{"id":9167,"date":"2014-05-02T00:55:33","date_gmt":"2014-05-02T04:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/getitright.pmss.net\/?page_id=9167"},"modified":"2019-05-27T23:11:34","modified_gmt":"2019-05-28T03:11:34","slug":"a-mountain-funeralizing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/staging.pinemountainsettlement.net\/?page_id=9167","title":{"rendered":"RELIGION A Mountain Funeralizing"},"content":{"rendered":"
Pine Mountain Settlement School
<\/span>Series 31:\u00a0Religion<\/h5>\n

RELIGION A Mountain Funeralizing<\/h2>\n

TAGS:\u00a0 Funeralizing; funerals; religion; religious services; Pine Mountain Settlement School; Harlan County, Kentucky; burial; death; ritual; anti-intellectualism; Bible; preachers;\u00a0<\/p>\n

A MOUNTAIN FUNERALIZING provides images and transcriptions of three accounts, largely eyewitness, of this common mountain death ritual. The events occurred in 1928, c. 1930s, and 1932.<\/p>\n

Typically, a\u00a0mountain “funeralizing” took place well after the death of the individual, as these ceremonies were essentially memorial services.The event could be located in a\u00a0graveyard or at the home of the deceased. In the 1940s there were still many “funeralizings” in eastern Kentucky. Today, these events are rare.<\/p>\n

Further, in the\u00a0small cemeteries that dotted the hillsides in the Pine Mountain valley in the 1940s many traditional grave houses could also be found. These structures, typical\u00a0of\u00a0early cemeteries in\u00a0Eastern Kentucky, are rarely encountered today. Most of the small, elaborate “houses” have melted into the earth. It is rare to encounter\u00a0even remnants of these unique structures in the mountain cemeteries of today.<\/p>\n

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Grave Houses. These were common in the Southern Appalachians in the 1800s and early 1900s, but few have survived today. [misc_exhibit_009 copy]<\/p><\/div>\n

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CONTENTS: A Mountain Funeralizing<\/strong><\/p>\n

I. 1932 ‘FUNERALIZING’ FOR ELIZABETH GILLAM SMITH, GILLEY, KENTUCKY.\u00a0<\/strong>On July 17, 1932, an unnamed Line Fork Settlement worker recorded the funeral of Elizabeth Gillam and of her first husband, a Mr. Smith. The Smiths were the grandparents of Jason Smith, an individual known to the author of the account. The funeralizing was to remember the death of Elizabeth some eight years previous to the funeralizing and the death of her first husband, some twenty years before the event. The long delay was not uncommon. The 1932 event at Gilley, Kentucky, near the Line Fork Medical Settlement<\/a> occurred at a cemetery between the Gilley Post Office and Hilton’s Store. The scene is described,<\/p>\n

Graves bare but on these of the subjects of the funeral were magenta and yellow paper flowers. The congregation sat on pine boards on pine logs in the sun, About 150 present, quiet and well behaved.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The obituaries were first read. Then a hymn, minor [key]. Then a prayer by Lewis Riddle.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

… Sermon by Bud Colvin. Over an hour and half long.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

… Sermon by Granville Riddle. [Reading from the Bible.]<\/em><\/p>\n

II. THE FUNERAL, c. 1930s.<\/strong> The second ‘funeralizing’ account, THE FUNERAL, is by two Pine Mountain workers who were sent to a community funeralizing on Greasy Creek to represent the School and to gather information on the ritual. One is\u00a0identified in the account.<\/p>\n

III. A MOUNTAIN FUNERALIZING, 1928.<\/strong> The third account is a 15-page transcription\u00a0of A\u00a0MOUNTAIN FUNERALIZING that appears to have been\u00a0prepared for publication and is very detailed in its representation\u00a0of the ritual service.<\/p>\n

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GALLERY – 1932 ‘Funeralizing’ for Elizabeth Gillam Smith, Gilley, Kentucky<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\t\t