Northam, Margaret (1893-1984) |
Worcester County Library: Local History and Genealogy Collection, Snow Hill Branch, Snow Hill, MD
|
Interviewee: |
Margaret Northam (1893-1984) |
| Interviewer: |
Katherine Fisher |
| Date of interview: |
1982 April 29 |
| Length of interview: |
31 minutes |
| Transcribed by: |
Lisa Baylous |
| Preferred Citation: |
“Name, Oral History Collection, Date of Interview, Worcester County Library, Snow Hill Branch, Snow Hill, Maryland.” |
Topical Terms:
Education
School
Worcester County (Md.)—History
Worcester County (Md.)—Social life and customs
Worcester County (Md.)—Women’s History
Location Terms:
Worcester County (Md.)
INTERVIEW BEGIN
INTERVIEWER: Um, I’d like to ask you some questions if I can.
MARGARET: Yes, ma’am.
INTERVIEWER: Um, where were you born? I don’t even know. Where you born here in—
MARGARET: Oh, no.—
INTERVIEWER: --Worcester County?
MARGARET: --honey. It was Siranka, Virginia.
INTERVIEWER: It was?
MARGARET: A little below Hallwood.
INTERVIEWER: Alright. I know where Hallwood is. Ok.
MARGARET: And, they call it (unintelligible) Siranka (unintelligible).
INTERVIEWER: Alright. That’s an unusual name, isn’t it?
MARGARET: (unintelligible)
INTERVIEWER: It is, indeed.
MARGARET: But, I heard it ever since I’ve been able to hear anything.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. Um, when did you first come up into this area? Into Worcester County?
MARGARET: In Worcester County…That’s been a long time ago.
INTERVIEWER: Uh, huh. Were you a little girl or—
MARGARET: Oh, yeah. I was a little girl. I was a school girl then.
INTERVIEWER: Oh, you were?
MARGARET: I had started the Primmer in Atlantic, Virginia.
INTERVIEWER: That’s right.
MARGARET: That’s where I started—
INTERVIEWER: Started the school there. Huh?
MARGARET: I had some other teachers.
INTERVIEWER: Oh, did you really?
MARGARET: They had a father who believed in education. And, he educated his family. And, they served in that county. Well, mostly in Virginia, I mean Atlantic. Altantic’s where he lived.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. Where did you go to school after you came up in this area?
MARGARET: Well, I don’t…I know (unintelligible) because I have to remember it. We, uh, when I started school here (unintelligible). Well, we started in Virginia, but we came here and we went to school. And, it was my mother’s school. Well, it had to be. She had gone to school that same place.
INTERVIEWER: She had? Well, for goodness sakes!
MARGARET: Now, if I could just remember it. It has a little hitch in it.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. Like a little hyphen in the word?
MARGARET: No. Yeah. It’s, uh, well, it’s near Snow Hill, Maryland (unintelligible)—the town—But, the little thing was out there in the country. And, (unintelligible).
INTERVIEWER: It wasn’t (unintelligible)?
MARGARET: Mom taught, taught Sunday School—My grandmother was a Sunday School woman.
INTERVIEWER: Oh, she was?
MARGARET: Her father was a member of, uh, a church in lower Delaware, lower Maryland. He (unintelligible) that church for as long as he lived. He wouldn’t join any other church, but he went there. (Unintelligible) I (unintelligible).
INTERVIEWER: Oh…Um, the school you went to, was it a one-room school?
MARGARET: Yes, ma’am. The first one was.
INTERVIEWER: It was?
MARGARET: Well, of course, the first one was, I went to Virginia—a while. And, that was a two, um, room school.
INTERVIEWER: Alright. Now—
MARGARET: There was a room for the Primary. I was in there and the middle advanced—and then, (unintelligible) they advanced from there to the high school—That’s as far as they went (unintelligible).
INTERVIEWER: Now, the school near Snow Hill, was it a one-room school, too?
MARGARET: Oh, yeah.
INTERVIEWER: I’ve never been to a one-room school. Can you tell me what it was like?
MARGARET: You missed it!
INTERVIEWER: I did.
