Down in the Holler
With her signature song “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” it doesn’t come as a surprise that Loretta Lynn really was the daughter of a coal miner. Her coal miner father Melvin Theodore “Ted” Webb and his wife Clary had eight children. Loretta, the eldest, was born on April 14th, 1932.
The parents of the Country singer Loretta Lynn (Melvin “Ted” Webb and Clara Marie “Clary” Webb) pose for a portrait circa 1930 in Butcher Holler, Kentucky. Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
The Webb family lived in Butcher Holler, Kentucky, and they had some tough times. Clary Webb would glue together pages of Sears catalogs to the walls because they couldn’t afford to buy wallpaper. Despite her humble upbringing, Loretta grew up in a loving family.