Evening star., 1941-03-17
Refugee Tennesseans
Find Hearts CIinging
TOT. A. Land
Some ResentfuI, Others
Philosophical About
Shift From Valley
BY the Associated Press.

BIG RIDGE VALLEY, Tenn,
March l7.-If it weren't for memo
ries, the people who were forced
from their beloved Clinch River VAL
ley by the rising waters of the T. V.
AS Norris Lake perhaps, could find
complete happiness in their new
homes.
But the nostalgia longing for old
friends and familiar scenes has Gre
ated major problem in the reset
tlement of families who lived in the
first river basin to be developed by
the Authority in its vast program of
regional planning.
Most of the families have moved
to better farms. Their economic
situation is Sounder and social con-
ditions have improved with the
coming of electricity and modern
convenienceS.
And yet there is no real content
ment because of the nagging memo
ries, continuing five years after they
left the land which their forefatherS
cleared from the wilderness.
Old-Timers Pay.
For the oldsters, it was terrific
emotional wrench to be torn from
their homes. They are the ones who
have suffered. The younger ones
had no strong ties and for them the
move didn't matter great deal.
Some are still bitterly resentful,
but most of them have accepted the
change philosophically and while the
sentimental pull is strong, they real
ize their condition is better and that
there is a brighter future ahead for
their children.
The Authority, it is generally
agreed. usually paid generous prices
for the land. Whenever possible it /
tried to reach a settlement with the
land owner by negotiation. When
this method failed, the agency
turned to the courts for condemna-
ton.
Technically, the T. V. A. was
clear of responsibility for the valley
inhabitants after they we're paid
for their lands, but the Authority, |
in cooperation with the University
of Tennessee, helped the people re-
locate in their new homes and to
become adjusted to strange en-
vironments. Most of the families
moved to nearby counties. Some
scattered into Kentucky, Indiana,
Illinois and Ohio.
Some Meet Annually.
The valley people have formed
an organization and each year they
meet near the lake covering their
old homes to renew acquaintance.
Occasionally, a few meet in the
general store here to talk with C. R.
Stooksbury. who operated a store
IN the basin. The storekeeper is
wise little man with a keen in
sight into the lives of his customers.
I'VE of the old generation will
never get used to the change" he
unused. Did you ever see a hog
turned out from a muddy pen to
high, dry, clean ground? He'll go
back to the old muddy pen every
time if he can. We're something
like that.
Mind you, I'm not criticizine
T. V. A. They paid us well for our
land. I think it's a fine thing and
doing good for the people. I'm for
1t and always have been. I've got !
electric lights now and an electric |
refrigerator, an electric ice cream
freezer and a washing machine and
lots OF conveniences I never had
before.
Still, I can't say I like the new
place better than the DID,"
But while Stooksbury was able /
to accept the change with philosphic
resignation, there was bitterness in
the voice of patriarchal Ras Linde-
mood, as he sat before an open
fire in his little cabin in the brushy
valley. He had received about Sill
900 for his 40O-acre farm in the
Clinch Valley.
Complains of Land.
u wouldn't have sold it for $50
000," he said. 81 can't raise any |
crops in this country. It's too
hilly."
"On my old place I could raise |
300 bushel of wheat or oats and |
300 bushel of 'taters, but I can't
do it here. The lands poor and
mostly hillsides."
Another farmer who remained |
unreconciled to the changes in the
valley was White-haired Mamie |
Miller, who threatened for time
to take his clan to Brazil and |
start colony as many Southerners
did after the Civil War.
Mamie had many a wrangle with !
the T. V. AS agents and one
centered about the removal of the
Miller family cemetery. Mamie /
suggested that the T. V. A. leave
the graves untouched but attach
buoys to the gravestones to mark |
the cemetery on the waters sur
face The T. V. A. vetoed the
suggestion.
Finally, Miller removed his family
to Middle Tennessee
Contacts Kept.
The University Of Tennessee has
kept in touch with the Clinch VAL
ley refugees through its relocation
department, supervised by Pat Kerr,
a genial East Tennessean who was
familiar with the valley. 1t has
helped relocate 226O farm owners
and 1898 tenants who lived in .
Anderson, Campbell Claiborne,
Granger and Union Counties. This .
alone was big task, as 17,765 peo-
pie, or 249 per cent of the valley |
populate were affected by T. V. |
A. land purchases
Most of the farmers had to |
change their farming practices.
The soil, in 88 per cent of the cases,
was different from the Clinch VAL
ley soil.