Conley, Pauline (1903-1991) |
Worcester County Library: Local History and Genealogy Collection, Snow Hill Branch, Snow Hill, MD
|
Interviewee: |
Pauline Conley (1903-1991) |
| Interviewer: |
Denis Davis |
| Date of interview: |
1982 May 3 |
| Length of interview: | 35 minutes |
| Transcribed by: | Rachel Jones, Worcester County Library |
| Preferred Citation: |
“Name, Oral History Collection, Date of Interview, Worcester County Library, Snow Hill Branch, Snow Hill, Maryland.” |
Topical Terms:
Berlin Fire—1913
Ocean City Fire—1925
School
Storm of 1933
Transportation
Worcester County (Md.)—History
Worcester County (Md.)—Social life and customs
Worcester County (Md.)—Women’s History
Corporate Terms:
Buckingham School
Park Hotel
Stephen Decatur Hotel
Location Terms:
Berlin (Md.)
Ocean City (Md.)
Worcester County (Md.)
Interview Begin
Interviewer: The first thing we would like to know is what your full name is.
Pauline: Pauline Conley.
Interviewer: What was your maiden name?
Pauline: Margaret Pauline Purnell.
Interviewer: And who were your parents? Both of their names?
Pauline: Theodore and Essie Purnell.
Interviewer: And have you lived in Berlin all your life? In the Berlin area?
Pauline: Yes. All my life.
Interviewer: Were you from a big family?
Pauline: I was an only child.
Interviewer: Did you have a lot of chores around the house?
Pauline: No, I had it very easy. Being the only child, I guess maybe I was spoiled, you could certainly say. I didn’t help too much. Once in a while, on a Saturday, I’d help my mother dust. But I had a lot of schooling to do.
Interviewer: Where did you go to school?
Pauline: My school was here in town. I was born and raised here in Berlin. I went to the old Buckingham, which was all the way downtown. (unintelligible)…it was torn down long ago. It was where the shirt factory is.
Interviewer: Somebody told me that that part of the shirt factory was part of the old Buckingham.
Pauline: Well, that may be.
Interviewer: What activities were you involved in at school?
Pauline: I used to play volleyball, basketball, and that’s about it. Other sports.
Interviewer: Were you in a big class? Or was it small?
Pauline: No, it was a large class, for the town of Berlin.
Interviewer: How many people were in the class?
Pauline: Oh, I suppose there were 25.
Interviewer: Who was your teacher?
Pauline: Well, I had several teachers from the first grade up.
Interviewer: What about your graduating class?
Pauline: Our principal was Eugene Pruitt. And he taught 3 classes in our senior year. And also principal.
Interviewer: Well, then he was busy!
Pauline: Oh, yes, and he was a wonderful principal. We all thought the world of him. And he lived in Frederick. He and his wife lived in Frederick. And she was taken ill, with a stroke, and died. He was left a widow for a long time. (unintelligible conversation) And he retired. And he just passed away about 2 months ago (unintelligible conversation).
Interviewer: (unintelligible conversation)…Oh, he lived a long time.
Pauline: He was very popular.
Interviewer: He sounds like he must’ve been!
Pauline: He had a lot of boys in his class that ? him. Uptown over the drugstore on the 3rd floor and (unintelligible conversation)…every Friday night but we couldn’t go unless we were chaperoned. And every Friday night Mr. Pruitt would go along with us to chaperone.
Interviewer: He sounded like a very nice man.
Pauline: Oh, and he loved to dance. The Hawaiian music they put on the phonograph…he didn’t want to dance to that. We say, “Come on, Mr. Pruitt” and he’d dance to that.
Interviewer: He sounds like a very nice man. What kinds of outings did you go on around the town of Berlin?
Pauline: There wasn’t too much to do then. We went to church on Sunday. And I always had to go to Sunday School after the service (unintelligible). We didn’t have too much to do around town. We rode our bicycles. We roller skated. And then on Sundays we’d all get together and go to different places to take pictures. That was about all until Ocean City opened up, and then we used to go to Ocean City for recreation.
Interviewer: I bet Ocean City was a lot different then.
