They all deserve to be remembered no matter where they are buried.

On the Resurrection day, when the trumpet sounds they’ll all come up. None will be left or missing then. What a reunion that will be Donnie. Thank you. This was a beautiful video of the history in this Tennessee valley.

My parents were born in the 1920s my father plowed fields with a mule named Kate till he could afford a tractor which we planted gardens and tobacco. Times then were hard but they were also good times honest times,unlike today with all their technology, Thanks Donnie for another great video

You're such a great story teller. I learn something new every time. Thanks!

When I was younger, my mom and dad took my sister and I to Kentucky. We climbed a mountain to the top where my great grandparents were buried. As people get older it's harder to get up there to take care of the graves. My family down there also have graves on the land like you said. Some were buried in pine boxes, even recently. I have ALWAYS loved old houses, cars, furniture etc. I love to learn about the 1800's. We have it so much easier than they had it back in the day. Thank you so much for sharing! You sound like my great uncle. Your channel is one of my favorites! 💯❤️

My 4th Great Grandfather Thomas is buried Lake Norris as is his son Uriah. Thanks for all your work Donnie.

This happened in Northern Alabama aswell theres a huge Guntersville Dam that was built and the land and farms were all covered by the lake aswell. So much history is and has been lost.Thank you so much for putting our history out there for all of the younger generations and others to learn were there people came from.Have a great day.

So far my Friday morning is starting well. Sitting on the front porch sipping some coffee and watching your new video after taking care of all of the animals. It is gorgeous morning. That is sad what they did to the communities in the name of progress. Have a great day, stay safe, stay busy, and God only makes good days.

Great Pictures 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 Thank you for keeping the history truthfull. I feel sad for the children now. They believe what A.I. tells them. Hello from Virginia Have a Great Day

I want to go to the city of Dandridge. I like the way the people saved the city from TVA. Thank you Mr. Laws for this as always. It is very sad what the people went through. Some properties had been in families for generations. There are some lakes that you can see tombstones and silo's sticking up out of the water. I live on Norris and grew up fishing and boating here. There are quite a few people that have had accidents here or murdered and dumped here, never found. To me now it is beautiful and i do love it but, it has such a sad history. A tomb in a way. Thank you for all you do to bring us history and so much interest. God bless you all.

Never take our live and history for granted. Both, precious. God bless and thank you for reminding us of our forgotten past.

Mr. Laws your the best story teller I’ve ever heard god bless you

When our ancestry was traced we had ancestors from Sevier County Tenn. We were told we were part Cherokee way back then. Long long ago. I so appreciate this video. Whether it touched my family or not I will never know. All of our older folks are gone and now I am the older generation in her 70's.

Thank you Donnie for sharing. At least a lot of those grave yards were relocated. There are no telling how many they're are that have been bulldozed away over the years.

90% of what you show is history that many of us would never know and none of it would ever be taught in school so thanks for history lessons which can't be found except for your great channel!!!

I live up on the mountain above Watauga Lake and Butler, the “Town that wouldn’t drown.” They moved Butler, but it was never the thriving little town it used to be. We have a wonderful museum about the old town and them building the lake. If you’ve never been, it’s definitely worth your time to visit.

Amen my brother, the good lord knows where each an every one is and who they are. But it is something we need to remember so thank you so much for this Donnie! God bless you my awesome mountain brother.

Thank you Donny, God knows where every grave is and knows them by name God Bless you my friend.

I know a man that was searching for his ancestral history of "Thompson". He'd visit the old grave yards and make rubbings of the stones that couldn't be read anymore. Just a sheet of paper up against the marker and rubbed with the edge of a pencil. No telling how old the graves were. Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina 💙

Lots of people forgotten. Worst of wall, a way of life and allegiance to God gone. Another well done video. The addition of “Everlasting Arms” was excellent. Thanks for another good video. Papaw talked about the 3 C’s a lot. A lot was done during those years.

Thanks for sharing Mr Donnie I know this happened in north Alabama where my ancestors lived they made a damn and a huge lake so many stories . ♥️🗝️👍🐝

Thanks for keeping forgotten memories alive. Progress has made life easier for many, but also has taken from many. The beautiful scenery and waterways are pleasant to our eyes and bring us many pleasures but how many of us think about it's history ? Thank you Donnie, may God bless.

Thank you for keeping this history alive, Donnie.❤

I love lakes glad they are being remembered and not forgotten under the lakes lakes are beautiful wherever they are buried it's need to be remembered

You're far more than just an old country boy Donnie, your the best narrator of your people's history that I have ever seen or heard! I appreciate that you go back as far as early Native Americans, long before the Cherokee, Chickasaw, or the Creek Tribal Federation, and tell the story of all of the people up to the present. Thank you for an excellent history lesson as well as an entertaining story! We have two lakes where I live, Allatoona and Lanier, that buried towns and history with their creation. Once, during a time of bad drought, I took my Goddaughter to the areas that were exposed and explained to her that the poles, stone steps and shattered dishware were evidence that somebody once lived there. We spent hours at places like this and she gained a love of the people who came before her. She's a very modern 31 year old now with her own family but she lives on the top of a mountain within walking distance of Lake Allatoona! She takes her son on long nature walks there and shows him the history now. We serve a purpose here when we pass these histories on. May they never be forgotten!

