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You know, we've talked about the
mind Wars in West Virginia, the labor
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unrest of Bloody Harlan in the thirties, and of course the Civil War.
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In all of these instances, the
word insurrection has been used for good or
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bad. Did you know, though, that a true insurrection almost happened in
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the coal fields of southwest Virginia in
nineteen seventeen, at the same time as
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the Bolshevik Revolution happened in Russia and
with many of the same objectives as the
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Bolsheviks. Today we tell about the
homegrown populist revolution that almost happened in Appalachia.
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Hello, folks, I'm Steve Gilly. Along with Rock LLINs. This
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is another one of the stories of
Appalachia. Yeah, a lot of people
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don't know that there was a near
insurrection, as you mentioned, that took
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place in central Appalachia. More,
I guess, narrowing it down southwest Virginia
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and we're talking about the town,
the small little town that's still in existence
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today of Saint Paul, Virginia where
all of this took place. And Steve,
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this is just an amazing story of
how something like this took place on
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our own shores. Here in the
United States are almost took place. You
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know, amazing is the right word. Rot I mean this is you wouldn't
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never think of hearing about anything like
this in this part of the country,
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you know, particularly at that time. But it all goes to all things.
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The draft. Wow. You see, in the spring of nineteen seventeen,
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the United States under World War One
on the side of the British and
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French against Germany. At the time, the American Army was a volunteer army,
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and it soon became apparent to the
military that this army would not have
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enough manpower to fight the Germans in
France. A draft was necessary to fight
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the war. So President would Roll
Wilson set that process in motion, and
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that set off a firestorm across the
country. Now to say the new draft
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was unpopular, well that was an
understatement. There were protests against the draft,
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or conscription as it was termed in
and anti conscription movement began to gain
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momentum all around America. Some though, had bigger plans in mind than simply
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protesting the draft, and the most
notorious plan was hatched and as we said
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earlier, Saint Paul Virginia Wow a
sixty year old man by the name of
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William Vernon McCoy, the name Sales
Familiar, was a cobbler who ran a
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shoe repair shop in the town.
Well, if it sounded familiar, you're
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probably right. He claimed to be
ken to the family of Random McCoy of
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Hatfield and McCoy feud fame. In
fact, it was said that he was
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involved in that famous feud back in
the eighteen hundreds as a young man.
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He also claimed to have traveled to
Missouri, where he supposedly spent time with
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Frank and Jesse James and their gang
of outlaws and Steve. I can attest
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to this one also. It's one
of those other tales that we just hear
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so much of of all these people
left here and they traveled to join Jesse
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and Frank James as they went across
the country, robbing banks and so forth.
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But anyway, William Vernon McCoy claimed
a colorful life, soon to be
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made even more interesting with the addition
of an acquaintance named John Walter Phipps,
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a foreman at the wood extract plant
in Saint Paul. Phipps referred to as
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General Phipps and McCoy were opposed to
the new draft laws, much like many
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others in America. They were also
opposed to the military and those who held
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vast tracks of Appalachian land, the
government and yes, the wealthy well rod.
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They soon came up with a plan
to not only end the draft,
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but also to change the world.
Starting with their corner of Appalachian they began
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to gather like minded men of the
area into a militia, one that would
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blow up bridges, railroad tunnels,
communications facilities, public buildings, things like
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that. They also planned to murder
Virginia National guardsmen and all the rich people
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starting in Saint Paul, then seize
their assets and divide those assets up amongst
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themselves the insurrectionists. These wealthy people
included property holders and their term the capitalists.
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Among those property holders targeted for execution
was Virginia Governor Henry C. Stewart.
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Now more than three hundred men living
near Saint Paul signed o swearing allegiance
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to the cause, with the attack
planned for the day after conscription day.
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Each of the three hundred was to
receive fifteen thousand dollars for their work,
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and what was called the Military Organization
now right. I got to ask you
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this, If they were so much
against the draft, why were they starting
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up a military organization. Yeah,
more than anything else, I guess,
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just to maim and you know,
be able to control everybody else that you
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know, maybe didn't see eye to
eye with them. So I guess you
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were saying that, you know,
they were kind of constructing their own draft,
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so to speak, but forcing people
to kind of join in with them.
