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Stories Presented Exactly as Written.
Look at bottom of this page for stories.
| Documents 1 through 20 of 73
Page One 1 [An Air-Minded Family] 2 [Bargain House] 3 [Bea, The Washwoman] 4 [The Boarding House] 5 [The Capital City Insurance Company] 6 [A Change of Vocation Brings Success] 7 [Cindy Wright] 8 [Cosmetics and Coal] 9 [Cotton and Horseshoes] 10 [A Day in a Store] 11 [De Trubles I's Seen] 12 [The Depression was a Republican Trick] 13 [E. W. Evans, Brick Layer & Plasterer] 14 [Edward Walcott] 15 [Elam Franklin Dempsey] 16 [Ernest Gerber] 17 [The Family of an Automobile Worker] 18 [A Farming Preacher-Prophet] 19 [God Helped Us] 20 [A Good Investment] |
Documents 41 through 60 of 73
Page Two |
| Documents 21 through 40 of 73
Page Three 21 [Honesty and Fairness to the Bitter End] 22 [Hopes 'at Somebody Will Come Along] 23 [The House of Flowers] 24 [I Ain't No Midwife] 25 [I am Reaping in Tears] 26 [I Been 'Voted to Horses All My Days] 27 [I Got a Record] 28 ["I is a Baptist"] 29 [I Managed to Carry On] 30 [I Saw the Stars] 31 [I Want to Die in Peace] 32 [I Wanted to be a Merchant] 33 [I'm Planning to Make a Come Back] 34 [I'se a Fast 'Oman] 35 [In Lieu of Something Better] 36 [It Wasn't So Easy] 37 [Janice] 38 [Jilson Littlejohn, Preacher] 39 [Life During Confederate Days] 40 [Making the Best of It] |
Documents 61 through 73 of 73
Page Four 61 ["The Poppy Lady"] 62 [Principal of Grammar School] 63 [Recovery] 64 [Reminiscence] 65 [Reminiscence of a Negro Preacher] 66 [Reminiscences and Recollections] 67 [The Successful Farmer] 68 [The Sunshine Lady] 69 [Unable to Stage a Comeback] 70 [The Unwelcome Caller] 71 [A Visit to a Flower Shop] 72 [A Visit with Aunt Joe] 73 [Women and the Changing Times] |
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project,
1936-1940
Item 1 of 73
[An Air-Minded Family]
March 6, 1939
Mrs. Omie Williams Epps (White)
892 Hill Street
Athens, Georgia
Saleslady
Sadie B. Hornsby
AN AIR-MINDED FAMILY
I asked the taxi driver if he knew just where Mrs. Edwards lived? "Yes mam." At
the same time stopping in front of a one-story red brick house, with the
woodwork printed white. Hyacinths, forsythia and jonquils were in full bloom.
These flowers [bordered?] the spacious lawn that was green with glass, low
shrubbery surrounded the house. [?] There
was a lattice fence with an opening just large enough for a car to go through,
screened the back yard from the front,
Like the front yard name was flowers in
full bloom. low shrubbery close to the
house and garage. A [washpot?] turned
upside down, a [?] play house, and parts of
a [?] demolished airplane in the garage.
I knocked on the door, and a voice within called to me. "Just open the door and
come in. I am too lazy to get up." I entered the livingroom, there sat Mrs.
Edwards dressing a small black haired, blue eyed little girl about four years
old. "Do have a chair, if I don't dress Sissie before I get up she won't let me
get her dressed. I haven't made a fire in the furnace and the house is none too
warm. The maid hasn't come yet and everything is topsy-turvey."
As she talked about this and that I glanced around the room. It was evident that a member the family worked for an electric company. There were three lamps in this room. One on the radio, another on
a marble top antique table and a floor
lamp by a governor Winthrop desk. Several antique chairs, modern three piece
Page 2
livingroom suit book case filled with books on aeronautics, two mirrors and
several pictures on the wall. A clock, and pictures of her two grown sons on the
mantel as well as a picture of her deceased husband who was a well known
aviator, and one of her oldest daughter on the desk. A rug with a flowered of
pink roses in block design and criss-cross curtains with blue ball trimmings
completed the furnishings in this room.
She had finished dressing the child turned out the light, came over near the
window where I was sitting on the red upholstered divan. Picked up a sweater and
began darning it. "My boys won't wear these sweaters because there is a touch of
red on them. It isn't necessary to do this
mending this morning, but I thought I might as well be doing something while I
am talking. It is such a bad day I can't get out and sell my cosmetics. My
battery is no good on my car so I will have to wait another day. When I go out I
take the two small children with me and leave them in the car while I make my
calls selling my product. I also sell Christmas cards in season. My children
fuss with me because I get out and work, but I have worked all my life and know
what it takes to live on. Too I don't fell right to sit down and let my older
children take care of me and the ones who are not large enough to work. So after
the negro finishes her work and dinner is over I put the children in the car
take my cosmetic kit and try to do my bit. Some days I do real well and some
days I get so discouraged I feel like giving up but I can't.
"But what is it you want me to tell you I have just talked and talked and you
have come for my life history. Why would anybody
Page 3
pick me out of all people? You know a mother of ten children and nine living
don't have time to think about what has happened and afraid to think what might
take place after all I have been through. I have had a child and my husband
killed. I am praying I wont have to go through it again. We never know what is
to happen to us in this life.
"My young days was spent in Greene County
at Siloam, Georgia. I was born in Madison County out here at Neese. People in
Madison County could sell their land and buy land for half price in Greene
County in those days. So my people sold their land and bought a farm near Siloam
and lived in the little village that is the way people did than. I was 12 years
old when I went there to live, and perhaps my happiest days as a young girl was
spent in that settlement.
"It was a little odd the way I started to work. There was man who ran a general
merchandise store, his daughter who was my best friend helped him in his
business. On the day my friend was to marry another man the invitations had been
issued and everything set for the wedding, she ran away and married someone else. A few days after that I met the
girl's father on the street, he told me his wife wanted to see me right away.
Well I was scared green, I thought sure, she blamed me for the girl running away
and marrying someone lese. That woman was a captain. Instead of that she wanted
me to work in the store in her daughter's place. I accepted the job and received
$6.00 a month. I worked from eight o'clock in the morning until twelve o'clock
on Saturday night. Infact I worked twelve hours a day. I was crazy about my job,
I worked and took music lessons too. I remember I had an argument
Page 4
with my family they wanted the money for something else and I wanted to continue
my music lessons and did it, also bought my own clothes as well as things for
the house.
"My brother got a job with the Athens Railway and Electric Company. He was here
about a year when I decided to write a leading store in this town for a job as
they were the oply people I had ever heard of in business. My people laughed at
me and said. 'Why, don't you know they wont give you a job. There are so many
people in Athens they won't even answer your letter.' "Anyway I wrote them and
right away I received a letter from them telling me the next time I came to town
to come by to see them. I wrote them and right away I
received a letter from them telling me to see them next time I came to town to
come by to see them. I lost no time coming to 'Athens on going
to the store, applying for the job they told me the one who employed the girls
were out sick and for me to come back the following Monday. As I was leaving the
store I asked them to save the job for me I would be back when they told me too.
As I walked out of the store the man to whom I had been talking to came to the
door saying to me. 'Come back when we told you too and go to work.'
"I received the big amount of $15 a month. I worked there about three years
before I married and worked [off?] and on about two years afterward. I worked as
long as I could before my first child was born. As soon as I could I went back
and worked until Jr. came along, then I gave up and decided there was no need
trying.
"My father and mother came to town with me to live. He went back and forth to
Greene County to [superintend?] his farms and saw
Page 5
mill. Mother kept house, and looked after the children, cows chickens and etc.
"When I came here to live, I was engaged to a man studying for the Presbyterian
Ministry at Clemson college in South Carolina. I have had so many things said to
me that turned out to be true, it frightens me for anyone to make any
predictions. This man to whom I was engaged to didn't want me to come to Athens.
He said you wont be there three weeks before you will meet someone you will like
better than you do me. I told him that was impossible, because I was in love
with him and very much interested in my music. Sure enough I hadn't been here
but a short time before I met Bert.
"One day I was leaving the store going to lunch. A boy I knew was standing out
in front he called to me and said. 'Wait a minute I have something to tell you.'
Bert started down the street, 'come back here pal I want you to meet the new
girl in the store, she hasn't been in Athens long.' From that time on my friend
kept asking me for a date to go automobile riding. I didn't know girls went
riding at night. I told my mother, she told me it would be no harm if there was
another couple along. So when my friend, Bert and another girl came to my house
I didn't know I was to be with Bert until he got there. From that time on we had
dates regular. I told him I was engaged to someone else. He told me he didn't
care, he was in south Carolina and he here, and he was going to beat his time,
and he did. He was like that he started to build airplanes and wouldn't quit.
"After we married we lived with his mother two years then his father and mother
gave Bert a building lot just out side of the city
Page 6
limits. We built a nice house, I thought I was all set with a well on the back
porch, and kerosene lamps. With a nice garden, chickens, cows and I even had a
hog or two. It wasn't long before Bert put an electric pump in the well. After
the children got large enough to go to school it was too expensive to send so
many to school in town. So I began to beg my husband lets build in town. He told
me, 'All right, but as sure as we do one of the children will be killed sure.'
Still I insisted so after living in the country 13 years we built this house and
moved to town. Sure enough we had only been here 3 years when the child next to
the baby than was run over in the yard and died as the results of that injury.
He developed pneumonia and only lived a short time. We have been living here ten
years.
"My husband's real business was in the garage business. He had the first filling
station in Athens. You know every man has a hobby, his was with airplanes when
he closed his garage for the day instead of playing golf or working in the yard
or garden he tinkered with his planes, my brothers just sat down. He begun
building airplanes about two years before we married.
"He made a short flight in 1909, in 1910 he write to a land company asking them
to let him attend one of their land sales and take people to ride to draw a
large crowd. They wrote him they would take the matter up with him and they were
sure it could be made profitable for the company as well as himself, but they
never did anything about it.
"The whole family is crazy on the subject of airplanes. However, when he had a
smash-up his family blamed me for not discourageing
Page 7
him. He was doing this before we married, how could I change him than.
"There was no airport here to try out his planes, so he took them out to an open
field to try them out. That was when he first tried to fly them, he smashed them
up hauled them in and started all over again. He just took it up as a hobby and
only studied it a short time in a private school in Virginia when my second girl
was a baby. He took up this hobby a short time before the Wright Brother's flew
their's.
"Bert was never a person to talk about himself. He always brought the newspaper
clippings home for me to read. Several days ago Dr. Reid told me that he and Mr.
Hugh Rowe went out with Bert at two o'clock one morning to fly his first plane.
"Back when my oldest son was 14 some friends took him on a trip to Washington,
D. C. Mrs J. S. Grey of Chevy Chase, Maryland was writing a book called 'UP'
aviation of yesterday and today. It never occured to me to mention it to my son
to visit her. So when he got to Washington he decided to look her up. She was
very much interested in him and wrote a Page and a half about him in her book.
"He made his first solo flight in Atlanta at an air show when he was 13 years
old. That was the first time I had ever seen him fly and he handled it just like
his daddy. Then I look at these children of 13 it frightens me to think of the
things we let him do. As far as we know he was the youngest person to fly a
plane in this country or abroad.
Page 8
"I remember there was a mob in Atlanta at the air show. It was about dark when I
started home one of my little boys was missen. I looked everywhere in that
crowd. Finally I learned that he had flown home with his daddy in the plane, and
slept all the way. Yesterday Mother Edwards was spending the day with me. The
planes were flying overhead. I said to her, 'my little boys are dying to get out
to the airport and get in one of those planes.' She said, 'I don't blame them, I
would too if I was out there.'
"Bert taught lots of boys to fly. It was $10.00 an hour, he gave one man lessons
to refresh his memory on flying. I had to get up when one of my babies were two
weeks old and get Bert's breakfast so he could get out to the field by six
o'clock to take him up and teach him two hours before he went to his garage at
eight. That man run his bill up to $80 and never paid a cent of it. He was later
killed in New York. He ran into a high tension wire while flying a passenger
plane over the city.
"Oh, I do wish the weather would clear up so I could get out and sell my
cosmetics. You know it's my disposition to work and I sold them during my
hisband's life time to help out. I don't make much but now, every penny I make
goes a long ways.
Mrs. Edwards daughter who holds a responsible position with reliable company in
Athens came in: "Good morning," her mother told her what I was doing, "That's
fine," she said: "Mother I want my lunch by twelve o'clock and while you fix it
I will make out some reports." She went to the desk and lay her books on it.
Mrs. Edwards got up to excuse herself while she went to the kitchen, saying.
"Now, you don't have to go just stay and have lunch with
Page 9
us." I declined. "Now, don't go there's no need and after lunch we can finish
what you want to know. It wont take me but a few minutes as I cooked quite a bit
yesterday, I was expecting a house full of company they didn't come so I am just
warming it over. You just make your self at home. I have the most convenient way
of cooking in the world."
I followed her to the kitchen there was an electric stove, refrigator,
percolator and several other electric appliances sitting around, a kitchen
cabinet, rug on the floor and curtains at the windows. "While the dinner is
warming I want you to see the bed my daughter had made. A woman had the lumber
left from a suite she had made and sold it to her. I think it cost $20
finished." I went into the bedroom from the kitchen. Was this ever a breakfast
room I asked? "No, this is the only say so I had about the building of this
house? 'I told my husband how in the name of the Lord could I run through the
kitchen, diningroom and livingroom to get to the bedrooms to see about one of
the children if one of them were sick.' "So this door was cut."
In the room was a slender four post bed, vanity dresser painted green a few
scatter rugs on the floor and a pin-up lamp still burning over the bed. This
room opens into a small narrow hall. A bath room opens into this hall. The floor
is tile with tub and other conveniences. Another bedroom opens into this hall,
which is evidently the boys room as clothing, shoes, book and airpleans are
scattered all over the room. There was two white iron beds, dresser, bed side
table, pin-up lamp and nice blue bed spreads on the beds. Mrs.
Page 10
Edwards took me into another room which she says: "This is my room and the
babies, I don't have no other place for this desk my husband used in his office.
I had several students staying with me for eight months I let them have my room
and the boys. I have a nice large room in the basement and we went down there to
sleep. There is a shower too. I would like to have some boarders now, but the
boys don't want them. If I did than I could give up selling my cosmetics and
devote all my time at home." There was a walnut suite in her room. "Everything
is so torn up this morning I am ashame for you to see my house. The maid came,
but she didn't stay long she is a settled woman and has to look after her
affairs on Monday when I pay her off."
"Mother?" asked the girl. "Is lunch ready I have got to eat and get back on the
job." "Yes, all I have to do is to put it on the table." I was writing and she
went to the kitchen. In a few minutes she announced that lunch was ready. "Now,
I have set a plate for you, and there is no reason why you can't have lunch with
us." Again I declined the invitation saying I would wait until they had finished
to complete the interview. Miss Edwards, said: "Oh, come on and eat with us." So
I went to the diningroom with her and had lunch. The suite in this room was much
too large for the size of the room. Consisting of a large buffet, table, chairs,
an old victorla, doll carriage and a large book case filled with books on
aeronautics, sat back of the door. A floor lamp was placed between the windows
overlooking the street. Criss-cross curtains with blue ball trimmings was at the
windows, a few pictures on the wall and a green rug on the floor. We had Grace
at the table by
Page 11
Miss Edwards and the lunch consisted of spinach, turnips, mashed potatoes,
cornbread, biscuit, banana salad, cake and coffe also butter milk. "Now, help
your self." Invited my hostess, "Don't be afraid to eat for there is plenty for
all. I had cube steaks and gravy yesterday for lunch, so I didn't think we
needed meat today. Anyway vegetables are much better for people."
Lunch was over and we sat chatting then an airplane came zooming over head,
everyone jumped from the table some ran to the window while others ran out on
the front porch. After the commotion was over Miss Edwards came back into the
room saying: "Gee it was flying low." Did you ever fly a plane I asked? "I never
soloed, but I did take lessons from my father when I was about fourteen or
fifteen." Why didn't you continue your lessons, I asked? "Well the depression
came on and father couldn't afford to take his planes up unless he was getting
paid for it so I had to discontinue them." Putting on her hat and coat she was
gone.
Mrs. Edwards came in and began: "These children have pulled out every book their
daddy has on airplanes. At night I have to pick my way to bed over modal
airplanes, and find books all over the bed and even under their pillows where
they have fallen to sleep with them.
"Bert felt like he was a failure, but of course he wasn't. He went to New York
about twenty years ago and bought a flying boat that had been shipped back here
from France. I was so busy with babies I didn't know what he was doing. He
provided for his family what he thought was necessary. So He had saved a little
money of
Page 12
which I knew nothing about, and bought the boat with it. He advetised it for
sale for $100.000. A man who was an aviator saw the ad, wrote him, saying. 'Lets
get together on the boat you have offered it too cheap, and rebuild it and make
some money.' They spent three weeks putting it in shape, then they took it to
New Jersey to fly it. The man who was an Englishman. He took it up and had to make a
force landing in a small place where there were lots of trees. When they tried
to take it up again they didn't have room enough to get it over the trees they
had a smash up. That $100.000 was gone, so they brought it back to Athens and
made a land plane out of it. They made quite a bit of money [on?] out of it. That was back when people didn't mind paying
$15 to take just a short ride.
"Bert had a very dignified man helping him at the air field. One day several
people went out for a ride in the party was a very prim woman. That was when
women wore long dresses. After the helmets, safety belts and strappings were
ajusted on the people in the plane. The helper noticed the woman hadn't pulled
her goggles down. He said to her, 'Pull your goggles down, she looked at him but
made no attempt to pulled them down. He told her several times, after the door
to the plane was closed he tapped on the window and yelled. 'I say lady, pull
your goggles down.' To this she meekly pulled up her long skirt to her knees and
pulled her garters down around her ankles. That brought a burst of laughter from
everyone who saw it. That man would get out of the way at the mention of a
woman's garters.
"The money my husband made on his planes he always put back in them, the money
he supported his family on was made in the garage
Page 13
business and filling station. He had so many smash-ups it took everything he
realized from them to put them back in shape again. Once he was going to Florida
to an air show when they got to Macon they stopped for gas. They had hardly got
out the sight of town when he had a smash-up. He always did think the people at
the filling station put cheap gas in his plane. When he was building his hanger,
there came a terrible storm, it took one of the post up out of the ground and
sat it down in the middle of his plane as if some person had done it. Every time
he had an accident, people would say to me. 'Well, I guess Bert wont fly any
more after this.' I would tell him what they said. His answer was; 'I never
quit.'
"The most honest thing ever happen to him was; he had a man helping him rebuild
planes, one of them he connected the control wires backwards and when they took
it up to try it our it worked in reverse. That smashed, the man got out of the
plane and walked off the field without saying a word. Several years after that
Bert was in Atlanta and saw him on the street. He said to my husband: 'I want
you to know when I smashed up that plane I was broke, now I am making good and I
want to pay for half of the damages done.' My husband took the money as he was
badly in need of cash at that time.
"About fifteen years ago Bert built a light place of his own design and sold it.
Than he built another one, my son flew it all the time and my husband was flying
it when he had his last smash-up. Before his death he had lost everything we
had. He often said one
Page 14
thing he would never do that was mortgage our home, but he did, and now we are
doing everything we can to save it. He had closed his garage and gotten a job at
$35 a week he thought with that coming in each week and what he made on his
planes we could do very well he had only drawn one pay check. At one time we
were worth $40.000, now it is a struggle to keep our heads above the water. Just
a few nights before he was killed he couldn't sleep. Mother Edwards said, 'It
was his garding angel warning him that something was going to happen.' "No, the
Wright Brother's had no effect on him he thought everybody was responsible for
their own failure or success, he never had one penny donated him toward his
enterprise.
"His death has had no effect on us as to our disbelief in aviation we are as
interested in it now as we were in his life time. I am sure if Bert had known
that was his last flight he would have been happy to know he died or was killed
in what he loved best no matter how far he had to fall.
"His death left us without a cent. He did have two insurance policies however,
he had borrowed money on both of them. One policy had a clause in it that the
policy was no good in case he was killed in an airplane accident. The other one
was taken out before that clause was added in policies. To be exact I only
received $500. and $18. which was just enough to put him away decent.
"I have two sons in college they work in the day time and go to Tech at night.
My oldest son is taking aeronautical engineering, and the other one is taking a
plain freshman course at the same college. I have two girls who have finished
college both have good jobs. One here and the other one is teaching school at
Tate, Georgia.
Page 14
"One of my little boys told me not so long ago. 'mama, did you know one day I
went up with daddy to chase the clouds and got lost?' "No, I told him." 'Well we
did, we didn't have much gas and was afraid we would have a smash-up. I am sure
we were over Comer, Georgia so we turned around and came back safe. Do you know
why we weren't hurt or run out of gas?' "No, I said." 'Well it was because after
daddy told me that we were lost in the clouds and didn't have much gas. I began
to pray and prayed until we landed. When we got out of the place I said thank
you God for letting us get back safe.' "Thats fine, 'I told him, but you
children are going to drive us to the poor house, spending every cent you get on
model airplanes. A few days after that the baby said to my oldest daughter."
'did you know we are going to move?' 'No,' she said, 'Well we are.' 'Where
? ' she asked 'to the poor house.' 'How are
we going?' 'In an airplane.' answered the baby.
"I know what I have told you isn't interesting, but it is our life we are all
wild about aviation. But when you need some consmetics please get them from me
that is where my few pennies comes from now." I thanked her for the story, and
started to leave." "Do come back again." There is my daughter she went to get a
check cashed so I can pay my bille." The telephone rang she closed the door. The
girl was getting out of the car, belonging to her company. "Come back again."
Thanks I said, and left the Edward's home and the air minded family
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project,
1936-1940
Item 2 of 73
[Bargain House]
(Life History) CONTINUITY
February 16, 1939
J. Buford Dudley (white)
124 Thomas St.
Athens, Ga.
Merchant
Grace McCune, writer
BARGAIN HOUSE
As I walked down a side street in the business section of town, looking for
something interesting to get a story about, a large sign swinging out in front
of a store drew my attention. Fastened on a rod, it was swinging in the wind and
boldly announcing to the world that "Every day is a Bargain day here."
In the window was a display of most everything that is carried in a dry good and
ready to wear store. Yet it was very neat and attractive to be such a small
window, and in one corner of the window was a small sign, which read "old and
used clothing, bought and sold as well as the latest styles out."
It looked interesting and thinking I might be able to get a good story here, I
opened the door and went in. A tall, well dressed man, was waiting on a customer
showing him children's overalls. Seeing no one else in the store I looked around
at the different things and how they were arranged.
It is a small store and most every bit of the floor space is used for either a
table or show case. On the right as you go in the door is a long rack on which
is a display of men and boy's suits, and just beyond that is the shelves for
shoes. Also a small wraping [wrapping?]
table with a small cash register on it.
On the left was ladies hats, dresses, and dry goods. At the back of the narrow
room was a long rack of second hand clothing. In
Page 2
the front was a glass show case in which was displayed hose, ladies underwear
and baby clothes. On two long tables at the back of the show case was the
overalls, mens trousers and some piece goods. A small rack of childrens silk and
wash dresses was also on the left side of the store.
As the customer went out with his overalls, the man came to me and asked what he
could show me. I replied that I was just waiting for him and asked if he was the
proprietor of the store. He replied that he was. I then explained that it was my
first visit to his store and why I came in. He laughed, then said, "That old
sign is a very good drawing card as it brings in new customers most every day.
But how do you like my little store? I only opened it last August, but I have
done pretty good. I bought out a man that only sold and bought second hand
clothing and to get the store I had to buy his stock also. As it was paying
pretty good, I decided to continued with this line as well as the new for there
is really a demand for used clothing.
Two boys came in the front door and asking me to have a chair in the little room
at the back of the store, he went to wait on the boys. As I went in the very
small room, I found that a large heater
with glowing sides, two chairs, and a bench, a small table. As I waited I could
see in the other room, where the boys were trying to sell a suit of clothes and
one of them said, "It is a good suit but it is just too small."
Mr. Brown bought the suit and paid three dollars, the price they asked. Before
the boys went out they had bought shoes and a shirt each. As he came back he
said, "See there if I had not bought that suit, they would have went somewhere
else, to buy their shoes
Page 3
and shirts. I asked how long had he been in this kind of business before he
opened this store. He laughed and said, "Well, I have worked in dry good and
clothing stores for about 29 years so I should know how to sell.
"But I was born on Feb. 24, 1887 on a farm, about four miles from Comer, Ga. and
near the old Hard Shell Baptist Church. I have been to that old church many
times and especially to the foot washings. Now that is something interesting if
you have never been and all together different from what you might think. For
instead of being funny it is very solemn and also sad, or at least that is the
way it impresses me."
*1 Another customer came in and [he went [??] to wait on*1] him. The man wanted to know if he had any high
top shoes for small boys. For [?] explained his boy had a weak ankle and just had to use wear a strong high top shoe. Mr.
The
Brown merchant said, Have you got "Did
you bring the child with you?" The customer said Receiving a negative reply, "
No," then the clerk made this suggestion.
he suggested Why not bring your boy in and fit him right I've sold shoes for
years and that's about the only way that you can fit anyone correctly, and
especially if it has to be a certain fit or make of shoe and perhaps I could
also [?] have braces fitted that
would help your son. The man thanked him and said,"Why I had never thought
of that!" the customer said and I sure will bring him in when I come back to
town. and Maybe [?] we'll come
in the morning for he really needs something
to support his ankle. Sometimes it will give way with him when he's walking and
he just falls down." After buying some cloth for his wife, he thanked Mr. Brown the merchant again and went out.
As he [?] I said, "You have made a friend
and a good customer out of that man I
remarked to the merchant. His reply was, "I
think so and it's so easy to be nice to people. Of course, we come in contact
with all
Page 4
with all classes of people. Some that just will not let you be nice regardless of how hard you try. [?] But where was I
at in telling my story? I reminded him that he had just finished telling me
about the old Hard Shell Baptist Church, and he continued! "Well when I was
about three, my mother got sick and do you know I was eleven 11 before I remember her being able to get out of
bed again. She was sick so long and that my
father spent everything he had trying to get her well.
"When I was eight 8 I went to the
fields and ploughed plowed like a man,
and I ploughed [plowed?] day in and day out until I was 20. But hard as
it was, we came back, got out of debt , bought our home and we had
plenty of everything that could be raised on a farm. For My father believed in working, but [and?] he believed in having a plenty of everything needed We of course
had all kind of things that grow in gardens, and on a farm; and we didn't have to buy
feed for our stock either, for there was plenty of that raised.
"We had chickens turkeys, geese, and
guineas, and [stet?] raised all our hogs
.
and We had meat from one hog killing
to the next, and cows and plenty of good fresh milk, butter and eggs. Also
fruits of all many kinds. And I'll tell you
now, we didn't have to wait for company to come to get something [?] [good?] fixed, for we had what we wanted at any time.
Father said that we had worked for it and should have it and he liked to
have good things to eat.
"I [?] lived three 3 miles from school and didn't get to go to school
until I was eleven 11 years old. and We went to school [a?] after the work in the fields was finished. [??????] We stayed all day, too,[??] carried our dinner with us, and with [?] all the time I went to school, I just finished
the fifth grade. Our teacher was a man and he was mean as the devil. I know I
shouldn't say that but it is the truth.
Page 5
"The larger boys did everything they could to aggravate him because he was so
mean. I guess I was mean to. [?] Any way I
would get from one to three whippings a day. [?] "What did he whip with? I
asked. [?] "Why, he used big switches, sticks or anything that he could get his hands
on, except his walking stick. He had one made out of a large
[?]. He was very particular with it, and would not allow any
of us to so much as touch that stick.
"He was always nearly [about? half?] drunk
and every day at noon and recess
periods he would take that his walking stick and go out in the woods. We
followed him one day at dinner time and we found out why he carried that cane with
him. It had a big cork in one end, and
would you believe it, he took that cork out and drank [out of it for he had his corn liquor in it. corn liquor from the hollow cane. When he stopped drank it he was just about drunk. We hurried back to tell the others what
we had seen.
"We hunted up about forty or fifty pins and put them in the big cushion in his
chair. He came in and rang the bell like
he would tear it up. That was one time we hurried in when the bell rang for we
was were anxious to see what he
would do. He looked at us like he could go through us, as we marched by his
chair. As we all got to arrived at our
seats desks, he just flopped down in
his chair, but he came up in a hurry and the cushion came with him. His eyes
looked like they would pop out of his head, as he tried to pull that cushion
lose from him.
"We all yelled out and laughed. It was just too funny to watch him, but that is
where we give gave ourselves away for he knew
then that some of us was were responsible for
those pins. He kept every one of the boys in after school and tried to find out
which one who did it. No one would tell -
just didn't know a thing about it. He got a bundle of sticks and said if we
didn't tell he would whip the whole crowd for he knew then he would get the
guilty one. [?]
Page 6
[?] " And Still no one knew anything about the pins. Why we didn't even know that
there was a pin in the schoolhouse. Then the whipping started. I'll say we
really got a trashing thrashed, and he
didn't miss a one of us either . Almost beat
us to death. Oh, yes, he got the guilty ones, for we was were all , everyone of us in it.
"He didn't last very long after that as a teacher for we told why he gave us such a whipping and about his drinking. walking-stick flask. Some of our
fathers got a hold of that cane and found
the whiskey in it. As soon as they could
get somebody else they let him go. For he was never able to learn [teach?] us anything. I guess
one reason was because we disliked him so much.
"Our next teacher was man also. But such a different one! He was a fine man person, and teacher and we all
liked him. All I ever learned in school was from him. He did not believe in
whipping, but was strict with us and made us study. Yet, he never had any
trouble with a one of us. He was a good man.
"When I was about 17 seventeen I got sick and was sick for a long time. The
doctors were treating me for indigestion, but I didn't get any better. Finally
my doctor sent me to Augusta for an operation for appendicitis, and on the 17th
of October 1907 they operated on me. The *2 doctor in
Augusta that operated [operating*2] kept me there for in that Augusta hospital two
weeks and charged me $500 for the operation and hospital bill. But When I was ready to come home I asked the doctor for
my appendix. He said they were it was in
such a bad condition, in fact were just rotten and that they had to throw them
it
away. But that they said they had some one that belonged to had
been taken from another man and I could have
them that if I wanted them it. I thanked them and told them I didn't care of
for
anyone else's appendix. I came home much worse off than I was before
the operation.
Page 7
"I stayed at home until January, [?] 1908.
Then I went to St. Joseph's Hospital in Atlanta. One of the doctors there, after
the x-rays, examinations, [??],and x-rays, said, 'Well, son, you will have to
have an operations for appendictis.' I couldn't understand and told them that I
had an operation for that, just a few months back. They He said, 'Well, you still have them it so what are you going to do about it?'
"I was in such a condition that something had to be done. I told them to go
ahead and see what they could find. They laughed and promised and said, 'Well, We will find your appendix. Want to bet
on it? I was sure they wouldn't, but was just about too sick to care, but after
the operation and after I had come to myself, that was the first thing they
showed me, my appendicticappendix. They were It
was in a very bad condition. All that
suffering and hospital bill in Augusta had didn't
do me any done me
no good.
"It seemed as if I just couldn't get any better, and on the eleventh (11 th day of March I had to have another operation. For three days and
nights I didn't know anything. They had sent for all my folks and just knew I
was going to check out, but I wasn't ready to die and after the fourth day I
began to mend. I stayed there in the hospital for twenty-seven (27) weeks.
"After I got better I had a good time for , the Sisters nuns - we
called them Sisters' - were so nice . They did
everything that they could for us. There was a man there who had been burned. He
was in a terrible fix, but so jolly with it all. There
was A young doctor was there for treatment. We were
soon put in a room together, for the Sisters said they could keep up with us
better that way.
"We did enjoy teasing and playing jokes on these good Sister. They were good
sports and could take it . and Very
often we got it
Page 8
back . [from them as good ????]. I was
there on my twenty-first 21st birthday. I was
a little blue that day. I had been used used to having my birthday a dinner
at home and then you know a man's twenty-first 21st birthday is rather important to him. We were discussing it and the other
two patients in my room were threating to give me a whipping [- 21 licks?].
"One of the Sisters came in the room and said, 'I have tried everything else to
make a man out of you and now I am going to try the last thing. I only hope that
it will do more than we have been able to do.' And then another Sister came
in
rolling in a table . And such a table
it was ! A real dinner for the three of us and in the center of the table was a
cake with twenty-one 21 candles.
"I just couldn't say anything and I guess I would have been a big baby and cried
if it had not been for the doctor. He told the Sisters to put the baby to bed
that
they would take care of the dinner [??]. We really did enjoy the dinner [that ?], and as we were eating
they bought brought me in a cake from mother
and I had a nice birthday if it was spent in a hospital.
"When I did get home I was not able to do anything , and the doctors had told me before I left the hospital that if I
would take things easy for a year, I would be well and a good man again. After I
had been at home for a few months and got a little of my strength back, my
father decided that a good camping and hunting trip would put me on my feet
again.
"After considering several places, he decided that down in Greene County would
be the best place for me to go. That suited me fine, for there is nothing that I
enjoy more than hunting and fishing. I went to Parks Mill and Ferry, and I just
fished and hunted birds, rabbits, and squirrels for the rest of the year. I was
camping out, but and even had a cow
with me so I had all the fresh milk that I needed. could use.
Page 9
"The only thing I didn't like was the water. I just couldn't get used to that,
but I had to drink it. I met some of the finest people that I ever knew there
and they were all so good to me; always bringing me [?] things to eat, and inviting me out to their homes. I stayed there
until I had my health back and was ready for work again. But you know , [??]
there are more kickory hickory nuts in
Greene County than in the rest of
the whole State of Georgia. I never saw so
many nuts in my life.
"I came back to Athens in November 1910.
As I was walking down the street I met a man I knew and he offered me a job. I
accepted and went to work for in his
store for twenty-five dollars $25 a month
.
and I worked for him until April of 1911
and then I changed jobs. And on the fifteenth 15th day of April 1911 I went to
work for [??] for thirty five dollars
another store at$35 a month, [and worked for thirty five dollars
a month ?] in June of 1913 , when I got married. Then my boss raised me to forty-five dollars $45 per month , and But he continued to give me raises until I was making
$175 per month. I worked [?] for him until the end of 1919. He was such a
good man to work for ! and Always
looking out for the people working for him. He was just a good old Scout all the
way around.
"But you know I was from the country and I wanted to go back to the farm . [?] I don't
think you just ever get that country out of you. I know I haven't !" So in
1920 I went back to the farm. The first year I made good with the farm, and I
also put me up a country store." He laughed , and [?] [?], "I have
've
noticed you looking around in here, but you should have seen that country store
of mine.
"It was small also, but Lord the stuff I did have packed in that small little place. It was a sight . I had to move
things sometimes to get what the customers called for. I had farm supplies, such
as
Page 10
ploughs plows, hoes, rakes, seeds,
and,
in fact , just a little of everything [?]
needed to farm with.
"Then the food stuff, everything in that line. Of course you I didn't forget cloth, thread, pins, powder, hair
pins, combs and just all the things the
women had have to have , and the children needed paper, pencils, and books for school.
I tried to think of them all, and I really made money.
"But [as it goes in the country, as same as in town, [business conditions in
town and country are much alike. The next
year I lost as much as I had made before. Crops were bad with
us all , and cotton prices went to the bottom. I
lost heavily , for the other farmers could not pay for what they had bought in
the my store. It
was That just a bad year for all of the farmers, and it
took me four 4 years to get over that [it's? losses.?]
"I never did like to give up when I was down, so I stayed right on that farm
until I was on my feet again. Then as my wife did not like the country, I came
back to town [Athens?]. This time I went to
work in a mens clothing store.
"I worked there for three (3) years for [at?] $124 per month. My boss
was very good to me, but he had a good
business and he carried a line of clothes that his customers could depend on. He
is still in business here and he still carries the best in mens clothing and I
really did like to work for him, but while he was good to me, he was really hard
on the other clerks . but Finally, a
dull season hit him , as well as all the other stores in town , and my
salary as well as the other clerks was out. I was cut to $100 a month. [?????]
"When I left there I went to work in a department store. It was owned by an a
fine old Jewish man . and he really was a fine old man. He was good to
everybody and especially to the people that worked for him. There was just he and His family was small, just himself, his wife , and one child, a girl
daughter. She was married , and her husband was [?] manager of the store. I went to work there for $120 a month.
Page 11
"The old man [?] tried to keep his business
going straight and to keep pay his bills [?] promptly, but that son in
law manager of his was rotten, and did so many things the old man [??old father-in-law] didn't
know about and that in a few years he put the old man was in bankruptcy , and the
shock of it this really caused the old man's his death.
"He [????] passed away one evening
at about six o'clock. He had a
stroke of paralysis a day or so before and never knew anything after that. They
called his son-in-law at the store, [????] but you know that sorry
Jew [?] wouldn't go home until the
store was closed . and The old man was dead [??] before we left [??] and the manager told us that he would have
to close the store until the funeral was over, but that he wanted me and the two
girls , that were working worked there , to come to the
house the next morning to help them get fixed for the funeral.
"Do you know I never saw anything like it
in all my life ? ! And I don't think
I was ever so mad about anything that really didn't concern me in anyway. We
worked hard all day . They had to have everything , and could think of
more things to do. The girls had to fix their [?] clothes [???]. I went with him [the manager?] to see about things for the old man, for they was were going to leave him at the undertaking parlor, because it would be
cheaper than carrying him home , [?].
"And when I saw what he was going to put on that old man, I really went up in
the air, for it was an [?] old palm beach
suit, that he had had it cleaned and pressed
,
and he was going to put an old worn-out shirt and tie on him, but that was just
more than I could stand. I went out and bought a shirt and tie myself and asked
the undertaker to put them on my old boss for he had always
been good to me. [????????????].
"But [?? His son-in-law said [?], " What
is What's the use ? in
that? It is It's just
wasting money and he will never know the difference," but I remembered how neat
and particular the old man had always been in
Page 12
his clothes and I felt sure that he would want it that
way [???]. I begged for a new suit out of the store to put
on him but I sure didn't get it.
"The funeral was the next morning at eleven 11 o'clock. Of course, we all went. Do you know that [the
manager and?] son-in-law of the old
man gave me the key, [???] while they was were letting the
body down in the grave, and told me to hurry back and get the store open. It was
open and ready for business before the funeral wreath had been taken off the
door. On the following Saturday when we was were paid for the week's work, he had took taken out for the day and a half that we worked at his house.
"The business was reorganized in his mother-in-law's name, but he was still
manager. It took just about all of the old man's insurance to get it
straightened out and that is where the old woman made the greatest mistake of
her life for she has no more to say in regard to it than you have [, and I]
can't even get a dollar unless he says so.
"I could see how things were but there was nothing that I could do about it.
It [??] was just going down every
day, and he had cut our salaries also, but he and his wife were having the time of
their life lives. They only have one child,
a girl , and they [have?] made one long trip after another and that takes
money.
"About this time I had opened up a
small grocery store of my own for my oldest boy to run the
store. I started that store with a capital of seventy dollars
cash
and a debt of almost $700. My son was married, and we had five other children at
home. We all [?????] lived out of that store,
and I used my salary and what we made out of the store to pay on the notes.
"It was a hard pull but I knew that if we tried hard enough we could make it,
and I knew that I was going to have to do something for myself. For the way
things were going at the store, I didn't
Page 13
really think it would could last long. When he [the manager?] found out that I had opened up a store for
myself, he wanted to know how I did it .
but we worked hard and
there was no need of extra help for [???] there were
enough [?] of [?] [my family?] to look after the store . without my
help.
"In about a year I started another grocery store . One of my daughters and her
husband took care of the new store . and then
My boss then said, "How in the world do you manage with your large family and
on the salary that you are getting here. I told him my small salary was the
reason that I was having to work so hard to try to get something else started,
so that I could take care of my family.
"His business kept going down and he just bought until he was loaded down with
stuff that he could not sell. The That fall
was a disappointment for that is when he has the [???] most business, [but that
was ??] and he went broke. For awhile it looked as if he would lose everything but he
finally got a settlement with his creditors for 33 1/3 per cent, and just as
soon as that was settled he put off part of the help, cut our salaried again,
then / took his family on a trip to Florida.
That left just three of us to run the store and get it straight of after the inventory that had to be taken before the
settlement could be made. We worked hard and had the store all cleaned and
everything in place when he came back. He was telling told us about the grand trip and how they had enjoyed it. He had left
his family in Florida for they did not want to come home.
"He told me that he paid five dollars
$5
for a berth on the trip home and I realized it when he paid me off that night
that I had paid for that berth, for he had given me another five dollar $5 cut and the others got
another cut also. We were paying for his family's visit in Florida. I did not
think it was right and told him so.
Page 14
"He said, 'Well , that is that's the best I
can do.' I asked him if he thought we could live on what he paid us. That made
him mad and he said that was up to us, he didn't have anything to do with it. I
told him that I was sure I couldn't live on it and that my family was just as
important to me as his was to him.
"He said, 'Well , what are you going to do about it?' Only this, I replied and put
the *3 key to the [store*3] down on his
desk. He wanted to know what that meant. I asked him what did he think it meant.
[It meant?] That I was leaving for I wouldn't work for him any longer.
Then he wanted me to reconsider. I asked if he would reconsider and he said no,
that
He was doing the best he could.
"So I told him I didn't see where I could do any better either [?] by staying on there and that it was time for me to
try something else. He laughed and asked me if I would be back in the morning. I
did not didn't even answer ; just got
my hat and walked out, and I haven't been back yet since.
"That is when I opened up my store here, and from what I hear I really did more
business last fall than he did. For My
customers that I had waited on for years followed me here to my store and I hope
before the fall business starts this
year that I will 'll be able to get in to a larger place for I really need more room.
"My wife and daughters help me and we manage just fine." ]?] "Do you do any
credit business ; ?" I asked. & par;
"No," he replied, "But I do use the lay-away plan. A small deposit will hold
anything the customer wants for a reasonable time, and I find that is a much
better plan than taking it out and paying later. It really is a help to the
customer as well as to the store.
Page 15
"My greatest mistake was in not pulling out for myself sooner. I would have been
so much better off and [would have?] bad something to fall back on. But I hope to
do [??] that yet . I have I've built up a good trade here and both of my little
grocery stores are going good. I don't have much trouble with collections in
them, for if they don't pay up, I cut the customers off [???] until they do pay up [???].
"I have managed to give my older children
a high school education and the younger
ones are still in school. I have three grandchildren . but I have I've had my share of
trouble and sickness in my family I guess [???] everyone , has them and with hard work I
have I've managed to come through them all and get all
[?]
the bills paid.
