I stumbled on this YouTube video that aired in 1979 on WTTV show 4 Thought.  This segment features John Smith a fiddler and fiddle maker from Tunnelton, Indiana. He plays Old Dan Tucker and other old tunes, and talks about playing for square dance when he was ten years old and the process of making a fiddle from tree to tune.

Towards the end of the clip, Owen Stout from Paoli joins Smith. This piece captures some fine Indiana fiddle music.

Teresa Hollingsworth and Louisiana Bendolph presenting the quilt exhibition to the Shanghai consulate (quilts by Erick Wolfmeyer and Gwen Proctor Johnson)

No cultural expression is more synonymous with American traditional arts than quilt making. In this episode, I talk with SouthArts folklorist and senior program director Teresa Hollingsworth  about The Sum of Many Parts, a large exhibit of quilts made by 25 contemporary America artisans. Katy Malone joins the interview and explains her work overseeing and designing this exhibition, which opened in Shanghai in September 2012. Teresa and Katy tell how the program came into being and some of the unforeseen benefits of sharing this traditional art of quilt making with Chinese museum-goers. For example, the exhibit has presented several workshops for Chinese audiences lead by U.S. quilters and arts professionals, which offer meaningful cross cultural exchanges.

Traditional Navajo Ceremonial basket or wedding basket (Photo by Carol Edison, Courtesy Utah Arts Council)

Carol Edison tells us about her work with  Navajo basket makers in Utah, including Mary Holiday Black the legendary matriarch of the basket tradition.  An ancient artform, the Black and other families have both continued and revitalized a beautiful type of basket that is both ceremonially and economically important to their community.  Carol shares how she was introduced to this art form and how she researched the contemporary revolution of basketry among the Navajo. She also tells us about a new exhibition of these baskets on show at the Natural history Museum of Utah. “Weaving a Revolution: A Celebration of Contemporary Navajo Baskets” tells the story of the revitalization of the tradition and the emergence of this contemporary movement through more than 150 baskets made in the past thirty years. The exhibition catalog can be purchased from the museum store by calling 801-587-5784.

During our conversation, Carol mentioned the publication Willow Stories: Utah Navajo Baskets, which can be purchased from the Utah Division of Arts and Museums for $8.00 + postage/handling by contact Jean Irwin at 801-533-5760.

Agnes Black Gray with her story basket titled “Separation of the Sexes” (Photo by Carol Edison, Courtesy Utah Arts Council)

 

Baskets by Ida Pearl Davis. Photo by Robert Cogswell.

Tennessee and baskets seem to go together, but their relationship probably is not at all what you think. In this episode, I talk with folklorist Roby Cogswell, the director of Folklife at the Tennessee Arts Commission, about his research of the basket making tradition in Cannon County, TN.  This amazing craft has long been one of Tennessee’s best-kept secrets. We talk about his use of both fieldwork and genealogical methods to uncover the untold story of this long-standing white oak tradition. Roby recently published an article about Cannon County Baskets in the Tennessee Folklore Society’s journal, but nothing can compare to listening to him talk about his research.  However, as Roby would say, “don’t ask him the time, if you don’t want a history of watch making.” So, this episode is a little longer than usual, but I think is exactly the content that Artisan Ancestors listeners are looking for.

What do I mean by folk art? Folk art refers to the handmade crafts and works of art that individuals make that are expressions of their personal and cultural identity. Henry Glassie, in his Spirit of Folk Art (1989) described it this way:

Remember that art is the result of the merger of people and materials. It records the interaction of human beings with their physical environments. When we qualify that interaction as folk, we stress its social dimensions… And the artists act so as to connect again to social reality. Saying “folk art,” we emphasize the cultural aspects of every endeavor (Glassie, 88).

Some examples might be christening gowns made for a grandchild, a gravestone carved for a loved one, furniture fashioned for a neighbor or a quilt made for warmth.

I am asking for nomination of objects that could be included in this podcast. I need: 1) Name of artist if known, 2) a specific object being nominated, 3) the year that the object was made (if not known, an approximate date or range), 4) any support information such as item location, owner, historical data, etc. A photograph would be great, if you have one.

Keep in mind, I will be researching each of these. Your help is in making me aware of items and artists, so don’t feel like you have to do a lot of research up front. Feel free to nominate as many works as you like. I am especially interested in objects and artists from Indiana’s Native American and immigrant communities in your region. Do you have a tradition of quilt making, woodcarving, pottery, basketry, or other art? Also look for distinctive items. I could focus this project on gravestones or quilts, but I want to include as many genres as possible.

I want to thank you for your help in the early stages of this project. I probably won’t start releasing podcast episodes until January 2014. However, I will be researching and producing them throughout this year so let me know your thoughts ASAP.

The treestump marker for Ruth and Joel Philbert and their two sons

In a small country cemetery just outside Dugger, Indiana is a remarkable double treestump tombstone. These stones tend to be very biographical; the motifs carved into them often reveal information about the deceased, or at least how their family or community wanted to remember them. The spinning wheel is a common symbol for women who were prominent early settlers to a region. Spinning and weaving have deep roots as symbols of devotion to family and country. Women in colonial times took up making homespun as a protest to unfair textile taxes, and the imagery continued through the Victorian era.

