Collection Title: West Kentucky History and Culture – Land Between the Lakes Series
Series Number: OH048
Interviewee: Hamilton, Thomas, 1896-
Interviewer: David Sullivan
Date interviewed: June 28, 1976
Processed by: Sheree Wise
Date processed: March 10, 2010
Description: 2 sound discs and 1 cassette tape - identical recordings (1 hour, 30 minutes)
Abstract: Thomas Hamilton discusses farming and farm life from 1910 to 1970. He recalls his early experiences as a farmer and discloses methods and equipment used during the first half of the 20th Century. He explains marketing techniques and the agitation that arose over low prices. Hamilton describes social events, transportation and domestic life in the region. He also offers a detailed account of his trips to the cotton and rice fields of Alabama and Mississippi to find work. He is also mentions the Night Riders and the Moonshine industry in the Land Between the Lakes region.
Biographical / Historical note: Thomas Hamilton was born in Marshall County, Kentucky in 1896. He lived in the Land Between the Lakes region on his family farm on the banks of the Tennessee River. He dropped out of school in the fourth grade and spent most of his youth hunting and working on his father's farm. As a young man Hamilton worked as a migrant worker and was employed in other states in the American southeast. He returned to Kentucky and bought a farm at Birmingham where he continued to farm until his retirement.
General information: No user access to original recordings. Use audio user copies, digital derivatives, transcripts, and/or tape indexes. This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code). Permission for reproduction must be requested from Murray State University.
Subject Headings / Descriptors:
Land Between the Lakes (Ky. and Tenn.) – History.
Marshall County (Ky.)
Birmingham (Ky.)
Farm life – Kentucky – History.
Agriculture – Kentucky – Farms and farming.
Night Riders
Distilling, Illicit – Kentucky.
Research Notes: Index and abstract included with oral history.
