Podcast
Stories of Appalachia
Hosted by Steve Gilly, Rod Mullins · EN
Welcome to "Stories of Appalachia," the podcast where hosts Steve Gilly and Rod Mullins have been unraveling the captivating history and folklore of the Appalachian region since 2015. Join them as they guide you through mist-covered mountains and winding rivers, exploring the stories that define the heart and soul of Appalachia.
www.storiesofappalachia.com
www.storiesofappalachia.com
37episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Appalachia's Forgotten Uprising: Claypool's Rebellion
1w ago00:16:04Tap to summarizeIn 1781, as the American Revolution raged, Appalachian settlers in what’s now West Virginia rose in armed rebellion against the Virginia government. Angry over crushing taxes, forced military service, and wartime demands, John Claypool led an Appalachian backcountry revolt that sparked panic across the Shenandoah Valley. This is the little-known story of Claypool’s Rebellion, another one of the Stories of Appalachia.
Transcribe →A State of Natural Liberty: The Incredible Life of Quill Rose
2w ago00:15:42Tap to summarizeQuill Rose was a Confederate veteran, bear hunter, blacksmith, storyteller, and moonshiner who lived deep in the Smoky Mountains along Eagle Creek. In this episode of Stories of Appalachia, we tell his story, from Cades Cove in the 1840s through war, family life, isolation, to his illegal whiskey-making in the mountains.Along the way, Quill became a figure known not just for survival, but also for his loyalty to family, his reputation with Plott hounds, his run-ins with the law, and the many colorful stories told about him, many of which he told himself.Subscribe to the Stories podcast so you don't miss any of our Stories of Appalachia.Thanks for listening!
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Stagecoaches, Soldiers and Ghosts- The Story of the Glen Ferris Inn
3w ago00:16:16Tap to summarizeThis week we have not one but two podcast episodes for you!In this one, we go to Glen Ferris, West Virginia, a town at the falls of the Kanawha River, to tell the story of the Glen Ferris Inn, a place that hosted presidents, businessmen, Civil War generals and even, it’s said, a ghost! If you’ve not done so already, be sure to subscribe to the Stories podcast so you don’t miss any of our stories. You’ll find us wherever you get your favorite podcasts.Thanks for listening!
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A Dark December in Kentucky: The Disappearance of Mamie Womack
3w ago00:09:40Tap to summarizeThis week we have not one, but two episodes for you!For this story, we travel back to December of 1908, when people in Russell and Adair counties in Kentucky were shaken after 12-year-old Mamie Womack failed to return home from school. Her disappearance that winter afternoon triggered a desperate search, as neighbors, family, and bloodhounds followed a trail through the woods that uncovered a horrible crime.As the hunt for answers widened, suspicion fell on Elmer Hill, a young man with ties to the Womack family, who also went missing. What followed was a multi-county manhunt involving posses, bloodhounds, and growing public outrage. Hill would eventually be captured after days on the run, but the case would not end in a courtroom.In this episode of Stories of Appalachia, Steve and Rod tell the story of Mamie Womack’s disappearance and the chilling fate of the man thought to be responsible, another one of the Stories of Appalachia.
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Into the Unknown: John Lederer's Journeys Into Appalachia
4w ago00:20:41Tap to summarizeIn the late 1600’s, Dr. John Lederer, a German immigrant to the Virginia colony, became one of the first Europeans to explore the Appalachian region. Between 1669 and 1670, Lederer made three trips into the Blue Ridge Mountains, traveled west and south through Native territories in Virginia and the Carolinas, and searched for a passage west through the Alleghenies.Along the way he encountered wolves, rattlesnakes, deadly spiders, Native villages, rumors of strange bearded white men, and stories that hinted at vast inland waterways beyond Appalachia. Lederer’s journal about his travels became one of the earliest written descriptions of Appalachia.Be sure to subscribe to the Stories podcast. You’ll find us wherever you get your favorite podcasts.Thanks for listening!
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The Varmint of Burkes Garden
May 2300:13:06Tap to summarizeThe highest mountain valley in Virginia is Burke’s Garden, also referred to as “God’s Thumbprint” for its bowl-like shape.It was here that something began killing sheep in the winter of 1952. Night after night, farmers woke to fresh losses, and no one could agree on what was responsible. Was it a wolf, a panther, or something stranger and unexplainable? This week we tell the story of Burke’s Garden and the mysterious predator that became known as the “Varmint of Burke’s Garden” and gripped an Appalachian community with fear for nearly a year.If you like our stories, be sure to subscribe to the Stories podcast. You’ll find us wherever you get your favorite podcasts.Thanks for listening!
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They Claimed They Spoke For God: Appalachia's 19th Century New Eden
May 1600:26:01Tap to summarizeThis week we tell the strange and little-known story of the Mountain Cove Community, a spiritualist commune founded in the mountains of what’s now West Virginia in the early 1850s.Led by Reverends Thomas Lake Harris and James L. Scott, the group believed they could communicate with spirits, build a new Eden in Appalachia, and create a perfect society apart from the corruption of the outside world. But as power, prophecy, and control grew inside the community, Mountain Cove began to unravel.If you enjoy Appalachian history and folklore, be sure to subscribe to the Stories podcast.Thanks for listening!
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The Night They Burned Superman in West Virginia
May 900:18:29Tap to summarizeIn 1948, a small town in West Virginia became the center of a growing national fear over the perceived evil influence of comic books. There, in the town of Spencer, a schoolteacher and her students gathered thousands of comic books and set them ablaze in a bonfire, starting with one featuring the Man of Steel, Superman. What led to this dramatic moment? In this episode, Rod and Steve tell the story of the time a national panic reached into the heart of Appalachia, another one of the Stories of Appalachia. If you enjoy stories like this, be sure to subscribe to the Stories podcast so you never miss an episode. You’ll find us wherever you get your favorite podcasts.Thanks for listening.
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Worse than Savages: The Bloody Legacy of Kirk's Raiders
May 200:25:25Tap to summarizeGeorge Washington Kirk was a carpenter from Greene County, Tennessee.He was also a feared and hated Union soldier/bushwhacker during the Civil War, operating in the mountains along the border of North Carolina and Tennessee. Kirk and his band of Unionists known as Kirk's Raiders were hailed as heroes by some and denounced as nothing but savages by others.From the audacious raid on Camp Vance and the brutal Battle of the Bloody Chucky at Red Banks in what’s now Erwin, to his post-war role in the Kirk-Holden War against the Ku Klux Klan, George Kirk’s story is another one of the Stories of Appalachia. If you like our stories, we’d appreciate it if you’d give us a like and a comment; be sure to subscribe, too.Thanks for listening!
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The Long Walk Home: The Harrowing Journey of Mary Draper Ingles
Apr 2500:27:48Tap to summarizeIn 1755, the frontier settlement of Draper’s Meadow was shattered by a brutal Shawnee raid in which many settlers were killed and the survivors captured. Among those taken prisoner was Mary Draper Ingles, a young wife and mother. The group was forced into a grueling march north to a village in the Ohio country. Separated from her children and facing a winter in the wilderness, Mary made a choice that would become one of the greatest survival stories in American history.This week, we tell the story of Mary’s incredible 500-mile journey home. With nothing but a tomahawk, a knife, a blanket and sheer will, she navigated treacherous terrain and escaped starvation to return to her Virginia home in the New River Valley.If you like our stories, be sure to subscribe to the Stories podcast wherever you get your favorite podcasts.Thanks for listening!
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