The long rifle is a sign of male patriotism and “pioneer” spirit. Many of these type of stones also have axes, splitting mauls, and wedges, each perhaps referencing the work of carving out a life in the rolling hills of southern Indiana.

Living within this large enclave of South Slavic immigrants, Milan heard the music of tamburitza orchestras playing at neighborhood gatherings. Tambura and gusles leaned in corners of living rooms or hung on walls, as symbols of national and ethnic identity. At around four-years of age, he remembered playing with an old prima at the house of a Gary couple, until its owner scolded him. The tambura was musically, materially, and symbolically a persistent part of his early life.Though he grew up during the Depression, Milan’s parents encouraged his interest in music and building instruments. He recalled,

So my dad, (who was quite a craftsman in his own right) fashioned me a prima out of plywood and strung it up with rubber bands.  And I watched this whole procedure. And I think somewhere in the back of my mind, he created this desire for me to be able to do this.

In addition to the tamburitza music he heard at community gatherings, country music flowed into his home from Chicago radio stations. By eighteen, he had taught himself to play guitar, and formed a country band called the Opossum Holler Ramblers, which featured four youths playing guitars, electric mandolin, and washtub bass. Despite his interest in country music, Milan started a tamburitza band called the Continentals, which employed a mix of experienced Serbian, Croatian and Irish musicians. The eclectic band “played music of all nationalities, pop tunes, even a few country songs.” Milan liked playing tamburitza; while club owners usually paid the country band in beer, the tamburitza musicians were tipped well by listeners who wanted to hear music that reflected their ethnic and national identities.  For more than fifty years, Milan played tamburitza music, much of it with the ethnically diverse Drina Orchestra, which provided music at social clubs, weddings and festivals throughout the Chicago-land area. When Milan retired from the orchestra in 2006, the band was still ethnically blended: three of his bandmates had Serbian fathers and three had Croatian fathers. Milan commented about the diversity of his group, “Only in America could this happen.”  Through choosing a varied repertoire of songs and assembling an ethnically mixed band, Milan worked for decades to heal his community, while still embracing his Serbo-Croatian identity through tamburitza. 

Milan’s story is the story of the power of the arts to overcome life’s hardships. His instruments have been exhibited at both the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution and at the Roy Acuff Museum. In 2002 he was named to the Tamburitza Association of America Hall of Fame. In 2004, he was recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts as a National Heritage Fellow; he was Indiana’s only living recipient of this prestigious award. In 1976 and 2007 he was an invited artist to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Again in 2012, he was planned to demonstrate at the Smithsonian, but due to health related issues was unable to attend. Milan Opacich will be missed by many. He is survived by his wife Roz and daughter Karin Opacich.

I was blessed to call him a good friend, who taught me much. I produced a documentary about Milan with Anders Lund several years ago called the Birth of a Prima. Milan also helped me build my first (and only) guitar. A great man, who will be missed.

I thought folks would love to see this documentary from the 1950s about Sam Rodia’s towers in Watts. I have recently been thinking a lot about art and aging. This video is a classic. I hope to have a new podcast up next week, but busy getting ready for the American Folklore Society Meeting in New Orleans this coming week.

The Alabama in the Making traveling exhibition at the Johnson Center for the Arts. The exhibition features Pad powered kiosks with folklife content: (Photo/Jaine Treadwell, linked from troymessenger.com)

Look who is 30 episodes old! We are excited to reach this milestone, but are continuing to move forward at Artisan Ancestors. In this  episode we talk with the new Executive Director of the Alabama Folklife Association, Mary Allison Haynie, who has just released into the world a traveling exhibit that focuses on the traditional arts and people of Alabama. From chicken and goat stew to Mardi Gras float making, Alabama in the Making honors the people and traditions of Alabama. While looking at older traditions in the state, the program has embraced new technology using iPads to power display kiosks at the various venues where the show travels.

Elmer Schlensker stitching up a broom in Milltown Indiana.

I work with a lot of elderly artists. As such, death and dying unfortunately are an ever present part of my life. I don’t think that I will ever get use to loosing people who have shared their stories and talents with me…I guess that is the way it should be. While looking up his address today, I saw that Elmer Schlensker had passed way last March at 81 years old.

Elmer Schlensker was a fourth generation broom maker from Milltown, Indiana. As a child he helped sew the broom that his father made. However, Elmer had never made a complete broom, until many years after his father passed away. A coordinator at the Lanesville Festival approached Elmer to demonstrate the event, when the broom maker who usually demonstrated at the event fell ill. After much encouragement, Elmer went home and took several of his father’s old brooms apart to remind him how they were made. Through trial and error, he taught himself to make brooms.

Elmer used the broom making equipment that his inherited from his father. His father always placed a label on each of his brooms, which looked like a broom maker’s coat of arms; not having these old labels, Elmer would cut rural pictures out of Country Magazines to label his ready-made heirlooms. When he made a broom for a friend or a local business, he would sometimes print a label on his computer with a picture of local landmarks.

