Shawnee Town

Recording Date: 
Monday, August 21, 2006

I listened to a version of "Who'll rock the cradle" by John McCutcheon which reminded me of this song, so I worked it out on my tackhead. I'm in the equivalent of Open G, but tuned down a ways. Shawnee Town is one of the early euro-american settlements in Illinois, located in the south-east area along the Ohio River. It was partially located there at a ferry crossing, but also was a source of salt from saline wells. Although the Illinois State Constitution of 1818 stated “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall hereafter be introduced into this state", from 1818 to 1825 the state constitution allowed slaves from other states, mainly Kentucky, to labor in the salt works near Shawneetown in Gallatin County for one year at a time. The claim was made that free white laborers could not be hired,

Banjo Style: 
Clawhammer
Instrument: 
Home-made Tackhead banjo