Miracle in the Hills

by Dr. Mary T. Martin Sloop

Overview

Dr. Sloop and her husband began their lifelong dedication to the mountain people when they rode horseback into the remote hill region of North Carolina in 1909. The conditions they encountered were shockingly primitive. The people had neither doctors, nor schools and were suspicious of medicine and "larnin’." Electricity and running water were unheard of, roads were rough mountain paths and the diet consisted of "hog meat, greens and grease." The main industry was moon shining.

Dr. Sloop declared a personal war on moonshiners, tracking down hidden still with a reluctant sheriff in tow. She fought against child marriages and in a region where girls often married at the age of fourteen. With the help of the mountain people, she reinvigorated the weaving trade, built a church and a modern well equipped hospital. Her spirited support of education resulted in a modern twenty-five-building school.

An amazing story of a unique crusade in the hill country of North Carolina.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781787201910
Publisher:	Golden Springs Publishing
Publication date:	10/27/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	227
File size:	10 MB

About the Author

DR. MARY TURPIN MARTIN SLOOP (9 March 1873 - 13 January 1962) was a graduate of the Statesville Female College and the Pennsylvania Women’s College of Medicine. She also attended Davidson College. In 1909 she married Dr. Eustace Sloop, whom she had met while a student at Davidson College. With her husband she became a medical missionary to Avery County in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Settling first in the mining community of Plumtree their medical practice soon spread over a large isolated region of the mountains. By 1910 they relocated to a more central location in the small village of Crossnore.

To combat the lack of education in the mountain community she began the Crossnore Academy, a residential school for local children. In order to support the students she joined with the Daughters of The American Revolution to fund the school. She would also co-found The Crossnore Presbyterian Church. She became a nationally known speaker and advocate for the needs of this remote area.

U.S. Highway 221 is named the Dr. Mary Martin Sloop Highway in recognition of her efforts. In 1951 she was voted The American Mother of the Year, and in 2009 she was recognized as one of the fifty most influential persons in the history of Western North Carolina.

She died in 1962 aged 88.