Really neat history lesson Donnie, thank you! God does remember each one.

You made a very nice video. Very touching and a nice tribute to the early pioneers of your area. Well done and thanks for sharing.

Morning Donnie, thanks for sharing this great story of the past.

Yes, sir. There are two big lakes that I know of (one in NC and one on the NC/SC border) where the same thing happened...old towns buried under the water, churches, graveyards and all. I often think of the history that's lost there. You're right, Jesus lnows where every one of them are. Bless you for your time and research in gathering these photos and remembering. ❤🙏Jane in SC.

Thank you so much Donnie for this video x I loved every moment, so interesting x may they all, wherever they are buried, rest in peace x

Thank you Sir. I always love a good history lesson. God Bless you and yours,today and always!!

Donnie, you have such a great voice for explaining this history. Most not in the books. At times speaking about your own family. I'm sixty-eight years old. I love how you take us back to another time. I would have loved to have , been one of your lucky cousins are friends, to run the fields with you as a kid at your grandmother's.. thanks Donnie.

Time always brings change, whether we like it or not, but it's still sad to see what's being lost. Thanks Donnie 😎👍

Thanks Donnie. That was beautiful and I really loved it.👍

Good morning 🌄 my friend 😊 I have always loved history and thank you for sharing so much history with others so it won't be forgotten ❤ I appreciate you and the videos you do and stories you tell Mr. Laws 😊 have a great day and may God bless you and yours 🙏

Thank you, Donnie, for keeping these places and people's memories alive. I'm thankful that God knows where each of us are ,and that he doesn't forget anyone. God 🙏 🙏 🙏 bless.

Great video! A good reminder of the history that is buried and sacrifices our ancestors were burdened with.

Hello from KY love your channel ❤️.Donnie thank you for your testamonial.While depressing,it is much needed information.I feel so sorry for all those folks.

You Do a great job donnie just remember all you have to do close Your eyes look to the sky and you have found You're a great grandmother god bless you donnle

I find these reservoirs and dams sad places when you realise they wiped out so many little communities. I was watching the plight of Lake Mead last year but then seeing how Las Vegas wasted water. I think those little old forgotten cemetaries are so peaceful out in the woods. Those pictures of the old families make me wish you could go back and talk to them to listen to how their life was. I know it was hard but they did have some enjoyment. Thanks for these videos.

Thank you my friend for keeping history alive❤. That sure is God’s country, so beautiful, peaceful and rich in history. I so appreciate how you pay tribute to those passed and honor their memory

Good morning my friend👍 Watching your channel 👍 The Voice of the Smoky Mountains

I took a friend to a cemetery where my great grandfather, 5-6 generations removed is buried. He fought in the Revolutionary War in George Washington’s regiment as a private (I actually have documentation). He and several other graves have the war medallions and someone comes by and puts flags in them for Memorial Day. So many people and memories forgotten are in that cemetery. Someone mows it so it’s kept up. It is a beautiful place that seems forgotten. We got a photo of a spirit there today. And we felt a cold spot in the same location repeatedly. It made us sad that someone is still lingering there. Thank you for your beautiful stories ❤️

Thank you for such an informative video. It is heartbreaking to think of the loved ones under the lake, gone but not forgotten.

Godspeed your recovery, Mister Donnie. When I worked the TVA, I couldn't help but think of what lay beneath the waters surface. All the history covered in the depths.

Hello Mr. Donnie, I have learned so much, so much I didn't know about Appalachia and the people who lived there. These videos are something special and through these video's the people of Appalachia will not be forgotten. You may just be an ol' country boy, but Donnie YOU are something SPECIAL!

Thank you for this fascinating in-depth, hidden history beneath the facts from our old history books. You really personalize the stories. My maternal grandfather emigrated to the US from Italy in 1911 and did backbreaking work on the railroads for years all across the country. He'd saved $8,000 by the crash in 1929, and then it was all gone, just like that. All those years. He was never the same afterwards, but he always remained a kind, patient man and a loving grandfather to me.

Thank you for sharing this video with us, and keeping our history alive. Hope everyone has a bless weekend.

Good Morning All, I'm Thankful for Another Beautiful Day, That The Lord Has Made.😊

Donnie thank you is not enough. You are teaching the history of our hardworking people, their lives, their farms, their love for God and family. Sadly our nation's history is getting wiped out and replaced new ideologies that demonize farms and their way if life. Someday, America as it was will no longer be remembered. The sad part is that so many will not know how to live off the land as our ancestors did. When the food chain is halted, people wont be able to survive. Thank you for showing this important piece of history.

