Oral History & Folklife Portal

Collins, Gertrude (1896-1989)

Copyright: Records are open for research. Copyright, including literary rights, belongs to the Worcester County Library. Permission to publish or reproduce must be obtained from the Worcester County Library which extends beyond “fair use”.

Worcester County Library: Local History and Genealogy Collection, Snow Hill Branch, Snow Hill, MD

Interviewee:	Gertrude Collins (1896-1989)
Interviewer:	Katherine Fisher
Date of interview:	1981 January 30
Length of interview:	1 hour, 53 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.”

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Keywords

Topical Terms:

Cooking

Education

School

Slavery

Transportation

Women’s History

Worcester County (Md.)—History

Worcester County (Md.)—Social life and customs

Worcester County (Md.)—Women’s History

Corporate Terms:

Beacom Business College

Box Iron School

The First National Bank

Franklin School

Location Terms:

Mount Ephraim (Md.)

Public Landing (Md.)

Snow Hill (Md.)

Worcester County (Md.)

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Audio

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Transcript

INTERVIEW BEGIN:

Interviewer:  January 30^th, and this is an interview with Gertrude Truitt Collins in her house.  Alright.  Now, I’m gonna set this down here.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) of course.  Mount Ephraim means a lot to me.

Interviewer:  Alright.  Now, Mount Ephraim, and we have to say things on here to tell people (unintelligible).  That’s located in what?  Public Landing now?

Gertrude:  Near Public Landing.

Interviewer:  Alright.  Um, when were you born?  If you don’t mind us knowing how old you are.

Gertrude:  1896.

Interviewer:  Ok.  Which makes you—eighty-four?

Gertrude:  Eighty-four.

Interviewer:  You’ll be eighty-five this year?

Gertrude:  Eighty-four years old.

Interviewer:  Oh, my dear!  So, you have lots of memories?

Gertrude:  Yes, I have lots of memories.

Interviewer:  Ok.  Um, where…You were born at Mount Ephraim.

Interviewer:  Um, what did your parents do?  Were they, um—

Gertrude:  My mother and father were farmers.

Interviewer:  Alright.  Did they, um, did they raise everything—

Gertrude:  Oh, yes!

Interviewer:  --that you all used?

Gertrude:  Papa raised corn and, uh, potatoes and wheat.

Interviewer:  Wheat?

Gertrude:  Wheat.  Oh, yes!  He had a big old field.

Interviewer:  Oh, for goodness—I didn’t—

Gertrude:  Yes.  He raised, he raised wheat.  You see, in those days, they didn’t have soya beans.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  Soya beans had just come in (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  But, there wasn’t anything.  And then, he always had a late tomato, potato crop.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And they were called Irish potatoes.

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  White potatoes.

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  Irish potatoes.

Interviewer:  Irish potatoes.

Gertrude:  And, they made him, they were very profitable for him.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  A late crop are what they call Irish potatoes.

Interviewer:  Did he ship them—

Gertrude:  Oh, yeah.

Interviewer:  --out?

Gertrude:  He sold those (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, you know, they carried to the market—

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  --and, and shipped.  And, he made a lot of money on those late potatoes.

Interviewer:  I’ll be darned!

Gertrude:  Now, they were dead in, before the frost in September.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  Uh huh.  They were planted in July.

Interviewer:  Goodness!  I would never, I never thought about planting potatoes then.

Gertrude:  Uh, he would save the skin.

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  And, in Mount Ephraim, there were the big cellars—

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  --which, there still is—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --under the house.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, he would put his (unintelligible) potatoes in that cellar.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And then, it was, uh…As a little girl, it was one of my jobs to rub the sprouts off.  And, I had a sister, just two years younger than I.

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  Because we weren’t allowed to cut the potatoes because we, they, they had to have so many eyes on them—

Interviewer:  Yeah.

Gertrude:  Nowadays, you see them cut by machines.

Interviewer:  Yes, they do.

Gertrude:  But, they had to be cut by hand and my mother and older sisters did that while the men were planting them.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, they were planted with a plow.  They plowed the, they plowed the, uh, (unintelligible) and (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Uh huh.  Ok.  Now, did they use a horse?

Gertrude:  They used a horse. Horse-drawn plows.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, they were planted by them.  But, my, uh, father and brother and the…they always kept a lot of colored people.  We always had—

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  --at least two.

Interviewer:  Alright.  To help?

Gertrude:  To help on the farm all the time.  And in planting season, we had more.

Interviewer:  Alright.  Now, did the, um, the colored help that you had, did they live on the farm of did they live near there and come—

Gertrude:  Well—

Interviewer:  --when you needed help.

Gertrude:  --they, um, we did, we had tenant houses on the farm.  There was two tenant houses on the farm and, uh, they lived in that.  And then, we always kept one man, uh, at the house, and he—

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  --there’s a little room over the kitchen.  He had his bedroom over the kitchen.

Interviewer:  Oh, ok.

Gertrude:  I appreciate your (unintelligible). (LAUGHTER)

Interviewer:  That was something!  Uh, now, who…Just so we will have it, who were, what was your mother’s maiden name?

Gertrude:  My mother’s name, maiden name was Lydia Jester.

Interviewer:  Jester.

Gertrude:  Lydia Jester.

Interviewer:  And, you had—

Gertrude:  And (unintelligible) had, uh, five sisters.

Interviewer:  Five?

Gertrude:  Four sisters.

Interviewer:  Oh, my dear!

Gertrude:  Four sisters and a brother.

Interviewer:  Ok.  That—

Gertrude:  Four sisters and one brother.

Interviewer:  And, you all helped out—

Gertrude:  Oh, yes!

Interviewer:  --on the farm?

Gertrude:  Yes.  We all worked on the farm until we got big enough to go away to—

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  --college.  We (unintelligible) to school.

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  My oldest sister went away (unintelligible) trained nurse.

Interviewer:  (unintelligible)

Gertrude:  She was the second class at Peninsula General Hospital when that started.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) Salisbury.

Interviewer:  Yeah.

Gertrude:  She (unintelligible) in the second—

Interviewer:  Second class.  Goodness!

Gertrude:  And, uh, then, uh, my, uh, old sister, one of my sisters, stayed home with my father and mother and, uh, my, one of the sisters was a school teacher in Worcester County for a good many of years.

Interviewer:  Oh, my goodness!

Gertrude:  And then, she later took a business course—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And then, she came back to Snow Hill and she would (unintelligible) register wills for Worcester County—

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  --for (unintelligible) years.

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) Frances.

Interviewer:  Frances?