Elmer continued to work in the basement of his home making a few brooms each week and looking forward to the Lanesville Festival each September. I am sure he was missed this year at Lanesville. He taught his daughter how to make brooms, and hoped that she might take it up when she gets old enough to retire. He also took great pride in the fact that his grandson, the sixth generation, had made a broom.

Rest in peace Elmer

Maxine Stovall and Kathy Muhammed presenting a quilt at the Indiana State Fair.

In this episode, we talk about the the diverse meaning of objects. From Civil Rights quilts to Amish buggies, we explore how objects communicate various meanings. Using a semiotics approach we explore the difference between the various ways that objects serve as signs:icon, index and symbol. I share some observations from Peter Bogatyrev’s book, The Functions of Folk Costume in Moravian Slovakia, as a way of talking about the meaning of things. We then discuss how insiders and outsiders can see very different things when looking at the exact same object.

Learning by doing is a fun and informative approach to material culture scholarship. I have long been interested in stone carving, but had never tried it until stone carver Amy Biers let me try my hand at it, while we were working at a festival. I quickly realized that my notions of this craft were totally wrong. I had been thinking of it as being similar to woodcarving, which I have done, but boy was I wrong. I was instantly humbled. I am planning on trying to attend the Limestone Symposium this Spring and learn some more about this incredible craft.  Thanks to Hannah Davis for taking these pictures.

Frank Hohenberger’s photograph of “John Bohall at work” this image is linked from the Frank Hohenberger Collection at the Lilly Library at Indiana University.

A ton of information is embedded in historic photographs, especially when the images include artisans and handmade objects. In this episode of the Artisan Ancestors, I talk about my work identifying, organizing, and analyzing historic photograms. Focusing on my work with pictures of oak rod baskets from Southern Indiana,  I share how images can be read to reveal greater amounts of data than what might first be apparent. By looking at a collection of images over time, the researcher can understand shifts in feelings and attitudes about folk crafts. I reference my article, “A Picture of an Old Country Store” as an example of this type of deep reading of images.

Historic photographs are important resources for scholars of handmade objects. They can reflect the everyday use of objects from the past, manifest the variations in crafts over time, record the aesthetic values embedded in objects that have not survived to the present era, and also, document aspects of the construction process of earlier generations. In this podcast I explore more details about each of these reasons.

I also review some of the basic research methods for studying photographs, such as photo inventorying, contextual analysis, and photo interviewing., all of which help researchers both expand and focus their observations.

I want to encourage local organizations to step up to the plate and recognize the import humanities related collections that they are entrusted with. In our tourism driven age, more and more museums are being strapped to do more programs and provide greater access, but often to the neglect of their preservation and conservation efforts. I write this not to attack, but to encourage the many small cultural organizations that hold great local collections to continue to labor in their conservation efforts. Though your work is often thankless, know that the future scholars will thank you for attending to these collections.

Marian was raised in the Angle Guardian Orphanage in Chicago, from the age of 3 years until she was fourteen, when she went to live with her father. She hated the institutional life of the orphanage, and lived for her father’s visits and the foods he would bring from Little Italy. She recalls, “It was like living in two worlds: one institutional; the other wild, free, and dirty…[Little Italy] was enjoyable.” Marian chooses not to depict the painful memories from her life in the orphanage, but rather fills her quiet creative days, illustrating the “happy times” with her family. Almost like the rosary of her youth, the time consuming construction of making rugs fills the quite times alone and squeezes out the harsh memories of the orphanage.

This rug depicts Marian’s children playing in the snow, after on of the “Worst snow storms” in Chicago.

One of her rugs records the “Worst snowstorm in Chicago.” Twenty-six inches of snow fell, and for a week the kids were at home, and entertained themselves throwing snowballs and playing in the snow. Her story-rug collapses the week into one scene, which includes the big igloo her son made, her daughter selling snowballs to the other children (2 for 5¢), and building a snowman. In the background of the image are the “coldwater flats” where Marian and her children lived in Chicago. She marked the door to their home by hooking it with red wool. Click here to listen to listen to Marian’s story.

A wordpress site for a great oral history project focused on the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky. 

Looking for a way to build an online presence or community? WordPress has emerged as the leading tool for building blogs and websites on the internet. As a way to encourage folks to take the plunge, I am hosting a introductory webinar on wordpress this week. I am not a pro on this topic, but I can share the basic process and strategies for using it.  Hope you can join us online on  Thursday, June 14, at 4 p.m. for this free workshop.   If you work at a nonprofit, I would welcome you to share it with some of the artists and community groups with whom  you collaborate. While the title says it is for “traditional musicians and folk artists” it really is for anyone interested in using this easy website building tool. I think WordPress is a great resource and the future of personal websites and digital outreach. I will present on this free tool and explain the simple ways to construct a professional-looking website. I will also share a list of great plugins for expanding your site’s functionality. Here is the link: http://www.traditionalartsindiana.org/?p=3446

