Stevenson, Vivian (1890-1984) |
Worcester County Library: Local History and Genealogy Collection, Snow Hill Branch, Snow Hill, MD
|
Interviewee: |
Vivian Stevenson (1890-1984) |
| Interviewer: |
Brian Trader |
| Date of interview: |
1982 April 20 |
| Length of interview: |
30 minutes |
| Transcribed by: |
Michelle Ernat |
| Preferred Citation: |
“Name, Oral History Collection, Date of Interview, Worcester County Library, Snow Hill Branch, Snow Hill, Maryland.” |
Topical Terms:
Domestic Life
Pocomoke City (Md.)—History
School
Transportation
Worcester County (Md.)—History
Worcester County (Md.)—Social life and customs
Worcester County (Md.)—Women’s History
Location Terms:
Pocomoke City (Md.)
Interview Starts:
INTERVIEWER: Today is April 20, 1982 and I’m interviewing Mrs. Vivian Stevenson. What is your age Mrs. Stevenson?
VIVIAN: 91 plus 11 months
INTERVIEWER: 91 years old. Okay.
INTERVIEWER: What is your maiden name?
VIVIAN: Didn’t change it.
INTERVIEWER: Okay. What was your parent’s names?
VIVIAN: James D. and Elizabeth C. Stevenson
INTERVIEWER: Okay. What was your mother’s maiden name?
VIVIAN: Hearn
INTERVIEWER: Hearn. Okay. What were your grandparents’ names?
VIVIAN: Well, John L. Hearn and Sally E. Hearn. She was Atkinson before she married.
INTERVIEWER: Okay. I’ll ask you about your childhood. Do you have any brothers or sisters?
VIVIAN: I had 3 brothers and 5 sisters. They are all dead. I’m the last one.
INTERVIEWER: Do you remember their names?
VIVIAN: Of course, well my older, oldest sister, Mary Stevenson, married Clark Fontaine, my brother Willard, was the next to marry and he married Naomi Dawson *unintelligible conversation* he married Minnie Clamor, the rest of it, my next sister didn’t marry, only the next one.
INTERVIEWER: What was her name?
VIVIAN: Nesta, then I had twin sisters younger than I. Edith and Beatrice and then Hilda.
INTERVIEWER: Okay. What was your home life like?
VIVIAN: Oh well, lots of fun up there on that hill, that house up there.
INTERVIEWER: What were some of your chores or responsibilities, that you had around the home?
VIVIAN: My responsibility, when I was 12 years old, I was given the responsibility of keeping the lamps washed and filled with oil. That’s the first big chore, and sometimes we had, I had to carry a can of milk down to my uncle Ira’s store, who had a soda fountain.
INTERVIEWER: Did you have any other special chores or anything you had to do?
VIVIAN: What?
INTERVIEWER: Did you have any other special kind of chores you had to do?
VIVIAN: Don’t remember any. I never washed dishes or cooked anything, til I was married. We had a little colored woman who lived with us, from the time my brother Willard was an infant until she died during that flood we had in 1933.
INTERVIEWER: Okay. Did you have a job outside of your home?
VIVIAN: Well, after I finished school, I went to Boston and lived with my brother, who was working there, went and took shorthand and typing in High School. Graduated from that and came home, by the time I got home, my father had engaged me to work for Paul Ewell, and I worked for him for about 5 years.
INTERVIEWER: Okay. Did you, you went to school, didn’t you?
VIVIAN: Hmm?
INTERVIEWER: You went to school, didn’t you?
VIVIAN: Ahun. And I graduated from Pocomoke, in 1906, and the Summerville English High School in Summerville, Massachusetts in 1907, so I went to work for Paul Ewell. This is a personal history I think.
INTERVIEWER: What was discipline like when you went to school?
VIVIAN: Well I was scared to death of old Mr. Handy, who was the Principal, but by the time I had gotten up to his grades, the 10th and the 11th, he had retired and Clark Fontaine took over. I don’t remember too much about it. I got fairly good marks, but…
INTERVIEWER: What were some of your teacher’s names?
VIVIAN: Let me see, the first grade, was Mrs. Alice White, who married Harry Powell and then there was, Miss Rose Marshall, she was the second grade teacher. The third grade was, I can’t remember her name, Miss Wroten, I believe it was, I forgotten her first name. In the 4th grade was Miss Mame Scott, the 5th grade was, was it Nan Dryden? It seems to me it was somebody Dryden, and the 6th grade was Lula King, the 7th grade I think was my sister Mary, and she used me as sort of a model, if I talked in class, she sent me home, told me she’d look after me later, and when I got home she never mentioned it… And then we had a Mr. Colburn in the 8th grade, no, the 9th he was. My sister was the 8th grade teacher and then Mr. Fontaine taught the 11th, we didn’t have 12 grades.