Gertrude:  Frances.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And then, I had a sister 2 years younger than I.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And, uh, we children all went to the country school.

Interviewer:  Alright.  Now, where was that?

Gertrude:  That was about, well, it was out to the county road, what they call a county road.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) county road, now.

Interviewer:  Alright.  So, the road—

Gertrude:  From, uh—

Interviewer:  Public Landing?

Gertrude:  No.  It went around in back of Public Landing.  Around back (unintelligible).  By Connors—

Interviewer:  Alright.  (Unintelligible)

Gertrude:  Uh huh.  Connor’s Church.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  Down near the seaside, see.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And, the road is still there—

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  --and very well kept.  And, they had a little school.  (Unintelligible) one-room school, first, and then, a two-room school called Franklin School.

Interviewer:  Well, I have never heard of that!

Gertrude:  Franklin School.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, we children all walked from Mount Ephraim—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --and that was a two mile walk.

Interviewer:   Oh, my dear!

Gertrude:  And, we went to school at that school.  All of us started there.

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  And, of course, in those days, my mother most always kept the teacher of the school.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  She boarded with us.

Interviewer:  Oh, my!

Gertrude:  And, we walked to school.

Interviewer:  And the teacher walked, too?

Gertrude:  Huh?

Interviewer:  Did, would the teacher walk (unintelligible)?

Gertrude:  Oh, yes!  The teacher walked, too.

Interviewer:  Who was the…Do you remember any of your teachers—

Gertrude:  Well—

Interviewer:  --that were there?

Gertrude:  The first one that I can remember was Miss (unintelligible) Bonneville.

Interviewer:  Alright. (Unintelligible)

Gertrude:  And, the second teacher I can remember was, uh, Miss (unintelligible) (Davis).

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, the third one that I can remember is, was, uh, Mrs. (Elton) Johnson.

Interviewer:  (unintelligible)

Gertrude:  She was from Girdletree.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, that was through my going to school.  Now, uh, my old, my old, my sister was a nurse.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And went through the seventh grade.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And then, she went in training from that time on.

Interviewer:  Oh, for goodness sakes!

Gertrude:  Uh huh.  She went (unintelligible) as a nurse.

Interviewer:  As a nurse (unintelligible).

Gertrude:  And, (unintelligible) went on to Snow Hill and graduated there—

Interviewer:  Oh, my!

Gertrude:  --to be a teacher.  And, after they got (unintelligible).  Well, then there was a school at Boxiron.

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  Yeah.  Two-room school.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  The teacher there was, um, Miss, uh, (unintelligible) Mrs. Mary (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  And, Miss Lucy Stagg.

Interviewer:  (unintelligible)

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) and at Franklin School, they only had up to the seventh grade.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  And then, uh, when I got through the seventh grade there—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  -- (Unintelligible) especially for my younger sister (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And then, uh, we drove to Boxiron School.

Interviewer:  My goodness!

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) went to Boxiron.

Interviewer:  (unintelligible)

Gertrude:  That was about five miles (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Ok.  Well, what time did you leave home in the morning—?

Gertrude:  (unintelligible)

Interviewer:  That took quite long.  Didn’t it?

Gertrude:  Well, we would leave home by eight o’clock.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  But, you know, on a farm, they get up early, anyway.

Interviewer:  Right.

(LAUGHTER)

Interviewer:  So, you were ready (unintelligible).

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) on the farm, you started at half past five—

Interviewer:  Oh, my goodness!

Gertrude:  --and six o’clock in the morning.

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  At half past five and six in the morning, by daylight, you were on the road.  (LAUGHING)

Interviewer:  Ok.  I’m glad that’s changed!

(LAUGHTER)

Gertrude:  Me too.  And, we’d go there for two years.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And then, when I went, when I got through there, I went to Salisbury to the Beacom Business College.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude: And, it was (hard).  It was right exactly over where Avery Hall—

Interviewer:  Yes!

Gertrude:  --has his insurance place.

Interviewer:  My goodness!  I didn’t even realize Goldey Beacom had a place there.

Gertrude:  Mm hmm.

Interviewer:  Isn’t that something!

Gertrude:  And, at that time, all of that land down there in back of the courthouse—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --was in water. 

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  (Unintelligible) it was, it was, uh—

Interviewer:  Mill pond?

Gertrude:  --mill pond down there.  None of that, the (unintelligible) were there.  But, all in back of that—

Interviewer:  Just water—

Gertrude:  --it was a great big water pond—

Interviewer:  Oh, my!

Gertrude:  --then, underneath the railroad.  And that, that was when I went to school.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, I was there two years—

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  --and I graduated and I went, my first job was in Temperanceville, Virginia (unintelligible) school. 

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  Now, my younger sister went on and finished her higher education at (unintelligible) Snow Hill.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And then, her first job, I think, was (B and P) telephone Company in Salisbury.

Interviewer:  Alright. (Unintelligible) Now, when you went to school in Salisbury at Beacom Business College, did you board—

Gertrude:  (unintelligible)

Interviewer:  --with someone in Salisbury?

Gertrude:  Yes, I boarded.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  I had, um, I had two (unintelligible) there.

Interviewer:  Oh, ok.  Good.

Gertrude:  But, I went there by railroad.  There wasn’t any roads.  There wasn’t a way to drive.

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  I think there was a road (unintelligible) concrete—

Interviewer:  Yeah.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible)

Interviewer:  Yeah.

Gertrude:  I’m sure there was.  But, I used to have to go to Snow Hill and take the train and change trains in Berlin.

Interviewer:  Yes, you did!  Didn’t you?

Gertrude:  Mm hmm.

Interviewer:  Because Salisbury route doesn’t come this way.

Gertrude:  Huh uh.  And then, change trains in Berlin—

Interviewer:  Goodness!

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) Salisbury…Which was an all-day trip.

Interviewer:  It must have been!

Gertrude:  All day trip.

Interviewer:  Goodness, gracious!  Oh!  Now, um, let’s go back a minute to your younger days.  Going to school and the Franklin School.  Were there social events associated with your schooling?  Did they have, uh, parties or, uh, recitations, or anything that the families attended while you were in school?

Gertrude:  Well, uh, they had, um…I think at the end of the year, they had a little exercise (unintelligible).  But, uh, in those days, you studied—

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  --reading, writing, and arithmetic. (LAUGHTER) Especially spelling.  I can remember every Friday afternoon; they had spelling lessons.

Interviewer:  Did they, really?

