[Ads-l] Antedating of "Hillbilly"

[Shapiro, Fred]

Bonnie Taylor-Blake has pointed out to me that John Baker previously posted a 27 Aug. 1880 citation for "hill billies."

Fred Shapiro


________________________________
From: Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
Sent: Monday, April 28, 2025 8:47 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Antedating of "Hillbilly"

hillbilly (OED 1900)

1880 Shelby Sentinel (Shelbyville, Ky.) 25 Nov. 2/5 (Newspapers.com)

A couple of hill billies, Messrs. Haines and Meece, that live in the coal mining district of Pulaski county, got into a difficulty over the settlement of a coal bill, when Meece settled all accounts with Haines by knocking him in the head with a lump of coal.

Fred Shapiro

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org