University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 8-2005 In the Shadow of Greatness: The Archaeology of Capitalism, Agriculture, and the Informal Economy at Marble Springs, Knox County, Tennessee, 1847-1932 Tanya Alexandra Faberson University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Faberson, Tanya Alexandra, "In the Shadow of Greatness: The Archaeology of Capitalism, Agriculture, and the Informal Economy at Marble Springs, Knox County, Tennessee, 1847-1932. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2005. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/2651 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Tanya Alexandra Faberson entitled "In the Shadow of Greatness: The Archaeology of Capitalism, Agriculture, and the Informal Economy at Marble Springs, Knox County, Tennessee, 1847-1932." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Anthropology. Charles H. Faulkner, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: David G. Anderson, Benita J. Howell, Janis Appier Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Tanya Alexandra Faberson entitled "In the Shadow of Greatness: The Archaeology of Capitalism, Agriculture, and the Informal Economy at Marble Springs, Knox County, Tennessee, 1847-1932." I have examined the final paper copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Anthropology. Charles H. Faulkner, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Accepted for the Council: � \__; Vice Chancellor and Qea of Graduate Studies IN THE SHADOW OF GREATNESS: THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF CAPITALISM, AGRICULTURE, AND THE INFORMAL ECONOMY AT MARBLE SPRINGS, KNOX COUNTY, TENNESSEE, 1847-1932 A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Tanya Alexandra Faberson August 2005 Copyright© 2005 by Tanya Alexandra Faberson All rights reserved. 11 DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to Charles H. Faulkner, mentor and friend, who has taught me that above all, we are anthropologists first ... and to J, for believing in me. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are many people that have inspired and helped me along in this research process. First, I would like to thank my committee, Dr. Charles H. Faulkner, chair, Dr. Benita J. Howell, Dr. David G. Anderson, and Dr. Janis Appier, fortheir support and encouragement during this research and writing endeavor. Thanks as well to Dr. Faye V. Harrison. All of you have inspired me in various ways to be a better anthropologist, archaeologist, scholar, and teacher. I would also like to thank several members of the Knox County community, such as Wayne Byers, Geneva Jennings, and David Blazier, who have shared their childhood memories of their interactions with the Kirbys. Your stories brought the Kirbys to life, and your detailed descriptions of Marble Springs in the late 1920s and early 1930s were invaluable to this research. Many thanks to Jennifer Price for her drawings of structures 3 and 4 based on the oral history testimony provided by Wayne Byers. I need to thank my family and friends for hanging in there with me through all these years. Jenny and Tylar not only let me turn the house upside down while I was researching and writing this dissertation, they also continued to encourage and support me in spite of the mounting books, paper, and other debris. Thanks to Mom, Alan, Kristina, Terry Faulkner, Brooke Hamby, and iv Elijah Ellerbush for their friendship and support over these last few years. Thanks as well to Henry Johnson, whose love of history and archaeology inspired me as a child to go in search of the past as an adult. Finally, I need to thank the Kirbys, who through this process I feel I have come to know like family. Although your lives at Marble Springs have been overshadowed by the legacy of Gov. John Sevier over the last 73 years, your triumphs, dreams, and challenges are no longer hidden behind the "history that counts." v ABSTRACT This archaeological study investigates a 19th_ and early 20th-century farmstead in Knox County, Tennessee. Archaeological investigations at Marble Springs (40KN125) in 2002 and 2003 originally aimed to recover information on the lifeways of John Sevier, the first governor of Tennessee. However, these investigations revealed a dense assemblage of artifacts from the Kirby family who resided on the site after Sevier from 1847 to 1932. Using a combination of archaeological data, oral history testimony, and archival documents, this dissertation focuses on the Kirby occupation of the site. In an attempt to view the changing lifeways of the Kirbys over four generations and 85 years at Marble Springs, four primary avenues of inquiry are addressed: rural capitalism, the agricultural ladder, the intersections of gender, class, and race, and the informal economy. These four areas demonstrate how and why the Kirbys transitioned from small-acreage, self-sufficient farmers in the 19th-century to full-time moonshiners in the 20th-century. Rather than resisting participation in the capitalist economy, the Kirbys resisted dependence on an economic system within which they could no longer flourish. Although direct evidence of moonshining was not discovered at the site, the high frequency of container glass, such as canning and other food jars, gives indirect evidence of these vi activities. Other evidence of the shift from agriculture to moonshining was discovered in the form of purchased food containers, ceramic and glass tableware vessels, and personal and recreational items. The high frequency of these items suggests that although the Kirbys resisted dependency on capitalism, they aspired to social respectability in their community through conspicuous material consumption in hopes of counteracting their reputations for disease, poverty, and illegal liquor production and distribution. Vll TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION .. ... .... ... ... ... ... .. ... ... ... .. .. 1 II. AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE IN SOUTHERN APPALACHIA ........................................... ... 10 Agriculture in Antebellum Southern Appalachia .. .. .... .. .... .. .... .. .. 11 Southern Appalachia and the Civil War ................................. 17 The Gilded Age in Southern Appalachia .................................. 20 The Golden Age of Agriculture ................................................ 23 The Great Depression in Southern Appalachia ............. .............. 26 III. THE KIRBYS AT MARBLE SPRINGS ......................... .............. 32 A Brief History of Agriculture in Knox County ............. .............. 32 Case Study: The Kirby Family at Marble Springs ........................ 42 IV. RURAL CAPITALISM AND THE AGRICULTURAL LADDER ... 81 The Origins of Rural Capitalism in Southern Appalachia ............. 85 Emerging Capitalism in Rural Southern Appalachia, 1810-1880 ..... 90 Capitalism and the Agricultural Ladder: Southern Appalachia fro1n 1880 to 1940 .... .. .. .. ... ... .. ... .. ..... ... .. .. 94 The Archaeology of Rural Capitalism and the Agricultural Ladder ............................................................................ 104 Rural Capitalism and the Agricultural Ladder at Marble Springs ... 109 V. "ALL RIGHTS TO HOME AND SUPPORT": THE INTER­ SECTIONS OF GENDER, CLASS, AND RACE AT MARBLE SPH.INGS .... ....... ................................................................ 115 The Division of Farm Labor and the Ownership of Land ............ 118 Historical Archaeological Investigations of Gender, Class, and Race .............................................................................. 130 The Intersections of Gender, Class, and Race at Marble Springs . 135 VI. HIDDEN IN THE TREES: THE INFORMAL ECONOMY AT M.t\RBLE SPRINGS . .. .. ... .. ... .. ... .. ... ... ... ... .. 144 Everyday Forms of Resistance and the Informal Economy ........... 145 A Brief History of Moonshining . 148 "They Made and Ran Liquor": The Kirbys and the Informal Economy ........................................................................ 160 Material Traces of Moonshining and the Informal Economy . .. 169 V111 VII. MATERIAL LIFE AT MARBLE SPRINGS: ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS ..............,. ............................................... 174 Methodology . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 175 Excavations Prior to Summer 2002. ............ ....... ..... ...... .... .... 179 The Summer 2002 Field Season ............................................ 181 The Summer 2003 Field Season .... .. .. .. .. .. .. .... .. .. .. .. .. .. ...