"You know it has it's been years
since I have I've had the time to think of a
vacation . But just as soon as I can now, I am
I'm
going to take a good long vacation one just like I want. [?????] I asked
just what would he liked in a vacation [He
quickly replied,*4] "A camping trip," *4 "with good fishing and hunting. "I can
get more pleasure out of that than any other kind of sport.
"Of course , I enjoy ball games. [?] Baseball is my favorite and
[?]
the movies also for too. I go to shows
often with my kids for I really want them
to enjoy life while they can , for as they grow older, they will may have many problems of life to face and work out,
[?????] and I may not be here to help them then.
"And I always try to see that they go
places and have a good time, but [now*5] understand *5, I want them to [go?]
with the right class of people and [?] the best places , and we try to keep a pleasant home for them so
they will want to bring their friends there as well as go out with them and
there is usually a crowd of young people at our house . as they like to come.
Page 16
"Some folks tell me I am too easy on them
[my children?], but I don't think so for they are smart and they all work at
home / and in the stores when they are
not in school , so why not try to see that they have some pleasure as well as all
work. What do you think? [?] "That you are right, I replied , [?] and as I was leaving he walked to the door with me and
said, "Come over to our house sometime and see just how we do live. We will be
glad to have you."
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project,
1936-1940 Item 3 of 73
[Bea, The Washwoman]
[?] Feb. 27
February 1, 1939
Sarah Hill (Negro)
157 Church Street
Athens, Georgia
Wash Woman
Sadie B. Hornsby
DEE , Bea, THE WASH WOMAN
When I reached Sarah's house, and knocked at the front door, three voices greet
me. "Here we is come 'round to the back." I made my way to the back yard,
jumping a mud hole in the walk, walking in the grass that mired down every step
I took. It had been raining lots that week, however, the sun was shining on that
particular afternoon.
In the back yard two negro girls were bending over old fashion wash tubs
washing. There were four lines filled with clothes drying in the sun. Sarah was
sitting on the porch talking to another Negro woman, I heard her say: "It's too
bad he had to get in jail." When she saw me, she said: "Lawdy Mistess, if I had
knowed it was a white lady I would have let you come through the house so you
wouldn't git your shoes muddy." She called to one of her daughters who was
washing. "Ca'Line git that clean pot rag hanging on that chair, and come here
and wipe mistessess shoes off for her." I told her that was quite all right I
didn't mind a little mud. "Well, that's all right than, but come here and git
the lady a chair. 'cuse me for not getting up I has been sick in bed with the
flues, this is the first day I has been up, and I is [power'ful?] weak. But I
couldn't stay in no longer 'cause I had to see that the children was wash the them
clothes clean. [Sarah?] [Susan?], is about
five feet tall and is very black, she was
Page 2
wearing a black and white dress of some thin material, a red waist over this, a
knee-length black wool coat, a white cloth wound turban fashion around her head,
black shoes and gray cotton stockings.
"Yes'um, when us is out here in the yard washing I [?] ain't gwine let Negroes com thro' my house in bad weather tracking
up my house." What is your name I asked the woman? "My name is Sarah Hill, but
they calls me [Dee?] [?] for short."
Sarah [?], how long have you been
washing for the white folks? "Oh, my gracious Mistess, gwine on thirty-five
years I am sho! 'bout that." Well, would you mind telling me about your
experiences as a washwoman? "Now, Mistess, what in the name of the Lord do you
want to know that for?" I stated my mission, she laughed. "Well, if you want a
history of my life I can tell you what I knows. Yet and still, I am sho' you can
find somebody else what had a better story than me to tell. 'Cause what I knows
ain't no 'count you know cullud folks don't have money to do things like white
folks does, leastwise us don't.
"I have been working every since I knowed what work was. I maided and cooked
befo' I married, I maided a while and cooked a while. After I married and
started having chillun I couldn't do no good at working out. So I stayed home
and tuk in washing." SArah stopped talking to me to give orders to the girls
washing. "Look here sister that sheet belongs in that white sack. Just look at
that dirt you got on that man's shirt tail, rub it out befo' it gets dry.
Ca'line, git up off them steps and git back to that wash tub. If I don't come
out here and stay in behind you you wouldn't finish washing to day." "Well, Ma,
I am hungry and you won't
Page 3
cook us no dinner." "You finish that washing than you can cook something to eat
yourself. That's what I done when you won't big enough to help me."
"Mistess, I use to git good money for washing. I have made about ten dollars
heap of weeks way back yonder. I [?] had a
heap of washings than, now - don't git near
as much for them as I use to. And folks are lots harder to please. Now I am
ready to put them down.
"I am getting too old to do family washings any more. Both of my girls had good
jobs, but I won't able to do all my work, so they had to stop, so they could
help me. The last white woman sister worked for was a good lady. I done her
washing too. I told sister she loved that white lady and her chillun as well as
she did us.
"I washed for a family of Jew's who paid me $4.00 a week. You know how[ / them?] them kind of folks is 'bout wanting you to do their work for nothing.
Well, the lady kept cutting me down 25� at a time until she got to $2.00. So I
put her washing down. I won't thinking 'bout washing for for that little. She
had ten and twelve sheets in wash [?]
every week. Twenty and thirty towels, twenty-four pillow cases three and four
table clothes and no end to shirts and other things."
She stopped talking to watch two roosters fightning in the yard, while the girls
threw rocks at them. She yelled at them: Ca'lina, sister, get back to your
washing. Ca'line come in the kitchen and git that startch off the stove and thin
it down and stir it good so it wont be lumpy. Sister bring me Professor Yank's
socks here and
Page 4
let me turn them. You are gwine to let 'em git mixed with them other folkses
clothes than he will fuss if they are
is
lost.
"Once I was washing for a family, who I had washed for a long time. After they
were ready to be sent home, sister took them. The lady sont me word one of the
little boy's shirts was not in the laundry I had sent home. Well, we asked every
body we washed for if they had a shirt what didn't belong to them no body had
seen it. I reckon sister lost it 'cause she was working for the lady and knowed
the shirt was in the wash when the lady got 'em up. So sister had to take her
money what the lady paid her for working and buy the little boy a new shirt.
That didn't look right in a way, yet and still sister was 'sponsible for them
clothes from the house to be washed and tuk 'em back.
"Yes, mam, I have been working all my life. My mammy and daddy died when I was
about three year old. I went to live with my brother and sister-in-law and
nursed their chillun. My sister-in-law was a mighty good trainer, she learned me
how to clean up good and cook. I knowed better than to leave any cat faces in
the clothes when I ironed them. She whupped me many a time 'cause I didn't wash
the clothes clean. 'Course I am speaking 'bout when I got big enough to do them
things.
"I was borned in Elberton, and have several aunts living there now. My mammy
didn't work out none, she stayed home and kept the children. She had a heap of
hogs and cows to look after. My Pa was a blacksmith. They lived in Tignall befo'
they moved to Elberton. After they died I went back to Tignall to live with my
brother. No, mam, I wont big enough to work in the field I
Page 5
when I first went to live with him, I jest worked 'round the house doing what
little I could.
"I jest have two girls and two boys one is the cook at the Varsity and the other
one is an insurance agent in Flint, Michigan. He come to see me Christmas. My
girls maids when I am well enough to do the washings I take in. I don't have but
two big family washings and I was for two students. I have been washing for
Professor [?] long befo' he married his wife. I don't wash for her, the cook
does her washing.
A man came by selling produce, the girl Sarah [?] sister asked her mother:
"Lets buy some turnip greens I want some boiled victuals." "You know I ain't got
no money, today is Wednesday and I wont have none befo' Sadday when I gets my
wash money." "Well, I am going to tell him to charge it. I want a cake too." "No
you don't jest get me a half pound of butter." The negress yelled: "Say Mr.
Waters does you have any turnip greens?" "No" "Well has you got a cake?" "No,"
"Well what has you got?" "Us has been washing hard all day and we is hungry." I
just have potatoes today." "Huh," said Sarah, "He just wanted me to know he was
still selling things and come by here in a empty wagon. That white man knows I
will pay him when I gets my money Sadday, I ain't never failed to pay him yet
and he has been coming 'round here a long time.
Her husband is a preacher, he came about this time, "Mama," he said in a deep
voice to his wife: "I was hoping you had dinner ready. I have got to go to a
deacons meeting to night, and I want to go down to the courthouse to the trial,
therefo' I wanted to eat
Page 6
befo' [I?I left." "Papa, you know I don't feel like cooking and if I don't sit
out here and keep sister and Ca'line over the wash tub they won't ever git
through." "All right, all right, than I reckon I had better go on down the
street and see sister Mary Jones you know she ain't been well for a long time. I
am mighty un-easy 'bout her, I am afraid she won't last much longer. She sho'
will be missed out of my congregation at the church."
My second visit to Sarah's was made in the pouring rain, when I reached her
house which is perched on a high hill. The walk up to the house is red clay. I
knocked on the door and a young black girl invited me in. "Come in mistess." she
invited. I asked if Sarah was at home, before she could answer, Sarah called
"Here I am in here come in to the fire." I entered the room from a narrow hall
that had two red scatter rugs on the floor, and a hall stand with a red umbrella
resting on it. In the bedroom [?] [? where?] Sarah sat [patching?]. There was an
old style wood bed, an iron bed, dresser, several chairs a table trunk and
curtains that needed laundering, a much worn rug almost covered the floor.
"Have that chair in front of the fire and dry your foots[,?] sister take mistess
coat and spread it over that chair to dry." I asked her if she was ready to
finish telling me about herself. "Lawdy, Mistess, I have thought and thought. I
was sick when you was here befo' my brother had jest died and I have had a house
full of company up 'til last Sunday. I have had so much expense trying to buy
something for them to eat and it has been raining so much I couldn't do no good
at washing, everything I had thought to tell you has left me. Sister do you
reccomember what I told you
Page 7
to keep with so I could tell her? "I cain't remember you told me so much.
"I ain't collected much money here lately and it takes all I make to pay house
rent, and a little something to eat. "Taint nothing left to buy even a pair of
cotton stockings with. I did want to have a supper for the church but its been
too bad for that. I buy the food and cook it then I let the folks know about it
and they come and buy their supper. Sometimes I has a fish-fry, than again I has
a oyster supper. I gets 25� for every plate sold. After I pay for the food I
buy, I turn the rest over to the church. If I don't git to washing I will have
to have a supper to git some money for ourselves it looks like.
"I told sister and Ca'line today looks like I will have to hire them out instead
of keeping them home to help me. Sister had a chance to work for a lady who has
jest come to Athens and gone in business of some kind for herself, but she lived
so far from my house I knowed she couldn't git there on time these winter days.
Looks like I don't know what I am gwine do for money. Whitt has gone out to find
a job, but ain't nobody gwine have no carpenter work done 'til spring 'less they
has to. He ought to fix the leak in the kitchen, but the house don't belong to
us. Looks like the man what owns it won't fix it no how.
"Sister show the lady the house if she wants to see it." Oh, mama the lady don't
want to see the house, she come here to git your story about washing." I would
like to see your house. "See there I told you so, [go?] go on and it will give me
a chance to think about what I want to say. Right now I can't get my mind off
that tub of clothes on the back porch."
Page 8
I followed the girl through the hall to the livingroom. There was a three piece
jackard valour livingroom suit, a studio couch, dresser, organ, a mahogany
library table with a coal oil lamp, books and magazines on it, another table of
golden oak with a crochet cover and radio on it. The table was placed back of
the divan, pictures of the family as well as others were scattered about on the
wall. A heater and rug on the floor completed the furnishings of this room also
red draperies with ball fringe and cream scrim curtains at the two windows. "My
brother give us that table with the lamp on it when he was here two years ago.
We don't play the organ any more since we got our battery set radio, unless we
have company and they want to play and sing.
"Come in here this is our diningroom." There was a golden oak suit in this room.
Round table with a white cloth on it and a cheap glass fruit bowl. On the
sideboard were several pieces of glass ware and a vase filled with artificial
daisies reflecting in the mirror in the sideboard. Curtains at the window are of
scrim a fruit picture on the wall and a curtain stretched across one corner of
the room for a closet.
"I hate to take you in the kitchen." said the girl. "It leaks so you might get
your feets wet." There was a bucket under the leak in the kitchen. In the small
room, was a wood stove, an old dresser used as a cabinet, in large glass jars on
the makeshift cabinet, was filled with flower, sugar, meal and lard there was a
eating table and over this hung two huge hams and a middling of meat. The girl
said: "I sho' wish papa would let us cut one of them hams, but he said we
couldn't because they are not to be cut until summer."
Page 9
Whitt came in the back door as we were talking about the hams. "Good evening
Miss, how do you like the looks of them hams?" Oh, they lood good to me I
replied. "Yes, mam, they sho' does, they wouldn't be here now if I let the old
woman and the girls have their way. I told them the other day when they wanted
to cut one. I won't thinking 'bout it. They had all ready run away with it too
fast now." By that time we had gone on the back porch entered into another
bedroom which was furnished very much like the other. Bed, pilled with clothes
to be washed as well as a folding couch, dresser, a few chairs and curtains at
the windows. [?] it is a five-room house
ceiled with wide boards. The framed house was at one time painted gray. There
was a swing on the porch and a [crocker?]
sack to wipe muddy feet on. The only shrubbery in the yard was a few bushes of
privet hedge planted near the porch. "We sodded the yard in Bemuda grass to keep
it from washing." the girl told me.
Again I went into the room where Sarah sat still patching the pants. "Miss, how
did you like them hams?" I think they are fine. Whitt interrupted, "Sarah when
we cuts them hams I am going to send Miss a nice thin slice." There are three of
us I told him. "Than I will send you three nice thin slices."
"We have lucky about getting washings, its the weather that messes us up. I
[got?] $1.50 for a family washing and 75� for one person when I started washing
look like I was afraid to start, I was sho' I couldn't please the whitefolks.
Than I started at it and I must have pleased the folks 'cause they come to me
when I won't expecting them too. That's what I tell Ca'line 'bout getting a job,
she is [skaert?] the folks wont be pleased with her work.
Page 10
"In bad weather folks don't realize you don't have no way of boiling clothes,
'course we do wash in the house, and rense the clothes as good as we can, they
does git dingy in the winter and you can't help it.
"We use to pay out and have a little left when I made good money. Now I don't
pay out and have nothing left either. This house we live in cost us $8.50 a
month, but we has to pay it by the week which cost us more in the end. I pay
$2.25 every week and that makes $9.00 with 50� included for the water.
She spit a mouthful of snuff spiddle into the fireplace. "Ca'line go cut off
that radio, I done forgot what I did think of telling the lady go on put that
dream book down. All you think about is that dream book and the radio.
"The worst trouble I ever got in was when we lived cross the river on [the?]
tother side of town. I had my wash out on the line and they didn't git dry, so I
left them on the line that night to dry when I got up next morning every lasting
piece of them clothes was gone. Well sir I didn't know what to do, so I ported
it to the police. He searched every house on that side of town, and all the time
it was us next door neighbor what took them and that was the last house the
police searched. I washed them clothes and tuk them to the whitefolks, and as
soon as I found a house on this side [fo?] town I left that place and I don't
think I has ever been back to stay no time.
"[No?] mistess, I sho' don't like these fire places what has grates in them.
Long befo' folks got to sticking 'em in every room, I could clean my hath
(hearth) nice and sot my irons in front of the fire
Page 11
and iron all day without stopping so long as I had a heap of oak hickory and ash
wood to burn, 'twon't no need to put a iron by the fire if you didn't have that
kind of wood 'cause they didn't heat and jest git the irons full of smut and one
thing I jest hate is to iron with a nasty iron. I have cooked on a fireplace
many a time befo' stoves come in fashion, and iron at the same time I have sot
up many a night 'til twelve and one o'clock ironing. That is what's the matter
with my eyes now. Come here sister and thread my needle. I don't do that no mo'
what I don't do in the day time I leave it alone, unless I put sister and
Ca'line to work on them. I wish I had electric lights, 'cause you can't do no
good at ironing the wrinkles out of clothes by lamp light.
"Since the folks what rents houses stopped up the fireplaces with them grates,
us had to use charcoal buckets. I reckon that is what they done it for. Yet and
still the buckets don't cost as much as they use to. The first bucket I bought
cost a $1.25 that sho' was a heap of money. Now I can git one for 75� and 50�.
It takes about a bushel of charcoal to do the ironing I has now. It cost 20� a
bushel but I use to pay 25� for it. Charcoal is like everything else there is
good and bad. Ash charcoal is heaps better 'bout holding heat than pine. I don't
use pine if I can help it. The buckets have been in use about fifteen years.
"No, Mistess, us wash women don't make good money no mo' since the whitefolks
what use to pay good, all got washing machines and these laundries have open up.
'Bout the onliest folkses what has washings done now is them what ain't got no
machine and can't pay the laundry their price they is the ones what brings their
clothes
Page 12
to us and we have to do it for mighty near nothing or stop work. It sho' is bad
on us what is trying to make an honest living and raise our chillun right.
"All my chillun has fairly good school nothing to brag about, but they talks a
heap better than some of the folks do round here. We [is?] all members of the
Baptist church. sister here sings in the church choir. Whitt is a preacher, so
we do try to live good christian lives. I would like to hire my girls out on
good jobs, but folks don't want to pay nothing for your work no mo' if they did
than I wouldn't have to work no mo'.
"Well Mistess I have told you all I know about washing I might have thought of
lots more to tell you, but since my brother [died?] my mind has been crossed up
so I cain't remember what I use to [know?]."
I got up to leave, and Whitt began about the hams. "Miss did I tell you them
hams weighs 33 pounds a piece. If you know of anybody that wants carpenter work
done, I wish you would pint them out to me. And sent the old lady a washing.
Times is might tight. I got to go down to Arnoldsville and get some of my good
[white?] friends to sign a paper for me so's I can git the old age pension. I
reckon they is living, yet and still I ain't been back there in 40 years."
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project,
1936-1940 Item 4 of 73
[The Boarding House]
LIFE HISTORY?]
February 7, 1939
Mrs. Texie Gordon
363 E. Hancock Ave.
Athens, Georgia
Boarding House Mgr.
Grace McCune , writer
THE BOARDING HOUSE Starting out on an early assignment to
get an interview with the city judge, I found when I arrived at his office, that
he was at home sick and would not get down for the day. I decided to try someone
else. Walking down the street I came to
a Mrs. Brittain's large two-story house is painted brown and
trimmed in yellow. A sign on the front of the house [read?] [reads:?]
[?] "rooms and meals, [very reasonable?].
The This boarding house is near the
business part of town, and is convenient for the business people that work and also
students. The small yard was small, but clean and had recently
been [was?] freshly spaded and a few flowers
had been put out. [showed he [?] of [recent?] [? ?]. The front door was open. I
[knocked on the screen?] door, and a [ A?] tall, slender black - headed girl came to answered
my knock on the door. I
asked her if she was "May I speak with the manager of
the boarding house ?" She said, "No, [ [?]?] " that
is that's mother ," she replied. " She is She's in town right now, but will be back in a
few minutes . won't you come in and wait for her? " She opened the screen door and I We went through a narrow hall, and in which
was the [?] up the
long stairway leading to the second floor , We went
into large as we
passed [?] way to the dining room. She
pulled placed a rocking chair near the
heater, and asked if I would have a seat near the fire [?], for it was rather cool out , and she was sure I must be chilled. She excused herself, saying that she had to order some things from the
store that the cook needed to finish up her the dinner. [C. ? ?]
Page 2
The large room was very clean and attractive.
It's
Walls were done in a light [creamcolor?],
and the woodwork and doors were painted a dark to resemble oak. Freshly laundered
Crisply fresh curtains were draped * at the three large windows . [over cream window
shades.*] Floor was covered with a linoleum
square of dark brown and green , was on
the floor and A few pictures were hung around decorated the walls. [?] The long dining table , covered
with a fresh clean white cloth, [?] extended almost across the room,
and in the center of it, was a vase of artificial sweet peas, that I at first thought were fresh, but I found that they were
artificial that was of
surprisingly natural appearance. The other furniture concluded
of included a large buffet, china closet, frigidaire , and
radio. Besides the dining chairs placed
around the dining table, there were four large rocking chairs[.?] in this room. A card
table, folded up and sitting by the leaning against china closet , and a chinese checker board on the buffet, gave were evidence that the dining
room was is also used as a living room
part of the time.
A small fox terrier dog came in the room
entered and at once came to see if it knew me. As I patted its the dogs head, a large black cat came , in and and jumped in my lap , and wanted a share of the caresses. The cook came in to get some dishes, and seeing the cat and dog, laughed
,
and said, "Lawsy Missy," she said " you
done been 'dopted in dis fambly, " cause dat black cat sho don't make friends wid
every body dat come hyar. "
Mrs. Brittian Brittain came in, at this time. and Her daughter explained that
I had been waiting for sometime to see her. Handing her daughter some packages,
telling her to give take them to the
cook at once. She turned to me and said, "Just let me get off my coat and hat
,
and I' will I'll be right back. " As she came back in the dining room without her heavy coat and
hat, When she
returned, I saw her as a tall, dark headed woman
of good figure and medium weight , dressed in a dark crepe [freds?] frock. her long hair [was?] long and plaited in two plaits, that was brought around her
head in the was
dressed in the very latest style, with two [braids ? her head?].
Page 3
I explained the [purpose?] my visit , and asked
her if she would tell me something of her problems in running a boarding
house. She laughed heartily, "Well, after sixteen years of
it running a boarding house, I
still have plenty of problems to
face, And everybody else that is in this
kind of work has them. But I have I've been
able to make a living, and make ends meet, so I guess I
have I've done pretty well.
"I was raised reared on a farm, and lived
on a farm there until I moved to town long [ this?] After my husband died I stayed
on at our home, as I owned it our home, and my son was large enough to help me manage my the farm, But when we lived there, he married . Then I moved to town, for I
didn't see how I could run a farm by myself. My oldest daughter was also married
and my other two girls were too small to help. I also I had my mother to take care of too, and like every one else I
came to town.
"The first year that I was in town, The first year after I left the farm, I did practical nursing[.?] I was busy all the
time and of course I didn't make earn
anything near like a as much as a
graduate nurse. But I did make fifteen dollars $15 a week and board, and with that I was able to support my mother and two
girls. I don't know if you know anything about nursing, but it is it's hard work.
"And I was had to be away from home all the time, day and night, and I hated to leave
mother and the children by themselves, and
especially at night for my mother was old
and her health was very bad. After thinking about everything that I knew how to
do ,
I realized the fact, that I was better at cooking than anything else, and that
is when I thought of a boarding house.
"But still I didn't really know anything about that keeping boarders, and to get a little experience in this I worked
seven months for a woman who run ran a large
boarding house . and when it was time to
think of starting my children to school again[ ,#?] I rented a large house and started to taking boarders. I guess I
was lucky[,?] for I soon had a house full, but even at that, it was a hard pull
for I had gone to some expense in getting
Page 4
more furniture and linens than I had to have.
"After getting it started and running very nicely, I got a good cook, and then I
went back to nursing . [?] and I
worked for one of the doctors here for a long time. Of course, it wasn't
regular, mostly just his maternity cases. In this way I was able to keep going
until I had paid up all my bills. Yes, it was hard, but I have always been used
to work, and I had I'd rather work hard
any day than sit down and wait for some one else to do for me.
"I stayed there in that place for a little over a year, and then I rented a
larger house a little near nearer in town. I
was really making good there, and stayed there for about two years in that
location. I had a full house all the time
, as
well as just the ones outsiders that took
their meals with me. But even boarding houses are like any other kind of
business. Some one is always trying to do [?] them you
[?] outdo you. There's
plenty of competition. And this was ture
true
in my case. I was paying My rent was $30 a
month [?] - for rent wasn't as high then as it is now. A woman just below me on
the same street was also running a
boarding house[.?] too She was always wanting to know how I managed so
well, and how could I keep my boarders so long, as hers were just coming or
going all the time. I worked hard, and
I
told her that I did most of my own work and that my children also helped when they were out of school. We didn't pay out everything we took in to servants, and
our personal work and attention helped to keep satisfied boarders.
"Even at that, she wasn't satsified satisfied
and went to told the man I was renting from,
told him that she would give him fifteen dollars more $15 a month more than I was
paying. He came to me and told me of her offer, and said that I could stay on if
I wanted to pay the extra money. I didn't feel able to do that, so I told him
I would I'd just move and she could have
the house. I rented this house and have been here ever since.
"The other woman moved in, took part of my boarders, as I did not have room for
all of them /# here. But child, it never
pays to try
Page 4
to undermine any one, for in a very short time, she was almost without any
boarders at all. My old ones that I left with her had all left gone
away. many of them got rooms near enough
to [?], so that they could still to enable them to continue take taking their meals
[?] with me. It looked like bad luck
hit the that poor woman, who got the house from me. and I was really sorry for her, for
she just kept going from bad to worse, and few years ago she was so up against
it that she drank poison[?] and died before they could get her to a hospital.
"But, let me tell you one thing, I do not have any drinking in my house . Not if I
know it. I have had plenty of them to think they could get by with their liquor in my house, but they soon find out that I mean business, for they have to get
out, and if they don't get out when I tell them to , get
out. Then I show them that I can have them put them out. But I have very little trouble, for in all of
my sixteen years, the law has only been in my house three times.
"One of those times I had to call them
the
[police?] to get a man. I didn't know what was wrong with him, but the police officers knew him and [?] [stat?] said he was a dope
fiend. We thought he was crazy and [?] was all all of us were afraid of him . but that
is that's the only time I have I've ever had any one like him , and But I hope that I won't ever any
more have a dope
addict to contend with again.
"One of the greatest problems in this kind of work is keeping dependable good help [,?] that
you can depend on. For this is such hard work . they may have some
get off in the afternoons off but how they do
hate to come early in the mornings. Most of my boarders are all working people,
and they have want breakfast [,?] [served?] not
later than seven o'clock. My days' work starts around five
thirty 5:30 to six
6 in
the morning. I usually get the breakfast started before the cook gets here, but
she is she's pretty good and it is it's never much after six when
she gets here arrives.
Page 5
"We have dinner from 12 to 2, as we have a good many students for meals, and
most of them meet here by two o'clock, but when they can't she fixes them a their plate plates and puts it them in the warming closet on the stove, for I use a
large big old wood burning range. She is then off every afternoon until time to start the supper.
She The best proof that she is smart
and a good cook, is the fact that boarders all like her and are always giving her
something.
"I got sick about 4 four years ago, and
was in the hospital from a , for sometime after a major operation . for sometime I had to let my boarders all go then, for it
was a long time before I was able to look after the house[.?] and I really started back long before I should have.
But because they begged so hard
for me to come back . They said they would just do any way for it was just
like home here[.?] and they are all very
nice to me.
"Oh, yes, I have I've lost money[,?]
many,, many times, and in large amounts too. When I
have I've tried to help some of them out, especially
when if they were out of work , sometimes
then they have slipped out owing me a months board and some beat me out of more
than that, but for every one that does that way. I usually find some one else
that is a good honest payer. " When the
overall a certain plant near here[ ,? ] opened up again after it had been closed for sometime awhile the man that came here to
run it came to me and made arrangements
with me for his meals. Well, I never got any of it a cent for them. But I was not the only one he caught, for he
used the [firm's?] money, gave the help bad checks, and /# owed everyone in town that had let him have
anything[.?] on credit. Yes, he got out of it some way. I never could
understand how. The help finally got their money from the owners, but none of
the rest of us were so lucky, for he had nothing for us to get it out of.
"Everyone is not like that, only last Sunday I had four girls in for lunch. I
knew the girls, as they eat here quiet
quite often. I was busy when they went out, and one of the girls put a bill in
my pocket, as
Page 6
she went out, saying that she was paying for all them. It was sometime before I
had time to check up for all the lunches, and then I found that she had gave me a five
dollar $5 bill instead of the one $1 that she owed me. I called her, and told her of the mistake. She
had missed the bill, but did not didn't know
where she had lost it. She sure did thank me and said, 'but if you hadn't called
I would never have known how I lost it, for I was sure I gave you a one dollar $1 bill.'
"I have some boarders that have been with me for seven 7 and eight 8 years , and
there are other people that have just been having meals here for that long. I
do not don't see much difference in now and
when I first started out with a boarding house. I mean in the expenses of it.
Somethings are higher, rent for one thing. Of course, groceries go up and down
all along. Meats are the same way. I do not don't have a garden, but I get fresh vegetables all the time, mostly
from the farmers when I can for having lived on a farm I know how it is for a farmer to get cash for produce.
"I also get a good deal of my meat from them farmers. I like it, for I was used to having [growing?] my own meats at home and it these
purchases help me as much as it they does
do
them for I get it food cheaper and
they get the money for other things they
need. Then many of these farmers that I trade with send their children to me when they come here enter school here[.?] You know
, I
appreciate that[,?] for it makes me think they have confidence in me, and I try
not to betray that trust.
"I have different rates for my boarders. It is by the day
then it My daily rate
for board is $1 is a
dollar a day , but the
weekly weekly it rate is six dollars, $6., and by the month it is twnety five $25 for the men, twenty $20 for women and also students. Meals are twenty five cents, 25� each and you know I make good on those meals. The
other houses around here say they do not see how I can make clear any[-?] thing [profit?] the way I feed but I do.
"Yes, it is it's hard work. You come in
contact with all classes of people, both good and bad, but when I get some rough
ones in, I get
Page 7
them out[.?] again. I ask them all all my boarders to respect my house as they would their own home. Oh, what class of people had I rather have ? Well, I
think the working class of people suit suits me the best. They are more
considerate. I guess it is it's because they
have to work and know how it is[,?] I work too,
and then the students that I have are very quiet[.?] but
they My boarders are all congenial, and [?] every night they play cards[,?] and checkers[.?]
or some just sit around and play the radio
, or read and study.
"I keep fires in the diningroom and the livingroom for them, but if they have
fires fire in their rooms then they
furnish that themselves. I have plenty of hot water all the time. There is one Bathroom upstairs and another downstairs . [too?], and ∥ "I try to
make[,?] them all feel at home. They all like to play a
jokes on me, and they all like to tease me tease me and play jokes on me, but it is it's all done in
a way the friendly friendliest manner. However, "
And when if someone gets the best of me,
they the others don't like it a bit, but
they will they'll tease me[.?] themselves right on. For instance, not long ago just at lunch time when most of them
were here [,?] A very nice looking middle-aged man , who said he was a Methodist preacher came here with a young man
that he said was his son. and a younger man came in. He said he was a Methodist preacher and the
young man was his son. He said they were going to be in town
for a few days and wanted a room and meals.
"I happened to have a vacant room[.?] that I showed him . the room. He liked it and said they would they'd take it. Well, they had
lunch, came back for supper and was were so
friendly and nice that everyone liked them
'em.
After sitting around and talking for a while they said they were tired and
was were going to their room. And that was the last we saw of them , For
instead of going to their room[,?] they left.
"Oh, yes, the boys sure did tease me about that. You see I am a Methodist also too, and they told me that if
it that had been a Baptist preacher
he would he'd have paid for his meals.
"
She laughed and said, continued: I told
them that if they had been Baptist they would have at least
Page 8
slept part of the night, instead of leaving a good bed like that. But now,
I will I'll have to stop and help
the my cook get the dinner on the table for these boys of mine are always
hungry. I want you to stay and try one of my lunches. "
I thanked her and said if she didn't mind I would like to very much[.?] for I did not get home for lunch. ∥ The people boarders began coming in, [and?]
every one was friendly and had something to say to each other. Severals Several
girls that who work in the stores came
together, and discussed their work and the picture they were going to see that
evening. Several [Although?] students
came and talked talking about tests they had during the morning[.?],
some thought they made it and [falling marks others were not so sure.?] discussing the questions and what they had
answered, one of them said, "Well, I sure have flunked that test if you all are
right. " They all laughed and told him to do better on the afternoon test. ∥
Another boy [A ? ?] came in and said, "Well,
folks, the music man is man's in town."
Everyone looked at Mrs. Brittain and laughed. I wondered what the joke was.
∥ Just as fast as one table full
group finished eating the table was fixed
[?]
for the next, and they didn't stop coming until about two o'clock. then plates
were fixed for two students that had not been able to get
there and then she had sent out come [?] several trays had But [? ?
? ?] there was plenty to eat, most anything
that one could ask for, even two different
deserts desserts. I never [?] had
bought such a lunch for [as little as?]
twenty five cents. [25�.?] As lunch [? ?] was almost over, when a
very neatly dressed well groomed old man
came in . he was greeted [? ?] by them all, as he asked if
he was "Am I too late be for get lunch. [?] Mrs. Brittian Brittain told him she was sure
they could find
Page 9
enough some food for him. He then
wanted to know about a room. That was
matter was fixed also [arranged?] too,
as when one of the boys said, "put
him in the room with me. We will We'll be
all right. " The [old?] man said , that
is that's all right with me[.?] for that boy He has been needing a spanking for sometime and
that will now I'll have give me a good chance to see that he gets it. "
After they were all gone had all departed,
Mrs. Brittian's Brittain's daughter
laughed and said, " that is that's the
music man. We all like him. He tunes piano
pianos for the music houses here, and also
teaches music. But We tease mother because he is a widower[,?] and he really wants to get married. That is why we tease mother about him all the time for
He seems to like us for he stays with us every time he is he's in town. "
Mrs. Brittian Brittain laughed and said seemed much amused, "Well,"
she began from what a man told me the other night, I will I'll never be able to marry again." I asked what
that could have been. She replied Asked for [her explanation, she continued?], "I think I told you that I did not didn't allow drinking here. I
had a new man that had
only been here a few days. and while He knew my rules on that matter[.?] But he thought he would get by and he came in beastly drunk. with it.
"He came in late, and got in his room without me knowing
it [I noticed him when
he came in beastly drunk and went to his room very late one night. But after he got in reached his room, he fell stumbled over the chairs[,?] and tables, and then fell out of
bed. I heard the other boys laughing
, so I and got up I and went upstairs, and I told
him the drunkard he would have to
get out. He told me that he wasn't ∥ [? was not?] going out of this room ," I told
him he could get his things, and get out or I would have him
[He defied me ? ? things and get out
right now ? I'll have you put out. [? ? ?] He
finally went. left. But when he got to the door he [looked?] at me and respectfully said, 'It ain't no wonder that you are you're a widow. I don't see how
your husband lived [?] eighteen years, if he had to stay with you.' I
told [?] him that if my husband had
ever been in the his condition he was in, that he wouldn't have lived that long.
Page 10
"I have had a good many boarders to leave without paying and some have sent
it the money back to me. One man
left sometime ago. He had been out of work and owed me over a hundred dollars.
He got work in another place, and he sends me money every week. I liked like to help people that way for if I think they are the
sort that they really appreciate it.
"I do not don't make clear so much [?] profit, but I do make a
living, and don't owe anybody. Yet, I have had some awful large bills to pay.
∥ I thought I would never get through paying doctors, and hospital bills[.?]
and them [?] I lost my mother[.?] and I had to pay all these bills all the bills connected with her [last?] [?] and funeral, but the Lord has been with me for they are
paved paid. ∥ I sent my
daughter to Atlanta for a business course. That cost me over three hundred
dollars for school and board. My other daughter is married and there is just
tow two of us at home now. "But [In
spite of all my heavy expenses?], I still
don't have too little to divide with others. Not so long ago, there was a family
near here[,?] that was in awful poor circumstances. The little boy got his arm
broke and they were really up against it. I carried them a box of groceries, and
when I saw just how badly in need they were I went around to all the neighbors
and we all together got them the things they really [needed;?] food, and
clothes, as well as coal[,?] and wood . to make them a fire.
"And I even gave away my daughter's
best coat. I just couldn't help it. A woman came here, asked for something to
eat. It was cold and raining. I gave her something to eat and the coat. Yes, my
daughter raved, said I would give away my head, and it wasn't a week until she
gave her other coat to a girl that didn't have one. I had to buy her another
coat, but I am I'm glad that she can think of
other people also.
Page 11
"I have had a hard time. Although we have never been without the things we
really needed. I just can't refuse to help others when they need it. Some of
them around here, say 'I just don't see how you give so much, and especially
when I bought two old women a pair of shoes and to tell the truth I had to have
one pair of them charged. But any way I paid for them, and helped two boys out
in the country get up some clothes so that they could go to school.
"Then there was the old blind man. He needed an operation on his eyes. The
doctors told him that if he could get a place to stay, they would treat his
eye eyes and then operate, and not
charge him anything. Poor old man, he didn't have anything to pay for a place to stay [food and room?]. Nobody else
would take him. So I did, and he stayed here ten weeks. I didn't miss the little
he ate. When he got ready to go to the hospital my boarders and I got [ya?] the
clothes he needed. Now the old man can see how to walk by himself and doesn't
need anyone to wait on him. No, I didn't lose anything by taking care of him.
The boarders were awfully nice to him and looked after him at night, and if I
wish you could see how happy that old man is
for he comes to see us [occasionally?] and
we feel well paid for what little we were able to do.
"I don't feel like I have lost anything in helping people. The Lord has been
good to me. I have I've worked yes, but
he keeps me able to work and has looked after me so far and I still have
confidence in him . and I know he will still
help me if I do what I can [? ? ? ? ? ].
There is a cotton buyer that takes his meals here. Last week I said something
about buying some cotton to fix over some
Page 12
quilts. When he came in to lunch the next day, he brought me a large box of
cotton. When I asked how much it was , He wouldn't let me pay for it
.
said " why couldn't someone do me you a favor one time ?" [he asked and added,?] for I was you are always doing
something for someone else. "
"Last Christmas there was a family in this neighborhood, with five children in
it. The father was out of work. They had nothing no cash very little to eat, and no prospects of Santa Claus making a
visit there. I fixed a box for each of the children. One of my neighbors said,
'Mrs. Brittian Brittain how in the world can
you give away so much? I can hardly meet my bills[.?] I don't know why it is, I
just can't keep any boarders, and what are here don't pay half of the time.
'
"But this neighbor of mine does not doesn't
take an interest in her work. She will not fix for her boarders as I do. She
will get out for her bridge and other pleasures and let her work go undone. I
don't know which is right. She or I. But I just can't find time for much
pleasure on the outside. I go to church[,?] sometimes , when I cam am so tired out at night I go to
a show . that helps. And I do enjoy visiting , But it is so mighty seldom that I have the time for that For I am
I'm
busy from the time I get up in the morning until I go to bed at night . [But?] I do all my sewing and that takes quite a
bit of time. "I have "I've managed to
give all of my children a fair education. The two oldest girls married young,
before they went through finished school, and
one of them now is doing the very same thing that I y I'm am doing. She lost her
husband and she is here in town , running a boarding house to try to get her boy
and girl through the
Page 13
university. "
As we were talking one of her neighbors came in and from the conversation she
was also taking in boarders and I wondered as I listend how the woman that I
board with judges me; if I am rated as a good boarder or one of the kind that is
so much trouble and expects too much for the money. It was my first time to
listen to their side of it and I enjoyed it.
The woman [?] said : "Mrs. Brittian Brittain, I never hear you
complain about your boarders and I don't see why. Why, mine are never satisifed
satisfied. [/#?] I can't cook a thing to please 'em, and they are threating threatening every time they come
in to get 'em another [pla?] place to
stay. I just get so mad I don't know what to do. Why, they can use more towels,
and the laundry bill is tremendous. I just can't stand it. ["?]
["?]And you know they even want me to keep a fire in the living room at night,
just so they won't have to buy any coal themselves. It
is It's outrageous. And then they grumble about
everything. ∥ Turning to me she said,
"Young lady, did you ever have to put up with running a boarding house? * I
replied [no,*] that I was am just one of the boarders. " Mrs. Brittain
laughed and said, "Well suppose you tell us just what kind of a boarder you are.
Do you pay your board without grumbling? Are you hard to please? Does it take a
lot of twoels towels for you? "
Looking at the merry twinkle in her dark brown [eye?] eyes, I knew why she was asking / all these questions, and I
answered in the same spirit, "Well, as I board with a policeman's family I am
afraid not to pay, but as to being a good boarder I am afraid to say. And as to
eating, the biggest rouble trouble there is,
they
Page 14
think I should eat more than I do, and are always after me about that. I have many extra things are fixed for me to
eat tempt my appetite and I'm grateful to my [?] ∥ Mrs. Brittian laughed again, and said, "Well, I
should think then that you rate as a good boarder. "
The woman [?] did not didn't stay very
long[.?] After that and didn't discuss her
boarders any more , and she After
when
she was gone, "Mrs. Brittian said, "I shouldn't have asked you those questions,
but I'm I'm am a pretty good judge of people and you answered just as I wanted
you to. For she really is hard on her
boarders. Yet, we do have to put up with a lot of things to keep boarders satisfied." [?] "Just a few weeks ago, a man came in here one night wanted for supper and a place to sleep
,
and he just had fifty cents. I did not have an extra bed. He wanted to know if I
couldn't fix him a cot in the hall or any where that I
could. [??]. It was cold and raining. I felt sorry for him. I
gave him his supper, and fixed a cot in the hall upstairs for him. The boys
laughed at me and told me I was too easy. [?] They were right that time,
for he slipped out the next morning[,?] taking with with about eight dollars worth of clothes that
belonged stolen
from to the boys. Yes, he got away and I
made the things good, for it was my fault that he was there. The boys didn't
want me to pay for the things /They said I couldn't help it, but I felt like it was
nothing but right for me to [?] pay them
for I was the one that put him there. "
The two boys came in for [?] lunch that was late that had been prepared for
them. [They said?] they
were "We're hungry," and did the cook leave anything for them ["] Mrs. Brittian Brittain
said replied, "now , you know she did
for I think you boys must
Page 15
be her special pets , for she was she's looking out for your plates before any one else [?] eats." They laughed, and said "Don't you think it pays to stay on the good [?] side of the
cook? " But one said. But "I'll I'll bet
you haven't lost any more eggs,"[was the
parting shot of the other young man?] As she
went to get their plates . [?] While [?
?] one of them said to me[:?]
"Mrs. Brittian Brittain is dear old thing and
just like a mother to us all. She is
She's good to everyone. But we do like to tease her, even
if and she is
she's a good sport ; and she can
take it. But about the eggs; our cook was
off sick and sent another cook in her place. The first night after supper, she
asked Mrs. Brittian Brittian if she
couldn't just take her supper home and eat while she rested. Mrs. Brittian Brittain said that would be all
right, and anxious for the servant everybody
to have enough food she went back in the kitchen as the cook was
leaving and was going to give her more before she left.
["?]The cook insisted that she had a plenty, but went to sit the plate down on
the cabinet, and when she did, eggs began to roll down her sleeves and hit the
floor. She must have had at least a half a dozen up her sleeves. She was scared
so bad, she didn't wait for her supper. She sold out. Mrs. Brittian Brittain had to scrub the floor
and that cook didn't come back.