Pauline: Oh, yeah. (unintelligible)…I went to Ocean City when I was about 8 years old with my father and mother. We had an old train here in town and an excursion ran every Sunday. Two at 1 (o’clock?) and one to Ocean City and it went over the old bridge. Not the new bridge. We came over the old bridge and turned left onto Wicomico Street and that’s where the station was. And that’s where the train stayed until 5:00 and then we had to leave to come back home. It was 25 cents a person, round trip.
Interviewer: That’s all?
Pauline: The first time I ever went, was in 1911, that’s when it was. I was 8 years old. My father was a wonderful swimmer. And my mother packed a wonderful lunch: fried chicken, devilled eggs, potato salad, homemade Maryland biscuits, and a gallon of iced tea, and we’d sit under the old pier, which was burned after that. Under the pier was a wide beach where we ate our lunch. And my father was (unintelligible conversation)…
Interviewer: Did you like the surf?
Pauline: Not much. I was too scared of it. (unintelligible)…My father tried to teach me to swim better. But anyway, we didn’t have lifeguards. And anytime anyone went in the ocean too far, people would scream, “Help, help, help!” and my father would be the first one to go out and pull them in. Well, that was a great experience.
Interviewer: Oh, my!
Pauline: That was my young days.
Interviewer: What were the people around town like?
Pauline: Oh, everybody was friendly and you know, there wasn’t any (unintelligible conversation) of any kind. Very seldom was there anything out of the way. It was a small town then. Not anything like the population…I don’t know, I can’t imagine the population was over 1100, if that. Oh, it was small. My father was in business up there where ? Rayne is now. He bought that building
Interviewer: What did he do there?
Pauline: First he opened a restaurant. And then he finally changed that to a soda fountain and tables and chairs and an ice cream parlor. Then, it’s been that way ever since.
Interviewer: Oh!
Pauline: He was the first one in town to have sold Breyer’s Ice Cream. The Breyer’s company of Philadelphia sold to him. They wouldn’t sell to but one person in town. My father had it and….still (unintelligible). But of course, he was there for years with the business but he had…
Interviewer: Yeah, I can imagine
Pauline: (unintelligible conversation)…apartment upstairs (unintelligible conversation)…when I was 17. He wanted a Coca-Cola at 7:00 in the morning. And before he could even get downstairs. He worked so hard. And closed at 10 or 11 at night, until the last one left. He finally had to…
Interviewer: Do you remember about the fire in Berlin?
Pauline: Uh-huh. Now you mean the large fire? The one that burnt so much of the town? No that was before my time. Or I was so little…I know who could tell you about that is Mr. Bill Pitts. He’s 91.
Interviewer: (unintelligible conversation)
Pauline: You know Peggy? The accountant? Well, it’s her father. If I had known, I could’ve found out for you. He has told me the dates of it, but I can’t remember.
Interviewer: Most of the buildings around town, were they stone or wood?
Pauline: Oh, they were all frame buildings. Now, the old Atlantic Hotel, was brick. But, it was built after that fire. The date of that is on the front of it, but I don’t know…I don’t remember that date. But, after that, there was a fire in town that I can remember. I was 10. It was in 1913. We had an old hotel in back of the town hall.
Interviewer: What was it called?
Pauline: It was called The Park Hotel.
Interviewer: That’s right.
Pauline: Uh-huh. And people by the name of Savage owned it. Mr. Savage, Fred Savage owned it. And they had one daughter, Miss Ryda Savage, and she used to give me piano lessons. Well, it burned down and it took almost the whole block. It was an old frame building. And one of the guests there burned up in it…I can’t remember his name. But that was a bad fire. I remember after it went down in flames, the next day, they had men to guard all around and put a rope around it, so all the…nobody could get in the ruins. Because they had to sift all of the ashes to find Mrs. Savage’s and the daughter, miss Ryda’s, diamonds. They had all burned up. The had had beautiful diamonds. They found some, but they didn’t find all. Oh, that was the talk of the town!
Interviewer: I bet it must’ve been!
Pauline: (unintelligible conversation) See, my husband and Bill Rayne were partners there several years back. Back then they called it The Rayne’s. I still call it that. But now it’s Rayne’s Reef. Tim Rayne has it now. It was his father that was in business with my husband (unintelligible conversation).
Interviewer: Do you remember how that fire started?