Related show

• Artist: Jon Kay
• Date: Thursday, June 14th 2012
• Time: 4:00pm
• City: Jon Kay in Bloomington, Indiana
• Venue: TAI Webinar
• Country: United States
• Admission: Free
• Age restrictions: All Ages
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

photo from www.greylarsen.com

I was saddened to hear of the passing of old-time fiddler Joe Dawson of Bloomington. He grew up in Axsom Branch, a region in Brown County, which is now nearly forgotten, since it was cleared to build the Monroe Reservoir. While Joe first learned to play tunes in this rural community, it was later in life that he attracted the attention of old-time musicians in Bloomington, where he hosted a weekly music jam in his home. Over the years hundreds of players passed through his living room trying to learn the distinctly local tunes in the elderly player’s repertoire. Up to the end, music and musician friends were around the player. Grey Larsen and Cindy Kallet, became like family to him; helping organize the jams, taking him to doctor appointments and checking in on him. Here is a video of Grey and Cindy talking about Joe, and playing a few tunes from his repertoire.

You might be wondering what do hardware stores and seeds have to do with artisan ancestors. Food traditions are perhaps the most persistent of cultural expressions. In a very real way, heritage tomatoes or watermelons were the product of generations of artistic selection and breeding, long before agro-science became a multi-billion dollar industry.

This month, I will plant my mother goose beans, which my great-uncle Jim Ramsay passed on to me several years ago. This wonderful pole bean has a meaty and robust flavor, which makes it a satisfying meal all unto itself.( In a future post, I will tell you about this family bean and the story my grandfather told me about where it came from.)

I would love to hear from readers about their favorite heritage seeds and local gardening practices, no matter where you live in the world.  Whether you live in Texas or Turkey, share your favorite growing traditions with the Artisan Ancestors audience. Email me the name of the seed, what it is like and the story of where it comes from. Also, send me a photograph of the seed, plant or dish, if you can. I will post the best of the

By exploring Indiana’s handmade objects and their makers, this course introduces students to the theories and methods of material culture studies. From tombstones and dress to log buildings and musical instruments, artifacts can serve as a lens for understanding the identities and creative lives of  people and the community and groups to which they belong.   In this course, students will learn to use historic photographs,  census records, ethnographic interviews, object analysis and a variety of other research tools and approaches to unlock  the meanings embedded in the artifacts of everyday life.

Details:

Tuesday and Thursday 8:50 am to -12:30pm
Class meets at 501 N Park
COLL (CASE) A&H Breadth of Inquiry Credit
COLL (CASE) Diversity in U.S. Credit

Cupps Chapel in Franklin County Indiana

A Fieldworker’s Tale: the Architecture & History of the Whitewater River Valley

Come learn about the folk architecture of Franklin County Indiana! Traditional Arts Indiana is excited to host a special lecture by nationally known vernacular architecture scholar Thomas Carter. On Friday April 20 at 7pm, Carter will present a entertaining and informative lecture about his years of studying the vernacular architecture of Indiana’s White River Valley.  This evening talk is free and open to the public and will take place at the Brookville Depot Building at the Whitewater Gateway Park,  in Metamora, IN.

Thomas Carter in Franklin County Indiana

Then, on Saturday, April 21, Carter will lead a day-long workshop (10am-4pm) on documenting and learning from old buildings.  Participants will learn to record a house with photographs and measured drawings. Students will learn about making site plans, floor plans, details, and elevations. No artistic talent is necessary. Tape measure and drawing boards provided. Preregistration for the workshop is required. To sign up contact Jeff Kuehl at the Columbus area Arts Council: (812) 376-2535; jkuehl@artsincolumbus.org

The lecture and workshop is made possible by the generous support of the Cornelius O’Brien Lecture Series, with technical assistance from the Columbus Area Arts Council, and Historic Metamora, Inc.

When: Mon., March 5, 6:30 p.m.
Phone: 812-376 -2535
Price: free.

An Indianapolis resident since 1971, Prince founded and regularly played with the popular ensemble Drums of West Africa. Named Young Audiences’ 2002 National Artist of the Year, Prince taught thousands of school children about West African culture through music, food, and the language of drumming, drawing on the lessons of his grandfather.

Prince entertained thousands over his decades of performing. I came to know prince, when I first became director of Traditional Arts Indiana. He worked with TAI as a master artist in our Apprenticeship program, performed concerts and residencies, and proved an amazing performer. He was truly a special man and artist, who touched so many lives.

Here is a video  short video of Prince talking about his grandfather and playing the thumb piano. I met with Prince in the winter of 2007 to talk with him about traditional drumming and his craft of making drums. I was struck by his musicianship and storytelling in this piece.

Also, here is an excerpt of an interview I did with Prince several years ago:

Jon Kay ( JK): Prince, why don’t you just tell me a little bit about how you got started playing music? What was your beginning?

Prince Julius Adeniyi (PJA): Well, my beginning goes a long way. When I was a child, say about three years old, and I see my grandfather play drums, and I want to play drums too! So, as a matter of fact, my family, my mother’s family, they are [a] group of master drummers. And my
grandfather, which is my momma’s daddy, was a very, very revered drummer, and traditional
herbalist. You know, herbal, what herbalists do, they are native doctors. And so, my grandfather, whenever he’s played the drums, I would go jump on his lap, at the age of three, and hold on to his hands. And his hands are going up and down; mine is going up and down with his, too! So, at the end of the day, when my grandfather is tired playing drums, he would clear out, and he would leave me in the small room, and then I would jump on the seat, and start trying to play the drums. So, and when my grandfather hears
me play the drums, he would peep, and look, oh! And say “that sound good!”