Mrs. Brittian said [?], "Look out boys,
how you talk to this woman you may get yourself in trouble," she warned them,
"for she is getting writing a story of
our boarding house. They asked her what
she had told me, and then said, "Oh, well ! Can we tell you a few things
about this place? " I assured them that I would be glad for them
to to listen. [?] One laughed and said, "Well, he told you about
the eggs, I will I'll tell you about
the wood.[?]
Page 16
Mrs. Brittian had another cook and she
cooks with wood, and having lived on a farm she still buys her wood from the
farmers, [and?] keeps a good supply on hand all the time. She was out one
afternoon and the when another cook
was here , She and that nigger was helping
herslef herself to wood. Yes, mam, she
loaded up a wagon full. A police [man?] came by and asked her what she was doing. She told him that she
worked for Mrs. Brittian Brittain and that
she furnished her wood. He didn't know what else to say, but he told Mrs. Brittian Brittain about it and said he
had noticed her sending wood out several times.
"Then one time she took a woman and her son in for a couple of days because they
didn't have anywhere else to stay. But when they left the room was awfully
clean. Yes, mam, it was. even the linen off of the bed was gone. If we didn't
have to get back to our class, we could tell more about this place here. Mrs.
Brittain is easy in some ways but we sure know better than to come in tight.
"
As the [?] two young [men?] went out the
door, a small boy apparently between two and three years old came in calling
, "
Granny !" She smiled and said this is my grandson. [?] He said he wanted to see
Granny, 'cause I loves my Granny and her is her's good to me [."?] [then ? like he wanted to
know if she had any candy and bananas. [So he was asking, "Got any candy, Granny?" His
grandmother smiled, [? ?] finished, "How 'bout a nana?" Before she could
[?], His older sister came in then. She said "he cried until we just she had to bring him to see " Granny and Fritie.
"
she said, As he called Fritie [? ? ? ?] the fox
terrier Dog came running to him, and jumped all over the little boy. They were
both very happy to see each other. Mrs. Brittain gave him some candy and a bananas
banana and he went out to play[.?]
with the dog.
Page 17
After the children went out, Mrs. Brittian
Brittain said, "We run up on many problems in a boarding house. The greatest one is
good help. I have a good cook and now. [I?] pay
her four dollars $4 a week , and feed
her and her little boy. My laundry bill runs from a dollar a week up
,
and has been as much as three dollars. Of course that is just for bed linens , and towels[.?] and a wash woman does them and table linens. Our personal things we wash ourselves. Lights
and water are reasonable, considering how [?] we use them.
"I furnish lunches to a good many of the
business girls get their lunches from
us and suppers also too. I can feed so many more than I can keep here, for I do not have
the enough room rooms. Of course, I could get a larger and much nicer
place farther further out from town, but I
don't really think that it would pay for so many of my boarders could not [get?] [go far?] out for their meals. I
also feed lots more of the students than you saw today. As many of them do not come for lunch.
"Besides what [??] came to the house, I sent
out enough lunches last week to bring in between nine and ten dollars and that
is doing pretty good. My daughter has been working some on
the doing some of
the government work, but they put some of
them off lately and as she was one of the last ones to go on, she was put off,
but she hopes to get back soon.
About two years ago, a blind boy / stayed here for sometime. Not long ago, he was
going walking by here and heard me
talking . he recognized my voice and came back to see me. I was really glad to see
him for he was a nice boy and I liked him. He was very little trouble [even?] if
he was blind, and was never blue about his trouble.
Page 18
"Some people that can pay the are [the?]
best able to pay, they are the first ones that will try to beat you out of
something. But some others will pay
good. I had a man that boarded here for sometime. He got out of work, and had to
leave here town. He owed three months board
when he left , and I did not hear from him for six months ; and then one day I received a money order for every penny
that he owed.
"About the same time another man left the same way, owe owing me fifty dollars i[$50?] but
I haven't had a line from him, but that just shows the difference in the two
men. One wanted to pay and did pay. The other did not[.?] care. Still I try
not to judge too hard for we never know just what the circumstances may [be?].
"I had a crowd of brick layers boarding here. Their board was paid in advance.
They knew my rules on drinking, but thought if they paid in advance I couldn't
do anything about it. But [I?] just gave them their money back and told them to
get out the next day. They begged, but it didn't do any good for that was one time
that I was not easy. "I have had a good many to leave owing
me board and send every bit of it back and then money that I never hear from any
more. But still I find that not all of them are bad. I had one
man that married twice while he was boarded with me and he still
eats lunch here. He and his [?] first wife separated and got a divorce , several
years later , he married again and this time it was a girl that had lunch here
every day. He lives too far out to go home for lunch [?], so he still eats lunch here, and just real often
she comes back with him for lunch.
"The Some traveling men will get you if
they can . [They are?] quicker than most anyone else. I had a shoe salesman here. He
seemed
Page 19
very
nice. He said he only got his check once a month. He stayed here while he worked
the other towns near by. The cook was doing his washing. I guess maybe he got
his check, I don't know, but the day he said he was to get it, he went out and
did not return. He had slipped his clothes out with his samples and the cook and
I were just out of luck.
"I had another couple that was staying
here with me that [when?] got married.
They both got out of work for a long time and got behind in their board. He
finally got work in Va. Virginia and asked
me if he could go and send my money back. I told him to go ahead . and just as soon as he could get to work he sent me every penny that they owed. And they
never come through Athens without stoping
stopping to see me.
"I have learned many things in running a boarding house. One is that it is very
hard work, work that keeps you going from the early morning hours until late at
night. One thing I have not been able to learn very well and that is to turn
away people that I feel like really needs help.
"But I do now require traveling people and others that I don't rust trust very much to pay in advance for their room. I guess if I had done this long [ago?]
that I would saved something. I try to
never worry over what has been done [for?]
that can't be helped.
"I am thankful that my health is so much better and that I can still run my
boarding house for it means my living to me and my daughter, And [I?] only hope
that I will I'll be able to continue to work
.
but I hear the cook in the kitchen. I did not didn't know [?] the time had
passed so quickly."
Page 20
Realizing that she wanted to see about her supper, I thanked her for the nice story , and told her how much I enjoyed the lunch , and That I
had had a She very pleasant day. As I went
out the door, left she came out on the porch with me and said, "
It has It's been a pleasure to have you
and I hope you you'll come back again. But you
really should stay for I see the music man coming. "
***********
(Copied by M.S.E.
Feb. 10, 1939)
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project,
1936-1940 Item 5 of 73
[The Capital City Insurance Company]
Rewritten in accordance with Mr. [Cutter's?] suggestions. THE CAPITAL CITY INSURANCE COMPANY
Written by: Miss Grace McCune
Area 6 - Athens
Edited by: Mrs. Sarah H. Hall
Area 6 - Athens and
John N. Booth
Field Supervisor
Federal Writers' Project
Areas 6 and 7
Augusta, Georgia
July 10, 1939
April 14, 1939
June 20, 1939
July 7, 1939
J.H. Robertson (Negro)
Samaritan Building
West Washington Street
Athens, Georgia
Manager, Atlanta Life
Insurance Company
G.M. THE CAPITAL CITY INSURANCE COMPANY
The young Negress, who sat at her desk in the reception room of the Capital City
Life Insurance Company's local office, was industriously thumbing through a
sheaf of papers when I entered. She stood up at once when she saw me, and when I
expressed a desire to talk with the manager of the office, she said, "Just have
a seat, and I'll see if he is busy." As she left me to open a door marked
"PRIVATE" I noticed her straightened hair, combed back from her very black face
and arranged in a smooth coil on the back or her head. Her neatly fitted frock
was made on the tailored lines of appropriate office costuming for women.
She returned promptly, saying, "Mr. Smith will see you now." She led the way,
and on entering the small private office I saw a young Negro man dressed in an
impeccably tailored and freshly pressed dark blue business suit. "I'm Sam
Smith," he greeted me, standing beside his desk, "What can I do for you?"
He laughed when I asked him to relate some of his experiences and problems in
his occupation as an insurance man. "We
Page 2
do have a good many problems," he admitted, "and our experiences might fill a
good many books. But first, won't you have a seat?" He saw that I was
comfortably seated before a table, then began his story.
"Maybe you'd better start asking me questions, for I don't know just what it is
you want, and then, I'm not very good at telling things anyway," he suggested.
"Then tell me about your early life," I replied.
"Well," he said, "I was born in [?] a
small town in South Georgia, in 1905. The folks down there may not consider it
so small - they even have a daily paper there - but after spending so many years
in Atlanta and Athens, and visiting other larger cities, I came to realize that
I am from a small town. My father worked at sawmills and consequently was away
from home much of the time, for when one lot of timber was cut the sawmill had
to be moved to another tract.
"One of my earliest recollections is my determination to earn money. I wanted to
have my own money and to be independent. I hardly know just how old I was when I
began work as a bootblack. It's really surprising how many nickels and dimes a
small boy can earn blacking shoes. During my grammar school days I was on the
lookout for any little chore by which I could earn money between school hours.
After finishing grammar school in Moultrie, I began
Page 3
high school studies at Americus Institute in Americus, Georgia, but after one
school year there I went to Morehouse College, in Atlanta, where I completed
high school studies, and I remained there until I graduated from college. About
twenty percent of the students at Morehouse did part-time work to earn some of
their expenses. I was one of that group, and I also began the fall term every
year with quite a tidy sum saved from wages and tips paid me at summer resorts
during the vacation period. I waited on tables, did bellboy service, or 'most
anything that came to hand at summer hotels.
"When I finished college my plans were already definite. I wanted to go in the
insurance business, for I could think of no other field that offered as
promising opportunities to a young man of my race.
"I didn't step out of college into a high salaried executive job. My first work
was the humblest that this business has to offer. I was an agent's helper. That
means I made the rounds with the agent to keep up with the literature that was
distributed for advertising and selling insurance. I wasn't allowed to do any
collecting and neither could I try to sell any insurance until I /was promoted to the job of assistant agent. Even then I
was given long and careful training by the agent before I was permitted to
discuss any matter of collection or selling with a policyholder or a sales
prospect. It takes someone who is
Page 4
plenty interested in insurance to stick through the long training period that
begins with the lowest chore of our work and takes in every detail of our
routine just as rapidly as the learner can attain the degree of efficiency
required of our agents.
"I can tell you it was hard on me during my first experience in trying to keep
up the quota required of all agents and their assistants. There were days when
it seemed impossible to make even a small increase in the volume of sales and
collections. I would have given up then but I very well knew it was only by
means of bringing in more business than the other agents that I could hope for
promotion, and I was firmly determined to get it. The agent with me knew I was
doing my very best and that I wanted, more than anything else in the world, to
make good at insurance work, so he did everything in his power to encourage and
assist me. It was his kindness and understanding that enabled me to successfully
pass through the trying period of training.
"When dark came, the other agents would call it a day and they would go out for
an evening of pleasure and frolicking around at dances and shows, but I worked
right on. That was my time for contacting those of our people who couldn't be
reached in the daytime because of their jobs. It was this night work that
enabled me to pile up a higher total of insurance sold than the others in my
district, and eight years ago it won me my place as manager.
Page 5
"Now we have a regular training school for young men of twenty-one and over who
want to enter the insurance business. We take twenty or thirty of them and start
training the group. They don't have to have college education for this work, for
we teach them according to our own ideas. Do you know that some of the best
executives in the insurance business are men that never finished high school,
and some of the top-notchers never even finished grammar school? Education is a
great thing, but that old school of experience beats 'em all, because that's
where you have to work for yourself. That's one school that will make you put
out all there is in you.
"We start our agents off with small salaries, plus a commission on all business
above a certain quota. That's an incentive to work, for they realize that the
amount of their earnings depends on their own efforts and resourcefulness, and
they usually dig in and get the business. After an agent is appointed and his
territory assigned he becomes responsible for the business in that definite
area; not for just one type of policy but for all the different kinds of
insurance that we write. All the special problems that arise in that particular
territory - and believe me there are plenty of problems coming up all the time
in any territory - the agent is expected to settle by himself as far as
possible. It seems as if a week never
Page 6
passes that some policyholder doesn't let a policy lapse for one reason or
another. The agent who can keep in sufficiently close touch with his
policyholders to be able to persuade them to let no insurance lapse is
considered exceedingly good and is in sure line for promotion. Sometimes the
lapses will total more than the new business, and that's when we get discouraged
and feel like giving up.
"Of course we investigate every risk as well as we can before we write the
insurance, and then do more investigating before we pay any claim that appears
to be in the least doubtful, but even at that we do get caught sometimes. Things
aren't always as they appear on the surface and its not possible to accurately
judge the physical condition by casual inspection of outward appearances. People
who want to collect on sick benefit claims will swear to anything that they
think they can get by with. When they want to get a policy written, they'll
swear they have never had to see a doctor, at least not for the last 5 or 10
years, when all the time they're just planning to cash in on some disease
already present in their bodies and which they may be able to conceal from us
long enough to get the insurance written and in effect. We've learned that there
are almost as many speculators as there are honest people. This is especially so
on the sick and accident policies. Some of our policies carry
Page 7
sick benefits that run as high as twenty-five dollars a week, and persons have
tried to collect as soon as the policy was in force. Then again we have had some
that have carried these policies for years, and have never put in for the first
claim.
"I'll never forget the time when a woman who held one of our sick and accident
policies, paying $5 a week in the event she was confined to bed, tried to
swindle us. We paid the first week's claim without hesitancy after I had
personally visited the home and found her in bed apparently very ill. When the
claim for a second week came in I made my formal visit of investigation at an
hour when she did not expect me. Suspecting there there was some reason for the
excessive delay in permitting me to enter the home, and noticing that the cover
pulled up closely about her neck on that sweltering July day was probably to
conceal the fact that she had gotten into bed fully dressed, I remained by the
bedside administering simple remedies and sympathizing with the patient until
the limit of her endurance was reached. That was after I had awkwardly mixed up
quantities of freshly ironed clothes with piles of unironed garments and had
apparently accidently, dropped them on the floor and trampled on them, as I
directed a neighbor woman to apply hot water bottles to the feet of the patient
and mustard plasters to her chest. She rose up out of bed, fully clothed, even
to her shoes, and said she did not want that $5 a week if she had to go through
all that to get it.
Page 8
"But you know I don't believe she ever did suspect anything other than that I
was just extremely solicitous about her. That story spread through the district
and it gave me a good reputation for looking after the sick people who hold
insurance with me. If anyone else in that district ever tried to swindle me in a
sick benefit claim I never did find it out.
"Now don't get the idea that we're reluctant about paying just claims. We very
readily pay all just and honest claims, but because of the great number of
speculators who are always ready to take any and every advantage of us, we must
/at all times be very careful in our
investigations of claims.
"The worst feature of it all is that these speculators sometimes find doctors
low enough to help them in their efforts to swindle life insurance companies.
However, I'm happy to say that this doesn't happen very often. We always learn
when these cases do show up, that the policyholder has promised to divide the
benefits with the doctor when, and if, the claim is paid. I don't think they
ever gain by this practice in the long run, for if they win once they invariably
keep on trying to work the same gag, and sooner or later it makes a lot of
trouble for them, if not a jail term."
"Are all your insrance payments weekly?" I asked.
Page 9
"In town, yes; or that is, most of it is paid by the week in town. It can be
paid by the month by special arrangement. Out in communities where we don't keep
an agent all the time, we send a representative once a month to make
collections, and those clients are usually very prompt, for they know that if
they don't have the money ready for him, they'll either have to buy a stamp and
money order to mail it in or let the policy lapse before the agent calls again.
It's counted a serious matter to risk loss of money by letting insurance lapse.
"Perhaps our greatest collection problem in rural communities lies in the
frequency with which our policyholders move from one farm to another, and we've
never been able to make them understand the importance of notifying us whenever
they plan to move. Some of them move about so much. They will stay probably a
year on one farm and then get dissatisfied for some reason. Usually they think
they haven't been treated right, didn't get enough pay, or the people they
rented from didn't advance them enough during the year to get by with their
bills until the crop was sold. Sometimes it's the illness or death of the main
breadwinner in a family that's the reason for the move, but they scarcely ever
stay in one place over a year or two at the most, for they're always thinking
they can do better at some other place.
"Sometimes they move into a county where they're not known, and it's a problem
to locate them then. I've known it to take
Page 10
several months to locate one policyholder. They just don't cooperate with the
agent. After all that work in locating them, when we ask, 'Why didn't you let us
know where you had moved?' we got this answer, 'I just never thought about it.'"
He laughed and continued, "But you know that's about the truth of the matter,
they just don't think; that's one great fault of my people - they don't stop to
think.
"I don't know if you know this or not, but one of the greatest mistakes our
people make is when they let a policy lapse, they'll sometimes just drop that
one and take out a new policy with another agent. I've known this to happen many
times, and I've occasionally known them to die before the new policy is in
force. If they had only kept the old policy in effect by keeping it paid up they
would have received its value. It's hard to make them understand this. Of
course, if they just move from one town to another it's very easy to transfer
them to the agent in that town if they notify us, but the point is, they seldom
do this.
"People with high incomes don't need insurance like those who work on small,
uncertain salaries. I really don't know, just what my people would do in some
emergencies without their insurance, for it's one thing on which they can
depend. Take the washwomen, cooks, maids, and all the others that work for two
and three dollars a week. What do they have to depend on? Their
Page 11
earnings are not even enough for the necessities of living, and if sickness
should come they couldn't get a doctor to come unless he knew he would get his
money, and it's the same in case of death. They'd have to lay out until enough
money was raised to pay burial expenses. But if they have a good insurance
policy they can get the doctor to come, and if they should pass out the doctor,
as well as the undertaker, would get his money. Yes, a good policy is something
they can depend on, and if they can possibly get the money to keep it in force,
they won't knowingly let it lapse.
"Another feature of insurance which has brought up many questions and caused
some lawsuits is the minor child beneficiary. Of course we can't turn the money
over to a child, and sure as the world when the uncles and aunts of the
beneficiary learn that it has money coming from insurance, they all fall out
about who is to be the guardian. Each one of them will want the child as long as
they expect it to receive money. In most of these instances we have turned the
money over to a court, whose duty it was to appoint a guardian for the child and
its money. Now we refuse to write policies that name children as beneficiaries
unless the policyholder specifies a guardian in the application for the policy.
Page 12
"As to the matter of production, we divide the business area into districts, and
in each district we set up a local office in some central town. A manager is
appointed to take charge of the business of the district and to handle the
affairs of the local office. The personnel of the local office includes manager,
assistant manager, cashier, clerk, inspectors, supervisors, and agents. Each
supervisor has from four to six agents working under him. Each agent has a quota
to make, and this quota must go over and above his lapses.
"For instance, it's worked out this way: if you're collecting on 25� policies
and you lapse four, that would mean a lapse of $1 a week, and for every dollar
lapsed you have to write $1.25 in new business to keep up your quota. That makes
it very much to the interest of the agent not to permit policies to lapse, and
how they do work to keep up their quotas and to exceed them! They know that'll
count more on their records and will bring promotion quicker than anything else
can.
"Then too, the agents are supposed to make so many calls each day. The required
number of calls is rated according to the size of territory and the amount of
business done in that territory. While we understand that not every prospect
called on will take out insurance, we do expect our agents to land at least
three out of every ten they call on. Each agent has his prospect book, and in
this is kept the names of all the people he calls on,
Page 13
the date of each call, and a notice of when he expects to see each prospect
again. Sometimes it takes weeks for the agent to make just one trip to each of
his prospects, but whether they want him or not, he hunts them up and calls
regularly, just as a matter of persistence. Do you know that in the end these
regular calls usually win out for the agent?
"Our larger towns are divided into what we call zones, and each agent has his
own zone to work. Their work is so carefully outlined and systematized that they
run on schedule time, just like postmen. That schedule is important to the
prospect as well as to the agent, for they know just what time the agent is due
to arrive for his money.
"From time to time the company puts on contests, and the prizes are, as a rule,
nice trips. For instance, a winner of one of our latest contests got a trip to
California, and another won a trip to the World's Fair in New York. There were
many other smaller prizes in the contest that were well worth working for. These
contests make agents feel like putting out their best efforts to win those fine
prizes, and the efforts of the agent compose the lifeblood of the organization,
not only of our own, but of any business organization.
"Few people on the outside realize the valuable services we render to
morticians. You know the collection end of their
Page 14
business is bound to be difficult, for they are compelled to bury the deceased
even if they never get anything for their services and merchandise. As a usual
thing people are inclined to request expensive funerals for their relatives,
whether they can pay the bills or not. We encourage the proprietors of
undertaking establishments to call us as soon as they are notified of a death,
so that we can let them know whether or not the deceased has insurance with us.
Most of the other insurance companies extend the same courtesies.
"When they know in advance how much cash will be available, the morticians are
enabled to make a more sensible deal with the family. They can show only what
they know can be paid for.
"It's an established fact that unless they get at least a substantial part of
the cost before the interment, it will be difficult for them to collect at all.
After they have rendered services to the best of their ability, furnished burial
robes and casket, and used their hearse, automobiles and other equipment, there
is little that they can do toward collection after the body is under the ground.
They had better get a claim on what insurance exists before they even start to
work on the corpse.
"We don't have very much time for recreation, and there's very little in that
way to do here, but our agents usually go in for whatever amusements are popular
in their territories, for
Page 15
it's /a good policy to mix with the
local people. That helps business. We don't have any ball teams among our
workers as is customary in many other organizations, but that's because we don't
know all the time where we will be located. We do try to cooperate with each
other in anything that comes up, and in that way we do really help each other in
many ways.
"Personally, I have very little time for recreation. I do enjoy swimming and
billiards, also a good game of tennis in the late afternoons, and I think we all
like a good picture show. I visit all the churches very often and attend their
different entertainments, for, as I told you, I consider it a good policy to mix
with people. Though I'm a Baptist myself, our policyholders belong to different
churches, and it makes them feel better to know that we want to be with them.
"I married an Alabama girl soon after I came here to work as a manager. I have
no children, and just a short time ago - it really seems ages - I lost my wife.
Since she passed away I'm left without any family. I get lonesome, for we were
so happy, but I know that I'll have to go on some way and I'm trying to take it
as she would have me to. I'm glad I stay so busy that I don't have time to brood
and worry so much.
"There are so many problems of our people, and many have tried to find their
solutions. The white folks are working
Page 16
on these things now, and I hope and believe that at some time in the near future
there will be better understanding between the races. The South is the home of
the Negro, and our people are beginning to realize it more and more in every
way. Of course some of them, in fact a great many, have gone North and have made
a success of their work at the better salaries paid there, but after all, that
doesn't mean so much, for it takes all they can make to live up there.
"Housing conditions can be blamed for many of the problems of my race. Our
agents have found that these conditions are worse in small towns and rural areas
than in the more thickly settled sections. Rain comes in through leaky roofs and
they can't keep the cold out. Continued exposure in cold, wet, and unsanitary
living quarters brings a notable increase in pulmonary disorders. Pneumonia
flourishes in areas where these conditions prevail. In fact, the majority of our
sick claims are based on this disease. As a general thing there is a trend
toward improvement of housing conditions throughout the section of the country
that I frequent. Our people are beginning to take advantage of the plans offered
by various Government bureaux for financing improvement of houses. Marked
improvement in rural areas in coming from the aid and encouragement now given
tenant farmers toward purchase of farms and building of farm homes.
"Our company sponsors lectures and assemblies for
Page 17
teaching improvement of health by means of diet. We began this several years ago
when an amazing number of sick benefit claims, based on varying degrees of
prostration accompanied by a peculiar roughening of the skin, came in from a
section in South Georgia. We investigated and found this malady to be pellagra.
Our workers in that territory concentrated their efforts on convincing the
sufferers of the benefits to be gained by properly varied diet to such an extent
that we think more cures were effected by the change of food habits than by
medicines. By means of the county agents, nursing projects, and other facilities
the government has done splendid service in teaching the essentials of proper
diet to the people of your race and mine.
"It would probably be hard for you to believe what we found to be the main
obstacle in our efforts to help pellagra victims in the area I've just
mentioned," he remarked.
"Go ahead and tell about it," I urged. "It should be known."
"Well," he continued, apparently unaware that he had lowered his voice until I
had to lean forward to catch the words that followed, "in this section almost
every landlord would forbid the tenant to plant a garden for his own use saying,
'I want you to put all of your time on your crop, so I'll plant a garden big
enough to feed every family on this plantation. You plant your crop on every
foot of land I've rented you.' So the tenant had no garden, no potato patch, no
watermelon patch, no chickens, and
Page 18
no hogs or cows. Sure enough the landlord would plant a grand garden, but
everything the tenant, used from it was charged to his account at a price that
enabled the landlord to make an excellent profit and it usually left the tenant
in debt to his landlord at the end of the year if he used anything from that
garden. So the poor tenant learned to do without vegetables, milk, and fresh
meats. He lived chiefly on cornbread, syrup, and fatback, and consequently
became susceptible to pellagra. Some of our people in certain sections still
find themselves hampered by restrictions like that, and so they keep moving from
place to place. They're trying to get away from such things.
"Most of us can remember the time when people of my race had few opportunities
for higher education. Now we have excellent high schools and colleges, as well
as much improved facilities for grade school education. If young people of my
race want to be educated, there is nothing to prevent them from going ahead and
getting whatever training they desire.
"I'm proud or these educational institutions, for they have been the means of
giving us better preparation for our work. Even the cooks need to know how to
read and write, and the same knowledge enables the maid to answer your telephone
more intelligently and take down the messages that come for you in your absence.
Nursemaids give better service in the care of your children when they are
trained for their work. In fact, there is no line of work - no matter now humble
the service - that cannot be improved by even
Page 19
a little education.
"The relationship between our people and the white folks in the South is on a
sounder basis than in the North. I know that many thoughtless things have been
done by our people, and some of them have been terrible in their effects on the
harmony of the races. These things have made hardships for the rest of us. We
are working in cooperation with the good white people to prevent such things
from recurring, and it will all be straightened out eventually. It takes lots of
time to solve problems concerning the human race, and much more time to work out
those solutions sufficiently to see improvement.
"Only the Negroes who have means can make money and progress in the North. The
ones that have nothing can't get along. I know many who couldn't live in the
North. Eventually they'll all want to come back to the South where the majority
of them were born. The South is their home. Here they have their own friends,
relatives, churches, and schools. If they can just learn to get ahead, then
they'll be on the road to greater advantages.
"I know many that sold their farms and moved to the North because they thought
they couldn't make a go of it on the farm. They didn't know how to do much of
anything except to raise cotton and corn. Now there's no excuse for the farmer
not to make a good living if he's willing to work. The Government has all these
farm projects and agents to teach them what to plant and how to
Page 20
cultivate the ground to the best advantage. They are learning that cotton is not
the reliable /money crop they once
thought it was. They know there are many other crops that will bring in more
money, without the work and risk if one-crop farming.
"They are getting along better, having more to eat and wear then ever before on
the farms. The Government has really been a blessing to the farmers, yet many of
them can't, or rather just won't, admit it. It isn't just teaching them to till
the soil that counts. The agents are showing them how they can make money
raising cattle for the market as well as for their own use. In this way they no
longer have to depend on one crop for cash, and that keeps them from getting
discouraged so easily.
"What political party do I belong to?" An honestly puzzled expression came over
his face that was quickly followed by another expansive smile, as he confessed,
"I don't know. I was reared in a family of Republicans without knowing very much
more about that party than the story that President Lincoln was a member of it
and that he become a martyr soon after he signed the document that sealed our
emancipation. It seemed natural to us that there was no better way for Negroes
to pay tribute to the man who gave us our freedom than to vote his way, and
there was no other party that seemed as much interested in our welfare as the
Republicans did. Since the present Mr. Roosevelt was first elected his
remarkable achievements have made me do some serious thinking. I'm
Page 21
reluctant to vote against the old party, but I cannot ignore the fact that my
people have had more consideration from the present administration than from any
in the past. Please don't ask how I'll vote in 1940. I really don't know. I
admire our President," he said in conclusion.
"You've probably heard of our Mr. Henley, the remarkable man who founded our
company," he queried, looking up at a large framed photograph.
"Everyone has heard of him, and I can very well remember seeing him for I passed
his barber shop in Atlanta almost every day, about thirty years ago," I replied,
"but I'd like to hear his story from you."
"Well," Smith continued, "he was born a slave, in Monroe County, Georgia. After
freedom came he went to Atlanta and started to work for a barber. That he made a
success of his work in shown by the large business he built up. His best
customers were among his white friends. Before 1900 his barber shop had more
then 20 chairs in it, and that shop is still going today long after his death. A
list of his patrons would sound like a roll call of Atlanta's most prominent and
important business men. It may be that his daily contact with successful
business men had something to do with his own success. His ambition to do
something to enable the members of our race to prepare for the financial crises
so often brought about by sickness, accidents, and by death, led him to organize
his first little accident and sick benefit
Page 22
company. It's probable that the purity and unselfishness of his motives in
starting his insurance business were factors that led Providence to permit it to
prosper so that in 1905 he was able to buy out several other companies, organize
a great business, and put up a $5,000 cash bond in accordance with a law enacted
that year by the State Legislature for the protection of insurance
beneficiaries. Prior to that time there had been several small companies doing
business in accident and sick benefit insurance that carried death benefits of
from twenty to thirty dollars, and not one of these little organizations was
able to raise the cash bond. Mr. Henley's purchase of these small companies and
merging them with his original insurance business was the beginning of the
Capital City Insurance Company, and our home offices are still in Atlanta.
"Our little mutual company, that before the merger in 1905 paid sick benefits of
from two to three dollars a week, has grown and improved until we have more than
300,000 policyholders, and we're now one of the largest insurance organizations
among our people, we write any kind of insurance now, from sick, accident,
straight life, and paid-up, to endowment. In fact, this is an industrial as well
as an ordinary life insurance company, and we're more than proud of our
business.
"Our records show that in 1939 we paid out more than $800,000 to our paid-up
policyholders and to beneficiaries in
Page 23
general. This, of course, includes loans on policies, sick and accident
benefits, dividends, and final payments after the death of the insured. After
making these payments totalling considerably more than three-quarters of a
million dollars, we still had a surplus of more than $980,000 on hand. At the
beginning of this year we raised the amount of capital stock from $100,000 to
$500,000. Our one hundred and four employees include our managers, clerks,
inspectors, and field agents. That'll give you some idea of how our business has
grown."
There was a proud and satisfied look on his face when he asked, "Now do you like
our new home?" As I looked about me, he continued, "We've just recently moved
into these offices. We'd simply outgrown the old place and just had to have more
room. I'll have to admit we're rather proud of our new home."
The modern offices were well furnished and equipped. Venetian blinds shaded the
windows facing the street, and the walls and woodwork were immaculate in their
fresh coats of light tan paint. "You have every reason to be proud of these
lovely offices," I assured him, "and they have the advantage of being centrally
located and convenient for your workers and clients."
"Thank you," he answered, "and now I think I've just about covered everything of
interest about my insurance experience. I don't have to explain that practically
my whole scheme of living is bounded by insurance now. There is no other
business that I
Page 24
know of that brings the worker in such close contact with the great mass of our
race as does insurance, and through it we are able to have insight into the most
personal problems. While a child to still very young, some insurance man is
going to be there to see about writing a policy on its life, an insurance man
will investigate practically every condition that effects the health and welfare
of his policyholder throughout his life, and when he has died the insurance man
comes around again to make settlement. Everything that the insurance man does to
improve health conditions and to take care of his policyholder is actually an
economy in the narrowest means, for in that way he is lessening the payments of
sickness end death claims, but I still maintain that our Mr. Henley founded this
business for the purpose of helping the people of his race.
"I'm hoping that you'll find at least a part of the information I've given you
usable. If in the future there are questions that arise in regard to our race, I
hope that you'll let us try to help you compile the information needed."
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project,
1936-1940 Item 6 of 73
[A Change of Vocation Brings Success]
Life story
A CHANGE OF VOCATION BRINGS SUCCESS
A Depression Victim Story
Research by: Mrs. Daisy Thompson
Augusta
Edited by: Mrs. Leila H. Harris
Supervising Editor
Georgia Writers' Project
Area 7 March 1940
(?). J. Lefferhan,
Restaurateur
647 Broad St.
March 20, 1940.
A CHANGE OF [VOCATION?] BRINGS SUCCESS
One of Augusta's swankiest eating places represents a spectacular come-back by
John Farrell, one of the town's pioneer restaurateurs. In his own words: "It has
been far beyond my expectations. However, it has been a most interesting
experience all the way through and it has taught me much.
"My ups and downs have been very similar to all others who have tried to
maintain restaurants during the trying years of the economic recession. Things
just kept going from bad to worse until all resources were exhausted and the
doors had to be closed to prevent [imminant?] disaster.
"My grandparents came to America from Ireland in 1854. My father was born three
years later. My mother was originally a Prostestant, but later one joined the
Catholic Church. I have 3 brothers, 3 sister, and 3 half-sisters.
"All of my education, which included a commercial course, was obtained at the
Catholic Brothers' School. My father was the superintendent at one of the
Textile Mills at that time and he helped me to get a job at the same place.
"After working there for some time I obtained a position as bookkeeper with the
Johnson Paper Mills at Marietta, Georgia. This plant manufactured wrapping paper
as well as many other kinds, all of which were made from wood pulp. There was a
pulp mill located about nine miles from that city.
"I stayed there for a year and then went to work for the
Page 2
Abbott Brick and Tile Company. Then I moved back to Augusta and was employed in
the Transportation Department of the Georgia Railroad Company for the next three
years.
"At the end of that time I accepted a more lucrative position as Division Rate
Clerk with the Southern Railroad.
"In 1904 I married Mary Vinson Arnold, who had moved to Augusta from Savannah as
a very small child. All of her education was obtained here also. We have seven
children, four girls, and three boys.
"Soon after my marriage I secured a position as bookkeeper with the Brown
Jewelry Company, Augusta's most prominent and successful jewelers.
I kept books for them for 13 years. Then one day an accident happened which
necessitated drastic changes in my method of making a living. A heavy door
closed on the forefinger of my right hand, severing it completely. This not only
rendered me incapable of following my chosed vocation but it left me in a highly
nervous condition which lasted for quite a long time.
"A friend of mine who was an experienced restaurateur asked me to go into
business with him. He had built up quite an enviable reputation and we enjoyed a
splendid patronage for about two years. We called our place Peacock's Restaurant
and made sea foods for specialty. The business venture represented an original
investment of $19,000.00
"After a couple of years Mr. Peacock, who was getting old,
Page 3
sold his half interest to me and retired to his country estate.
"Then I became associated in business with Mr. Walder, who was also an
experienced restaurant man. For the following several years we operated a very
prosperous business.
"At this time the World War was on and Camp Hancock had been established at
Augusta. The soldiers furnished us a very flattering patronage and we also
enjoyed the cream of the city's trade. We catered to the very best people and
served the finest foods obtainable. We secured excellent prices for our service
and our profits were most gratifying.
"During 1919, which was our very best year, gross sales amounted to $120.000.00.
We realized a net profit of $37.000.00, after Government, State, City, County,
and various other taxes had been paid.
"Prices on all commodities were very high during the war and salaries increases
accordingly. Trade was exceptionally good in all lines of business and for quite
some time we operated a thriving business.
"About 1921 prices began to drop but we still maintained the same salary
standards as we had in our banner years. Money came in slowly in 1920 and 1923
and profits for the next decade amounted to about $5000 per annum. During this
time our receipts decreased from $300 to about [250?] per day.
"In 1929 this whole section was flooded and all crops in adjacent [viciaities?]
suffered considerable damage. Due to the
Page 4
high water damage, cotton dropped to 10 cents a pound.
"War prices on cotton ranged as high as 40 cents a pound. Cottonseed oil was
very high and pork loins sold for 40 cents a pound. As strange as it may seem
milk is higher now than it was during the World War. This of course, is due to
government control. Beef, also, is almost as high now as in that time of
inflated prices. The government can't be blamed for this, however, as it was
purely providential, being brought about by the disastrous drought experienced
throughout the West. In its wake many (?) died because the country was left
entirely without grazing and water facilities. The market was thus deprived of a
great percentage of its normal beef output.
"This serious situation [hecassitated?] government intervention, with the result
that vast numbers of cows were shipped to the South and East. (?) of these died
[arrouse?]. Those that finally reached their destinations were extremely thin
and unfit for market purposes. Others were sent to pastrues in various parts of
the country to be fattened and slaughtered for canning in various government
established canneries in different sections of the country. The beef (?) canned
was distributed to Relief Clients through Surplus Commodity Warehouses.
"While you have been talking, Mr. Farrell," I interrupted, "I have been
wondering how the high price of cottonseed oil affected your business.
Page 5
"Well!" he explained. "Restaurants use great quantities of cottonseed oil for
cooking purposes. It is also used in a great many other ways. For instance, in
mayonnaise, salad oils, ets.
"Forty years ago." He continued. "Farmers threw away the seeds out of their
cotton, frequently using them to fill ditches and washouts on their land.
However, it didn't take them very long to learn the great value of cottonseed as
a fertilizer. Soon they were making compost of them, mixing the seeds with acid
and decayed vegetation.
"So you see, that prices, high or low, affect us all regardless of the kind of
business we operate. It is indeed a true saying that none of us each live to
ourselves.
"In 1928 my partner died. I carried on the business for several years but then
the depression came on in full blast causing such a curtailment of business that
I was forced to close my doors and seek more lucrative employment.
"Fortunately, before very long I secured some government work which kept me busy
for the next eighteen months. At the end of that time I had retrieved my losses
sufficiently to open another restaurant.
"Certainly the World War was the primary cause of the economic depression, but I
believe there were other contributing factors. During the war period when money
flowed freely, people were agog with excitement and spent money lavishly. Later
on
Page 6
they seemed to become absolutely reckless and those who formerly had known only
the bare necessities of life now bought luxuries. Then the depression came with
its resultant panic.
"When Americans were taken from their jobs and sent to France, many vacancies
were created which were filled immediately by women, both married and single,
and even young girls. When the boys came back there were very few openings and
these were not sufficiently remunerative to warrant raising families.
Consequently there has been a startling decrease in the number of marriages and
in the birth record. I believe in early marriages and large families which in my
opinion would go a long way toward solving our economic problems.
"As I told you, my paternal grandfather came to America in 1854. He went to work
in the Georgia Railroad shops as a car inspector. At that time this position
carried with it a salary of $125.00 a month. Today the same job pays $140.00 a
month and a bookkeeper makes about $75.00. The only way I can account for the
difference is that women have never entered the car inspector field, while the
market is overrun with woman bookkepers.
"I am firmly of the opinion." He stated emphatically. "That a woman's place,
except where it is absolutely necessary for her to make a living, is in the
home. There are many girls working in stores and in offices who do not need the
money, but who work for very small salaries to obtain the luxuries they couldn't
afford otherwise.
Page 7
"I can see very little difference in the cost of living now and before the World
War, but I believe the low prices of some commodities offset the high prices of
others. Of course certain articles are more expensive. For instance, silk
stockings and cosmetics. I estimate that such of my daughters spends from five
to six dollars a month for her hose. I believe it costs more to maintain a girl
from her knees down and her shoulders up, than it does to clothe her body. A few
years ago women folk washed and curled their hair at home. Now, the beauty shops
are full practically all the time."
"After having reared a large family, Mr. Farrell," I asked. "How would you say
the morals of the young people of today compare with those of a few years ago."
"Well, I believe their morals are just as good as ever and their ideals are
equally as high, but they are much more frank and natural - not so
mid-victorian.
"The ever increasing number of divorces is deplorable." He went on. "Tax laws
are responsible for them to a great extent, but selfishness is also a dominant
factor. There seems to be an inability to adapt one's self to conditions and an
unwillingness to make concessions in order to keep the home intact.
"I do not believe wars will cease and peace come to the world again until the
Pope's ideas for its restoration are carried out.
"Our children have had the best we could afford in the way of education and all
of them are a credit to us.
Page 8
As you know one of our boys is in the insurance business here and another
practices law. Two of our girls also hold positions here and a third is teaching
Occupational Therapy at Providence, Rhode Island, after having charge of
temporarily mental defective and acute alcoholic patients at Baltimore,
Maryland. Our youngest son is still studying at the University of Georgia.
"No, I have never traveled abroad but I have seen quite a bit of our own
country. I have been in practically every state east of the Mississippi."
"Well, Mr. Farrell," I said, "After hearing all you have told us I agree with
you that at one time you were really caught in the depression and at a loss how
to make a new start. However, as one looks at this very up-to-date place you now
have, you seem to have found an excellent way out."
"You are right." He said with pardonable pride. "After I once gained a foothold
my success was beyond my greatest expectations. But I do really try to please my
patrons and give them not only the very best foods obtainable but also see that
they have the ultimate in service.
"While I was doing the government work I told you about, I was always on the
alert for something more [resunerative?]. I gave the matter much consideration
before I decided to make another venture into the business world. Finally I was
convinced that with my experience I could again make good and I opened at my
Page 9
present location.
"I am sure my past experience has been beneficial in a great many ways. I have
learned how to overcome many obstacles that obstruct the way to success. Should
these conditions which caused by failure return at some future time, I shall be
much better fitted to meet the pitfalls peculiar to the restaurant business.
Perhaps the greatest lesson was that a period of high prices will certainly be
followed by falling prices and failing business. I am firmly of the opinion that
each of us should exercise great care in building up a reserve capital against a
possible return of the economic depression.
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project,
1936-1940 Item 7 of 73
[Cindy Wright]
December 13, 1938
Mariah Jackson (Negro)
181 Lyndon Row
Athens, Georgia
(midwife)
Grace McCune, writer CINDY WRIGHT
A search for Cindy's abode led up and down Georgia's steep, red hills that in
this particular section had been converted into slick red mire by a downpour of
rain. My frequent inquiry "Can you direct me to Cindy Wright's house?"
invariably received this response, "It's just 'round de corner to your right."
But they failed to tell me how many corners were to be turned before I would
finally arrive at the four-room house occupied by the old granny woman. Except
for need of a coat of paint the dingy little structure seemed to be in good
condition. The small yard space that led from the street to the narrow porch was
clean swept. At one side was a large grassy plot where a few late chrysanthemums
were bravely trying to hold up their heads.
Two doors confronted me as I entered the porch and my knock on the first one was
answered by a tall young Negro who said "Cindy, she lives next door." As I
extended my hand to rap on the adjoining door it was opened by a tiny boy, black
and shiny, attired in clean blue overalls and a red sweater. "I heared you ax
for Cindy; she's right here if you wants to see 'er." A small mulatto woman came
to the door. "I'se Cindy," she said. "Won't you come in and set down?"
Page 2
Cindy led the way into a bedroom where a glowing laundry heater was a welcome
sight after the long, cold, and very wet tramp in search of her house. "I hope
you will 'scuse the cookin'," said Cindy as she hastened to turn over a pone of
cornbread that was smoking in its pan on the heater. Next to it a coffee pot was
emitting a cloud of steam, and the remainder of the space on the small stove was
occupied by a heavy iron frying pan covered with a close-fitting lid. "I don't
s'pect you laks dis," she remarked as she removed the lid from the frying pan.
