Ted Chesnut Reminisces About His Early Days

Ted Chesnut Reminisces About His Early Days Interviewed by Harry Robie Ted Chesnut as a young man [Interviewer's note: Four years ago I at-stage presence, and sense of phrasing. I tended a Palm Sunday service at the Unitedlearned his identity at the end of the service. Methodist Church, a little crossroads south ofYes, Ted Chesnut had sung professionally, Sarasota along Florida's west coast. Thethough not on a fairly regular basis since the soloist who rendered the offertory was a 1920s. He had been a member of one of the gentleman in his late seventies. That factpioneer country-folk song groups in the wasn 't surprising in itself because most of therecord business—the Kentucky Thorobreds. congregation was elderly. What did astonishThe members of this group had all been born me, though, was the singer's vocal quality,on the edge of the Cumberlands in south73 eastern Kentucky, and they had had the distinction of introducing the general public to a number ofAppalachian melodies for the first time. I was to learn more about Ted Chesnut 's career when I read Archie Green's Only a Miner, a scholarly study of music in the coal mining industry, for the Thorobreds had made the recording of the song Green had used for his title. Finally, in the spring of 1986, I had an opportunity to visit Ted Chesnut in his Sarasota home. He was gracious enough to spend most of the afternoon talking to me and showing me passages from the memoirs he had composed some years before. To those readers who go on to Professor Green's book after reading this article, I should note something here: Mr. Chesnut does not spell his name "Chestnut, " the spelling which appears in Only a Miner. The confusion has come about because different branches ofthefamily spell the name in different ways. What follows are Mr. Chesnut's own words—either from his memoirs or from the transcript of our tape-recorded conversation. I have rearranged his remarks and condensed material, but I have not added words of my own. When I have had to insert my own expressions for the sake of continuity, I have tried, through the use of brackets, to indicate as such.] that he could bring on pack horses. There were no wagon roads through the forests. The story goes that he built a log church and appointed himself as pastor. He used to preach for two hours and dare anyone to leave before the final amen. He fought the Devil all day Sunday and during the week he fought with his neighbors, with the Indians, or with anyone who was willing to fight. He earned the nickname of "Devil Ben." He was some kind of Baptist. Mother's grandfather, Thomas Waggoner, fought with Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans. Some folks say he [also] fought with anybody who was willing to fight— couldn't get along with anybody, I guess. Great Grandad's favorite [song] was "The Hunters of Kentucky." Many years ago I heard a man sing the same song on the Saturday night National Barn Dance on WLS radio station in Chicago. I can only recall two verses now. It went like this: Old Packenham he made his brags; He must have felt quite lucky. He'd have our gals and cotton bags In spite of Old Kentucky. And there we lay, our little force. None wished it to be greater. For every man was half a horse And half an alligator. I was born in London, Kentucky, December third, 1907. My father was the Reverend Charles Faris Chesnut, an old fashioned Methodist preacher. My mother's maiden name was Mahala Waggoner. She was the daughter of a Confederate soldier. Notice the spelling of the name—not the German "Wagner" but the old English "Waggoner," a wagon driver. The Chesnut tribe has been in America since before it was America. They fought with Washington, [and] with Lee and Grant. I have heard a story from some of the old-timers that the first Chesnut in Kentucky came over Cumberland Gap not long after Daniel Boone. They say he had all his worldly goods...