Clayville, Virginia S. (1910-1992)&Clayville, George W. (1906-1995) |
Worcester County Library: Local History and Genealogy Collection, Snow Hill Branch, Snow Hill, MD
|
Interviewee: |
Virginia Shockley Clayville (1910-1992) & George William Clayville (1906-1995) |
| Interviewer: | Alvin West |
| Date of interview: |
1982 April 13 |
| Length of interview: | 40 minutes |
| Transcribed by: | Lisa Baylous, Worcester County Library |
| Preferred Citation: |
“Name, Oral History Collection, Date of Interview, Worcester County Library, Snow Hill Branch, Snow Hill, Maryland.” |
Topical Terms:
Farming
Snow Hill (Md.)—History
Transportation
Worcester County (Md.)—History
Worcester County (Md.)—Social life and customs
Worcester County (Md.)—Women’s History
Location Terms:
Snow Hill (Md.)
Worcester County (Md.)
Interview Begin
INTERVIEWER: April 13, 1982. Ok. Can you tell me your name, please?
VIRGINIA: Um, Virginia Shockley Clayville.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. Can you tell me your name, sir?
GEORGE: George Clayville
VIRGINIA: Put the William in there. (Laughter) George William.
INTERVIEWER: Um…Could you tell me when you were born?
VIRGINIA: Yes. January the 12, 1910.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. And you, sir?
VIRGINIA & GEORGE: August the 4, 1906.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. Um, where you born at home?
VIRGINIA: Yes.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. Um, could you tell me your parent’s names?
VIRGINIA: Yes. Earnest Lee Shockley and (Lolly Cumming) Shockley.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. And your husband’s parent’s names?
VIRGINIA: William Isaak Clayville and (Effie) Dennis Clayville.
INTERVIEWER: Were you raised by your parents?
VIRGINIA: Yes.
INTERVIEWER: Or by another relative?
VIRGINIA: Yes. By my parents.
INTERVIEWER: And—
VIRGINIA: And we didn’t have babysitters.
INTERVIEWER: (Laughing)
VIRGINIA: I went everywhere my father and mother went. I don’t remember being, having a babysitter.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. Could you tell me the names of your brothers and sisters?
VIRGINIA: Yes. Uh, my brother was about 3 years older than I was and he was Earnest Clifton Shockley. And my sister was nearly 8 years younger and that was (unintelligible) Estelle Shockley Dennis, she is now.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. Now about your husband’s brothers and sisters?
VIRGINIA: Well most of them are dead. You don’t want all, do you?
INTERVIEWER: If you could tell me…
VIRGINIA: I can’t tell you all (unintelligible) unless I get the Bible to tell you their births and deaths and all. But, you had, uh—
GEORGE: (unintelligible)
VIRGINIA: Four. Let’s see. Marie, Laura, Amanda. You had 3 sisters. And it was you, and James, and Ralph, and then 1 died. Uh, Edward.
GEORGE: (unintelligible)
INTERVIEWER: Ok. What did your parents do for a living?
VIRGINIA: Farming and, uh, drove mules, hauling timber, I guess. I don’t know what you call it. Uh…mill work, I guess. It wasn’t exactly mill work, either, but, uh. Most of it was hauling these pilings. These log pilings, you know.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. What did your parents do, sir?
GEORGE: Farming.
INTERVIEWER: OK. Um, where did you live when you were born?
VIRGINIA: Just a mile down the road.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. And you, sir?
VIRGINIA: Near Whiton.
GEORGE: Yes. (Unintelligible)
VIRGINIA: A mile form Whiton on this side.
INTERVIEWER: Ok, um. Did you go to school?
VIRGINIA: Yeah.
INTERVIEWER: How old were you when you started school? Do you remember?
VIRGINIA: Well, you know, we had country teachers, uh. They were (home) people and they let you go a little earlier. So I started when I was, I think, the last part of when I was 5. The last part of that year. I went with my brother a few days to get used to it, so.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. And you went, did you, went up to the eleventh grade?
VIRGINIA: Yeah. Went all through high school.
INTERVIEWER: Did you go on to college?
VIRGINIA: No.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. Did you go to college? Or did you go to school?
GEORGE: No.
VIRGINIA: He didn’t go to high school. He was the oldest boy in the family and he had to help Dad work for the rest of them.
INTERVIEWER: Could you, um, tell me about the salary your parents made farming, and stuff?
