| Sources |
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 25 Jun 2010.
Just Plain Talk - Hugh Gregg Jr. carries a back pocket of stories
(c)2010 NPT PHOTO BY DAVID POPIEL
Hugh L. Gregg Jr. stands at the crossroads at Filbert and Eighth in front of what used to be the family home during World War II years. The original home was larger and surrounded by tall hedges. The other children living at the home, Jack, Anita, Joan, and Betty Fay are all deceased.
Author: David Popiel
The string of late hot June days broke a few degrees with thunderstorms early Thursday evening in our hometown, moving as surely as muddy run-off rain into the creeks and rivers, as we close in on July.
After many months and several visits I've been able to put together at least some of the story on Hugh L. Gregg Jr. and his Eastport neighborhood. We will be moving back into time starting from today and earlier this year when he was seriously ill. In fact, he has been in and out of hospitals half a dozen times since winter and regrets that he ever smoked a cigarette.
In early spring it was one of the rare days full of sunshine that I finally got to drop-in on Hugh, who lives in the house surrounded by the green chain link fence at 648 East Broadway. It seems he has been there for decades but returned to Cocke County in the early 1980s. He acquired the current home about 1994. Like many of you, his family had to leave the county to make a living but returned as he did after building a career in the military and north. His parents were Hugh Gregg, Sr. who married the former Mary Margaret McCarthy. Her family was Irish and she grew up in New York. Hugh Sr. met her when he was a Marine who physically bumped into her in Brooklyn. Hugh Sr. was a Marine during WW I and served along the Mexican border from 1916-1917. I will relate some more interesting stories about him during this series of columns on Eastport, the Greggs, and neighbors. At times you may believe the stories to be outlandish, but Hugh Jr. swears by them and was an eyewitness to many events.
You may recall that I mentioned that Hugh Jr. and Paul Gregg, retired US Postal worker, are double first cousins. Let's see if I can explain what Hugh said. His grandfather was Jack (John Jackson) Gregg, married to Neena Kendrick, whose family was a major landowner just the other side of the French Broad River leaving Newport. Jack's brother, Andy Gregg, was married to Bessie Kendrick. They were sisters. Now, Andy and Bessie's children were Tom, Beecher and Oscar. Paul's father was Oscar. Jack's children were Hugh Sr., Walter, Bessie Trent, Bertie McGaha, James, Edom, and Ossie. The families were all embedded in the Eastport community growing up with a lot of your family and friends. At that time, East Broadway was "Church Street" and the roads were all gravel. It was the heart of Newport between the industrial powers of Stokely Brothers cannery and A.C. Lawrence Leather Tannery near the Pigeon River.
Hugh Sr. was a self-made shrewd businessman, who as I mentioned in earlier columns, worked with Colonel Charles Rhyne, Sr. They built a line of cabinets, the Hoosier style with flour bins, and sold them for $28.95, said Hugh Jr. The men had a knack for making money. One project was acquiring hundreds of gallons of Dutch Boy paint in the late 1930s. They stockpiled it and, when the war started, paint was almost not available. So, Rhyne lumber Company had plenty of paint to sell and remained a vendor into the 1970s, 1980s. Hugh senior was also a commander of the American Legion Post 41 during WW II and afterwards. His primary work was as an interior designer and paint contractor who employed many people.
Last Thursday, when I talked with Hugh he came out with another interesting story related to the 1940s, when Commander Gregg was helping to raise funds when the Legion allowed the Memorial Building to host various musicians and entertainers. This is a true story and took place at the Gregg's Eighth Street and Filbert home. Cass Walker, of Knoxville grocery store fame, called Hugh to set up a meeting because Cass wanted to bring some of his Nashville friends to sing in Newport. Hugh Boy said he peaked around the corner to see Hugh Sr. greeting Cass, Minnie Pearl, "Hot shot" Elmer and an unidentified young boy, well dressed. Oh, Red Foley was there, too, and Hugh Boy recalled he had holes in the bottom of his shoes and pants. "They were just poor entertainers." When the group drove away, junior asked his Dad who the young boy was. "Why, that's Pat Boone." He was little known then but you know the rest of the story. The Memorial Building housed Friday and Saturday shows attended by hundreds who put up 25 cents admission.
During extended chats with Hugh, I learned many interesting things and other stories/tales or two you will read here that have rarely, if ever, seen print, one being the death at Rattler Cave, and how a lone leg got buried near Hugh Boy's Eighth Street home. Hugh Jr. was a child of the Great Depression born March 23, 1933. The government relief office was housed in a small building where Evan's Home Improvement is located. "You had to guard your coal with a shotgun," he said. The corner of Eighth and Filbert is the crossroads where Hugh Boy, as he was known, grew up barefooted with a slingshot in his back pocket and a cane pole in hand. His school friends included J.M. Poe, Junior Poe, Bobby Ray, Ken Porter, L.S. McKay, just to name a few. You might have been one too, let me know. One humorous story concerns the frequent flooding in the Frog Pond area around and about 7th and 8th streets. During heavy rains, their house floated off its foundation into the road. "We had to use ropes to pull it back on its foundation."
