Editing Dolly Parton (section)

==Early life==
Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on January 19, 1946, in a one-room cabin on the banks of the [[Little Pigeon River (Tennessee)|Little Pigeon River]] in [[Pittman Center, Tennessee]].<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Schmidt|editor-first=Randy L. |title=Dolly on Dolly: interviews and encounters with Dolly Parton|publisher=Chicago Review Press|year=2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hRB0DQAAQBAJ |isbn=978-1-61373-519-0 |quote=But if you want to know the names of some hollers and some ridges and some knobs where I lived, I was born at Pittman Center on Pittman Center Road. }}</ref> 
She is the fourth of 12 children born to Avie Lee Caroline ([[Maiden and married names|née]] Owens; 1923–2003) and Robert Lee Parton Sr. (1921–2000). Parton's middle name comes from her maternal great-great-grandmother Rebecca (née Dunn) Whitted.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dolly Parton Biography|url=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/dolly-parton.html;jsessionid=9CECAFF05AFFF508B71898273634EA3A|publisher=The Biography Channel |access-date=January 30, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120815072234/http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/dolly-parton.html%3Bjsessionid%3D9CECAFF05AFFF508B71898273634EA3A|archive-date=August 15, 2012}}</ref> Parton's father, known as "Lee", worked in the mountains of East Tennessee, first as a [[sharecropper]] and later tending his own small tobacco farm and acreage. He also worked construction jobs to supplement the farm's small income. Despite her father's illiteracy, Parton has often commented that he was one of the smartest people she has ever known with regard to business and making a profit.{{sfn|Parton|1994}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Daddy's Dinner Bucket: Mr. Lee Parton|date=June 15, 2015|url=https://dollyparton.com/front-porch-stories/daddys-dinner-bucket-lee-parton/ |work=Dolly Parton|access-date=July 9, 2018}}</ref><ref name="belfasttelegraphifightilliteracy">{{cite news|title=Dolly Parton: 'I fight illiteracy for my father'|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/news/dolly-parton-i-fight-illiteracy-for-my-father-35185084.html|access-date=July 3, 2018|work=Belfast Telegraph|date=November 3, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703190906/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/news/dolly-parton-i-fight-illiteracy-for-my-father-35185084.html |archive-date=July 3, 2018 }}</ref>

Parton's mother cared for their large family. Her 11 pregnancies (the tenth being twins) in 20 years made her a mother of 12 by age 35. Parton attributes her musical abilities to the influence of her mother; often in poor health, she still managed to keep house and entertain her children with [[Great Smoky Mountains|Smoky Mountain]] [[folklore]] and ancient [[ballad]]s. Having [[Welsh people|Welsh]] ancestors, Avie Lee knew many old ballads that [[immigrants]] from the British Isles brought to southern [[Appalachia]] in the 18th and 19th century.{{Failed verification|date=September 2024}}<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hyland |first1=Claire |title=Nine startling facts about the Queen of Country music Dolly Parton |url=https://evoke.ie/2021/02/19/showbiz/dolly-parton-surprising-facts |website=EVOKE |date=February 19, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Good golly Miss Dolly... 10 amazing facts about Ms Parton |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/arts-culture-news/dolly-parton-facts-heads-cardiff-7310302 |work=Wales Online |access-date=May 12, 2021 |date=June 23, 2014}}</ref> Avie Lee's father, Jake Owens, was a [[Pentecostal]] preacher, and Parton and her siblings all attended church regularly. Parton has long credited her father for her business savvy, and her mother's family for her musical abilities. When Parton was a young girl, her family moved from the Pittman Center area to a farm up on nearby Locust Ridge. Most of her cherished memories of youth happened there. Today, a replica of the Locust Ridge cabin resides at Parton's namesake theme park Dollywood.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thesmokies.com/dolly-parton-childhood-home/|title = Where is Dolly Parton's childhood home? Is it still there?|date = August 15, 2021}}</ref> The farm acreage and surrounding woodland inspired her to write the song "[[My Tennessee Mountain Home (song)|My Tennessee Mountain Home]]" in the 1970s. Years after the farm was sold, Parton bought it back in the late 1980s. Her brother Bobby helped with building restoration and new construction.{{sfn|Parton|1994}}