VIRGINIA: No. You know you can’t tell what a farmer makes. One year you can’t count on it for the next, even.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. Um, when were you married?
VIRGINIA: 1928. February the eleventh.
INTERVIEWER: How old were you when you were married?
VIRGINIA: 18.
INTERVIEWER: Do you have any memorable experiences from your schooling? Things that really stick out in your mind?
VIRGINIA: School?
INTERVIEWER: Yeah.
VIRGINIA: I haven’t had time to think about that. I don’t know…No. I can’t think of anything. Especially (unintelligible). (LAUGHING) (Unintelligible).
INTERVIEWER: Ok.
VIRGINIA: Might think of and have to come back to it.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. How many children do you have?
VIRGINIA: Just one.
INTERVIEWER: Just one…Were your parents very religious?
VIRGINIA: Well, not Methodists. We were, were ordinary Methodists. We went to church as often as they had services. The country churches just had them every two weeks in each church because there was four churches on the (charge). And the preacher would preach at two churches one Sunday, and two the next.
INTERVIEWER: Ok.
VIRGINIA: Yes. They, they believed in religion (unintelligible), but they’re not as devout as, I believe, as some religions are, maybe. I don’t know.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. Can—
VIRGINIA: They taught us right from wrong.
INTERVIEWER: Could you explain some of the events that you did in church?
VIRGINIA: Yes. ‘Course the men sat on one side, and the ladies, on the other. And, uh, the Sunday school classes, they probably had about 4. They put one in each corner of the church, and, uh. What else (unintelligible)? That was about it. Just, just Sunday school and preaching. And, oh, they had, uh, revival services two weeks, every. During the wintertime, when the farmers weren’t so busy, they had those, and.
INTERVIEWER: Did you go into Snow Hill very often?
VIRGINIA: Um, well, more than some people did. We (lived) too far away and (COUGH). I, I went every time my mother did. She always took us with her, and. But, my daddy used to go in between. In fact, he didn’t shave himself. He’d go twice a week to get shaved, and, uh. That’s enough there. You’ll probably ask some more questions (unintelligible).
INTERVIEWER: Do you have any memorable events that took place in the town you used to like to go to and see?
VIRGINIA: Yes! We could go to the movies for a dime!
INTERVIEWER: (CHUCKLE)
VIRGINIA: And, um, there wasn’t but one block in Snow Hill, you know. And we’d come out and on the (Promenade Ground), that block. The Colored People were down towards the bridge, and we were, the White People, were up around the next block.
INTERVIEWER: Did you visit other towns in Worcester County very often?
VIRGINIA: Not too often. Are you going to ask about travel? I guess you are. I’ll wait for that later. Alright.
INTERVIEWER: With the voting, did you vote in Snow Hill or did they have a place where you could vote out-of-town?
VIRGINIA: Vote?
INTERVIEWER: Yeah. For elections.
VIRGINIA: Ah, we were (unintelligible) in two and we went to Snow Hill.
INTERVIEWER: Ok.
VIRGINIA: Now, they had one down the road. About a mile back here. But that wasn’t our district (unintelligible).
INTERVIEWER: Could you explain the transportation your parents used to get around?
VIRGINIA: Yes! We had the first that I remember, we had a buggy which is open top. Open. And our carriage, that was really our Sunday travel, stayed in the shed, just like a garage. Only, it was covered up with a big canvas, er, (ducking), or whatever, to keep the dust off. And, uh, ‘course there was only four of us, then, when we had that, and. My dad was right large, and we all (couldn’t) get on the seat. Some of us would find an old box or stool and (unintelligible). In 1916, I was six years old. We got our first car from (unintelligible) Perdue in Snow Hill. Ford.
GEORGE: (unintelligible). That was a real car that time, though.
VIRGINIA: Huh?
GEORGE: That was a real car, then.
VIRGINIA: Yeah. Oh, boy!
GEORGE: (unintelligible)
VIRGINIA: And, uh, maybe a couple, three years after that, Papa would decide that he, uh, couldn’t keep that lookin’ good enough, so he got a Chevrolet Se-dan. Oh, boy! That was something! He didn’t have to stop and put the side (curtains) on if it rains, you know. And, uh, he had that covered up with a cover, too. He was real particular about it, and. ‘Cause if we went the first Saturday, the first Thursday in August was Farmer’s Day, or Forester’s Day, they called it, to Public Landing. And it was bound to rain that afternoon. Be a thundershower. And there was two pieces of woods down that way. One before you got to Spence and one afterwards. That was awful muddy. And it would be pouring rain and we’d think. Some people were stuck in the mud and stop to put on side curtains. And you get wet putting them on, and. (Laughter). We thought the Se-dan was really something when we got that four-door.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. Could you tell me about your first car?
