Duncan, Mary (1895-1990) |
Worcester County Library: Local History and Genealogy Collection, Snow Hill Branch, Snow Hill, MD
|
Interviewee: |
Mary Duncan (1895-1990) |
| Interviewer: |
Mary Gladding |
| Date of interview: |
1982 April 14 |
| Length of interview: | 17 Minutes |
| Transcribed by: | C Cole |
| Preferred Citation: |
“Name, Oral History Collection, Date of Interview, Worcester County Library, Snow Hill Branch, Snow Hill, Maryland.” |
Topical Terms:
Domestic Life
Education
Pocomoke City (Md.)—History
Transportation
Worcester County (Md.)—History
Worcester County (Md.)—Social life and customs
Worcester County (Md.)—Women’s History
Corporate Terms:
Quinton School
Location Terms:
Pocomoke City (Md.)
Ocean City (Md.)
Worcester County (Md.)
Interview Begins
INTERVIEWER: Can you give me your parent’s names?
MARY: Yes, Edward F. Wilson and Margaret P. Wilson.
INTERVIEWER: And what was your mother’s maiden name?
MARY: Fulton.
INTERVIEWER: Were they from around here?
MARY: My dad was, my mother was from Pennsylvania.
INTERVIEWER: Where was your house located? You lived here in Pocomoke as a young child, didn’t you?
MARY: Do you know where the Weidema’s live out near Quinton? Actually, I was born in that house out there. It’s still there.
INTERVIEWER: It’s still there?
MARY: Grace Weidema lives in it.
INTERVIEWER: What kind of chores did you have to do when you were young?
MARY: Well, I helped with the washing on Monday morning. I was chambermaid. We didn’t have any toilets. In those days you had to go outside. Then I walked to school. That was Quinton School. That’s been torn down.
INTERVIEWER: How far did you have to walk to get to school?
MARY: About a mile.
INTERVIEWER: Was your dad a farmer? What kind of things did he grow?
MARY: He was a farmer and a carpenter. Both.
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever help people outside your home, like at other people’s houses and help them?
MARY: No, I didn’t help anybody out then, but you see I went to business school and I worked. I was a bookkeeper.
INTERVIEWER: What kind of discipline did you have if you did something wrong? What did your parents do?
MARY: Slapped me. (laughs)
INTERVIEWER: In school, what kind of subjects were you taught?
MARY: Reading, writing, arithmetic.
INTERVIEWER: Was it all grades together?
MARY: From the first grade to the seventh.
INTERVIEWER: All in one room?
MARY: Two rooms.
INTERVIEWER: How about your church? What church did you go to?
MARY: Methodist Church at Quinton.
INTERVIEWER: How long did it usually last?
MARY: Hour and a half.
INTERVIEWER: What did you do for recreation?
MARY: Played ball and jumped rope.
INTERVIEWER: How about dating? Were you allowed to date?
MARY: Not until I was sixteen.
INTERVIEWER: Where did you go when you dated? What spot did you go to?
MARY: I went to Ocean City on a moonlight excursion.
INTERVIEWER: Did you ride the train there? How did you get there?
MARY: Rode the train.
INTERVIEWER: What was it like back then?
MARY: When I got to Ocean City that was the first time I had eaten in a hotel. They brought us a menu about that long and I didn’t know what in the world I wanted. We were with a couple of ladies I knew. They ordered their menus, I said well I’ll take some from them.
INTERVIEWER: What was it like, what was the boardwalk like and all?
MARY: Well it was not like it is today. Of course, It wasn’t as long as it is today. That was in 1914.
INTERVIEWER: How about your brothers and sisters?
MARY: I had two sisters
INTERVIEWER: Did you all have to split up your chores at home?
MARY: Yes. I fried chicken all the time.
INTERVIEWER: Who helped your dad?
MARY: Well, of course, we were all girls so we couldn’t be much help that way. My sister Ida Belle, she did all the entertaining, she could talk, and I was bashful, I didn’t say much. Margaret, the youngest of us, she was so, well she could do most anything. She had a wonderful personality and good looking.
INTERVIEWER: What major events went on, what special occasions, dances, things like that?
MARY: We square danced in those days.
INTERVIEWER: Where was that held?
MARY: At William’s Point.
INTERVIEWER: Where is William’s Point at?
MARY: Down the river, you know, past Rehobeth.
INTERVIEWER: What were the businesses in town back then? Where did you go shopping for clothes and things like that?
MARY: I. H. Merrill.
INTERVIEWER: What was that a clothing store?
MARY: A clothing store.
INTERVIEWER: How about grocery stores?
MARY: Mr. Red Cluff had a store at Costen Station and that’s where we would buy our groceries.
INTERVIEWER: How about class structure, you know how there are some people had a whole lot of money, and the others were real poor? Was there a big distinction back then, or were you all just about the same?
MARY: All of us that went to Quinton were just about the same, all of us were poor.
INTERVIEWER: How about law and order? Did you have a sheriff or a police station, or anything like that?
MARY: Another girl and I were very fond of each other and we always sat together. If one of us got slapped the other one got it too.
INTERVIEWER: Did you have police where you lived?
MARY: No.
INTERVIEWER: How about your transportation? Was it horse and carriage?
MARY: Horse and carriage and a buggy driven by a horse.
INTERVIEWER: How about the train? Did you just ride the train to Ocean City? Did you ever go anywhere else?
MARY: The first time I rode on a train, I got on at Costen Station and was going to Pocomoke. It cost me ten cents. Well I was afraid the conductor would forget to put me off, so I kept saying to him, “Have we had gotten to Pocomoke yet.” I asked him that about three times. He said if you don’t keep quiet I’m going to put you off right in the river before we get to Pocomoke.