They are frozen in time and in the hearts of remaining family members. Most importantly is God does know every hair on each head. That has always amazed me. They are registered in the book of Life and have returned to the place they lived as souls before they were ever given an earthly body. The gift of eternal Life is the Love of God. Thanks for sharing and remembering these precious souls, Donnie. Your friend, Louise

A lot of history was lost due to "modernization". It is sad to see and hear of the graves of our pioneers being disturbed just to be moved to make way for progress. Those unmarked graves were a testament to our history, our heritage. Sad to hear of generations of hard-working folks losing their land. Thanks for sharing this bit of our history.

Great video Mr. Donnie. Thanks for another awesome history lesson. It’s sad that they had to relocate the dead and cover the others with water under the lakes. It’s so unfair that man/government were able to come in and run the families out and destroy their way of life. Thanks for sharing and for keeping history alive.

Yes, when our Lord comes again, He will know where each and every one of our graves are and He will take us out of this place. Thank you, Donnie, for this and all of your videos. You keep our ancestors alive through their history. God Bless you!

Excellent episode. Thanks for the hard work that you put in these.

Thank you Donnie for another amazing video. You are a blessing. My husband and I love to sit together and watch them on my phone. My dad was born in Russell Springs Kentucky.

If those waters could talk! So many forgotten homesteads hiding underneath such beautiful rivers and lakes!

Soon there won't be anyone who remembers what the countryside looked like before the dams. Thanks for sharing and caring Donnie

My Dad was born in 1930 and grew up in Norris on a small farm. Many of my ancestors were removed to other cemeteries but I know that some are under the lake. Thank you for sharing this important history and all the great photos.

I could listen to you all day. Thanks again !

And i Thank you Mr. Donnie from the bottom of my Heart for not forgetting about the left behind folk that couldn't b relocate May God have Mercy on there Souls and Reat in Peace 🙏

Always appreciate you visiting our History. Thank You very much Donnie.

Beautifully presented and the choice of background music perfectly complements the narrative. Your work shows that these people and their stories, although gone, are not forgotten, wherever they may lie. God bless you and family.

I love the history and thank you for sharing this story with us. God bless you Mr. Donnie

WHAT A SAD STORY. IM GLAD YOU MAKE THESE KINDS OF VIDEOS SHOWING HISTORY THATS NOT REALY TALKED ABOUT, LIKE IN SCHOOL BOOKS. NO REAL HISTORY, EVIL THINGS TAUGHT NOW. THATS EVEN SADDER. GOD BLESS YOU FOR ALL YOUR VIDEOS.

Thank you for for this Mr.Laws. I can't imagine. Everything that these families knew under the lake forever. Yes sir God knows everyone of them. God bless you my friend

I live near Dale Hollow dam and in the 40's....an entire small town went underwater to build the dam. Always love your stories Mr Donnie.

Thank you for sharing this history. You're right. They all deserve to be remembered. I can and seen a lot of history go lost. I'm now the patriarch of our family. I know a lot more history will be lost. I remember my great-grandparents well. But when I'm gone, their memory and history will be gone too. Thank you again brother, for trying to keep their history alive.

On that great getting up morning all those graves will be emptied. The LORD alone knows where they are. Thank you for this story. Progress runs over the least able to defend themselves. Stay safe and GOD bless

Good morning 😊 Thank you for sharing the history love your videos!!

You've done really well with these videos of our Tennessee past. My maternal grandmother was from Kingston, Tennessee. Her sister my great aunt Grace married a Smith who's family property was about a mile off I-40 on Gallagher Road. The Smith property told to me by my second cousin consisted of 1400 acres until the government built Oak Ridge. Oak Ridge is just down the road from where the family cabin was built. They ended up with 200 acres and the government the rest!

Thank you for sharing...very interesting/important history.

Great story. Love the Tennessee Valley, have a relative who worked for TVA until Jimmy Carter shut down all the work on Nuke Power Plants. Beautiful lakes. It is very sad like you say so many people lost so much while some actually benefited for a little better result. It is honorable that so many of the graves were exhumed and relocated. This kind of things has been duplicated across our country, whole communities, roads and bridges laying beneath the surface...very familiar with it.

Over here in North Carolina I know in Swain County that my Great Aunts family was promised a way to get across the lake to their family cemetery. It has been called The road to Nowhere. I am so sorry about your GGmother but always remember that to be absent in body is to be present with the Lord. Until next time have a Blessed weekend my friend.

What a great story!thank you. I hope you and your wife have a wonderfully blessed weekend.

