Jugornot Journal: A Place and Time Remembered

By Jim Phelps

Jugornot was named for a phrase used by a moonshine still patron who was having difficulty getting his brew. He replied jug or not, Ill get my whiskey and thus the name of the community was born. The one-room school bearing the name Jugornot was built in 1926 to replace a pre-1900 log structure that was destroyed by fire. This book documents the day-to-day life and culture of this small Kentucky community. Jugornot School closed at the end of the 1966 school year, having served the community for 40 years. This documentary is about the everyday life of a community with its one-room school as its focus.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 30, 2010
• ISBN: 9781469118475

Jim Phelps

James Irvin Phelps, Jr., also known as “Jim” or “Jimmy” was born on July 19, 1944 to James Irvin and Elsie Marie Hall Phelps of Northfield, KY. He attended Jugornot School from July 15, 1950 until graduation on May 6, 1959. He entered Pulaski County High School in August 1959 and graduated with honors on May 30, 1963. He entered Berea College on September 4, 1963 and graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture on January 16, 1968. He immediately entered University of Kentucky Graduate Studies in the College of Agriculture where he earned a Master of Science in Agronomy on July 10, 1970. He continued studies in soil science until he was hired as 4-H Agent in Knott County, Hindman, KY on February 26, 1973. He resides at the Hindman Settlement School.

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Copyright © 2010 by Jim Phelps.

