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![\"COLUMBUS](\"http:\/\/staging.pinemountainsettlement.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/nace_II_album_075-300x196.jpg\")
\u201cJudge Lewis Lyttle, 1948\u201d and \u201cColumbus Creech.\u201d [nace_II_album_075.jpg]<\/p><\/div>James Columbus Creech, generally known as Columbus Creech, is the son of William and Sally Creech. Columbus Creech’s name appears often, along with his brother’s, Henry C. Creech<\/a>, in the Pine Mountain Settlement School Archives. Both sons of William Creech remained in the Pine Mountain valley and were deeply engaged with the School over their lifetimes. Both were supporters of the School beginning in its earliest planning stages and for the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n In fact, the entire Creech family<\/a> was involved in the School at one time or another. Columbus’s parents, Sally Dixon Creech<\/a> and William Creech Sr.<\/a>, were instrumental in bringing the idea of a mountain settlement school to fruition by their generous donation of land to the School in 1913 and were devoted to the School thereafter. Columbus and his seven siblings —\u00a0Absalom D., Polly, William R., Nancy Ann, Henry Clay, Rhoda\u00a0and Joseph G. —\u00a0<\/span>followed their parents’ examples. They and their spouses and in-laws often helped with special events, donations, fundraising, maintenance work on the campus, and consultation. According to Evelyn Wells<\/a>‘ history, Henry Creech and Bennett F. Lewis, a son-in-law, raised pledges for money, labor, and timber from the community; William Creech joined in the building of the Chapel<\/a>; the Creech brothers donated and sawed all the lumber for Big Log;<\/a> and Columbus and Henry C. Creech provided lumber and gave land that ran from the School to the top of Pine Mountain. Columbus, particulary, was engaged with the construction of the ROAD over Pine Mountain and acted as a construction crew foreman for a time.<\/p>\n Columbus’s introduction to the idea of a settlement school in the Pine Mountain valley began at his family’s kitchen table around 1911. There, Columbus, his father William and brother Henry met with Rev. Lewis Lyttle.<\/a> As they talked, Lyttle\u00a0mentioned that there were several women, currently working at a school in Hindman, Kentucky, who were interested in starting a new school near Pine Mountain.\u00a0<\/span>William, who felt strongly that a better education for mountain children would improve their lives and that of the country, offered whatever help he could provide.<\/span><\/p>\n When co-founder\u00a0Ethel de Long<\/a> paid a visit to the Pine Mountain area to see what the site had to offer for a future settlement school, Columbus and his father, William,\u00a0 took her on a hike to the top of Pine Mountain where she could look out over the long valley. De Long describes this trip through the woods in detail in her 1911 “Dear Friend” fundraising letter<\/a> on page 8.<\/p>\n According to a letter dated January 1912 from Henry C. Creech to Katherine Pettit,<\/a>\u00a0the School’s co-founder, Columbus and Henry committed 25 or 30 acres to the building of the School.\u00a0 A 1953 letter<\/a> to Luigi Zande<\/span><\/a>, Ethel de Long Zande’s husband, <\/span> from\u00a0Burton Rogers<\/a>, the School’s director at that time, refers to this donation:<\/p>\n In 1917 Henry and Columbus Creech deeded to the School the present southeast corner in such a way that we have a straight line from the top of the mountain back to the beginning corner near the [Leon] Deschamps<\/a> house, now the house of Jess Cornett. There is no question about this transaction.<\/em><\/p>\n Columbus, along with his brother Henry, was a member of the PMSS Advisory Board at its beginning in 1913 and continued to serve in various advisory capacities for many years.<\/p>\n As the Pine Mountain Settlement School grew to fruition, Columbus became involved in a variety of its activities. The following are examples of the many ways in which he assisted the School as he\u00a0carried on the work and spirit of his parents, William and Sally Creech.<\/span><\/p>\n In 1914\u00a0<\/span>Columbus Creech\u00a0<\/span>was appointed President of the Farmers’ Meetings<\/a>, later known as “Fair Day.”