Clarence Wilson Home

Two thirds of a mile through the woods stood the home of Clarence Wilson, Uncle Pen's dearest friend. A musician, farmer, and country lender, Clarence and his wife Minnie cared for the legendary Pen after his hip was broken when his mule slipped in the mud and pinned him and his fiddle underneath. Years earlier, Uncle Pen had lived with the Wilsons and helped them on the farm, and he and Clarence often played for square dances. They were sometimes joined by other local musicians, including Cletis Smith and the virtuoso blues guitarist and fiddler Arnold Shultz of Cromwell, Ky. in southern Ohio County. Bill Monroe credited the African-American Shultz with helping him put the blues into Bluegrass music. The only known pictures of Uncle Pen were taken by Clarence Wilson's daughter, Flossie Wilson Hines, when she was a teenager.

Kentucky · United States