Pauline: I don’t know. I don’t think they ever knew how it started. Of course, everyone then had wood stoves and coal stoves. I don’t know. Somebody in the room might’ve dropped a match or a cigarette. It seems to me, it started that way, in one room, matches. It could’ve been the old man that was killed…it could’ve been his room…(unintelligible conversation)…that was a hot fire.
Interviewer: (unintelligible conversation)…What was the fire equipment like?
Pauline: You should’ve seen it. My father was a fireman. And they had then, this old tank. A tank with the water in it. It filled a great big, lunar (?) looking tank. And this thing was on two wheels and it had shafts and the men had to pull it around. Now, that’s all the water they had.
Interviewer: Oh!
Pauline: They had no motors. No nothing. And then, I don’t even know if there was an automobile in town then or not. When I was little, at that time, they had didn’t have stone roads into town, they were dirt.
Interviewer: Really? When did they start becoming stone? Do you know?
Pauline: I don’t remember that date. But I know there was a Mr. and Mrs. Godfrey that lived down here in this (unintelligible conversation) house. Down Buckingham Road, on the other side of Buckingham Road. That’s where Mrs. Godfrey lived.They had a daughter, Janet, that married Mr. Abbot. And they had the first automobile in town. And my father had the second one. He bought it from Mr. Graham Gunby in Salisbury.
Interviewer: I bet that was the talk of the town!
Pauline: And when they delivered it (unintelligible conversation)...and the top, you put it up when it was raining or cold. And it had two acetylene lamps in the front. And when it got dark at night, you had to get out and take a match and light them. You had a can full of gas on the running board. You put your top up and it had two leather straps and you put behind these lamps, one on each side. In warm weather you could put your top all the way down. So then when you had the car in any kind of weather, you had an automobile coat. Mother made hers and mine, a tan cotton material. And then we had automobile caps. Which was real (unintelligible conversation) and tied under the chin. We weren’t allowed in the car unless we had that on. I have pictures of that. And then, if you want to put your curtains on, if it rains hard, you had to get out, take your curtains from the backseat and put them on with little hooks up…(unintelligible conversation). And the name of it was The Flanders.
Interviewer: (unintelligible)
Pauline: My father had a coat….men had coats called dusters. A duster, that was it. My father had one too. Oh, yeah.
Interviewer: Everyone had to have one?
Pauline: Everyone had to have a duster. And when Mr. Gunby delivered it, he said, “Theodore” (they were friends), “where are you going to put this?” My father said “I don’t know. I don’t know where to put it." A brand new car. But Mr. Chester Gunby, up on Main Street, had a barn with horses and buggies and he used to meet the trains, you know. So, there was a fella in town, I can’t remember his name. But he was from Philadelphia. He was raised in Philadelphia, but was here on vacation. So he says, “Theodore, I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll drive it up and Mr. Gunby says you can put it in his barn.” So, he drove it up and put it in his barn. So, my father says “Well, what are we going to do the next day?” He says, “Well, I’m going to be here 2 weeks. I’ll bring it down and teach you how to drive.” So, he taught my father how to drive a car.
Interviewer: Did you have to have a license then?
Pauline: I suppose so. But, that’s been so far back that…But, I suppose you did. There were a few cars in the cities then.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Pauline: Now, where he got his license, I don’t know. I don’t know how he got his license. Or anything about that.
Interviewer: Hmmm…
Pauline: But, I do know when I was 16, he gave me a car. And of course, I knew then that…we had Troopers come down from the cities, every 2 weeks to give you an examination. (unintelligible)…but I can’t remember, it was so far back, I don’t remember about a license.
Interviewer: (unintelligible conversation)
Pauline: I wish I knew.
Interviewer: What do you remember the most about Ocean City?
Pauline: Well, I told you about the train.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Pauline: Now I know we had a big fire in Ocean City in 1925. That was a bad fire. My uncle owned the Atlantic Hotel down there. My father’s brother. (unintelligible) and it started there, and spread to the old pier which was right across the boardwalk. It burned the pier down and part of that boardwalk. And then they…it burned…and that was the last of the train I told you…that I used to go on excursions. Wicomico Street…it went clear back over the avenue, Baltimore Avenue, Philadelphia Avenue…it burned the railroad station and the old ice plant and several more buildings. And that was the end of our train. We never had another train anywhere else in Ocean City after that. That was 1925.