MARGARET: Well, we had a teacher we, that all call Miss Kate. Miss Kate.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. Miss Kate.
MARGARET: Barnes. And, she was from Pocomoke.
INTERVIEWER: Oh, she was?
MARGARET: But, she had studied in the, um, high school at Pocomoke. She had a better education than a lot of people (unintelligible) had in that day.
INTERVIEWER: Right. And, uh, was Miss Kate young?
MARGARET: Oh, yes. She had, uh, boyfriend that picked, she picked right out of school.
INTERVIEWER: Did she really?
MARGARET: Well, she had to teach boys that were well, teenagers. And, bigger than teenage. They were nearly men.
INTERVIEWER: Alright. That’s something!
MARGARET: And, she, out of that group, there was a Townsend. The Townsend family were way back people who believed in the Lord. But, this father was a little different. But, he went to school (unintelligible). He loved school. (Unintelligible) teaching. It’s Miss Kate (unintelligible)—went around with Miss Kate and they had a good time with each other. A lot of us didn’t think much of that. She was (LAUGHTER), he was so much higher than she was (unintelligible). I guess it was in religion.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. What did you study when you were in school? Reading and writing, and—
MARGARET: Arithmetic.
INTERVIEWER: --and arithmetic? Did you learn how to have a nice handwriting?
MARGARET: Yes, sir! We were strict. And, then, I don’t remember there ever did much with it in lower school. But, in the next school, they had to start straightening themselves out (unintelligible). Old enough to (unintelligible). And, the next school, that was the, the high school— (unintelligible) in lower Virginia. We had reading (unintelligible). They were more careful there. Now, the writing had to be done a certain way. And, the teacher had to (unintelligible). She had to tell you what to do. And, you had to do it. (LAUGHTER) And…Reading, of course, (unintelligible) what was in the book, but we didn’t know all the time how to pronounce things. (unintelligible) in writing. Information.
INTERVIEWER: How was the school heated? Did you have—
MARGARET: Oh!
INTERVIEWER: --a woodstove?
MARGARET: No, ma’am. That first one (unintelligible) of course, I went (unintelligible) Pocomoke. Not Pocomoke, but to Atlantic. And, that was, um, school (unintelligible) like that. It was oblong (unintelligible). It was (unintelligible) long pieces of wood. And, um, big pieces, too. They had to have (unintelligible). So, (unintelligible). But, but, um, Atlantic. And then, (unintelligible) and there we had the long. We had some (unintelligible) coal stoves. (unintelligible) burning coal. (Unintelligible) in Maryland. And, Virginia was so hard-hit by the war. (unintelligible) and slaves and all. And, (unintelligible) a lot of money so schools (unintelligible). Especially in Virginia (unintelligible). And, that’s (unintelligible) the very best kind of people—down there in Virginia.
INTERVIEWER: Um, what would you do for fun when you were maybe a teenager? Remember back to when you were thirteen and fifteen and eighteen. What would you do if you were going to have a good time? If you’re going to have fun?
MARGARET: Well, we tried to find something for ourselves, I think. The older boys that were headed up (unintelligible). They played baseball and (unintelligible) like the bat man and, uh, the different ones. Well, we tried to copy that, a lot. (unintelligible) what did we do. We got out there with a bat and ball (unintelligible). We (unintelligible). It wasn’t too bad for baseball. Of course, these (unintelligible). They came along later (unintelligible). (LAUGHTER) My interest was not in that, much. We had a new Sunday School. We had a preacher to come, and we had a church. A little church. In lower Maryland (unintelligible). (unintelligible) the teacher would be the kind that would teach us anything we knew about the Bible and (unintelligible). They came through (unintelligible) but otherwise, we didn’t get so much (unintelligible). But, uh, (unintelligible) Maryland. Maryland (unintelligible) school (unintelligible).
INTERVIEWER: Did you, um, did you ever go ice skating?