Gertrude:  Yes!  Oh, boy! (Unintelligible) Of course, you know, we were all lined up against, all in a row—

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  We were all given words to spell.  And, when we missed one, we went to the (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Oh, my goodness! (LAUGHTER)

Gertrude:  And, I think, we had certain hours that we had to have to write.

Interviewer:  Ok.  You learned penmanship (unintelligible).

Gertrude:  Penmanship.  They had penmanship.  And they were very strict on their arithmetic.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  Of course, we learned all the different things—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --that they gave those days in arithmetic.

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  And, uh, and, of course, you know, when I started school, you had to know your ABCs.

Interviewer:  When you started?

Gertrude:  Oh, yes.  That was one of the first things we started—

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  Of course, most children had their mothers and fathers—

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  --taught them.

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  But, you had to know your ABCs.

Interviewer:  Isn’t that—

Gertrude:  And, uh, you had pocket books that you had to write—

Interviewer:  Practice in.

Gertrude:  --to practice to write.  And, you studied history.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, you studied geography.  And we had to name all the states—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And, we had to give the capitols of all of the states.

Interviewer:  Oh, ok.

Gertrude:  And, we had to give those states (unintelligible) what they were bordered on—

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  --the bays and rivers.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  I had, uh, I, in 1910—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --a (unintelligible) that I drew—

Interviewer:  Aww.  Isn’t that something?

Gertrude:  --of America.

Interviewer:  For goodness sake.

Gertrude:  And, uh, I wasn’t very much of an artist (unintelligible).

(LAUGHTER)

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) But, anyway, the efforts are there and it’s been saved through these years and I wouldn’t take anything in the world for it.

Interviewer:  Oh, no. (Unintelligible)

Gertrude:  It was framed, it was (unintelligible) framed and very, very valuable to me.

Interviewer:  Yes! (Unintelligible) Um, about how many children attended that school?

Gertrude:  Anywhere from, uh, thirty to forty.

Interviewer:  And just one teacher?

Gertrude:  Yes.  One teacher.  But, you see, the older boys, when it comes time to work on the farm, they had to go back home.  Or, uh (unintelligible) maybe December until March, they were in school.

Interviewer:  They were in school.  Ok.  That was the older boys?

Gertrude:  Mm hmm.  But, uh, the rest of the time, the rest of us went, uh, September to the last of May.

Interviewer:  Ok. (Unintelligible) Uh, what did you, um…Ok.  Describing Mount Ephraim, now, for people that don’t know about it, because it is a historic house—

Gertrude:  Mm hmm

Interviewer:  We might as well mention it (unintelligible).  What is the background of Mount Ephraim?  The house and the farm.  There’s some stories that go along with its history.

Gertrude:  My grandfather moved there from over around (unintelligible)—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  My grandfather Truitt.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  His name was Zedekiah

Interviewer:  Zedekiah?

Gertrude:  Zedekiah.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And he, and his wife was named Gertrude.

Interviewer:  Oh!  Well, then you’re named after her!

Gertrude:  I am the third generation.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And then, uh…My father was nine years old…

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And…the farm was owned by Father, my grandfather and my father for seventy-five years.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And there were seven hundred and fifty-some acres in (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  My!  That’s a good size!

Gertrude:  That went from the bay shore right to the county road.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude: Of course, I don’t know how many, uh acres (unintelligible) land and (unintelligible) timber land—

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  But, there was (unintelligible) a lot of timber on it.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, uh, when we, when, in my earliest reckon, (unintelligible) recollection, it, it didn’t look like it did now.

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  I have a picture of it up here.

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  Uh, I have a picture as I remember it—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --when I lived, as I remember the big (unintelligible)—

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  --and the (unintelligible) were there.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  But, across the end, next to the bay, not exactly next to the bay, but, on the end—

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  --there were the shed room on the other side.

Interviewer:  Oh!  Ok!

Gertrude:  And, in that shed room, there was a little sitting room on one end and a dining room on the other.

Interviewer:  Oh, for goodness sakes!

Gertrude:  And then, from that, there was a big old-fashioned kitchen (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Oh, my!

Gertrude:  Had a great big open fireplace in it.

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  And, of course, a woodstove.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And, of course, upstairs, there was a small room where the (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Ok.  Ok.  And then, the big house (unintelligible).

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) Uh, at the big house, uh, a big room, which my mother and father always slept in—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And then, there was a big hall—

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible)

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  My (unintelligible) the stairway (unintelligible).  A very pretty stairway—

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  And then, (unintelligible) was (unintelligible) bedroom—

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  --and that was my brother’s.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, on the end of that room, there was a big room.  We called it the parlor.

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  And, that room had an open fireplace.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And the (unintelligible), the mantle that is in the house now, was the (unintelligible) there when—

Interviewer:  Oh!  The same one?

Gertrude:  The same one.

Interviewer:  Aww!

Gertrude:  Now, uh, I do not know who, I, I think, I’m not sure of this—

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  --but, I think my father bought, my grandfather bought that from the Spence family.

Interviewer:  Alright.  That could be because they owned a great deal of land (unintelligible).

Gertrude:  Yes.  They owned a great deal of land and the Spence’s were very old people (unintelligible).  I mean they were, uh…I think they, I knew they lived there because there is a graveyard there.

Interviewer:  Oh, there is?

Gertrude:  And, several graves.

Interviewer:  Oh!  (Unintelligible)

Gertrude:  Uh, and they are Spence’s that are buried there.

Interviewer:  Alright.  (Unintelligible)

Gertrude:  (Unintelligible) The people who had kept the farm since we left there—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --had, have, uh, kept the graveyard.

Interviewer:  Yes.

Gertrude:  Now, when we were there, there was another graveyard there that my father never tilled.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And that was supposed to be the slave burying ground.

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  But, um, they now have put that into the farm.

Interviewer:  Alright.  (Unintelligible) there.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) not there anymore.

Interviewer:  (unintelligible)

Gertrude:  But, the, the old graveyard is there.

Interviewer:  Well, I didn’t realize that.

Gertrude:  The old graveyard is there.  And, uh, of course, we all know that that was Revolutionary (unintelligible) and stories been written about how the British tried to burn it.

Interviewer:  Right.  Ah, just…Would you mind just telling it again so we’ll have it on tape?

Gertrude:  Mm hmm.

Interviewer:  If you don’t mind telling that.

Gertrude:  Well, um, it, it, it (unintelligible) from the, I have the right of it (unintelligible)

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible), in fact, (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Yes. (Unintelligible)

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) It seems as though that the British, there was a, the, the, the bay down in (unintelligible)—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --was very deep.  You couldn’t bathe in that water.