Their stomping grounds extended far beyond Eastport because the boys would wander to the Guy Freshour farm off Edwina and "borrow" horses to ride in the woodland, east of Broadacres and Woodacres. They even journeyed west towards Mineral for secret swims in city water supply tanks.
Hugh was not an only child, as most families had many children. Elizabeth died as a baby when the family was traveling to New York. Anita Fowler was married to Harold, of Cosby; Joan Clark married Bud; Hugh Jr. married Sylvia Thompson, of NY; Jack married Donna Donavtich; Betty Faye married Gene Payne. The Hugh Gregg Sr. family lived in Newport until 1948, when "Daddy moved us to Gastonia," NC after selling all his paint contracting equipment to Alton Johnson. From there the family moved north to Michigan. It was in Detroit at a small restaurant that Hugh Jr. bumped into his future wife, 32 years ago (about 1978). "She's God sent. She saved my life several times since I've been sick." She is a member of Grace Baptist Church. All of the children died in Detroit, and Hugh Jr. was the only one to make it back home. He and Paul are the only survivors of the clan. Hugh Sr. retired in 1959 after falling three stories at the Stroh's brewery where he was painting. They bought a house off Third Street and he lived until about 1978.
Let's go back to junior's life and times now. By 1949 he joined the Army but since he was just 16 he got kicked out. After a short wait he reapplied and was accepted. The next 10 years he built an interesting Army life traveling to Tokyo, Okinawa, Honolulu, and Guam working at Army hospitals. Leaving the Army, he joined General Motors in Detroit as a "stock chaser" at Detroit Diesel. It was a time the giant company was building motors for the Alaska pipeline. Hugh completed 15 years there retiring in 1980.
Hugh and Sylvia have lived a modest but comfortable lifestyle in Newport, but at first they lived in Freshour Hollow and off Baltimore Road. By about 1994, they acquired their current home in Eastport. One change he is glad to see this month as that the old abandoned house next door is being razed. Sylvia has three grown children and the couple has one daughter, Amy, who is married to Rusty Miller. They live at Bybee with their three children: Sarah, Sidney, and Aaron.
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 2 Jul 2010.
Death at Rattlin' Cave...Recollections of witnesses
©2010 NPT PHOTO BY DAVID POPIEL
You may have driven hundreds of times along Filbert near 5th Street and seen this boulder protruding from the ground. Hugh Gregg Jr., 77, said it has been there for as long as he can remember. When he sees it, he remembers a terrible incident among some neighbors and his family members. A fight took place and ended at the boulder, when one man cut the throat of another. Hugh knows the names and what the argument was about but decided it's best to let this bit of history be unprinted. He did say that the victim survived and later left Newport never to return.
Author: David Popiel
Sunshine and slightly cooler temperatures dominated the skies except for a barrage of fireworks in our hometown this weekend, celebrating a launch into the second half of the year.
We left you in Eastport last week wandering around with Hugh L. Gregg. I'll tell you a little more about the family and then start his recollection of the death at Rattler Cave. I did talk to retired judge Kenneth Porter, who will give me his first-hand report as a witness when he was about 12 years old. That's coming up July 11, incidentally the day of a new moon over Newport.
Hugh was not an only child, as most families had many children. Elizabeth died as a baby when the family was traveling to New York. Anita Fowler was married to Harold, of Cosby; Joan Clark married Bud; Hugh Jr. married Sylvia Thompson, of NY; Jack married Donna Donavtich; Betty Faye married Gene Payne. The Hugh Gregg Sr. family lived in Newport until 1948, when "Daddy moved us to Gastonia," NC after selling all his paint contracting equipment to Alton Johnson. From there the family moved north to Michigan. It was in Detroit at a small restaurant that Hugh Jr. bumped into his future wife, 32 years ago (about 1978). "She's God sent. She saved my life several times since I've been sick." She is a member of Grace Baptist Church. All of the children died in Detroit, and Hugh Jr. was the only one to make it back home. He and Paul Gregg are the only survivors of the clan. Hugh Sr. retired in 1959 after falling three stories at the Stroh's brewery where he was painting. They bought a house off Third Street and he lived until about 1978.
Let's go back to junior's life and times now. By 1949 he joined the Army but since he was just 16 he got kicked out. After a short wait he reapplied and was accepted. The next 10 years he built an interesting Army life traveling to Tokyo, Okinawa, Honolulu, and Guam working at Army hospitals. Leaving the Army, he joined General Motors in Detroit as a "stock chaser" at Detroit Diesel. It was a time the giant company was building motors for the Alaska pipeline. Hugh completed 15 years there retiring in 1980.