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I'd say, that's probably the best
way I can explain them. Well,
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that's true, that's true. Anyway, those men meant regularly at a
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cabin in the mountain there Saint Paul, which is where they signed their Ohs
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of allegiance. Those members went so
far as to use coded messages to communicate
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amongst themselves, similar to the way
guerrilla groups did during the Civil War.
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And here is the text of the
oath. The men sign and swarna uphold.
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I pledge and consecrate my body and
limbs to devote my life to obedience
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to my superiors, that no peril
shall deter me from executing their order.
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That I will submit to every possible
means of my power for the extermination of
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our enemies and big freeholders. And
before violating a single clause or implied pledge
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of this obligation, I will permit
the separation of my head and body.
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Boy, they didn't mess around with
that oath, did they. No,
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I mean, gosh, this is
more serious than joining in a fraternity.
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I mean it is. I mean
just the way. I never would have
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pictured ever saying something like I permit
the separation of my head and body.
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May not be in the same kind
of way or something due to spirits,
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but no, I wouldn't do swear
to something like this. Gosh. Well,
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anyway, Phillips personally persuaded every employee
at that Extract plant. Must have
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been a very persuasive kind of guy
the plant where he was formed to take
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that oath and join the insurrection.
Well, not everyone approached wanted to be
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a part of this group, afraid
of incurring the wrath of what could become
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a powerful organization, though many simply
put off a decision. Then, when
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they were able to do so,
they contacted the authorities. Well, the
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authorities included the National Guard, and
these folks soon tipped off the commanders of
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the second Virginia Infantry Guard units serving
at Cedar Bluff and Saint Paul along the
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Norfolk and Western Railroad line. The
commanders in turn contacted the US Department of
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Justice to ask for an investigation,
you know, the proper channels into the
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allegations that they had received. There
was so much concern about the plot that
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the regimental commander ordered his men to
take action against the conspirators if it was
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necessary to protect themselves, and that
investigation soon led to William McCoy portrayed as
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the ringleader of the plot. Well, Rod McCoy denied he was in charge,
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pointing the finger over It is buddy
General Phipps as the actual head of
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the organization. It was McCoy,
though, who had gotten the three hundred
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other men involved in the plan,
giving them the oath of allegiance that Rod
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read to you a few minutes ago. Meanwhile, detectives had discovered that the
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group had already secretly declared war on
the Virginia Militia and quote the wealthy,
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and were only waiting for Conscription day
to launch their attack. In preparation for
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that day, the group had stolen
a thousand pounds of blasting powder from the
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DuPont Magazine at Norton, Virginia,
in the middle of May nineteen seventeen.
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Well, the revolution was not to
be. McCoy and Phips were arrested in
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Saint Paul on Saturday May twenty six, nineteen seventeen by federal authorities. The
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two prisoners were held without bail in
solitary confinement in Roanoke for fear their followers
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would break them out of jail if
they were held in Wise County. They
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were arraigned on June twenty first on
charges including conspiracy, resisting the draft,
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and treason. They were said to
be tried in the Federal Court in Big
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Stone Gap during the August term of
that court. Also held as a witness
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was McCoy's son, Calvin McCoy,
seventeen years old. He and some of
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his friends had attempted to come up
with a plan to break dear old dad
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out of jail. Well. The
trial was set to begin on August fifteenth,
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nineteen seventeen. Well, early that
morning, John Phipps was reported to
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have faded faint in his jail cell
after other inmates told him he was going
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to be hanged at daybreak. I
guess I would fate too. At that
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point, Well, physicians had to
be called in to revive him, and
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the trial began as scheduled that afternoon. A large crowd of people attended the
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trial, filling the Federal courthouse at
big Stone Gap to capacity, with folks
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eager to get a glimpse at the
two insurrectionists. Now, Steve, I've
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seen the actual courtroom. I'm sure
you've been in that courtroom too. It's
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well, I guess by today's standards, it's kind of small, isn't it.