Interviewer:  Oh, my goodness.

Gertrude:  Well, it was, it was, it was deep water.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) and there was a little point made out in the bay—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And, it seems as though that the British, and it was called British Point as long as I lived there.

Interviewer:  Oh!  Ok!  I didn’t know that!

Gertrude:  And, um, uh, and the story we have been told was that the British landed there—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --(unintelligible) and they came up—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --and then, the (unintelligible).  They sold everything that there was in the house.

Interviewer:  Oh, my dear.

Gertrude:  And, they set the house on fire—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  But, it seems as though they were (unintelligible) (being cooked).

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And the, in the fireplace.

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  And, they hid this, this iron pot.

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  And, after they left, the pot water, the, the, the (unintelligible)—

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  (unintelligible)—

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  --and burned the floor.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, when I can first remember—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  You could see where that was burned.

Interviewer:  Oh!  Alright! (Unintelligible)

Gertrude:  You could see on that floor where it was burned.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  Yes.  You could see where it was burned on the floor.  And then, on another time, the British landed there and the people that were living there—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --had a lot of slaves.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, (unintelligible) to the left of the house that went down to the bay.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And, he gave those slaves cornstalks.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  Cornstalks.

Interviewer:  Cornstalks?

Gertrude:  And, they marched them up and down that hill.

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  And, the British saw them and left.

Interviewer:  Thought they were a lot of people, didn’t they?

Gertrude:  A lot of people.  And they, they left.  So, the house was attacked twice (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Isn’t that something?  Well, that’s quite a history!  Isn’t it?

Gertrude:  It is quite a history!

Interviewer:  It is, indeed!  And the house still seems to be, well, the outside, anyway, in good shape, today.

Gertrude:  Well, the house, of course, after my father sold it in 1918, it, uh, deteriorated.  And, uh, of course, uh, nobody did too much for it after my father left, and finally, this Mr. Green who dug all those, uh, channels in that bay.

Interviewer:  Oh, yes!  Where the marina is?

Gertrude:  Uh huh.  Right along the marina.

Interviewer:  Yes.

Gertrude:  He bought it.

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  And then, uh, he just simply tore…the termites, of course, in that many years—

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  --that had gotten in the house.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  So, he tore all the interior out—

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  --and put steel beams in there, too.

Interviewer:  Oh!  To support it?

Gertrude:  Oh, yes!  To support those, that brick.

Interviewer:  I didn’t realize that.

Gertrude:  Yes.  And, of course, he changed the interior of the house.

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  Uh, one of the things that, uh, I was sorry that I wasn’t able to save…I went there and they offered it to me…in the corner of that sitting room—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --there was the most beautiful little corner cupboard.

Interviewer:  Aww!

Gertrude:  The top of it was beautiful carved (unintelligible) like the (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --and the lower part had, of course, doors.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And when I understood that the house was being torn up.  I went down—

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  --um, Mr. Green told me that if they were (unintelligible) salvage anything, (unintelligible) for me to have it.

Interviewer:  Aww!  Good!

Gertrude:  But, it was just (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Oh, was it?

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) box.

Interviewer:  Isn’t that a shame?

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) there was not enough for me to, to—

Interviewer:  To do anything with.

Gertrude:  --(unintelligible) I was always sorry about that—

Interviewer:  Yeah.

Gertrude:  --because, we, of course, had our own little old fashioned jars and vases that my mother had and things like that.

Interviewer:   Right.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) in that—

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  --in that, uh, corner cupboard.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And we, we were all very partial to our corner cupboard.  Maybe that’s where I got the love antiques.

Interviewer:  That, that must be it.

Gertrude:  Well, I’m quite sure that, that all my love of antiques and all my love for history—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --was because I was reared there.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And I, I would, and my favorite subject was history and geography.

Interviewer:  Oh, for goodness sakes!

Gertrude:  And, and I think that, that history is one of the things that—

Interviewer:  It really has stuck with you.  Hasn’t it?

Gertrude:  Stuck with me.

Interviewer:  It has, indeed.

Gertrude:  Still sticking with me. (LAUGHTER) as you know.

Interviewer:  Right. Right.  Um, now, I’ve got a couple questions.  You said, um…Where did you get your wheat ground into flour?  You said your father grew wheat.

Gertrude:  Oh, well, well, he sold the wheat.

Interviewer:  Ok.  He sold the wheat—

Gertrude:  Mm hmm.

Interviewer:  --as was.  Did he—

Gertrude:  Of course, (unintelligible).  He raised his corn.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  By then, in those days, of course, my father had at least twenty-five or thirty cattle.

Interviewer:  Oh, alright.

Gertrude:  And, there was a big lane, a big barn.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  A big lane that led to the marsh.

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  And, they were what you call “Marsh Cropper.”  They were not bred cattle like we have now.

Interviewer:  Oh!  Ok!

Gertrude:  But, he put those cattle, um, he raised, he had—

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  --calves—

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  --from those cattle to pay his taxes every year on the farm.

Interviewer:  Oh, really?  Oh, that’s neat! (Unintelligible)

Gertrude:  And, of course, a full many of those cattle had to be milked.

Interviewer:  Yes?

Gertrude:  And, believe me, I’ve milked a many a cow!

Interviewer:  Did you really?

Gertrude:  Yes, indeed!

Interviewer:  Oh, my goodness!

Gertrude:  They were (unintelligible) milked twice a day.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, maybe, we’d get a quart of milk, would be wonderful (unintelligible).

(LAUGHTER)

Gertrude:  In my first recollection, my mother had, um, and out back of that house, there was, um sort of, um, porch—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --uh, off the kitchen.  And there was a big, big deep well.  Brick well.

Interviewer:  Oh!  (Unintelligible)

Gertrude:  And, off of that, there was a bench in, built between that on the, the house where she kept her, well, I think she might have called it the butter and milk house.

Interviewer:  Ok.  Alright.

Gertrude:  And, that was lined in, uh, in, uh, (unintelligible).  I don’t know (unintelligible) lining.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  In there is where she kept her milk.

Interviewer:  Oh!  Where it was cool.

Gertrude:  It would, uh, have to be skimmed when it was ready.  And, she’d take the, the, uh cream—

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  --and make the butter.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  And, we had an old big butter churn—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --that would, that you had a handle on either side and you had to push it back and forth.

Interviewer:  Oh!  Instead of going up and down?

Gertrude:  Instead of going up and down.

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  We had the other, we had (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  And, uh, that was one of my jobs.  Churn—

Interviewer:  Churn the butter.

Gertrude:  --the butter.