Interviewer: If there wasn’t another train that went into Ocean City, how did people go?
Pauline: Well, now there was a train that went later, on this new bridge we had.
Interviewer: Ah, ok.
Pauline: Yes, it was. But I can’t even remember that as much as the one way back. Because I know when we drove the car, when I got my license to drive a car, the wheels and tires were real small. You had to be careful. You had to straddle the tracks. If you got in these tracks, you couldn’t move. And that train would come in and, you know, it’s bad. I know I was mighty careful when I got my license to drive. I had to drive over the tracks. I don’t remember how long that train went in there, a few years, but not too many because there were too many cars around then.
Interviewer: Do you remember any bad storms in Ocean City?
Pauline: Oh, my, we were down there in all the storms!
Interviewer: Really?
Pauline: My father had a hotel, the Stephen Decatur Hotel in 1930. And in 1933, we had one of the worst storms that we had and when the inlet was cut through, see? I said that was the only one good thing about it. It saved Ocean City millions of dollars because I don’t know whether they’d ever gotten an inlet. But, that inlet was cut through in that 1933 storm. I had...my daughter was a year and a half old, and I was scared. Our hotel was…and the ocean and the bay met. We felt like we were on a boat. It was a terrible storm.
Interviewer: (unintelligible conversation)
Pauline: And the next storm…of course we had a lot of Nor’easters…course we were right on the ocean front, we were always scared. In the 1933 storm, the waves broke right up on our front windows. Well, if there had been a piece of flying timber and it broke the windows, we would’ve been flooded. There were 2 wide plate glass windows in the front of the hotel, the whole front, one on either side of the front door…(unintelligible conversation) with a hotel full of people. It made me sick to my stomach. I was nervous, you know. (unintelligible conversation). I couldn’t eat. The guests…we had a full dining room..(unintelligible conversation)…people ate where they stayed; there wasn’t any restaurants. After that stormed calmed down (unintelligible conversation)…it just calmed right down. We had enough food and all to take care of it.
Interviewer: How long did the storm last?
Pauline: It lasted about 1 full day…it started one day and the water got so bad, and it was terrible that whole day until 5 (o’clock) in the morning. Then the wind changed from the northeast to the west and calmed right down. And it was the hottest day you’ve ever seen, that next day. Oh, it was so hot…with a west wind it’s always hot.
Interviewer: Your father built the Stephen Decatur Hotel?
Pauline: Yes, in 1930. Theodore Purnell.
Interviewer: Did you help out in the hotel?
Pauline: Oh, yes. I worked in the office the first year. But then my mother, she had the kitchen….and of course we…
Interviewer: Uh-huh
Pauline: She did the buying and she planned the meals. And then she had a nervous breakdown by the end of the summer.
Inteviewer: Aw.
Pauline: And then I had to take over the kitchen from then on. And I had that act for 44 years. We had that hotel for 44 years. And my father passed away the 4th year. He was only 53. And he loved it. And so of course my husband and I had to carry on. And then my mother got sick …(unintelligible conversation)…she just kind of gave up, so my husband and I had to keep going. And my husband died in ’70 and I operated it 3 years after that…’71, ’72, and ’73. And then I sold it in March of ’74 to Mr. Puglisi (unintelligible conversation) and then he operated it 3 years and then he tore it down and built the condominium that’s on that site now. 12th Street and the boardwalk and named it Decatur House condominium and apartments. It’s there now. It’s beautiful. (unintelligible conversation)….Yes, that was one of my homes and when he tore it down, I cried. I didn’t go on the boardwalk. I didn’t go on the avenue. When I went to Dr. Towsend or I had to go to Dr. Hall, and they took me all around Philadelphia Avenue and up St. Louis, so I wouldn’t see it. ‘Cause I had been there 42 years. It was just home to me.
Interviewer: Yeah. How long have you lived at this house?