GEORGE: It was a Ford, too.
INTERVIEWER: (unintelligible)
VIRGINIA: It was an A, wasn’t it? Model A or T?
GEORGE: Huh?
VIRGINIA: Was it A or T? Model T?
GEORGE: (unintelligible) A
VIRGINIA: A?
GEORGE: (unintelligible) Model T
VIRGINIA: Well, who bought it?
GEORGE: I couldn’t tell ya. (Unintelligible). T.
VIRGINIA: You and your brother?
GEORGE: Yeah. Yeah.
VIRGINIA: Jim and you
GEORGE: Yeah.
INTERVIEWER: How old were you when you got that? Your first car?
VIRGINIA: Oh, he was steppin’ out! You were what, eighteen or nineteen?
GEORGE: Right around nineteen, I imagine.
INTERVIEWER: How old was your brother?
GEORGE: Two years younger than me.
INTERVIEWER: Ok, um. Do you remember the first paved roads they had around here?
VIRGINIA: Paved? Yes! My lane! The first one I remember. The Mile Lane, we called it.
INTERVIEWER: Ok.
VIRGINIA: And then they (built) in on out this way, and then stopped it by (unintelligible) which was a mile and three quarters, I think they (added) at that time. And then the year after I graduated, that was ‘27. They, uh (buzzing noise) gone down to the branch farther that way.
INTERVIEWER: What kind of foods did your parents eat when you were younger?
VIRGINIA: Kind of what?
INTERVIEWER: Foods.
VIRGINIA: Oh! Ham out of the smokehouse and spare ribs we always pickled in a (brine) so they’d keep. The flies couldn’t get to them, and, uh. Well, meat and potatoes you had every day! But, uh, your chickens? Well, you just raised what you could. You didn’t have incubators, or we didn’t. Anyway, the old hen would just lay her setting of eggs and sat on (them) for three weeks for them to hatch. Then, it took about twenty to twenty-four weeks for them to get big enough to fry. And it was, uh. You did well if you had fried chicken by the fourth of July. And, uh, during the winter, it was meat and potatoes. And…
GEORGE: Them hogs! Good gosh! They weighed 500 pounds!
VIRGINIA: Hot biscuits. There wasn’t, there wasn’t light bread everywhere.
GEORGE: (unintelligible)
INTERVIEWER: Did you have a particular favorite kind of food that you liked?
VIRGINIA: Yes. Yes, uh. We had plenty of milk. Had our cows. I begun milking when I was four years old. And I thought that was a big deal. But when I got about eight, it wasn’t so nice, you know. Always want to do what you’re not big enough to do. But, we had plenty of milk. We had bread puddings and custards and ice cream. We had our ice cream freezer, and, uh. It was lots of good food then, too! We thought it was good, but it’s certainly different from now!
INTERVIEWER: Did you have a favorite food when you were younger?
GEORGE: A what?
INTERVIEWER: A favorite type of food? A favorite, a special dish that you liked to have?
GEORGE: (unintelligible)
VIRGINIA: No. What did you like to eat the best?
GEORGE: Oh, I don’t know. They were all good to me. I couldn’t tell you.
VIRGINIA: Cornbread?
GEORGE: Yeah.
VIRGINIA: Do you remember how your sister used to pull the crust off the top? By the time come dinnertime, she’d have half the crust off, eaten. (Laughing)
GEORGE: (Laughing)
INTERVIEWER: Ok. How were the foods preserved when you were younger?
VIRGINIA: Ah, we canned a little (at) when I was real small, I guess. And then, it got, we canned more later. But there was no way of freezing. Preserves were put in cans. Now, I don’t remember back when they kept them in stone jars. I’ve heard my mother talk about that. But she, Mama canned hers. But we made, uh. We made country butter. And, uh, Papa always took that in when he went Saturday afternoon to get his shave. And he took the Memorandum, and, uh, dealt it out. And if you had more than you, uh, spent, had more butter worth than you spent for groceries, uh, they gave you a “due bill”. They didn’t pay you (unintelligible) money. They gave you this little slip of paper that they still owed you so much, you know. Well, the next week, if you didn’t have much butter, or need any more things, well, you could use that, and, uh…
INTERVIEWER: Um, were your clothes mainly made by your mother or did you buy most of your clothing?
