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The Senator from Slaughter County
Harry M. Caudill's explosive novel tells the story of Appalachia's shrewdest, most powerful political boss, Dr. Tom Bonhom. Educated well beyond his fellow mountaineers, Doc Bonhom started out as a well-paid coal company doctor. He ran for office only once-as a reform candidate-and lost. His defeat turned him to gathering political power from the influential rich instead of from the voters and he built a political machine that controlled Slaughter County for over three decades. He brought jobs, schools, roads, and millions of state and federal dollars into his county. At the same time, he unwittingly brought his people to complete dependency on government aid and unthinkingly encouraged the destruction of the countryside through strip mining. His critics claimed that Doc Bonham was an opportunist who rose as his community sank. Yet through it all, he remained as American as apple pie, and when the governor appointed him to fill an unexpired term in the U.S. Senate, he went there a hero. This book contains some adult language and may not be suitable for younger readers.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
16 people want to read
About the author
Harry M. Caudill
26 books13 followersCaudill served in World War II as a private in the U.S. Army and was elected three times as to the Kentucky State House of Representatives. He taught in the History Department at the University of Kentucky from 1976 to 1984.
A common theme explored in many of Caudill's writings is the historic underdevelopment of the Appalachian region (particularly his own home area of southeastern Kentucky). In several of his books (most prominently Night Comes to the Cumberlands, 1962) and many of his published articles, he probes the historical poverty of the region, which he attributes in large part to the rapacious policies of the coal mining industries active in the region, as well as their backers: bankers of the northeastern United States. He notes that such interests most often had their headquarters not in Appalachia but in the Northeast or Midwest, and thus failed to properly reinvest their sizable profits in the Appalachian region. Following publication of Night Comes to the Cumberlands, President John F. Kennedy appointed a commission to investigate conditions in the region and subsequently more than $15 billion in aid was invested in the region over twenty-five years.
In his later years he became an active opponent of the rapidly growing practice of strip mining as practiced by companies working in Appalachia, which he believed was causing irreparable harm to the land and its people. He published articles in many magazines in addition to speaking out about the subject. Caudill pointed out that strip mining could be done responsibly as in England, Germany, and Czechoslovakia where topsoil, subsoil, and rocks are removed separately and placed back in layers in their original order.
Caudill became interested in the work of William Shockley, a scientist with controversial eugenicist stances at Stanford University in California. Caudill came to believe in Shockley's theory of "dysgenics," the argument that unintelligent people weaken the genes of a "race" over time. He felt that "genetic decline" in Eastern Kentucky contributed to issues of poverty. "The slobs continue to multiply," Caudill wrote in a 1975 letter to Time magazine. The editors of Time rejected Caudill's letter.
He also produced several volumes of folklore and oral history, which he collected himself from residents of the area centering on Letcher County and Harlan County, Kentucky. One of those oral history interviews in 1941 of a man who would have been about 90 years old, was the basis for the 1995 movie, Pharaoh's Army, starring Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson, and Kris Kristofferson.
Caudill killed himself with a gunshot to the head in 1990, faced with an advancing case of Parkinson's disease.[1] He is buried in Battle Grove Cemetery, Cynthiana, Kentucky.
A common theme explored in many of Caudill's writings is the historic underdevelopment of the Appalachian region (particularly his own home area of southeastern Kentucky). In several of his books (most prominently Night Comes to the Cumberlands, 1962) and many of his published articles, he probes the historical poverty of the region, which he attributes in large part to the rapacious policies of the coal mining industries active in the region, as well as their backers: bankers of the northeastern United States. He notes that such interests most often had their headquarters not in Appalachia but in the Northeast or Midwest, and thus failed to properly reinvest their sizable profits in the Appalachian region. Following publication of Night Comes to the Cumberlands, President John F. Kennedy appointed a commission to investigate conditions in the region and subsequently more than $15 billion in aid was invested in the region over twenty-five years.
In his later years he became an active opponent of the rapidly growing practice of strip mining as practiced by companies working in Appalachia, which he believed was causing irreparable harm to the land and its people. He published articles in many magazines in addition to speaking out about the subject. Caudill pointed out that strip mining could be done responsibly as in England, Germany, and Czechoslovakia where topsoil, subsoil, and rocks are removed separately and placed back in layers in their original order.
Caudill became interested in the work of William Shockley, a scientist with controversial eugenicist stances at Stanford University in California. Caudill came to believe in Shockley's theory of "dysgenics," the argument that unintelligent people weaken the genes of a "race" over time. He felt that "genetic decline" in Eastern Kentucky contributed to issues of poverty. "The slobs continue to multiply," Caudill wrote in a 1975 letter to Time magazine. The editors of Time rejected Caudill's letter.
He also produced several volumes of folklore and oral history, which he collected himself from residents of the area centering on Letcher County and Harlan County, Kentucky. One of those oral history interviews in 1941 of a man who would have been about 90 years old, was the basis for the 1995 movie, Pharaoh's Army, starring Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson, and Kris Kristofferson.
Caudill killed himself with a gunshot to the head in 1990, faced with an advancing case of Parkinson's disease.[1] He is buried in Battle Grove Cemetery, Cynthiana, Kentucky.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 19, 2020
Slow read but does shed some light on politics and history back in the good ol'days
January 28, 2021
I have a friend who went to KY during summers in college, many years ago, to work on the Christian Appalachian Project as a nurse in training. After visiting her in KY, again, years back, I went into a binge reading stretch of reading everything I could find about KY.
Just recently, I read The Giver of Stars, which peaked my interest again. I decided to go back to Henry Caudill who wrote Night Comes to the Cumberland. This was mandatory reading for all who worked on the project. My friend recommended it to me, and it became my first book about KY.
This book gives background to the beginning history of the mountain people settling KY. It also involves the clan rivalries and how they fed into the politics of developing Cumberland area. I find it fascinating.
Other books like Hillbilly Elegy, take place in KY and describe the migration and return of residents known to the author. Many went to Ohio, some returned to KY, despite the closing of the coal mines, leaving many on unemployment followed by Welfare, and little hope for the future.
I have found it so interesting to read about this area, learning the history, sociology, and current state of the people there. I am encouraged to learn about a program to train coal miners who are out of work to be able to assemble windmills to generate power instead of coal. Now that’s a step in the right direction!
Just recently, I read The Giver of Stars, which peaked my interest again. I decided to go back to Henry Caudill who wrote Night Comes to the Cumberland. This was mandatory reading for all who worked on the project. My friend recommended it to me, and it became my first book about KY.
This book gives background to the beginning history of the mountain people settling KY. It also involves the clan rivalries and how they fed into the politics of developing Cumberland area. I find it fascinating.
Other books like Hillbilly Elegy, take place in KY and describe the migration and return of residents known to the author. Many went to Ohio, some returned to KY, despite the closing of the coal mines, leaving many on unemployment followed by Welfare, and little hope for the future.
I have found it so interesting to read about this area, learning the history, sociology, and current state of the people there. I am encouraged to learn about a program to train coal miners who are out of work to be able to assemble windmills to generate power instead of coal. Now that’s a step in the right direction!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews