Wallin Family

The Wallin Family is an American family of traditional ballad singers from Madison County, North Carolina. Their repertoire of Appalachian folk ballads— many of which were rooted in "Old World" ballads traceable to the British Isles— brought them to the attention of folk music enthusiasts during the American folk music revival of the 1960s. Wallin family members have recorded numerous times over a period of nearly four decades, and have appeared in several independent documentaries.

Members of the Wallin family are either descendants of or married to descendants of Hugh Wallin (1829—1864), a Union Army recruiter assassinated by Confederate soldiers during the U.S. Civil War. Among the children of Hugh and his wife, Rosannah, were sons Mitchell Wallin (1854—1932) and Thomas Jefferson "Tom" Wallin (1857—1948). After Hugh's death, Rosannah married John Bullman, and their children included daughter Mary Bullman Sands (1872—1949). Children of Thomas Jefferson Wallin included Robert Lee Wallin (1889—1973), Chappel Wallin (1898—1984), Jeter Wallin (1899—1985) and Cas Wallin (1903—1992). Robert Lee (usually listed as simply "Lee Wallin") and his wife Berzilla (née Berzilla Chandler) had more than 10 children, including Martin Douglas "Doug" Wallin (30 July 1919—15 March 2000) and Jack Wallin (7 May 1932—3 January 2005). Berzilla was the sister of ballad singers Lloyd Chandler and Dellie Chandler Norton, and a cousin of Dillard Chandler.

In the latter years of World War I, British folklorist Cecil Sharp and his assistant Maud Karpeles traveled extensively across Central and Southern Appalachia in hopes of finding British ballads that had been passed down to the inhabitants of the more remote parts of the region from their British and Scottish ancestors. One of the first places they visited was Madison County, where they arrived in late July 1916. Sharp met Mary Sands on July 31, and over the next few days collected 25 ballads from her, including "The Silkmerchant's Daughter," "Earl Brand," "The Daemon Lover," and "Sheffield Apprentice." On August 4, Sharp met Sands's half-brother, Mitchell Wallin, who gave Sharp ballads such as "Betsy" and "Early, Early in the Spring" and the fiddle tune "High March." Over subsequent weeks, Sharp collected dozens of ballads from the Wallins' neighbors, namely the Shelton, Gosnell, and Chandler families.

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