VIRGINIA: Clothes? She did, she did a lot of sewing. Ah, had to! ‘Cause we, butter and eggs didn’t buy all that you needed, and, uh. (Unintelligible) so, so much goods by the yard that people just made their own clothes. Ah, the ladies, anyway. The dresses and things. Now the men, (boys) suits, they bought more of.
INTERVIEWER: I see. Ok, um. With the protection, mainly of the town, did the cops come out to the outer limits of town very often? (Unintelligible)
VIRGINIA: No! Land! They just had one policeman walk the streets.
GEORGE: (unintelligible) daggone right!
VIRGINIA: Yeah. They only had one policeman. I can’t even think of his name, now. Uh, but…no trouble!
INTERVIEWER: Uh, ok. Was your family against Prohibition?
VIRGINIA: Yes. (Laughter)
INTERVIEWER: Was your family against Prohibition?
VIRGINIA: I don’t think you were, were you? As much as…Didn’t your dad used to get (unintelligible)?
GEORGE: Yeah
VIRGINIA: You remember that you said. My d—I don’t remember. No, I don’t think Papa did. (Papa), either.
GEORGE: (unintelligible) for Christmas. We never seen him drunk or nothing. Never did. But he (unintelligible). (Laughing)
VIRGINIA: He never offered any to you, did he?
GEORGE: No. Didn’t want it.
VIRGINIA: Offer to any to you?
GEORGE: (unintelligible) No. Didn’t want it.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. Could you tell me how The Depression hurt your family?
VIRGINIA: Yes. We were married in ’28 and, boy (we had) hit ‘til ’33.
GEORGE: ’32 you mean?
VIRGINIA: Huh?
GEORGE: You say what?
VIRGINIA: I said ’33. Was it ’32? When was The Depression? (Laughing)
INTERVIEWER: ’32.
VIRGINIA: Yes. Sold corn for thirty-five cents a bushel.
GEORGE: (unintelligible)
VIRGINIA: Now that took two bushel baskets full to make thirty-five cents.
INTERVIEWER: Um…
VIRGINIA: So, we started out the hard way. Some people say now, “well, you’re tight.” Well, we had to save then. And, and if you (unintelligible), it stays there. You just, and no matter what you’ve got, you’re not gonna throw it away.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. Where did you live when right after you got married?
VIRGINIA: Ah, we lived with his people nearly a year and then my grandmother Carmean lived in town, and, uh. She was by herself and we went there and stayed nearly a year. Then we came here. Been here fifty… fifty-two years.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. Could you tell me about some of the family remedies you had for sicknesses?
VIRGINIA: Family what?
INTERVIEWER: Remedies.
VIRGINIA: Well, I didn’t take turpentine. I heard people talk about using turpentine. Bu, we didn’t use that (unintelligible). And we didn’t use onions for cough syrup ‘cause my mother and father, one and the other, didn’t like that. We didn’t even grow them. Uh, we just had, yeah. (Unintelligible) Quinine pills. And I never did learn how to swallow them. I tried in preserved strawberries. I tried every way in the world, but it wouldn’t go down my throat. They were just as bitter as (unintelligible). They weren’t covered with any coating of anything. And, everybody else would take them for a bad cold, and I just. I tried everything. I couldn’t get them down. But, I can’t think of any old remedy.
INTERVIEWER: Do you remember any social class differences between the people who lived in the town and the people who lived out of town?
VIRGINIA: Yes. People (unintelligible). I think with those days that they left the farm, they go to town. They sit on the porch, you know. And they rocked. They thought they were bigger, or something, and, uh. ‘Cause they didn’t have the conveniences here that they did in town. And, uh, (unintelligible). I think the people in the country were, felt just as, uh…Well, just as big as they did, as far as that goes. But, uh, if they got so that they couldn’t work, well, then, they had to give it up to somebody else, then. And move out of it. (Unintelligible) And, there was something else I thought I was gonna (unintelligible). But, um… But nowadays, my goodness! You have just as much conveniences in the country as you can in town, and (unintelligible). If you live in town and can’t walk anywhere, (unintelligible) stores you can walk to to get anything. You got, you’re Justas bad off as you are (in here).
