Sheriff Israel Smith

As spooky season creeps into East Tennessee, we’re heading up White Oak Mountain for one of the darkest stories in Bradley County history. On March 14, 1922, Bradley County Sheriff Israel L. Smith joined an early-morning Prohibition-era moonshine raid near Owl Hollow outside Cleveland, Tennessee. Before the sun came up, Smith was shot and killed in the mountains, becoming the only Bradley County sheriff ever killed in the line of duty. What followed was a massive manhunt through the rugged mountains of Bradley and Polk counties for brothers Luther and Jasper Borin.

This week on The Stabbin Stylist, we’re digging into Cleveland, Tennessee in the 1920s, Appalachian moonshine culture, White Oak Mountain, Owl Hollow, Prohibition, and the murder that shocked Bradley County. It’s a story of hidden stills, mountain families, dangerous raids, a storm that helped erase the killers’ tracks, and a piece of local history that happened right here in our own backyard. Follow The Stabbin Stylist for more Cleveland and Bradley County history, East Tennessee true crime, Appalachian stories, local legends, and spooky thangs from around the South.