Join & submit your knowlege

If you are from the hills, or if your ancestors were, please join and contribute what you know about the hillbillys. I am kin to the Turners, Sikes, Lane, Whitaker families, and I have written a book called Henry Rains, 1767-1838, the Rains family of Yellow Creek. It explores all the family ties. I am laterally related to the Simpsons, and Partins.

We hillbillys have been around for a long time. KY was formed in 1792, from KY County, VA. Most of the people who settled in KY were of English descent, with some Scots and Irish thrown in to flavor things up. During the Civil War, we sent men to each side, but we were mostly union supporters. Two of my ggrandfathers fought for the USA, Wylie T. Sikes and Captain William B. Rains. William B. Rains was also the first school teacher in Bell County, KY. See "The History of Bell County," by Dr. Fuson. One of my other ggrandfathers was the infamous Jack Turner, leader of the Turner faction in the Turner-Sowders feud.

Hillbillys say "air" for there. Hillbillys say "Hants" for haunts. We are good song writers and story tellers, and good at working in coal mines. Think of Loretta Lynn's "coal miner's daughter." Some notable hillbillys were, or are, Lee Majors, Dolly Partin, Ricky Scaggs. We invented bluegrass music. Think of Bill Monroe and Merle Travis.

About this blog

The purpose of my blog is to share stories and promote dialogue about the social structure of mountaineers. I am a mountaineer, commonly called hillbilly, who was born and raised in Eastern Kentucky. I welcome all comments and look forward to a lively and entertaining dialogue in this space.