Pauline: My father built this in 1923. I’ve been living here 49 years, going on 50 years. When he passed away in ’34, Mother said she couldn’t live here by herself. She didn’t drive a car. She rented it for 3 years and then decided she’d let me have it. She give it to me and I moved in here and have been here ever since. She died…(unintelligible conversation). I’ve had a nice life. It was a lot of work, but I’ve had a nice life. I’ve been a widow for 4 years this August. (unintelligible conversation)…4 years ago I had to give up driving. I only have side vision so I….I try to be happy along with it. I’m not going until my time comes. Lord wants me, then I’ll go. I try to make the best of it. That’s all you can do in this life. Be happy and don’t worry. Cause that don’t help. That makes it worse. That’s the way I feel. So I don’t worry about things unless it’s absolutely necessary. (unintelligible conversation). See, I might fall and nobody would know it and I could die. (unintelligible conversation). But, I live on this floor. Bedroom, bath, kitchen, breakfast room, dining room (unintelligible conversation).
Interviewer: When you were growing up in Berlin, was there just one doctor?
Pauline: Oh my, yes. The first doctor was Dr. Ebe Holland. Then he passed away and then his….I don’t know what relation he was…whether he was a nephew….Dr. Holland, I can’t think of his first name. And then Dr. Law came in town, my mother’s nephew. And he was here for years. And then after he left, it was Dr. Nichols came in. Then of course he passed away…(unintelligible conversation)
Interviewer: Was there a dentist?
Pauline: Oh, yeah. We had old Dr. Cullen. Oh, yes, we had to go around when we had a toothache and get the teeth pulled or cleaned or filled. He was the only dentist we had until Dr. Mason…(unintelligible conversation) on Main Street (unintelligible conversation)…he didn’t practice too much…(unintelligible conversation)…He didn’t like it too much. He didn’t go over to his office but once a week.
Interviewer: That wouldn’t be too good if you had a toothache!
Pauline: Then, after that, we had Dr. Berman. He lived in Ocean City and he had an office here a couple days a week. Of course, everybody knows what’s there now. Berlin has grown quite a bit. I used to know everybody in town, but I don’t now.
Interviewer: So many new people…?
Pauline: Yeah, and I don’t get around now. It was wonderful growing up here. It was a nice…anyway, when I got my license and got my car, I used to go to Salisbury to shop at R.E. Powell, it was the only department store there and they wonderful things. …children’s shoes, ladies. That was the leading one. (unintelligible conversation).
Interviewer: (unintelligible conversation)
Pauline: Yeah, I know. They do have a warehouse up there, don’t they? I see it advertised on the radio. They have one in Ocean City, in the Gold Coast Mall. And one in Rehoboth. (unintelligible conversation).
Interviewer: What church did you attend?
Pauline: Well, I attended this little church here in town (St. Paul’s Episcopal Church). I have all my life. My father was Episcopalian all his life. The first Episcopal church that we had was up near Showell, Maryland which is (unintelligible conversation)…In the old St. Martin’s brick church. And that was built in 1725. And then, the first rector was Reverend Dingle. He was there and he passed away. He is buried under the church. Under the altar and the Communion rail. And then after that, they had 2 more rectors, and they both were buried there. They were the only 2 people buried there under this church.
Interviewer: Everybody gets that legend. That there are people buried…
Pauline: Well, there are. There are 3 rectors buried there. We call them rectors. Some call them ministers. Then they decided there were enough people here in town to have a church here in town. It was so far to drive to St. Martin’s Church. The Episcopal church was built in 1825. And it burned in 1904. That was a year after I was born. It burned all the wood. It burned everything in the church with the exception of our marble altar and our pulpit. The side walls were brick. And the stood. And they started to rebuild and they rebuilt that and they opened it for service in 1907. And that is the church that stands now. And my father was Episcopalian his whole life. And I was practically raised in this church. The old St. Martin’s…(unintelligible conversation)
Interviewer: It’s still there now.
Pauline: (unintelligible conversation)…and then they started to build that…and then it was completed in 1729. A long time ago. We used to have services…(unintelligible conversation). There’s a lot of people who want to help us.
Interviewer: It would be nice if it were restored. There’s a story that the old Bible is still there…(unintelligible conversation)
Pauline: That the Bible is still there now? I’m sure it isn’t there. If we had the Bible, it’s got to be around our church.
Interviewer: (unintelligible conversation)
Pauline: I’m not sure about that.
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