So anyway, my grandfather made me a small drum, so whenever he is playing the drum with the group of other people in the family, he would
tell me, “Sit down, and play your drum, too.” So, consequently, I become a drummer, like everybody else in the family. Yeah. That’s a long time ago! [laughs].

JK: Was there ever a formal apprenticeship where you, [or] when you became a drummer?

PJA: Oh yes! Well, at the age of three, as I said, I started, and there would come, there would come a time when you can actually participate in the adults’ drumming. So, they would test you. They would have you play with the adults. And then, when you play very well, they would have a celebration for you…, you know, coming to adulthood. And then, participating in what the adults are doing. So it’s a big celebration. So, that’s, that’s why I am taking [my apprentices] through the art of drumming, and the culture, and the tradition.

JK: I think that’s what I appreciate about what you do. You don’t just teach the art, you teach the whole culture . . .

PJA: The whole culture!

JK: . . . because the art is embedded in [the culture]

PJA: Yes, yes. So, I started them with the language, because when you play the drum, you are not just hitting the drum. You are not beating the drum. Some people say “Oh, let’s beat the

drums.” No, you don’t beat the drums! You play the drum. And when you play the drum, you are talking. So, I let them know that when you play
the drum, you have to say something. What you can say, you can play it on the drum. If you can talk, you can play! [laughs]. So the, the idea of playing the drum goes a long way. So, it’s not just beating the drum, get the drum and start hitting on it. That’s not playing drum. Yeah.

Florentino Solis and Alfredo Benavides at Taco Velos on Washington Street in Indianapolis

I wanted to let my listeners know about a podcast series that the TAI staff and I have been working on, Second Servings.  It is an internet radio program that explores the food traditions and cultures that give flavor to the Hoosier State.  From old time favorites like morel mushrooms and tenderloins to more recent arrivals from Indian and Latino cooks, the podcast highlights the communal aspect of food.  you can subscribe to the program through the show’s web-portal  or check it out via Itunes. This program was a partnership with Indiana Humanities’ Food for Thought initiative.

Photo by Erin Roth for Traditional Arts Indiana

I was saddened to hear about the passing of oldtime fiddler Francis Geels of Decatur, Indiana, this summer. Born in 1925 in Adams County, Indiana, Francis grew up with music in his home. On both sides of his family, old-time music and country square dancing were weekly events. He played for house and barn dances for many years until country square dancing began to wane. For years family and friends met every Friday night at Francis’s home to play bluegrass and old-time fiddle tunes. Known for his old-time style of fiddling, Francis emphasized the rhythm, danceability, and clean melody lines in his playing. Thankfully he recorded his vast repertoire of more than a 160 tunes several years ago, and he actively mentored his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren in the traditional music he had learned through the years.

Paul Tyler also recorded much of this of the music of this important fiddler, as well as several other old-time fiddlers. Paul hosts a website about his fieldwork and research into fiddle music of the the Midwest.

Here is a short video I shot at his home when I visited with him in 2005. I was new to shooting video so this is pretty bad, but I wanted to share it here. I will also include a video that Paul posted to Youtube, featuring the great fiddling of the Francis Geels.

Some good news, I was elected the president of the Hoosier Folklore Society, an organization comprised of scholars studying traditional arts and expressive culture. Looking forward to more good work in the new year.

All the best,

Jon Kay Moving to BC

We are all set for a great weekend at the Folklore Village up here.

William H. Reynold’s tombstone, Clear Creek, Monroe County Indiana

In the Clear Creek Cemetery, just south of Bloomington, Indiana there are three distinctive gravestones, each of which are shaped like a blacksmith anvil with a hammers resting atop the limestone marker.  I believe these stones, were locally crafted, probably for blacksmiths who worked for the quarries producing and repairing tools.  Two of the stones sit side by side and were made for two brothers: E.C. “Ed” Douthitt (1885-1949) and W. E. “Jack” Douthitt (1900-1947).  On his 1918 draft registration card, Charles Edward Douthitt is listed as a blacksmith working in Bloomington, Indiana as a blacksmith for the Consolidated Stone Company.

E.C. “Ed” Douthitt tombstone, Clear Creek, Monroe County, Indiana

The third stone was a more elaborately carved marker for W. Reynolds (1864-1944). Like the pair of stones for the Douthitt brothers, the Reynolds stone included a blacksmith hammer, as well as a half round swag, used in making  chisels and bits for the quarrymen. The anvil, of the Reynolds’s stone also shows the straps holding the anvil in place, rendering the stone as a realistic replica of working blacksmith’s anvil. The stone was carved for William H. Reynolds, who was listed in the 1900 census as a quarryman, however by 1910 he and his son Curtis identified themselves as blacksmiths. While Reynolds trade was listed as blacksmith on the census, in the “General Nature of Industry” column of the cencus report, it states “Quarry.” In fact, most of the laborers listed on the page worked either in a quarry or in a stone mill, which means that he lived a stone workers community.

