#John henry railroad story driver

Unfortunately, a fire at the C&O's offices destroyed all the pertinent contractorвЂ™s records and reports. Therefore, it is probable that more than one John Henry work on the tunnel. However, when the information was assimilated the results found that it supported an actual event.ДЄnother reason could be that after the Civil War it was not uncommon for newly freed men to take on the name John Henry. Considering that 50 years had gone by since the contest had taken place, this inconsistency could have been because most of interviewees related events that had been passed down to them though the preceding generations or from stories and songs. The men they interviewed provided testimonies that were at times contradictory.

Chappell published John Henry a Folklore Study. Johnson published John Henry Tracking Down a Negro Legend. Johnson of the University of North Carolina Institute for Research in Social Science, conducted extensive interviews during the mid to late 1920's with many men that had knowledge of the affair. Chappell, an associate professor of English at West Virginia University, and Dr. The story of John Henry the man was developed from the accounts of the men who worked alongside him at the tunnel. John Henry has become a symbol of manвЂ™s determination to overcome natural and man-made obstacles placed in his path and increasing advancements in technology. The many versions of the work songs that are sung show the appeal his story has had for working men and women over the years. These were the men who made up work songs about John Henry's exploits and chanted them in time to the blows of their hammers and picks. So, do the descendants of the men who made up the construction gangs that built railroads and worked on other major construction projects. The residents of Talcott and the surrounding area will disagree with this assumption for they know the true account of the legend. In some stories he is mistakenly thought to be a 'railroad man' and portrayed as a gandy dancer driving spikes into rail ties. It is a common misconception that the story of John Henry is a tall tale for children like those about his fellow American folk heroes Paul Bunyan, Mighty Casey, and Pecos Bill. However, John Henry did work in the Great Bend Tunnel and this has been substantiated by historians. If he then 'laid down his hammer and died' is a point of contention. Most accounts agree that after about an hour he had out driven the steam drill by more than five feet. John Henry challenged it to a contest and the rest is history. When a steam drill showed up at the site, a threat to the workers livelihood became evident. Johnson, he was employed to help bore the Great Bend Tunnel through Big Bend Mountain for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway.

#John henry railroad story driver

John Henry was a steel driver in the employment of Captain William R. The Legend of John Henry was born in the Summers County community known as Talcott.