"Dis is chit'lin's. Some of my frien's done kilt hogs and sont 'em to me, and if
you don't mind I'd lak mighty well to finish cookin' our t'eats, 'cause I'se
hongry."
This last remark seemed a good cue for presentation of the sack of fruit I had
brought with me and to urge her to proceed with her cooking. Cindy was
delighted. "Chile," she exclaimed. "I knows who you is now. You'se dat white
chile my Mr. Aaron said was comin' to see me. Dat man sho knows how good old
Cindy loves fruit, and I'll just bet he put you up to fetchin' it to me."
While Cindy was busy, I looked around the clean, comfortable and home-like room
with its simple furnishings. Crinkled cotton spreads covered the mattresses on
the two iron beds. There was a beautiful fern on an old-fashioned washstand.
Other furnishings included two trunks, several chairs and a small table or two.
A small dog and a cat were sleeping near the stove.
Page 3
The old style chimney, built out into the room, had a mantel on which were
several tins of wandering jew and a large oil lamp. One corner of the room was
curtained off with portieres made of flour sacks. The rough, wide planks that
formed the walls were whitewashed. A small girl, apparently not more than eight
years old, was ironing on a board placed on two chairs. "Stop your wuk, Honey,"
Cindy addressed the child. "Git you somepin' t'eat and eat it and then go
outside and play while we talks."
Turning to me, she said, "I tries to larn 'em how to wuk, 'cause I knows I'se
gwine to be called 'way one of dese days to come back here no more. Yes, Lord,
dat I is, dat's a fac', Honey, sho as you'se borned." When she had placed a
piece of cornbread and a serving of chitterlings on each of their [plares?] plates, she opened the sack of
fruit and gave each child an apple and sent both of them to the kitchen to eat.
"I ain't gwine give 'em none of my oranges 'cause wid just one tooth in my haid,
I kin eat dem better'n any of de other fruit." When she had heaped her own
platter with chitterlings and cornbread and had poured a cup of coffee, she sat
down by me, near the stove, and soon was rocking in her chair as she consumed
her food with every indication of satisfaction. I wondered how she could attain
such gusto with only one tooth. A wide-spread checked apron almost covered her
clean, dark print dress, and a little fringe of gray hair escaped the snowy head
rag.
Page 4
As she ate, she talked; "I'se sho glad Mr. Aaron done sont you to see me," she
said, "and I told Molly just last night dat Mr. Aaron hadn't never lied to me
before. It had been such a long time since he had sont me word you was coming,
dat I'd done plum' give you out." The platter had been sopped clean with the
last of the cornbread and she reached into the sack for an orange. "Chile," she
said. "I'se mighty proud and thankful you gimme dis fruit. I was just a-wishin'
dis very mornin' dat I had some."
The dog woke up and started around the heater to investigate the presence of a
stranger. "Don't let him tech your stockin's," said Cindy, "'cause he'll tear
'em sho as you'se borned. Course he don't aim to; he's just such a friendly
little pup. We don't know who he b'longs to. He just tuk up here and de chillun
wanted 'im so bad, I just couldn't say no. Our cat is right smart too. I sho
don't never see no rats 'round here.
"Now, if you don't mind, I'll put on a pot of peas to cook for the other chillun
to eat when dey gits home atter school. I'se awful sloe 'bout doin' things,
'cause I'se done got so old and no 'count dese days." Soon after she had
replenished the fire and the peas had begun to boil, she placed a generous
quantity of snuff in her mouth and settled back in her chair. Then we heard a
knock at the door. Cindy introduced the aged Negress who entered, as 'Miss
Jenny'. Jenny used the next few moments to tell Cindy about her 'job of wuk wid
some white folkses, what lives a fur piece off. De man's a-comin' atter me in a
great big autymobile tomorrow."
Page 5
Her story told, Jenny took her departure with the final remark, "I didn't know
you all had no comp'ny, Miss Wright, I'll run along now, and come back to see
you another time." After she was gone, my hostess chuckled. "She just had to
know who it was here to see me, and when you'se gone evvy blessed 'oman 'round
here will trump up some 'scuse to come and try to find out what you wanted, but
ain't none of 'em gwine to find out nothin' from Old Cindy.
Again Cindy started her story, "I don't 'spects I can tell you much 'bout what
you wants to know, 'cause my mind ain't so good as it used to be. Sometimes I
can 'member things way back yonder good, and then again my mem'ry just comes and
goes. I don't recollec' much 'bout de time 'fore de war, 'cause I was too young
myself den, but I'se gwine to do my best to tell you de answer to anything you
axes me. You want to know why? Hit's 'cause my boy, my Mr. Aaron, done sont you
to see me.
"I was borned 79 years ago last March, 'way down in Alabamy at a place dey
called Notasulga. My daddy had done been borned and raised on Dr. Long's place
in Oglethorpe County, Georgy. Chile, daddy's marster, Mr. Long was such a grand,
good man, dey named a town in Oglethorpe County for him. His wife - she was Miss
Annie May Long - was one good 'oman in dis here world of sin and sorrow. All dat
Long family was good white folkses.
"Sam Foster was my daddy, and he comed all de way to Alabamy to marry my mammy,
and he stayed on in Alabamy 'til long
Page 6
atter de big war was over. Mammy's name was Sue. She had been sold off one time
in her life, but when she married she b'longed to Miss Grace Bradford. Dere was
one child younger'n me, born enduring' de war. Hit was a long time atter de war
was over 'fore our white folkses would tell mammy and daddy dat we was free, and
hit was a longer time yit 'fore we could come to Georgy.
"My grandaddy sont atter us. Yes, dat he did. He sont one horse and waggin plumb
to Alabamy to fetch us back. De man he sont was sick wid a swellin' when he got
dere; he was just swelled up all over. I ain't never seed de lak, and it was sho
a mighty long time 'fore he was able to ride back in dat waggin. I don't know
just how many days it tuk to come from Alabamy to Oglethorpe County in Georgy,
but Daddy said hit was sho a long hard trip. Roads warn't lak dey is now and
folkses lived a long piece apart. Somepin' t'eat was hard to git on de road and
dey was hongry plenty of times 'fore dey got to de end of dat long ride. Daddy
and de boys ride in dat waggin wid de man what had de swellin', but Mammy and us
two gals ride de train. I ain't never gwine to forgit comin' to Georgy, 'cause
dat was my fust train ride, and I was scared plum' to death. Mammy said I
screamed and carried on so when dat train come puffin' up to de depot, she
thought dey never would be able to git me on it. She said I helt on to her all
de time on de train, 'til we got hongry and she opened up a big box of somepin
t'eat what she had done cooked up 'fore we left Alabamy. Big as
Page 7
dat box was, de eats give out on us long 'fore we got to granddaddy's house, and
we was hongry sho 'nough all de last part of dat long ride.
"Granddaddy's house was on de old Long place down on de Georgia Railroad. Right
dere's de place I growed up in. I stayed dere 'til I married, wukin' in de field
wid my daddy, 'cause dat was all de kind of wuk I knowned how to do dem days.
"Dey had schools but dere warn't none on our place. But schoolin' warn't no fur
piece off, 'cause dere was a school in Foster Town. Dat was a place what had so
many Fosters livin' in it dat dey sho 'nough did call it Foster Town. Lots of de
young chillun was sont to dat school, but me, I ain't never went to no
schoolhouse a whole day in my borned days. I hear folkses talk 'bout dem
A-B-C's, but I don't know nothin' 'bout 'em. But just let me tell you, dere sho
can't nobody fool me when it comes to countin'. I can sho do dat. Dere don't
nobody beat Old Cindy out of nothin'. All of daddy's chillun had to help him in
de field. We wuked mighty hard, but we had a good livin'; dere was plenty t'eat,
a place to stay, and evvything we sho 'nough needed.
"My daddy seed to it dat I had a mighty smart weddin', when me and Joe Wright
got married. Hit was just one of dem old time country weddin's. Daddy didn't
'vite so powerful many folks, but it was a nice weddin' right on. I don't even
'member what color my dress was. It was made out of thin cloth that had light
dots on it. It may of been dotted swiss. I don't know.
Page 8
"Dere was de mostes' good things t'eat at our weddin' supper. Daddy even had a
whole hog cooked for us, but we wouldn't 'low no dancin' round dere. I minded my
good old daddy, and I ain't never danced one of dem sets in my whole life, and
at my age I don't never 'spect to. Even if I wanted to do it, I'se done got too
stiff and no 'count. If daddy hadn't minded, I ain't never had no time for
dancin' nohow. I wuked hard and tried to take care of what us made. Me and Joe
farmed for white folkses for years and years. I wuked right 'long wid Tom Joe in de field, 'cause I'se
a-tellin' you he was a good man through all de 50 years we lived together. He
has been gone and left me eight years ago prezackly, since five o'clock last
Friday evenin'.
"I don't 'member how come I done it, but I got started in as a granny 'oman not
long 'fore we moved into town. Dat's been more'n 30 years ago. Since dat time
I'se been doing dat kind of wuk all 'long 'til I got too old and quit, 'bout
three years ago. Course you ain't s'posen to know much 'bout my kind of wuk, but
it's sho 'nough hard wuk. Why, I'se cotched as many as three babies in one
night. Chile, is you married, or is I a-tellin' you what I hadn't oughta?"
Considerable urging was necessary before Cindy was convinced that it was proper
for an unmarried woman to hear her story. "Atter I come here to town I wuked wid
Miss Eckford and Miss Bryan. Course, I had to take dem blood testies den, and
wear white gowns, and I wore white caps dat kivvered up all my hair. And does
you know dey had to see me do some of my wuk 'fore dey
Page 9
would 'low me to have one of dem 'stificates. De funny part of it all is dat I
'spects I was cotchin' babies 'fore dem 'omans was borned demselves.
Miss Eckford, she was good and all right, but I just loved to wuk wid Miss
Bryan, and she still comes to see me 'bout one time evvy week. Yas, Lord, I'se
cotched plenty of babies as dey comed into dis old world. Dat I has, and Miss
Bryan, she always said she didn't never worry 'bout none of Cindy's cases,
'cause if dere was anything wrong, Cindy would sho say so.
"Plenty of folkses right in dis very town still owes me for waitin' on 'em. Yas,
Lord, dere's plenty owin' to me dat I don't never 'spect to git. Some folkses
would pay if dey could; others just ain't got no mind to pay me nothin'.
"Laugh? Why, I'se never seed nothin' to make me want to laugh at on none of my
cases; dem 'omans was always sufferin' too much for dat. I'se heared other
granny 'omans laugh 'bout now deir cases behaved, but hit warn't lak dat wid me.
I always wanted to visit wid my cases 'fore dey was down in de bed and sho
'nough needed me. Dat was so I could be sho evvything was fixed up ready, just
so. But, yas, Lord, I'se fussed at 'em plenty of times, just to git 'em good and
mad, dat I has. Hit was for deir own good for if I could just git 'em mad
'nough, hit was easier on 'em and was all over quicker. I'se seed plenty of
sufferin' and sad times wid de rich, de pore, de white, and de colored 'omans.
Yas, Lord, dat I has, for I'se wuked wid 'em all.
Page 10
"My job was to cotch de babies, and see dat evvything was all right 'for I left
de place, and I always went back evvy day for seven days to see dat dey was
gittin' 'long all right. If dey was doing well on de seventh day my wuk was
finished. But now I'se got too nervous and old. You know, dat's wuk dat can't
wait. I had to go right on when dey called me, rain or shine, sleet or snow. Dat
chile what opened de door when you comed, dat's my great, great grandchile, and
he's just about de last baby I cotched. Now, I did go out just dis last week
here in de neighborhood, but hit was just to help Miss Bryan out, 'cause she is
so nice and good to me.
"I'se had fourteen chillun myself, eight boys and six gals. Yas, Lord! Praise de
Lord! I'se still got eight of my chillun left livin'. Most of 'em lives close by
in dis neighborhood, 'ceppin' one gal dat lives in Cincinnati. I'se wuked hard
to raise my chillun and send 'em to school. Some of my oldest ones went to de
country schools 'fore we moved to town.
"Joe wuked and I wuked, and my white folkses has been mighty good to me. I just
don't know what I would do if it warn't for 'em. Let me tell you, I sho did have
a good husband. He made $15.00 a week wuking at de Holman Building, and evvy
Sadday night he fetched evvy last penny of dat money straight home and laid it
in my lap. When I axed him how much he wanted out of it, he always said 'fifty
cents.' And what do you think he wanted wid dem fifty cen'ses? Not a blessed
thing but to buy
Page 11
my snuff wid. Dat's right.
"I done housewuk and washin' too for some of my good white folkses, and I tuk
good care of what we made, so'se we would have somepin. Other folkses, dey says,
'Miz Wright, how does you git along so well? How come you has so much?' Us
always had plenty somepin t'eat, good clothes to wear, and a good home to live
in. Dem other folkses never wuked lak us done, and what dey made, dey never tuk
no care of. I made our chillun wuk too. Our white folkses said all my fambly was
good wukers. Since I'se got too old to wuk no more, dem chillun of mine is been
mighty good. Some of 'em's always sendin' somepin for me.
"We lived in one place for nigh on to thirty years, but it warn't here. I'se
just been here 'bout one year. My gal what lives in Cincinnati, sont for me to
come live wid her. I got rid of 'most all my things and went, but shucks, seven
months was long as I could stay up dar. I was too homesick, so she had to send
me back. Callie got dis place. We has two of de rooms and one of my gals lives
in de two rooms on the other side. She wuks out, and I takes care of her chillun
whilst she's gone evvy day.
"All my chillun's been mighty good to me, but my Emma, she never would leave me
to git married. Yas, Lord, dat chile has sho stayed wid her old mammy. Dey was
all of 'em mighty good to me in Cincinnati, but I was scared I might die 'way
off up dere, and I [wants?] to be laid in de ground right 'long side of
Page 12
Joe, and dese chillun of ours had sho better see to dat. I b'lieves in
in-surance. Dat I does! I'se got a policy dat will pay for puttin' me in de
ground, when I'se called 'way from dis world.
"I ain't never been to no doctor for myself and I ain't never had no doctor sont
here. I don't take no medicine needer, but I knows a man what kind of fixes me
up somepin when I feels lak I needs it. Dat's sho 'nough. De last time I had a
bad hurtin', I just went to see him, and told him I had a hurtin' in my right
side under my shoulder. He walked 'round me a time or two, and den he rubbed dat
side, and said, 'Hit's all right now.' And hit was. It ain't hurt me no more
since.
"I ain't sick now. I'se just no 'count. I'se gittin' old. I fell last week and
hurt myself right bad. I couldn't git up, and if it hadn't a been for dat little
great, great grandson of mine I 'spects I would have had to stay on de floor
'til Callie got home, but he called a lady in to help me git up. My laig's been
a-hurtin' me right smart ever since.
"Does you know what time t'is?" asked Cindy as she stirred the pot of peas. I
told her that according to my wrist watch it was 2:10. She sipped water from a
dipper for a while, gave the restless dog some food, then sat down in her
rocking chair and put it in motion again.
She seemed to be pondering something as she solemnly
Page 13
and silently studied my face. Finally she asked, "Is you kin to Miz Josie
Stewart? You all sho do favor. You'se just a-lak." I admitted that I am not
related to Mrs. Stewart. Expecting to please her, I added that I know Mrs.
Stewart and admire her. "I 'spects she's good," answered Cindy. "I washed for
her fambly for years, and I sho does lak Mr. Gilbert. He is one good man. Dat he
is! Dis here's his house. He lets me have dese two rooms for a dollar a week,
and he sometimes says, 'Cindy, don't you worry none if you don't have de rent
right ready evvy time.' Now dat's just lak Mr. Gilbert Stewart."
Suddenly she stopped rocking and asked, "What day is dis, anyhow?" I told her it
was Tuesday. "I means, what day in de month is it?" When I replied that it was
the 13th of December, she laughed and said, "I knowed I warn't wrong. I gits my
check on de 17th. Yas, Lord, 'deed I does. I'se done got two of dem five dollar
checks for de old age pension. Hit ain't but five dollars a month but dat sho
does help. Does you think all de old folkses will git it? I sho hopes so, 'cause
old folkses what's done wuked long as day
dey
can, needs it mighty bad now. Dere's a old man stayin' down dis street what
ain't got no folkses, and dat pore old man is blind as a bat, and he don't git
no pension. Not one Jesus thing, does he git. Yas, Lord, is dat right? Maybe dey
will git hit fixed up for him so'se he can git a little help 'fore dey has to
put him under de ground."
Page 14
She resumed her rocking, and looking up remarked, "When was de last time you
seed Mr. Aaron?" Without giving me time to reply, she continued, "I wuked for
his folkses 'til his mother and daddy moved 'way from here to go to New York.
Dey was good folkses, if dey was Jews. Dey was 'special good to us what wuked
for 'em. I just nearly 'bout raised young Mr. Aaron. Dere was other boys in dat
fambly, but Mr. Aaron was my boy. Yassum, I 'spects he was bad as de rest of
'em, and I sho had to give him a talkin' to sometimes, and I still talks to Mr.
Aaron just lak I wants to. He don't say nothin' back to me nuther. He just
laughs and says he, 'Now, Gal, what's de matter wid you?' But, my Mr. Aaron
ain't been to see me in a long time now, and just you tell 'im dat Cindy said
he'd better come, 'cause she ain't got too old to git a holt of him yit, and
she's 'spectin' him to send Santa Claus 'round to see her.
"See dis scar on my neck? Well, dat was one time I had to have a doctor. Let me
tell you about it. A long time ago, when I was just as peart and hearty as I
could be, a little bump come on my shoulder. For a long time, hit warn't no size
a'tall, den hit started off to growin'. Hit growed 'til hit hung plumb down over
my shoulder. I warn't sick none, and hit didn't hurt a'tall, but I was scared it
would keep on growin'.
"I went to see Miz Lora Fant. She's a colored woman dat knows things. Atter she
had done 'zamined dat thing
Page 15
growin' on my shoulder, she run through her cyards and said, 'Miz Wright, you'se
been witched, but I'se glad I can tell you dat you hain't been pizened. You was
witched by a 'oman dat lives right nigh whar you stays. She has a grudge 'ginst
you 'cause hit seems lak to her you gits 'long so much better and has so much
more dan she does, so dat's de grudge she is beholdin' 'ginst you.'
"Miss Lora said for me to come to town and git a certain kind of 'bacco and she
'splained just how I was to fix it up. She said she was gwine to do all she
could for me, but I would be in bed and would have two more of dem same kind of
places to start growin' on me. She said dat 'oman what had done witched me
wouldn't come nigh me 'til de last of dem places was gone, but den she would ax
and 'quire 'bout me evvy day. Would you b'lieve it? She done dat very thing. She
sho did.
"When dat place started on my neck I got scared and went to see a man dat knowed
how to do things. I didn't tell him a word 'bout me gwine to see Miss Lora, and
dat man told me word for word pre-zackly what Miss Lora had done told me, even
'bout dat 'oman. Dat he did! Den I knowed for sho dat I had done been witched.
Den dat old 'oman dat had witched me started comin' to my neighbors evvy day to
'quire 'bout how Miz Wright was, 'til dey axed her why she didn't come see for
herself how I was. I sho was havin' me a time den, 'cause one of dem things
commenced growin' under my arm, and I just
Page 16
had to lie in bed whilst dey growed and growed. I sont for Miss Lora again, and
she said dey was ready to be lanced by a sho 'nough doctor. I warn't real sure
so I sont for de old man I told you 'bout a little while ago. He 'zamined me and
said dem places was ready to be lanced, and he 'lowed I would git well atter
dat, and den dat 'oman would come evvy day to see how I was. When a doctor had
cut open dem places, dat witch 'oman did start right out comin' to see me, but I
didn't care, for she had done lost her power over me, and I got well.
"I'se got to see 'bout dem peas now," Cindy proclaimed in a tone that implied
dismissal, so I began making ready for my departure. "I wants to tell you
somepin dat'll make you always 'member Old Cindy," she began, "Hit's what I'se
heared all my born days, and I'se found dat hit's sho de truth. "Many things may
tangle your foots, but tain't nothin' dat can hold 'em.' Dat's right. Ain't it?"
I thanked Cindy and promised to return but would not set a date for the next
visit, as I did not want her to be disappointed. She laughed. "Dat's 'cause I
said you and Mr. Aaron done lied to me 'bout you comin'," she said. "Well, I
still says you never come when you sont me word to 'spect you, and now you be
sho and tell Mr. Aaron I'se a-lookin' for him too."
Cindy and her dog accompanied me to the door, and as I walked down the steps she
said, "Chile, I'se sho gwine to have lots of comp'ny atter you gits out of
sight, but none of 'em ain't gwine to git nary a word out of Old Cindy 'bout
what
Page 17
your business wid me was."
Three days later as I passed the Southern Department Store, its proprietor, Mr.
Aaron Stein, hailed me. "What did you do to my good old nurse?" he demanded. "I
let you go out to see her, and the next thing I hear, she has had a stoke and is
at the point of death. I think it's mighty lucky that her story was recorded
when it was for it's not likely that she will ever be able to talk again."
The Athens Banner-Herald of December 21, 1938, carried the story of Cindy's
death and announced that her funeral would be held from Ebenezer Baptist Church,
Thursday, December 22nd, at two o'clock. It was fortunate that I started out a
little ahead of time to find the church for I soon learned that there was more
than one Ebenezer Church in, or near, Athens. Alexander and Freeman, undertakers
in charge of the funeral, gave me directions for finding the place where the
last respects would be paid to Cindy. Finding that I still had a little time to
spare before the funeral I went by her "Mr. Aaron's" store to learn from him
about her last few days. He said that her family had tried to prevent her from
doing any hard work because they had known for several years that her blood
pressure was very high, but while they were away at work
Page 18
her restless energy, the industrious habits of her lifetime, often led her to
disobey their admonitions. He said that she had waited for her children to
depart for work, and had "done a big washing," and this undue exertion was
followed by a stroke of paralysis. She never spoke again, and died three days
after she was stricken. In conclusion he said, "She was a good woman, real
smart, and just as honest as she could be. We will all miss her."
The funeral party had not arrived when I entered Ebenezer Church and took my
seat near the rear of the auditorium. A woman, apparently a member of the choir,
approached me at once and invited me to come up near the altar, where seats had
been reserved for Cindy's white friends. There I could see and hear everything.
The altar was draped in white and banked with ferns. On it was an open Bible of
immense size.
Soon the message was carried to the organist that "they" were approaching. The
people who had been standing in groups on the outside filed in and took their
seats at the right and left of the room, but the entire center section had been
reserved for the funeral party. The sadly tender notes of the funeral march came
from the piano as the doors were swung open and two preachers led the procession
down the aisle. Not a word was spoken on the march to the altar. Immediately
after the preachers were the six flower bearers, all of them elderly women, each
carrying potted flowers and marching in couples.
Page 19
Behind them the casket on its wheeled stand was guided by an undertaker, and
followed by the pallbearers. Then came Cindy's family, followed by their
friends. Everyone in the church stood up until the funeral party was seated and
then the remaining seats in the center aisle were quickly filled by some of the
others.
The choir sang Nearer My God to Thee, and a preacher read as a text the
ninetieth Psalm, beginning with the words, "Lord, Thou has been our dwelling
place in all generations," and in solemn and reverent tones he continued through
its last verse, "And let the beauty of our Lord, our God be upon us: establish
Thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands, establish Thou
it."
The same preacher offered this prayer:
"Let us entreat Thee O, God!
May we come before Thee,
And ask Thee to console us,
And grant us Thy peace,
And help us.
"We know Thou has never done wrong
But everything is for the good of
Thy kingdom.
"Bless these, Thy children,
And give them peace.
And when our time comes
To go, may we find a place
In Heaven."
"We will now," he announced, "have the obituary of Sister Wright, read by Miss
Bessie Cannon."
Page 20
A well-groomed, slender little mulatto Negress left the section occupied by the
family, and standing by the casket she began:
"Sister Cindy Wright was borned in the year of 1861, and was married to Brother
Wright at the age of twenty years. She was converted at the age of twenty-five,
in Boggs Chapel, in Oglethorpe County, and when she came to Athens to live, she
moved her membership to Ebenezer Church where she has been well-known, and loved
by all who knew her. Her husband died in 1930. She was the mother of fourteen
children, eight of whom survive her. When sickness, death, or trouble came, she
was always ready and willing to do all she could for the ones that needed her.
Always cheerful and ready to help others, she was very industrious in her
community until her death on December 20th, 1938."
The preacher invited the congregation to be comforted by a solo, Fade, Fade,
Each Earthly Joy, sung by Miss Mahala Wheeler. A very black Negress, of good
appearance, in the choir group arose and sang four stanzas of the old hymn. Her
voice, apparently almost strangled by emotion at times, indicated that her
interpretative efforts stressed the meaning of the words rather than the tune
and rhythm.
Until this point the second preacher had not taken active part in the exercises.
The presiding minister announced that Brother Stanley would not talk. His
tribute ended with these
Page 21
words: "She lived like a child of God, and served Him long and well. Thou good
and faithful servant, well done."
Brother Stanley then stated that he would turn the service back to Brother
Roberts. This was the first time we had heard the name of the presiding cleric.
He arose and began the funeral sermon at the end of which the casket was opened.
The undertaker then invited me to be the first to view Cindy. The pianist had
started playing a funeral march when I arose and went to the casket. While the
dignity of death was on her face, as she lay there in her white robe in a casket
of a delicate shade of lavender and white flowers, it seemed as though the old
woman had just dropped off to sleep. When I had returned to my place, the
congregation filed by the casket in solemn procession, while one of the
preachers droned in a low monotone, "The Lord hath given, the Lord hath taken
away; blessed be the name of the Lord." When all of the congregation had viewed
her except the family, the undertaker lowered one side of the casket and rolled
it close by each member of the family so they might see her, and even touch her,
for the last time. Now the chant of the preacher took on a newer and higher note
and tone as he read the ritual of the church, while her children took their
farewell. "Foreasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God, in His wise Providence to
take out of the world the soul of the departed sister . . ." he read in ringing
tones, and as the bier was wheeled back toward the altar he read the closing
words:
Page 22
"From henceforth, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, evenso saith the
Spirit, for they rest from their labors."
The casket was closed. Brother Stanley uttered the benediction. The flower
bearers took their places, in couples, before the casket, and led by the two
preachers, Cindy Wright's body was followed by her family and friends as it was
borne toward the cemetery.
Just as she had prophesied less than a week before, she had answered the last
call, and had gone, to return no more.
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project,
1936-1940 Item 8 of 73
[Cosmetics and Coal]
COSMETICS AND COAL
(A Depression Victim Story)
Written by: Mrs. Ada Radford
Augusta, Georgia
Edited by: Mrs. [Deila?] H. Harris
Supervising Editor
Georgia Writers' Project
Area 7
Mrs. [Inex?] Dennis
1481 Greene Street
April 4, 1940
A. R.
COSMETICS AND COAL
"Ours is much better coal than you are selling and it will certainly server your
customers to greater advantage." A man's voice was saying as I walked into the
office of the Fuller Coal and Wood Company.
His high-powered salesmanship must have been very effective for when he left he
carried with him an order for three carloads of coal to be delivered by May 15.
A vase of flowers and a partly finished dress on a sewing machine evidenced the
feminine touch in this office, which otherwise was like the usual one of its
type.
Mrs. Fuller, owner and operator, to a very diminutive person, who weighs not
more than ninety-five pounds. On this particular morning she was wearing a
shirtwaist dress and her light-brown hair was combed straight back and arranged
in a bun on the naps of her neck. Her manner was very brisk and businesslike.
An Mr. Milton of the Tennessee coal Company left the office with a "desire
accomplished" look on his face, Mrs. Fuller turned to me with a smile, as one
said:
"And now, what can I do for you?"
"Well," I answered, "Our work at this time centers around people who were
drastically affected by the Economic Depression
Page 2
and because I know that you come under this category, I have come to ask you to
tell me of your experiences."
She agreed readily but told me that she would need prompting as she went along
in the shape of questions that would keep her on the right track.
"You're asking quite a lot when you expect me to go all the way back to my birth
date. However, I'll try.
"Our old home was on a plantation in Wilkes County. My father was a native of
Wilkes but my mother came from Lincoln County. I was born September 10, 1890,
the third child in a family of 12, but only six of us reached maturity.
"My father believed in educating his children and although though we each had
special work to do on the farm, he saw we had ample time to attend school.
"My mother passed away when I was 12 yours old, and as I was the oldest girl, I
fell heir to her work. So then, I not only had to do the cooking and washing for
the entire family but also had to find time to go to school. Of course I
couldn't hold out very long under this strain and because my father was unable
to obtain help, school had to be given up.
"My father finally married again, but the home was never the same. My stepmother
was undoubtedly a good woman but she didn't understand children. In other words
the maternal instinct was entirely lacking in her make-up.
"When I was 16 yours old, I married B. L. [MoManus?], who
Page 3
was employed as a loom fixer at the Sibley Manufacturing Company. Thus a little
green country girl came to Augusta to establish a home. My three boys were born
of this marriage.
"My husband gave me a lot of trouble. Whiskey and women were his weaknesses and
after fifteen years, even he came to realize his failure as a husband. One day
he admitted it and asked me why I didn't leave him.
"I answered: 'If I can't succeed at making our home, I certainly won't break it
up.' Well, he had no such [scruples?] and he left me with my three little boys,
when the youngest was seven. I didn't know what to do and felt certain we would
starve.
"When my father learned of my trouble, he came to my rescue immediately. There
was nothing left for me, but to move to the country with him. I was very
grateful for the food and shelter but was very dissatisfied eating other
people's bread.
"I applied for support from my husband. He agreed to give me $10 a week and then
a little later a friend of mine sent for my oldest boy to work on his laundry
truck at $5 a week. I now felt that I was financially able to move back to
Augusta and put the two younger boys in school.
"I was almost a nervous wreak from ali the worry and trouble. I prayed every day
for a way to open that would enable me to got the oldest boys, Otis, back in
school also.
"One Saturday as he was working on the truck he found a
Page 4
copy of the Augusta Herald. He could never explain where it came from and I have
always felt that it was an answer to my prayers. I [searched?] eagerly for the
want ads, and found that there was an opening for a lady to sell California
products.
"I could hardly wait until Monday. Somehow, I felt almost certain I would get
the job and that through it would come the solution of my financial
difficulties.
"I lived through Sunday somehow, and bright and early Monday morning I was on
hand to apply for the job. My spirits were somewhat dampened when the lady told
as me I would have to put up a $5 deposit for the sample kit for that was just
about $5 more than I possessed.
"I found the proverbial 'friend in need' who offered to lend me the money and
first thing Tuesday morning I reported for work. I didn't realize how very weak
and nervous I had become and at first I was only able to work 3 days a week. It
wasn't very long before I had built-up a clientale who ordered regularly and my
average earnings reached $50.00 a month.
"As the mental strain lessened I began to improve physically, and I began to
feel like I was really living again. I was now able to keep all three of the
children in school. I only-worked from 8:30 A.M. to 2:00 P.M., in order to have
my afternoons at home with my boys.
"Even with such short working hours my sales mounted to $1,000 a year for
several of the ten years I worked for the
Page 5
company. Each of those years I received a $50 bonus as a reward.
"For the last two years I remained with that organization and for sometime
afterwards, I also sold coal for Mr. Fuller as a side line. He allowed me a
commission of 50 cents for each ton I sold. Some seasons I made as much as
$100.00.
"I had always wanted a home of my own and before long I located a lot that
suited me on Ellis Street. The cost was $575.00 and the owners offered it to me
for a $10.00 cash payment; the rest to be paid at the rate of $10.00 a mouth.
"One day when I had my lot about half paid for, I went to the hospital to
deliver some orders. I saw a crowd gathered at the emergency room, but as I was
in a hurry to get home and have supper, so I could go to prayer meeting, I
didn't stop to inquire who was hurt.
"You can imagine how amazed I was when upon my arrival at home, my next door
neighbor hurried out to ask how Otis was.
""He is all right.' I answered in surprise. 'Why do you ask?'"
"'don't you know that he was run over by a city truck and rushed to the hospital
with a broken leg?'"
"And before I realized what I was saying I cried: "Oh, God, why did you let it
happen to my boy?' A minute later I was horrified at my [sacrilege?] in daring
to question what God had done for after having a minute to think I remembered
that
Page 6
'He doeth all things well,' as he showed me later.
"My boy's leg was in an awful condition and the doctors told as that an
operation was absolutely necessary. They explained to me that the leg would have
to be cut and put back together with silver pegs.
"I just didn't see how I was going to stand it and the morning of the operation
I stayed away from the hospital until I thought it was all over. When they
brought him down from the operating room he looked so bad I was telling myself:
'He'll never walk again!'
"Joy seldom kills but it came pretty close to it when the doctor said, with a
much lighter manner than I thought suitable for the occasion:
"'Well, when we put him to sleep, we pulled his leg and kneecap slipped into
place and it was not necessary for us to operate. In about three months, he'll
be up and walking.'"
"The injured leg in about halt an inch shorter than the other but the difference
is scarcely perceptible. The city paid the hospital and doctor's bills and gave
me $500.00.
"I finished paying for my lot and used the rest of the money to make a deposit
on the house. In a very short time I began building my home.
"Did I tell you that each of my boys helped themselves through school by
carrying the Augusta Herald?" She asked with pride.
Page 7
"I couldn't always take up the notes just when they were due." Mrs. Fuller went
on. "But both of my creditors were very considerate and as long as I paid the
interest they were both satisfied.
"And now I want to tell you about the best part of my life. All through my
troubles when I came face to face with a crisis of any kind I first asked God to
guide me and without his help I would have failed. Yes, I have had many trials
and heartacnes, but God always helped as carry my burdens."
"When did you marry Mr. Fuller?" I asked.
"We were married in January 1926." She answered. "And I kept on selling
California products until he died in 1928."
"And he left you the coal and woodyard?" I queried.
"No he left a will which gave the executor the power to do as he liked with the
property. I have never really known how much Mr. Fuller had. My lawyer advised
me to ask for a year's support and I was given a houses, a lot, and a small cash
payment. The house was in such ill repair that it took the better part of the
money to put it in rentable condition. What was left after this was done I used
to make the final payment on my home."
"Who got the woodyard?" I asked.
"Mr. Fuller's nephew. He told me that he had bought it."
Page 8
She replied. "I worked for him here in the office for $10.00 a week. As didn't
know a thing about the business and just at the beginning of the Depression, I
bought the place from him. It took all the cash I had as I also had to pay for
several carloads of coal then on order.
"The effects of the Depression upon my venture were immediate. I took the
business over at the very beginning of the season and instead of my sales
increasing they were falling off daily. I lost a lot of money on coal that had
already been delivered on credit. Most of this had been sold to railroad
employees, who had been laid off after the receipt of the coal. It seemed that
the bottom just fell out of the railroad business about that time.
"I didn't realize that the trouble was here to stay and kept on selling on
credit. Of course, there was no way to collect for nobody had any money. The few
cash sales I was able to make and the very little money derived from those who
did pay failed to net we sufficient funds to keep coal in the yard for delivery.
Then the larger coal dealers cut the price of coal to $6.00 a ton, in an effort
to force me and another small local dealer out of business.
"I had spent my last dollar and the mines refused to ship more than one carload
of coal and that was shipped C.O.D. I borrowed $175.00 to pay for a carload and
when I had sold that, I ordered another.
Page 9
"I had mules to feed in addition to the upkeep of the wagons and the first two
years of the Depression I only made $500.00. I felt as though we were facing
starvation. As a last resort I mortgaged my home to keep my boys in school and
to buy coal and wood."
"Did you continue to sell on credit?" I asked.
"Yes, I couldn"t refuse when folks would tell me they had sickness or that their
little children were cold. Some of them I knew would pay when they could, others
I was dubious about. And do you know I am still collecting some of that money?
Sometimes they can only give me 50 cents a week, but at that - they are paying."
"How is your business, now?" I asked.
"Good, very good." She replied. "For a long time now it has been increasing. I
have replaced my mules and wagons with four modern trucks, have paid off all the
mortgages and have the money on hand to pay for my coal upon delivery.
"Yes I have a bank account. My average income is about $500.00 a month and I am
able to save quits a bit of it."
"Did your boys go to college?" I asked.
"No, but they all finished High School. My oldest son is married and has two
children. The middle boy is an accountant and the youngest works for me. Both of
them are single.
"I am very tired and nervous and before very long I expect to turn my business
over to my sons and take a much needed
Page 10
rest.
"Anyway, as I see it men make better managers for this type of business. I knew
that in a good many cases women are more successful but where you hire colored
drivers, it takes a man to keep them going and the responsibility in too great
for a woman. I can notice a great difference since my son has been with me. Yes,
a man is better fitted to manage this business."
"Mrs. Fuller, I notice what your place is surrounded by small houses, apparently
occupied by people of meager incomes. Do you have many calls for help?' I asked.
"Yes, I do." She replied, "And up until this winter I gave away several tons of
coal in sacks. I never turn an old person away or refuse to give coal where
there's sickness. I have had fewer calls for help this winter although it has
been the most severe on record. Times are really better. The nearby mills are
running full time and are employing three shifts. I tell my boys constantly how
very thankful we [should?] be. [Especially?] so, that we are Americans and live
in a free country.
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project,
1936-1940 Item 9 of 73
[Cotton and Horseshoes]
Life Story
COTTON AND HORSESHOES
(A Depression Victim Story)
Written by: Mrs. Daisy Thompson
Augusta, Georgia
Edited by: Mrs. Leila M. Harris
Supervising Editor
Georgia Writers' Project
Area 7
March 12, 1940.
[? ?] Saul
Cotton Factor and
Warehouseman
731 Reynolds St.
D. T.
COTTON AND HORSESHOES
"Certainly, I can spare you a little time." David Black remarked with a merry
twinkle in his eye. "Since the government entered business, time is the thing we
have the most of."
It required quite some time to find this office which is located two or three
doors from the Cotton Exchange. Shortly after we had exchanged greetings Mr.
Black was called out to the warehouse and I took the opportunity to glance
around. As far as equipment went, the office was a facsimile of others of its
kind. The unique feature was the array of horseshoes that adorned the walls and
even the electric cords. Above the desk hung a large horseshoe, fashioned of
thirteen small ones. Some were new and shiny, some old and rusty, and there was
even one that was rough and home-made.
When Mr. Black returned to the office I said:
"Well if there's any truth in the old adage pertaining to horseshoes you
certainly should have an abundance of good luck."
"I don't believe in that old superstition." He replied with a grin. "I have them
for identification. In case a customer should forget my name he would possibly
remember the display of horseshoes, which after all is a bit unusual. Should
this happen he could at least ask for the darn fool who has all
Page 2
the horseshoes hanging in his office.
"Seriously though," he went on. "There are fifty of them in all. One to
represent each year I have worked in the cotton business."
Just outside the office, enclosed with iron grillwork, was the bookkeeping
department. Several men were working at long desks. A large iron safe
constituted the only other equipment in the room.
The sample room was located in the front portion of the warehouse. Mr. Black
explained that a place must be selected where the greatest amount of light would
fall on the tables where the cotton samples were classified. The grade and the
initials of the owner are indicated on a slip of paper and rolled inside of the
sample.
"Do you want me to go back to the beginning. Well, my friend, that's a long
way." He said thoughtfully.
"I am a native Augustan as was my father. But my mother was a Charlestonian. I
first saw the light or day on June 15, 1875. My grammar school education was
obtained at the old Central School and I attended the Richmond Academy for a
year.
"I married an Augusta girl and we have two sons, who also make their home here.
Both of them were graduated from the Richmond Academy, spent two years at Junior
College and completed their educations at [Sine?] Hill College in Alabama. Then
they returned to Augusta and entered the cotton factorage and
Page 3
warehouse business. The elder boy married last June and he and his wife live
with us. The other one is also at home and both are doing well.
"I am now 65 years old and have lived my entire life in this fair city, with the
exceptations of three years which I spent in Charleston during my young manhood.
"Fifty years is a long time to work in one line of business." David Black said
pensively. "I went to work on Cotton now when I was only fifteen years old and
am now rounding out my fiftieth year.
"Many and drastic changes have taken place during the half century I have worked
close to the old Savannah River. The most important and effective change was
undoubtedly when the government entered the cotton business. The many
restrictions and the vaious taxes imposed on the business people have caused
potents cuts in overhead expenses.
"In other words where formerly business concerns made contracts at the beginning
of the cotton season for twelve months, in many instances they are now forced to
make them for only 30-day periods.
"There is a resultant unrest and uncertainty for both employer and employee. It
is very much like the Good Book says: 'You know not the day nor the hour.' The
cotton factor has come to feel that the incentive to reach out for voluminous
trade has been taken away. [?] he limits his business so as to take as
Page 4
few chances as possible.
"The businessman of today is very much like the Irishman, who, upon becoming
weary of his arduous tasks, decided he needed a vacation. When he applied to the
agent for a ticket, the man asked Pat if he would like to have a return ticket.
Pat replied: 'Faith, no, can't you see I'm already here?'
"Prior to the World War, Augusta was one of the largest cotton centers in the
South. In days gone by when farmers were allowed to raise as much cotton as they
wished, more than once Augusta's receipts totalled a half million bales of
cotton per season. Now the total is not over 150,000 bales.
"Yes," he went on reminiscently, "Cotton Row has undergone some drastic changes.
"In former years when cotton was king, Cotton Row was the most popular place in
town. Warehouses overflowed; and the streets where they were located were almost
[?] because the excess had to be placed on the sidewalk. There was always a
great deal of excitement and the streets were fairly alive with samplers,
weighers, and markers. Business was booming and the surrounding territory had
the appearance of an ant bed, where the ants were hurrying back and forth
getting their food stored away for the winter.
"The cotton exchange building at that time was perhaps the busiest place in
town. It was always crowded. Now we miss the familiar rhythmic chanting of the
cotton men on the streets.
Page 5
They indicated the brands on the bales by calling out: 'Betty, Dora, Emma,
Molly, etc.' The first letters of the names indicated the brand but they used
the whole names to avoid errors caused by the similarity of sound, say for
instance in 'B' and 'd'. You can readily see there was no shadow of a doubt when
they called out, 'Betty' and 'dora.'"
"Didn't the men who worked with the cotton wear long dusters over their suits?"
I asked.
"Yes." He replied. "This was necessary in order to protect their clothes from
the lint of the cotton and jute bagging, and from the ink they used for marking.
"Cotton people really made money in those good old times!" He exclaimed. "But
when all's said and done we are making a living and things could be worse.
"This talk with you has recalled many things to my mind, some of them events
that used to be part and pareel of Augusta's community life. Chief among these
were the old fire parades, the street carnivals, and the cotton parades.
