I have a story that I would like to share.   You will be as intrigued as I am.  I am telling this story as it was told to me.

Sunday, May 17, 2009 was an exciting day for me at the Five Points Museum in Cleveland, TN.  This was the second premiere screening of my documentary, aptly titled “Tragedy in Tin Can Holler” like my book.   It was a beautiful sunny day, but colder than expected and I wasn’t sure if we would have a good turnout.  To my surprise, hundreds of people packed the museum with anticipation and shared their own personal stories with me regarding domestic violence, many of whom had also lost loved ones and family members.

After the premiere, I was approached by an eighty-three year old gentleman who was very kind and humble.  He introduced himself as Colonel Claude T. Wallace and graciously asked for a few moments of my time to speak with me privately after my book signing event, because he had something very important to tell me.  He had sparked my interest and I was anxious to hear what this stranger had to say. 

Mr. Wallace, whom was given the title of Colonel by the governor of Kentucky several decades past, quickly had my attention and proved to me it was a deserving title to be bestowed upon him as he began to speak.  He proceeded to tell me his life story and explained that there was a connection between us.  I felt very peaceful and calm in his presence as he spoke to me and I listened intently to every word.  His life and his credentials are long and lengthy and I will only elaborate on a few.  He was born in 1926 to Tom and Lizzie Wallace in Athens, TN and was partially raised in Tin Can Holler.  He attended Forrest Hills Elementary School and graduated from North Athens High School.  He showed me a map that he had drawn of Tin Can Holler with little boxes along the streets, which represented the families, where he penciled in their names.  He told me he was touched by my story because he remembered all those families and the hardships that they all endured during that time period.   Mr. Wallace is a faithful Christian and a licensed Baptist minister. He enlisted in the Navy in 1943 at sixteen years of age and spent a tour of duty on a LST600 naval ship (landing ship tanks) and received a purple heart for his bravery.  He is also a writer, poet, realtor/broker, and was an auctioneer until he retired in 2006.  I felt honored to be in his presence and had no doubts about his integrity.

Mr. Wallace proceeded to tell me about an incident during his childhood days in Tin Can Holler.  Times were very hard back then and even children would think of ways to make money to help their families or put spending money in their own pockets so they could go to the local picture shows on weekends.  At the age of ten, he and his childhood buddies decided to pick blackberries and sell them.  They knew a man by the name of Kilgrin Morris, who told them about the blackberries he had seen on Brickel Ridge in Meigs County, so they begged him to take them to this location so they could pick gallons of blackberries and sell them to their neighbors in Athens.  After much persuasion Mr. Morris decided to drive the boys to Meigs County.  When they arrived at the location, Mr. Morris told them he would come back in the afternoon to pick them up and drive them back to Tin Can Holler.  He also sternly warned all the boys to stay away from one side of Brickel Ridge, as he pointed up to the direction he was talking about.  He warned them about a deep hole in the area that was not safe.  He said, “If the old man and that woman catch you, you’ll be in trouble!”

As soon as Mr. Morris pulled away in his old pickup truck and his tailgate was out of sight, Mr. Wallace and his buddies headed straight for the ridge that they had just been warned to stay away from.  As mischievous ten year old boys, they were no exception and disobeyed the warning.  They each were curious about that deep hole!  As they came upon a wooded area they immediately became frightened, because there were bones everywhere.  The ground was covered in bones!  They had no idea what kind of bones they were, so they nicknamed the spot, “Elephants Burial Ground”.  They stuck together very closely as they walked and walked, stepping over and around all the bones.  A short distance away they saw the deep hole.  Because of all the trees it was dark and spooky.  There was dead silence all around them except for the wind blowing through the tops of the pine trees.  Honeysuckle vines and ivy surrounded the deep hole.  They carefully approached the hole with fear of falling into it, but they wanted to look at it. Because it was pitch black dark in the hole and they could not see the bottom, they threw  big rocks into it.  They could not hear the rocks hit the bottom.  They nicknamed this location, “Devil’s Hideout”.  After a fruitless effort to see or hear the rocks hit the bottom they remembered the warning about the old man and woman (my great-grandfather, Tyre Houston Sims and my grandmother, Grace Sims)  and ran back down the ridge to pick blackberries. 

Mr. Wallace told me they never mentioned what they had seen to Mr. Morris as they knew he would be angry.  He also stated that they never went back to that part of Brickel Ridge. He recalled this childhood experience while reading my story and felt it was pertinent to share it with me as it relates to violent incidents in my story!  The sad thing is he does not remember the exact location because he was ten years old at the time, but feels that it was definitely close to the McMinn County line. 

I am very grateful to Mr. Wallace for coming forward with his story. His childhood memories of the deep hole, confirms that it did exist and must still be hidden among the trees on undeveloped land.  He gave me permission to use his story on my website in hope that others will come forward to help me locate the deep hole that has been hidden for probably centuries on Brickel Ridge.  For those who have not read my story, that deep hole contains more than you could possibly imagine! The mystery and the silence of all the lost souls that wander that area will someday come to light, but not until the person or persons, who may know of its exact location, comes forward and notifies the local authorities in Meigs County, TN.  

“A Tribute to a loving caring woman who really loved her children”

ELIZA MAE MOWERY

By Colonel Claude Wallace

Once there lived upon this earth,

A beautiful girl, poor from birth.

She had so much love, and so willing to give

She never asked for much in return, only to live.

Eliza Mae Robinson was her name.

She never ever, sought fortune or fame.

She just loved to play her guitar and sing.

But as a talented young lady, she could anything,

When she was a young lady, about fifteen,

She met this handsome man, but he was so mean.

She would sing, and pick it on her guitar “The Wildwood Flower”.

He would laugh and enjoy it, his name was Seig Mowery

In 1939 fate dealt her a terrible hand.

At a skating rink in Athens, she met this soldier man,

But he took advantage of this young girl, with a six pack of beer.

She wasn’t used to drinking, so she wasn’t thinking clear.

She later married Seig Mowery, they had six children.

She loved them all, looked after them like a mother hen.

Oh, the love for her children, this woman had,

But they had such an unloving and sorry dad.

He came home drunk, slapped her face and pulled her hair.

Knocked her down and let her lay there.

Go and get more moonshine was his lot.

If he ever loved her, he sure had forgot.

He dragged her to the car by the hair on her head.

Threw her in the back seat, and to get more moonshine he fled.

He came back from getting more moonshine

Got the car stuck in a ditch, but he didn’t mind.

He told Eliza not to move, he wasn’t going far,

But as he stumbled away, she slipped out of the car.

She crawled to a friend’s house, only to get help was on her mind,

But the friend didn’t help her, neither was he kind.

Seig came back like a roaring lion,

Beating and hurting her was all that was on his mind.

He threw her out of the house and onto the ground

And jumped up on her in a single bound.

Seig stomped and kicked as she law screaming and crying.

Her friends looked the other way, they knew she was dying.

After Seig had stomped and kicked her, till she was dead,

He then went home called the law and went to bed.

Her screaming and crying or so they say

Can still be heard in “Tin Can Holler” today.

A more loving mother there will never be