Search
Recent comments
- Reply to comment | Bob Cox's Yesteryear
6 years 31 weeks ago - Definitely she is an amazing lady
7 years 42 weeks ago - Hacker Martin Mill
7 years 42 weeks ago - Hacker Martin - Cedar Creek Mill
7 years 42 weeks ago - Homer Harris
7 years 44 weeks ago - Boone marker
7 years 45 weeks ago - Thanks
7 years 46 weeks ago - Austin Springs
7 years 46 weeks ago - Blue Horse
7 years 47 weeks ago - Johnson City Power Board
7 years 48 weeks ago
Multitalented Hacker Martin Was Fiddler, Gristmiller and Gunsmith
- warning: Illegal string offset 'files' in /home/bcyester/public_html/modules/upload/upload.module on line 281.
- warning: Declaration of views_plugin_style_default::options(&$options) should be compatible with views_object::options() in /home/bcyester/public_html/sites/all/modules/views/plugins/views_plugin_style_default.inc on line 17.
Hacker Martin (1895-1970) was a legendary former resident of the Gray community with some pretty impressive credentials – old-time fiddler, gristmill owner/operator and expert gunsmith.
Hacker and Maude Martin raised a daughter, Betty, and two sons, Raphael and Donis, the latter being longtime owner of Martin’s Jewelers in downtown Johnson City. Betty Thompson recalled that her father learned to play the fiddle from a mail-order correspondence course. His musical prowess inspired her to use music as a hobby and sing in church choirs over the years.
Mrs. Thompson remembered some of the tunes Hacker and friends played: “Turkey in the Straw,” “Big Rock Candy Mountain,” “Billy Boy,” “Goodbye Liza Jane,” “Red River Valley,” "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane,” “Little Brown Jug,” “Oh Dem Golden Slippers,” “Old Gray Mare,” “Coming ‘Round the Mountain” and “Wait for the Wagon.”
Betty discussed Hacker’s gristmill business: “Dad had such a love for cheap power and waterpower was the least expensive form of energy available. Dad’s first investment was the Cedar Creek Mill that he purchased from Grover and Dolly Campbell in 1940. We were living seven miles west in Pleasant Valley at the time. The old mill was in need of repair so Dad and some of his friends put it in operation again. My brothers and I helped build the dam that supplied water to the big wheel. My dad used the mill for corn and wheat. It had two sets of French burr (or buhr) grinding stones. One set was used for animal feed and the other for human needs. Mom used to say: ‘now Dad, when someone comes in with that good hickory cane corn, save me the toll (small amount of product charged as a fee) out of it.’ It made awfully good cornbread.
"When gas rationing went into effect during World War II, traveling back and forth from the mill each day became a problem. Mom made Dad a bed upstairs in the mill where he stayed 5½ days a week. He bicycled home on Saturday afternoons to help with farm chores and then returned Monday mornings. In 1947, my father built a large cinderblock building beside the mill. It has eyebrow windows with arches above each one. He knew that arches were very strong. In 1951, Mom and Dad moved to Appomattox, VA, where Dad purchased the Stonewall Milling Company, a large mill. He and Raphael later bought the Flourville Mill.”
Mrs. Thompson’s conversation then turned to Hacker’s gunsmith trade: “Dad stored large slabs of curly maple tree stock in the top of the mill. “He first sawed it in the general shape of a rifle using a band saw and then rasped it down. It took several months to make each of his beautifully crafted guns. “The mill’s waterpower allowed him to grind the flats on the barrels. The cinderblock building became used as a shop for his gunsmith work and our family’s apartment.”
Hacker was the embodiment of old-time gunsmiths; his stunning looking muzzle loading rifles and pistols appeared to be 200 years old. Today, they are collectors’ items. “Dad loved to sit around with his friends and tell one tall tale after another,” said Betty. “I loved to listen to them and wish I could remember some of their yarns.”
The Smithsonian Institute recognized Hacker for continuing to make rifles for muzzle loading hobbyists during the depression. Daniel Boone High School further honored him by including him on a mural located in the commons area at the school.
h. martin
No Name (not verified) — Tue, 2011-11-22 17:54I knew Mr Martin at the end of his life in Appomattox Va.He worked with Robert Carr. Robert finished his orders when he passed on. Mr. Carr signed these guns under the barrel.Mr. Martin's tools were sold for scrap ,Including the buffalo head.
Hacker Martin
Betsy Fenik (not verified) — Wed, 2011-09-21 16:10In 1965 Hacker Martin made a gun for me with a Brascher lock. I was 10 years old and my father, grandfather and I used to visit the mill and see the gun being made and listen to Hacker's stories. They are some of my favorite memories and the gun hangs on my wall today.
The Old Mill
bobcox — Wed, 2011-09-21 17:07Great memories. You probably know that the old mill was taken apart board by board at Ceder Creek in Gray, TN and reinstalled at the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, TN. I have not been there in awhile, but the last time I saw it, it was reassembled but not working. I understood it was to be water powered.
Hacker Martin - Cedar Creek Mill
Kate Campbell (not verified) — Tue, 2012-10-23 10:55Do you know when the Cedar Creek Mill was constructed on its current site at the Museum of Appalachia?
Hacker Martin Mill
bobcox — Tue, 2012-10-23 11:39Kate: The old mill was moved to Norris, Tennessee from Cedar Creek at Gray, Tennessee in the summer of 2002. Check out another article I wrote about it on my website at http://www.bcyesteryear.com/node/54 . They were supposed to put water to it and run it, but I do not believe that ever happened. I was there a few times afterward and it was reconstructed but not running. Thanks for your comment.