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It's not exactly a very big room, is it. It is just
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an average size courtroom, to be
honest with you. Yeah, if if
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there are people all over the place, they are going to be all around
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the hall, all the way down
the steps, all the way outside.
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I mean, it's not a huge
courthouse. So you know, the filled
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a capacity. I could see it
and see people lined up outside too.
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Wow. Well. On the witness
stand, Steve Calvin McCoy explained his understanding
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of the movement, which many of
the people brought into the plot agreed with
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the way I understand the movement is
a plan to cut down the high cost
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of living. Is a plan to
equal things up and make living easier for
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the people. There are men and
Wise, Dickinson and Russell Counties who on
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more Land, and they know what
to do with all winds. Haven't got
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enough to eat well. William McCoy
and John Phipps were later convicted of conspiring
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to seize by force the property of
the United States. Now nothing in there
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about, you know, attempting to
kill people or anything like that. And
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they ended up being sentenced to five
years in prison instead of the death penalty
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which would have resulted if they had
been convicted of treason. They were sent
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to the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta.
Now, Phipps appealed his conviction, which
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was upheld by the Court of Appeals
in January nineteen eighteen. McCoy just gave
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up. He didn't bother to appeal
that point, John Phipps disappears in the
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pages of history. William Vernon McCoy, though, returned to Virginia after his
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sentence was served, and he died
at age sixty seven on May eighteenth,
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nineteen twenty five. His son,
Calvin died in nineteen twenty three, a
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young age I think what twenty three
years old at that point, although I've
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not been able to find out what
his cause of death was I assume it
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was either some kind of a tragic
accident or well, we won't go any
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farther than a but I think you
can guess that maybe he just fell apart
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after all this stuff happened to his
family. Yeah, well, you know
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here's another thing too. I mean, you've brought it up, you made
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mention of it. You know,
I heard that name in there, du
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Punt to Punt. I had no
idea to Punt was into explosives back in
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those days and everything I think of
du Paunt, chemical and so forth.
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But then when I started thinking about
it and saying, well, I guess
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it's possible they could have been involved
in such a thing. But you know
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what amazes me is you got this
information. You found this information by just
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simply going back and digging into copies
of you know, the events, the
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happenings and everything that was put together
about all this. And I started wondering,
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what in the world would it be
like, you know, in nineteen
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seventeen, nineteen eighteen, when they
had this time, the trial and so
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forth, if they had the media
coverage of today everything, Oh my gosh,
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it would be unreal the way that
it would be thrown out there publicized,
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such a big deal made and I'm
sure people still heard a lot about
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it. But they didn't have such
things as radio, they didn't have TV
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or anything, and I guess they
very limited on phones. Probably at that
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time they could, they mostly had
to call in stuff if it was lucky
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enough to get into another newspaper,
and this stuff was kind of transcribed that
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way. No computers know nothing at
this time. This was nineteen seventeen,
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and still people, like we said, filled the courtroom in Big Stone Gap
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for this trial. Wow, it
must have been what could have been,
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in our terms, a media event. Well, this was a big story,
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right, I mean it was in
newspapers all over the country. Now,
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it was one of those things that
in the papers for maybe two or
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three days, but it was nationwide
news. And you're right, if there
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were radio stations, then if there
were TV stations, cable networks or god
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forbid, social media, this would
have been one of the biggest stories on
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the planet, to be honest.
Yeah, And all of this taking place,
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and of all places, central Appalachia, in a small town called Saint
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Paul, Virginia, and folks,
that's the story of a homegrown Appalachian Insurrection.
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Now that one of the Stories of
Appalachia. Thanks for listening. Be
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sure to subscribe to the Stories podcast
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miss any of our stories of Appalachia. All on YouTube and TikTok at Stories
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Appalachia. There you'll find short video stories
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of Appalachi to watch the next we
meet. Ye'll take care So long, everybody,