Interviewer:  My!

Gertrude:  And, when that butter came out, and that buttermilk…Oh, it was just pretty!

Interviewer:  Oh, my!

Gertrude:  And, our buttermilk was always put in a bucket, down the well.

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  And, she saved the buttermilk.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  She used it in cooking and we liked it.  We drank the buttermilk.

Interviewer:  Oh, I’ll bet so!

Gertrude:  I still like buttermilk.

Interviewer:  Oh, goodness.

Gertrude:  Farm-fresh from the butter.  And, I have, in my kitchen—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --the creamer.

Interviewer:  Oh!  That she used!

Gertrude:  She used, yes.

Interviewer:  Aww!  That’s neat!

Gertrude:  And, she made a lot of butter.

***** RECORDING PAUSED *****

Gertrude:  Now, that is the building where the Masonic Building is right now.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  Right there where the Masonic Building is, now.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, the police department (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Police department (unintelligible).

Gertrude:  (unintelligible)

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  Oh, yes. (Unintelligible)

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  And, one of the things, of course, she had three chicken houses on that farm.

Interviewer:  Three?

Gertrude:  Three.

Interviewer:  My!

Gertrude:  One side of the house had, um, and they were all separated.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  She had these white Leghorns, they called them.

Interviewer:  Alright.  (Unintelligible)

Gertrude:  (unintelligible). They laid a lot of eggs.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And then, she had Plymouth Rock.

Interviewer:  Oh, for goodness sakes!

Gertrude:  And then, she had Rhode Island Red.

Interviewer:  Did she (unintelligible)?

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) they were for eating.

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  And they were all (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, of course, they, they, uh, uh, the other, the Rhode Island Red and the Plymouth Rock had the brown eggs—

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  And the—

Interviewer:  (unintelligible)

Gertrude:  --Leghorns had the white eggs.

Interviewer:  Oh!  I didn’t know that!

Gertrude:  And—

Interviewer:  I didn’t know that, either.

Gertrude:  And, she would sell at least, uh, thirty or forty dozen of eggs a week.

Interviewer:  My!

Gertrude:  And, eggs—

Interviewer:  She was a busy lady!  Wasn’t she?

Gertrude:  And eggs had to be brought to town.

Interviewer:  Yes, they did.

Gertrude:  And, the thing that (unintelligible)—

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  --uh, thought was so funny, she got “Due Bills.”  You know, they were (unintelligible).  Of course, you know, she bought what she needed—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --in groceries.  And then, they gave her “Due Bills” for the rest of it.

Interviewer:  Oh.

Gertrude:  Uh, now, her eggs were sold out on the end of Federal Street.

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  A man by the name of Isaak Townsend.

Interviewer:   Isaak Townsend.

Gertrude:   Isaak Townsend.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, he is the grandfather, or great-grandfather of, um, uh…(unintelligible) daughter that just moved back here.  Eleanor Hooks.

Interviewer:  Oh!  Eleanor Hooks!

Gertrude:  Mm hmm.

Interviewer:  Oh, for goodness sakes!

Gertrude:  It was her great-grandfather—

Interviewer:  That sold your mother’s eggs?

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) and we sold those eggs.  I guess we got ten to fifteen cents a dozen for all of them.

Interviewer:  Oh, my dear!

Gertrude:  And, uh, and, uh—

Interviewer:  Goodness!

Gertrude:  And the butter was always brought—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --up to (Harvey) (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  (unintelligible).  Alright.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) Store.

Interviewer:  (unintelligible)

Gertrude:  Now, then, she stayed, she had regular butter customers—

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  One of them was Senator Smith.

Interviewer:  Really?  I’ll be darned.

Gertrude:  And, on a Saturday afternoon, uh, my father would drive to town and—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --my younger sister and I would come with him.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, of course, we had to deliver butter and eggs—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --to Senator Smith.  And, Senator Smith, I’ll never forget, had the gate, when you rode over it, it opened.

Interviewer:  Automatically?

Gertrude:  Automatically.  You know—

Interviewer:  Oh, boy!

Gertrude:  --(unintelligible).  Well, that was something very big for us in the country (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Yes.

Gertrude:  And, we’d drive up and we’d take the butter in.  And, they always had colored help and they always had cookies and—

Interviewer:  Oh, boy!

Gertrude:  --and little things—

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  --for us to eat.  Well, that was a treat!

Interviewer:  I think so!

Gertrude:  And then, he delivered butter to Mr. (unintelligible) house.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, he delivered butter to (unintelligible)—

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  --which is these apartment houses—

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  --right here, now. (Unintelligible) He lived there.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And then, you know, he’d get what he’d needed in groceries.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And then, they’d give him a receipt for the rest of it.  And they were what they called “Due Bills.”

Interviewer:  “Due Bills.”

Gertrude:  And, my mother would keep those “Due Bills” to buy our clothes and shoes.

Interviewer:  Oh!  Alright!  It was sort of like a savings account, almost.

Gertrude:  Yes.  It was like—

Interviewer:  Yes.

Gertrude:  --that’s what we had.  That’s what, you see, there was no such thing as dress makers.  I mean, uh, homemade dresses made in those times.  They had to be made.

Interviewer:  Yes, they did.  Didn’t they?

Gertrude:  And, she used to have a woman that came to our house and (unintelligible) two weeks.

Interviewer:  My goodness!

Gertrude:  --at a time—

Interviewer:  To get you—

Gertrude:  We girls had to have dresses.

Interviewer:  Yes!  Goodness!  Now, um, do you remember who it was that came and sewed or were there different ladies?

Gertrude:  Uh, the one I can remember mostly was, um, a woman, a maiden lady.  She was (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  She was Miss Clara Carmean.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  She was quite a character.

Interviewer:  Oh (unintelligible).

Gertrude:  She was very funny and I had a lot of wit and—

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  She’d come down and stayed two weeks at a time.

Interviewer:  Isn’t that something?  Now, would your mother pick out the material, or would she bring the—

Gertrude:  (unintelligible)

Interviewer:  --material with her?

Gertrude:  --mother would get it.

Interviewer:  Ok.  She had the material.

Gertrude:  She would go and get the, the material for our dresses.  And, of course, she’d always come in early, late summer because we always had to have new dresses (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  (unintelligible) Ok. (unintelligible)

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) school dresses to wear to school.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  Yes, we had (unintelligible) made our dresses to wear to school.

Interviewer:  Now, where did your mother buy the yard goods?

Gertrude:  (unintelligible)

Interviewer:  Smith (unintelligible).