Hugh and Sylvia have lived a modest and comfortable lifestyle in Newport, but at first they lived in Freshour Hollow and off Baltimore Road. By about 1994, they acquired their current home in Eastport. One change he is glad to see this month is that the old abandoned house next door is being razed. Sylvia has three grown children and the couple has one daughter, Amy, who is married to Rusty Miller. They live at Bybee with their three children: Sarah, Sidney, and Aaron.
During one of several visits this year with Hugh, we talked about the death at Rattler Cave. I am not a cave visitor but each year hear about spelunkers coming to the county to explore some of the many caves we have. A lot of them are not far from the Pigeon or French Broad Rivers. I have heard tales that adventurous young Newportians from years ago discovered a cave network that connects the rivers. Tip Brown has also told me a few stories about the caves. It is said that boys often hid in the caves to play hooky from school. The story Hugh tells is of the death of Billy Gregg, when Hugh was about 13 so I am guessing it was in 1946. Some of Hugh's schoolmates at the time were Bobby Evans, J.M. Poe, Art Fisher Jr. Younger by a few years than Hugh, was Ken Porter, also a friend who was in the circle.
The planned visit to the cave by Billy Gregg, Art Fisher and Ken was known among the boys in the Eastport neighborhood. Hugh told them, "No, I'm going to Guy Freshour's to ride horses." The group of boys would swim across the Pigeon River to the Unaka Farm and seek the riding horses, which they "borrowed" for rides. Bob Ray accompanied them that day, too. After their western or explorer fantasies, the summer ride had to come to an end, and Hugh headed home to Eighth Street about 4 p.m. to get ready for church. The first that Hugh knew something was amiss was when his father located him outside and gave him a smack on the head, after fearing Hugh had disappeared in the caves but he was safe at home. Hugh recalls some commotion from Bert Poe, J.M. and Tom Poe's Dad, that the "Gregg boy" fell in. This early talk must have led to Hugh Sr.'s fears that it was his son who had an accident. Quickly, Hugh Sr. and Bert got into Hugh's 1936 Dodge truck traveling towards Ed Burnett Bridge and Hugh Boy was riding in the truck bed. They were mistaken at first that the accident had happened at the Pigeon River cave. Hugh Boy corrected them and they turned up Edwina Road towards Asheville Highway. Rattler Cave is on land below the city water tower and during the 1940s there was a business called T&S near the railroad tracks just east of the bridge and across the highway from the Col. M.M. Bullard property where he made his home. I have never been to the cave, but perhaps you have. The opening is oval shaped and large and inviting mouth into the bowels of the earth. As word got out about the accident, many men gathered around the cave and nigh began to fall. They cut a large tree to place across the opening for ropes to lower into the cave. Lanterns lighted the night. Hugh guesses there were 75 to 100 people, and remembers there was no Rescue Squad at this time. Hugh has been in the cave and says there is a series of ledges on the way down hundreds of feet to the bottom. Here there are bones of animals that have been so unfortunate to fall in and die.
The rescue was difficult because of the darkness, depth of the cave, and difficulty working the ropes to lower men. "The air was bad and they had to wear masks," said Hugh. Art Fisher Sr. finally brought his "Big Bertha" tow truck, the largest in the county, to help handle the lowering and lifting. After many hours, rescuers found Billy's body on a ledge and brought it out. Hugh said he was within feet of the victim and saw the wounds made to his red-haired friend. "He had rocks embedded in his head and back." Hugh remembered that Billy always wanted to be a Marine, wore a Marine ring. He was six feet tall and lived not far from the Hugh Gregg Sr. family at 7th Street. The victim's stepfather was a gravedigger. Hugh Boy remembers the quiet as the carefully carried Billy's body to the bed of his Dad's Dodge truck and drove into Newport to a funeral home. "There was a tremendous write-up about it in the Plain Talk," he said. I have not looked at the back issues and should do so. You can go to the Stokely Memorial Library and view these on microfilm provided by the Plain Talk for most issues and select issues from WW II era and earlier.
- [S124] Brown Funeral Home, Newport, Tennessee, (http://www.newportfunerals.com), 27 Oct 2012.
(March 23, 1933 - October 27, 2012)
U.S. Veteran Hugh L. Gregg, Jr., age 79, of Newport, passed away Saturday, October 27, 2012 at UT Medical Center. He was a veteran of the Korean War where he was a P.O.W. He was preceded in death by his parents Hue L. Gregg, Sr. and Tootsie Gregg, sisters Elizabeth Gregg, Anita Blake, Joan Gregg Clark, Betty Faye Gregg, brother Jackson Gregg, and grandson Joel Davis. Survivors include his wife of 34 years Sylvia M. Gregg, daughters Amy Marie Miller (Rusty) and Cynthia M. Sams (David), sons Randall J. Davis and Jeffery A. Davis (Sue), 10 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, special cousin Paul Gregg (Kim) along with several neices, nephews, and a host of friends. A memorial service will be held 11:00 a.m., Saturday, November 10, 2012 at Grace Baptist Church.
Brown Funeral Home is honored to serve the Gregg family.
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