INTERVIEWER: Ok, um. Did you have any bad feelings about foreigners being, coming to Snow Hill from other countries, or just out-of-state people, or anything?
VIRGINIA: We didn’t have many foreigners that I knew about. Now, the Warrens moved back here in the forest. Do you know where that is? The Warrens?
INTERVIEWER: I (unintelligible)
VIRGINIA: It’s between here and Princess Anne and (unintelligible) Old Furnace Road. And they got sort of a (unintelligible).
GEORGE: (unintelligible)
VIRGINIA: Odd-looking house, but it’s convenient, I’m sure. And they all were teachers, and. I think they’re from Germany. And, uh, he was one of the first bus drivers, or whatever. He built a (unintelligible) first and hauled a few of his children into school, and, uh. (They) went to school with some of the others that taught. One son was in my class, John Warren. And, uh, they were about as foreign as we knew of, you know, then.
INTERVIEWER: Ok, um. Could you tell me of any of your experiences going to Ocean City?
VIRGINIA: Going to Ocean City?
INTERVIEWER: Yes. When you were younger?
VIRGINIA: Yes. See we didn’t, we didn’t drive to Ocean City, but we would, uh… Once a year, we’d go over and stay all night at Ocean City maybe (unintelligible) Hotel. They didn’t have many hotels there.
INTERVIEWER: Yeah.
VIRGINIA: And the colored fella that worked for us would take us across to Porter’s Bridge over to Wesley Station. You know where that is? On Berlin Road? That, uh, cross where it crosses the railroad up there by?
INTERVIEWER: I think I know (unintelligible).
VIRGINIA: And, uh, (unintelligible) we get on the train and go, and he’d meet us back the next day. And, I couldn’t sleep good, hearing those waves a-roaring all night long, and excitement, I guess, or something. But, that was one thing we would do, was go to Ocean City. Then, after we got the cars, we’d go on Sunday afternoon. That’s when people dressed up to go to Ocean City. Wore their hat(s) and the best they had. Paraded up and down the boardwalk. And, you saw everybody you knew! Now, you can go, you’d be stay there a week and not see two people you know.
INTERVIEWER: Ok, um. Did you go swimming when you went to Ocean City?
VIRGINIA: Well, never learned to swim, but we went bathing. We went bathing and that’s when you had to hold on to the ropes. And the waves would get you down, and, uh. We’d go as a groups. We’d go as a club after it got bigger. And we’d go as a family unit and we’d carry our food and eat over there like that. Yeah, Ocean City was a big thing. Go to Ocean City then. Now, we don’t go once in…three years to go on the boardwalk. (Laughing.)
INTERVIEWER: Ok. Could you tell me about Forester’s Day?
VIRGINIA: Well…I can’t tell you. I can’t go back too far (unintelligible)…my mother talk about it, but, uh. They used to drive mules, wagons and things, but, I don’t remember going down there until we had a car. But, I guess we musta went in a buggy. I don’t know, carriage. But, uh, we’d go in bathing. And the people, when I was smaller, wore their stocking things. And, uh, you know, covered up! ‘Cause it was cotton. Usually, the bathing suits were, and. You were cold if you didn’t (unintelligible).
GEORGE: There’s plenty of them now needs covering up.
VIRGINIA: That’s right. (Laughing) But, uh, we. My going to the bay. We’d go there every two weeks, or something. Through the summer, and. That was a…But, Farmer’s Day. I, I remember they used to park all the way down there and the female horses along the side, and eating, and. Just a big day. It was just, just a crowd! You could hardly get through them! And of course, the boardwalk wasn’t near as wide as it is now. It wasn’t even half that wide. And, you’d have to watch close (or) you’d get pushed off. (Laughter).
INTERVIEWER: Ok. Do you have any memorable experiences with visiting the Fairgrounds in Pocomoke?
VIRGINIA: Yes. We used to go to the fair. That was…That was part of our summer. We’d go to the Pocomoke Fair. We’d go to Salisbury Fair. Papa liked horses, and he had a lot of mules, and, uh. And we’d, we’d go to the fair, and then, well, it was just fun, you know. Kids could walk around the Fairgrounds by themselves, and would get something. Whatever they want. And come back wherever their parents were, and, up in the grandstand, and, uh. It was just. We enjoyed that a lot. And we used to have church picnics. There was three of them: Nasawonga, (Mt. Olive) and (unintelligible). And the two fairs and the Public Landing. That, that really filled our summers. When we were working in the field (unintelligible) corn, we called it. Pulling out (unintelligible) corn, and all, we would talk about “when we get this done this week, then go so and so next week.” You know. Big time. And then they, they had a horse, a racetrack here in Snow Hill.
