One day I walked past the new book shelf, as I usually do when I arrive at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City Utah. There was almost a coffee-table book on the shelf…
Under the Lake: Historic Images, Stories and Genealogy of Life Along Caney Fork River before the Center Hill Lake in DeKalb, Putnam, Warren, and White Counties of Tennessee. Written by Carol Denson Williams, Judy Taylor Fuson, and Ria Baker and published in 2016.
What is so special about this volume?
1. The US Army Corps of Engineers built a dam, moved burial plots and sacred sites, created a lake, and provided state parks and recreational areas. They recorded minutely the acquisition of lands before the lake inundated the 18,000 square acre are along the Caney Fork River.
2. The authors describe what happened to the families who lived along the Caney Fork–which flooded with regularity with much loss of life and property. By 1948, all of the homes, farms and people were gone. The story is about the people who lived on lands which are now Under the Lake.
3. The lands are mapped–showing their location, and their ultimate destiny. The people were interviewed and their stories recorded. Pictures of people, schools, churches, homes, family activities–all the things you want to know are presented. Some in full color. All meticulously indexed.
Check the FamilySearch Catalog with its links to WordCAT for the nearest copy to you–and study this great work of genealogy. We need more of these detailed accounts, on the ground, that highlight what you need to know to connect your ancestors to their origins. Your favorite Tennessee genealogist, Arlene Eakle.
PS And don’t by-pass the new book shelf in any library you frequent. You never know when what you need has been written up and published. Just waiting for your attention from the new book shelf.