Part 8: Things Boys Got In Trouble For in the Early 1900s
I found this list of habits and offenses that could categorize a kid as a delinquent back in the 1920s. The list was in a pamphlet at the...
Part Seven: Riley's Cowboy Act (& Fact-Checking)
As a kid, I called my father "Riley." I was allowed to call my parents by their first names, or Mom and Dad. Sometimes in this blog,...
Part Six: "I Often Wonder What Went Wrong..."
Years later, when my father died in 2009, I was contacted by Dave Sichak, who wanted to write up an obituary for a Hillbilly music website.
Part Three: Riley Shepard's Early Years & His Maternal Grandmother, Martha Tindal
The Primitive Baptists were somewhat like the people in the "Footloose" movie. No dancing, musical instruments, or music for entertainment.
Part One: Was My Father a Crook? Riley Shepard's History in North Carolina
I could tell the man was elderly, and there was something in the tone of his voice that overwhelmed me with dread.