\u00a0 Working alongside Marguerite Butler<\/a>, who was appointed Secretary, Columbus helped to organize events, solicit exhibits from community members, and arrange events with the City of Harlan. This was the approximate time that the Farmer’s Meetings inspired the creation of the annual Community Fair Day<\/a>, a successful cooperation between school and community and the county of Harlan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One of Marguerite Butler’s letters of Spring 1915<\/a> mentions that Columbus Creech “has been in [maple] sugar camp<\/a> all this month and they have been stirring it off this week….” Narratives on the page titled “Maple Syrup and Sugar<\/a>” indicate that<\/p>\n The Creech family who lived near the Settlement School had the skill of harvesting this natural sweetener and passed along their knowledge to Pine Mountain Settlement School staff…. [I<\/span>t is likely] that maple syrup was a gift to various workers and also graced the table for entertaining guests from the School….\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n When Uncle William divided his land, he asked his two sons, Henry and Columbus, who were to share the grove of sugar maple trees, not to log the site. He liked the idea that part of the mountain would remain untouched. And so it was not logged until after Henry\u2019s and Columbus\u2019 times.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n In a letter<\/a> to her family dated June 23, 1918, Evelyn K. Wells mentions that Columbus Creech, as the current postmaster, assisted with the mailing of 4,500 letters appealing for contributions to a memorial to his father.<\/p>\n In February 1919, Wells updates<\/a> her family on the progress of the school’s new buildings, writing that Columbus is “getting timber out of the woods as fast as he can. Plans for the Office<\/a>, the first building to go up, are made, and the site chosen and staked off…”<\/p>\n Columbus was often called upon to use his carpentry skills. Marguerite Butler, in her September and November 1921 letters, describes Columbus\u2019s involvement in such projects<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Sept 18, 1921<\/span><\/p>\n Columbus\u00a0was here working at O.H. [Open House, the home of PMSS architect Mary Rockwell Hook<\/a>] all day yesterday and <\/span>Henry\u00a0is coming to\u00admorrow. It looks a little more livable now….<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Nov 13, 1921<\/span><\/p>\n Tomorrow I start for Line Fork. <\/span>Columbus is going with me for a couple days to build a long cupboard in kitchen on either side of sink to serve as drain board, table and cupboard. He has built them here and knows exactly how….<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Columbus had a memorable trove of historical information about the School\u2019s early days. As late as 1963, Columbus accompanied PMSS Director, Burton Rogers<\/a>, on a tour of his parents\u2019 log cabin, the so-called AUNT SAL’S CABIN<\/a>,\u00a0 in which he was raised.\u00a0 The cabin had been moved from its location near the School to its current location near the campus knoll.\u00a0 He provided many details of having lived there as recorded in the Aunt Sal’s Cabin document on this page.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Throughout their lifetimes, Columbus and the rest of the Creech family shared their skills and historical knowledge with the School whenever and wherever they were needed, Descendants in the Creech family have continued their associations with Pine Mountain Settlement School through the years up to the present time. The School has much to appreciate concerning their services, all given in the spirit of William and Sally Creech\u2019s dream of an education for mountain children.<\/span><\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n James Columbus Creech was born October 8, 1881, in Kentucky. He was the third oldest child and third son of William and Sally Creech.<\/p>\n Columbus married EMILY HILL from Jeff in Perry County, Kentucky. She was a student (graduating in 1919) and worker at PMSS as a housemother and kitchen assistant, from 1921 to 1934. A letter<\/a> from Katherine Pettit to her friend Miss Helen Dingman<\/a>, dated January 4, 1927, mentions that Miss Emily Hill was sent to Berea College on the Dingman Scholarship.<\/span>\u00a0The couple had no children but cared for a number of relatives in their home and sponsored their education at Pine Mountain Settlement School.<\/p>\n Columbus died on May 30, 1968, in Harlan, Kentucky at the age of 86. He was buried in the Creech Cemetery at Pine Mountain, Harlan County, Kentucky.<\/p>\n See Also EMILY HILL<\/a><\/strong> – BiographyJAMES COLUMBUS CREECH Community: Earliest Years with PMSS, 1911-1913<\/h3>\n
JAMES COLUMBUS CREECH Community: Later Years with PMSS, 1914-1968<\/h3>\n
COMMUNITY FAIR DAY<\/h3>\n
THE MAPLE SUGAR CAMP<\/h3>\n
POSTMASTER<\/h3>\n
\nHENRY C. CREECH<\/a><\/strong> – Biography
\nCREECH FAMILY HIGHLIGHTS<\/a>
\nJAMES COLUMBUS CREECH Family Collections Guide<\/a>
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\nJAMES COLUMBUS CREECH Community: GALLERY<\/h3>\n\n\t\t