"The remains of the throns upon which old King Cotton ant in the parade is still
in our sample room. In those days not only cotton but Cotton Row was the life of
the town.
"The public could always call upon the cotton people for cooperation and also
for generous donations whenever they were needed. At that time almost as many
people visited the cotton factor's office as now frequent the banks. Everybody
knew everybody
Page 6
else. One could walk into any crowd and feel that he was not only known but
welcome.
"By the way, wouldn't you like to see the old throne that took such a prominent
part in the old cotton parades?" Mr. Black asked.
"I can't think of anything that would give me more pleasure." I replied
promptly. "And I should like to hear more of the cotton parade."
We continued to talk as we strolled slowly toward the sample room.
"Who portrayed King Cotton and when did the parade take place?" I wanted to
know.
"Well, it was away back some fifty odd years ago, I guess." He said
thoughtfully. "And the King was a fine old man, whom we knew as Uncle Josh! He
passed into the Great Beyond many years ago.
"The parade was always held at night on Broad Street. The floats were decorated
farm wagons, delivery wagons, and other vehicles. They were all loaded with
cotton and were lighted with lanterns that burned coal oil."
By this time we had arrived at the sample room where the old [?] was preserved.
The thick pieces of pine timber from which it is made have become rough and
dirty. The back is about three-and-a-half feet high and is fashioned of two
twelve inch boards.
Page 7
In its [?] days the old throne was covered with lint cotton, and cotton in the
bolls furnished the frills. Practically all of the one-time decoration has
disappeared; one arm is lost, and the bottom is gone.
We were both lost in memory for a few moments, for I, too, have spent many years
in Augusta. Mr. Black was the first to break the silence.
"All of these things I have told you today would mean absolutely nothing to the
young people of this generation. To them they would be purely the ramblings of
an old man. However, I believe there are quite a number of the older ones who
would recall them as fond recollections. The day of the minuet and waltz have
passed and the rhumba and 'sans-Susy' have replaced them. The motto seems to
have become - On with the dance; drink and be merry and let joy be unrefined.
He concluded rather sadly: "And thus have the prosperous days of Cotton Row
passed into history. It is now like 'the calm after the storm.'"
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project,
1936-1940 Item 10 of 73
[A Day in a Store]
Continuity Life history
January 24, 1939
Southern Department Store
Cor. Broad & Jackson Sts.
Athens, Georgia
(Manager - Abe Link
Clerks: Mrs. Maud Elliott
Mrs. B. F. McEntire,
Mr. Mell McCurrdy)
Grace McCune
A DAY IN A STORE
It was in a cold drizzling rain that I made my visit to a very popular
department store. It was such a disagreeable day, that few people would get out
unless it was necessary for work or business, and thinking this would be a good
day to get a story, I went early.
As I opened the door, I was hailed by them all, wanting to know how I ever got
out of a nice warm office to come down there on such a day. I told them, the
same thing that brought them out was the cause of my getting out also. They were
ordering coca colas and I was invited to join them. As we were finishing our
drinks, Mr. Goldberg came in and wanted to know why we picked such a cold day
for cold drinks.
The store is heated by a large circulating heater in the center of the first
floor. They were all around the heater waiting for the store to get warmer
before they started their work of dusting counters and straightening stock. They
were all talking about their different work.
One clerk has the dry goods department which is on the first floor; a man is the
one that has charge of the shoes and mens clothing which is also on the first
floor; another
Page 2
clerk is saleslady in the ladies ready to wear and millinery department. This is
located in a balcony that covers half of the first floor.
As they went about their work, Mr. Goldberg said, "You know that this building
is one of the oldest brick buildings in Athens, and was built when Broad St. was
the main street in town. It is three stories: our department store has the first
floor, the Joel Brothers, Jake a lawyer and Charles, have their offices on the
second floor. On the third floor is an overall and work shirt plant. This plant
was owned by the Joel brothers, but they have sold it to another company.
"It was in this building that Michael Brothers first started in business and I
think their home at that time was down on Oconee St; next Louis Morris had a dry
goods store here for some years, and then it was bought by old man Abe Joel; he
is dead now but the building is still owned by his sons.
"Joels were in business here for years, until the old man's health got bad and
he sold out his store to my father-in-law. He has also passed away. The Joel
boys then opened up the overall plant on the third floor, and run it up until
last year when they sold out to another company.
"We moved to Athens when I was about nine and I have been here since that time.
I went to school here, graduated from the University of Georgia. I worked for my
dady's store, here on Broad St. also while I was going to school. Those were
great days, the boys don't hit it as hard now as we did then.
I remember one night when the freshmen were having a banquet,
Page 3
the sophomore's were tryin g to prevent the freshmen from attending. I was
carried out below Princeton and tied out on the river bank to a tree. They told
me that they would come back for me after the banquet was over, but if I should
by any means be able to get away from the tree, I would be allowed to attend
without any more trouble from then, and they left me there.
"It was getting night and I couldn't work those ropes loose finally I heard an
old man over on the hill. He had been ploughing and was hollering at his mule,
and that old gee-haw whoa mule, gee-haw sure sounded good to me and thinking he
would help me I started yelling as loud as I could, he heard me and came to see
what was the trouble. I begged him to untie me. He wanted to know what I would
give him. I promised him a new pair of shoes if he would come to dad's store the
next day. He cut the rope and I lit out for home.
"Yes, I had to walk, but who minded that if we could out do the sophomores. And
I just knew I could get in now and they would not bo r ther me any more that night. I went home bathered and dressed in
my tuxedo, even had the high top silk hat. I was feeling great, but it didn't
last.
"I went strutting along head high in the air. As I reached the old Imperial
Hotel, where the banquet was being held, the sophomores were all lined up. As
they saw me, they wanted to know how in the hell I got away. I pulled off the
high top hat and made a most polite bow to them. But, oh, boy, I paid for that.
For inspite of that, gentlemens agreement that when a freshman managed to work
out of any place they put him he was free to go where he wanted to. They threw
rotten eggs all over
Page 4
clothes and especially my nice high top hat. I was ruined. They wouldn't let me
inside with all those rotten eggs on me. I finally managed by the help of one of
my friends to get out of my clothes and he got up a couple of aprons and tied
around me. That is how I attended the banquet, but at that some of them were
worse off than I was."
"At this time an old negro woman came in wanting to see the manager. He asked
her what he could for for her. She said, "now just look rite right hyar at dis pair of shoes, dey done busted plum
out and I jist got 'em Saddy nite." Looking over the pair of felt house
slippers, he said, "Aunty didn't you get them a little too small?" The answer
came right back, "I didn't git 'em a'tall my gal done buyed 'em fer me." Mr.
Goldberg laughed and told the shoe [salesman?] to give her a new pair of house
shoes. The old aunty thanked him and said, "I done tole 'em dat you would make
'em good.
Two Negro men came in wanting to see some overall jumpers. The clerk carried
them to the back of the store where the overalls were and they first [wanted?]
to see some dat had linin' in 'em. But after they had looked at everyone of
them, they wanted to see some of dem dat warn't lined a'tall. They were shown
these and told the prices of both. After examining both kinds for sometime they
decided the sizes won't right and they would look around sommers else.
As they departed, the clerk said, "That is what clerks get all through the day.
Why sometimes meet I them at the door and ask if I can help them and they will
walk all over the
Page 5
store and out again, without even answering me at all. Then sometimes they will
walk around and then finally ask if we have a rest room. We have all kinds of
experiences in our work, but we also have some very nice customers, and most of
them are nice. And it is a pleasure to wait on them.
A lady woman came in looking for a hand
bag to match a suit. The clerk helped make the selection, also showing gloves to
match the bag. The customer thanked her, as she paid for them, saying you have
been so nice to take up so much time with me. After selling a man some
children's socks, a lady woman a child's
sweater and cloth to another customer, she came back to answer the telephone. It
was someone that wanted some of them to go out on the street to see if they
couldn't find a dray, and be sure and get one that had a good horse and wagon.
I asked if they had many calls like that and she said, "Why all the time. When
it is not bad weather there are usually drays and trucks both around on Jackson
St. and some people think we have time to hunt up a dray anytime they want one.
A small well dressed man came in the store and asked for Mr. Goldbert, who
introduced himself as Mr. Jacobson. He said he was from Florida and on his way
to Hot Springs at his doctor's suggestion, and needed some help to get there.
Mr. Goldberg asked him how long he had been sick. He said, "for sometime. I am
not accustomed to asking for help, but I spent everything I had trying to get
well. I have always donated highly to our society for the help of Jews, and it
is embrassing now to have to ask for help myself. But I just can't stay here in
this weather for it will put me right back in bed. Mr.
Page 6
Goldberg asked if he had been to the president of their society here. He said
yes and that he gave him a place to stay the night before, but that was all he
could do for him. He then called Mrs. Jake Joel, the president of the
sisterhood. She refused to do anything at all for him. He asked her if he should
get sick here, who should he refer to her or the Rabbi. He thanked her very
polite, placed the telephone back on the desk and said, "I have never had anyone
to talk to me that way before. Why she said that if I should get sick to call on
the city that they were supposed to take care of folks like me. Well, when I had
plenty of money I had plenty of friends. Asking who the rabbi was and where he
lived he went out.
A saleman came in to see the manager, said he had his new samples of ladies
underwear and a lovely line of ladies blouses both wash and silk, sport and for
dress wear in all the new shades that went with the new spring suits. Mr.
Goldberg asked the clerks if there was anything in this line that they needed.
But they said that they had already placed their orders. He wanted to know why
he was never able to land an order from them. They said well, you are always too
late.
He said business wasn't as good with him this trip, and that he didn't think
anyone made any money last year, and were lucky to break even. Mr. Goldberg told
him that the fall of the year was when he did his best business for his largest
buyer were farmers, but that it was very disappointing last fall. The farmers
had short crops did not make anything, depended [too?] much on their cotton and
lost on that. And when the farmers
Page 7
fail I lose also as they do not have the money to spend.
Two colored men came in wanted to see some mens underwear. The clerk asked if he
wanted the union suits, hesitating, one of them said, "Yas'ser dats it." They
were shown a heavy weight which was too heavy, the light weight was too light
"fer wuk." Nothing was just right and they left to look around and if us don't
find 'em den us'll sho be back.
A girl came in and asked to see an umbrella. Mr. Goldberg waited on her as the
others were busy. She asked for an oil skin, but when he showed those she wanted
a cellophane one. After looking at these, also the cloth ones she finally
decided on the oil skin. Then she wanted to know if he had any rubber overshoes.
He got out the old time overshoes and she said could she try them on over her
wet oxfords, or if she would have to take her shoes off. He told her that he
could not fit them on her feet for then they wouldn't fit the shoes. After
working to get them on over the wet shoes, she said she would take the umbrealla
and come back later for the overshoes, and be sure and put them aside for her.
As she went out, he told the clerk that if she came back to give her the 8 1/2
for she would never get the size 8 on her feet. And laugh this off. She also
wanted to know if she just wore the overshoes without the shoes would they look
any smaller.
Two Negro girls came in the door. They were met by the clerk. She asked if she
could help them. They just walked by her, went up to the ready to wear
department. The clerk up
Page 8
there met them at the top of the steps with the same polite offer to help them.
They walked by her looked at hats, pulled out dress racks, looked at them, then
walked out of the store without speaking at all.
The clerk downstairs finished waiting on some more customers, and said it was
time for her to go to lunch. As she started out the door, she was met by the
husband of one of her old customers. His wife wanted some cloth matched and no
one could do it but her so she came back and waited on him and then she went on
for lunch.
"I went up to the ready to wear department. Two Negro women were looking at a
child's wash dress. One said it would take one size, but the other insisted on a
smaller size. [3/4?] Finally arguing they bought the dress, then wanted to see
the hats. The clerk was very considerate and showed the new hats which had just
come and explained the different styles and colors, one of them picked up a
small roll brim hat and said, "ain't dis pretty, I sho does lak it, and I sho am
coming back and git dis very hat.
The clerk asked if they wouldn't like to see some of the new spring dresses and
especially the new suits. One of the women opened up a box she had and showed a
new suit that she had just bought for $6.95 and wanted to know if their suits
were as nice as the one she had just bought. Assuring the woman that she had
suits just that nice, the other then said she was coming back to dis store for
her suit. As they went out, the clerk said it is all in a day's work.
Page 9
"My motto is to do unto others as I would like to have them do for me, and I
don't try to sell anyone else something that I would not want myself. I try to
treat everyone fair in every way, and I do appreciate my customers, and I have
built up a good business with them. Most of them are nice and considerate; of
course we have some that are trying. But I can wait on them for hours and know
that they are not going to buy.
"Only the other day, I sold a woman a coat. It was a hard sale, as she did not
know just what she wanted, but after I had put it in the box and handed it to
her, she said "I just reckon as how I won't take it. It took another good hour
to sell her the coat all over again.
"And then I had another customer that I showed everything in this department and
everything I showed her she said 'Ma has got one just like it, and very often
these young flappers come in and try on dresses and hats just to have a place to
smoke and rest, but they are usually very nice.
"One day a lady came and wanted to see my very latest dresses. After trying them
all on and examining them to see how they were made she said I thank you very
much. I am a dress maker and I just wanted to see how the new styles looked. It
will give me new ideas in my work.
"Some people that clerks have an easy job, but they don't realize that we have
to keep this stock in place and that it has to be brushed and dusted every day,
and it takes hours to get it fixed back after a busy day. Then every season
things have to be packed away to make room for the new things and I
Page 10
wonder every year as I pack and put away things if I will be here next year to
unpack them. I have worked on this same block for 27 years. I asked her to tell
me about it. She laughed and said, "Well, I will tell you what I can. I was
young when I went to work right in this same store for Mr. Abe Joel. I had never
worked before and I was started in at five dollars a week, but that was big
money to me. I worked two weeks, then I was called to the office. I just knew I
had done something wrong and my knees were shaking so I could hardly walk. But
when I got there, they told me that I had tried hard to learn, and they were
satisfied with my work, and they were raising my salary to ten dollars a week.
"We [worked?] hard, but business was good then and didn't have so much
competition.' Farmers would come in to buy and they bought for the whole family
and the bills amounted to something. We always got a bonus check at Christmas
for Mr. Joel and the boys gave us a piece of gold money.
She had to stop and wait on some customers and I looked around her department.
One side was filled with dress racks full of dresses and in the center of the
balcony were seveal large round dress racks, one of house dresses at 98�, one
rack at $1.98, one at $3.95. All dresses run from 98� to $7.95. Suits at
different prices, popular prices in tailored suits were $9.90. Coats light and
heavy weight at different prices, rain coats $1.98 to $2.98. Children dresses
from 49� up.
The other side was hats, all sizes, colors and shapes. On a table in the center
floor was displayed a nice line of hats that were priced at 98�. The better hats
were in show
Page 11
cases and in the hat shelves. A large glass case also held blouses, gloves, and
hand bags, sport shirts and uniforms. These were all priced from 98� $1.98 and
some a little higher.
The sewing room and fitting room were in the back and in the fitting room was a
table, chair and a long mirrow mirror. The
sewing room had a long sewing table with an electric machine, a ironing board
and electric iron, a long table with a mirrow mirror over it and was heated by a small heater. There was also a large
full length mirrow out in the main part of the balcony for trying hats and
dresses.
"At one side was the cashier's stand, where the baskets came from all parts of
the store as the cashier also wraped the packages. This cashier stand is used
only in the busy season as they had a register and wrapping counter on the first
floor.
As the clerk finished with her customers, she came back to me, and said, "Did
you know that I have had two weddings right here in my balcony, but that was
when I was working for Mr. Joel. I dressed both the brides. The first couple was
from the country and the bride came in and bought her outfit, from underwear to
shoes and hat. We dressed her in the fitting room and they called a Justice of
Peace to marry them. I / never laughed so much in my life, for he asked
the groom if he would take the bride and feed her on cornbread and collars collards. Of crouse course all
the clerks as well as our other customers were watching and listening and I
thought they would laugh themselves to death when the justice of Peace asked
that question. It was the only wedding I ever saw like that.
Page 12
"The next wedding we had was really a nice wedding. It was a couple from Madison
County. We dressed that bride also. They had some of their friends with them and
we called Preacher Elliott to marry them, and it was quite different from the
first one.
Mr. Joel could just think of everything and did things so different from anyone
else. One year business was bad. Farmers had a bad year and couldn't get
anything for their cotton and couldn't pay up their bills. Mr. Joel bought a
bale of cotton and put it out in front with a big sign on it saying, 'we will
buy your cotton at ten cents a pound.'
He would buy the farmers cotton from them and we sure did do business that fall
for they all traded with him, payed their bills with the cotton they couldn't
sell and in this way we did a good business kept our old customers and made many
new ones.'
"When the war came, his two oldest sons were just the age to go. They
volunteered. We all hated to see them go, and we knew just how it hurt Mr. Joel,
but he did not want his boys to be slackers. We just tried that year to see how
hard we could work. Business was good everywhere then and we sure got our part,
and at Christmas I received a bonus check for $300. with merry Christmas on it.
He was a good man to work for, and he appreciated what his clerks did for him. I
never had any trouble with him but one time. I came in one morning a few minutes
late, and several customers were waiting for me. The boss gave me a dirty look
and also a raking over before my customers.
Page 13
That made me mad. I went ahead with my customers and after they were gone, I
went back to our dressing room, got my coat, and hat went by the office and told
them that I was quitting, as didn't intend to be treated any such a way before
my customers and I walked out. Mr. Joel called me, but I didn't stop.
"I had just reached my home when two of the boys got there. They talked to me
and begged me to come back. They told me what was wrong with their dad. One of
the banks had closed that morning, he had several thousand dollars in the bank.
He was worried and didn't realize that he was so cross. I stayed at home a week
and went back and I never had any more trouble with him. I worked for him as
long as he was in business. In fact, I worked for them fourteen years and ten
months.
"After he went out of business I worked for another store in this same block
until 1932, and then I came back here to work for Mr. Goldberg, but it is time
for my lunch hour now, will you have lunch with me? I thanked her and told her I
would get me a sandwich later as I wanted to talk to the other clerks while they
were not busy.
As I went back to the first floor, two ladies came in the front door. The clerk
met them, but they had just come in to warm and rest awhile. She invited them
back to the fire, and placing chairs for them, went back to wait on another
customer. I listened to them talk while they rested. One said she 'just had to
come to town, and see 'bout gettin' something to fix fer her children's school
lunch. You know I has three in school and they has got to the place where they
think they is too good to take jelly and butter and bread or for that matter
they
Page 14
didn't want eggs no pre-serves neither. Just thinks they has to have fruits,
sich as apples, oranges, and banannas, and why if I didn't just set my foot
down, they wouldn't take a thing 'cept candy.
"My children can eat really more than most grown folks, 'cause they ain't finky
bout what they eat at home. It is just what they takes for lunch.
The other lady had come plum to town to git her radio fixed. When they told me
that it would take all of two hours work to git it fixed, I decided to come down
here to wait. I knowed they would n't mind, they all'ers have such good fires
and are so nice to us when we wants to warm and rest. Why sometimes folks eats
dinner right here, when they has to [be?] in town all day. Tain't no wonder that
folks likes to trade here, and I try to do all my trading here. They are always
nice. I bring them eggs most every time I come and they always buy them and
garden stuff too, but I didn't have any today. My children all like eggs and
they come in handy in fixing up their lunches. But they told me to be sure and
bring back the radio and we all likes to listen to it at night when we are
through work, but I'm glad they likes it for it keep them from galivanting
'round so much at night.
They then got to discussing the Bible, said folks didn't read it right and
anyway no one understood it, and after arguing this way and that way, they
started out, one to see if by any chance her radio was fixed sooner than they
said for you wouldn't always tell 'bout 'em, and the other one to see if the
boys won't ready to go home and she still had to hunt for something else to help
in lunches and she just had to be home by night.
Page 15
The clerk came back to the fire then, and said, "It has been a good day for
sweaters for it is really cold outside, but I will tell you a joke on the boss.
Mr. Goldberg had just come in and he said, "now look here, if these folks are
going to talk about the boss just let me talk first, and tell you that my clerks
are all so much older than I am that they have no respect for me and just talk
to me any old way.
This brought a protest as well as a lugh
laugh and very friendly argument between the boss and clerks, one of them said,
"just write that our boss was one of the best pitchers in soft baseball here for
years, until father time stopped him and now he plays golf. Mr. Goldberg laughed
and said they will ruin me yet. Better let her tell her joke; for I know I will
have to pay for it.
The clerk said, "Well, last week a lady came in to buy a sweater for another
woman said he wanted a 38. As the one she was buying for was larger than she was
and she didn't want anything except a dark blue, I know my stock pretty well and
I knew that sweaters run small to the size. The lady that was buying couldn't
have worn less than a 42. I gave her a 46 and told her that if it didn't fit I
would exchange it or give her the money back. After she had gone, Mr. Goldberg
bet two coca colas to one that she would bring it back for it would be too
large, and yesterday the lady came back. He asked her how the sweater was, and
she said, "it was just a perfect fit and the lady was well pleased.
Page 16
I asked if the boss paid off. He answered before she could, said no, but he was
going to for if they ever got anything on him he never heard the last of it, but
after all they are pretty good sports and we have worked together so long that
we don't mind each other.
"We have extra help on Saturdays and in the fall we have several extra ones on
the force. These long dull days just whips us all down. They are worse than
being busy. We have a good trade among the farmers, but last fall was
disappointing. Farmers made short crops, depended on their cotton too much and
the boll weevil ruined most all of that, and when the farmers fail then we all
lose too.
Business was not so good last year, but we are expecting and looking forward to
a better business this year, and I hope we will not be disappointed. We open at
eight in the morning and close at six. Except on Saturday nights, when we stay
open late for the benefit of our customers that have to work also. Of course we
come in contact with all classes and kinds of people. Most of them are nice but
we do run across many amusing things in our work. In the fall rush we have a
young boy from the university to work with us. He is a fine boy and well liked
by all in the store, but we get a good many laughs on him. Especially one time
last fall. A lady from the country came in to get a pair of shoes. This boy was
waiting on her and he is very nice to his customers. He had tried on several
pair, when all at once she wanted to know if he was a married man. He hardly
knew how to answer, but told her that he was not married. She refused to let him
finish waiting on her, said
Page 17
she was a married woman herself and she didn't want no young upstart fitting
shoes on her feet. And if there won't no married men that could try on her shoes
she would go sommers else. An older clerk was called and after assuming her that
he was married and had a large family, she let him fit her shoes, and bought
them, but she won't goin' to let no young upstart try shoes on her feet.
"You get a good many amusing experiences in all parts of the store, but most of
all in the shoe department and the ready-to-wear. Ladies at least nine out of
ten will want shoes that are too small and can't understand why they are not
comfortable. And the colored folks are very amusing, and will try their best to
get on a shoe that is several sizes too small, so dat dey won't look so pow'ful
big. They are the same about dresses and coats, and you know it pays to watch
them too when they come in a store in crowds for they can pick up thinks things and you looking at them. And as Mr. Goldberg
went out for his lunch, he told them he would be late and might not be back at
all, for he had an engagment and it was such a bad day they probably wouldn't be
busy enough to need him and turning to me said don't let these folks tell you
too much on me.
Fixing up the fire, the clerk said, "I am going to rest while I am not busy. I
asked her to tell me something about her department. "Well, when some of them
come in, they know what they want again they don't, and then my tables and
counters will look like a cyclone has been through, but I don't mind for I do
like to please my customers, and when they
Page 18
come back and call for me, then I feel like I have pleased them.
I have built up a good trade and I have customers that will not let anyone wait
on them except me. They will call for me and wait until I can get to them. I
find most of them nice, but have had some to tell me, after showing everything
on the tables, shelves as well as the show case that they didn't want to buy,
but just wanted to look and that was what we was here / for, to show them. And that clerks didn't have any business getting
mad when folks wanted to look.
"It is really in the fall that we are real busy in my department, for I have
everything that one could ask for at least I feel that way until someone comes
in and calls for the very thing I am out of. I have a time with the new help
sometimes for some of them have never worked in a store before and they have to
be shown everything and the prices. Last year one of the new girls was selling
some cloth that was marked 19� on the bolt and the girl wanted to know if that
meant 19� a yard, or was it 19� a bolt. But things like that makes me think of
when I first started out to work. I asked her to tell me about that. I [went?]
to work when I was about fifteen for Max Joseph and Co. as a cashier for eight
dollars a month. They had two stores both was on Clayton Street, but one was
where Kress's is now, and the other one was where the Michael Building is. I had
never worked before and I was just as green as any one ever could be. Didn't
know a thing about a store. I did not have any trouble in learning to make my
change, but the telephone had me. I had never tried to use one, and didn't know
how and I would just let it ring until someone else answered it. But day it
started to
Page 19
ringing, I just let it ring until someone told me to answer that telephone.
"I didn't know what to do, I had seen the others pick up the receiver and say
hello so I tried that. And I never heard such a noise in my life. It was a Jew
woman talking, and I just couldn't understand a word, so I just put the receiver
back on the telephone. And immediately it started rining again. I let it ring
until some of the others finally answered it, and it was the boss's wife. She
wanted to know who that [D?] fool was in the office that didn't know how to
answer the telephone. She came in the office later and asked me why I hung up on
her when she was trying to get her husband. I just had to tell her the truth,
that I didn't know how to talk over one. She looked at me hard decided I was
telling the truth and she showed me how to talk over a telephone, but they were
all good to me and I worked for them until I married.
"I was very small and thin then, and Uncle King as we call called him, but his
name was King Marks, was awfully good to me. He was an old bachelor and was Mrs.
Joseph's brother. He was sick all the time and wouldn't eat anything hardly.
They would fix everything they could get to try to get him to eat. He would fix
it nice and tell them he would [eat?] it at the store. And he would bring it to
me, he said I needed more, because I just brought sandwiches for my lunch, but I
did not know that he thought I wasn't getting enough to eat, and I really
enjoyed those good things.
He would bring turkey, chicken, goose, cakes and pies, in
Page 20
fact they fixed up everything for him to eat, and I got the most of it, and I
didn't know that he was suppose to be eating it all.
"He had a hobby of saving gold money and every bit that I got in the register,
he would take it out and replace it with paper money. His folks all knew that he
was saving this gold money, but when he died they could not find any of it. They
sent for me to come to the house, said they knew he liked me, and thought that
he might have told where he put his gold money. But I didn't know and I couldn't
help them. But I didn't know and I couldn't help them. I never heard any more
about it and I guess they found it, but it was right at the time I married and
quit work. I didn't work any more for five years; and then my husband died
leaving me with two little girls to raise. I went back to work, and it was right
here in this same building for Mr. Joel as cashier at twenty five dollars a
week. They were good people to work for and when in the busy season we did not
have time to get out for lunch they asked us which we had rather do, have three
dollars a week extra to buy lunch or let them have our lunch fixed at their home
with theirs.
"We decided we had rather have them fix lunches, and we sure didn't make a
mistake. For our lunches were fixed on a large plate for each one, and we had
just what they did, and it was the best that could be fixed, and was cooked
good.
"I enjoyed working for them. We worked hard for he really did a big business. I
asked if she was there when they had the weddings. She laughed and said, "I sure
was and I never laughed
Page 21
as much in my life as I did when the old Justice of Peace asked the groom if he
would feed the bride on cornbread and collards. But the other wedding was a very
nice one.
"I worked for Mr. Joel until he went out of business. We sure did hate to see
him do that, but we knew it was on account of his health. But he didn't forget
his old clerks then, but very often came by to see us. I never did any kind of
work in a store except as a cashier until I came to work for Mr. Goldberg, and
he asked me to try working on the floor. It was hard and I thought I would never
get use to it, but now I don't want to change. I like it so much better. I have
so many nice customers, and I appreciate them too. I am always pleased when one
comes in and calls for me.
"Why only last Sunday in our church as we were coming out I noticed an old man
standing off to his self. His clothes were old, but he was very neat and so
clean looking. I did not know his name, but I did remember that I had waited on
him in the store. So I made my way across to him, shook hands with him and told
him how glad I was to see him at our church. He was very happy that someone had
come to seek to him. As we talked a few minutes, he looked up at me with a smile
and said, 'Ain't you one the clerks that work down at Mr. Goldberg's store. So
you see I am pretty well known. But I do try to treat all my customers right,
and it is a pleasure to wait on them.
Business is not what it used to be. Of course we do not make what we did years
ago and those old bonus checks are gone. I make just about half what I did, and
have a hard time at it.
Page 22
But in spite of the fact that I will soon be fifty-four I am not yet willing to
give up my work. I like it too well.
A policeman on that beat came in then to warm, and said it was getting much
colder on the outside, and that the wind was blowing so hard. The door opened
again, a lady asked if Miss Sarah was there, as Miss Sarah went to meet her, she
said she wanted to see some children's sweaters. After waiting on her customer,
she came back to the fire, and said she wanted to go to the show that night. I
asked if she enjoyed shows. She said yes, I really do and I enjoy my church and
our Sunday school as well as the social gatherings. I enjoy my friends also and
like to visit them and have them visit me.
As we were talking the clerk from the ready-to-wear department came down to the
fire and they told me of one of their sales on Saturday night. A Negro man and
woman came in to buy a dress. When the woman went in the fitting room to try on
a dress, she left her purse on the counter, telling the man to watch it. She
didn't like the first dress and the clerk came out to get another one. As she
came out the Negro man went in. Waiting at the door for the man to come out, she
heard to following conversation between the Negroes. What you done wid dat
pocket book (woman) I done tole you to get it when I came in her (Man) didn't
nuther woman youse better git dat pocket book and when youse do, just give me my
money dat I done wuked fer 'cause if you ain't got no better sense dan leavin'
it layin' 'round fer somebody to pick up youse sho haint gwine to tote my money.
The woman came out in a hurry found her pocket book
Page 23
but didn't want him to take the money. A argument followed and the man refused
to buy the dress, but about an hour later they came back and bought the dress
also a hat. But the man was carrying the money.
I asked if they did a credit business. She said, "No, but we have our lay-away
plan. People can [select?] what they want, until it is paid for. They are
supposed to make regular payments but when they miss several payments without
letting us know why, then it goes back in stock, but Mr. Goldbert Goldberg is very nice about
that, for he will write them and ask what they want him to do, before he puts it
back in stock.
"We do our alterations free of charge in busy season and on Saturday we have a
tailor to do this work here at the store, but through the week we send it to
tailor shop for we do not have enough alterations to keep one during the week.
"I have a girl on Saturday to help me. Business is not what it used to be and
while I don't make the salary I used to, I think of when I was glad to work for
five dollars a week to learn, and now we can't get one for less than two dollars
a day, but it takes more to live on now than it did then. It will soon be
closing time and I had better be getting my stock covered up, and as they all
went about getting their stock covered for the night the boss came. He said,
"Well, did they tell everything they knew on their boss. I told him they were
very nice about it and he really had some fine clerks. His [reply?] was, "I know
that, and I know when I leave them in charge that my work goes on just as well
as when I am here. We have enjoyed having you with us for the day and come back
to see us again."
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project,
1936-1940 Item 11 of 73
[De Trubles I's Seen]
DE TROUBLES I's SEEN
Written By:
Mrs. Ina B. Hawkes
Research Field Worker
Georgia Writer's Project
Athens -
Edited By:
Mrs. Maggie B. Freeman
Editor
Georgia Writers' Project
Athens -
WPA Area 6
November 2, 1939.
October 19, 1939
Lucille Jackson (Negro)
260 Strong Street
Athens, Georgia
I. B. Hawkes DE TROUBLES I's SEEN
I went out one morning to get a Negro woman to do some washing for me. I wanted
a certain [Negroes?] who had formerly worked for my mother, so I went to the
address where she used to live. Lil was at home.
She lived on a steep, rocky street in a very dilapidated house, and in the side
yard smoke was rising from the fire around the wash pot.
"Goodness me, Miss, I sho' is glad to see you. I ain't seen you in so long! Come
on in, chile. Ain't you cold? I has a good fire inside."
Lil offered me the most comfortable chair in the house. "Sit down here, Miss,"
she said, "I wants to talk to you a while."
"I really haven't much time," I said, "but I do want you to do some washing for
me this week, will you?"
"Why, yes, chile, you knows I'll do anything for you, but fust let's talk about
old times. You know, I'se been kinder worried and seen a lot since I worked for
you. I sho' was sorry you let me go, but does you remember the fust time I ever
saw you, chile?"
"I think I do," I said, "but you tell me."
"Well, I seen you comin' 'cross the hill one evening with a big basket, I was
wonderin' if you was comin' to my house and sho' 'nuff you walked up to me and
said, 'Here, Lil, this is something my mother sent you and your babies. She said
for you to feed them and eat some yourself, that she was tired of hearing them
babies cry.' Then, next day I washed them dishes and went to yo' ma an' worked
all that week for your ma, 'cause she sho' was
Page 2
good to me - and you too. Honey, befo' she died. Well, course, it is like this;
we lose track o' people - lak us did. I sho' is had a hard time too. I got jobs
anywhere I could, serving as scrubwoman, washwoman, or maid, earning no certain
amount, an' had five chilluns 'fo I stopped. My husband, Sam, was a smart man
and he was good to me a long time, but as my chilluns got older he got to where
he stopped giving us money. You know, I couldn't feed five chilluns on a little
fifty cent a week washin'. Two dollars a month for washin' don't buy much, Miss,
and I had to pay $1.50 a month house rent on top of dat.
"Sam stayed on at home wif us. You remember how things was sometimes. You give
us some meat and corn meal to help us out some, jus' like yo' ma did. Miss, I
stood that treatment long as I could then I jus' got me a man named Ike to help
me out wif my chilluns. Well, Ike did help me, but we got to drinkin' a lot
together. That didn't do; we took money the chilluns needed and so the fust
thing I knowed we was fightin'. Then Sam got to stayin' out more and more and he
got him a woman too. Well, it was all right for me to have a man, I thought, but
when he got that woman I flew up and got a [devorse?]. My chilluns didn't like
that so such, but I jus' went on livin' with Ike then, but I was worried about
Sam. I stayed drunk all the time till Ike and me got worser and worser. Well, I
tell yo' this much I know I jus' had to do somethin'. Well, I kinder think God
took a hand in my affairs about then; my ma and two of my sisters got sick.
Well, I went to see them every two weeks. Sam come 'round more then and helped
me some wif the chilluns. My po' ma died and my sisters and brothers wouldn't
help me with the expenses. Even my only aunt had insurance on her, but would not
Page 3
give me a cent to bury her. I'm still paying on that funeral. My sister died
after several months and the county had to pay that; I couldn't.
"My oldest daughter got married, too, about then and went to Atlanta to live.
Honey, she married a real man! He don't mistreat her one bit. Up to now they has
got two chilluns. One little boy died, but she has got two left. She helped me a
lot after she married and let one of the chilluns come to see her and stay so I
wouldn't have such a hard time suppo'tin' them that stayed with me. She put Joe
in school there and he got some learning.
"Dis man Ike I took up wif was still hangin' 'round all dis time. Sam, he didn't
know much 'bout him, but I knowed he was wonderin' all this time where I was
gettin' help.
"The other chilluns was growin' up now and Ruth, next to the oldest girl, got
sick, so I had to stay at home after that and wash and iron. I could not leave
home to work out any. Sam begin to go out again with this woman of his. I sho'
did hate it too, 'cause I loves that nigger til' dis day. My man Ike then begin
to help me a little more 'cause Ruth was getting worse, and only one of the boys
was big 'nuff to help me at all, and he worked at a small groc'ry store. He
didn't make much and half the time he took up all he made by Saturday night in
groceries an' we couldn't draw a cent. Well, Sam got to comin' home drunk and
bustin' down the doors an' ravin' an' pitchin' all night. Sometimes he would run
Ruth's fever up so high til' I would have to hold her on the bed.
"One day Sam come in drunk and was cussin' me 'bout Ike. I told him he didn't
have no business 'round here at all; I paid house rent and wanted
Page 4
him to git out, but he would not do it. About this time Sam lost his job and I
don't know where he went for three months. Me and Ike, thought, made it fine for
a while. We bought us some new things as you see.
"One day my oldest boy that was workin' come home. Ike was in the other room
talking to him very loud and I wondered what in the world was the matter. Well,
I went in and ike was demanding my boy to bring home all his pay that night and
Frank, my boy, was tryin' to tell him that he had brought groceries home for us
to eat and he couldn't bring any money home. Ike jumped on Frank and I thought
he would kill him befo' I could stop him. I quit Ike then and took in all the
washin' I could git. I had four washings that brought me $4.00 a week. At night
I would be so tired til' I could not sleep. I thought Ike was comin' back to
take my furniture 'way from me every day, but I see now he was waitin' to work
his way back in.
"I got in with another man one day 'bout a month after I quit Ike. His name was
Harry, but, Honey, I could not stand him. He come in one day and said he heard I
had another man on the string and he was goin' to kill me. Of course I did not
think harry meant it, but I want you to know he didn't do a thing but draw a
knife on me and cut my throat. I got a scar on my throat that never will go
'way. Sam got home that night from Tennessee and I was in bed. He said, 'Gal,
what ails you?' I told him. Lawd chile, that nigger went out of this door and
went to look for Harry. Sam found him all right and cut harry's insides out; I
mean all of them. Well, Sam left for a while, but they caught him and turned him
loose.
"Ruth got well and went out and got married, I guess. I never did see
Page 5
no man though, but she sho' had this baby. She was sick all time after this baby
come, finally I had a doctor with her and he said she had a 'leakage of the
heart' and would not live long. I found out later that someone gave her some
whiskey when she was a baby. That's what caused her to be sickly all her life.
Well, Ruth died with this awful disease. Chile, she swelled up till she liked to
bu'sted 'fo she died.
"By this time my oldest boy had left home. He said he just could not stand
things like that no longer. My next boy, his name is John, got a job on a beer
truck helpin' out.
"Well, I jus' didn't know what to do 'cause 'bout this time all the men had left
me and this grandchild had to have milk. I could not go out anywhere and leave
her. I didn't dream about Ike, that had the trouble with Frank, comin' back.
But, bless your soul, one day Ike come walkin' up behind me while I was washin'.
"You know, after all that happened between the family, Ike had done a lot for me
and he sho' did look good, too! But I was going to play off stubbon and make out
like I was still mad at him, but he said, "You jus' put that washin' aside for a
while, gal. I's got somethin' to say to you'. Well, I put everything aside and
we went in the house and sat down. Ike begin to tell me that he wanted to come
home and he would be good to my chilluns and especially to the little baby girl
of Ruth's. Ike had already bought things for the house to make it more
comfortable, so I took him back and he has been with me now seven years, and I
haven't seen Sam. My chilluns is all growing fast and is healthy, 'cause I was
and iron so I can stay at
Page 6
home. Ike is smart and works hard and brings me money home every Saturday. He
sho' has stuck to his promise to me. Come on, Miss, and let's look at the other
part of the house. I jus' want you to see what people can do when they want to.
"Oh, yes", she said, while getting up, "we still has our little parties
sometimes, but not rough ones like we use to, 'cause we found out it won't do."
We walked into the next room which was a bedroom too. It had an iron bed with a
pretty bright silk spread on it, lace curtains at the windows, a vanity dresser,
and a small table with a lamp on it, a rocker, a straight chair, and a neat
small grass rug on the floor. Then in the kitchen there was a small green and
cream-colored range in one corner, a home-made cabinet and breakfast set against
the wall, green curtains at the windows, and a worn rug on the floor.
"Now, I and Ike is paying down on dis little shack, which ain't so much to look
at, but by stintin' ourself of the things we feels we is got to have, we is paid
a nice little sum of money on dis place and soon we is going to own dis little
old house and lot.
"Now you see, miss, I am proud I did stay with ike after all. The funny part of
it is - Ike come from the same county I did."
"What county did you come from, Lil?" I asked.
We both come from Oglethorpe County. An' we was both farmers. My childhood days
was very happy and Ike says his was, too. We didn't either one of us have much
schooling, but we can write our names. Well, Miss, I will be over to git the
clothes after while."
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project,
1936-1940 Item 12 of 73
[The Depression was a Republican Trick]
THE DEPRESSION WAS A REPUBLICAN TRICK
Written by: Mrs. Ada Redford
Augusta, Georgia
Edited by: Mrs. Leila H. Harris
Supervising Editor
Georgia Writers' Project
District [7?]
July 17, [1940?].
Mr. Clifford C. Farr
833 Broad St.,
Augusta, Ga.
A. R.
THE DEPRESSION WAS A REPUBLICAN TRICK
The Skinner Clothing Company, located at 833 Broad Street, an old established
business, is one of Augusta's few remaining home-owned stores. When I walked in
Mr. Skinner was placing price tags on brilliantly colored sport suits, which are
so popular this summer. He glanced up with a smile of recognition and remarked:
"Well, what do you think of the Republican presidential nominee?"
Absorbed in what he was doing, he hardly waited for my reply before he went on,
"Personally, I never heard of that man before, but from the race he ran with
Taft he is well-known in the Republican party, but he hasn't a chance. Roosevelt
will be president for the next term whether they like it or not."
"Yes, I too, believe Roosevelt will run and be re-elected, but that is not what
I came to talk about, Mr. skinner."
"Pardon me, I was so excited I forgot for the moment, what can I do for you?"
"How long have you been in business?"
"About twenty-six years. Why?"
"I want you to tell me of your business experiences and of the causes and
effects of the depression."
"That's a large order, but I will tell you what I know. Where do we begin?"
Page 2
"First tell me where and when you were born. You don't mind, do you?"
"Oh, no! But I wasn't in business then."
"Of course you weren't, but I would like to know of your very early life, your
boyhood days and, in fact, your whole build-up to the successful business man of
today."
"That will take a lot of your time, as I will have to take care of the trade,
but if you want it that bad I will do my best to give you the information you
want or at least what I know."
"I will work at your convenience, Mr. Skinner."
"All right, I was born in McDuffie County near Thomson, Georgia, August 27,
1887, the first six children of George Fletcher Skinner and Julia Brannon
Skinner. At the age of 15 I finished grammar school at Sardis, Georgia, and went
to work as clerk in Appling's General Merchandise Store for $7.00 a month and
board. Being keenly interested in advancement I decided to take a business
course and after a few months I came to Augusta.
"Before I entered school I met a boy from home who was working at Lombard's Iron
works. He was so enthusiastic and happy over the work he was doing, I gave up
the idea of business school and thought I would try to be a machinest. My friend
took me to the boss and after looking me over he gave me a job as apprentice. It
wasn't long before I learned I didn't care for hot iron and realized I should
have stuck to my original plan of taking a business course. The trouble with me
was I wanted a pay day and once you get
Page 3
the yellow envelope on Saturday, you just can't give it up, even if it contains
only a few dollars. I left Lombards and got a job as clerk with the J. B. White
Company. Augusta's largest and leading store at that time. I was back in my own
line of work and though I was only 17 years old, I sold more than any of the
other clerks.