INTERVIEWER: Yes.
VIRGINIA: On Bay Road.
INTERVIEWER: Did, ah? Did you ever go watch many races?
VIRGINIA: Yeah! My daddy had a horse there.
I and VIRGINIA: Yeah.
INTERVIEWER: Did you participate in any of the races?
GEORGE: (unintelligible)
INTERVIEWER: Um, do you remember the circuses at the (unintelligible)?
VIRGINIA: Oh, yeah. We went to all them. Sit on the boards, benches, you know. Yep. We went to all them.
INTERVIEWER: Ok, um. Did you ever participate in any of the wars that we’ve been involved in?
SILENCE
INTERVIEWER: Ok, um. Were any of your family members ever involved in the Civil War?
GEORGE: Jim (unintelligible).
VIRGINIA: Who?
GEORGE: Brother, Jim (unintelligible).
VIRGINIA: Fought in the Civil War?
GEORGE: (unintelligible)
VIRGINIA: That was First, Second World War, too.
GEORGE: Yeah, yeah. You’re right.
VIRGINIA: But, he didn’t, uh. He got. Had trouble with, what was it? His ankle, or his knee, or something? And he couldn’t—
GEORGE: Yeah.
VIRGINIA: Stand.
INTERVIEWER: Ok.
VIRGINIA: (unintelligible). Our mailman was a German. Mr. Hartman, from Snow Hill. And, uh, he drove this little mail wagon, cart. They had one the other night on, uh, TV. Made me think of it. Just, just about that wide. Big enough for a man, wide enough for a man to sit in. And, he had his mail, and a little window here, and a little one here on this side. And, uh, drove a horse to it, of course, and, uh. And that didn’t last too long. And then we used to have the ice man that came around. Um, we didn’t have a refrigerator at first. We had, um. We used to drop the bucket down the well with anything in it to keep it cool. And, (unintelligible) put in the windmill after that, where it had the windmill. I wasn’t very old when we had the windmill, and the elec—Delco Electric (unintelligible). That’s your home electricity, and, uh. That was fun. (Unintelligible) But, you all had one in each room. One little (unintelligible), and, uh. The ice man would come through twice a week. And you’d buy this chunk of ice. And, you’d wrap it in newspaper so it wouldn’t melt much. And put it in your refrigerator. And how it kept things cold enough to keep them, I don’t know. But, it was a lot cooler than it was outside, anyway. So.
INTERVIEWER: How often did the mailman come?
VIRGINIA: Mailman? Oh, he came every day.
INTERVIEWER: Every day?
VIRGINIA: Every day. In fact, my mother’s brother was a mailman. But I, I don’t remember when he was (unintelligible) because he went back to North Carolina. And then we used, we had one year, I don’t know if we had any more than one year or not, of Community Show up. Have you heard of that? Up in the courthouse, in the courtroom. A Community Show. And it was more like, uh, the Farm and Home Show, or something, that they have Salisbury. There was food and (unintelligible) biscuits, and all of the things that people entered for prizes, and. That went over big. That was in 19-eight-18. ‘Cause my little sister was, well, she could walk, but she. Not much more than that, and, uh. Somebody had her, going around and showing her things, and she cried one of those little mound biscuits. They were so pretty. She wanted one. (Laughing) I remember that.
INTERVIEWER: Um, could you tell me some of the jobs you had to do when you were younger, around the house?
VIRGINIA: Yeah. Get up at four, four-thirty in the morning. Take your lantern and go to the barn and find your cow out in the pas—in the (pound). Maybe there was a dozen, or fourteen, or fifteen in there. But, you had to find the one you usually milk, and, uh. Sit down on a stool with a little gallon (paint) pail between your knees to milk in. And, after you got that done, you went back in, uh, helped your mother finish up (unintelligible). Then, while they were eating, I would maybe fry hotcakes for them, and I’d eat later. And, uh, help get the dishes done, the wood box filled up, (water) the chickens, maybe. All this before time to get ready to go to school. Nobody dressed, when they got up, to go to school. ‘Cause did you (unintelligible) smell like farm or cow barn, or something. So, you had to come in, change your clothes, go to school. When you come home, that’s the first thing you did, was get those clothes off, and, uh. I never was hungrier than I was when I come from school. Starved! And, uh. We would, uh, change our clothes, and (unintelligible). I know Mama used to have baked apples that I thought they were so good when we’d come home. They were smelling spicy, and, uh. I’d take a baked apple in each hand and go out across the field calling the cows. Get them up, ready to milk. And then, get the wood box filled again. And help with the dishes, and. We had something to do. I’ll tell you that now. And I’m not sorry for it because I see so many people now that would be so much better off if they did have something to do. (Laughter) Now, go tell him what you did.