INTERVIEWER: How about steamboats? Did you ever go on a steamboat?
MARY: Oh yes. I used to go to Baltimore on a steamboat.
INTERVIEWER: Wasn’t that a long trip?
MARY: Overnight. I had to stay overnight on the boat.
INTERVIEWER: How about your first car? Do you remember your first car?
MARY: Do you mean when I was first married or after? When I was living as a child do you mean?
INTERVIEWER: Mm-mm
MARY: We didn’t have cars. My daddy didn’t have a car.
INTERVIEWER: You didn’t have a car until after you were married?
MARY: Uh-uh.
INTERVIEWER: What was that like? Did a lot of people have cars before that?
MARY: Not out there in the country.
INTERVIEWER: Was it a Ford?
MARY: Um-mm
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever go to Public Landing when you were young?
MARY: Oh yes. I was a chaperone for a house party down there one time.
INTERVIEWER: A lot of kids went down there didn’t they when they were younger?
MARY: Yes, this time, course I was married then, and I was chaperoning. We used to have house parties down there for (unintelligible).
INTERVIEWER: How old were you when you got married?
MARY: Twenty-one.
INTERVIEWER: Was that considered late back then? A lot of them were married when they were fourteen and sixteen.
MARY: Yea. That was late enough. I was last to be married in the area.
INTERVIEWER: How about Red Hills? Have you ever heard of Red Hills?
MARY: Oh yes. I used to go down there and go in wading.
INTERVIEWER: Was that a popular place back then?
MARY: Yes, very popular.
INTERVIEWER: How about Assateague? Did you go to Assateague?
MARY: No. I’ve been there but I hadn’t been there before I was married.
INTERVIEWER: How about Pocomoke River? Did you ever hear any stories about it when you were younger?
MARY: Oh yes. I went skating on that one time. It froze over one winter. That was in, I think it was 1912 or something like that. But it’s never been frozen over enough since then for anyone to go skating on it.
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever go swimming in it or anything?
MARY: Not in the Pocomoke River.
INTERVIEWER: How about the shipyards? Did you ever go to the shipyards?
MARY: Well Mr. Jimmy Tull had shipyards which employed quite a few people.
INTERVIEWER: Was that one of the biggest employers around here?
MARY: Uh-huh.
INTERVIEWER: Do you know of any legends or superstitions about Pocomoke or the river?
MARY: I know some superstitions one of my aunts gave me, but I don’t know anything about the river.
INTERVIEWER: How about any storms or hurricanes or anything like that?
MARY: Well, when I was child, I don’t think we had hurricanes. We had thunderstorms and all that.
INTERVIEWER: Wasn’t there a big storm that came, it’s been a while back and it really messed up Ocean City?
MARY: Hazel. That was called Hazel.
INTERVIEWER: It was before that. What kind of music did you listen to?
MARY: Piano and organ.
INTERVIEWER: Did you have a radio that you listened to?
MARY: No, not in my childhood days.
INTERVIEWER: How about any bands that played at dances or anything like that?
MARY: Well my favorite, do you have anything on there about the Pocomoke Fair?
INTERVIEWER: That’s the next question.
MARY: That was my favorite music. It was the first time I ever heard Hawaiian music and oh, it just thrilled me so, and I have liked it ever since.
INTERVIEWER: What did you do at the fair? I mean, what was it like?
MARY: Just walked around. And I used to go on the merry go round. I just loved that.
INTERVIEWER: How about, was there a lot of booths with homemade baked goods.
MARY: Yes, I went around and looked at all the food.
INTERVIEWER: Did a lot of people come from different places?
MARY: Yes. Pocomoke Fair was quite an event in those days.
INTERVIEWER: What was the population of where you lived? How many people do you think were there?
MARY: Do you mean when I lived on the farm? You see, I was raised on a farm.
INTERVIEWER: Were there a lot of houses surrounding your farm?
MARY: No. We lived there near the church and we had an uncle lived across the road from us. It wasn’t very populated very much.
INTERVIEWER: How large was your farm?
MARY: Well it’s still there. I’ll have to call up and see.
INTERVIEWER: Have you lived in Pocomoke all of your life?
MARY: No. I told someone I was born and bred and wooed and won at Quinton at the same house.
INTERVIEWER: But did you move anywhere else?
MARY: Then when we were married, we moved to Baltimore and we lived there for a while, and then we moved back to Pocomoke. Then we went to Baltimore again, and in 1933 we moved back to Pocomoke from Hagerstown and I’ve been here ever since.
INTERVIEWER: Was it a big change going from Pocomoke to Baltimore?
MARY: Oh yes. I would rather live in Baltimore than anyplace I’ve ever lived.
INTERVIEWER: When you were married, what was it like when you were married? Did you have big weddings?
MARY: No, I was married at home.
INTERVIEWER: Were a lot of people married like that? At home?
MARY: Uh-huh.
INTERVIEWER: You didn’t go down to the church and get married?
MARY: Uh-uh.
INTERVIEWER: Did the church have a lot of activities or did you just go there on Sundays?
MARY: We had summer school and we used to have festivals, they called it, out at Quinton, once a year.
INTERVIEWER: What did you do at these festivals?
MARY: They just sold ice cream and cake.
INTERVIEWER: Was it anything like the Pocomoke Fair?
MARY: No.
INTERVIEWER: Just small?
MARY: Just, I don’t think that’s worth recording (laughs). I’ll be criticized for that.
INTERVIEWER: Is there anything else that you want to say?
MARY: Well you don’t even have my husbands name on there anywhere do you?
INTERVIEWER: It’s Clarence.
MARY: Uh-huh. Clarence E Duncan. We had one son, Wilson, you know him. Did you have him as a teacher?
INTERVIEWER: No, I know he taught at school.