We had the range of the whole store and were not assigned to departments as they
are today. I don't think I was a better salesman, I just know a lot of people.
My boyhood days on the baseball teams of Columbia, McDuffie and Lincoln Counties
were now paying dividends in business as well as affording as a lot of pleasure.
My salary was only $5.00 a week, while the others were drawing $10.00. I know I
was worth more and I asked the manager, Mr. Denton, (a Yankee) for a raise.
"'Why you are just a kid and haven't been here long enough to get a raise.'" He
answered.
"I felt that I was entitled to as much as the other clerks and told him so, but
he refused to pay me a penney more, so I quit.
"About that time Ben Jordan, of Grovetown, was elected superintendent of schools
in Columbia County. Ben had a large store and had to have a man during the
school term. I accepted his offer of $7.00 a week and board and worked until the
schools closed. Then I worked at Norvel's Store for the same salary. I was still
in my teens, and while I was satisfied and happy in my work, I realized there
was no future for a clerk in a small town store, and I decided to come back to
Augusta. It was then I got my first real job with
Page 4
the Augusta Aiken Railway Company at 12 cents an hour."
"What kind of work did you do?"
"I was an all round man. I know you remember when they had open streetcars?"
"Yes, I do."
"Well, my job in the summer was training men to operate open cars, then running
to Lake View, Augusta's amusement park. Most of the men were medical students
who worked during the summer to be able to pay their way through Medical
College. I also had a side line. J. W. Creasy, a tailor, had a shop on this
block and I sold uniforms to the man on commission and made on an average of
$40.00 a month. With my salary from the Railway company my earnings for the
month were around $80.00."
Just at this point a man wearing overalls came in and asked if his uniform was
ready. Mr. Skinner told him it was, but that he would like for him to try on the
coat. I noticed that it was a Salvation Army officer's uniform. When the man
left I asked Mr. Skinner about him.
"Yes, he is an officer and a working one at that. The Salvation Army is doing a
good work in our city; more than the general public and the churches are willing
to give them credit for. Not that they want any praise. They are interested
mostly in helping the forgotten men and woman."
"And you still sell uniforms?"
"Yes, I usually have a contract with some company and furnish
Page 5
uniforms for the policemen and firemen every year."
"Getting back to our story, Mr. Skinner."
"Oh, yes! Where did we leave off?"
"You were working for the Augusta and Aiken Railway Co. How long were you
there?"
"Two years and twelve days. I then went to work for Mentor & Rosenbloom, an old
New York credit corporation that sold on the $1.00 a week plan. Shortly after I
went to work there, on September 2, 1908, I married Miss Lillian Glisson, my
boyhood sweetheart. She was from South Georgia, but we attended the same school
and I had looked forward to the day when I could claim her as my bride.
"I was with Mentor & Rosenbloom about seven or eight months, when I found out
that the office force was not honest; they were stealing my commission and I
quit and went to T. R. Maxwell Furniture Company. After about a month Mentor &
Rosenbloom wanted to know why I had left the company. They sent a man here to
investigate and when they learned what the trouble was they sent for me and made
me manager at a salary of $35.00 a week, with a bonus."
"How long were you there?"
"I don't remember whether it was five or six years, but during the time I was
there I decided if I could manage a business for the other fellow at a profit,
why not have one of my own. I had a little savings account, $1,000, to be exact
and I believed with $1,000 more I could begin business. I went to the
Culpeppers, who at that time were operating a very successful furniture
business.
Page 6
I offered to give them a half interest for $1,000. They agreed readily, and gave
me W. P. Seigler, one of their oldest men, as a partner. I opened at 1044 Broad
Street, under the name of Skinner & Seigler, and from the first month business
was good and in less than two years, it was worth $3,700.
"I soon learned that Seigler was not the man for my business. He lacked
personality and tact in selling. I gave him $1,000 and bought Culpeppers'
interest and then ran the business alone for five years. Then I sold a half
interest for $18,000 to Hogan, my most recent partner, and moved to 958 Broad
Street. We were incorporated in 1919 as Skinner & Hogan for $100.000, but sold
very little stock. We opened three stores, one in Savannah and two here. Our
business was thriving and we were in fine shape.
"Hogan and I each had a drawing account of $5,000 a year and we employed
fourteen men in the three stores, all making a good salary. Then came the
depression. I saw the crash coming and tried to head it off by liquidating the
Savannah store. Hogan being a high salaried man, we gave him the small store
where Thom McAn's store now is, and part of the liquidation that was still
incorporated. I now owned 95% of the store at 958 Broad Street and employed five
men. I cut my drawing account in half. In 1930 the Stelling Shoe Store, next
door to my place, caught fire and my place was damaged so badly that I leased a
store two doors below for the next five years, continuing business as usual.
"After a period of three years, business began to pick up
Page 7
and gradually increased, but it has never been the same. The chain stores have
ruined the independent merchant. The big moneyed men who were on the inside of
the political scheme knew the rise and fall of the stock market and when to buy.
The results were chain stores in every city and town of any size, selling their
merchandise for less than we could buy for. What chance did we have for a
comeback?
"When my lease expired in 1935, I moved here, and each year business has
increased. Today there are seven families getting a comfortable living out of
the store and I can't complain. But with the competition and high cost of
living, I will not live long enough to regain what I lost during the
depression."
"What do you think caused the depression?"
"It would take a more brilliant mind than mine to tell you the real cause. My
ideas along with a lot of other small merchants is about the same. It was Wall
Street against the world, along with a political upheaval, in other words, a
Republican trick. Millionaires were made over night from the life savings of
others. The war got the credit for a lot of and rightly so. I remember the close
of the Spanish American War; cotton dropped to 3 1/2 and 4 cents a pound, why?
Politics and the little man being crushed and beggared by the man or men who
were in power. Take my business for instance; before the last depression
fourteen families were being supported from it; my own personal loss was 50%. I
was worth around $40,000 with an income of $5,000. That was cut in half and
today my average
Page 8
is a little more than $3,000."
"What to you think of conditions today?"
"They are about the same as the pre-war days of the last World War. When this
program is over, there will be an increase in business. The present
administration is wise now to all the Republican tricks and there will not be
another depression such as Hoover and the Republicans caused. The people in our
country know now that it was a political trick to enrich the big man and make
beggars out of the little man. We have more unemployed than any other country in
the world today, and the cry is that this is a machine age. That is true, to a
great extent, but who built the machines? Where did the money come from? Out of
the pockets of the working man? Again I say, 'Wall street against the world.'"
"Do you own your own home?"
"Oh, yea! I bought my first home in 1920, on the corner of Baker and Central
Avenues. Three years later I sold at a profit and bought Mayor White's home on
[Meiga?] Street. In 1928 I built my present home on Anthony Road at a cost of
[19,000?].
"I have three sons and one daughter. My two older boys finished high school and
had two years in college. The oldest boy is married and associated in business
with me. The second boy is assistant secretary for the Department of Health. My
youngest son was graduated from the University of Georgia and attended Students
Art League in New York taking a course in commercial art, which he finished in
June of this year.
Page 9
He helped to paint the mural at the World's Fair. My daughter has another year
at Shorter College.
"This is my story of the depression so far as it effected my life, should we
have another I don't think I would be lost in the struggle. With my knowledge
and experience I would take advantage of the market and be ready for old man
Depression."
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project,
1936-1940 Item 12 of 73
[The Depression was a Republican Trick]
THE DEPRESSION WAS A REPUBLICAN TRICK
Written by: Mrs. Ada Redford
Augusta, Georgia
Edited by: Mrs. Leila H. Harris
Supervising Editor
Georgia Writers' Project
District [7?]
July 17, [1940?].
Mr. Clifford C. Farr
833 Broad St.,
Augusta, Ga.
A. R.
THE DEPRESSION WAS A REPUBLICAN TRICK
The Skinner Clothing Company, located at 833 Broad Street, an old established
business, is one of Augusta's few remaining home-owned stores. When I walked in
Mr. Skinner was placing price tags on brilliantly colored sport suits, which are
so popular this summer. He glanced up with a smile of recognition and remarked:
"Well, what do you think of the Republican presidential nominee?"
Absorbed in what he was doing, he hardly waited for my reply before he went on,
"Personally, I never heard of that man before, but from the race he ran with
Taft he is well-known in the Republican party, but he hasn't a chance. Roosevelt
will be president for the next term whether they like it or not."
"Yes, I too, believe Roosevelt will run and be re-elected, but that is not what
I came to talk about, Mr. skinner."
"Pardon me, I was so excited I forgot for the moment, what can I do for you?"
"How long have you been in business?"
"About twenty-six years. Why?"
"I want you to tell me of your business experiences and of the causes and
effects of the depression."
"That's a large order, but I will tell you what I know. Where do we begin?"
Page 2
"First tell me where and when you were born. You don't mind, do you?"
"Oh, no! But I wasn't in business then."
"Of course you weren't, but I would like to know of your very early life, your
boyhood days and, in fact, your whole build-up to the successful business man of
today."
"That will take a lot of your time, as I will have to take care of the trade,
but if you want it that bad I will do my best to give you the information you
want or at least what I know."
"I will work at your convenience, Mr. Skinner."
"All right, I was born in McDuffie County near Thomson, Georgia, August 27,
1887, the first six children of George Fletcher Skinner and Julia Brannon
Skinner. At the age of 15 I finished grammar school at Sardis, Georgia, and went
to work as clerk in Appling's General Merchandise Store for $7.00 a month and
board. Being keenly interested in advancement I decided to take a business
course and after a few months I came to Augusta.
"Before I entered school I met a boy from home who was working at Lombard's Iron
works. He was so enthusiastic and happy over the work he was doing, I gave up
the idea of business school and thought I would try to be a machinest. My friend
took me to the boss and after looking me over he gave me a job as apprentice. It
wasn't long before I learned I didn't care for hot iron and realized I should
have stuck to my original plan of taking a business course. The trouble with me
was I wanted a pay day and once you get
Page 3
the yellow envelope on Saturday, you just can't give it up, even if it contains
only a few dollars. I left Lombards and got a job as clerk with the J. B. White
Company. Augusta's largest and leading store at that time. I was back in my own
line of work and though I was only 17 years old, I sold more than any of the
other clerks.
We had the range of the whole store and were not assigned to departments as they
are today. I don't think I was a better salesman, I just know a lot of people.
My boyhood days on the baseball teams of Columbia, McDuffie and Lincoln Counties
were now paying dividends in business as well as affording as a lot of pleasure.
My salary was only $5.00 a week, while the others were drawing $10.00. I know I
was worth more and I asked the manager, Mr. Denton, (a Yankee) for a raise.
"'Why you are just a kid and haven't been here long enough to get a raise.'" He
answered.
"I felt that I was entitled to as much as the other clerks and told him so, but
he refused to pay me a penney more, so I quit.
"About that time Ben Jordan, of Grovetown, was elected superintendent of schools
in Columbia County. Ben had a large store and had to have a man during the
school term. I accepted his offer of $7.00 a week and board and worked until the
schools closed. Then I worked at Norvel's Store for the same salary. I was still
in my teens, and while I was satisfied and happy in my work, I realized there
was no future for a clerk in a small town store, and I decided to come back to
Augusta. It was then I got my first real job with
Page 4
the Augusta Aiken Railway Company at 12 cents an hour."
"What kind of work did you do?"
"I was an all round man. I know you remember when they had open streetcars?"
"Yes, I do."
"Well, my job in the summer was training men to operate open cars, then running
to Lake View, Augusta's amusement park. Most of the men were medical students
who worked during the summer to be able to pay their way through Medical
College. I also had a side line. J. W. Creasy, a tailor, had a shop on this
block and I sold uniforms to the man on commission and made on an average of
$40.00 a month. With my salary from the Railway company my earnings for the
month were around $80.00."
Just at this point a man wearing overalls came in and asked if his uniform was
ready. Mr. Skinner told him it was, but that he would like for him to try on the
coat. I noticed that it was a Salvation Army officer's uniform. When the man
left I asked Mr. Skinner about him.
"Yes, he is an officer and a working one at that. The Salvation Army is doing a
good work in our city; more than the general public and the churches are willing
to give them credit for. Not that they want any praise. They are interested
mostly in helping the forgotten men and woman."
"And you still sell uniforms?"
"Yes, I usually have a contract with some company and furnish
Page 5
uniforms for the policemen and firemen every year."
"Getting back to our story, Mr. Skinner."
"Oh, yes! Where did we leave off?"
"You were working for the Augusta and Aiken Railway Co. How long were you
there?"
"Two years and twelve days. I then went to work for Mentor & Rosenbloom, an old
New York credit corporation that sold on the $1.00 a week plan. Shortly after I
went to work there, on September 2, 1908, I married Miss Lillian Glisson, my
boyhood sweetheart. She was from South Georgia, but we attended the same school
and I had looked forward to the day when I could claim her as my bride.
"I was with Mentor & Rosenbloom about seven or eight months, when I found out
that the office force was not honest; they were stealing my commission and I
quit and went to T. R. Maxwell Furniture Company. After about a month Mentor &
Rosenbloom wanted to know why I had left the company. They sent a man here to
investigate and when they learned what the trouble was they sent for me and made
me manager at a salary of $35.00 a week, with a bonus."
"How long were you there?"
"I don't remember whether it was five or six years, but during the time I was
there I decided if I could manage a business for the other fellow at a profit,
why not have one of my own. I had a little savings account, $1,000, to be exact
and I believed with $1,000 more I could begin business. I went to the
Culpeppers, who at that time were operating a very successful furniture
business.
Page 6
I offered to give them a half interest for $1,000. They agreed readily, and gave
me W. P. Seigler, one of their oldest men, as a partner. I opened at 1044 Broad
Street, under the name of Skinner & Seigler, and from the first month business
was good and in less than two years, it was worth $3,700.
"I soon learned that Seigler was not the man for my business. He lacked
personality and tact in selling. I gave him $1,000 and bought Culpeppers'
interest and then ran the business alone for five years. Then I sold a half
interest for $18,000 to Hogan, my most recent partner, and moved to 958 Broad
Street. We were incorporated in 1919 as Skinner & Hogan for $100.000, but sold
very little stock. We opened three stores, one in Savannah and two here. Our
business was thriving and we were in fine shape.
"Hogan and I each had a drawing account of $5,000 a year and we employed
fourteen men in the three stores, all making a good salary. Then came the
depression. I saw the crash coming and tried to head it off by liquidating the
Savannah store. Hogan being a high salaried man, we gave him the small store
where Thom McAn's store now is, and part of the liquidation that was still
incorporated. I now owned 95% of the store at 958 Broad Street and employed five
men. I cut my drawing account in half. In 1930 the Stelling Shoe Store, next
door to my place, caught fire and my place was damaged so badly that I leased a
store two doors below for the next five years, continuing business as usual.
"After a period of three years, business began to pick up
Page 7
and gradually increased, but it has never been the same. The chain stores have
ruined the independent merchant. The big moneyed men who were on the inside of
the political scheme knew the rise and fall of the stock market and when to buy.
The results were chain stores in every city and town of any size, selling their
merchandise for less than we could buy for. What chance did we have for a
comeback?
"When my lease expired in 1935, I moved here, and each year business has
increased. Today there are seven families getting a comfortable living out of
the store and I can't complain. But with the competition and high cost of
living, I will not live long enough to regain what I lost during the
depression."
"What do you think caused the depression?"
"It would take a more brilliant mind than mine to tell you the real cause. My
ideas along with a lot of other small merchants is about the same. It was Wall
Street against the world, along with a political upheaval, in other words, a
Republican trick. Millionaires were made over night from the life savings of
others. The war got the credit for a lot of and rightly so. I remember the close
of the Spanish American War; cotton dropped to 3 1/2 and 4 cents a pound, why?
Politics and the little man being crushed and beggared by the man or men who
were in power. Take my business for instance; before the last depression
fourteen families were being supported from it; my own personal loss was 50%. I
was worth around $40,000 with an income of $5,000. That was cut in half and
today my average
Page 8
is a little more than $3,000."
"What to you think of conditions today?"
"They are about the same as the pre-war days of the last World War. When this
program is over, there will be an increase in business. The present
administration is wise now to all the Republican tricks and there will not be
another depression such as Hoover and the Republicans caused. The people in our
country know now that it was a political trick to enrich the big man and make
beggars out of the little man. We have more unemployed than any other country in
the world today, and the cry is that this is a machine age. That is true, to a
great extent, but who built the machines? Where did the money come from? Out of
the pockets of the working man? Again I say, 'Wall street against the world.'"
"Do you own your own home?"
"Oh, yea! I bought my first home in 1920, on the corner of Baker and Central
Avenues. Three years later I sold at a profit and bought Mayor White's home on
[Meiga?] Street. In 1928 I built my present home on Anthony Road at a cost of
[19,000?].
"I have three sons and one daughter. My two older boys finished high school and
had two years in college. The oldest boy is married and associated in business
with me. The second boy is assistant secretary for the Department of Health. My
youngest son was graduated from the University of Georgia and attended Students
Art League in New York taking a course in commercial art, which he finished in
June of this year.
Page 9
He helped to paint the mural at the World's Fair. My daughter has another year
at Shorter College.
"This is my story of the depression so far as it effected my life, should we
have another I don't think I would be lost in the struggle. With my knowledge
and experience I would take advantage of the market and be ready for old man
Depression."
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project,
1936-1940 Item 14 of 73
[Edward Walcott]
[?]
EDWARD WALCOTT
Written by: Mrs. Sadie B. Hornsby
Area 6 - Athens
Edited by: Mrs. Sarah B. Hall
Area 6 - Athens and
John N. Booth
Area Supervisor
Federal Writers' Project
Area 6 and 7
Augusta, Georgia
March 8, 1939
January 23, 26, 1939
February 1, 1939
Mr. George Shaw Crane (white)
897 Prince Avenue
Athens, Georgia
Landlord
[S.B.H ornsby?] EDWARD WALCOTT
Edward Walcott was the name on the card above the electric button by the front
door, and my ring was promptly answered by Mrs. Walcott. She is a prim little
woman, and on this occasion her neat silk frock was protected by a print smock.
"Do come in, my dear," she said, with an inviting smile. My hostess left me in
the living room, while she went to let her husband know that I was there.
Glancing about me, I saw beautiful old furniture, some of which I later learned
has been handed down from one generation to another in the Walcott family for
more then a hundred years. A rare and lovely old blue glass carafe sat on the
floor under a mahogany drop-leaf table that has been in this family since 1800.
A mortar and pestle, given by Dr. Crawford W. Long discoverer of anesthesia by
ether to a member of the Walcott family, was placed on an interesting old
bookcase.
Mr. Walcott came in with his wife and invited me into the dining room. "It's
warmer in here," he explained, as we approached a glowing Franklin heater. When
I explained that I had come to hear him tell his experiences in the renting
business, he laughed heartily. "Why don't you ask Miss Annie?" he asked.
Page 2
"Miss Annie" is his wife. "She could give you a much better story than I can
with all her experiences as a nurse before we married, and then, too, she knows
as such about my renting business as I do, if not more. She's had many and
varied experiences since she's been helping me keep our property rented."
"Oh, Ed!" she began, "You know how busy I am today. You just go ahead and talk.
I'll be glad to help in any way I can though. Just call me and I'll be right
in."
"You'll find that dining table a good place to write on," said Mr. Walcott, and
as I opened my notebook he continued the conversation. "That table in what I
would call a real antique. My grandfather Walcott purchased it in 1800, and it
has been in our family ever since. I myself, have eaten off of it 60 years. It's
solid mahogany, and we have never had to have a thing done to it. It's
construction is remarkable; there's not a nail in it. An expert spent 4 hours
looking it over with a flashlight, and he declared that it wasn't made in
America. He should know about good furniture for he was apprenticed as a small
boy to a manufacturer of fine furniture, and at the time he was in our home he
was in his 70th year. Practically all of his life has been spent in the
furniture business. Another man offered me a complete dining room suite, the
best obtainable, for this one table. Of course I refused the offer. That was in
the days when all of us had plenty of money. I doubt if the man who made that
offer could pay cash for a loaf of bread now."
Page 3
Taking an odd-looking pistol from the mantel, Mr. Walcott inquired, "Would you
like to know the history of this?" My knowledge of firearms is limited to almost
nothing, and seeing the quizzical look with which I regarded the weapon, he
answered the question that I had not voiced. "Sure, it's a real pistol. Take it
in your hands and see for yourself."
I begged him to tell me the story of the pistol.
"Well," he said, 'this was one of a pair of duelling pistols that my father used
to keep in a handsome morocco case in his desk. After our home burned in 1885,
we found this one in the back yard, but we never did know what become of the
other pistol and the case. This was the pair of pistols used in the duel between
Aaron Burr and Alexander A. Hamilton, and the one you see here now was the one
fired by Burr to inflict the mortal wound. I suppose you remember reading that
Hamilton died as the result of that duel. The pistols belonged to Hamilton, and
were exactly alike, only the other was for a right-handed man. Aaron Burr was
left-handed. If you held this one in
your right hand the hammer would obstruct your sight and endanger your
markmanship, but you can hold it in the left hand and sight from the small piece
of steel on the right side of the barrel." I had never known before that there
was a time when a pair of pistols, like a pair of shoes, were made in "rights"
and "lefts."
Mr. Walcott continued: "Now let me tell you how this pistol is operated. It is
first loaded with gunpowder and wadded with cotton, then a piece of flint rock,
just large enough to fit
Page 4
the [seat?] - that's what that part is called - is placed in it on top of the
barrel. This piece of steel is then fastened over the flint, and when the
trigger is pulled it produces a spark from the flint, and that spark ignites the
powder and causes the explosion. This pistol is of finest steel, and look at
that handle! It's mahogany, I'm sure. Now, look closely and read the name of the
manufacturer, 'U. & W. RICHARDS.' You remember, no doubt, that Hamilton was an
Englishmen. These pistols are known as the flint-rock type. How my father came
into possession of them, I don't know.
Mr. Walcott's ancestors have been connected with the development of Athens from
its pioneer days. His paternal grandfather was the architect who designed some
of the oldest of the many notable buildings here, and his maternal grandfather
was equally distinguished in his individual enterprises. Mr. Walcott is rather
stout, has black hair, and he seems to favor a black broadcloth suit, black felt
hat, black shoes, white socks, white shirt and black tie to any other type of
attire.
"Talking of buildings," said Mr. Walcott, "I was born in New College on the
Franklin campus of the university. Grandfather was one of the builders of New
College, and 30 years after it was completed, while the university was closed
because of the war, he and his family lived there. My mother was visiting them
there when I was born.
Page 5
"There were six of us boys, and we always realized what we missed not having a
sister. We boys were into everything. In my young days all the houses were
enclosed with picket fences, and we had our gateposts named 'twelve' and 'one.'
When we had been out at night, next morning at the breakfast table our parents
would ask us:
" 'What time did you boys come in last night?'
" 'Between twelve and one,' we always answered.
"We lived on this same street, down there in front of the church. The street was
not laid out straight at that time like it is now. It was a part of the old
stage route from Athens to Dahlonega, and the coaches wound in and out among the
trees. The road in front of our house was higher than the yard. Father had let
mother choose between the Ben Hill house and the Thomas house, and she chose the
latter. That was where we were reared.
"You can imagine what life around six boys would be like. One of mother's best
friends, a fine women, taught a private school in a building erected for that
purpose in her yard. That old house is still standing in the yard of that
family's home. When it came time for us to enter school mother's friend told her
that she simply couldn't have the six of us for we were so noisy we would ruin
her school.
"Well, that didn't keep us from going to school. Father just built a large
one-room building on the side of our yard and hired Professor Hudson as tutor.
He and father had been in the same
Page 6
company in the Civil War, and so father knew him well and was satisfied that he
was quite capable of teaching six noisy boys. It wasn't long before there were
so many parents anxious to send their children to our school that father put a
partition in our schoolhouse and employed another teacher. He was Professor Orr
from Martin Institute. Declamation time, an we called it then, was on Friday
afternoons, and we invited our parents to attend and hear our speeches. At the
closing exercises in June, Professor Hudson awarded a gold medal to the pupil
who had maintained the best average throughout the school year.
"Well, instead of us breaking up the other school with our noise, it broke up
because all its pupils came over to our school. Mother's friend was a wonderful
teacher and a fine person in every respect, and we never had the least idea of
making any trouble for her.
"My father was one of the instigators of the public school system in Athens. The
first public school was on Meigs Street, and when that old building was torn
down in later years, two houses were built from its timbers.
"Father was a great one for raising Jersey cattle, and gave each of us boys a
male calf. We rode those calves all over town and probably would have ridden
them to Sunday School, but mother wouldn't allow that.
"As for as you could see back of our house was in woods,
Page 7
and in the branch about where Boulevard now is, was 'the old swimming hole.' We
boys went there every day in summer to swim. Bathing suits were unheard of. We
just pulled off our brown check pants and blue check blouses and dove in. Every
boy in town learned to swim in that old swimming hole. There was another one on
the old Phinizy branch that we loved to swim in too.
"Speaking of clothes, everybody wore cotton checks made in the old Check Mill,
in summer. Even my father wore them. However, he had handsome broadcloth suits
that he bought on his trips to New York. Winter clothes were of jeans, wool and
cotton mixed, and this jeans was manufactured in the same old Check Mill.
"Those were happy, carefree days for children. Every need was taken care of, but
children didn't have money to waste like they do now, no matter how much their
parents had.
"Dan was the name of one of grandfather's slaves. When he was about eleven years
old he accidentally fell into the mill-race at grandfather's cotton factory, and
his head was so badly mashed that it never grew back into the right shape. When
he got old enough to work he became grandfather's coachman. His wife was named
Martha, and every Saturday all six of us boys would go out to their house for
dinner. Such feasts as Dan and Martha did set before us - fried chicken, ham,
and ash cakes, all cooked in an open fireplace, and if you have never eaten ash
cakes you have missed the treat of your life.
"Grandfather was one of the first to have an interest in
Page 8
gold mining at Dahlonega. It was a two-day trip from Athens to Dahlonega then,
and grandfather made it about twice each year to see after his interests there.
His oldest son was up there in charge of the work. When time came to go, two
horses were hitched to a spring wagon that was loaded with trunks filled with
bedding and food, and a trusted servant was sent on with it a day ahead of the
family. He spent the first night at Jefferson, a distance of about 20 miles, and
the second night he was scheduled to be in sugar Hill. For a week before these
trips, the coachmen was busy shining up the carriage and all the silver on the
harness. The family left in the carriage the day after the wagon set out, and
usually overtook it at Sugar Hill.
"Some years ago I took mother to Dahlonega for a day. I picked her up at 9
o'clock in the morning, then stopped by home for my wife and daughter. We
arrived at our destination about noon. At 3 o'clock that same afternoon I told
mother to get ready as we were leaving for home.
"Why Ed, you must be out of your mind,' she argued, 'you know this a two-day
trip.'
" 'Anyway, we're leaving at 3 o'clock,' I told her.
"When we were back in Athens and she got out of my car at her home, the sun was
still shining. Turning to me, she said: 'Well, I never thought I'd live to see
the day when I could go to Dahlonega and back in one day.'
"One of grandfather's sons followed in his footsteps as
Page 9
a builder. He was one of the three commissioners in charge of the construction
of the State Capitol in Atlanta. Did you know that's the only State Capitol in
the United States that was built within its appropriation? When that building
was completed and all accounts paid up, there was a balance of $3.60 left.
"I believe I've already told you of some of our boyish pranks. What the six of
us couldn't think of wasn't worth thinking of. We used to blacken thick ropes
and pull them snake-like across the paths in front of courting couples that
passed our yard at night. Our thick shrubbery made a grand hiding place for us
to crouch in while we manipulated the strings that made the 'snakes' look more
life-like. Once we stuffed a long black stocking and pulled it across the path
in front of a young Hebrew couple and frightened them out of their wits. You
could have heard them yell blocks away. Our parents heard the noise and stopped
our fun when they learned that we were causing the racket.
"Dr. Billups was a fine old dentist practicing at Watkinsville. After his death
father bought his dental kit and gave it to me. The mahogany case was well
equipped for that day and time, and I was just the proudest boy you ever saw.
One day I was sitting on our front steps looking through the dental case when a
neighbor came by.
" 'Good morning, son! What are you doing?' he asked.
"Waiting for a patient,' I told him, as I hold up the dental case.
Page 10
" 'Good!' he exclaimed, 'Come on down to my house and see what's wrong with this
tooth that's hurting so bad right now.'
"When we arrived at his house, I had him seated in a chair, and in an
exaggerated professional style I took a piece of cotton from the kit, saturated
it with oil of cloves and put it in the hollow of the aching tooth. My patient
said it stopped the tooth from hurting and he paid me a nickle. That was the
first money I ever earned, and from that time on the boys called me 'doc.'
"The height of my ambition as a boy was to carry water on my head like our old
cook, Cindy. Way back of our house, near the spring, we had a well dug that was
62 feet deep, and every morning mother sent all six of us down there with Cindy
and John, the gardener, for water. I tried and tried to carry a pail of water on
my head, but was never able to accomplish this feat.
"We boys played many a day with the old ram that Mrs. Franklin had installed to
pump water into her house. Here were the first waterworks we had ever seen. She
had a slave that did nothing else but stand at that old ram all day and pump the
water through the lead pipes to her house and gardens. During the war she had
those old lead pipes taken up to be made into bullets for the soldiers. That old
house has been changed quite a bit since then. At that time the entrance was on
the west side of the house. There was even a porte-[cochere?] for the carriages
to drive under. Three rooms extended across the front of the house, and now the
entrance is in the middle room. The front porch has been added
Page 11
since then. Her porch was on the west side and its columns attracted lots of
attention. They were put up just as the trees were when they were cut down -
that is, the bark and stubs of the branches were still on them. One of the
largest trees I have ever seen was in her back yard. All six of us boys used to
clasp hands and try to reach around it, but our six pairs of arms were not long
enough to encircle it. The interior of Mrs. Franklin's old house has been
changed but little.
"Once when mother sent me to the dry well for something she needed, it was
raining and the house girl had to go along with me to carry a lamp so I could
see how to get around in that dark place. That was long before we had electric
lights. I had to carry an umbrella to keep the rain from putting out the lamp.
When we got back to the house I was lowering the umbrella out on the back porch
and got it caught in the lamp, which fell to the floor and exploded. The maid
saw me through the flames and began yelling, 'Lord, have mercy? Marse Doc done
burnt up. He's done daid!' She fainted dead away, and was taken to the servants'
house. I wasn't hurt, but I was plenty scared. Father appeared and extinguished
the fire by turning over a churn of milk on it. All through the night the poor
house girl kept wailing, 'Lord, have mercy! I done killed Marse Doc.' Early the
next morning I had to go down there and show her that I was alive and all right.
"I have in my possession now some of the old mantle paper made in the old paper
mill. My uncle married the daughter of one of
Page 12
the owners of the paper mill. During the Civil war, this mill made the paper
that was used for the wads to hold the powder in the guns. These wads were about
four inches long and were twisted at both ends. The soldiers hastily bit off one
end and rammed the wad into the barrel of the gun with the ramrod. The women
made those wads at home. That was just one of the many ways they found to help
out during the war. There was another name for those old gun wads, but I've
forgotten it now. Quantities of rags were necessary for the manufacture of the
paper, and people around here saved almost every scrap of fabrics to sell as
rags at the paper mill. Rags finally became such a medium of local exchange that
while those who preferred were usually paid in cash, others traded their rags
for food or clothing, whichever they needed most.
"My college days were full of excitement, as well as hard work. I graduated from
the University of Georgia in 1896 in Civil Engineering, and in 1897 in
Electrical Engineering. I was the only one in my class to graduate in the latter
subject. Henry Grady, Jr, was one of my schoolmates during the college days. He
was a fine boy.
"In 1896 after Roentgen discovered the X-Ray, we made the first X-Ray picture
ever made in the south in our classroom at the university, under Professor
Patterson. That same year we also made equipment for sending wireless telegraphy
at the university. When I left college in 1896, I went in business for myself. I
think
Page 13
the little electric shop that I originated then was perhaps one of the first
ever opened in Athens.
"Did I tell you that my Civil Engineering course was under Dr. Strahan? He was
civil engineer for the county at the time, as well as an instructor at the
university. He had charge of supervising the country roads as far back as the
pick-and-shovel days. Those were the days when every property owner was called
on to meet on a certain date to work the roads going through their own property.
Dr. Strahan was instrumental in introducing plans for having the public roads
worked at the expense of State and county. It was while he was on a trip to Europe and I was acting as County Engineer
pro-tem in his absence, that the ruling went into effect.
"I sold my business here and entered business in Atlanta. That proved a failure.
I returned to Athens and with one or two of my brothers and a few others, helped
to put up a machine for making cement blocks, and we also installed a rock
crusher. These blocks we made were the kind used in building houses. One or two
of the houses made of our blocks are still standing here, and there are several
elsewhere. I guess we were too far ahead of the times with that enterprise, so
we gave it up.
"Work with the Bell Telephone Company drew me back to Atlanta. I have helped to
run telephone lines from New Orleans to New York. I was working for them when
the first underground cables, or wires, were laid from New York to Philadelphia,
and when the tube was laid under the Hudson River.
Page 14
"I was receiving an excellent salary and wouldn't have given up that work but
for the fact that I was taken critically ill while in New York. As soon as I
recovered sufficiently to make the trip, my wife and I returned to Athens to
live. Soon after our return our daughter was born. She is our only child.
"As I told you, I had been sending my savings to my brother here to invest in
real estate for me. I have always been interested in real estate, and I guess
I've been active in the business for at least 40 years.
"Getting to my experiences in this business of renting; we have some amusing as
well as trying, experiences with negro tenants. One of our houses has two large
rooms and two small ones. A negro man, his wife and five or six children lived
in two of the rooms; a man and his wife occupied the other large room, and a
girl rented the remaining small room. The girl hadn't paid her rent in 3 months.
Every time Miss Annie went there to collect the rent she was always told the
girl was out. She never could find her in, so one night I took it upon myself to
catch her in. I went there and found three negro women sitting in that one
little room. when I asked for the girl, they insisted, 'We don't know where she
is. She ain't been here all day.' When I came home and told Miss Annie, she
said, 'Why Ed, you should have known better. Why didn't you try some other
scheme to find out which one she was instead of just asking them?' That's just
one of the tricks that have been played on us.
Page 15
"A white family was living in one of our houses, and whenever we went to collect
the rent the man always had some excuse for not paying it. We were forced to
take steps toward making him move out, so we gave him 60 days notice. Still he
didn't get out. We issued a warrant, and he was to move by a stipulated date or
the bailiff would clear the house. A man who said he was from out of town came
to me for a house, so we rented him that one. In the lease it was plainly stated
that he was to move in after the other family moved out. He said that he told
the man who was living in the house that he was ready to move in and that he had
already paid me some rent in advance. One day when he called on me, I asked him
if the other family had moved out. He informed me they had not, but that he had
moved in with them. I showed him the clause in his lease that read: 'You are to
move in only when the other family now occupying the house has moved out.' I
went straight to the bailiff. 'I'm paying you to do this work.' I reminded him,
'Why don't you do something about that warrant?' He went out to the house and
put the furniture out in the yard. When I learned where he had placed it, I told
him that would not do for no one could move in the house as long as the
furniture stayed on the premises. Then the bailiff moved it on the right-of-way
across the railroad tracks. The railroad agent ordered me to move the goods from
their property for the owners of the furniture could sue the railroad company if
a train came along and set fire to it. So the bailiff finally put the furniture
in the
Page 16
street, as he should have done in the first place. It sat until the last piece
had rotted down or was stolen. The owner never moved a piece of it. The funny
part about the whole business was that the man who came here to rent the house
was a brother of the woman who already lived there, and he was living there with
them when be first came to see me about renting the house. They thought that by
his making a new lease and paying the current rent they wouldn't have to pay up
the back rent, or get out either. Well, they couldn't pull that stunt on us.
"An apartment in the house back of our home here was rented to a couple. The
women was an artist and the son had what seemed to be a good job. They got about
three months in arrears with their rent. When we felt that we had kept them as
long as we could we asked them to move. Often when we went to their apartment we
saw that they had much better food then we did. The woman put up an awful
pitiful story in which she told us that her friends had sent in the food. I
found out that a missionary society in one of the local churches was feeding
this couple, and when a woman from this society called me to inquire about their
financial troubles, I told her that I believed they were making enough to take
care of their own expenses, and I couldn't understand why they were in such a
jam. She asked if we would be willing to pay the expenses of moving them. Now, I
was glad to spend, say two dollars, to get them out, so I could rent the
apartment to someone who would pay. I was surprised when the women from the
missionary society sent a
Page 17
large van to move them, for they were living in one of our furnished apartments
and they only had about three or four suitcases and a few personal things. The
bill rendered me for the use of that moving van was $18. We investigated, and
found they moved to Anderson, South Carolina, after we had been given the
impression we were to pay for moving them to another apartment in Athens.
"At that time we had a joint telephone in the house, and each of the three
families paid a third of the bill. When that month's bill came in we found that
this man had made a long distance call to Chicago and charged it to our phone.
That cured us of any kind of joint telephone arrangements. On the other hand the
people in the other two apartments in that house never gave us a minute's
trouble.
"Negroes are funny people. For instance, they only work by the day or by the
week, and when a member of one of their families get sick, they just won't pay
the rent. After they are well again and start back paying current rental, they
have already forgotten about the back rent that they owe. It's hard to make them
understand that it's still an obligation. However, they are not all like that.
One old negress lived in one of our houses 30 years and never missed a payment.
She raised a large family and when they were all grown her sons built a
three-room house and put her in it.
"All of our downtown store buildings are located in the
Page 18
best part of the business section, and we don't have to take any foolishness
from the tenants. If they complain about the rent, all they have to do is move
on out. We never have any trouble keeping those stores rented. Several of the
tenants in those stores have been with us 25 years. However, we do have several
small stores scattered over town that are hard to keep occupied. At the present
time we don't have a single building, store, or residence, vacant. I don't think
that's bad for 67 pieces of property to be kept rented.
"I'm not trying to give the impression that we own all of this property. We only
have an interest in some of the buildings, and for various parcels or it I am
administrator, agent, or guardian. Others of the parcels are our own individual
property. We only have one-fifth interest in some of the property, for which I
act as renting agent.
"When we have to make lots of improvements to please the tenant, we have to
raise their rent, but when there is not much to be done beyond the inevitable
repairs, the rent remains the same. We haven't followed the up and down trends
of rental charges throughout the years. Our charge for negro houses averages 50�
a room per week, plus the water bill which amounts to about 10� per room each
week.
"There is one thing Negroes will not do; that is, when anything happens to a
water pipe they never report it. They just let the water run. We have had to pay
as much as $20 for one water
Page 19
bill, caused by a pipe that had burst and which had not been reported to us.
Dances at negro houses often end in fights, and they do so much damage to our
property that we have had to pay as high as $60 for repairs after one of their
frolies.
"We are subject to call, night or day. During the worst of the storm yesterday I
had to go to a building that had sprung a leak in the roof. I would not delay,
for after the rain ceased I wouldn't have been able to locate the leak. Some
property owners have their repairs done only when they can't keep tenants any
other way, but we try to keep up our repairs an we go along, just as fast as we
can after learning of the need." His eyes twinkled an he said: "In one of my
apartment houses there are three families that I believe must take turns about
staying awake at night to think up things they can ask me to do. You can't
please some people, no matter how hard you try.
"Our rental prices range from $2 to $100 per month. Five store spaces in one
building rent for $95 a month each. On some of the property the taxes and
insurance run so high that we can hardly realize any profit from the rents.
"People from all walks of life will beat you if they can. You have to be on your
guard at all times. A women who was living in one of our houses went one night
to call on an acquaintance across the railroad tracks. On the way back home she
fell and skinned her leg. She sued us, telling the lawyer that her injury was
incurred in a fall through a broken plank in the house she was
Page 20
renting from us. She had broken a plank in the kitchen to prove her point. Of
course, we made her move. She lost the case.
"There was another family we had to put out, and understand these people I'm
talking about were white people. They hadn't paid any rent in so long that we
had to get out a warrant for the bailiff to put them out. Every time he went to
that house and asked the children where their mother was, he was told, 'she's
sick in bed and can't see anybody.' That went on until we finally sent a doctor
out there to find out what was the trouble with the woman. He reported that she
was as well as anyone. Did you know that as long as you or a member of your
family is sick in bed, even pretending they are ill, no law under the sun can be
enforced to make them vacate rented property? We only send the bailiff with a
dispossessory warrant, as a last resort.
"My sister-in-law said to me one day, 'Ed, there's a family in one of my houses
that I haven't heard from in some time. Will you find out what's the trouble?' I
suggested that perhaps she had better go herself and investigate. She found that
family in an awful condition. The man was drinking up everything he made and
letting his family suffer. My mister-in-law went to the stores and bought what
food and clothing they needed and carried it back to that poor woman and her
children. This went on for a year - providing not only the rent, but their food
and clothing as well. Finally we did succeed in getting them out, but before
they moved that man had the audacity to ask me to let then move in another of
our houses that was vacant at the time. 'Not a chance in the world,'
Page 21
I told him, 'What do you take me for?'
"Don't think for a minute that all our tenants are like the ones I have pictured
to you. They are not by any means. The renting game is like a mincemeat pie," he
said with a twinkle in his eye, "for it's either good or bad. We complain about
our piece of bad pie, but there's really not enough said about the good ones who
pay their rent promptly and don't complain about this or that all the time. A
professor and his family lived in one of our houses for 18 months before I ever
saw him or contacted him in any way, except that as regular as the second day of
the mouth came around, his check came to us through the mails. Miss Annie had
rented to him and that accounts for why I had not met him sooner.
"We make it a point never to rent to undesirable people if we can help it. We
investigate the character of the prospective tenant before the lease is signed,
but even then we get bit some times. In one of our apartments last year there
was a person whose uncle was awfully attentive to her. We were suspicious of the
two without a definite reason, so when this woman decided to move before the
lease expired, we were delighted to see them go pleasantly and without hard
feelings.
"Now, please don't misunderstand us. We are not as hard boiled as some of these
things I've been telling you might picture us. We help our tenants just as much
as we can, but after all, we didn't go into this game just because we love it.
The business of renting was thrust upon us. We couldn't get an agent to look
after
Page 22
it to suit us, so we decided to take it in charge ourselves. There's not enough
volume in our rents to warrant maintaining an office downtown and to hire a
secretary to do the typing and book-keeping, so we do the work ourselves right
here in our own dining room at home.
"To help me with the repairs, we employ a man the year around who is a pretty
good carpenter, plumber, and electrician. I do a good deal of my electric work.