W. E. “Jack” Douthitt tombstone, Clear Creek, Monroe County,Indiana

Folklorist Warren Roberts briefly mentioned these stones in his 1978 article “Tools on Tombstones: Some Indiana Examples” which was published in the journal Pioneer America (10:1; 106-111).  While Roberts pointed out the work of blacksmiths in the limestone industry, he failed to cite or explain his research methods.  I wrote this blog to move beyond general conjecture and provide the necessary evidence to illuminate the meaning invested in these three stones.

For 31 years, Harold Stark has set up, demonstrated, and repaired farm equipment in the Pioneer Village at the Indiana State Fair. His interest in steam power grew out of watching his grandfather work a small 80-acre farm in Rush County. It was then that Harold first learned about working with and maintaining a steam engine. From plowing fields to powering buzz saws, steam was an exciting and important part of his youth. In 1979, he completed his half-scale steam engine, which he built as a memorial to his grandfather, uncles, and friends who fostered his lifelong interest in steam power.

Harold’s decades of service to the Fair were honored in 2010 by the State of Indiana with the Partner in Progress Award, but he stresses that he is proudest of his “work with some of the younger ones, helping to repair the equipment, so future generations can enjoy them for years to come.”

Produced by Traditional Arts Indiana • Videography by Jon Kay and Mark A. Corson • Editing by Jon Kay • Graphic design by Arle Lommel • Special thanks to: Cynthia Hoye, Indiana State Fair Executive Director • Roger Hale and Bobbi Bates, Indiana State Fair.

A couple of months ago I featured Rich Remsberg on the Artisan Ancestors Podcast. I just found this great presentation by him at the Library of Congress. Hope you enjoy this.

Because of the common practice of backdating, it is hard to know when this stone was carved. However, if Henry Dean was the carver, he probably crafted the stone while still in his early thirties, and was already an impressive stone carver.

When I went looking for Dean in the census records, he did not pull up in the database search for Ancestry Library Edition, this was because the  script of the census taker was very loose and the “D” was hard to read. However, I found the listing in on www.myindianahome.net which had a transcribed version from the National Archive. I searched for another  name from the provided list, which took me to the census page an found the below entry.

I would love to find more stones carved by this early Indiana Artisan. Let me know if you know where one is.

*CENSUS YR: 1850 STATE or TERRITORY: IN COUNTY: Jefferson DIVISION: The City of Madison PAGE NO: 50A REFERENCE: 2 Oct 1850; David Stiver, Ass’t Marshal

In this video, I show how to use Google Alerts to discover new resources for your genealogical, family history and material culture studies.  This is one of the simplest ways to make the most of your limited research time.

“Apprentice programs are often conceived of as a core initiative of state folklife or traditional arts programs. Virginia state folklorist Jon Lohman initiated the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship program in 2001 through a National Endowment for the Arts grant. The attractive coffee-table book In Good Keeping provides an overview of the master artists and apprentices whom the Virginia Folklife Program supported during the first five years of the initiative. The book includes an introductory essay, generous black and white photographs, and brief written profiles of the apprenticeship pairs with lengthy quotes from the artists.”  Read Jon’s Review

As always thanks for all of your continued support of the podcast and my various projects and programs. All the best, Jon

“Really?” I naively replied.

“Yes, of course the old head of the ax got pretty rusty, so I replaced it too, but that was the very ax used by old Abe Lincoln.”

We both laughed. I learned a lot from my Pappy, (Harry Axsom). Though he only had a 7th grade education, he knew that most folks never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

My family and I were traveling through Kentucky and decided to stop in and see Lincoln’s birthplace. On the hillside was a large memorial temple that enshrined the “symbolic” log cabin marking where the president had been born. The park ranger/interpreter explained that they had thought the small log structure had been the actual cabin, but it had turned out to be a period single-pen log building that had belonged to a neighbor of the Lincoln family.

The log cabin is an icon of the early settlers of this country. Today, the cabin is invoked as a sign of American historical identity, symbolizing the hard work and determination of early settlers who scratched out a living on the frontier.  While it is true

Log Cabin Restrooms at Lincoln's Boyhood Home on Knob Creek in Kentucky

that many early settlers made great sacrifices, it is important to remember them not just symbolically, but also as real people, who lived real lives. Kernels of truth are encrusted with the legends we love to tell, and it is our job to not over romanticize the past or our ancestors, but try to better understand their real lives and expressive forms of culture.

I also discuss the importance of consent forms and deeds of gift forms for anyone collecting materials that might be of interest to an archive in the future. I outline the contents, limitations and purpose of Oral history consent forms.

In the spring of 1950, Bill Jones, an Indianapolis schoolteacher, borrowed a recorder from his school and traveled to his parent’s home in Nashville, at the time his mother, Mildred M. Jones was 76.  Though she only attended school through the seventh or eighth grade, she excelled in music and loved to perform. She was active in the Nashville Christian Church, where she often played the wheezy old organ and led the congregational singing.

