For those who like, want to discuss, or want to learn to play traditional Ozark fiddle music.

59 Members, Created 1/27/2011 -

Administrators: M-D (owner) , canadianfiddler , fiddlemily

Ozark History: One Man's Life, and His Tunes

From M-D on 6/27/2011 11:53:17 AM

William A. Younger left his home at Buck-Horn, in what is now Stone County, Arkansas, in June of 1861, to join the 7th Regiment, Co. G, Arkansas Infantry, at Smithfield, Arkansas. Its members were drawn from the counties of White, Marion, Izard, Randolph, Fulton, Lawrence, Independence, and Arkansas. During the Battle of Shiloh, General Hardee nicknamed this unit "The Bloody Seventh." After participating in the Kentucky Campaign, it was brigaded under Generals Liddell and Govan, Army of Tennessee. In December, 1862, it was consolidated with the 6th Arkansas Infantry. This regiment served on many battlefields of the army from Murfreesboro to Atlanta, fought with Hood in Tennessee, and was active at Bentonville. It was formed with 905 officers and men, but after the conflict at Shiloh there were only 380 present. The 6th/7th lost 29 killed and 140 wounded at Murfreesboro, had 16 disabled at Ringgold Gap, totalled 314 men and 265 arms in December, 1863, and sustained 66 casualties at the Battle of Atlanta. Only a remnant surrendered on April 26, 1865. The field officers were Colonels D. A. Gillespie and Robert G. Shaver; Lieutenant Colonels W. R. Cain, John M. Dean, James Rutherford, and Peter Snyder; and Majors John A. Hill, James T. Martin, and John C. McCauley.

Shaver’s 7th Regiment also fought at Tunnel Hill, Tennessee, at Chickamauga, Liberty Gap, and Perryville.

Shiloh, Tennessee - 6 April 1862
Murfreesboro, Tennessee - 13 July 1862
Perryville, Kentucky - 8 October 1862
Chickamauga, Tennessee - 19 September 1863
Liberty Gap, Tennessee - 19 September 1863
Tunnel Hill, Tennesse - 24 November 1863
Ringold Gap, NW Georgia - 27 November 1863
Atlanta, Georgia - 22 July 1864
Bentonville, North Carolina - 19 March 1865   
Armistice signed between Sherman and Johnston - 18 April 1865
Formal surrender of Johnston to Sherman - 26 April 1865

William had enlisted as a private, and mustered out as a sergeant. In the five years since his enlistment, William had been shot/wounded seven times. At the formal surrender, the Confederate troops were mustered out, and sent home, with only their rifles, mess kit, and the clothes on their back. It surely took several months for William to have walked back to Arkansas, but he and a brother, who had been serving in Texas, arrived home the same day. When William left Arkansas, his wife was pregnant, and upon arriving home he was greeted by a child whom he'd yet to know, who informed her mother, "Mama, there's a strange man out there by the gate!"


Of all the fiddle tunes that William brought back, only three remain remembered, and these are known by only two people now, though Mason's March could be known by others due to its inclusion in the 3-volume series "Traditional Fiddle Music of the Ozarks", as well as the book "Ozarks Fiddle Music". There is a Mason's Waltz, also, but it has not yet been remembered in its entirety.

Smokey Mountain Shuffle
Black Mountain Break-Down (the precursor to Black Mtn. Rag, and known as The Lost Child in North Carolina)
Mason’s March

5 Comments
	Cyndy says: 6/27/2011 12:11:36 PM Just listened to Mason's March. I'm familiar with the tune from the CDs but I didn't know its name and didn't know anything about the man behind it. How can I listen to the other tunes you mention? Are they recorded?
	M-D says: 6/27/2011 12:54:22 PM Cynthia, I have recordings of both tunes, with Os Scholes playing BMB, and Sam Younger playing SMS, though SMS has not been digitised. I'm still trying to find a recording of Sam playing BMB when he was younger, and may have one, but all the reel-to-reel tapes have not been digitised. I'll see if I can post BMB to my home-page, then link it here.
	M-D says: 6/27/2011 1:16:03 PM Well, I dont know how to get it linked on this page, but it's posted here: fiddlehangout.com/myhangout/mu...asp?id=10
	Cyndy says: 6/27/2011 1:21:21 PM Thank you!
	M-D says: 6/27/2011 1:23:11 PM And, thank you for linking it! :o)
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