The only reason I hire any of that done is that when I was a young man I fell
from a building I was repairing and broke my leg just above the ankle, and since
then I've had lots of trouble with that limb. Sometimes I'm in bed for 6 weeks
at a time as a result of that fall.
"There is one of the downtown buildings in which I own one-fifth interest, that
has been involved in five lawsuits that I have brought in order to try to clear
the titles, and they are not cleared yet.
"Yes, indeed, we rent to lots of mighty fine people and Miss Annie and I enjoy
having every one of them. We are proud of having that class of tenants.
"In conclusion let me say that as to renting property; we live with it, eat with
it (at this very dining table), and we sleep and dream about it. We sleep 4
hours and work with our property the other 20 in 'most every day. That's the
life of people who rent real estate."
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project,
1936-1940 Item 15 of 73
[Elam Franklin Dempsey]
Page 1
[Oct. 39?] Jaques Jacques Upshaw
Page 1.
ELAM FRANKLIN DEMPSEY
"I was born -- this Elam Franklin Dempsey -- as Benjamin Franklin, that great
old sage of America. As for the Dempsey part, I always say that it is the same
as Jack Dempsey, spelled the same way, so there is no further difficulty there.
Elam Franklin Dempsey. I was born July 6, 1878, in Atlanta, Georgia, Tattnall
Street, the Peachtree of that day, in my grandfather's house. My grandfather's
name was John Durant Smith. My parents lived in Dodge County, and for a season
my father lived in a place bearing his own name, Dempsey, Georgia. He was
engaged in the crosstie trade, manufacturing and selling them, and therefore he
traveled a good bit, living between Georgia and Florida. We lived here and there
between north Florida and Georgia. His health breaking down around 1880, he was
forced to give up his occupation, and had to move to Jackson, Georgia, near
Indian Springs, the water of which is a specific, as you may know, for malarial
diseases. He lived there thirty-seven years, raising four children.
"My oldest sister was named Irene, the second, Ernestine, who is now teaching
English at Girls' High School, here in Atlanta. My brother, Thomas Jackson
Dempsey, Junior, is in the education department of Georgia, a well-known
supervisor-inspector of schools under Dr. Collins. He is next to Dr. Collins in
rank. I'd be glad if you'd interview him sometime. He's a man who, though
well-known in some circles, is not as much recognized as his ability and
accomplishments warrant. Of course, he's younger than I am, and hasn't had as
much time to make himself known. He lives at Watkins, Georgia, but works and has
his office in the State Capitol.
"I just happened to think of it, if you will look at the Memoirs of Georgia you
will see a sketch of my father.
"Both my parents were natives of Cobb County. My father was Thomas Jackson
Dempsey, son of Reverend A. G. Dempsey -- Reverend Alvin Green Dempsey. I've
Page 2
often wondered how the Alvin and the Green came into the Dempsey family, but I
haven't done the necessary research yet to find out. My mother was Narcissa
America Smith -- N a r c i s s a. It's a peculiar old-fashioned name, and my
mother never liked it. But we all loved its old-fashioned sound.
"Now, going back. We were at Butts County, where we lived many years. My father
had a large mercantile business there, and other businesses, and was also a
lawyer. Later he went to Florida, and at the age of seventy-five was elected
Judge of the Supreme Court there, and won flattering praise for his excellent
handling of the somewhat involved Florida law. He was never reversed on a single
judgment, and only one was ever questioned, and everybody said that he was right
on that.
"My father was a very aggressive man. I'm not very much like him in that --
unless you put me under pressure. My grandmother used to say of him, 'He's like
Job's war horse. He sniffs a battle from afar, and rushes into battle.'
"At Jackson I had the usual experience of going through grammar school and then
through high school. I had fine teachers, and I do appreciate good teachers and
good preachers! My pastors were very lovely to me, also. One of them I would
like to mention in particular. Reverend John L. Bowden. I remember him
reverently. I remember him, giving me counsel many times. Once he said, 'My boy,
a man ought not to preach to study in the pulpit, but should preach from the
standpoint of study.' By that he meant that one shouldn't use the pulpit for
experimenting, but should study diligently before preaching. I loved and honored
him, and when he died I had the honor to write the memoirs of his life. I'd love
to name all the pastors, but of course, that would take too long.
"Well, to get back to school. We didn't have, in those days, a formal
kindergarten. But we were fortunate in having a lady -- Miss Eva Sassnitt,
daughter of William Sassnitt, with us. She was an intellectual and devout woman,
and had that enthusiasm of a teacher (which is the most valuable attribute
Page 3
of a teacher). She was my first teacher, and was more or less in charge of
schools there. Then a schoolhouse was built at Jackson, where I first went to
school. We were fortunate in being one of the earlier of the counties to have a
good school.
"Professor [Blasingame?] I remember, Professer J. C. Blasingame, and Professor
Troy Kelley, constituted the faculty that early gave shape to the school. . . .
. . A typical day in school: First, in the large auditorium, in the morning we
had chapel for Bible-reading and exercises. There would be comment, sometimes by
the visitors, if any were present, on the Bible reading of the day, then there
would be singing from a well-chosen hymn book. Professor Blasingame, who was
always enthusiastic about music, would lead the singing.
"It was the privilege of Jackson High School to have a series of talks each year
by visitors -- well-known men, whose talks would inspire us and counsel us to
make something of ourselves. For instance, Doctor Quigg, a Scotch divine,
lectured on his experiences on in Cuba,
and his lecture was one of the most impressive of the series. Another man I
remember was Marcus W. Beck, a native of Jackson. He gave many talks, and
sedulously prepared for these addresses. He came to us with inspiring remarks,
and filled us with aspiration for great things. It was natural that a man of
such wonderful gifts and ability should advance rapidly, and I was not surprised
when he became a Justice of the Superior Court.
I remember one day seeing him walking under the large oak trees along the walk
on the sunlit sand. It was one of these beautiful Georgia mornings that we have,
and the sunlight was coming down through the leaves of the trees, making a
pattern of checkered light and shade -- a beautiful sight. He was absorbed in
his meditations, and wasn't aware that anyone was watching.
Page 4
I saw him, though, gesturing vigorously, and walking soberly along. It was
inspiring to me. I know that he was preparing another one of his fine talks. I
said to myself, 'Here is a man who expects to be somebody. He is willing to pay
the price, and works hard.' I'll never forget the picture of him striding down
the walk of white sand, overshadowed by tremendous oak trees, through which the
sunlight filtered down.
"We had some remarkable people in Jackson. Old Dr. Anderson, for instance.
Nobody knew anything about him, or where he came from. He just appeared out of
nowhere, before the railroad came, even. He was a man who had had considerable
tragedy in his life, and he took refuge in his books. He was a very eccentric
man, a very smart man. He was the one my father studied law under. The people of
the famous Will N. Harbin were also there in Jackson.
. . . . . . "But you want a typical day in school, and I got off on this side
track . . . . After [shapel?] we went to recitations again, then we had
mid-morning recess, playing games, and so forth. Let's see if I remember any of
those games. Of course, there was the craze over marbles that was current then,
and top-spinning -- knulling tops, it was called -- and races. We waxed quite
ambitious in our athletic program. Some of the boys got two ropes and tied them
to high limbs, and they would swing way out with them. Sometimes they would put
a little fellow on it and swing him way around, until finally he had to let go
and do a belly-buster. I always hated to see them do that. Sometimes the little
boys would get on the swings themselves, and fall off. They shouldn't have done
it. But a young boy is ambitious, you know, and they didn't think about the
consequences.
I used to get after the big boys for picking on the little ones, and one time I
had a fight about it. One of the big boys was teasing and bullying a little boy.
He wasn't really mean, but just the bullying kind. I said to
Page 5
him that I'd give him a licking if he did anything to the little fellow again,
and of course, that was the invitation he was waiting for. The bully got behind
me and put his hands on my shoulders and said, 'Elam will take care of him; yes
old Elam'll take care of him.' When he jumped on the boy again I hit him. I had
a negro friend who had told me something about fighting, and he had said to kick
his shins. I didn't realize as fully as I should have that he could kick my
shins, too. It was a game two could play, and his shoes were heavier than mine.
For days after that my shins were sore. I made up my mind that the shoe business
wouldn't work, and I took care to use another method next time. I wasn't really
a belligerant boy, but I didn't like to see anybody picked on. All this fighting
took place at the morning recess.
"At noon most of us went home for dinner, for most of us lived there in town. We
came back and had recitations again, and the afternoons did seem long! We stayed
till four o'clock, usually. Then there would be those, sometimes, who were kept
in. That was bad on the teachers and the pupils, too. There was recognition of
fidelity in marks, sometimes based on a hundred, sometimes on ten.
We had a debating society, which would rise, flourish, and fail. Then we'd have
declamation time, being very ambitious and anxious to be Daniel Websters and
Thomas Paines. We would get together in groups in the fields, far enough from
one another so that we wouldn't disturb each other, and practice. We didn't know
anything about platform posture, gesturing, and so forth, though, and it was
mainly main strength and awkwardness. We could holler loud, though, and we did.
When anybody had advanced to the point where he could be heard clear across the
village he was thought to be very good.
Sometimes in vacation time we put on exercises, and had debates. And it did us
good, too. That old time custom contributed to civic thinking, and taught
Page 6
us to think on our feet and get up before the public / and put our thoughts into words. I've noticed that those
who excelled at those things have done well in life since then.
"There was a lady who taught music at the school -- mandolin, guitar, and
violin. We had a very musical group in Jackson, Georgia. Professor Blasingame
took a large part in the musical activities.
"The young men and women who went away from Jackson represented us well. Major
Woodward, of G. M. A.; Professor Henry F. Fletcher; Douglas Watson, of Gordon
Institute; and O. L.[,?] Thaxton, of G. S. C. W., are some of the men who have
gone out into the world from Jackson and made good.
"In September, after my sixteenth birthday, I entered Junior College and went
two years. My schooling was interrupted by ill health, and I stopped out and
stayed one year on the farm. I have always been glad that I did, for it improved
my health and helped me to be strong. In June, 1899, I graduated, having had the
pleasure of being three years under Bishop Candler. I graduated, though, under
Dr. C. E. Dowman. At college, in spite of ill health, I was champion debater,
and was editor of the Phoenix. I entered every debate they had. At that time
Mrs. Corra White Harris was my Sunday School teacher. You knew Mrs. Harris, the
famous Georgia author. She was at that time wife of the Greek professor at
Emory, Professor L. H. Harris, and as always, her mind scintillated with wit and
shrewd understanding. I spent many an evening with her and others, enjoying
their conversation and learning. I never enjoyed anything more than those
informal gatherings where we discussed all the things I had been interested in
for so long. I simply ate it up.
"During my college life I tried to take part in all the various activities --
the religious, social, athletic, and all of them. I was especially interested in
debating.
Page 7
"I thought that a person in college should get a well-rounded education and
culture, and I set out to do this. I didn't lay particular stress on the social
activities, though I was a member of the A.T.O. Fraternity.
"The incentive I had at Emory was not personal ambition, but to please my father
and mother. I was so sickly that the work was very taxing on me, but I knew that
for me to do well would give them joy, and that was the happiest part of it for
me.
"There at college all the books I had longed to have the opportunity to read
were at hand, and I read them incessantly. I read everything -- Balzac, even.
Ought not to have read some I did, perhaps, but I didn't know, and I gloried in
the opportunity of having so many books at hand. In this atmosphere of books and
learning at Emory I was in paradise. I was a very ardent fiction reader, but I
had read that one must not be desultory in his reading, and I decided to limit
myself to only one book of fiction at a time, and finally cut them out
altogether.
"I can tell you, though, I stuck my tooth into one thing that was hard to
handle. Mrs. Harris had recommended to me the Journal of Amiel, Journal Intime,
translated by Mrs. Humphrey Ward. It is a book of philosophical thoughts that
Amiel jotted down -- deep meditations on many subjects .... Talk about Attic
Salt, talk about Ambrosial Nights, we had them in Oxford, Georgia, there at
little Emory!
"My college friendships have been very precious to me. My roommate was G. M.
[Eakes?]. He was like a brother to me. We were inseperables, and deskmates back
in Jackson before going to college. He was my good guide and counselor and
helped me on many an occasion. He loved me truly, and I him. He meant much to
me.
Page 8
"When I was in the Freshman class in college an incident occurred which was
rather amusing, which involved Eakes. He was persuaded by the rest of the boys
to co-operate with them in scaring me. We didn't have any regular hazing then,
but usually a new boy would be initiated in some manner by the older students.
Well, they had decided to play the "dumbull" on me, which in tying a string on a
nail stuck under the clapboard of a house and then rosining it and stroking it.
It produces a weird sound, sometimes high and screeching, and sometimes low and
ominous. Well, Eakes, being my roommate, was appointed to talk to me that night
and get me properly in the mood to be scared. He began telling me all kinds of
weird things about the effect of such a sound. I wasn't much impressed, however,
and said that it was just silly. Well, we went to bed, and presently the noise
began. We awoke, and Eakes asked me if I heard it. 'Yes,' I said, 'it sounds
rather silly, doesn't it?' Then I turned over and went back to sleep and didn't
wake up anymore that night. But Eakes told me later that he was kept awake half
the night by the dumbull that was supposed to frighten me. He told the other
boys about it the next morning, and one of them said, 'Well, I told them all the
time that you couldn't do anything with that ugly old gangling, old long-legged
devil!' I was long and awkward and thin then.
"Later in life, when I was started on my way upward he befriended me time and
again, and took me about with him to various churches and let me help him in
evangelical [work?]. I surely went through agonies to get up sermons and
arguments for those services. I was just out of college, and it is not easy to
get on to making a good sermon. A preacher has got to not only lay down a
proposition, but he must argue it, apply it, persuade and admonish, and close
with a definite and earnest proposition.
Page 9
"I could tell you many episodes of that part of my experiences. After we closed
the meetings we would all go off somewhere and have a houseparty and relax
before going into the next series of evangelical services. My good friend,
Reverend G. M. Eakes, who was my roommate at Oxford, entertained a number of
pastors once, and during my stay there I had a great deal of pleasure in going
through his large library. I remember one volume particularly, a volume of James
Whitcomb Riley, in which was a poem called THE PIPES o' PAN OF [ZEKESBURY?], and
I read and reread it many times, I became so infatuated with it. I didn't try to
memorize it, but I found the other day that I remembered it word for word. I
amazed myself by quoting it line for line, all the nine stanzas:
(Quotes poem)
"Well, I've been blessed with a good memory, but I was much surprised at myself.
The memory, I think has been depreciated lately too much -- probably because in
former years it was rated too high. Not enough attention in given to cultivating
it. The memory is handmaiden to all our faculties. What could you do if you lost
your memory? Why, if you couldn't remember, you would lose even your personal
identity. When I was a young boy I used to memorize just for the pleasure of it
all the examples of correct English given in Hart's Readers. My mother, seeing
me interested in cultivating my memory, suggested that I learn some hymns. I
took her suggestion, and have always been grateful for it, for I still remember
them. And I have been able to remember many Bible verses because of a good
memory.
"And speaking of the Bible, do you know that there is not a book in the Bible
that is not built on some other book? That shows that there was one supervisory
intelligence for the whole work. Most people think that the Pentateuch is
difficult to account for on the score of literary sources. But this need not
Page 10
perplex if one will notice such passage as the second half of Exodus, Seventeen,
and such like scriptures. It is evident from these that writing and keeping
records was a matter entirely familiar to the Hebrews in charge of the migration
of the Jews in the Wilderness.
"I graduated, and then joined the conference in Lagrange, Georgia, following the
life of an itinerant minister. Later, I graduated from Vanderbilt, in 1906, and
it was my privilege to deliver on that occasion the address representing the
department. Bishop Hendricks was on the platform. In november, 1909, it was
Bishop Hendricks who presided over conference, and he gave me an appointment to
Trinity Church, here in Atlanta. Later, he was helpful to me in writing the life
of Bishop Haygood.
"When I entered the ministry I felt very strongly that I had to be mentally
honest, and wanted to go into the Biblical problems deeply. Not all men feel
that way, and I pass no judgment or criticism on those. I want to make that
plain. But for myself, I knew that I had to study a great deal before I could
satisfy myself on the various Biblical questions.
"I wanted to get more education to broaden my knowledge, and I requested Bishop
Hendricks to appoint me a student to Vanderbilt University. I always believed,
like Dr. Lovick Pierce, father of Bishop Pierce, said, that a call to preach is
a call to get ready to preach. After graduating from Vanderbilt I returned to
Georgia, and married Georgia Roger Hunnicutt, the daughter of James B.
Hunnicutt. We have not been blessed with children, but my wife still lives, and
blesses my life.
'"My first charge in the preaching line was in the city mission in Atlanta. Then
I served circuits and stations in North Georgia Conference and was appointed to
Trinity Church in 1910. I was Dean of the Theology Department at Emory from
Page 11
1914 to 1918; paster at Athens, First Methodist Church; Rome, First Church; and
was Secretary-treasurer of the Christian Education Movement to [1926?], and was
presiding elder of the Oxford district from 1926 to 1930. From 1932 [to?] 1934 I
was pastor at Madison, and from 1934 to 1936 at the First Methodist Church in
Toccoa, Georgia.
"At present I have been given a sabbatical year to complete and [publish?] the
life of Bishop Haygood, which his family requested me to write some time age.
"My comment on my record of varied service is that no one is more surprised at
its character than I. My expectations when I left college -- and I fully
expected that and nothing more -- was to be pastor of a church. It came as a
great surprise -- and almost alarm to me/ [?] when I saw I was being called in phases of service somewhat different from
that detached work. But it was the call of Providence and the voice of the
Church, and it would have been presumptuous of me to refuse. I have tried as
best I could to serve in these various fields.
"Among other things I have been trustee of various institutions -- Holmes
Institute, Emory College, Emory University. I was trustee at Emory for ten
years. I have also served in that capacity for Reinhardt College, Lagrange
College for Women. Others have invited me to serve, but those are the ones I
served.
"I was secretary of the Christian Education Movement during many periods, and
one year I raised $100,000. I'll tell you how that happened. I was within
fifteen hundred dollars of that goal when conference met. I looked about and
found that Mr. Samuel Candler Dobbs was in the city. Knowing his love for this
cause, I called to see him and stated the case to him. In a very kind manner he
said, 'Is that all you need?' I replied, 'Yes, sir, that will bring me to my
desired goal.' Without further ado he wrote me a check for fifteen hundred
Page 12
dollars. You can imagine with what eagerness I returned to conference, and after
getting the Bishop's recognition, stated that here in my hand -- holding it
aloft - was the last fifteen-hundred dollars on a total of one hundred thousand
dollars for the Christian Education Movement. I was very happy, and the whole
audience cheered and applauded loudly.
"I taught in the college at Oxford for several years, and enjoyed my life and
associations there greatly. It was very pleasant to be with the young men and
help them as much as I could to understand some fundamentals of Biblical study.
One of the things I think important is the ability to speak and enunciate
clearly. I don't know whether my enunciation is clear, but I've been told it
was. At Oxford, in one of my Bible courses I referred in a lecture to Aaron's
budded rod -- you remember the story of his rod bursting into bloom. When
examination time came one of the boys used in an answer to a question a
reference to Aaron's butted rod! I don't know whether he was being facetious, or
whether he [understood?] it that way.
"I never had any trouble keeping discipline in my classes, and I didn't have to
scare the boys into behaving, either. I tried to be more subtle. One afternoon,
I remember, a boy was sitting with his feet propped up on the seat of the desk
in front of him. It was a very hot, long summer afternoon, and the students were
naturally restless, but of course I couldn't allow that. There was a professor
at Emory once who used to show the soles of his feet while he lectured, but I
don't approve of that kind of conduct. I wanted to call the boy's attention to
his position, but I didn't want to hurt his feelings, so I looked straight
ahead, at the wall in the back of the room, so that really I wasn't looking at
anyone in particular, and yet it seemed that I might be looking toward any
student in the room.
Page 13
"I said, 'I have been reading in a magazine recently an article entitled The
Upward Tendency of the Foot.' Quick as a flash the boy took his feet down, and
it was all I could do not to burst out laughing, but naturally I couldn't afford
to smile even.
"Another way I had of keeping them in hand was, if I saw a young fellow [slack?]
up in his work, to ask him to come by the desk when class was adjourned. For
instance, one of the boys might have been making poor grades in one of the
subjects, when I knew that he could do better.
"At the adjournment of class," I would say, 'I would like for Mr. Brown to stop
by my desk. Class is adjourned.' I would wait until all the others were gone,
then I would turn to the boy and say to him, 'Mr. Brown, do you think you are
doing your duty fully by this subject?' He wouldn't know what to say, usually,
but would hem and haw and shift from one foot to the other. 'that's enough,
sir,' I would tell him. 'I'm sure it will not be necessary to again call your
attention to this matter.'
"I didn't believe in embarrassing pupils, as some teachers do. I contend that a
pupil usually wants to do well in his studies and maintain good conduct if he
gets the proper appreciation from his teachers.
"One of the tenderest little episodes I remember happened at big Emory while I
was teaching there. I think the subject of the class in which this occurred was
Church History, or some such study. It was not a major, and many laymen elected
the course -- maybe because they thought it was a "crip" course, I don't know.
Well, anyway, one day I was a few minutes late to class, but not more than five
at the most. When I got to the classroom, however, the door seemed to be locked.
I pushed upon it and found that a chair had been propped against it from the
inside, anchored under the doorknob -- you know
Page 14
how it's done. Well, I just pushed the door on open as if nothing had happened,
and quietly set the chair aside. I made no reference to the incident, but went
on with the class as usual. Years after that I received a letter from a man in
Texas, well-established in business, and he said [that?] he was the one who had
propped the chair against the door. It was purely in a spirit of fun, he said,
but it had been on his conscience ever since, and he was much struck with the
smooth and [gential?] way in which I treated the incident. I appreciated that,
and thought it was a beautiful episode in my life.
"A minister meets a variety of people and personalities in his work. There was
Mr. Dodd, who was a member of the congregation of my first church. His daughter,
Nellie Dodd, had died a little while before, while still very young and
beautiful, and he donated money to the church to build a chapel to her memory.
He was a business magnate of the city, and an influential citizen, and I called
on him one day to ask him advice about making the year's church work successful.
Mr. Dodd -- Mr. Green T. Dodd -- was a bluff, hearty man, and he said, 'Why just
go out there and start throwing rocks and killing snakes!' Of course, he was
using snakes as a symbol of sin. Somebody once said, 'don't dig up more snakes
than you can kill,' and that's pretty good advice, too. Mr. Dodd was a
judgmatical man, and he proved a wise man and counselor for me all during my
stay at that church.
"In the membership of what has grown to be Oakland City Baptist Church there was
a delightful Irish family. Their home was a delightful place for the young
minister. They had a picturesque way of saying, 'Our name is Shannon, and we are
as Irish as the Shannon River.'
"There was quite a little romance to the family, as I learned after knowing them
a while. When Mr. and Mrs. Shannon were young they lived in Ireland and were
childhood sweethearts, but their parents opposed their
Page 15
marriage. Mr. Shannon soon came to America, and married a lady over here. The
girl married someone else and lived in India several years. It happened that
both Mr. Shannon's wife and the girl's husband died at nearly the same time, and
they both went back to Ireland for a visit, of course quite without knowing
anything of the other. They met again in Ireland and fell in love all over,
married, and came back to America. They are a lovely family, and have some fine
children. I have spent many pleasant hours with them.
"One of the most amusing little episodes occurred at Jefferson during a
testimonial meeting in church. The meeting was well in progress, and several
people had gotten up and made statements to the congregation. We had a lady
musician who played the organ for us, and this lady had a peculiar habit of
sitting up very rigid and straight while she was playing. She would not sway her
body or turn her head, but would turn the whole body at once on the organ stool.
During a lull in the service she whirled about very suddenly on the stool,
looking like a marionette in a puppet show. "Brothers and Sisters,' she said, 'I
just feel like I'm a settin on the stool of do-nothin''. It was very funny, the
way it all happened, and many people had a job of it to keep from laughing.
"Very beautiful incidents occurred too. One time we were holding revival
services in an old empty store which we rented for a song and used for a chapel.
Right next door was a boarding house, and staying there were some very elegant
people, but they had met sad financial reverses. They had been a prominent
family, but now he avoided his friends because he was poor, and they hesitated
to look him up for fear of embarrassing him. Finally, at the end of a year,
during the time we were holding revival services next door, he received an offer
from a liquor company, which sought to capitalize on his name and good social
connections. They offered him a handsome salary of
Page 16
two-hundred dollars a month to use his position to sell liquor to people of the
upper classes -- Justices of the Supreme Court, and such figures as that. He was
a conscientious man, and he came next door to the chapel and asked my advice.
'Brother Dempsey,' he said, 'I just don't know what to do. My wife and children
are on the verge of starvation, and I need a job badly.'
" 'Brother,' I said to him, 'God has called you to be [righteous?], and He will
see you through this crisis. The devil has got you at the lowest [ebb?], and
offers to buy you for twenty-four hundred dollars. Don't let him do it.'
"I had ten dollars in my pocket and gave it to him, telling him to stick it out,
and that things would be better soon if he would [have?] faith. About two years
later I was back in the city, and was attending a service where they were taking
up a collection for the superannuated preachers. I wanted the worst kind to give
something, but I was very low financially that night, and didn't even have a
dollar in my pocket. Presently someone touched me on the sleeve and said that a
gentleman wanted to see me outside. I left the service and went out. There I saw
a well-dressed man, well-poised, and with the very aspect of financial
independence and self respect.
"Brother Dempsey," he greeted me, and I recognized him as the man of two years
before, "I want to give you back the ten dollars you let me have when I needed
it so badly. Due to your advice I did not take the liquor company's offer, and
soon I had a good job as a manger for a respectable firm."
"I told him to keep the ten dollars and give it to someone else who might need
it, but he said, no, that I would see more people than he would, and for me to
take it back. I took it, and since my heart was very full at this touching
incident, I carried it right up to the front of the church and added it to the
collection for the superannuated preachers. That man is a well-known citizen of
this community today, and his children hold positions of respect.
Page 17
"During my days as junior pastor I got one of the keenest rebukes I have ever
received, and I believe that from it I learned a valuable lesson. Reverend Henry
R. Davies was my senior preacher at that time. He was then about sixty years of
age, and broken in health and realty. After having conducted several sermons for
him, and finding the attendance discouragingly small, I talked with him about
it, trying to find out the reason for the poor showing. I was pretty
discouraged, but I said to him:
"Well, at least I can console myself with one thing: I have done my best." I
didn't realize then how Pharisaic it sounded. Wise man that he was, Reverend
Davies let a pause ensue, a silence that could be felt, and then, catching my
eye, he said, 'My boy, could you say that on your kness?'
"And of course I at once saw that the position would make a big difference. You
know, there are few times when a man can say without qualification that he has
done his best.
"During my second year as junior pastor under Reverend Davies I realized that he
was going to have to take the superannuate at the next conference. He had no
home, no house, and no family to go to, and I wondered what would become of him.
Deeply concerned, having come to love him dearly, I was walking through the
village one day and suddenly the thought darted through my mind, why should not
I make the effort to provide that [home?]? I remember there was a little bridge
across the stream beside the road, and my eye was arrested by a crevice in it. I
just stood and regarded this spot and thought the problem through. 'My Lord,' I
said, 'with Your help I'll do it!' I walked on, determined to do what I could. I
went about among the people who knew Brother Davies, both Methodists and other
denominations, for he had many friends in all the churches, and they all gave
freely to the cause. The idea caught like fire, for the all loved him. 'Yes,'
they all said, 'we know Brother Davies, and we'll be glad to help.' The Masons
were very generous in their contributions. With the money
Page 18
I collected I was able to buy a lot with a house on it, right in the center of
town, in the (an) ideal location for the
old [man?], for it was near the post office, the school, and the railroad
station. It was perhaps the first superannuate home ever bought for a retiring
preacher. I did read, later, that such a project had been suggested before in
Alabama, but I don't think it was successful. Now, of course, there is a regular
fund for that purpose, but at that time there was none. He was certainly a fine
man, and I know that if anybody in Heaven is permitted to intercede for another,
he does for me.
"When I was just beginning my career as itinerant minister, I was sent to [?]
When I arrived in town I learned of a family of eight boys. I called upon them,
and met their mother. 'sister Martin,' I said to her, 'I understand that you are
the mother of eight boys.' 'Yes,' she replied, 'and proud of it.' 'And you
should be, ' I answered. 'I've come here to see you to ask you to take care of
me too.' 'Why, Brother Dempsey, I don't see how we can do it.' 'Yes you can,' I
said, 'for if you have raised eight fine sons you know all there is to know
about taking care of boys.'
"I was a young man just out of college, and I wanted to be connected with some
family. The boys of that family were fine young fellows, good sportsmen and
masters of woodcraft. It was a great advantage to me to be allowed to stay with
them, for they took me into the woods with them, and the exercise and open air
did me good, for I was still frail and sickly.
"One of the boys of that family responded to the call to preach, and years later
he told me that the association with me was the inspiration he got to serve the
church.
"During my stay there in Lumpkin County (?) I traveled from church to church,
spending a week in each church community holding "cottage communions."
Page 19
I would go from house to house, spreading news that tonight at six-thirty, say,
at one of the nearby houses there would be a prayer meeting held. All the
neighbors who could would come, and sometimes we would have fifty present,
sometimes only five or six. Usually the meetings were held in houses about five
miles apart, so that in that way the whole community could be covered. I
remember one house was way [in?] back in the forest, at the turn of a small
winding road. Way in there was the family of Mr. Ware. It was a beautiful rural
scene there. The surroundings and manner of life were very much like the old
southern home. The house was a one-story frame structure, with the guest rooms
on either side in front, having a veranda across the front of the house between.
In the back was a shed containing the kitchen and dining room, and of course a
smokehouse also. In the front yard were shrubs such as the old southern farm
homes had -- boxwood, cape jessamine, and such -- and across the road from the
house was a beautiful pasture, in which sheep, horses, cows, and goats grazed. A
very pretty rural sight, indeed. They had everything they needed there at home -
sorghum syrup in barrels, sausage, lard, meal, beans, and other staples in
abundance. There was little money, but they needed little.
"The life of the itinerant minister had its compensations, all right. I usually
traveled by horseback and buggy, often finding it convenient to ride horseback
because of the narrow bridlepaths through the forests. When I went in the buggy
I would often read and study on the way, for my horse was well broken, and would
respond instantly to only a word. There was an oilcloth for the buggy which kept
out the rain, and in real cold weather I would set a lantern inside to keep me
warm. On the bright sunny days I preferred to ride horseback, or even in summer
rains.
Page 20
"I had a wonderful horse, that had a spirited gait, and I'll tell you it was
thrilling pleasure to gallop through those forests for mile on mile through the
sunlit trees. And then in the summer-rains the horse would catch the spirit of
the ride, and seemed to enjoy feeling the rain slant down in gusts upon his
shining side, tossing his head and running like a free spirit over the trail.
The horse would feel the thrill of the rider's body, and of course I would get
the thrill of his body, and we would have many an exciting morning. I'll tell
you, I asked nothing of any man!
And then sometimes there would be amusing things happen on the road. I remember
an experience I had while still in college. I was going from [Conyars?] to
[?]?[?] , driving a low-swung buggy of my mother's. I was alone, and as I topped
a long, gentle incline such as are found in south Georgia, I saw a man walking
on the left hand side of the road far ahead. When I caught up with him I pulled
rein and asked him to get in and ride. He got in, not saying a word. After we
had ridden for a mile or so he asked, 'Which one of your churches are you going
to?'
"Why, how did you know that I was a preacher?' I asked.
"Oh, I knew that as soon as I saw your buggy top the hill."
"I had always prided myself on not showing my profession, for I preferred to be
merely a man among men, teaching the Word, and not be known only as a preacher.
This shattered that illusion, however. And many incidents have happened like
that since then. Just the other day I was standing on the corner waiting for the
street car, and an old darky came up to me and said, 'Pardon me, boss, but you's
a preacher, ain't you?'
"Yes,' I replied, 'I don't seem to be able to conceal my profession.'
"Yassuh," he laughed, "it marks a man, don't it?"
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project,
1936-1940 Item 16 of 73
[Ernest Gerber]
Page 1
A. G. Barie
Feb. 25, 1939
JUL
February 25, 1939
Ernest Gerber (Swiss-American)
Route 1
Marietta, Georgia
(Farmer)
A. G. Barie From Around the World to a Georgia Farm
Just a few miles north of the Chattahoochee River, in what was once a part of
the Cherokee Nation, in the foothills near Lost Mountain, lies an 80-acre
farmstead, part of an original plantation carved from the wilderness by a family
of Georgia pioneers who moved in shortly after the removal of the Indians.
Leaving the State highway and climbing abruptly between tall, spindling
second-growth trees, a narrow, rutted red clay road, void of topsoil, suddenly
breaks through to disclose, on the left, a long, narrow field surrounded by high
chicken-wire fencing. Within this enclosure, which widens to include two large
laying houses and a brooder house, a large flock of beautiful White Leghorn hens
add a startling touch to the scene, and evince their high [breeding?] by their
flighty actions and nervous cackling at the near approach of a car or even a
pedestrian.
At this point the road widens into a miniature parkway, shaded by three old
oaks, beyond which it continues on an ascending grade between terraced fields,
to disappear beyond an orchard of old and scrubby peach trees.
On the left the parkway merges with a wide driveway which runs between the house
and other farm buildings to the large swinging gate of the barn lot. The barn
itself is a frame structure, somewhat larger than those common to this section,
and to its left is seen a large pasture in the form of a valley, at the far end
of which is a miniature lake
Page 2
formed by an earthen dam across a small clear stream fed by two constant flowing
springs at the upper end of the valley.
Near the angle formed by the road and driveway, but on a high plot of ground,
stands the rumbling one-story house, its squat galvanized roof, with those of
the outbuildings, furnishing a familiar landmark for passing airplanes.
Architecturally, its design was actuated only by the size of the Georgia pioneer
family. A wide porch fills the angle at the front, and another fills the angle
at the rear, furnishing a place for the inevitable outdoor shelf and wash basin,
and a "catch-all" for articles too bulky, or too dirty, to be brought indoors. A
large chimney in front and another on the north side are made of hand-made
brick, while another at the rear is of large flat rocks and mud and was probably
built at the time the original log cabin was erected. Although the present house
was erected not many years before the Civil War, it is sealed inside and out
with a fine grade of pine lumber, all of which was planed and tongue-and-grooved
by hand, the boards varying in width from 10 to 24 inches.
Between the rear of the house and the barn-lot fence are a large grape arbor, a
mammoth pecan tree, and a hoary gnarled oak, whose age, like that of another
standing near the barn, is testified by the two or three feet of root growth
protruding above the ground. In the shade of these two trees a small modern
building houses the old farm well, with its familiar windlass, rope and bucket.
Close to the well housing is a modern deep well pump and a small gasoline engine
which pump the same water to an elevated 200-gallon tank, from which the water
is piped to the rear of the house, and to the chicken yard.
Page 3
In this same shady spot, between the well house and the lot fence, is a long
table made of heavy oak plank, its top stained by years of use as a
"battling-block" for the heavy washings necessary on the red clay farm. And on
this same table the writer, who has lived on an adjoining farm for eight years,
has eaten many a luscious Georgia watermelon with the descendants of those
Georgia pioneers.
But for the next two years a small, gray-haired, bespectacled man, whom we
neighbors call either "Chief" or "Doc," has almost daily invited me in to have a
sip of excellent home-made wine, or to sit and read while he fed his "buzzards"
-- the White Leghorns.
When I asked him one day if he could be willing for me to write his life history
he "came back at me" with: "Sure; provided you don't quote me in anything that
would discredit the Navy, or anyone in the service. Yes, I've read so much I
know you have to build up a scene, but you know a damn sight more about the
place than I do, so go ahead and describe it. Come over Sunday and we'll begin."
Remember Remembering that Switzerland was saluting the New York
World's Fair over NBC that Sunday I invited him over to dinner. After the
program was finished he said "That was fine, especially the yodeling. My mother
won an old folks' yodeling contest when she was 70 years old. I'm sorry, though,
that they didn't have any zither music. The zither was so popular in Switzerland
and it sure make's sweet music."
Shortly after dinner he said he would have to look after the chickens so we
walked over to his place, and as we entered the chicken yard a large hen flew up
on his shoulder, another flew up on his back, and still another
Page 4
flew up in his face so he had to grab her and hold her in his arms. He stood
there and talked to them for a minute or two, at the same time feeding them from
a piece of bread taken from his pocket.
When his pets had become satisfied and joined the rest of the flock, and as we
stood for a few silent moments gazing across the small valleys at Old Kennesaw
and the foothills, he suddenly turned and said: "This sure is a funny world.
Here's the two of us, you born and raised way up North and me from Switzerland,
living on joining farms in north Georgia, probably the last place either one of
us would ever have dreamed of being. And the longer I stay here, the more I
wonder why those old timers built their house facing those woods, instead of the
other way, with the beautiful view of Kennesaw Mountain."
"Well, Chief, you haven't anything on me. I've been wondering for eight years
why the folks built the house on the hill (where I live) clear on the back of an
80-acre place, just about as far from your house as they could get it. Always
looked to me as if they didn't want to get too familiar with the neighbors.
Maybe when the R.E.A. runs our new lines they'll cut out enough trees so we can
at least se each other's houses.
"Yeah, I'll be glad when they get the juice here so I can finish wiring the
place. My little portable 25 watt does very well to light my room and the
chicken houses, but it's too small to carry any more."
"Well, lets go in and get started, and you can use the Underwood Portable to
make your notes. Save time."
Up a few narrow steps and through a narrow shed-room which houses the electric
plant and a conglomeration of boxes, bags of chicken feed, egg crates, and
shelves piled with a variety of things, we entered the one room of the
Page 5
house which the Chief calls home. The room itself is large and well lighted, the
walls being of the same wide boards an the rest of the house, but painted a pale
blue. A new matched flooring covers the original planking, and a new modern door
leads to the other part of the house, now occupied by a tenant family.
The furniture and fixtures of the room are almost a picture of a goodly part of
the man's life. There is a queer blending of military neatness and 'bachelor
helplessness." The large fireplace has been filled in with about iron, and a
long cast iron [box?] box store serves as
a heater and cooking range, supplemented by a small Coleman Camp stove which
rests on a large box-like chest to the left of the door. On the mantel shelf is
a replica of the J. S. Destroyer Childs, complete to the smallest detail, which
was made by a German prisoner interned at one of the hospitals where the Chief
had served. Flanking the ship on opposite sides are a finely inlaid Arab
flint-lock pistol and an Arab sheath-knife of exquisite workmanship.
The chest which holds the camp stove also serves as a kitchen table, holding the
few dishes and accessaries necessary for his simple meals. A few inches above
them, and extending nearly across the wall from door to window, is a fine
example of Turkish tapestry about 18 inches in width, and immediately above the
center of this is a small but excellent water color portraying the murdering of
a Sultan's favorite by the Eunuch and his helpers. (The Chief says she probably
waved her handkerchief out the window at some Yankee sailor). Flanking the
picture is a pair of wrought brass candlesticks (from Turkey) representing two
puff adders. Above each of these is a small framed excerpt, in Arabic, from the
Koran. Above these, in the center of the wall is a beautiful prayer rug
depicting the mosque of Little St. Sofia. Scattered about the other walls
Page 6
are pictures of Mohammedans in native garb and a couple of fine tapestries. Two
small taborets of exquisite inlay workmanship stand near a large oil-cloth
covered table which serves as a writing desk and also accommodates the
typewriter and a few books and datalogues.
In the corner between table and window stands an article which would grace the
home of a millionaire. It is a gray and white marble pedestal holding an eagle
with partly opened wings, on top of which rests a translucent globe of pink and
cream alabaster, and the globe in divided in the center to accommodate an
electric light. The eagle itself is an outstanding feature. Carved from a single
piece of marble which must have taken years to locate, the body, neck, head, and
wings are of streaked gray and white, while the legs and beak are of a pale
yellow tint, and the claws are black. It is tall enough to make an excellent
reading lamp and was carved in a shop across the Plaza from the Leaning Tower in
[Pisa?], Italy.
In this strange room, seated at the Chief's typewriter and with the beautiful
statue-lamp at my elbow I began typing his story, which is given in his own
words:
"I was born on January 12, 1883, at Langnau, Canton of Bern, Switzerland, the
fifth child in a family of eight. I had four brothers and three sisters. The
picture over the table with the tower in the center is of the ancestral home
where we were all born. I have often asked my father how long it had been in the
family or how old it was but he was very reticent about such things; the modern
Swiss people are too democratic to be proud of old titles. I do know that the
coat of arms of both my father's and mother's families are carved in the gate
posts at the front entrance through the high wall.
Page 7
"Apparently the center tower, which is really at the back of the building, is
much older than the rest of the place. When I was a small boy a party of
archeologists and Government officials came and tried to buy the place but
Father wouldn't sell. They made a very thorough examination of the whole place
and told Father that the tower part was built at the time of the Roman Empire,
and the other part in about the third or fourth century. The tower goes about
three stories into the ground to solid granite rock and the rooms were probably
dungeons for prisoners. On the third floor above the ground is a room which
Father kept locked, but one day my oldest brother and I found the lock open and
went in. We found a torture rack and wheel, a scourge like a cat'o nine-tails
with lead balls on the lashes, and several other implements we didn't know what
to call. Before we had much time to enjoy our find Father discovered us and we
got an unmerciful whipping.
"The little lake in the picture is artificial and has a plain fountain in the
center which throws water fifty feet in the air, the water coming from a spring
high up the mountain. The water running from the lake goes to a trout breeding
pool and from there to a fish pond where Father kept the fish we served to
guests.
"Yes, we ran a Gasthaus, or tourist tavern it would be called here, but our
guests usually stayed the whole season.
"When I think of how we used to feed the guests and our large family almost
entirely from the stuff we raised on the six acres of cultivated ground, and
then look out over this 80 acres with nothing on it but a few dead cotton and
corn stalks, I sometimes wonder what in hell was wrong with my mind when I
bought it.
Page 8
"Well, boys and girls had to work then, when they weren't in school and each one
of us had a certain job to do, and God help the one who didn't do their bit.
That little place even furnished us fruit and vegetables the year 'round and
Father made a good deal of his own [wine?] and sold some to other wine dealers.
Father had a wide reputation as a wine expert and traveled to many places buying
wines for rich folks and for some of the big hotels.
"Father was an awful crank about the etiquette of wine drinking and serving. I
remember one day he had a guest who claimed to be a judge of wines and Father
sent me down cellar to bring up a bottle of special vintage made many years
before. Being naturally neat I wiped off the bottle before bringing it to the
table. For that I got one of the worst "tannings" I ever got. The guest got off
easier than I did, but he deeply offended Father by drinking his wine down in a
couple of gulps. Father got up and left the room and didn't come back until the
guest had taken the hint and gone his way.
