Interview with Kenneth McCoy, February 3, 1992

Partial Transcript: This is, uh, David Rotenizer, University of Kentucky Cane Creek, um, uh, Study Area, University of Kentucky Oral History Project.

Segment Synopsis: Kenneth McCoy takes interviewer David Rotenizer on an outdoor tour of his farm, including the tobacco barn and talking about the history of the farm and its past owners.

Keywords: Barns; Farmhouses; House construction; Neighbor's family; Neighbors; Sawmills; Television--Antennas; Tobacco barns; Tobacco industry; Vernacular architecture

Subjects: Family farms; Family farms--Management; Farm buildings.; Farm life; Genealogy & local history; Powell County (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: So now we're walking on the driveway from the road up to your former house.

Segment Synopsis: McCoy shows Rotenizer the first house that he built on the farm and its amenities, and describes how it had deteriorated over the years.

Keywords: Asbestos cement; Carpentry; House construction; Outhouses; Rural schools; Sewing machines; Stoves, Gas; Stoves, Wood; Termites--Control; Tobacco industry; United States Department of Defense; Vernacular architecture; Weathering of buildings; Well drillers; Well water; Wells; Woodwork

Subjects: Family farms; Family farms--Management; Farm buildings; Farm life; Powell County (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Well let's go look at your smokehouse if you don't mind.

Segment Synopsis: McCoy talks about the construction of his smokehouse as well as his methods and traditional methods of storing and curing meats. McCoy and Rotenizer then walk along the paths connecting the arm buildings and talk about the forest that had been on the property.

Keywords: Afforestation; Canning and preserving; Clearcutting; Forests and forestry; Gardening; Meat--Curing; Meat--Preservation; Outhouses; Salting of food; Smoked meat; Washing machines

Subjects: Family farms; Family farms--Management; Farm buildings; Farm life; Powell County (Ky.); Trails & paths.

Partial Transcript: And how long have you had bees?

Segment Synopsis: McCoy describes his beekeeping methods and how he got started. McCoy also recalls when the main road through the farm was graveled and paved. McCoy talks about his coon hounds and hunting.

Keywords: Apiaries; Asphalt; Asphalt cement; Bees & honey; Bees--Feeding and feeds; Bees--Housing; Gravel; Honeybees; Hunting dogs; Hunting dogs--Breeding; Hunting dogs--Training; Neighbors; Pavements, asphalt; Roads--Design and construction; United States Works Progress Administration

Subjects: Bee culture.; Coon hunting.; Family farms; Family farms--Management; Farm life; Powell County (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Is this yours over here?

Segment Synopsis: McCoy leads Rotenizer down Punkin Hollow near Cane Creek to show and discuss where the neighboring farms lie and to what families they belonged. McCoy also talks about flood problems around Cane Creek.

Keywords: Farm management--Records and correspondence; Flood damage prevention; Floods; Inheritance and succession; Legacies

Subjects: Family Farms; Family Farms--Management; Farm Buildings; Farm life; Genealogy and local history; Neighbors; Powell County (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: There's the old cellar I was talking about.

Segment Synopsis: McCoy and Rotenizer explore the hollow that is part of the property and find old disused structures on the farm. They discuss past farm practices of whoever may have used the land before them. McCoy also talks about the gas wells on the property and how long they had been in use.

Keywords: Abandoned buildings; Canning and preserving; Fireplaces; Gas wells; Gas--Heating and cooking; Hearths; Log transportation; Pioneers; Pioneers--Appalachian Region, Southern; Root cellars; Terracing; Vernacular architecture

Subjects: Family farms; Farm buildings; Farm life; Genealogy & local history; Powell County (Ky.); Ruins

Partial Transcript: Is there a name for this hollow?

Segment Synopsis: McCoy talks about the Indian artifacts found on the farm and the legends of Indian presence around Cane Creek. McCoy also says that there were grave sites and rock shelters being monitored by the National Forest Service.

Keywords: Antiquities; Archaeological surveying; Burial; Caves; Cemeteries; Excavations (Archaeology); Native American history and society; Native American peoples; Red River Gorge (Ky.); United States National Forest Service

Subjects: Family farms; Farm life; Genealogy & local history; Indian art--Antiquities.; Powell County (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: --(dog barking)--Yeah, you've got it, ain't you?

Segment Synopsis: McCoy talks about his coon hounds, their breeding, and how uses them when he hunts. He also talks about the types of guns he uses and tells an anecdote about the dogs trespassing while hunting.

[The audio wavers in and out of comprehensibility at times due to recording outdoors.]

Keywords: Attitudes; Coon hounds; Cost; Deer; Deer hunting; Dog collars; Electronic dog training collars; Game wardens; Guns; Howling; Hunting rifles; Iwo Jima; Poaching; Prices; Raccoons; Rifles; Selling; Shock collars; Small game hunting; Smith and Wesson firearms; Sounds; Toyota trucks; Tracking collars; Tracking dogs; Trespassing; Unlawful entry; Western spotted skunks; World War II

Subjects: Coon hunting.; Family farms; Farm life; Fox hunting; Hunting dogs--Breeding; Hunting dogs--Training; Hunting dogs.; Hunting--Kentucky; Poaching--United States; Powell County (Ky.); Small game hunting; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Japan--Okinawa Island

Partial Transcript: ------(??) I said, "If you want to quit, quit."

Segment Synopsis: McCoy talks about breeding champion hunting dogs and their lineages. He talks briefly about his neighbors and predecessors fox hunting on the farm and demonstrates how to use a fox horn.

[The audio wavers in and out of comprehensibility at times due to recording outdoors.]

Keywords: Champions; Cost; Fox horns; Foxes; Grand Nite Champions; Lineage; Mouths; Names; Prices; Purple ribbons; Registration; Selling

Subjects: Family farms; Farm life; Fox hunting; Hunting dogs--Breeding; Hunting dogs--Training; Hunting dogs.; Hunting--Kentucky; Powell County (Ky.); Small game hunting

Partial Transcript: And, now here...

Segment Synopsis: McCoy talks about some of the ways his family preserves their food and mentions hunting and fishing for food.

[The audio wavers in and out of comprehensibility at times due to recording outdoors.]

Keywords: Fish; Fishing; Freezers; Gardens; Vegetables

Subjects: Canning and preserving; Family farms; Farm life; Food habits; Food--Preservation; Powell County (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: --need to find it...

Segment Synopsis: McCoy talks about his experiences tobacco farming and lists some of his neighbors who also farmed tobacco. He talks about selling his products.

[The audio wavers in and out of comprehensibility at times due to recording outdoors.]

Keywords: Acreage; Acres; Harvest; Houses; Married; Morton family; Neighbors; Prices; Sales; Selling; Termites

Subjects: Family farms; Farm life; Powell County (Ky.); Tobacco farmers; Tobacco farms--Kentucky; Traditional farming

Partial Transcript: What, um--when you first came up...

Segment Synopsis: McCoy talks about how Cane Creek has changed since he moved there. He talks about houses that have been abandoned and are now in disrepair. He talks about when farms in the area began to become mechanized.

[The audio wavers in and out of comprehensibility at times due to recording outdoors.]

Keywords: Cane Creek (Ky.); Changes; Cows; Disrepair; Hillsides; Hollows; Horses; Houses; Landscape; Leaving; Moving; Mules; Tractors

Subjects: Family farms; Farm life; Farm mechanization; Powell County (Ky.); Traditional farming