Lora Blevins

Rev. Lora Elzick Blevins (March 25, 1896 – August 7, 1983) was a Baptist minister who owned the Lora Blevins Farm in the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area near Bandy Creek.

See Also: Noteworthy Settlers of the Big South Fork Region

Early Life

Born March 25, 1896, Lora Blevins was the son of Shadrack “Shade” Blevins (1864-1956) and Polly Ann Crabtree (1874-1953).

Shade Blevins was the son of Armstead Blevins and grandson of Jonathan Blevins, two notable early settlers in the Station Camp and Parch Corn Creek areas of the Big South Fork. Polly was the daughter of Russell Crabtree and Ann Slaven. They were married August 3, 1896.

Lora was the oldest of 11 children. His siblings included Obidiah “Oby” Blevins, Proctor O. “Prock” Blevins, Theodore Roosevelt Blevins, Lewis K. Blevins, Mandy Blevins Coffey, James “Jim” Blevins and Margie Blevins Burke, and three more that did not survive to adulthood.

Lora married Tealie Ann Slaven in 1915. She was the daughter of Charley Slaven and Sally Ann Roysdon, and a sister to General Slaven, who would later purchase the John Litton Farm near Bandy Creek. She was descended from Richard Harve Slaven, the first permanent settler of the Big South Fork region.

Lora and Tealie had nine children, two of which died in childhood. Their children included Laura Bell Blevins (1916-1996), George William Blevins (1918-2001), Ethel Mae Blevins Crabtree (1920-1977), Fred M. Blevins (1922-1927), Leonard Manuel Blevins (1924-1976), Poppie Lee Blevins Crabtree (1927-2012), Lola Ellen Blevins (1929-1931), Idra Orange Blevins Crabtree (1932-1977), and Janie Ruth Blevins Taylor (1939-1989).

Lora Blevins was a Baptist minister for 60 years of his life, preaching at most of the small, rural churches throughout the region. He and his wife were members of the New Zion Baptist Church at Station Camp.

The Lora Blevins Farm

Lora and Tealie Ann Blevins established their home along the main road through the White Pine community, beside what is today the West Bandy Creek Road. Today, it is one of four historic farms that are preserved within the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area, along with the Oscar Blevins Farm, the John Litton Farm, and Charit Creek Lodge.

The farm is a 45-acre plot that includes fields and pastureland, a cabin, barn, corn crib and outhouse. It is the site of the Spring Planting Festival that is presented by the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area on the fourth Saturday each April.

The farm also includes the Katy Blevins Cemetery.

Lora Blevins purchased the 45 acres from Oliver and Lucy Deck in 1927. Lora built their cabin in 1928. They got their water from a spring a short distance north of the cabin.

Poppie Blevins Dishman told the National Park Service in an oral interview: “There was lots of love in this house.” She and the other Blevins children slept upstairs in the house, and she said snow would blow in and cover them as they slept on cold winter nights.

In addition to the surviving structures, a number of other structures were destroyed after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers purchased the property. Among them was a springhouse, a blacksmith shop, a smokehouse, a chicken coop and a hog pen, along with a tobacco barn, which doubled as a church (Lora Blevins was a minister).

The farm was active until 1980, when it was purchased by the federal government.

The Blevins family was prominent throughout the area, beginning with Jonathan Blevins. The Oscar Blevins Farm, owned by Lora Blevins’ cousin, was located just a short distance away. The first person buried at the Katie Blevins Cemetery on Lora’s farm was his great-uncle, Jacob Blevins (the cemetery is named for Jacob Blevins’ wife).

Latter years and death

Tealie Slaven Blevins died on August 25, 1969, at age 72. She was buried in the Katy Blevins Cemetery on their farm. Lora remarried to Eva Coffey on December 29, 1969. She was the daughter of Coleman Coffey and Rosie Burke. She died on October 26, 1978, at age 66. She was also buried in the Katy Blevins Cemetery. Lora then remarried to Louise Terry, the daughter of Lawrence Terry and Flossie Smith.

The U.S. government purchased the Blevins farm in 1980, and they were forced to leave the home they’d lived in all their lives.

Lora Blevins died on August 7, 1983 at age 87. He was buried at the Katy Blevins Cemetery near his old home.

Louise Terry Blevins, Lora’s third wife, died in 1984 and was buried at the Terry Cemetery at Paint Rock.