All things Edmonson mans passion

Monday, June 07, 2004

DIAMOND CAVERNS A bad storm was coming last year, and a man and his wife were lost deep in the woods at Mammoth Cave National Park. The mans frantic mother called Edmonson Countian Norman Warnell, who shed heard was familiar with the forest. Warnell said he couldnt help. That storm was coming. Warnell was in Brownsville. Still, the woman would not give in. She quickly gave Warnell her sons cell phone number, and hung up, leaving Warnell worried, too. So he called the young man, and got an answer. Whats around you? Warnell, now 56, asked. A tombstone, the man said. Just one? Warnell asked. Just one, the man said. It was Agnes Coates tombstone. Warnells mind went through a flurry of thoughts. Of all the graves hed come upon in the park, he remembered where Coates tombstone was. The poor old girl and the story of her being buried out there by herself, something about that struck me, Warnell said. As legend has it, Agnes Coates died long ago of smallpox while traveling through the area. She was buried in an isolated spot because people were afraid her grave could seep out smallpox germs. Warnell had longed to find the grave for some time. Luckily, Warnell, now-retired Mammoth Cave Park Ranger Jim Waddell and Mendel Parker, who was raised in what is now Mammoth Cave National Park, had come upon the grave not too long before the man and his wife became lost in the woods. But they hadnt been the first ones to find it, Warnell said. Many had located Coates tombstone, only to never find it again. So Warnell had walked off the grave precisely. Take 310 steps, he told the lost man. The man and his wife walked straight to a road, which Warnell said, quickly led them to safety. The man called Warnell to thank him. I said, Dont worry. Anytime you get lost call 1 (800) Norman, Warnell said. But the truth is, I would probably not have been able to do that with any other grave in the park. Joy Lyons, supervisory park ranger at Mammoth Cave, said the help Warnell gave the lost couple did not surprise her. Its so indicative of his nature, she said. Hes one of the most knowledgeable men Ive ever known, and also the most humble. She said Warnell has helped me with our genealogy seminars, and he knows this park as well as our best back-country trail person. Hes currently working on the history of the Mammoth Cave Railroad, and will share what he learns with the park, Lyons said. He feels knowledge should be shared and not hoarded, she said. But Warnell says many know much more about Mammoth Cave and the surrounding area than he does. He named several after telling stories from his life in the lobby of the gift shop at Diamond Caverns. He often explores caves with two of Diamonds owners, Dr. Stanley Sides and Gary Berdeaux. Berdeaux came out to greet Warnell warmly Friday. He called him a good guy, and bid him goodbye. Warnell said he loves Diamond Caverns. All my life, I never was in here until lately until the last year, he said. I couldnt believe I hadnt been in here, to such a historic place. But Warnell loves all things Edmonson County. Its a passion that started in his childhood. I can only remember one of my grandparents, and that was a grandmother, he said. I was a small child and she was 80 years old, and I would have to go stay with her if the family that was watching her was gone. Ma Wolfe had a big fireplace … and I would spend the long winter nights with her in front of the fireplace, just listening to her tell these stories. Some ancestors had been killed by Indians, Ma Wolfe told Warnell. Some escaped and made their way to Green River. There, they made a home for themselves on land surrounding Mammoth Cave. My little mind was just mesmerized, Warnell said. But when I got older, I wondered about the validity of it. He wondered why his ancestor, William Phelps, hadnt taken Mammoth Cave into his possession when he got land all around the cave. I would be sitting in an armchair, smoking a cigar right now if he had, Warnell said. For years, Warnell would not investigate such stories, though. He was too busy with the business of growing up. My dad was a sharecropper and later a lumber company worker, Warnell said. The first house we lived in, til I started first grade, had no electricity or running water. But back then that was normal. Warnells father, the late Lester Warnell, married his mom, the late Lova Wolfe, after hed returned from fighting in World War II. Both were 34 at the time. Ive always said they were the last two ugly people left in the county, Warnell said. Warnell went to grade school at Brownsville Elementary, and often helped his dad with the farming. As he grew up with his sister, Louann, and went to Edmonson County High School, he knew he did not want to be a farmer. I wanted to be a forest ranger, he said. So, while studying at Edmonson County High School, Warnell applied for, and got, a scholarship to study forestry at the University of North Carolina. But Warnell decided to attend Western Kentucky University first. You could go two years (to another school) and then transfer to UNC, he said of his scholarship requirement. But by the time I finished my first year at Western, Id changed my mind and gave (UNC) their money back. He wanted to teach science to elementary and middle school children, and he wanted to do it in his home county. I had a close community here with everyone, he said. I had good memories of my childhood. So, he soon became a teacher. But not before falling in love with Linda Johnson, a young woman who caught his eye in a Brownsville store. We went to high school all four years and I never did notice her, Warnell said. Then, I graduated from college and she looked different. The couple married at 22 in 1969, shortly after Warnell graduated from Western. He started farming then even though he said he never thought he would and teaching at Kyrock Elementary School. The teaching was something Warnell said he loved. One of the first things Id do after I had a child in class was to ask them if they were related to so and so, he said. I learned you could deal with kids better if you got to know them and their families, and you could understand them and teach them better. Learning so much about other local families prompted Warnell to want to learn more about his own. So, he started doing research and was able to validate many of the tales Ma Wolfe told him. Soon, others were asking Warnell to do family research for them, too. Many suggested Warnell should write a book about his findings. But Warnells life took many different turns first. In 1977, he and Linda had a daughter, now Jill Moore of Bowling Green. Then, we had a son born in 82 who died in childbirth, Warnell said. The death still hurts Warnell, whose other son, Samuel, was born in 1986 and will be a senior at Edmonson County High School. Even though our child died in birth, it had its place in the line, Warnell said. It bothered me. I didnt have any trouble giving Dad up in 88, and he and I were close friends. I dont know if you know that its an adult and youre supposed to die. But when your own child dies, its like pulling flesh from the bone. Warnell talked about many of the stories elderly people in Edmonson County have told him about people losing children. They are stories with which Warnell can relate. There was a black family here, and they had a child who died in World War II. This was the son of Charlie Bransford, who was the brother of the famous (Mammoth Cave) guide Matt Bransford. Charlie would have been a great guide, but he lost an arm when a team (of horses) pulled him. Charlie Bransfords wife cried and cried (over the loss of her son), and couldnt stop grieving until she went blind. Warnell thinks such stories are more than worth telling. Theyre part of the fabric of a place he loves. Thats why in 1997, after hed retired from teaching for several years at Edmonson County Middle School, he self-published the book Mammoth Cave: Forgotten Stories of Its People. The book is filled with historically interesting stories about the people who lived around here and worked here, Warnell said. It includes information about each of the many one-room schools that used to exist within the park. They used to sell them at Mammoth Cave, Lost River and here (at Diamond Caverns), but now its out of print, Warnell said. Hes been too busy recently to get more reprinted. Thats because after Warnell works from January to April of each year as a tax preparer in Brownsville, he often volunteers at Mammoth Cave as a storyteller and a guide who can take people to old graveyards or to their families homeplaces, which many times are only marked by a few foundation stones or an old chimney. Also, Warnell still farms. But he is never too busy to hunt for new stories. Thats like giving a monkey a new coconut, for me to learn a new story or event, he said. Then, he praised his home county, where he often can be found hiking, hoping to discover something new. Ive never been much on traveling, he said. But if I was to be, Id want to come right here.  Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700