The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1896-06-05
THE POOR WHITES.
ORIGIN or A DISTINCT GLASS LINING
IN THE SOUTH.


Deseezdzrt of the sold Passenger who
Came 60 J al. Country In the Seventeenth
Century.
The notion that the poor white Gle
ment Of Ire southern Appalachian re-
gion j. identical with the poor people
generally ov,r the country Is an error.
and an error Of enough importance 20
call for correction. Tho poor white Of
the south has some kinfolk in tho Ad-
irundRck region of New York and tho
Blue and Allegheny mountains Of Penn
syivanin, but he has few relatives any
place elsa about the Mason Dixon line.
Tho states of New York and Pennsylva-
mia were slave states until the early
part Of this century.
This poor white mountaineer dcscends
direct from those immigrants who came
over in the early days Of the colonies.
from 1920 TO about or some time after
the Revolutionary war period, as sold
passengers. They sold their services
for timo sufficient TO enable them 20
work out their passage money. They
were sold. articled To masters, IN the
colonies fer their board and fixed wage,
and thls they earned the cost OF their
migration.
The laws under which they were ar
ticled were severe, as severe ns appren-
tice laws in those days. Tho "sold pas
senccr" virtually became the slave Of
the purchaser Of his labor. lie could 10
VIII pped If he did not do the task set
him. and ysoe To the unlucl,y wight il
he ran away. lie was sure TO be caught
and cruelty punished
And though ne was usually a descend
I ant Of the lowest grade Of humanity on
/ the British islands, Re still had enough
Of the Anglo-Saxon spirit about him to
make him IN unsatisfactory chatteL
From 1920 forSard-the year when
the Dutch landed the first cargo Of Afri-
can slaves on the cCntinent-the "sold
passenger was fast replaced by negroes.
who took more naturally aud amiably
TO tho slave life.
The poor white naturally came TO
cherish "a bitter hatred Tor the blacks
that were preferred over him. He al
ready hated his dOmineering white mas
ter When he was free 20 10, he put IS
many miles as his means and his safety
from Indian mur,lerers permitted be-
tween himself and those he hated and
hoped lac might never SEQ again. In
that early time tho mountain region
was not even surveyed. 1t alone owned
by individual prJprietors
Tho English. Scotch. Irish and con
tinental immigrant who had some means
sat down en- the rich valleys, river liot-
toms and rolling savanna.Is, and the
poor white was made wclCoiuc to the
foothills and mountain plateaus.
These descendants Of the British vii
lein ot the fCu,.al era grew and multi
piled, became almost as distinct poo
pie from tie lords OF tire lowlands Is
the Scotch Highlander was, as related q
his lovl-..G uclgh5or. IN the si1tccnth
and s,yrHs'-sih centuries
The str Il the period since the close
of our. civil war has made somewhat in.
distinct Tire line that separates the
mountaine,r from the plaiEsmdn of tins
south. esp. rially in the foothills and n
points whCi, the two have intCrminglcd
in traffic. i'm the schoolhouse and church,
and especially where the poor white.
have been employed at mining. iruu
making etc. But 20 into the mountain,
far enough and you find the types a,
clear cut as It was 100 years ago. with
its inimitable drawling speech and Gu
riOus dialect, its sallOw complexion
lanky frame. lazy habits and immoral
ity-all as distinctly marked as they
were when hundreds OF these peopls
found Cherokee wives in Georgia anC
Tennessee III the early part Of the cen
tury and bleached most of the copper
out of the skin Of the Choctaw As wei
rs out of the Cherokee.
1t is pity that some competent an
thropological historian has not trace
the annals Of this interesting and dis
tinctive section of our population anC
made record of it in the interest Of sci
ence, no loss than in the interest Of tn
proper education and elevation of TN,
, mountain people It has become, esDe
cially in the Piedmont section of tn
south, "A most important labor element
The cotton mill labor by thousand
/ comes from the Cracker Of the Hills.
: and It is destined 20 become "A grca
power. that labor population. social an,
political
/ The redemption of the poor white be
= gan when slavery went down in bloc,
5 and destruction. and it has gone ON fast
er and travelled farther than some Of u
think. k.-Chattanooga Times
Early Mention Of Tobacco.
-.