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) had that yard goods there.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And then, I can remember another thing that my mother did.  Of course, in those days, they had to make their sheets and pillowcases.

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  Yes, indeed.

Interviewer:  Oh!  I didn’t, I hadn’t thought about that, either.

Gertrude:  They, they (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, uh, of course, my mother sewed.

Interviewer: She did?

Gertrude:  She sewed a lot of things.  She made all of our underwear.  We had—

Interviewer:  Did she, really?

Gertrude:  All of our underwear was made.  We had all of our (unintelligible)—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --Well, they called them drawers.

Interviewer:  Yes.

Gertrude:  They were drawers.

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  And, um, muslin petticoats.

Interviewer:  Petticoats.

Gertrude:  And then, we all had to wear, in those days, (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Underwear.  A…like long underwear?

Gertrude:  We had, we had to wear long underwear.

Interviewer:  Oh, my dear!

Gertrude:  Now, that underwear was bought.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  That was bought, as I remember.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  The, she made our flannel petticoats.  We all had to wear flannel petticoats in the wintertime.

Interviewer:  Oh, my dear.

Gertrude:  Uh, we, we had red flannel petticoats to wear to school.

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  And, on Sunday, we’d have, sometimes blue and sometimes white—

Interviewer:  (unintelligible)

Gertrude:  --and, I imagine the little (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Oh, my goodness.

Gertrude:  Yes, indeed!

Interviewer:  I hadn’t, I don’t…You don’t think about having to make everything.

Gertrude:  Now, she made us mostly drawers, and what they call (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Alright.  Isn’t that (something)?

Gertrude:  And, we wore those—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And, we had to wear our flannel petticoats and our muslin petticoats.  And, of course, our dresses were all gingham and calico.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  They didn’t have such things as (unintelligible) then.

Interviewer:  Alright.  Now, did, did your mother have help with the washing and ironing?

Gertrude:  Oh (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  (unintelligible) more than we did.  Alright.

Gertrude:  It was all done on the board.

Interviewer:  Oh, my dear!

Gertrude:  We would (unintelligible) between the well and if I tell you where the milk—

Interviewer:  Milk was stored.  Right.

Gertrude:  There was a bench and they were wooden tubs, too.  They were not—

Interviewer:  Not metal?

Gertrude:  --not metal tubs.

Interviewer:  For goodness sakes!

Gertrude:  And, uh, of course, she had a big iron pot—

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  --on the stove.

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  It was a (unintelligible) affair.

Interviewer:  Oh, my!

Gertrude:  She had to boil the clothes.  They had to be boiled.

Interviewer:  Alright.  I’ve heard of a wash-boiler.  And, that’s what it was.

Gertrude:  Oh, yes.  Wash-boiler.

Interviewer:  (unintelligible)

Gertrude:  They were washed on the, (unintelligible) the washboard—

Interviewer:  Goodness.

Gertrude:  --(unintelligible).  And, she made a lot of her soap.

Interviewer:  Alright.  I was going to ask if she did that.

Gertrude:  Yes.  She made all of her soap.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  She made all of her lye soap.  Now, of course, we did have Ivory soap and (unintelligible) soap for—

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  --bathing purposes—

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  --for us.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  But, uh—

Interviewer:  Not for washing?

Gertrude:  Washing dishes.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  There was no such thing as soap (unintelligible).  Had to, uh, and washing clothes—

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  It was all that Ivory.  And, you can imagine how that lye soap—

Interviewer:  Oh!  Your hands!

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) hands up!

Interviewer:  Yes!  Oh, my! (unintelligible)

Gertrude:  (unintelligible).  She was a great believer in Rosewater and Glycerin.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  And, I still—

Interviewer:  It does!  It’s good!

Gertrude:  --I still use it—

Interviewer:  Yes, indeed!

Gertrude:  I, I, I am a firm believer.  If my mother said (unintelligible).  (LAUGHTER)

Interviewer:  Oh!   Um, now, your, let me see…Did you, did you travel much?  I mean, did you go, when you were still a young child, did you go to Public Landing, down to the amusements and things that were there?

Gertrude:  Well, now, there (unintelligible)—

Interviewer:  You were older then.

Gertrude:  Every first Thursday—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --in, in, um, August—

Interviewer:  Yes.

Gertrude:  --they had what they called Farmer’s Day.

Interviewer:  Oh.  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, uh, the people from over on the other side of the river in Snow Hill, they called it Forester’s (unintelligible), you know.

Interviewer:  Alright.  That lived out in the Pocomoke Forest?

Gertrude:  Uh huh.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  In Pocomoke, over in the forest—

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  --(unintelligible)—

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  Pocomoke Forest.

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  They would, they would come.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And, they would come in, they would come in mules and wagons and (unintelligible)—

Interviewer:  Oh, my goodness!

Gertrude:  Oh, yes!  It was no automobiles.

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  And, my mother would cook fried chicken and—

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  --uh, ham and everything that was good—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  There was no such thing as deviled eggs in those days.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  And, the Maryland Biscuits.

Interviewer:  Yes.

Gertrude:  And, homemade rolls.

Interviewer:  Oh, my!

Gertrude:  And, uh, she always put it…I have the basket—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --that she used to take her food in.

Interviewer:  Do you, still?

Gertrude:  I still—

Interviewer:  Oh, isn’t that nice!

Gertrude:  --have the basket that she carried her food in.  And, we would go to Public Landing and that was a big day.

Interviewer:  Oh, it must have been!

Gertrude:  They had boats come in there from different (unintelligible) to take us—

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  --sailing.  You could go out for a little ride for ten or fifteen cents.

Interviewer:  Oh!  I’ll bet that was a treat!

Gertrude:  I (unintelligible) know.  Of course, we girls met our beaus over there—

Interviewer:  Oh!  (unintelligible)

(LAUGHTER)

Gertrude:  And, it was a big time for everybody.

Interviewer:  I’ll bet so!

Gertrude:  And, my mother would have her different friends, and they’d spread the tablecloth out—

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  --on the ground.

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  And, everybody would…they didn’t have it, they had (unintelligible) but they didn’t have places to eat—

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  --like they do now.  They’d spread tablecloths out—

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  --on the ground and everybody—

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, of course, she had friends that she met there (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Sure.

Gertrude:  --every time because it was a big day.

Interviewer:  (unintelligible)

Gertrude:  Now, we didn’t, we didn’t have the road through the country, then.

Interviewer:  Oh.  Ok.

Gertrude:  We had to drive out to Spence.

Interviewer:  Oh!  You know them?

Gertrude:  Oh, yes!