Parton has described her family as being "dirt poor".<ref>{{cite news|title=Dolly Parton talks new album, tour |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/09/dolly.parton.cnna/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=July 14, 2014|work=CNN|date=July 9, 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060512112052/http://archives.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/09/dolly.parton.cnna/index.html|archive-date=May 12, 2006}}</ref> Parton's father paid missionary Dr. Robert F. Thomas with a sack of [[cornmeal]] for delivering her.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brooks |first=Laken |title=Dolly Parton's Childhood Doctor Received A Sack Of Cornmeal And A Song |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/lakenbrooks/2023/03/17/dolly-partons-childhood-doctor-received-a-sack-of-cornmeal-and-a-song/ |access-date=August 31, 2023 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref> Parton would write a song about Dr. Thomas when she was grown.<ref>{{Citation |title=Dr. Robert F. Thomas | date=August 19, 2016 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t25CfSstMgc |access-date=August 31, 2023 |language=en}}</ref> She also outlined her family's poverty in her early songs "[[Coat of Many Colors (song)|Coat of Many Colors]]" and "[[In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)]]". For six or seven years, Parton and her family lived in their [[rural area|rustic]], one-bedroom cabin on their small [[subsistence agriculture|subsistence farm]] on Locust Ridge.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jensen|first=Todd Aaron|title=On Gratitude: Sheryl Crow, Jeff Bridges, Alicia Keys, Daryl Hall, Ray Bradbury, Anna Kendrick, B.B. King, Elmore Leonard, Deepak Chopra, and 42 More Celebrities Share What They're Most Thankful For|url=https://archive.org/details/ongratitudeshery0000jens|url-access=registration|access-date=July 15, 2014|date=August 18, 2010|publisher=[[Adams Media]]|isbn=978-1-4405-0893-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/ongratitudeshery0000jens/page/163 163]}}</ref> This was a predominantly [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]] area located north of the [[Greenbrier (Great Smoky Mountains)|Greenbrier Valley of the Great Smoky Mountains]].
Music played an important role in her early life. She was brought up in the [[Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Celebrating Seniors – Dolly Parton Turns 70|date=January 19, 2016 |url=https://50plusworld.com/celebrating-seniors-dolly-parton-turns-70-pt-1of2/ |access-date=February 22, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160302143611/https://seniorcitylocal.com/celebrating-seniors-dolly-parton-turns-70-pt-1of2/|archive-date=March 2, 2016|url-status=live }}</ref> in a congregation her grandfather, Jake Robert Owens, pastored. Her earliest public performances were in the church, beginning at age six. At seven, she started playing a homemade guitar. When she was eight, her uncle bought Dolly her first real guitar.<ref name="Hall of Fame"/><ref name="cmt">{{cite web|url=http://www.cmt.com/news/1773736/dolly-partons/soul-bering-pure-simple-shows|title=Dolly Parton's Soul-Baring Pure & Simple show|author=Lauren Tingle}}{{dead link|date=July 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The Parton family was well-fed despite their poverty, and her 2024 cookbook ''Good Lookin' Cookin''' (co-written with her sister [[Rachel Parton George|Rachel]]) recalls numerous family meals.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Spencer |first=Victoria |date=September 19, 2024 |title=Dolly Parton and Rachel Parton George Dish Up Family Recipes in Their New Cookbook |url=https://www.marthastewart.com/dolly-parton-and-rachel-parton-george-cookbook-8713903 |access-date=2025-01-11 |website=[[Martha Stewart|MarthaStewart.com]] |language=en}}</ref> After graduating from [[Sevier County High School]] in 1964, Parton moved to Nashville the next day.{{sfn|Parton|1994}}<ref name="Backwoods Glam" />