INTERVIEWER: Okay
VIVIAN: So I managed to keep out of mischief most of the time.
INTERVIEWER: Did you go to church?
VIVIAN: Yes. From the time I could walk, I think.
INTERVIEWER: Where did you go to church?
VIVIAN: Salem Methodist
INTERVIEWER: Okay. How long on Sunday did you go to church?
VIVIAN: How long on Sunday?
INTERVIEWER: One, two hours?
VIVIAN: Well we had service, at 11 in the morning, Sunday school at 2:00, and night service at 7:30, I think, I don’t remember too much about it, but I guess I went quite a bit.
INTERVIEWER: What kind of influence did the church have on the community?
VIVIAN: Well, I guess most people went to church, I don’t remember too much about it in those days.
INTERVIEWER: Well did you know, like the church, like govern most of the people, or did it, church govern the people or what?
VIVIAN: Well I don’t know. A little dumb.
INTERVIEWER: What did you and your family do for recreation?
VIVIAN: Well in summer time we had picnics at Red Hills, and then later on, later years we went to Public Landing a lot.
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever go ice skating?
VIVIAN: Once I tried to *unintelligible conversation* back in a little pond, I broke my sister’s skates and that ended my skating career.
INTERVIEWER: Okay. What were some of the games you played when you were a little kid?
VIVIAN: As young children, you mean?
INTERVIEWER: Ahum.
VIVIAN: Hide and seek, and blind man’s bluff, a few old time things like that.
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever go swimming or bathing?
VIVIAN: Never learned to swim.
INTERVIEWER: Did you date?
VIVIAN: Well after I, when I was in high school, I guess, we children would get together, boys and girls. But I didn’t have any serious dates in those days.
INTERVIEWER: When were you allowed to go out?
VIVIAN: When?
INTERVIEWER: Was there any special day or…..?
VIVIAN: No, I don’t remember any particular time.
INTERVIEWER: Was your family self-sufficient?
VIVIAN: I guess so. My father was the Funeral Director with his brother.
INTERVIEWER: What were some of the major events or special occasions that happened?
VIVIAN: Well, we used to have entertainment in the town hall, they’d be stock companies would come by, stay for about a week, have a different show every night, there were lectures, and the kinds of home talent shows.
INTERVIEWER: What were some of the businesses in town?
VIVIAN: Well, there was W.S. Dickinson store, he had the dry goods store, that was before the days of ready made garments. And the post office was were Betty Lee or Barbara Lee, had her store now, and there were houses up the rest of the block but they all burned down, when the big fire came in ‘21, 22. And we had ice cream parlors and other grocery stores. Didn’t have any big markets like we have now.
INTERVIEWER: Okay, where did you go when you went to town? Was there any special place when you went to town, you went? Like if there was something you really needed?
VIVIAN: Hum?
INTERVIEWER: Something you really needed, what, what store, well…..
VIVIAN: Oh well, I guess we went to Baltimore, for, that was the, and Philadelphia. I don’t think they went to Salisbury, because we didn’t have cars, and we had trains and a boat went from here to Baltimore twice a week, sometimes the boat would have excursions down to the mouth of the river, on Saturdays or Sundays, when they were laid over.
INTERVIEWER: When did you go to town?
VIVIAN: Huh?
INTERVIEWER: When did you go to town?
VIVIAN: Well, we just walked down here to Market Street, was going to town.
INTERVIEWER: Was it, was it any special time you had to go?
VIVIAN: Oh no.
INTERVIEWER: Just when you wanted to?
VIVIAN: I don’t remember any special time, we went when we wanted to.
INTERVIEWER: Okay. How was the class structure, you know, high class, middle class, low class?
VIVIAN: Hun?
INTERVIEWER: How was, what was the class structure like? You know, the high class. Low class.
VIVIAN: Well I don’t remember much about it. The differences, they were some that considered themselves a little better than others, and then of course the colored people were, didn’t have the civil rights they have now. They were, they would line up on Clarke Avenue on Saturdays, mostly.
INTERVIEWER: Do you remember what the population was?
VIVIAN: Well, not exactly, maybe, 1500 or 2000 or something like that. Not as big as it is now.
INTERVIEWER: Was there any kind of law enforcement?
VIVIAN: Yeah, we had police. Mr. Stroud was the police chief, chief of police for many years.
INTERVIEWER: What kind of transportation did you and your family use?
VIVIAN: Well, we had, my father had horses, you know, they didn’t have automobiles in the early days and we had a double surrey, and then we had an old horse we kept out home and a carriage that we rode around in. But automobiles were in style, came in though, the old horse was afraid of them, and we didn’t dare drive him anywhere, because *unintelligible conversation* he’d rare-up.