Interviewer:  Because, I was just thinking you were going from Mount Ephraim—

Gertrude:  No.

Interviewer:  --to Public Landing was (short).

Gertrude:  We drove clear out to the country road down to Spence and then to Public Landing.

Interviewer:  Oh, my dear!

Gertrude:  And, he, and most of the time, we went on a straw ride—

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  --(unintelligible) mules and wagons.

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  Mules and wagons (unintelligible).  It was a straw ride.

Interviewer:  That was, that was (unintelligible).

Gertrude:  Now, of course, later on, we used to drive to a (unintelligible) carriage and a buggy.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And then, we could go in that—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) carriage—

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  --and, we had the buggy.

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude: And, we could go in that.  And, we had a horse cart (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  I (unintelligible).  Of course, we had a horse car.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And then, we had what they called (unintelligible).  That was more like what they drive here.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  Just one person could ride (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Yes.

Gertrude:  You know, like they do at the race track—

Interviewer:  At the race tracks.

Gertrude:  Mm hmm.  We had all those things.

Interviewer:  Goodness!

Gertrude:  (unintelligible).  Yes, we went there.  And then, in those days, once a year, we always…My, my father had three sisters who lived in Salisbury.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And, once a year, we would meet them in Ocean City.

Interviewer:  Oh, my!

Gertrude:  Now, that was a big affair!

Interviewer:  I’ll bet so!  Now, did you, how did you get to Ocean City?

Gertrude:  Well, we drove in here to Snow Hill early in the morning.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And put our horses up at the livery stable.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  They had livery stables.

Interviewer:  My dear.

Gertrude:  And (unintelligible) put our horses up, then, near the railroad.

Interviewer:  Oh!  Alright.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) that way.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And then, we’d get on the train—

Interviewer:   Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  And go to Berl- to Berlin.  And we, we would take our food.  We’d always take this bag of food—

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And then, we’d go to Ocean City.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  And, when the next train came along, that would have our aunts on it.

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  We got in there with them and went to Ocean City.

Interviewer:  Oh!  I’ll bet that was a treat!

Gertrude:  You could hear, hear of Trimper’s over there (unintelligible)?

Interviewer:  Yes.

Gertrude:  Well, as I remember, Trimper always let us put our food out on that table.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, once every summer, we met half the family there.

Interviewer:  Oh, goodness!

Gertrude:  And, that was a big day (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  I’ll bet so!

Gertrude:  And, of course, we came back the same way.  Only, the Salisbury train came out ahead of us.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  We always came (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  We had to change trains at Berlin.  And, believe me, you know how tired we were when the day was over.

Interviewer:  I’ll bet you were.  Did you, would you go swimming when you were in Ocean City?

Gertrude:  Um, we could, we were not allowed to go swimming (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  My mother would never let us go in the water except in June, July and August.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  We never wore (unintelligible).  And, see, we couldn’t bathe from our shore.

Interviewer:  Right!  You said that was deep.  So—

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) go over to (unintelligible) Jones’ farm next door, you know.

Interviewer:  Yes!

Gertrude:  Ah—

Interviewer:  Yes!

Gertrude:  --we had to go over to the, uh, Green farm (unintelligible)—

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  --we had to go there to (stay) on the beaches.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, of course, we didn’t have bathing suits.

Interviewer:  That’s…Ok. (unintelligible)

Gertrude:  We wore dresses and stockings.

Interviewer:  Oh, my dear!

Gertrude:  Oh, yes!

Interviewer:  But, it was still fun?

Gertrude:  Oh, yes.  It was (unintelligible) fun.  We were allowed to go bathing.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  We were allowed to go bathing, and, but, uh, on my work days—

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  It was just special occasions—

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  --we got to bathe.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  We would meet the other children—

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  --maybe Sunday afternoons.

Interviewer:  Alright.  Now, where was…Um, did you all go to church?

Gertrude:  Well, my mother and father were Old School Baptists.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  My grandfather and grandmother are charter members of our old-school Baptist—

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  --church here.

Interviewer:  Down on Washington Street?  Right?

Gertrude:  Down on Washington Street—

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, of course, we were all made, went to church.

Interviewer:  Ok.  Now, where did you go to church?

Gertrude:  We went to, came to Snow Hill.

Interviewer:  My, dear!

Gertrude:  We had to drive to Snow Hill, which was seven miles.

Interviewer:  Yes!

Gertrude:  And, I think that they preached, and I, my first memory of the preacher was (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, we had to come here once a month to church.

Interviewer:  Oh, my dear!

Gertrude:  And, he preached over an hour…And, my younger sister and I, we would get very impatient during that time.

Interviewer:  (unintelligible)

Gertrude:  I remember that my mother would always have to take something for us to eat.

Interviewer:  Alright! You’d just be hungry.  Wouldn’t you?

Gertrude:  And, of course, when it was warm weather, we were allowed to go out before the service was over.  Play (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, everybody else’s children went out.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  We’d play out in the church yard.

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible).  Now, there was (unintelligible) church.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  It’s not anymore—

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  --which, I’m sorry.

Interviewer:  Yeah.

Gertrude:  Now, we were allowed to go to that church.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And then, we were allowed to go…You see, the old-school Baptist does not believe in Sunday School.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  But, uh, my mother and father did allow us to go to that church.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  And, uh, and at Children’s Day…They had Children’s Day.

Interviewer:  Oh.

Gertrude:  And, we were (unintelligible) Children’s Day.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  I mean, we had parts—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --and we had a big time before, the day before we had our dear Children’s Day.  And, we all went and gathered, uh, water lilies and things out of the woods—

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  --daisies—

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  --and things, and decorated the church.  Now, that was a big—

Interviewer:  Oh, that must have been!

Gertrude:  Oh, that was a big time in our lives!

Interviewer:  Goodness!

Gertrude:  And then, they had what they called “Attractive Meetings” or “Pretractive Meetings.”  I don’t know how you pronounce that.

Interviewer:  I don’t either.

Gertrude:  But, you’ve heard of them?

Interviewer:  No.

Gertrude:  You didn’t?

Interviewer:  No.  That’s something new.

Gertrude:  Well, they had a preacher come there, you know, and preach.  Like they do now—

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  --at other churches.  I guess they call it Evangelistic now.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible)

Interviewer:  (unintelligible) Revival or something.

Gertrude:  Revival.  Yes, Revival.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, I can remember that my mother and father used to fix the wagon and we would go out to these meetings at night—

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  But, we mostly went in the wagon.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, we, we children had parties.

Interviewer:  You did?