(LAUGHTER)
MARGARET: (unintelligible) I used to get so, now you see, we had a, these, uh, teenager girls and boys—in lower Maryland. They went to the pond ever (unintelligible). And, some would go and some would get (unintelligible) and give them skates and they had to (unintelligible). I kept after, I kept talking about it to my father. He thought, “Well, maybe they ought to have some too.” I didn’t get to do any skating, but, I learned how to slide on the (unintelligible). (unintelligible)
INTERVIEWER: Did you go swimming in the summer? Did you ever go swimming?
MARGARET: Well, I didn’t do swimming. I…The first time I, the first time I experienced that (unintelligible). We would all go down to some (unintelligible) and Mom would fix us, uh…We didn’t have to go. And, my father went, too. When we got there, he put me in the water. Mom didn’t go much (unintelligible). He said (unintelligible). I had a sister. ”These girls ought to go in the water.” So, (unintelligible). So, he would take, I don’t know what (unintelligible). He’d take me in his arms—
INTERVIEWER: He would?
MARGARET: And, my feet would be the only thing that hit the water.
(LAUGHTER)
INTERVIEWER: Aww.
MARGARET: I remember that so much (unintelligible) Information, I think, it cemented (unintelligible) affection I have between father and daughter. Well, it was the other girl (unintelligible). And, he was a good man. He was good to slaves and good to…other people. (unintelligible) He had great wisdom when he was (unintelligible). The, the colored boy that lived there for several years, when it would come and rain, my father didn’t like seeing (unintelligible) get his feet all wet (unintelligible). So, he went and bought him some shoes. Those thing impressionate (unintelligible) The boy was so (unintelligible).
INTERVIEWER: Aww. Now, did you, um, did you ever go on steam boats?
MARGARET: On what?
INTERVIEWER: Steam boats.
MARGARET: (LAUGHTER) (unintelligible) Well, you know, when we had company down there—and people from the city, um, (unintelligible) would come by and, uh, um…They planned to have a meal on the boat, uh, dinner, or something like that. And, we did that—when…And, I remember one occasion especially…There was a man who lived with us, whose name was, um…(unintelligible). It’s a, it’s a, it’s a familiar name. But, Sid, my little brother…I had two brothers…and they called this man…Skeeter. Because, uh…Well, they thought a lot of him. And, uh, (unintelligible) wanted to know where he was. And, if they found out where he was, (unintelligible). And, then, he used to go with my father to Chincoteague, trading. And, uh, sometimes, he’d bring a little candy to me. That was great! Well, (unintelligible) Chincoteague, they could go upstairs and get on the trunk and look out the window and we could see Chincoteague.
INTERVIEWER: Oh, you could?
MARGARET: Mm hmm. We could see those boats, ocean-lined boats, passing Chincoteague—on the other side.
INTERVIEWER: Oh, for goodness sake! That’s—
MARGARET: I thought that, I’ve often thought that that was a big help then. (unintelligible) was that wide.
INTERVIEWER: That’s right!
(LAUGHTER)
INTERVIEWER: Yes, it was! Did you, um, did you go on a train…at all?
MARGARET: Well—
INTERVIEWER: Was there a train anywhere near you?
MARGARET: Now, listen. We had a train and it went right in the back of our house.
INTERVIEWER: Oh, it did?
MARGARET: Mm hmm. (unintelligible) Well, I think, I know we went once or twice. In fact, my father thought we should not miss the thrill of going on a train. So, we went.
INTERVIEWER: So, you went.
MARGARET: Just (unintelligible) Ethel and I, my sister, went together. We went to church together. We went to school together. Everywhere we went, we went to Grandmother’s together. Everywhere, we went together.
INTERVIEWER: I’ll be darned. Um, there, a lot of people would go to Red Hills.
MARGARET: Yes, ma’am.
INTERVIEWER: Did you go there?
MARGARET: Oh, yes. We went there one time. Uh…This man by the name of Skeeter, (LAUGHTER) uh, went with my father. They piloted the boat down to Chincoteague. (unintelligible) and the…They were there. They hitched the boat…through, um, some (unintelligible)…
INTERVIEWER: An anchor?
MARGARET: An—that’s it! And anchored the boat. And, we’d play around (unintelligible) boats and stuff. Now, one time, we were anchored, they both (unintelligible) and water came in. Uh, I was standing on the side of the boat. Went right down my, my new dress. I had a new red dress.
