Dewey Slaven

Dewey Slaven (1886-1960) was the last settler of No Business Creek. He died in 1960, shortly after leaving his No Business home to seek medical care in Stearns, Ky. His great-grandfather was the first settler of No Business, and Dewey Slaven’s death marked the end of the No Business settlement.

Biography

Born Jan. 25, 1885, Dewey Slaven was the son of Nimrod Slaven and Mildred Elizabeth “Millie” Roysden. He was one of at least 10 children. His siblings included Louisa Slaven Blevins, John Calvin Slaven, Mary Slaven Blevins, Dillie Slaven Kidd, Frona Slaven, James Harvey Slaven, Reason Slaven, Roscoe Slaven and Poppie Slaven Sweet.

Dewey and his sister, Frona, never married. They lived together in their parents’ former home, which was located on No Business Creek approximately half a mile below Longfield Branch.

Dewey’s paternal grandparents were Elisha Slaven and Mary “Polly” Sweet. His great-grandfather was Richard Harve Slaven, who is credited with being the first permanent settler of the No Business Creek valley.

Life and times

The historian H. Clay Smith wrote in Dusty Bits of the Forgotten Past:

“As to Dewey, himself, and his sister, they never budged from home until the last six months of his life, when he went to Stearns, Kentucky, for medical treatment, dying there while under the doctor’s care.

“Neither he or his sister was ever married and it is said that they could live from one year to the next without the help of anyone. They lived in the house where their father had been born and where they grew everything they ate, except salt, coffee and flour. He came to Oneida only about twice a year and then, mostly, to get sweet tobacco and the news, as he called it. They had no radio, television or any form of communication with the outside other than those who might go there on fishing or hunting business.

“If you should have drifted by their house, you would have found no people more friendly or hospitable than these two; whether you were relative, friend or stranger, you were welcome to their well rounded meal, as it is called, and to as many meals and nights’ lodging as you desired; and without charge.”

Rise and fall of No Business

Dewey Slaven’s great-grandfather, Richard Harve Slaven, is believed to have been the first settler of No Business Creek when he moved there sometime in the early 1800s. Many Slavens lived at No Business, and the settlement grew to become a full-fledged community. As many as 200 people lived up and down the creek at its peak, and there was a general store, post office, school, church, and several grist mills. The community even had a boarding house and its own baseball team.

By the World War II era, the populations of the remote Big South Fork River settlements were in decline. That decline accelerated as young men who lived in those isolated settlements went off to World War II and discovered for the first time a world that existed beyond the Big South Fork.

Scott County Court kept a voting precinct open at No Business out of respect for Dewey Slaven. However, it closed upon his death, and he was the last resident of the settlement. Many of the old buildings had either been torn down or were in decline by that point. The rest have since disappeared, and most remnants of the old settlement have faded from the landscape.

As of 2025, the Dewey Slaven homeplace represents one of the most visible signs of settlement in this remote creek valley. The base of his chimney remains in a partial clearing by the old No Business Road, and non-native flowers still bloom around what was once his home.

Death

Dewey Slaven fell ill in 1960 and died on Dec. 16, 1960 in Stearns, Ky. He was buried at Terry Cemetery on the ridge above his home.