History of Back Road Churches, Brawling & Liquor

I discovered how the name Coopertown came about.  Robertson County was the largest whiskey supplier in the area, and the barrels were made by men called "coopers."  Interesting.  Amidst all of the little churches surrounding this entire area of the South, the liquor industry thrived. 

Last week, I wrote about Dr. Farris Moore, a famous preacher in these hills and valleys.  My book will tell stories from the local folks out here who've known him all of their lives.  I love hearing old stories.  That's what made me want to write when I was a kid.  I thrived on the tales the adults told late at night on our front stoop in Cincinnati's inner city.  I kept a low profile so I wouldn't get sent to bed with the little kids. 

Now here I am in Tennessee and still hearing and writing stories.  I love this home in the country and feel like God placed me here for a reason. 

Doing some work at the County Archives this week and no telling what I'll pull up about this little hamlet. 

Coopertown has become a spot on the map over the last few years because of the town's "Boss Hawg" Mayor.  Under his leadership, Coopertown became  "...one of the more blatant examples of speed traps" in the country by a spokesperson for the National Motorists Association (NMA)."  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coopertown,

 "Hawg" instructed his officers to target speeders on a stretch of highway who were either Hispanics or Fort Campbell military.  He figured both groups would sooner pay the price of the ticket as to show up in court, the Hispanics, he reasoned, because they were probably all illegal aliens

The speeding tickets were known to cost as much as $300 and paid for this tiny community's abundance of police officers whose only job was to catch more speeders.  A sign located at the interstate ramps on Highway 49, where the speed dropped suddenly from 50 to 35, read "We Love Our Children."  Hmmm, dontcha know how many little kids are playing at big intersections these days?

The town's sheriff appealed the 2006 Tennessee State outster writ, which was granted by the Appeals Court despite the "accurately characterized conduct" by the trial court. 

Next election, voters ousted "Boss" at the polls. 

With a new sheriff, fewer patrol cars wait behind every bush, but I'll still advise you--if you come to Coopertown, watch out.  There are still a few lurking where you least expect.

A Coopertown Living Legend

House Joint Resolution 703 was issued last July in honor of  the 100th birthday of Dr. Farris Moore.  The Resolution notes that Dr. Moore's origins reach beyond his native Coopertown, Tennessee to "dozens of exotic locales...from Alaska to Perth, Australia," where he was known to make his introduction, "I'm Farris Moore, and I'm from Nome, Alaska."

Thus is the humor of Dr. Farris Moore, a man well known and beloved in my community and in the surrounding counties that make up the rolling countrysides of Tennessee. He has served his entire adult life as a Methodist pastor, and, according to his estimate, has preached over 3,500 funerals.  As of last December, the funeral list was still climbing, as when we visited his present "home" which is the assisted living facility in Springfield, we found him waitinng in the lobby, as handsome as ever in his black suit, tie, and crisp white shirt, with white hair combed back, stating he was waiting for his ride because he had a funeral to preach.

I've always marveled at his absence of notes when he speaks. His memory capacity is, to this day, amazing and detailed. His language is learned and eloquent. He smoothly quotes not only scripture but lines from his beloved poets

Today I visited Dr. Farris Moore at his assisted residence.  He's gearing up for his 101st birthday on July 21st.  He remains his chipper self, though he'd underwent surgery recently.  We thought he'd be at the nursing home, but, no, he was enjoying lunch with a table of women hanging onto his every word.  He always has an audience when he speaks. 

.Dr. Moore received his bachelor's degree in history from Tennessee Tech in 1941.  He then earned his divinity degree from Vanderbilt in 1946, which tuition he states was paid with "one old Jersey cow and a hundred hens."  More of his classic humor.  He was conferred his Doctorate of Divinity by Tennessee Wesleyan University in 1960 for his research on representation in the Methodist Church's general and jurisdictional conferences.

Dr. Moore delivered his fiirst sermon in 1935 in Claysville, Tennessee, one of five churches he was given charge of in Cumberland County.  At this time, the church was the Methodist Episcpal Church South. 

Dr Moore's largest populared congregation was Belmont United Methodist Church in Nashville, where more than 3,250 members were listed..  He also pastored some small churches with membership of only eight. 

Other offices held included chair of the annual conference, eleven years as president of the Old Jerusalem Credit Union, and chairman of the Board of Pension, where he worked to obtain equal pensions for African American ministers in the Central Jurisdiction of the Methodist Church.

Knowing this man, I was not surprised to find that for 35 years, Dr. Moore sent letters of encouragement to every newly appointed pastor in the conference. 

The House Joint Resolution issued last July states:  "...for the fortunate people who have had the privilege of knowing Dr. Farris Moore and being ministered to by him, July 21, 2009, marks a day of great thanksgiving...We wish to grasp this golden opportunity to specially recognize one of Tennessee's most outstanding citizens."

I'm one of the "fortunate people," and it has certainly been a privilege to know and love him.

Book Reviews

I'm a book addict.

 I've reviewed books, both for Amazon and BellaOnline, which editor gig I gave up to focus on my own writing. There's now a new editor for my spot, and my prior reviews are listed as "guest reviewer."

The Bella link I've provided above is one I wrote for All Over But the Shoutin' by author Rick Bragg. I love his writing. I'd have to say, if I wanted to write like anybody, it would be Rick Brag

The reason I like Rick Bragg so much is because he illuminates the story of the back-country space he grew up in, the dire poverty and circumstances. He leaves nothing out. When you read his books, you "know" who this man is. Bragg' books rest on my bookshelves They're too good to get from the library because I don't want to take them back.

Another of Braggs' bests is Ava's Man, the story of his grandfather. My husband has recently read this--it's a good man's read. I can't recommend a lot of my books to my husband, but this one was a sure bet.

I love memoirs, as you can see, but not all of them. They have to keep me turning the pages like good fiction.


For instance, I devoured The Liars' Club by Mary Karr. Excellent. Her others were not nearly as spellbinding as the Liars' Club.

Another juicy tale is The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls. A horrifying story that leaves you wondering if people actually live like the author describes

 All of these and many, many other books inspire me. They're stories of people gone on to success and rewards. I'm all about inspiration.

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Coopertown Road

Ok, I've changed the title.  So shoot me.  I like "Coopertown Road," and the need to use it somewhere arrived this morning.  This is life from my viewfinder. 

Also this morning, I've glided through Writer's Markets, nabbing a few for queries in my field.  Good prospects.  That's part of my writing work finding markets to submit to.  And now I'm writing this.  So I'm writing. 

In a bit I'll update my Journey Blog, which is my "crafty" side speaking.  Scrapbooking, Photography, Family History, Memoir.  All that important stuff.  I'll need to post my latest ScrapMemoir which I write for Women's Memoirs.  It aired yesterday titled "In Sickness & Health,"  Part 1.  It's my bipolar depression story I finally allowed myself to publicly share.  Scary.

Vietnam: A Day for Remembering

My husband reminded me this Memorial Weekend to not forget the troops "left behind" in Vietnam.  This prompted research on my part to resurrect awareness that mostly has been forgotten... and some American citizens have never even heard about.  Those post-Vietnam babies who grew up not knowing.  

If I was a wife, mom, sister, daughter whose loved one never came back, dead or alive, I would have to know for my peace of mind.  We all deserve that.  Strong proof exists for unaccounted troops that other GIs knew about.  Their debriefing files are locked away securely.  Every one of them.  And the Pentagon, with John McCain and John Kerry's allegiance, wants to keep it that way.

An excerpt from "The War Secrets Sen. John McCain Hides:  Former POW Fights Public Access to POW/MIA Files," By Sydney Schanberger

"The Truth Bill
In 1989, 11 members of the House of Representatives introduced a measure they called “The Truth Bill.” A brief and simple document, it said: '[The] head of each department or agency which holds or receives any records and information, including live-sighting reports, which have been correlated or possibly correlated to United States personnel listed as prisoner of war or missing in action from World War II, the Korean conflict and the Vietnam conflict shall make available to the public all such records and information held or received by that department or agency. In addition, the Department of Defense shall make available to the public with its records and information a complete listing of United States personnel classified as prisoner of war, missing in action, or killed in action (body not returned) from World War II, the Korean conflict, and the Vietnam conflict.'

