n the mountains of Virginia.

That Coonrod was of English descent there seems scarcely room for doubt,
and "Pile," or "Pyle" and "Pall Mall" stand as mute testimony. And
"York" too is a component part of old England.

I was never able to learn why the village was given its unique name and
there is no tradition that associates it with the noted street in
London, though even to-day Pall Mall in Fentress county is but a single
road. I asked a white-haired mountaineer how long the place had been
known as Pall Mall. With a memory-reviving shake of his head that ended
in a convinced nod, his answer was, "quite a-whit."

And that is the nearest I ever came to accuracy.

But seeing his reply did not contain the information wanted he looked at
me thoughtfully and said:

"Hit's jes' like 'Old Crow!' Every morning for eighty-two years I ha'
looked up at the rocks o' that mountain 'en they h'aint changed a-bit."

The government records show that Pall Mall was made a post-office on
April 3, 1832.

Old Coonrod was a man of Big Business for his time; one of force of
character who dominated his community and who "sized his man" by
standards that were peculiarly his own.

A man would come to him to buy a "poke" of corn or flour, or for a
favor. To the surprize of the stranger the favor might be over-granted
or the corn given without cost; or, upon the other hand, he would be
bruskly dismissed without the least effort at explanation. Unknown to
the stranger the condition of his "britches" had probably given him his
credit rating with Old Coonrod, for he held that patches upon the front
of trousers, if the seat were whole, were decorations of honor, showing
the man had torn them doing something, going forward. But, if the front
of the trousers were good and the seat of them patched, no dealings of
any nature were to be had with the dictator of the valley, for to Old
Coonrod it meant the man "was like a rabbit; he could not stop without
sitting down."

But the residents of the valley, many of them Methodists, claim this
estimate works a hardship upon members of their faith for a good
Methodist could wear the knees out at prayer and the seat out in
"backsliding."

Old Coonrod's trading with the Indians was a series of successes. He is
known to have had their confidence and friendship, and he was arbitrator
between them and his neighbors whenever disputes arose.

Fentress county lying on the western slope of the Cumberlands was