INTERVIEWER: Oh, my goodness.
MARGARET: I never will (unintelligible). I was so stressed, I cried (unintelligible). Mom said, “Oh, you’ll get dried off (unintelligible).” The teacher was (unintelligible). The teachers (unintelligible). (unintelligible) red dress. Well, it lived in memory. It’s still (unintelligible) things that happened then (unintelligible) that happened yesterday.
INTERVIEWER: Right. (unintelligible)
MARGARET: (unintelligible)
INTERVIEWER: Ah, you said that there was a church where you lived. You didn’t live in Boxiron, did you?
MARGARET: Well, it wasn’t, it was near Boxiron.
INTERVIEWER: It was near Boxiron. Ok. Down more toward the bay?
MARGARET: We were more toward the bay than Boxiron. There was another (unintelligible) between Boxiron…There was that little store down there.
INTERVIEWER: But, it wasn’t Girdletree?
MARGARET: Well, Girdletree—
INTERVIEWER: Maybe it was.
MARGARET: Girdletree was nearby. There was a little village near, near Girdletree (unintelligible).
INTERVIEWER: Alright. It wasn’t Taylor Landing?
MARGARET: No. Taylor Landing was further up.
INTERVIEWER: Further up.
MARGARET: But, I don’t think (unintelligible). But, I’ve heard older people call it that.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. Um, and there was a church (unintelligible)?
MARGARET: Well, Stockton was another village. Oh, yes. There was a church at Girdletree, in Stockton, and I think there was one way out…Well, I thought, I think the three of them (unintelligible) road—It went from the wooded country down to the bay.
INTERVIEWER: Down to the bay. Uh, um, you lived on a farm.
MARGARET: (unintelligible) Always lived on a farm.
INTERVIEWER: Um, did you have to work? Did you have chores to do—
MARGARET: Oh, yeah.
INTERVIEWER: --on the farm? You did? What did you have to do?
MARGARET: Well, I know lots of things we tried to do was plant. Drop the corn. You know, they didn’t, they’d shell it (unintelligible). (unintelligible) we children would have a bag (unintelligible).
INTERVIEWER: Over your shoulder.
MARGARET: Over our neck—to hold it up. And, we would dip in and plant corn. It was, you should have about three kernels of corn, or something like that—to each hill. And then, of course, later, we’d all (unintelligible) supper out—(unintelligible)
INTERVIEWER: Why would you plant three?
MARGARET: (unintelligible) A lot of times, they didn’t come, come up. And then, make sure, uh…(unintelligible)
INTERVIEWER: Ok. Um, did your father use, uh, mules—
MARGARET: Oh!
INTERVIEWER: --or oxen?
MARGARET: I’m telling you, he didn’t use mules right away. But, (unintelligible) horses.
INTERVIEWER: Oh, he did?
MARGARET: Or, (unintelligible). We had the male horses and they, another kind of horses. And, uh, they had babies. Baby horses. They were very precious.
INTERVIEWER: Aww. I’ll bet so!
MARGARET: When we had one in our home, it was always a pet (unintelligible). It was still a pet (unintelligible). We could drive it or we could ride it. We girls learned to ride the horses—Mom had me (unintelligible) how to ride it. She (unintelligible).
INTERVIEWER: Did you, did you name your, did you name it?
MARGARET: Bob.
INTERVIEWER: Bob. Ok.
MARGARET: Bob was our faithful horse. He would (unintelligible) out of the hold— (unintelligible)that a mule would (unintelligible).
INTERVIEWER: Alright. Mules were more trouble, weren’t they?
MARGARET: They didn’t have as much education.
(LAUGHTER)
INTERVIEWER: (unintelligible)
MARGARET: (unintelligible) But the horse. The horses were pets. The very first one. Of course, later on, I had brothers. They had to have a horse or a pony or something. It developed.
INTERVIEWER: Uh huh. Um, did you grow most everything you needed on the farm? Uh, did you have to go into town to buy things much, or did you have what you needed?