Opposed by Pentagon
Bitterly opposed by the Pentagon, 'The Truth Bill' got nowhere. It was reintroduced in the next Congress in 1991 — and again disappeared. Then, suddenly, out of the Senate, birthed by the Arizona senator, a new piece of legislation emerged. It was called 'The McCain Bill.' This measure turned 'The Truth Bill' on its head. It created a bureaucratic maze from which only a fraction of the available documents could emerge. And it became law. So restrictive were its provisions that one clause actually said the Pentagon didn’t even have to inform the public when it received intelligence that Americans were alive in captivity."Senator McCain's legal amendments to the 1995 version of the truth law actually lengthed the number of days a unit commander had to report to the theater commander that a person was missing and describe what rescue and recovery efforts were underway.  The McCain amendments upped the required time for reporting an MIA from two days to ten.

It doesn't make sense.  But the source states further:

In the 1995 act, the theater commander, after receiving the MIA report, would have 14 days to report to his Cabinet secretary in Washington. His report had to 'certify' that all necessary actions were being taken and all appropriate assets were being used 'to resolve the status of the missing person.'  This section was stricken from the act, replaced with language that made the Cabinet secretary, not the theater commander, the recipient of the report from the field. All the certification requirements also were stricken...This, said a McCain memo, 'transfers the bureaucracy involved out of the field to Washington.' He argued that the original legislation, if left intact, 'would accomplish nothing but create new jobs for lawyers and turn military commanders into clerks.'

In response, the backers of the original statute cited the Pentagon’s stained record on MIA’s and argued that military history had shown that speed of action is critical to the chances of recovering a missing man. Moving 'the bureaucracy' to Washington, they said, was merely a way to sweep the issue under a rug."

The American people will probably never know why the Senate Select POW/MIA Committee, with Vietnam War veteran John Kerry as Chairman, along with fellow member John McCain, want to wash their hands of the whole Vietnam affair, and why Sen. McCain felt he had to "...browbeat witnesses," according to another document by journalist Shanberg.  He goes on to report:

Family members who have personally faced McCain and pressed him to end the secrecy also have been treated to his legendary temper.  He has screamed at them, insulted them, brought women to tears...In 1996, he roughly pushed aside a group of POW family members who had waited outside a hearing room to appeal to him, including a mother in a wheelchair."

In their book, An Enormous Crime,from Chapter 21, "The 1983-1984 Cover-Up:  How it was Structured, How it was Sustained," Bill Hendon and Elizabeth Stewart write:

The newspaper Army Times reported that on 9 July 1982 … Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger told POW/MIA family members gathered in the Washington area for the 13th annual meeting of the National League of Families that the administration had changed official government policy on the POW/MIA issue and that '[w]e [now] proceed under the assumption that at least some Americans are still held captive by the Indochinese Communists.'...The Times said Weinberger cited 'over 400 first-hand sightings' as reason for the change and told the families that determining the fate of their loved ones was now 'a matter of the highest national priority. Weinberger’s speech, his statement on POWs was formally adopted as official U.S. policy and disseminated in written form."

What happened then, six months later, was "an awful dilemma," according to the book's authors, "An unsuccessful rescue group of former Green Berets was arrested in Thailand, one of them quoting Pres. Reagan's alleged orders that if they found one person he would "start WWIII. This ran in the Washington Post.

In addition America's government, then facing the Central America crisis, chose its stance "...And therein, of course, lay the dilemma: how could Weinberger send American servicemen to fight in the jungles of Central America while publicly acknowledging that other American servicemen were still being held against their will in the jungles of Southeast Asia ten years after Operation Homecoming?

"By the late 2000s, the remains of over 700 Americans killed in Southeast Asia had been returned and identified. Efforts continued to recover nearly 1,800 Americans who remained unaccounted for.  Working jointly, American and Vietnamese experts focus on 'Last Known Alive' cases, which involve missing Americans whom the U.S. believed might have survived their initial loss incident. Outcomes of these investigations helps resolve the live prisoners question. The U.S. has identified 296 individuals as Last Known Alive cases in all of Southeast Asia, and following full investigations, the Defense Department has determined that more than 190 are deceased."

  "Vietnam War Accounting History".

I hope there are others who especially remember those left behind.  It's an "awful dilemma."