Gertrude:  Yes.  We had parties.  We had, um, popcorn parties, you know—

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  --(unintelligible) Molasses Taffy Party.

Interviewer:  You really did have those?

Gertrude:  Oh, yes!  We pulled taffy.  We had our parties.  The young folk would get together—

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  But, we always went in (unintelligible) or the (unintelligible).  One end to the other.

Interviewer:  Alright.  Now, you were at Mount Ephraim.  Were, who were some other families with children that were around you that you would have, you know, gone back and forth to visit?

Gertrude:  Well, uh, the Sturgis’s.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  Mr. William, uh, Mr. Bill (unintelligible) Sturgis, his name was.  He, uh, he had, uh, children—

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) and (unintelligible)—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --and Flora and Mildred.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, uh, they were our neighbors.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  And then, there was the family of Figgs that lived over there.

Interviewer:  There’s still some Figgs’ there now?

Gertrude:  Uh huh.  (unintelligible).  We would go there.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  And, uh, they would get together.  And then, of course, over on the other side, where (Faye) Jones lives, now—

Interviewer:  Yes.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) Jones.  Uh, there was the Richardson children.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, uh, and the Moore’s.

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) Moore (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Oh.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) in that, you know.

Interviewer:  For goodness sake.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) Moore neighbor there.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  And, they had children.  Mary Moore and all—

Interviewer:  Oh, yes!

Gertrude:  --those children.

Interviewer:  Ok. 

Gertrude:  (unintelligible)

Interviewer:  There was a lot of children, then.  Wasn’t there?

Gertrude:  And then, uh, we would go to Boxiron.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  You know the (Reimer’s)?  The family, uh—

Interviewer:  Oh, (unintelligible).

Gertrude:  Bill (Reimer’s) family and all the (Reimers).  It was a big family of (Reimers).

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  We’d go there, you know, and—

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  Oh, we’d have the biggest (unintelligible) and make popcorn balls.  And, we played games, of course.  We played, uh, uh, different, uh, games—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --in those times that they don’t play now.  We didn’t play cards.  It was no such thing as cards.

Interviewer:  There wasn’t?

Gertrude:  No.

Interviewer:  (unintelligible)

Gertrude:  Well, we had, maybe, an old set of Old Maids—

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible)

Interviewer:  But, as far as regular cards—

Gertrude:  Well, maybe we had checkers.  We had Dominoes.

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  We (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Oh!  But, you played that!

Gertrude:  But, uh, as far as playing cards—

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible)

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  There was no such thing as playing cards.

Interviewer:  Now, um—

Gertrude:  Uh, every once in a while, they would have what they called “Square Dances.”

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  I can remember very well, that when my father did-over one of the rooms in our house, that is the room where the (unintelligible)—

Interviewer:  Alright.

Gertrude:  --(unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  There was a room there, that he closed there, at the end of the house.  And, when that was done-over, before they put, they put (unintelligible) down in those days.  See, we didn’t have carpet.

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) carpet.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  But, they were all the (unintelligible) carpet.  Rugs, you know.  We had those upstairs.

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  But mostly, our house had an old-fashioned (unintelligible) on it.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  You tack those down, you know.

Interviewer:  Oh.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible).  And, before that was done, I remember that we had a big party.

Interviewer:  You did?

Gertrude:  And, when he built his big, new barn—

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  --We had a barn party where they, uh, they would (unintelligible), you know.

Interviewer:  Yes.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible)—

Interviewer:  Yes.

Gertrude:  --played the fiddle.

Interviewer:  Oh, did he really?

Gertrude:  Yes.

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  And, uh, they would dance.  My father danced and my mother danced—

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  --and the older people danced.

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  Of course, I didn’t get in too much of the dances because I was young.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  But, uh—

Interviewer:  You could watch.

Gertrude:  I could watch.

Interviewer:  Yes.

Gertrude:  I (wish), you know…Children that day were not reared like they are now.

Interviewer:  Yes.  Oh, dear!  Did you, um, when you started getting old enough to be interested in boys, did you do things, still, as a group, rather than single?  I mean, rather than paired off.

Gertrude:  We did mostly as groups.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) there were, there was never a (unintelligible).  Especially a (unintelligible)—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --that we didn’t have a lot of company.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  We had a lot of company.  We, uh, the boys, the men, rather.  They were men.  They would come to Snow Hill and, and, we’d have, we always had people come for the weekend (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  (unintelligible)

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) spend the weekend.  (unintelligible) girls, you know—

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  --our girlfriends.

Interviewer:  Right.

Gertrude:  And, uh, oh, they would have, uh, big parties.

Interviewer:  Oh.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) The young folks would get together (unintelligible).

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  Well, of course, we had our beaus come to see us.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  I, I’ve done very much courting (unintelligible). (LAUGHTER)

Interviewer:  There was courting, too.

Gertrude:  (unintelligible) we call courting.

Interviewer:  Uh huh.

Gertrude:  And, of course, when we did, I, uh…In those days, when we had all those young people, my mother would cook on Saturday.  On Saturdays, it was chicken (unintelligible) and ham cooked—

Interviewer:  Oh!

Gertrude:  --pies made, and cakes made.

Interviewer:  Oh (unintelligible)

Gertrude:  --and Maryland biscuits, and homemade rolls and everything that was good.

Interviewer:  Oh, boy!

Gertrude:  And, it would be ten or fifteen people at our house on Saturday night.

Interviewer:  Oh, my!

Gertrude:  And then, after supper, we’d all go in…we had one of those pump organs.

Interviewer:  Did you, really?

Gertrude:  Oh, yes.

Interviewer:  Oh, boy!

Gertrude:  And, we’d get in there and play and sing these old-fashioned hymns—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  --and old-fashioned songs.  Now, that’s what young people did in our day.

Interviewer:  Alright.  And—

Gertrude:  But, still, we had our beaus and—

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  --when we did, I, uh…There was always a fire built in the parlor.

Interviewer:  Alright.  So you could be alone?

Gertrude:  Alone.  Oh, yes.

Interviewer:  But, properly supervised?

Gertrude:  But, properly supervised.

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  Now, I’ll tell you, once ten o’clock comes—

Interviewer:  That was it?

Gertrude:  That was it.

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  Everybody left.  They drove their horses and buggies—

Interviewer:  Ok.

Gertrude:  And, and, and, of course, if they didn’t, if they’d come for dinner, their horse was put in the barn and fed—

Interviewer:  Mm hmm.

Gertrude:  If it wasn’t (unintelligible), then it was a hitch outside.

Interviewer:  Right.