MARGARET: (unintelligible) Yes. You see, my father, after he was first married, he lived up New Church, that way. And, they had the (unintelligible) grocery stores. You could buy your provisions for a week if you wanted to—there. And, they’re not only at New Church, Church, store for (unintelligible). (unintelligible) but we just knew that one was there.
INTERVIEWER: Ok. Did you have, uh, apple trees or pear trees or anything?
MARGARET: Oh, my land! We had that, uh, first farm that my father bought, let see, away from that, he had a little farm down, near the bay. But then, he moved up and had another house (unintelligible) there and he had (unintelligible) farm. He raised potatoes, you know.
INTERVIEWER: Oh, he did?
MARGARET: And, corn, corn. That was all that was planted with the horses. It was good to eat, too. (Unintelligible) lots of dried corn (unintelligible). Green corn was very (unintelligible).
INTERVIEWER: Alright. That’s good. So, you had apple trees and stuff on your—
MARGARET: Oh, Man! That farm that he bought, at, uh, Beaver Dam. Near Beaver Dam—It had been planted all over by some people that (unintelligible) before us, had planted that whole farm in fruit trees. There were apples of every kind. Winter and summer. And, uh, different…I remember strawberry (unintelligible). Strawberry peaches. They had stripes on them.
INTERVIEWER: Oh, did they?
MARGARET: Mm hmm.
INTERVIEWER: Oh, how nice!
MARGARET: Well, that was it.
INTERVIEWER: That was it.
MARGARET: We had apples for winter, summer…Early…
INTERVIEWER: Now…When, now, when did you get married?
MARGARET: (LAUGHTER) That’s not happened, yet!
INTERVIEWER: Oh! You’re not!
MARGARET: No.
INTERVIEWER: I wasn’t sure whether you are a “Miss” or a “Mrs.”
MARGARET: No. I am a “Miss.”
INTERVIEWER: You’re a “Miss.” Ok. So, (unintelligible) miss that out.
MARGARET: I, I probably will be as long as I live. (LAUGHTER) I am now eighty-seven—
INTERVIEWER: Oh, you are?
MARGARET: Yes, ma’am.
INTERVIEWER: Oh! I didn’t know you were that old!
MARGARET: Oh, yeah.
INTERVIEWER: No. Oh, good. Now…have you lived around here, then, for most of your life?
MARGARET: Well, I lived, at first, to Atlantic. Next, Beaver Dam. And, that was, uh, in Maryland. (unintelligible) moved there. And then, (unintelligible) it must have been New Church where my grandfather, grandparents lived there.
INTERVIEWER: Oh. In New Church?
MARGARET: Mm hmm. Near, near New Church. He had a big farm and he divided that in plots. Now, each plot was named. It had to be George, or George, or Harrison, or Thomas—Oscar. He had, uh, several sons. But, four daughters.
INTERVIEWER: Oh! (Unintelligible)
MARGARET: My grandfather, my grandmother, she was a wonderful woman! All that many children!
INTERVIEWER: Yes!
MARGARET: She had—
INTERVIEWER: A busy lady, too!
MARGARET: Mm hmm.
INTERVIEWER: Wasn’t she? Huh?
MARGARET: Yes, she was.
INTERVIEWER: Goodness! Um, what, now, did you teach school?
MARGARET: Yes, ma’am. I…had a bad experience.
INTERVIEWER: You did?
MARGARET: Yes.
INTERVIEWER: Where did, where did you, um, well then you, where did you graduate from high school? Where did you finish your first school?
MARGARET: Well, I guess that must have been…Snow Hill, I guess. There was two Snow Hills. One was lower down. (unintelligible) Ethel and I, my sister and I both graduated from the higher school.
INTERVIEWER: Alright. You did? Alright. Um, where did you teach?
MARGARET: Well, I taught (unintelligible) there. There was a country school not long, not very far (unintelligible). It helped me because I learned a few things there that I hadn’t known. (unintelligible). (LAUGHTER) (Unintelligible)
INTERVIEWER: Oh! You found out, didn’t you?
MARGARET: Yes.
END OF INTERVIEW