Uncle Pen's Cabin honors uncle of Bill Monroe

May 9—Located at the end of the tree-lined Pen Lane, just east of Rosine, sits a traditional cabin that pays homage to famed fiddle player Pendleton "Uncle Pen" Vandiver, uncle of Rosine native and bluegrass legend Bill Monroe.

Geraldean Ingram, who provides tours of the small cabin, said the structure is a replica of the original cabin where Monroe lived with his Uncle Pen between the ages of 16 and 18. The structure was built in 2003 on the site of the original cabin.

"James Monroe bought the property for his dad Bill Monroe in 1973, and it just sat here," Ingram said. "James kept saying, 'I want to build Uncle Pen's cabin back.' "

Ingram said that while she never met Uncle Pen — he died in 1932 — he was still a known figure when she was growing up in Rosine, and she would walk past the remnants of his cabin.

"There was still old parts of it, old logs," she said. "Other people had bought it and lived in it and put different siding and stuff on it, but it had sat here for so long that it had deteriorated, so the old logs could not be used in anything."

The mantle over the stone fireplace in the replica cabin was made from one of the logs from the original cabin, Ingram said.

The cabin was rebuilt by James Monroe and opened to the public in 2013.

The present-day cabin pays tribute to not only Uncle Pen, but also Bill Monroe and his immediate family.

Personal items of Monroe's are displayed in the cabin, such as a cowboy hat, pair of shoes and watch. Inside, the walls are lined with photographs of Uncle Pen and the Monroe family.

Ingram said Monroe was 10 when his mother, Malissa, the sister of Uncle Pen, died, and he was 16 when his father, James Buchanan Monroe, died.

"He lived down in Rosine with one of his brothers for a while, but he came home and they had the measles, and he didn't want to go in there, so he walks up the railroad tracks and came and lived with Uncle Pen," she said. "He stayed here for two years, until he was 18 years old."

Music was a consistent part of life for the family, Ingram said.

"They would have Sunday afternoon get-togethers out in the yard or they would have them at night," Ingram said. "They would just move the furniture out and have a get-together with music and even a little dancing."

Merlene Austin, Ingram's sister, also gives tours of Uncle Pen's Cabin.

"This is probably where bluegrass music started, if you want to know the bottom line," Austin said from the cabin's front porch. "Bill lived here for two years with his Uncle Pen, and he got a lot of music from his Uncle Pen Vandiver."

Austin said that Uncle Pen not only taught Monroe all about the fiddle, but also treated his nephew fairly when they would perform at local square dances together.

"Whatever money they got, Uncle Pen would give him half of it and treated him like an equal," she said.

Ingram said people from all over the country have visited Uncle Pen's Cabin since it reopened nearly a decade ago, and some even come with the intention of playing bluegrass music at the cabin.

"We have people that play music, and they will come up and want to play, and they will play on the back porch," she said.

Uncle Pen's Cabin is open for guided tours from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday between May and October.

For more information, call 270-775-5420.