I have often been amazed with the Appalachian people, and the stories they tell. I always wanted to visit the people that have very little education, seldom see a doctor, and perhaps never a dentist. I have gone to visit my daughter near Atlanta and have traveled l-65 to Nashville, l-24 to Chattanooga, then l-85 to Atlanta.
When I see the hills, I wish I could go and visit the people there. Of course you can’t see any life from the interstate, but there has got to be people there. The Appalachian Mountains cover parts of 12 states from New York to Georgia. Now for Ruby’s story.
Ruby’s story began in the early 1900s, where she lived at Cave Cove, near Townsend, at the gateway of the Smoky’s. She lived with her mama, as her daddy had passed away at the close of the century. They kept up the house as best they could, and raised nearly all of their food. But she needed a job and Jerry Miller the owner of the General Store offered her a job to keep the place clean.
Ruby was ecstatic and enjoyed the job. One day a drifter came through, and spoke to Ruby on the way out. She was instantly amazed by him. The drifter showed up at church, the next Sunday. He had gotten a job on a farm and kind of stuck around. He started coming around to see Ruby. Now don’t get ahead of me, but they soon became an item.
One day they discovered that Ruby was with child. The drifter was ecstatic, and her mother was happy but worried that they were not married. Mama wanted Ruby to rest but there was just too much to be done, and Ruby did what she could. Later on Ruby finally took it easy. Bradley did his best to help around the place. A couple of weeks later he told Ruby he was ready to pop the question, and set a date. Ruby was beyond happy that Bradley would ask her to marry him.
One day as Ruby and her mother were sitting on the front porch, the time came for Bradley to come home, but he did not show up. They didn’t think a great deal of it because he sometimes worked late, so they waited. Evening came and still no Bradley. Her mother told her not to stress because of the baby. Sunrise came and still no Bradley. Ruby asked her mother to hitch up the wagon and take her to town.
No one had seen Bradley, and he hadn’t shown up for work. They had no choice but to go back home. In the next few days a man came to their house, and said that Bradley had owed him a significant amount of money. Apparently Bradley had been a gambler. Soon a new problem arose, as Ruby started hemorrhaging. Her mama took her to the doctor. She lost the baby.
Her mama could tell Ruby was stressed, and one day she completely passed out, and back to the doctor they went. The doctor put her to bed and watched her constantly. She was in a coma for four days before she saw her mama. But her mama thought Ruby looked vexed. She had a strange look in her eyes. Her daughter seemed different. When they were home her daughter was no longer sad, all of her worries had vanished.
On Sunday Ruby was the first one to church, and stood up to testify which was completely out of character. She asked the minister to be baptized, and was baptized on a beautiful spring day. One day her mama sat her down, and asked her what made the change. She told her mama that she had never really been happy even when Bradley was around. She had always wanted to be a mama.
She said during the time that she was unconscious her body had left the land of the living, and had entered the spirit land. She had sat down and talked to a young man. She had seen heaven and it took away all of her worry. “Who was the man?” “It was my son!”
—James Neuhouser