Music was a part of Mildred’s daily life. Her friend and local poet Marietta Moser wrote the lyrics, while Mildred directed the “Gossip Group” as it was sometimes called, in the singing:

Let catty thoughts depart, let love dwell in every heart,
Kindness prevail, always unselfishness be, from petty strife be free
Work for the right and we never can fail.
(Sung to the tune of My Country Tis of Thee)

Mildred taught the town kids the play-party game “Soldier Boy,” Bill recalled: “We children would march in a circle in the parlor, waving a flag, and singing the song. The song-game was progressive in that at the end of the repeated stanza the words ‘And you may be a soldier boy if you will come too,’ a cue for the next child to join the moving circle.”

Mart Hopper with Guitar (Nashville, IN)

Local musicians gathered to the Jones’s home on Jefferson Street for informal sessions called “musicales.” Usually two or three fiddlers would play, while Mildred accompanied them on the piano. Occasionally Mildred’s brother, Mart Hopper would come to play guitar. As the lively music filled the home, Mildred’s husband Jim, a local lawyer and banker, sat in the adjoining living room, quietly smoking his pipe.

The old disk that Ada loaned me contained seventeen a cappela songs, including old ballads such as Over the Garden Wall and Kitty Wells; popular songs from Mildred’s youth like Let Me Call you Sweet Heart and All for the Love of a Sweet little Girl; she even sang a quiet closing lullaby:

Loving Goodnight

Loving goodnight, tender goodnight,
Sweet words of parting goodnight.

Parting is only, only for night.
Meeting will come with the light. Good-Night.

Listen Here: Loving Goodnight

While this collection of songs is interesting and diverse, it represents only of fraction of the old songs that Mildred knew. Her daughter-in-law confirmed: “She knew a lot more I think; some of them she just made up or gathered from this and from that, just the way the old ballads were sung.”

Mildred Jones passed away in 1956 at the age of 80. She spent the last two months of her life in a nursing home in Columbus. Even though cancer had spread through her body and she was in great pain, she entertained the other patients by singing old hymns and folk songs.

The Patter of the Shingle
As sung by Mildred M. Jones (1950)

When the angry passion gathering in my mama’s face I see,
And she takes me to the bedroom gently lays me on her knee.
Then I know that I will catch it, and my flesh in fancy itches.
As I listen to the patter of the of the shingle on my britches.

Every tingle of the shingle has an echo and a sting.
And a thousand burning fancies into active being spring.
And a thousand bees and hornets ‘neath my coattail seems to swarm.
As I listen to the patter of the shingle oh so warm.

In a sudden intermission, that appears my only chance,
I say, “Strike gently Mama, or you’ll stick my Sunday pants.
She stops one moment, holds her breath, the shingle holds aloft.
As she says, “I hadn’t thought of that, my son just take them off.”

Holy Moses, and the angels lookin’ pittyin’ glances down.
And thou’ ole family doctor put a good soft poultice on.
And may I with fools and dunces, everlastingly co-mingle.
If I ever say one word again when mother wields a shingle.

Oh the patter of the shingle is still ringing in my ears.
On my cheeks are dried up ridges, which were once my boyish tears.
If my Mama’s only spanked me, as she used to with her hand,
I could then sit down with comfort, now I much prefer to stand.”

Door to St Michael's Church on the Hill in Cannelton

A small town on the banks of the Ohio River, Cannelton, Indiana is known for its beautiful sandstone structures.  The Cannelton Cotton Mill is a mammoth sized block building built before the Civil War and Saint Michaels is an exquisite church made by the finest of stonemasons.   One of those talented artisans, Martin Heim emigrated from Bavaria to do the fine stonework still visible in the town. The Church history, St. Michaels on the Hill 1859-1985 noted that Heim was one of several talented carvers who moved to Cannelton specifically to build St. Michael’s Church.

Heim remained in Cannelton after completing the project and lived within a block of the church, where he continued to carve sandstone monuments. Access to quality materials coupled with his years of training and skill, allowed the carver to create some of the finest markers produced in Southern Indiana. He worked in Cannelton for over 25 years, and his youngest son Henry continued to do stone work in the community for another quarter century after his father’s passing.

According to the local paper The Economist, workers quarried the stone for Cannelton’s Cotton Mill as well as St. Michaels Church from the cliffs above where the Church is located. They harvested large slabs of sandstone by boring holes into the stone and driving wet hickory pegs into them.  The pegs expanded over night and sheared off the slabs of stone that the stonecutters then shaped with chisels and mallets.  The article noted that while at first the sandstone taken from the quarry is soft and easy to work, but after exposure to the air, it hardens and becomes more durable and resilient.

From the ornate arch over the doorway to the subtle etchings that embellish each block the stonework of St Michaels is stunningly beautiful. Built by old world masters such as Heim, the church stands as an exemplar of early Indiana stonework.

However, Heim’s personal skill and artistic design is best seen and identified in the gravestones and monuments that he produced for members of his community. On the steep hillside above St. Michael’s, is the Cliff Cemetery. Throughout this burial ground are several tower-like monuments signed with “M. Heim.”  The markers seem to be part obelisk and part tower, incorporating some of the fine architectural motifs exhibited in the church below.  The purplish red of the Perry County sandstone contrasts with the other marble, limestone and granite markers in the graveyard.