ISBN:    Hardcover    978-1-4500-0758-0

Softcover    978-1-4500-0757-3

ISBN:   ebook   978-1-4691-1847-5

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Contents

PROLOGUE

JUGORNOT JOURNAL PART I

ORIGIN OF THE JUGORNOT NAME AND WHAT THE SCHOOL PROVIDED TO THE COMMUNITY

MY ACCOUNT

AN INTRODUCTION

THE NORTHFIELD

POST OFFICE

THE SAWMILL

GRANDMA MAKING SOAP

OUR HOUSE

THE ADVENT OF TELEVISION AND DIFFICULT TIMES IN MY LIFE

MY CONVERSION

SQUIRREL HUNTING

THE FLIP GUN

WAS FOUND IN EVERY

BOY’S BACK POCKET

THE BOW AND ARROW

POPGUNS, MUD THROWERS, AND STICK ROCKETS

MY DAISY BB GUN

WALKS IN THE WOODS

THE SPRING CLEANUP AND EARLY PLANTING ON THE FARM

THE PEACH ORCHARD

GROWING CUCUMBERS

GROWING POTATOES

CUTTING OF THE

DOGWOOD TREES

SOME BENEFITS OF LOGGING

CLEANING UP

GRANDPA’S ATTIC

MURDER OF ELMER AND

FRED LOWERY

CHRISTMAS EVE 1959

CHRISTMAS MORNING 1959

THE RETURN TO

OUR OLD HOUSE

THE LINEUP AND

SCHOOL OPENING CEREMONY AT JUGORNOT

THE BIBLE TEACHERS MAKE THEIR MONTHLY VISIT

A SPIRITUAL SIDENOTE

PRIMER

THE NURSE VISITS

PICTURE TAKING

THE FRIDAY BALL GAME AT JUGORNOT

THE CHRISTMAS PLAY AT JUGORNOT SCHOOL

THE FINAL DAY ARRIVES

OPENING DAY OF SCHOOL

GROWING THE

TOBACCO CROP

A TYPICAL WINTER DAY AT JUGORNOT

THE BUILDING OF THE NEW ROAD, SCIENCE, AND RELIGION

THE COMING OF SPRING IN JUGORNOT

THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL BEFORE SUMMER VACATION

SUMMER’S WORK

VISITING ON THE PORCH OF GRANDPA’S HOUSE

PLANNING FOR WINTER

A STORAGE PLACE FOR OUR WOOD SUPPLY

THE BIG SNOW

COLLEGE PREPARATION BEGINS

GRADUATION AND BEREA PREPARATIONS

THE SENIOR YEAR

NEARS AN END

JUNIOR-SENIOR NIGHT

NATIONAL HONOR

SOCIETY INDUCTION

SENIOR NIGHT

THE SENIOR TRIP

GRADUATION NIGHT

POSTGRADUATION

HALL’S CHAPEL CHURCH

SUNDAY DINNER AT GRANDMA HALL’S HOUSE

LAST CLASS AT

JUGORNOT SCHOOL

LEAVING HOME FOR

BEREA COLLEGE

MY FIRST TRIP HOME FROM COLLEGE

FAMILY CELEBRATIONS

JUGORNOT JOURNAL PART II

GRANDPA HALL’S

FINAL SERMON

THE NORTHFIELD

POST OFFICE

THE FAMILY SAWMILL

FARMING THE LAND AND HUNTING

KENNETH COOPER

DECORATED WW II HERO

BARNS IN THE JUGORNOT COMMUNITY

COMMUNITY CHURCH ACTIVITIES

THE JUGORNOT SCHOOL AS A COMMUNITY CENTER

HOW CHURCH MADE GOING FISHING ON SUNDAY MORNING POSSIBLE

THE FOREST PROVIDES TIMBER, FIREWOOD, AND WILD GAME

SOME VEHICLES AND

FARM EQUIPMENT

USED BY OUR FAMILY

COMMUNITY GATHERINGS AND CANE STRIPPING

FARMING ACTIVITIES FROM LATE WINTER UNTIL CHRISTMAS

AB BAKER’S STORE

THE ALCALDE POST OFFICE AND GROCERY STORE

SATURDAY TRIPS TO SOMERSET

THE FERGUSON SHOPS

THE PULASKI COUNTY COURTHOUSE

SUMMER THIRST

CLOTHING STYLES

HOPES FOR THE FUTURE

THE BIRD HUNT

WINTER’S WORST

SPECIAL SHOPPING

SEPARATING THE KIDS

WORKING THE GARDEN

A GRANDMA’S INFLUENCE

THE LEGACY OF GRANDFATHERS

CHRISTMAS TIME AT

OUR FAMILY HOMES

THE BIOGRAPHY OF

JAMES IRVIN PHELPS, JR.

EPILOGUE

DEDICATION

This journal is dedicated to my parents, James Irvin and Elsie Marie Hall Phelps, who raised twelve children with very little money and a lot of love.