INTERVIEWER: Yes.
GEORGE: I can’t think of nothin’.
VIRGINIA: Oh, you (unintelligible) the mules in the field. (Unintelligible)
GEORGE: (unintelligible)
VIRGINIA: We used to play Hide-and-Seek, and, we used to call it (Hucky Bucky Bewster). I don’t know if that’s the right word for it or not. But, that’s when we would hide some object, uh, a thimble or something small in the room. And, uh, it was a contest between the rest to see who could find (it). (SRATCHING NOISE) And, uh. (LONG PAUSE)
INTERVIEWER: Ok.
VIRGINIA: Tell about the (trees). No.
INTERVIEWER: Next question. Did your family go hunting very much?
VIRGINIA: Hunting?
INTERVIEWER: Yes.
VIRGINIA: Yes. We always had two rabbit dogs and at least one bird dog. And my daddy used to, loved to hunt on Saturdays, or, uh. And, they had to walk home. They’d leave home, walking with their dogs. They didn’t carry them. And, uh, we, we got a lot of rabbits and birds.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. Did you hunt when you were younger?
GEORGE: (unintelligible)
INTERVIEWER: Did you hunt? Do any hunting?
GEORGE: Go Saturday.
INTERVIEWER: How old were you when you first started going hunting?
GEORGE: (PAUSE) I don’t know.
VIRGINIA: (Probably) sixteen, I expect. You had a –
GEORGE: (unintelligible)
VIRGINIA: You had a special dog, Nellie? Bird dog?
GEORGE: Yeah. (Unintelligible)
VIRGINIA: Mm hmm.
GEORGE: Used to get (unintelligible). Boy, there ain’t no more around here, now. (Unintelligible)
VIRGINIA: We used to raise turkeys, too. When we were on the farm. It seemed like we had a thunderstorm every afternoon, and. Mama would say, “There’s a storm coming up! Go find that turkey!” And she was in the wheat field with wheat that tall. And, we would put a bell around her neck. When you got close to her, you’d hear it. (Unintelligible)
INTERVIEWER: One way to find her. Ok, um.
VIRGINIA: In the wintertime, when it was cold weather, and the farmers weren’t quite as busy, although they had to tend to all their stock, now. Well, they’d visit more. And my uncle and aunt used to come over, but twice a week to play dominoes with my father and mother. And they would laugh and have the biggest time while they were playing these games, (Hucky Bucky Bewster). And she’d say, “Virginia, bring me a, a drink. I’ll treat ya.” So, I would go get her a drink, and bring it back. She’d thank me. That was it. And, uh, I thought. She’d do it every time, nearly. And, I thought, well, I don’t believe she’s ever gonna give me a treat. So, I give up. One day, I, maybe ten years later, or twenty years later, I heard her say to her granddaughter, “Bring me a drink of water. I’ll treat you.” I says, “My, Aunt (unintelligible)! Don’t ever promise anybody a treat no more! I’ve been waiting for mine all these years that you used to promise me when I would bring you a drink.” “You know you’re not!” she said. I said “Yes! I thought you meant it!” So, one day near Christmas, she brought this pretty fancy apron she’d made, and, uh, she said, “Now, Virginia, this is not your Christmas present. This is your treat. I don’t want to feel that I still owe you for that treat. I never even thought about it. I didn’t think you did, either. I just, that was just my way of saying things.”
INTERVIEWER: Um.
VIRGINIA: Seems like twenty-five
INTERVIEWER: (LAUGHING)
GEORGE: (unintelligible) Down the road, further.
VIRGINIA: Before you get to (Whiton). That little branch.
GEORGE: Yup.
VIRGINIA: He lived there, by it. In back of it, somewhere, there.
GEORGE: (unintelligible) Chicken houses right up in the field.
