Part IV - Conclusion
(Continued excerpts from the manuscript of Henry Lee Knott, descendent of the Tribe of Gad.)

Anderson's County's first female baseball team was formed in Gadson Town. Team members were Nannie Cox, Carry Cox, Hattie Calloway, Malinda Gadson, Emma Thomas, Marilda Thomas, Francis Knott, Agnes Knott, Temmie Black, Mary Lee, Amanda Lee, Callie Marshall, Susanna Jones (star home run batter) and Beattie Black (star pitcher).

Mrs. Josie McAdoo was organizer and manager. The best male teams were no match for them, and they drew countywide attention of both black and white residents.

The uniforms were white sailor blouses and navy blue skirts. The skirt length was halfway between ankle and knee, and considered quite daring.

Isaac Gadson was a blacksmith, a tanner and shoemaker. He had a blacksmith shop where tools were made and repaired, and horses shod. He owned a tan vat, where hides were tanned for the community's leather consumption. Most shoes were homemade and repaired.

Abraham Gadson was a carpenter. He was skilled in making buckets, tubs, and measures of all kinds. He specialized in making the "piggin", of solid wood, which was a favorite vessel of housewives. He was also a great squirrel hunter.

John Gadson, a real nimrod, loved the sport of hunting and having good dogs. He was an expert of his day in breeding and training good hound dogs. His favorite hounds were named Brack and Link. He was also a preacher and blacksmith.

At that time, their beasts of burden consisted mostly of oxen. The more fortunate had one mule per family.

The wives were skilled in many things necessary to maintaining a home. They confined their leisure time to quilt piecing, carding, spinning and weaving. The spinning wheel, loom and shuttle were homemade. The cards were store bought. They were sometimes used to comb the children's hair when it became kinky and unruly. All socks, stockings, shawls, scarfs and fascinators were handmade.

There were no stock laws. Cows and hogs roamed at large. Each family had a mark or brand to distinguish their own. The cows were belled and each bell had a different tone to distinguish the herd. Usually the cattle of several families would feed together and be brought home at night for milking. Hogs were not bothered until time to be fattened for pork.

Some food was dried in the summer by placing a scaffold near the house, covered with a sheet and putting the food on the sheet during the hot sunshine hours. Sometimes apples, peaches, plums, and pumpkins were cut in rings and hung on a pole to be dried. The same method was used for tobacco.

Meats were also dried - that which could not be salted, by putting it into a small hut, with a smudge fire which caused lots of smoke. It would sometimes be smoked for several days. Small game was sometimes dried by hanging them in the chimney and using only a little fire on the hearth. This was mostly rabbits, squirrels, raccoons and opossums.

Sauerkraut and pickles were homemade. And every housewife made her own soap. Some people who could not afford the usual fats for soap would gather walnuts and use the kernels for necessary grease. They had patience to spare. They were no matches in the early days. If fire went out at home, we had to borrow fire from a neighbor. Kerosene was rare, candles scarce, illumination was of pine wood for country homes.

Our community was of four parts, or divisions: Chestnut Ridge, Cox Town, Gadson Town and Lonesome Dove.

Chestnut Ridge families were: Abraham Gadson, head family, had three sons - Nelson Thomas, Isaac Staples, Thomas Hord, and daughter Lizzy McBee. Their children called their father and mother Paw and Maw. Bailey Morton's family also was of Chestnut Ridge.

Cox Town: Susan Cox had sons, Isaac, with 12 children; William, 12; Frank, 2 boys; and daughter Nannie Galloway, one girl. The Washington family had 7 children.

Gadson Town: Isaac Gadson, head; Elijah, his son had eight children; James Gadson, 14; Birdjon Gadson, 13; Richard Jones, two; Jack Carmichael, nine. The children called their parents Pa and Mamma. Cox Town and Gadson Town are located in Raccoon Valley.

Lonesome Dove, located on Copper Ridge: John Gadson, head; Turner Gadson, four children, Henry Lee, nine; George Gadson, seven; John Marshall, five; Isaac Gadson, nine; Harriett Cross, six; William Dale, two; Jasper Cross, three. Their children called their father Pap. This is the Gadson Town proper, of the Gadsons who came from Georgia after the civil war.

Historian's note: While Henry L. Knott's manuscript has of necessity been slightly shortened, it is essentially just as originally written. It is considered and interesting and integral part of Anderson County history. It is used through the gracious permission of Cleo Gadson, and honoring the memory of Henry Lee Knott.

There are several families of Gadson descent still living in the area: Teresa Atwater, Fred Dail, Hazel Moore, Jacksons, Wally Wilkerson, Jim Gadson, Viola Brown, Georgia Thomas, Abraham Gadson, Russell Cross and perhaps a few others.

Cleophus (Cleo) Gadson who lives at Powell, was raised to the degree of Master Mason on Feb. 10, 1945. He has been a member of Gadson Chapel Lodge, No.33, F & A M of Powell for 25 years.

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