Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 49

Facing page: Cast-iron expressions belie a family’s
love. Jo Harris’s grandparents (c. 1915, with their
children prior to the birth of Harris’s father) grubbed
out a living in the Smokies in pre-park days.
Left: Harris’s father was the “least ‘un” in his family
following the death of his baby brother in 1918. Here
he’s with his best friend, seven years before the
government bought the family property for inclusion
in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

delivered to the government that of our grandparents’
32 acres, 15 were cultivated while 17 remained in
timber. There were no signs of the barn, rail fence,
the orchard’s five fruit-bearing trees, or the 15 immature ones that had held so much promise for the family’s future. Our hearts were overflowing as we
explored this part of our heritage; thoughts surged
through our collective minds like the thundering river
two miles away.
It was hard to imagine my grandparents had raised
six children on this very spot and buried another not
far away. I suppose my grandparents were mountainwise and resourceful, but with so little, life must have
been a tiresome, daily struggle.
Tragically, daddy died when I was seven so I
couldn’t ask how often he’d fished in the stream, or
if he’d sneaked off to hunt when he was supposed to
be hoeing the corn. I’d never know what it was like
growing up surrounded by this beautiful, natural
playground.
My grandparents also died before I became interested in the past. Had they welcomed that $500 government check – which by today’s standards seems
paltry, but in actuality was more than two times the
government’s appraised value – or had they been
openly hostile at being forced to leave their home?
homesite was worth another try.
With renewed anticipation we walked nearly half
an hour beyond where we’d turned around earlier.
Incredibly the tangle of undergrowth opened into a
clearing – the homesite. Joda was redeemed!
Part of the stone chimney was still standing, its
mud chinking reduced to dust. We found pieces of a
cast-iron stove or fireplace insert, but all other remnants of the two-room log cabin were gone. The spring
had native stones around it like the chimney, and
though there was no indication, we assumed there
would have been a springhouse built over it back then.
An indentation in the ground sparked a lively
conversation about an outhouse being so close to the
home. Finally, we decided it had been a root cellar. A
rotted tree stump may have caused it, but with so
little evidence of our family’s life here, we were searching, hoping for just one more connection.
We’d learned from the description on the deed

It was hard to imagine my grandparents had
raised six children on this very spot and
buried another not far away. Life must have
been a tiresome, daily struggle.
When they left in that wagon bound for the “levellands” of Pigeon Forge some 20 miles away, could
they have imagined their family graveyard would
endure as a somber reminder of the past?
Our trip had taken several hours and it was time
to go. I realized there’d always be questions, but I was
delighted by the day’s discoveries. I hoped my grandparents could look down and see that their sacrifice
had served the greater good. That the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park was a worthy guardian of
what they’d left behind. 
September/October 2013 | 49



Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013

Cover
Contents
Letters
Digital Help Guide
From the Editor
From the Farm
Our Readers Know
The Hike
Mountain Report
Creature Feature
Events & Festivals
Great Buys
Country Roads
Worth a Click
Leaves, Laughs and Luxury: 25 Great Excursions for Fall
DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE: Ballooning in the Blue Ridge
Fall Photoessay: The Greatest Hits Collection
Trout’s Eye View: Photo
Horse-Powered Logging: A Once and Future Past
Tracking Down the Family Past in the Great Smoky Mountains
Bridge of Beauty
The Last Mountain Man?
Flavors
Cabin in the Woods: Living Like a Wrangler at Clear Creek Ranch
Mountain Garden
Guest Column
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Intro
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Cover
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Cover2
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Contents
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 4
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 5
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Letters
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Digital Help Guide
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - From the Editor
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 9
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - From the Farm
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 11
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Our Readers Know
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 13
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - The Hike
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 15
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Mountain Report
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Creature Feature
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Events & Festivals
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 19
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Great Buys
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Country Roads
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Worth a Click
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 23
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 24
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Leaves, Laughs and Luxury: 25 Great Excursions for Fall
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 26
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 27
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 28
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 29
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 30
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 31
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 32
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 33
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE: Ballooning in the Blue Ridge
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE2
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE3
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE4
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE5
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE6
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE7
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE8
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE9
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE10
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE11
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE12
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE13
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE14
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Fall Photoessay: The Greatest Hits Collection
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 35
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 36
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 37
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Trout’s Eye View: Photo
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 39
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Horse-Powered Logging: A Once and Future Past
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 41
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 42
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 43
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 44
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 45
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Tracking Down the Family Past in the Great Smoky Mountains
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 47
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 48
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 49
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Bridge of Beauty
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 51
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - The Last Mountain Man?
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 53
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 54
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 55
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 56
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Flavors
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 58
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Cabin in the Woods: Living Like a Wrangler at Clear Creek Ranch
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 60
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 61
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Mountain Garden
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 63
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 64
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 65
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Guest Column
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Cover3
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Cover4
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