VIRGINIA: (unintelligible) Chicken houses.
INTERVIEWER: Did you help to do stuff at this place? Did you help?
VIRGINIA: Did you help grind the corn , or anything?
GEORGE: No. (Unintelligible)
VIRGINIA: You were too small.
GEORGE: Yeah, yeah. I wadn’t but a (baby).
VIRGINIA: I don’t remember that (unintelligible).
GEORGE: (unintelligible)…nine years old.
VIRGINIA: But, he run the gristmill. They brought, uh, corn, or…Did they bring wheat, too? Or just corn?
GEORGE: Corn, I think. (Unintelligible) (STILL TALKING WHILE HIS WIFE IS TALKING—HARD TO HEAR WHAT HE IS SAYING).
VIRGINIA: He ground it through the water that went through there, I guess. Didn’t he?
GEORGE: Yeah, (unintelligible) wheel.
VIRGINIA: Water wheel. And he ground it.
GEORGE: (unintelligible)
VIRGINIA: What about? What can you remember?
GEORGE: (unintelligible) beef cattle. (Unintelligible) Trying to get them all fattened, you know. Then turn around and (unintelligible).
VIRGINIA: (unintelligible) the storekeepers, huh?
GEORGE: I’ve done that may a times.
INTERVIEWER: What was some of the things you had to do in this process?
GEORGE: (unintelligible)
INTERVIEWER: No.
VIRGINIA: What did you have to do to kill them?
GEORGE: Just (unintelligible) a .22 riffle, pistol, or…(unintelligible).
VIRGINIA: Shin them?
GEORGE: Just like that (unintelligible). And we done that may a days (unintelligible)
VIRGINIA: And your daddy used to kill hogs for people? When it come hog-killing time in December, he’d kill every day. One for one person or another. And George went with him.
GEORGE: He told me, he said, uh, “(unintelligible) learned after me.” And, uh, I said, “When I get to be a man, I won’t do it.” (Unintelligible). I was gettin’ tired (unintelligible). Lord-a-mercy! (Unintelligible) back at it, too.
VIRGINIA: And you loved it! You just loved to do it!
GEORGE: Yeah. (Unintelligible)…have it dressed and ready (unintelligible)…(many a day) her dad (unintelligible) cut wheat and when it come quitting time (unintelligible). Quit (unintelligible) six o’clock (unintelligible). What’d he say?
VIRGINIA: Said he wouldn’t do that.
GEORGE: He wouldn’t do that (unintelligible).
VIRGINIA: (unintelligible)
GEORGE: (unintelligible). You got yours, I got mine.
(LAUGHTER)
GEORGE: He laughed. (LAUGHTER) I killed (unintelligible) many of times. (Unintelligible). It don’t take no time (unintelligible).
VIRGINIA: (That) time that used to, um, before you got the car, you’d go to Whiton Store. That’s where everybody went, to Country Store. Every night? Didn’t he? Nearly?
GEORGE: (unintelligible)
VIRGINIA: If you weren’t too tired?
GEORGE: (unintelligible). Didn’t have no car.
VIRGINIA: You walked.
GEORGE: (unintelligible)
VIRGINIA: Sometimes, you’d see a ghost?
GEORGE: Huh?
VIRGINIA: Sometimes, you’d see a ghost?
GEORGE: Yeah.
VIRGINIA: See a light on cemetery or see a light on up over the trees?
GEORGE: You know all about it.
VIRGINIA: But you never found out what it was.
GEORGE: (unintelligible)
VIRGINIA: Yeah, (unintelligible). (TALKING OVER GEORGE)…ghost, if you find out what they are.
GEORGE: (unintelligible)
VIRGINIA: From that light that far away?
GEORGE: From that light that far off. (Unintelligible) bright. (Unintelligible) just a blaze.
VIRGINIA: Well, it had to be on a tombstone.
GEORGE: (unintelligible) brother. He’s seen that. (Unintelligible). (Unintelligible) killing hogs (unintelligible). Started in, uh, and, uh (unintelligible) Saturday night. (Unintelligible) every morning. (unintelligible) a piece of meat (unintelligible).
VIRGINIA: (unintelligible)
GEORGE: Yeah, (unintelligible). I’ve got one out there (in the meat house, now).
VIRGINIA: Yeah, we’ve got cured meat out there, now. We don’t (do) too much of it, but we might get one or two.
GEORGE: It’s good.
End of Interview