Blog visitors

Why is it so hard to get people to comment when they visit my blog? We are all  hillbillys, or descendants of hillbillys, and all our opinions are equally good and important. Please speak up and let everyone know what you think.

The Shaman's Daughter

Here are some excerpts from my book The Shaman's Daughter:

The Trial

When judge Forrester walked into the courtroom, the bailiff hollered “all rise, the honorable court is now in session.” Everybody stood except John Rains, who was deaf and dumb, and wasn’t looking at the front of the courtroom.

His son tapped his arm and pointed to everyone standing, and motioned for John to stand. I was standing already, and watched John Rains stand up. He was a fascinating man to me!

The trial was for assault with intent to kill, and the accused was John Rains’ first cousin the Reverend Dale Martin. John had been at the scene of the crime, along with half of the men in Middlesboro, when the assault happened.  

Dale had been talking to my dad, William Rains, who was in the same church with Reverend Martin, when the argument that precipitated the attempted murder took place. John Rains was there watching, and his son was talking for him. John had to use sign language, and his 12 year old son interpreted the signs and spoke the words.

Here is what happened, as I recall it, since I was there with my father and watching everything, especially the deaf and dumb man using his hands to talk. I had never seen a deaf and dumb man, and here was one that was even a cousin of mine.

He looked like an Indian using sign language in the movies. I wanted to learn how to do that, and teach my sister, so we could talk without mama knowing what we were saying!

Henry Rains

My book "Henry Rains, 1767-1838" is a history of my family dating back to the original Henry Rains, Esquire..  The original Henry was grandfather to the Henry Rains who settled in what is now KY, but was then NC. Henry Rains, 1767-1838, fought against the Chicamauga Indians in what is now Hawkins County, TN, but was then the western reserve lands of NC. Henry was living with his mother, Mary Ingram and her husband Captain Thomas Lee. Henry had no siblings named Rains, but had eight half siblings named Lee.This Henry had the following children: Sarah, who married James Kellems; Margaret, who married Preston Davis; Mary, who married Spencer King, Sr; Patsy, who married Preston Snuffer and then Joseph Turner; William, who married Jane Marsee; Henry Lane Rains, who married Peggy Lane and then Margaret Denny; Ballenger, who married Margaret Marsee; Needham, who married Nancy Turner; John, who married Cynthia Pearcy. Most of Henry's children stayed in KY or Claiborne County, TN. Many of them  married Turners or Marsees.

My Book

I have witten a book called The Shaman's Daughter. The book is available at any online book store. It is sellling well. If you are interested in hillbilly culture, please buy a copy. These are my parents in 1919. William McKinley Rains, his cousin Bob Turner and Nancy Sikes, my mother, and her sister Grace Williams Sikes.

Blog visitors

Please comment when you visit this blog. I would like for some of my friends and relatives to make their views on hillbilly culture known. I know many of you are very literary, so please post.

Please comment when you visit this blog. I would like for some of my friends and relatives to make their views on hillbilly culture known