rollar mill in the bottom where Clint Miller lives now.
Thatwas a lot later through. There was one up at the Lester Wilcox place. I think
the old wheel may be there yet, I don't remember now. The building is partly there
at least. I think the last time I noticed it the water wheel was there but it
may be gone. I wouldn't say. And there was one up above where Dean Proffit lives.
�20
Lark run it for years, Lark Miller, and--Did Willet have a mill there before Lark
did?
Tom Proffit :
I don't know, probably did have.
Mr . Proffit : He had one somewhere in there . Gene Moretz had one on up above
his house. I think its still there water wheel and building at least or was a
few years ago . I don't remember if there's anymore or not . Jacob Winebarger had
a blacksmith shop back early, and latter Will Winebarger had one . I believe the
old building is there yet . Noah Winebarger had one between the road and the creek
just across from the Harvey Trivette house. Hosea Miller had a shop up upon the
mountain a little .
Interviewer :
Do blacksmiths work on wagons as well as on the horses?
Mr. Pro f fit :
Yeah .
Interviewer:
They were kinda like the early auto mechanics I guess.
Mr . Proffit : Yeah it was pretty good business putting tires on wagons wheels .
They used Iron tires on them. They'd weld the tires and put them on the wheels
and they made other metal pieces that had to be used on wagons . They fired plows
and things like that.
Interviewer: Did they do any tanning or anything the blacksmiths, or would they
let someone else?
Mr. Proffit : I don't think so. That would have been-or might be somebody that
could about everything might have probably-- I don't think it was connected with
the blacksmith work.
Show us an Iron .
Mr. Proffit : Ther ' s an iron Noah Winebarger put a handle in .
broke off he made that one .
The handle got
Interviewer :
Do they set this in coals or something set this in and get it hot?
Mr. Pro f fit:
I don't know how it was done .
Interviewer:
You would think he bought it like this .
Mr. Proffit:
Welded without a torch at that time.
Interviewer :
They welded this without any torch that's amazing .
But he welded the handle in it .
Mr . Pro f fit: They heated the two pieces of metal red hot and put borers on that
piece that was welded to it and hammered it together.
Interviewer:
Uh-huh.
�21
Interviewer:
I don't think I'd like that job.
shows us a device used to make shoes
Mr. Proffit:
Put the shoe on there and hanuner it.
Interviewer: Did they--! read somewhere that use to---that they use to didn't
make shoes for right and · left feet they made so that they could fit on either
foot.
Mr.
Proffit:
Laura Proffit:
there too?
I've heard that, I don't know whether it's right or not.
There use to be one size bigger than that like that.
Mr. Proffit:
That's the only one that's here.
Tom Proff i t:
Is it under
I thought there was two or three in that outfit.
Mr. Proffit: Peopl~ made there oym shoes back then too.
for others. Roby Bryan could make shoes.
Interviewer:
Few people made them
Where they just all leather is that how they'd make them, the material?
Mr. Prof f it: I think so. Yeah.
like that for soles, then.
END OF INTERVIEW , .
I don't suppose they had any rubber or anything
MIDDLE OF SIDE 1.
�
Dublin Core
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Title
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Appalachian Oral History Project Interviews
Description
An account of the resource
In 1973, representatives from Appalachian State University (ASU) began the process of collecting interviews from Watauga, Avery, Ashe, and Caldwell county citizens to learn about their respective lives and gather stories. From the outset of the project, the interviewers knew that they were reaching out to the “last generation of Appalachian residents to reach maturity before the advent of radio, the last generation to maintain an oral tradition.” The goal was to create a wealth of data for historians, folklorists, musicians, sociologists, and anthropologists interested in the Appalachian Region.
The project was known as the “Appalachian Oral History Project” (AOHP), and developed in a consortium with Alice Lloyd College and Lees Junior College (now Hazard County Community College) both in Kentucky, Emory and Henry College in Virginia, and ASU. Predominately funded through the National Endowment for the Humanities, the four schools by 1977 had amassed approximately 3,000 interviews. Each institution had its own director and staff. Most of the interviewers were students.
Outgrowths of the project included the Mountain Memories newsletter that shared the stories collected, an advisory council, a Union Catalog, photographs collected, transcripts on microfilm, and the book Our Appalachia. Out of the 3,000 interviews between the three schools, only 663 transcripts were selected to be microfilmed. In 1978, two reels of microfilm were made available with 96 transcripts contributed by ASU.
An annotated index referred to as The Appalachian Oral History Project Union Catalog was created to accompany the microfilm. The catalog is broken down into five sections starting with a subject topic index such as Civilian Conservation Corps, Coal Camps, Churches, etc. The next four sections introduced the interviewees by respective school. There was an attempt to include basic biographic information such as date of birth, location, interviewer name, length of interview, and subjects discussed. However, this information was not always consistent per school.
This online project features clips from the interviews, complete transcripts, and photographs. The quality and consistency of the interviews vary due to the fact that they were done largely by students. Most of the photos are missing dates and identifying information.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Collection 111. Appalachian Oral History Project Records, 1965-1989
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1965-1989
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview.
Skelton, Joseph
Proffit, Deloris
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed.
Proffit, Robert
Interview Date
10/3/1980
Number of pages
21 pages
Date digitized
9/24/2014
File size
14.7MB
Checksum
alphanumeric code
d5ab4a2ab3eac00fce47d679659e8c62
Scanned by
Tony Grady
Equipment
Epson Expression 10000 XL
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Copyright for the interviews on the Appalachian State University Oral History Collection site is held by Appalachian State University. The interviews are available for free personal; non-commercial; and educational use; provided that proper citation is used (e.g. Appalachian State Collection 111. Appalachian Oral History Project Records; 1965-1989; W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection; Special Collections; Appalachian State University; Boone; NC). Any commercial use of the materials; without the written permission of the Appalachian State University; is strictly prohibited.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
AC.111 Appalachian Oral History Project Records; 1965 - 1989
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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111_tape490-1_RobertProffit_transcript_M
Title
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Interview with Robert Proffit [October 3, 1980]
Language
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English
English
Type
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Document
Source
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<a title="Appalachian Oral History Project Interviews, 1965-1989" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/195" target="_blank">Appalachian Oral History Project Interviews, 1965-1989</a>
Creator
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Skelton, Joseph
Proffit, Deloris
Proffit, Robert
Subject
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Mountain life--North Carolina--Watauga County--History
Mountain life--North Carolina--Ashe County--History
Mountain life--North Carolina--Wilkes County--History
Mountain life--North Carolina--Avery County--History
Description
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Robert Proffit talks about Meat Camp's early history from the first settler John Green in 1788. Over the next few decades, people began to trickle in to Western North Carolina. He talks about the first churches in the area: Hopewell Methodist Church and Meat Camp Church. He also describes the civil war, how many members of the community enlisted with the confederate army, but after the war there wasn't much difference in Meat Camp. Proffit explains Meat Camp well with this statement: "there was never anything here to begin with except just natural things."
Ashe County
Avery County
Big Hill
blacksmith
Boone
David Miller
Early Settlers
H&T Chair
herbs
herbs and roots
Hopewell Methodist Church
John Green
Meat Camp
Meat Camp Church
Proffit's Grove Church
Riddles Fork
Robert Proffit
roots
Spencer Blackburn
tobacco warehouse
Watauga County N.C.
Wilkes County