While Martin Heim identified himself in the 1870 Census as a “stone cutter” (a more general term for stone mason), by the 1880 Census he and his two Indiana born sons Philip and Henry, preferred to think of themselves as “marble” cutters. Perhaps this signaled an occupational shift from general stonework, which was prominent in the mid 1800s in Perry County to doing more ornamental masonry and monument carving later in his life.  Throughout the Cliff Cemetery are several unsigned markers that have dark native sandstone bases topped imported white marble spires. I believe Martin Heim and his sons probably produced these distinctive gravestones.

I have more research to do on the life and work of Martin Heim. Where did he receive his stone cutting training?  Did he come from a family of masons?  If you know of any other sources about this Artisan Ancestor, please let me know. Would love to find a picture or read more historical documents. Send me your thoughts,
Jon Kay

Works Cited

The Economist; Saturday 8 December 1849 (Quoting the Louisville Examiner with reference to the Cannelton Cotton Mill).

Rutherford, Michael F. St. Michael’s on the Hill, 1859-1985, & St. Patrick’s Church, 1850-1902, Cannelton, Indiana. Utica, KY: McDowell Publications, 1986.

1870 Census from Perry County showing Heim Family

1880 Census of Perry County showing Heim Family.

Ellen pulled out a small green pitcher that a Mrs. Witham had donated to the Museum years ago.  The piece had been made by the potter Charles Hendricks, who had made it for his mother, ever since then the family had passed the pitcher down from eldest daughter to eldest daughter. However, Mrs. Witham daughter Sybil passed away without having a daughter of her own. Sybil asked her mother to donate the family treasure to the Mathers Museum. As we compared the small cream pitcher with the other utilitarian wares, we began to doubt the family story. The pot was so different.  It was small and thoughtfully rendered. The green glaze through Ellen and I. However, as we were putting away the artifacts, Ellen called to me to come look at what she found. In a box of old shards and waste materials from near the kiln site in Hendricksville was a small piece of slag with a long drip of green glaze that matched the family cream pitcher. We had found a piece of Hendricksville Pottery.

Research and teaching museums are great places to study the works of Artisan Ancestors! Usually the staff and volunteers are very helpful and know legible of their collections, and enjoy seeing their collections used.

I would love to have people share photographs and stories of stoneware and redware items from Indiana. Very little is written on the topic and I am trying to make myself more informed about the understudied tradition in Indiana.

Throughout the small cemetery are several other small stones that are obviously homemade. While others were produced by skilled professions, these small memorials were probably produced by a grieving parent, sibling or child. Some of the stones are slightly blackened, perhaps showing signs of a past fire, that may have swept through the  cemetery years ago. Although, it might have been an old practice to burn off the cemetery as a controlled burn. Was this a common practice? I don’t know, just thinking it through.

For some reason, I am drawn to these small rural graveyards. With names of lost loved ones scratched into their surfaces, these markers chipped out of native stone communicate stories of personal memories and loss. I appreciate those who take care of these often overlooked landscapes.

A sign in the cemetery noted that donations to assist with the care of the Fleetwood Cemetery can be made by sending funds to:

Fleeta Authur
6594 W. ST. RD 58
Brownstown, IN 47220.

This is a traditional bed turning ceremony done by the Sisters of the Cloth of Fort Wayne Indiana. As part of an exhibition at the Indiana State Fair, Traditional Arts Indiana, invited them to be featured artists at the Home and Family arts stage. I really appreciated that they allowed me to video this presentation. I hope you all enjoy seeing the amazing work that they do as much as I did.

Gladys Gorman Douglas tells the stories of several of the quilts produced by members of the Sisters of the Cloth. An elder of the group, Gladys has taught her daughters and granddaughter to quilt.

Marker for Katherine and W.H. Durnal in the Bond cemetery (Brown County, Indiana).

I was surprised to find two very large sandstone makers, when I drove up to the Bond Cemetery today;. Probably made in the 1890s, the stones show signs of wear and the layers of the stone are flaking pealing off layers of stone and aesthetic details. One of the stones appears to have been shot at some point; a large plug is missing from the front and small pits pepper around it, probably unintentionally hit by a hunter decades ago. In keeping with the arts and craft style of the later decades of the Nineteenth Century, the stones are carved to show the rustic qualities of the natural stone. Even when they were new, the markers would have seemed earthy and sought to reveal the natural beauty of handwork. Where a generation earlier, sandstones monuments were smooth and carefully finished, these markers accentuated the chip marks and handwork.

Footstone for rustic marker.

The footstone, a marker that designated the end of the plot opposite the headstone, is embellished with somewhat random marks. Why were these stones made to look so rustic? As more and more objects were mass-produced, artisans produced work that highlighted their handmade aesthetics.

These stones mark a locally produced monument that was in keeping with the national trend to embrace the Arts and Crafts style, which influenced Tiffany glass, Stickley furniture, and Rookwood pottery, also influenced local artisans throughout the United States. I would love to know who made these markers out of local stone.

Two sandstone markers under a cedar tree in Bond Cemetery