PROLOGUE

The Jugornot community in my youth covered an area that included places from the top of Haynes Knob down past Ab Baker’s Grocery, the Northfield Post Office and Grocery Store, the Jugornot School, and southward to Buck Creek Boat Dock. It extends to the west hills near the Irvin and Jack Phelps places to Hall’s Chapel and Perry Lee Colyer’s place on the lake. It extends north to Cabin Hollow. The area was made up of neatly maintained fields, interspersed in the forest. Dirt roads connected the community. Each homestead was pretty much self-sufficient; however, there were sawmills here and there where logs were cut into crossties and lumber. Extra labor from the community was needed to run them. This provided additional income for some people outside the family owners. In earlier days, crossties were hewn at a log yard in the woods. Juggle piles and the loading ramp was all that was left after the harvesting was finished. Lumbering was a major income supplement for the farmers. Most families had all other equipment necessary to cut firewood for winter heating. Some families used coal for heat, but for the most part, families bought coal only occasionally. They relied on wood for the most part. Coal was used to sustain the wood fire in severely cold times. Slabs from sawmills were a source of fuel. A common way of starting a fire for the cookstove was a cob soaked in kerosene. These were kept in the kitchen in a coffee can near the stove. A kindling stack was kept in a dry place at the barn. A crosscut saw was a common instrument on the wall of every barn. It was used to cut logs into firewood. Usually beside it were a double-bitted axe and a grubbing hoe that was used to clear new ground for gardens and cornfields. In my time the double-bitted axes were common due to the clearing of the land for the development of Lake Cumberland. In earlier years the single-bitted axe was the mainstay. It served both as an axe and a heavy hammer. Wooden malls and wedges were common tools as well. A sickle (pronounced cickle) was usually kept on the barn wall and was used to cut weeds. A reaping sickle was also common for those that grew oats and wheat. Those that worked the woods had a cant hook with peavey, a set of single trees, chains, and assorted equipment for harvesting timber. Gasoline tractors arrived on the scene in the early ’50s. Before that the staple was a hillside plow and a team of mules. I was fortunate to be able to experience these things before the gasoline tractor took over farming. I remember that my grandma Phelps was very opposed to the tractor because she thought it was dangerous. Grandpa Phelps did all of his farming with a team of mules. Their names were Jenny and Jack. Commercial logging was done with larger draft animals similar to the Budweiser horses. Those that used these animals were masters at controlling them and getting them to do the work. Animals were worked but never abused. I never remember an animal being whipped unless it was out of control. Usually a slap from the reins was all that was necessary to get an animal under control. In an earlier time, every community had a store where grocery items and feed could be bought. In the early 1900s, my grandfather Phelps operated a store above the Chester Meece place. It survived the Great Depression but had closed long before I was born. I don’t ever remember seeing the building. It relied on travelers going past it to get to the farming communities on the other side of the hill. In the early days, it was a major wagon road. A lot of papers remain from the operation of this store. They were found in Grandpa Phelps’s house where he had hidden them in the wall behind the heating stove and were covered over when the room was papered. As the house deteriorated and the wallpaper fell, these treasures were revealed. It was perhaps chance that they were found before they were destroyed. Northfield was my region, and for the most part, it was my world as a child with the exception of an occasional trip to Somerset or Town, as we referred to it. Within the confines of the area, everything for normal daily existence was available, from mail to groceries. Most families made the weekly trip to the bank and some shopping in Somerset for things that couldn’t be gotten in the country stores. Northfield was a place where you could conduct daily business, visit with neighbors and relatives, earn a living off the land, and attend worship services on Sunday or attend special revival services. Crops grown were corn, tobacco, cane, and general garden crops. Everyone made ends meet, and very little was wasted because resources were scarce. Bernard Haynes was the only pensioner in the area. He had been injured working on the railroad. They lived in a house that was constructed in 1815. A firestorm destroyed the house, which was one of the oldest in the county. The simple country lifestyle of this and other families has virtually disappeared. Hall’s Chapel, my grandfather’s church, still stands though in a sad state of repair. It was outside that church on a bench that I was first taught about Jesus by a teacher using Sunday school cards. There was a picture on the front of the card and a lesson on the back. This was a very effective way to teach. The church was another hub of the community. It served as a worship and gathering place. Weddings and funerals were usually held at residences. Funeral homes were as far away as Somerset. Wakes were held all night long at the residence of the deceased. Graveside services were held at the cemetery. There are a number of cemeteries in the area. The Haynes Cemetery dates to the War of 1812-1814. The oldest grave is that of Hezekiah Haynes. He fought in the war, and there was no way to pay him. He was given a large land patent of hundreds of acres. He built the Haynes Place. It was a log structure with limestone chimneys that were constructed in 1815. Nails from the logs found near the chimney verify its age. The homestead had a large barn, corn crib, and a garden along the nearby stream. I remember as a child seeing the garden in its glory with wigwam poles for the beans extending from the fence gate to the end of the garden. There were also pumpkins, sweet corn, tomatoes, onions, squash, watermelons, potatoes, and peppers. That small plot of land provided most of the needs of the family. Nothing was wasted. Extra beans, tomatoes, and other vegetables were canned. Potatoes, squash, and pumpkins were stored in the shed. Onions hung from the rafters. Field corn was grown for the livestock, and part of it was ground into meal. Often families grew white hickory cane corn just for grinding into cornmeal. It was a very tall corn, often growing to heights of eight feet or more. Fields and fences were maintained. In fall the corn shocks and pumpkins created a beautiful pastoral scene that speaks volumes about the people of the land. These fields and fencerows provided another source of food for families. Rabbits and quails were in abundance for the taking. Every family had a coonhound or rabbit dog. Shotguns and .22 rifles were found in every home. On Sunday afternoons, it was not uncommon for a shooting match to be held to see who could do the best shooting. Squirrels were also in abundance, and hunting them was a ritual of passage when a boy reached the age that he could safely handle a .22 rifle.

JUGORNOT JOURNAL PART I

ORIGIN OF THE JUGORNOT NAME AND WHAT THE SCHOOL PROVIDED TO THE COMMUNITY

The name Jugornot goes back to the moonshine-still days when a man was trying to get his favorite drink. He approached the owner to buy some, and it was explained to him that he had to provide his own jug. As it turned out, he did not have one; and in anger he exclaimed, Jug or not, I’m going to get my whiskey. That is the legend of how this place came to get its name. The only building bearing that name was the Jugornot School. It was a traditional one-room building with coatrooms for boys and girls, a potbellied stove, and two outside toilets. There were giant tulip poplar trees, which bordered the softball field. The nearest spring was