INTERVIEWER: Was there a train near where you lived?
VIVIAN: Oh yes, as far as I can remember, as far back as I can remember.
INTERVIEWER: Did you or your family use the train?
VIVIAN: Sometimes we’d go to Baltimore.
INTERVIEWER: Go to Baltimore?
VIVIAN: Have to change at Wilmington. But more people I think used the steamboat, in those days. My first trip was when I was 5 years old. I remember it real well.
INTERVIEWER: Where did you go?
VIVIAN: Baltimore
INTERVIEWER: Did your family use the steamboat that used to be here?
VIVIAN: Yes
INTERVIEWER: Use to lota go, where did you all go?
VIVIAN: Just go to Baltimore and back. Then later there was a small boat that used to go to Snow Hill and back, go in the morning at 7:00, and come back, leave Snow Hill about 4:00, I think, get back here between 5:00 and 6:00.
INTERVIEWER: Did your family own a car?
VIVIAN: Own a car? Well after, I think about 1915, my father and brother had a Hudson Super 6, if you heard of that. It was a big car.
INTERVIEWER: Did any of your neighbors have a car?
VIVIAN: Well, I guess they did, but I don’t remember any particular time. Dr. Walters had the first car in Pocomoke.
INTERVIEWER: What was your first car like?
VIVIAN: Well it was, it would seat 3, 6, 8 people. It had 2 fold seats in the middle, more like a station wagon, except I think it had 4 doors, the best I can remember.
INTERVIEWER: How much did it cost?
VIVIAN: Don’t ask me. I don’t know. Plenty I imagine. But it took a big car for our family.
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever go to Public Landing?
VIVIAN: Oh yes, lots of times.
INTERVIEWER: Well do you want to describe what Public Landing was like?
VIVIAN: Well, it was just a little place, opening, there were houses a little far back, and one quite near the water, that somebody used to live there, who served meals and we’d go Sundays sometimes and have dinner there. They had a little pier that went out some distance, and we’d go sit out there and enjoy the water.
INTERVIEWER: Do you remember the fire that they had at the pier?
VIVIAN: The 1922?
INTERVIEWER: The fire they had at the pier, at Public Landing?
VIVIAN: Before they had it? Well I think they had a longer one, later than they did at first.
INTERVIEWER: Well, do you remember a fire, they had down there, that…
VIVIAN: No I don’t.
INTERVIEWER: What was the fire?
VIVIAN: I didn’t know they ever had one.
INTERVIEWER: What was Farmer’s Day, I think it is? Farmer’s Day?
VIVIAN: At Public Landing?
INTERVIEWER: Ahun
VIVIAN: I don’t know. But they had a day at Red Hills, the first Wednesday in August, was a great picnic day for everybody.
INTERVIEWER: What was Red Hills like?
VIVIAN: Well, it was kinda up on a high cliff from the water. You’ve been there, haven’t ya? But there wasn’t much there. Finally they gotta, built a pavilion, I don’t know whether they sold ice cream cones and things like that or not, but you could get in the shade if you wanted to, then there was a family that lived nearby, that rented little bathhouses to change your suits in if you wanted to.
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever go to Assateague?
VIVIAN: Once before it became popular. Recently, in the old day, but you had to go in a boat from Franklin City.
INTERVIEWER: What was Franklin City like?
VIVIAN: Well just a, as I remember it was just about one long street, that run down to the water, I don’t really know much about it.
INTERVIEWER: Okay. Did you ever visit the shipyards here in town?
VIVIAN: Ahun
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever go to see the boats launched?
VIVIAN: No, but I’ve got a picture of one, that was finished here.
INTERVIEWER: Okay. Did you ever go to the Pocomoke River, you know, go down there and look?
VIVIAN: Hmm?
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever go down to the Pocomoke River?
VIVIAN: Down to the mouth of the river, you mean?
INTERVIEWER: Well, you know, anywhere on the river?
VIVIAN: What?
INTERVIEWER: Anywhere on the river?
VIVIAN: Well, we had a place out here in the woods called Winter Quarters, that was supposed to have been the Indians winter quarters place, and that was right on the river, and it still is.
INTERVIEWER: What were some of the stories you heard about the river?
VIVIAN: Hun...The stories?
INTERVIEWER: Stories, superstitions, you know, any legends?
VIVIAN: Well I don’t know much about that, don’t know that I ever heard any, except the name came from the dark water.
INTERVIEWER: Have you ever heard of Jake in Berlin? Jake, I think was an alligator or something they used to keep in Berlin.
VIVIAN: No, I never heard about that.