Very nice to have you remember all these people and communities. We’re fortunate to have some records, photographs, and internet information, as well as nice videos such as this to view and remember the history. My father was a worker during those times for the CCC , and while he was not in the Tennessee project, he worked in Missouri and Arkansas. When WWII started, he and others like him went to the military. And other manufacturing started. Thanks Donnie

Thoroughly enjoyed your video - me and my son love preserving history - and you are correct; God knows where each and every loved one was laid to rest - thanks

They told of this story from the movie Deliverance with Burt Reynolds who stared in it about a cemetery where people were being removed because they were going to flood the land thanks Donnie for a very fascinating story 😁 God bless you 🙏 my friend your friend Bob in Florida

My dad, who was born in 1921, used to work cutting trails and roads. He sent almost every penny he earned back home to his parents, to help them. When WWII began, he enlisted in the U.S.M.C. He enjoyed work for the CCC and USMC. He was stationed at Camp Lejeune for his Basic Training. He passed away in 2012 at 91 yrs. I live in the Southwestern Appalachian's near the Fontana Dam and Lake. I know a few people that had homes and families now at the bottom of that lake. I was told that every year, this little village take a boat ride across to the other side and gather to remember those still buried below the water that had not been moved. They bring food, play music, snd talk about their families. The TVA was supposed to build a road, or so I was told, around the north side of Fontana Lake, so people could access the area. But it never happened. I dont know if thats true or not. Thank you for telling us the history and stories of people long passed.

I love all those old mountain cabins that remain standing in the Appalachian mountains region. Thanks!

Thanks for the history lesson Donnie !!!!

Such neat historical archive photos and history , and a beautiful Norris lake there Donnie....what an undertaking that was....it had to have been so hard on all the families to leave their land...but to have to move the graves of their loved ones ...my my......those were some hard hard times for sure ...it reminds us to always count our blessings ... Thank you for the video Brother.

Tennessee is incredibly beautiful. Sad time back then relocating all the graves for the families.. or losing family members..lost. My heart goes out to all the families that struggled and worked hard for what? Just to barely scrape by.

Nothing is scared anymore, breaks my ole southern heart...well gotta get ready for work have a blessed day Mr. Laws 😢😐

What a wonderful story. My Great Grandfather and Grandmother were moved to make way for the Glboa Dam in Ny, I was told about how hard it was to leave their farm and how many of the family graves were moved. You brought their stories to life. Thank You

My Mom's birthplace is below those waters. They ended up in Sharp's Chapel, where my grandpa grew tobacco and had a small country store. I'll always be proud of my East Tennessee roots!

I'm sure glad you made this video so many are not aware of the towns and cemetery under the water

Thanks for sharing, the backbone of this nation. 👍❤️🙏

Donnie Thank you for sharing the Appalachia story's with us.

Thanks for another History lesson Mr. Donnie. You have a blessed weekend.👍💕🙏

A great informational video here, Donnie! Thank you for doing this. There is a TVA lake here in my neck of northeast Georgia. It was flooded in late 1942 and just prior to that, the rush was on to get graves moved from my old family cemetery to the newly acquired location, closer to the church. A couple of interesting graves in the removal was of my great great grandpaw. He was actually petrified from the waist up to his neck, heavy and hard as a rock. The other was my grandmaw's younger sister...he hair had grown to nearly 3 feet long and was wrapped around the roots of a large dogwood tree near the head of her grave. The lake claimed pretty much all the best bottom farmlands across the middle of the county and covered much of the main roads. I am blessed to have many photos of the pre-lake area...houses, roads, panoramic views of the mountains with the bottom lands.

God bless you for keeping the history alive

Very interesting and sad still at least programs like yours bring them back to life 😢 thanks for telling there stories god bless Andrew south wales uk 👍 👌 😀 🇬🇧

I love that you included music from "Leaning On The Everlasting Arms". I remember singing that song in the little Quaker church that I grew up in. What great memories!

Good morning Donnie sir it’s great to see another video from you

Donnie, what you lack in a degree, you more than make up for in knowledge of the customs and cultures; plus, your enthusiasm to share with others the history of the Appalachian Mountain People who are tough as nails. ✔️👍

Thank you Mr. Donnie,I enjoy every video you post,have a blessed day🌻

Thank you so much for this beautiful video.and I love your beautiful voice.

Amen so much and many forgotten by all but distant family

Hello Donnie, this was something my Dad was fascinated with. He always talked about the old towns that were flooded out to make lakes. He also really liked old roads. Yes, those old roads before the newer straight roads. I think I've shared that about my Dad before. If you really think about it, the first roads were paths used by the Native Americans. I found an old map of our property. It shows a trail/path that goes past where the old log cabin used to stand & deep into the woods up the ridge, down the ridge & into a field. I've walked that area quite a bit. It does seem to be an old road/walking path. I think that is so interesting. The map is from 1901 or right around then.