How well do you know your folklore heroes? Part 5: John Henry

"A hero is not measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart." ~Disney's Hercules

I had read the folktale of John Henry when I was a little girl, but didn't really remember the specific details until I looked it up again online (and of course, watched the Disney version for the first time). I knew he was a big huge muscular black man, supposedly born with a hammer in his hand, that he worked on the railroad, and that he had a race with a train and the effort killed him but he won the race. That was it. A simple, straightforward tall tale, with one whopper of a motif ("born with a hammer in his hand") right up front to let you know that it was all baloney. Or so I thought.
What does he look like?

Dad: Wasn't he Paul Bunyan's brother? He was probably Caucasian. A big muscular guy.
Mom: Maybe in his 30s, maybe 40s. A big muscular man, with a sledgehammer in his hand.
Sarah: 30. He's a black man. He has a light blue, faded shirt, and carries a hammer.
Hannah: I've never heard of John Henry!

Why is he famous?

Dad: I don't know why.
Mom: He was a railroad man.
Sarah: He beat a machine drilling into the mountain, then he died.
Hannah: I don't know.

Was he real?

Dad: Not real.
Mom: He probably was.
Sarah: I think so...yeah.
Hannah: I don't know.

The legend of John Henry is pretty straightforward, just like the version I related earlier. He was an African-American steel-driver, who challenged a steam-powered drill to a race, won, and then died of exhaustion. The actual existence of John Henry is trickier. There are a couple of theories that say he was born in Missouri in the 1840s or 50s, and then worked for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. If he wasn't a real man, it's difficult to say where the legend originated from, since all sources claim that he was. The episode with the steam-power drill, if it happened, is rumored to have taken place in both West Virginia and Alabama. Talcott, West Virginia still holds "John Henry Days" every year on the weekend after the Fourth of July. Perhaps I'd better start encouraging my own family to participate, at least until we can all give the same answers on these questions!