INTERVIEWER: Were there any kind of superstitions that you or your family or friends believed in?
VIVIAN: I can’t remember anything particular.
INTERVIEWER: What did your family do for entertainment?
VIVIAN: Entertainment?
INTERVIEWER: Did somebody have, own, anybody in your family have an instrument, or did you listen to the radio?
VIVIAN: Well my sister, my older sister played the piano, my sister Vesta played by ear, she could play anything she ever heard, by ear. I took lessons but I never really learned to play much. We had one of the first Victrolas that anybody around here had, and of course that led to radios and televisions.
INTERVIEWER: Do you remember any major hurricanes or snow storms?
VIVIAN: Quite a few.
INTERVIEWER: Do you want to explain some of them?
VIVIAN: Well the first big one I remember was about that deep, and by the time we had paths built around our yard, you know, out to the stables and the carriage house and things like that, you felt like you were walking down on drift in walkway. That’s the biggest one I remember.
INTERVIEWER: The big flood they had, do you remember that?
VIVIAN: Oh yes. I have pictures of that.
INTERVIEWER: Do you want to describe that?
VIVIAN: Well, the water was standing all around us, just, the boys had boats, row boats out here in the swamp besides us, and it covered the street, way down, all the way. Our house looked like it was an island.
INTERVIEWER: Where were the fairgrounds?
VIVIAN: What were they like?
INTERVIEWER: Uhun
VIVIAN: Well, they had a big grandstand and when they, the week of the fair they had these sideshows and things like that and races. Horse racing was most of it.
INTERVIEWER: Your family, did your family attend the fair?
VIVIAN: Oh yeah, we always went.
INTERVIEWER: Okay. Where did you get your toys from?
VIVIAN: My uncle Ira’s store. He had toys upstairs on the second floor. He sold some groceries, but his soda fountain and candy was the main attractions.
INTERVIEWER: What kind of toys did you get?
VIVIAN: Oh, we had dolls and whatever they had. I don’t know what they were in those days, it’s been so long.
INTERVIEWER: How much land did your parents own?
VIVIAN: How much land? Well, they owned from this street here down to the river and over, right far over toward the river.
INTERVIEWER: They had right much land?
VIVIAN: Hmm?
INTERVIEWER: They had right much land?
VIVIAN: Well, I think, it, my great-grandfather bought it, was supposed to be 300 acres and most of it was the woods, there wasn’t much cultivated, but I don’t think he was much of a farmer, because he spent 26 years going to the legislature, my great-grandfather.
INTERVIEWER: Did your family hire any farm hands or any persons to help around there?
VIVIAN: Well, my father rented out what land was tillable, and we always had some of the, whatever they grew. Oh, shares, I guess they called it, but we grew beautiful watermelons out on that sandy….
INTERVIEWER: How was the land farmed?
VIVIAN: Hun?
INTERVIEWER: How was the land farmed?
VIVIAN: Well, we had plows and horses, mainly, I think.
INTERVIEWER: Did your family have any home remedies?
VIVIAN: Home remedies?
INTERVIEWER: Uhun
VIVIAN: I don’t know. I don’t remember, my grandfather was a doctor, and my great-grandfather, on my mother’s side, was a doctor. Great great-grandfather, I guess it was.
INTERVIEWER: Did the Depression affect your family?
VIVIAN: I guess it did. I did most everybody, but I don’t remember any particular way.
INTERVIEWER: Do you remember the fire they had uptown here?
VIVIAN: I remember the one in 1922. It was on an Easter Monday. A very windy day, the wind was blowing this way, from the south and the, Mr. Davis, who had a store there on the corner of Willow and Second, had this store and he was out burning trash and the lady behind him went out and told him it was dangerous. It really was. And that’s what started the fire. And it burned, nearly, all that block down to the hotel. I don’t think the hotel burned and it blew across and burned my father’s shop and the, his brother’s house next to it and quite a few houses down there where your office is.
INTERVIEWER: Do you remember the Exchange that they used to have down here?
VIVIAN: Produce Exchange?
INTERVIEWER: Uhun
VIVIAN: Yes, very well.
INTERVIEWER: Would you like to explain what they did there?
VIVIAN: Well, they mostly bought and shipped farm goods. There was corn and potatoes, mainly potatoes, probably.
INTERVIEWER: You said your great-grandfather or grandfather worked in the legislature.
VIVIAN: Hun?
INTERVIEWER: You said your great-grandfather or grandfather worked in the legislature, what did he do?
VIVIAN: Hun?
INTERVIEWER: What did he do?
VIVIAN: He was just a, just went to Annapolis, where they had the State Legislature, just like they do now, I presume. Made the laws for the state.
INTERVIEWER: Okay