"Education is strictly compulsory in Switzerland, and there are two schools, the
primary, from 6 to 11 years, and the secondary, which is a 4-year term like your
modern high school. We were taught three languages; Swiss, German, and Romansh,
or [Vulgaz?] Latin. I think the last has been omitted in late years. My father
and mother were both educated in French and taught us children at home. The
Bible was a part of our daily study and we had to read it from beginning to end.
Like most kids I was mostly interested in the passages which had obscene
references, and when Dad caught me reading the Bible one day at home he took a
look at what I was reading and promptly gave me a good licking.
Page 9
"Students of high school age were also taught sex relations and hygiene, the
girls being taught by a special matron at the school, and the boys were usually
taught by the village Priest.
"Yes, I was born and raised in the Catholic Church, but after I left home I
missed doing my Easter duties and was automatically suspended. Cause I might
have got reinstated in their good graces but have never been interested enough
to go to the trouble. Besides, in my years of travel I have studied many
different [sects?] and found that all of them have their good points and are all
headed the same way, though by somewhat different routes.
"My boyhood life was just about like the average run of Swiss boys, plenty of
work, but plenty of sports too. Father was a great hunter, and a noted marksman.
Several times he came home from National shooting tournaments with the Golden
Clive Breath of Victory on in place of his hat, so it's no wonder we boys were
regular pests until so were given our first guns.
"When I was about 18 years old Father gave my oldest brother a 22 caliber rifle
and also gave me an arbalist, or cross-bow gun. We decided to go out in the
woods and try them out, but before we got out of sight of the house brother
began teasing me about never becoming a 'William Tell.' He was some distance
ahead of me and I yelled back at him 'You couldn't even hit me from where you
are standing now.' Damned if he didn't turn round and fire at me, the bullet
going into the fleshy part of my knee. Didn't shatter the bone but I bled like a
stuck pig. A passer-by saw what had happened and before we came out of our daze
an officer had come for us and we had to go before the judge, even before I had
the services of a doctor. Course it was all in fun so we just got a reprimand
and were sent home.
Page 10
"Well, about a year after that I got even with him, good and plenty. Dad had
given me a fine double-barrelled shot gun some time before and one day when I
was coming back from hunting birds I saw brother backing out of the woodshed in
a stooped position and I let him have both barrels in his rear end. Of course he
wasn't hurt much but they sure had a time picking all those fine bird shot out
of him.
"No, I didn't go to college. Father didn't like the idea of that. He wanted all
of us boys to learn a trade, as most of the Swiss boys do. When it came time for
me to take up an apprenticeship I wanted to be a real good cook, but Father said
I should be a tailor, because I was so small. Sure I was small and still am, but
I was too damn strong and active to sit cross-legged all day and stitch with a
needle. I afterward decided I wanted to be a photographer. Father objected to
that too; said it wasn't a man's job either. The consequence was that I didn't
take up any trade at all, but I never gave up photography as a hobby. As soon as
I got started in this country I got me a camera and that big chest you see out
in the shed room is full of albums of enlarged photos I made during my travels.
If they were arranged chronologically you could come mighty near having an
outline of the story I am telling you from now on.
"Well, when I was 19 years old I decided to leave home to be a man by myself,
through some friends I got in the Sunlight Soap Factory in Olten, in the Canton
of Solothurn. I stayed there three years and nothing of any consequence
happened, except that when I became 21 I had to take a vacation and go home for
my examination for army services. They gave me just about zero on the physical
exam. I was so short I guess they were afraid
Page 11
I might hide behind the other fellows to keep from getting shot. I had the laugh
on them all when we took the mental tests. When those who passed were lined up
for the ceremonial parade I was put at the head and presented with the badge of
excellence, an oak twig with two acorns in wrought gold. Father was so proud of
me that he gave me a pair of cuff links made from two 2-frame gold pieces. Then
I went back to Olten and finished my term. Came back home and stayed home about
a year. During this time the two sons of some neighbors were talking about
coming to America. They were older than me but we chummed together and I got so
interested in their plans I decided I wanted to come with them.
"Of course we couldn't just pick up and come over like folks do here. We had to
get released from military service calls, get through a lot of red tape about
property rights, passports and transportation, but we finally sailed on the St.
Louis.
"The first day out I became the butt of a good joke for the sailors. I had gone
to a man who professed to be an English teacher, soon after I decided to come
over, and he had taught me what he said would be enough to get by with until I
had a chance to study. "Well, when I tried to talk to the Yankee sailors they
laughed like hell at me. I finally made them understand that I had taken English
lessons, but one who seemed more informed than the rest told me I hadn't been
taught English but 'Cockney.'
"We landed at Ellis Island August 5, 1906, and before we had cleared customs and
quarantine one of your Yankee super-salesman had sold my friends 40 acres of
land in southern Missouri. It was railroad land being sold by the Frisco Lines.
"We didn't even stop in New York, but boarded a train and went right
Page 12
through to the nearest stop on the railroad. We found the place and there wasn't
even a shed on it so we went to the nearest house and the folks took us in and
took care of us until we could get a log shack put up. The old man who owned the
place, we afterward learned, was an old Yankee Indian scout who had homesteaded
the place he was on several years before.
"The next day after our arrival the old man went with us to our place and helped
us put up a rough log cabin. Having lived in rock houses at home we young
fellows had never seen a log house built, so the old man was a great help to us.
We had a great deal of trouble at first because he didn't understand our
language and we didn't know his, but I overcame that difficulty to some extent
by using a German-English translating dictionary I had brought along. When I
wanted to say anything to him I'd pull out my book, show him the German word and
he would read the English word and get the idea of what I wanted to talk about.
After we got the cabin built I kept on going over to his place every night for
two months, and by that time I had learned enough English so I could get along
with most anybody.
"No, the place didn't have any cleared land but there were a few [barren?] spots
so we dug up some of them and planted a little late garden stuff. We started
clearing out timber too and it wasn't long before we had a nice lot of new land
ready for the plow. Of course it was new ground and full of stumps but the soil
was good and we knew it would produce good crops. My friends had farmed in
Switzerland with oxen and had brought their harness with them so they bought a
pair of young oxen and that is the way they started farming in America. Their
harness for the oxen was a lot different than what was used here; it was made
partly of leather and part chain, each
Page 13
ox having a separate harness the same as your team harnesses here. The collars
were different though; they were put on up-side-down to the regular mule collar.
"Well, I stayed there and worked with my friends until 1914, but in the meantime
something had been troubling me. We had got acquainted with a Swiss family some
distance away and the oldest boy and myself used to go there often to play cards
and drink wine with the folks, because we all talked the same language. The
oldest daughter was, to me, a beautiful girl, and I sure fell in love with her
and I thought she loved me too, because she used to walk out with me and we
would hug and kiss like all lovers do. But I craved her physically, and here is
where our early sexual training came into play. Instead of getting excited and
angry because she wouldn't satisfy me we talked it over in a matter-of-fact way.
She said she felt the same as I did, but that she was in love with my oldest
friend and was saving herself for him, even before he had asked her to marry
him. She told me of two sisters who lived a few miles off who she said would
take care of me and that she would speak to them about it for me. I still wasn't
satisfied, and got to worrying about things so much that I began to get poorly
and not able to do much around the farm.
"An old priest from the nearby town used to come out to have prayer with the
settlers and he asked me one day what the matter was, so I told him the whole
story. He advised me to find work somewhere else and forget about the girl, for
she was soon to marry my friend. Not so long after that the priest drove up one
day with the Postmaster from the town and he offered me a job in the Postoffice,
and said I could live with his family. I went to town and took a short
examination and went to work.
Page 14
"Got along fine for a long time, but I was still going back to the place and by
this time the girl and my friend had gone away and got married, and I missed her
more than ever. I got nervous and began to fall down on my job so bad that the
boss told me one day he thought I'd better go off somewhere and work at
something else for a while and then come back. He even found me a job and one
day took me farther north to a large dairy farm owned and managed by a woman,
the wife of a millionaire who owned a large mill in Des Moines, Iowa.
"Man, that was some farm! Every cow on it was a Blue Ribbon cow and they were
taken care of like humans. The boss lady put me in charge of the electric plant
and water supply and I had a fine room in the large brick building which
contained the feed mills and electric plant, besides other farm machinery. The
other men there made fun of me and called me Shorty, but my short legs were a
great advantage in some ways for I could stoop over and shoulder a 200-pound
sack easier than the big fellows could.
"That winter the boss lady took me back to Des Moines with her and wanted her
husband to give me a job, but he said she run her business and didn't want her
to stick her nose into his; but he proceeded to show me a good time, taking me
to shows and buying me all the wine I could ask for. He was quite a drinker and
his wife was always wanting to know where we had been the night before, so I
would try to remember the name of some show we had seen so I could tell her we
had been there. Well, one night the boss took me to the Unique Theatre and the
next morning when she asked me where we had been I told her, but my speech was
still tinged with German [gutturals?] and it sounded like [Eunuch?]. She laughed
so hard I simply had to ask her
Page 15
what the matter was and she told me to ask her husband what [eunuch?] meant.
When he explained the meaning of the word I was so ashamed that I couldn't go in
to supper.
"In the spring of 1917 I decided to join the army as most every other husky man
was doing, but when I went to enlist they turned me down on account of my
stature. I then told the boss lady I would like to get in the Red Cross and she
said she would help me. About that time I learned that my old neighbor boy, the
younger one, was going to California to enlist so I hurried home and went with
him.
"On the train going west there was a bunch of sailors going back to their ships
and they told us we would be a lot better off in the navy than in the army.
Guess maybe none of them had ever been in the army anyway.
"When we got to San Francisco we went to the recruiting office and my friend was
accepted and sent to barracks right away, but they turned me down, as usual, so
there I was, all alone in a strange place. Still had money enough to take care
of me for a while so I thought I'd take in the sights. While I was walking down
one of the main streets I came to a Navy recruiting office and naturally stopped
to look at the pictures displayed outside. A petty officer came out and started
to talk to me about joining the navy but I told him how the army officers had
turned me down, so I didn't think the Navy would take me either. He asked me to
go inside and talk to the warrant officer in charge. The officer asked me a lot
more questions and I told him I wanted to get in either the Red Cross or Radio
service, and he said it would take me too long to get anywhere in radio on
account of my speech. He thought for a long time then finally asked me how
Page 16
I'd like to go in the Hospital Corps. I told him that would be fine, just so
long as I got to go somewhere.
"Well, I guess they must have been short of personnel on account of was
conditions, for he mustered me into the service with a waiver of all
disabilities, had he [?] outfitted in
most no time, and sent me out to the Goat Island Hospital school.
"I was the only foreigner in the school, and being a rookie, I sure had to put
up with a lot from the other students, but I toughed it out, and in September
1917 they sent me to the hospital at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for further
instructions. I was assigned to repair room and ward duties, but due to my
interest in the work I was given every opportunity to improve my knowledge and
fit myself for a higher rating in the medical department. There was a large
[personnel?] at the hospital at that time so our tours of duty were short, which
gave me a chance to satisfy my propensity for exploration as well as to secure
many of the pictures now in my collection.
"As a small sample of the queer things that happen in foreign lands I will tell
you about the little shrine I found one day while on a scouting trip with my
camera. I was several miles from headquarters, deep in the woods, when I came on
a peculiar looking [clump?] of underbrush. On parting the bushes I was startled
to discover a small shrine, in the form of a temple, but roughly made of common
stone. It was completely surrounded by the bushes, with no path leading to it,
and it appeared to have been built hundreds of years before. When I returned to
the Harbor I hunted up a man
Page 17
who I knew to be connected with the British Archaeological Society and told him
about it. On my next liberty day the two of us went out to look it over. Imagine
my surprise on finding that during the week the whole thing had been completely
removed, not even a piece of stone left on the ground. Things like that make a
man's back hair rise, at least mine did.
"While scouting up the coast one day I found an old native who had a
beautifully-built sailboat. Don't know where he got it but I sure wanted it and
kept going back to see him until he finally sold it to me for $10.00. The [?] at
the Hospital sent a launch after if for me and had a sailmaker assigned to the
job of making a large sail for it. The tiller of the boat was made from a solid
piece of rare Hawaiian mahogany, so valuable that a boat builder near there
built a fine cabin, installed a good steering wheel and ropes, and covered the
bottom of the boat with copper sheeting, in exchange for the old tiller.
"During the remainder of my stay at Pearl Harbor this boat was of great help to
me in my scouting trips, as well as for many pleasures trips for other officers
and men at the hospital.
"One of these trips will remain in my memory until I die. A man who was
preparing material for a book embracing a story concerning the eruption of a
volcano had come to the island for inspiration, and he asked me if I would be
willing to take a party to Launa Los. I had been planning a trip there myself so
we got a party together and sailed over. One of the men was a camera man for Fox
Films and he had his movie camera along, so I didn't take mine, and missed
getting a real picture. We were ascending the slope and got to about 200 yards
from the top when suddenly it seemed
Page 18
as if the earth itself was about to go to pieces. After a short sharp rumble a
mass of smoke and fire shot up into the air hundreds of feet and a stream of
lava rushed through an opening in the crater walls. Some of the men started to
run but the camera man had set up his machine and was grinding away so most of
us stood our ground until the nest became too great and we angled away from the
lava stream and hurried on down to the shore. We were simply lucky that the lava
had broken through where we were out of its path. A scientist who lived not far
from there said the stream of lava flowed at the rate of 30 miles per hour down
the mountainside. This was the eruption of 1918, which furnished headlines for
the newspapers, and stories for some of the magazines.
"Another little incident in connection with volcanoes might interest some of
your students of folklore. You know that most of the natives, and not a few
white men, believe that the spirits live in, and control the actions of the
volcanoes. There was a doctor living not far from the hospital who was a great
student of Hawaiian folklore, and was always exhorting to us in justification of
his belief in the spirit folks in the volcanoes. Figuring that we might quash
his enthusiasm by a visit to one of the inactive ones we got up a party and
invited him to go with us on the trip. He agreed to go provided we would take
along a native priest whom he knew. On the way to the crater, which was
accessible by auto, he had us stop while the priest picked a twig off a small
bush, and some bright red berries off another one. Arrived on the floor of the
crater, we got out and walked to one of the small openings where steam came out
and waited to see what was going to happen. After mumbling some kind of prayer,
the priest threw the twig and berries i to the opening and we all stepped back
and waited for something
Page 19
to happen. Guess we stood there about five minutes, then a little rumbling noise
started and steam began to come out faster. We began to run and suddenly there
was a loud explosion and a small stream of fire and smoke went up in the air
about a hundred feet, but it stopped in about a minute and nothing more
happened. To me it was just a natural [phenomenon?], or perhaps affected by the
foreign matter thrown into the hole, but I bet that doctor is still telling the
world how the old priest awakened the spirits of the volcano.
"Not long after this a man at the settlement became mentally deranged and it was
decided to send him back to the States. As he seemed to take a liking to me and
would do most anything I asked him to, I was given the opportunity of making one
of the plenty to take him home. We came over on the South Carolina, by way of
Washington and Oregon, then down the coast to San Francisco. After getting the
sick man taken care of I was given a long liberty, which gave me a fine
opportunity to visit all the old monasteries in that section, and to take
pictures of many interesting places and things.
"While enjoying the sights in San Francisco I ran across a real bargain in a
portable X-ray machine, and as there wasn't one in use in any of the places I
had been so far I bought it for my own use, and this was the means of getting
started on my rating as an X-ray technician. I sure got a lot of [?] out of that
little outfit. Regulations didn't permit me to use it on medical cases at that
time so the Medical officer said he would help me out by inviting civilian
friends of his to get their pictures taken. Well, a lot of them volunteered,
among them some darn good looking girls, and didn't I get some good pictures of
them! I got the knack of the thing right away, and those pictures didn't leave
much to the imagination, I'm telling you!
Page 20
"Well, the South Carolina finally got to San Diego. I was on her about three
months and was transferred to the hospital ship Marcy. That was late in 1919.
Soon after being transferred, the Marcy started on one of those good will tours,
down the coast of South America, calling at almost every port. The day we
crossed the Equator as had the usual "Neptune" party, and I being a rookie sure
caught hell.
"This was more than made up for by the big time we had on our visit to
[antiago?]. A party of us were invited by the Bishop to visit the monastery and
vineyards. They showed us the old and very valuable church jewels, and wined and
dined us in royal style. Guess the wine was too rich for our blood, for some of
us got more than we could handle and they had to put us to bed, but we were not
disciplined for being over-leave.
"It was March 1920 when we got back to San Diego harbor and life once more
became routine. In June I got a telegram from home saying that mother was sick,
so I got 30 days leave and travelling time and went home, but mother was dead
before I got there. I stayed my leave in Switzerland, and while in Bern I met a
bunch of Americans and we celebrated the Fourth of July in [rathskeller?], and
we sure did celebrate.
"Shortly after that I was ordered to the USS Pittsburg, flagship of the fleet,
and reported at Venice, but the Pittsburg had sailed for Genoa, Italy. When I
arrived there she had gone to Milan, then to Cherbourg, then to Le Ravre, where
I finally caught up with her. The ship was taking part in the [Maritime?]
Festival. From there we went to the Isle of Wight, but were soon ordered back to
Le Havre, where the Pittsburg was relieved by the Utah, which took us back to
the Isle of Wight to take part in the King's Regatta.
Page 21
"We next went to Oravesend, and were given shore leave to make a trip to London.
I was disappointed in that trip. To me London is very uninteresting, the only
points worth seeing being the Tower and Westminster Abbey.
"On my return to Cherbourg I was transferred to the destroyer Childs, which had
been ordered to proceed, by easy stages, to Dansig, Germany. He called first at
Helsingfore, Finland, the [?] city I ever saw. You couldn't find a piece of
paper or even a match stick on the streets. We then went to Tullian, Astonia,
and then to Stockholm, Sweden, where we took part in the King's anniversary.
Next we stopped at [Riga?], Latvia, and from there to Copenhagen, Denmark, where
I had a chance to make a trip to Prince Frederick's Castle, made famous by
Shakespears's Hamlet, he then went direct to Danzig, Germany, the Childs being
the first American ship to touch at a German port after the war.
"I want to tell you here that during our thirty days stay as were treated better
by the German people than either the French or English had ever treated us. In
spite of the fact that my Swiss-German accent showed where I hailed from, the
German boys gaven me every opportunity to see everything I wanted to, and the
girls weren't far behind the boys either! The people were so short of money that
you could buy about anything you wanted at your own price. In one of the shops I
found a new camera which I knew sold in the U.S. for $280., and I bought it for
$35, also a laboratory microscope for $50., which was worth $300 here.
"Well, we were finally ordered back to Constantinople, or Istanbul, as they call
it now, but we were to make a sort of good-will tour on the
Page 22
way. [He?] went out through the Kiel Canal and shortly after entering the
English Channel a big storm broke and that is where I caught hell for the first
time in my experience. Destroyers don't have any [Medical?] Officer, so it was
up to me to look after all the casualties, and there were plenty of them. [He?]
picked up an S.O.S. from a vessel behind us in the channel, and in spite of the
terrible thrashing the ship was getting the captain ordered her about to the
rescue. Life preservers were put on and the life rafts got ready and when we
went about I was sure I'd never see the U. S. again. [Men?] were thrown around
like straws and dashed against the rails and deck fittings, and there was plenty
of broken arms and legs, to say nothing of a few heads. [A lot?] of men new to
the water were seasick too, which added to the general misery. To cap the
climax, the boat we went to rescue had got free soon after she called and was a
lot better off than we was. The storm lasted three days, but we finally got to
Le Havre, where we laid up while the men [recuperated?].
"Proceeding to Cherbourg, we started out on another tour, touching at
[Marcelona, Lisbon?], Gibraltar, [Cheablanca, Morocco?]; the Canary Islands;
[alaga, Spain?]; Island of [Kajorca?], across the Mediterranean to Algiers, to
Tunis, Tunisia; then [back?] across the Mediterranean to [arseilles?], France.
Of course he stopped long enough in each of those places to take in the sights
and get photographs. Our next trip was to Livorno, Italy, the port of call for
[Florence and Pisa?], both of which places we visited, and it was at [Pisa?]
that I bought the statue with the eagle. This trip was made worth while by the
Leaning Tower, the Cathedral, its Baptistry with acoustics seldom found
elsewhere in such perfection, and the burial place of the Crusaders, with its
delicate Gothic arches and fresco of Dante's Inferno.
Page 23
"The ship next put in at Naples, Italy, and from there we made many interesting
trips, the first of these being to [Pompeii and Herculaneum?], to Vesuvius,
[sia?] with the baths of Nero, Capri and its famous blue grotto, and the ruins
of the palace of [Tiberius?].
"Well, you know you can't see anything when there is a crowd so to make the most
interesting trip in that territory I got up a party of just four, among them the
boy from Georgia who really was the cause of me being here now, but I will tell
you about that later. Anyhow, we jokingly called him "the rebel." The four of us
went to Rome and had three full days of sight-seeing. [We?] spent a whole
forenoon in the Coliseum itself, the Via [?] took another half day, the
catacombs of [Lt. Sebastian?] alone took three hours. In the Church of
[Lt.Sebastian?] they showed us a flagstone with the imprint of St. Peter's foot
as he left Rome during the reign of [Nero?], when things began to get too hot
for him. There on that spot Christ appeared to him heading toward [Rome?]; well,
its the story of 'Quo Vadis, [Dominic?]' fame. St. Peter left the imprint of his
foot there on the flagstone. But-- a few yards further on there is a church
built over a portion of the ancient Via [Apia?] and lo and behold, there is
another imprint of St. Peter's foot, and that is 'the only true one.' Which is
the right one has never been decided, and so the fight still goes on. [We?] also
saw the Forum, Temple of Vesta, the Arches of Constantine and Titus, and, to
close the last day, permission to see His Holiness, the Pope, carried in state
to the [istine?] Chapel, after waiting and wasting time standing in the loggia,
first on one foot and then the other.
In order to actually have an audience with the Pope the four of us again went to
Rome, this time in the ship's liberty party. I had a hell of a time to get the
'rebel' to go along this time as he seemed to have
Page 24
an unholy terror and fear in seeing the Pope. Finally, after a long wait, we
were allowed to enter the audience hall and after a few more minutes His
Holiness entered. His kindly face beamed as he shook hands with the thirty-five
sailors (I guess he is a good a hand-shaker as our President); he had a friendly
word for everyone and a blessing and souvenir rosary for Catholic and Protestant
alike (the old fogey), and won the heart of even our 'rebel' who, on the
outside, said 'Hell, he is just a man like the rest of us, except for the
uniform.' I guess he expected to see a pair of horns and a forked tail, instead
of that he saw a saintly old man with a face shining with kindness.
At the close of the audience a little incident occurred which gave me a great
thrill. His Holiness had gone down the line [as?] we were kneeling and extended
his hand with the symbolic ring, those of the faith kissing the ring and the
others bowing their heads to receive the blessing. I was the last man in the
line, and as he passed he noticed the Hospital Corp Cross on my sleeve. He
stopped and asked what it represented. When I told him the branch of service I
was in he said, 'my son, we may not be of the same faith but we are both in the
service of God.' We were all glad we came and it was well worth the three hours
or more waiting. This trip we visited chiefly the famous churches, from St.
Peter's to a beautiful little church converted from a pagan temple which is
remarkably well preserved, one of the most beautiful I think I have ever seen.
"Returning to Naples, the ship made a trip to the ports of the Black [Sea?],
finally reaching Constantinople where I was transferred to the U. S. Embassy but
officially attached to the USS Scorpion, which was the old [orgenthau?] yacht.
The Turks wouldn't allow any foreign war vessels in their harbors, but they
permitted the U. S. to keep the Scorpion there as
Page 25
she had no armament, but just the same she didn't lay around the harbor much,
but often made trips on the theory that the Turks wouldn't get tired looking at
her lying under their noses all the time. Uniforms were banned for the same
reason, and we were given strict [orders?] to be on our dignity so as not to
offend any of the Turkish officials. Imagine telling a sailor to be dignified!
Well, I was a petty officer and it wasn't so hard for me to do that, except when
I got out with the '[goba?]' and then I raised hell with the rest of them. In
the two years I spent there on that trip I did not have as much time to see
things as on my later visit but I did explore the city as much as I could, and
also studied their language and customs a lot, too.
"Well, in 1922 I was again transferred to the [Childs?] and went to Norfolk,
Virginia, and was sent from there up to [Bar Harbor?], Maine, to the Radio
Station. The station was at [Sea Hall?], about 29 miles out. I sure did enjoy
that tour of duty. I only had a few men to look after and plenty of time to
hunt, both with the rifle and camera. Enjoyed it especially in the winter when
the snow was deep and I could use snow shoes and skis. One night while there I
saw a phenomenon I'll never forget. When I went to bed the Aurora was brighter
than ordinary and during the night a heavy wind and snow storm came up. I was
awakened by one of the men calling to me and got up and went to the control
room. It seemed to be full of an unearthly greenish-blue flame, and a long drop
cord in the center of the ceiling was acting as if the spooks were at work on
it. It would swing over toward a control panel on one side of the room and then
in a few seconds it would suddenly swing over toward the generator on the other
side, and repeat the performance at regular intervals. We all got scared and got
a long ways off until the light faded. Scientific men made a report later that
it was
Page 26
caused by the thick snow falling through a highly charged strata and carrying
the static to the big antenna running into the building.
"Well, somebody else must have been itching for a good place to stay, because
early in 1924 I was called back to Norfolk and shipped on the Henderson, via
Africa, to join the Scorpion at [Hagusa, Jugo-Slavia?]. Man, that's some old
town. They have the old medieval customs and make a regular ritual of opening
and closing the city gates as they have done for hundreds of years.
"The Scorpion proceeded through Cattaro Bay with its old and beautiful scenery,
stopped at the Island of Korfu, then on through the Corinth Canal to [Piracus,
Greece?]. [Was Lucky?] again and had a nice trip to Athens where I saw all the
old and beautiful things, including the Parthenox. The Scorpion then took me
back to Constantinople, where I was again attached to the embassy, but still
officially with the Scorpion.
"No, I didn't find my old sweetheart in that port but there was plenty of
others. Now, I'm not going to spill a lot of [hooey?] about the morals of
sailors or make excuses, but what the folks call the immorality of the
foreigners is a damn sight better than the same thing in some of the so-called
civilized countries. Now, you take a man assigned to shore duty for a long
stretch; he would have to spend most of his spare time on the ship, if he didn't
live on shore, and would have to be in at certain hours and put up with a lot of
other regulations. Well, he can rent a good room and kitchenette for five
dollars a month, get him a good looking girl, and live like a king. Yes, they do
everything a wife would do and a lot more than most of them. And let me tell
you, they are a darn sight more capable and economical in running a house than
the girls here. They have it bred
Page 27
into them in those countries ... They mend and press your clothes, buy the
groceries, do the cooking, and they sure can cook, and keep the place spotlessly
clean. And while you have her she is your woman and nobody else can touch her.
Yes, as soon as you're gone she will be looking for another man, but they got to
live just like everyone else.
"Since [Kemal Attaturk?] began to reform the country I suppose there have been
many changes, and things would be a lot different than when I was there, but my
camera retained for me the things as I saw them, and bring back to my mind the
incidents that happened at that time. Some things I didn't photograph pop into
mind once in a while and I was just thinking of the time I saw the fire
department go into action. They didn't have any [waterworks?] then, just a well
here and there, and there seemed to be two crews of firemen, one with red
equipment and the other with green. The men wore helmets like the old Roman
soldiers and a little short [tunic?], the rest of the body being bare. Their
pump was a sort of barrel-shaped thing which was carried on the shoulders of six
men, some extra men being in front and behind them to relieve if the trip was
very far, and a number of men carried buckets. There wasn't any signal system,
but a watchman in a tower in some part of the city would cry out when he saw
what looked like a fire maybe the word would get around to the firemen after a
while. When they heard about a fire they would start running toward the spot and
the first crew there might get the job of putting out the fire. If both crews
got there about the same time, they would begin bidding on the job of putting
out the fire. That's what happened one day when I was lucky enough to be nearby,
and damned if the building didn't burn down before the owner decided which crew
he would hire.
Page 28
"Well, magazines have carried pictures and fine descriptions of the beautiful
mosques and palaces in Turkey and nothing I could say would make them more
beautiful or interesting. I do say, though, that the so called Christianized
people who are always talking about the Turks or [Mohammedans?] being so
terribly intolerant, don't know what they are talking about. They always cite
the fact that the beautiful mosaics n the mosque of [St. Sofia?] have been
covered with [echre?]. Well, did you ever see a picture of the Virgin Mary in a
Presbyterian or other protestant church? I have been in St. Sofia many times and
the thought came to me the first time that if these people were so intolerant,
why didn't they destroy the mosaics? A Yankee boy with a handful of stones could
spoil one in a few good throws. And in many cases the only part of the picture
covered is the face, and some of these are not even painted over but covered
with a gold star. In the name Mosque, on either side of the opening in the
hall-way where the faithful enter the inner temple there is a beautiful statue
which could have been destroyed with a blow of a hammer; instead they are
enclosed in cabinets which are closed up during religious ceremonials, and can
be opened to the view of the public at other times.
"I had a little adventure in connection with this mosque which might be worth
telling about. It was built by The Emperor Justinian I as a Catholic shrine, and
is considered the third most holy mosque in Turkey. For that reason it was, at
that time at least, closely guarded, and no one was allowed to carry anything
inside which might desecrate it. I had tried for nearly a year to get permission
to photograph some of the interior but was always refused permission. Well, one
day I got acquainted with a shepherd who tended his flock not far from there and
Page 29
and after I had visited him many times I told him what I wanted. He finally told
me of a way to get in through a narrow opening between the bastions in the rear
which was covered with bushes. I sneaked through the opening and not seeing the
guard inside I set up my tripod and camera and got two good pictures. Just as I
was hurriedly taking down the outfit the guard entered and saw me. He raised his
long barreled rifle and was about to drill me when the [shepherd?] rushed in
with his hands up, shouting the Arabic word for "immunity." This was my cue and
I dug out my embassy assignment card and handed it to him. Of course he didn't
know what it said but as we were immune from about everything else he thought I
hadn't got a picture yet he finally got friendly and was very courteous from
then on.
"One day I heard that same prominent man had died and his funeral was to be held
at the Mosque of [Ryoub?], on the Golden Horn. [Hiking?] out there I joined the
crowd lining the street and waited for the ceremonial procession. I noticed a
young man in European clothes standing next to me and spoke to him in Arabic. He
answered me in better English than I ever spoke and we immediately became
friends. He was highly educated in English and other languages, was a graduate
of one of our own famous universities, and was the personal secretary of the
[Sheik El Islam?], the spiritual head of the Church in that part of the empire.
He did me many favors during the rest of my stay and helped me to learn more of
the [Mohammedans?] and their customs.
"Not long after we met, the month of the [Hamidan?] began. During this period,
which begins when the first sickle of the new moon appears after the [Vernal
Equinox?], the faithful fast every day from sunrise to sundown, not
Page 30
even a drop of water reaching their lips. But you'd ought to see them eat and
drink between sunset and sunrise! They sure do make up for lost time.
"During this month there is one night set apart from the rest and called the
Night of Power. On this night the spirits are supposed to descend on each
worshipper and give him the power to control his body and mind, in fact make
them sort of supermen. That is, if they are able to get themselves wrought up to
the proper pitch for the reception of the power. I had long wanted to witness
one of these gatherings but it seemed I was doomed to disappointment, until I
met my new friend and asked him if he could help me out. Well, through his
influence with the Sheik I was permitted to attend, clothed in the proper robes
and instructed how to act. I must say that I was not greatly impressed with the
show. It was not nearly as wild as I had been led to believe; in fact, I've seen
a lot crazier demonstrations of fanatical emotionalism right here at home at
[Holy Holler?] meetings. Very few of the worshipers went into contortions and
for the most part it was more of a mass action, the robed figures swaying from
side to side and forward and back in unison, me with the rest of them. Maybe its
all [hooey?], but I know from close contact with them that they sure do know how
to control their tempers, especially when some fool white man does something
that would mean fight right now in any other country.
"I sure enjoyed life there and sometimes wished I could have stayed there
permanently, but all things must keep moving, so early in 1926 I was ordered to
the USS Pittsburg, at Ville franche, France. And here began the long trip which
finally landed me back in the States, on the last lap of my journey to Georgia.
I have a long way to go yet so will be brief in describing the many things I saw
on the way. The Pittsburg first went to
Page 31
Naples, where I had been before, and then to [Palarmo?], Sicily. From here I
made/ /a trip to Monte Santo Monastery
with the world-famous cloisters. A few hours ride took me to several ancient
Greek temples and amphitheatres, many of which are in an excellent state of
preservation.
"[Malta?]. Not much of interest there except the quaint headdresses of the
women, which they wear in shameful remembrance of Napoleon's visit. The claim is
that there was not a virgin left in Malta after he and his hordes got through.
Shameful work, maybe, but very good taste, for the women generally are
beautiful, and our sailors said, with Caesar, "[Vani?], Vidi, Vici" - they did
not find them hard to conquer.
"Alexandria, Egypt. Not much of interest except the Botanical Gardens, but at
Cairo there was the University, Citadel, Tombs of the [Pamelukes, Bazears?],
and, if you have the courage, the Arab quarters with the [dens?] of iniquity and
[hashish?].
"Bizeh and the Pyramides and Sphynx. [?] and the [Nedropolis?] of the Pharoahs
Household Officers and also the Sacred Bulls. The pyramid of [Sakara?] is one of
the oldest in existence. Nearby are the ruins of [Nemphis?], The [Alabaster?]
Sphynx, the Collosi of [Rameese?] II, one alabaster and the other sandstone.
Karnak with its gigantic temple with collosi of the Pharaohs. [?], and the
Valley of the Tombs.
"Palestine, landing at Port of [?] at the foot of Mount [Carvel?], we went to
Nazareth and Tiberius, on the shore of Lake [Genazereth (Galilee)?] we paid a
visit to the newly founded colony of Jews. Their work bids fair to make of their
old homeland and land where milk and honey flows.
"Through [Camaria to Nablus?], where the High Priest Jacob, of the [sect?] of
the vanishing [Samaritans?], showed us the ancient Thorah, one of the oldest
manuscripts in the world. After a visit to Jacob's well we went on to
Page 32
Jerusalem. My host, a monk of the Trappist order, informed me that a visit to
the Sailing [Wall?] of the Jews would be worth while, as this was one of the
feast days. The wall was crowded with a motley of Jews of all nationalities,
mourning and wailing over the loss of the Temple of Soloman's glory. Then a
visit to the temple area proper with the Dome of the Rock, erroneously called
the Mosque of Omar, which is built over the rock called [Moriah?]. This delicate
and most beautiful building, with its arabesque decorations, and its dome rising
[98] feet above the sacred rock, is considered one of the most beautiful in the
world, and justly so. There is a cavern underneath the rock where one can note
the conduit for the blood of the sacrificial animals for the burnt offering of
the Jewish ritual. Continuing we turn south and after descending a flight of
steps we approach the Mosque [Kl Akea?] which in Justinian's time was the Church
of St. Mary. On entering this mosque we note the cruciform shape of the
building. Underneath it we note the Double Gate of Herod's time and it is
pointed out to visitors that Christ often passed through this gate. North of
here is the Golden Gate, which seems to be the only part of the city which was
not destroyed by Titus, and through this gate Christ made his triumphal entry on
his jackass. The gate itself is [walled?] up because it was believed by the
Moslems that some day a Christian conqueror would again enter Jerusalem through
this gate. [Phooey?], they say the same thing of the Golden Gate in
Constantinople, which also is [walled?] up.
"Our second day began with a visit to the dwelling of Pontius Pilate with the
"[Zose Home?]" Arch, then following the Via Doloroso to the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre. This may all be very interesting to some, but to me the Street of
David with its ancient shops and overhanging balconies, where people still live
and dress as they did in the time of Christ, was
Page 33
very much more interesting, for there one has to believe what they tell you with
reservations, as the different churches differ in pointing out the holy places,
except the actual sepulchre, while here life is real and unpainted.
"Next, to the Garden of [Gethsomane?] with its ancient olive trees, said to have
seen the passion of Christ (even Monks will tell little white lies). The
crowning glory, however, is the little dome built over the spot on the summit of
the Mount of Olives from which Christ rose into heaven, for here they will show
you with reverence (for a few [piastres?]) a footprint of the Saviour Himself,
which he made when he gave himself an extra little push to aid the cloud to take
him up. The footprint is some fifteen inches long and six inches wide, some
footprint for a perfect formed man like He was reputed to be. On the trip to
Jericho they pointed out the Inn of the Good Samaritan, and near the Dead Sea a
monolith of rock salt which is the reminder of Lot's wife as she looked back on
burning Sodom and [Gomorrah?], and across the river Jordan the place where
Christ was baptized by John. Here the gullible tourist must buy some water from
the very spot where Christ stood during his baptism.
"Next to Bethlehem, and on the way there, Rachel's Tomb. The Church of the
Nativity, very interesting indeed because the Latin Church, the Greek Church,
the Coptic Church, etc., will show you the very spot where Christ was born (all
different) and the Latin Church will go the others one better by showing a gold
star (looks like brass) let into one of the flagstones in the floor, the spot
where the light from the star that guided the three wise men to the manger
stopped. Just outside the Temple was a shop where they made beautiful
mother-of-pearl articles for sale to tourists.
Page 34
"From Bethlehem we went back to Jerusalem and made a side trip to an Arab
settlement at Bethsida. The only unusual sight on this trip was an Arab farmer
plowing with one ox. His plow was entirely of wood and consisted of one long
beam which extended clear up to the [mock-yoke?], the plow point being simply a
short beam set at an angle to the plow beam, and the farmer walked alongside the
plow, holding it with one hand and [?] the ox along with a long pointed stick
held in the other hand. Quite a contrast to the modern plows we see here at
home.
"Getting back to the ship at Haifa we proceeded to Mudros, Greece, the island
windmills seen from a distance reminding one of Holland. Next, to [Trieste?],
Italy, and then to Venice where we spent 5 days. A fine place to rest, and the
'rebel' and I put in a whole night in a [gondola?]. We inspected the Lido and
the Grand Canal, as well as the painted beauties who sit on their balconies and
wait for the smart uniformed sailors to come and make love to them. The most
interesting building wa the Cathedral of St. Marks, with its altar of solid gold
encrusted with 3,000 precious stones and which was stolen from the Mosque of St.
Sofia, in Constantinople, by the Crusaders. Remember what I said about
intolerance of Christians? It makes me laugh to myself sometimes when I think of
the contradictions one finds in a world journey.
"We next put in at Gibraltar and spent two days exchanging [courtesies?] with
the British. A bunch of us also made a trip to [Algosiras?] to see a bullfight.
Ha, ha, I laugh yet at a drunken sailor who thought he'd show the crowd how tame
a bull was in the ring. He climbed over the fence and started across the arena
about the same time the picadore started pestering the bull. Guess the bull
thought the sailor would be more friendly than
Page 35
the [picador?] for he started plunging toward him before he had got far from the
fence. The sailor must have been fuddled in the head, cause he waited till the
bull was almost up to him before he whirled round to beat it to the fence.
Skidding on some fresh [dung?], the sailor went down, uniform and all, rolled
over a few times in some more fresh [dung?], finally stopping with the big bull
standing over him and blowing froth in his face. The matadors and picadors were
there about as soon as the bull and they took the bull's attention long enough
for some of us to get the sailor up and over the fence. The brave sailor wasn't
harmed a bit, but didn't he get [razzed?] from then on for his appearance when
he reported back to the ship.
"We next called at Amsterdam and [?], Holland. This is a beautiful country,
flowers everywhere, and the windmills are certainly picturesque. The most
interesting thing to me was the two outlying islands, [Markem?] and
[Vollendam?], which, at that time at least, were a fine example for the student
of [eugenics?]. Many years ago the Queen of Holland issued an edict that these
two islands should always remain as they were, the people to live, dress and eat
as they had done for centuries, preserving a sort of living monument for the
students of coming generations. Well, I first visited [Markem?], on which the
natives for years have been Protestants. Here I was downright disgusted with
what I saw. The people were all pale, colorless folks, many of them
[vacant-eyed?] and staring, many verging on the idiotic, all in a state of
lethargy; many sickly and crippled, and their homes and surroundings showed the
same state of general [debility?]. Here I found that, in spite of the fact that
there never was a restriction on immigration so long as the new-comer took up
the ancient mode of living, these people had intermarried for so many years that
the tribe was fast getting to the point where there was danger of a complete
collapse of the whole settlement. Imagine my surprise
Page 36
when I visited Vollendam, to find that there almost the opposite extreme. The
people there had always been Catholic and as the church forbids intermarriage of
blood relation, all these years there has been a constant steady inbreeding of
new blood into the settlement, and a blind man could almost sense the difference
in the two islands. Sure, the folks on Vollendam lived just the same as their
ancestors did, so far as dress, eating and other customs are concerned, but they
are a happy, energetic, good looking bunch of folks, in fact the men are damn
near as good looking as the women. I'm not a Catholic any more, or anything else
for that matter, but I learned one lesson on that trip, and that is that blood
really is thicker than water.
"Well, we next went to [Antwerp?], Belgium, and some of us got a nine-day leave
to go to Paris. 'reb' and I went together as we had been doing for some time,
and did we celebrate on that trip! When we got to Paris I insisted on sticking
to a system we had worked out some time back ... We both like to drink our share
and have our share of girls, but my idiosyncracy was that I didn't like to mix
them, the girls usually get too sloppy or weepy; in fact, they are a mess when
they get drunk. So I always insisted on tossing a coin when we started out;
heads - we would make the rounds of the taverns, tails - we would look for the
painted ladies. Well, we had plenty of both, but most of this was at night; the
daylight hours found us taking in the much advertised sights, and taking a few
pictures for our own albums. On our way back to [Antworp?] we stopped in
beautiful old Brussels, and shortly after we boarded ship she was ordered back
to the States.
"Preparing for the homeward journey, we hoisted the homeward-bound pennant, a
strip of small flags each a foot long, ours being [860?] feet in length, one for
each man on the ship, including the officers. Before reaching
Page 37
home the pennant is taken down and cut up, each man getting his flag for a
keepsake and souvenir of his tour in foreign waters.
"It was now the fall of the 1927 and after landing at Norfolk Hospital I was
again sent to the radio station at Bar Harbor, where I stayed nearly two years.
During the winter the crew were moved to another place and when they asked for a
volunteer to stay and guard the property I spoke first and they all voted to let
me have the job. Well, I was back where I could again use the skis and
snowshoes, had the good Springfield rifle, plenty of ammunition, lots of food
and fuel, and not much to bother me, except once in a while a prowler trying to
steal a load of copper from the storage. I shot a hole in a fellow's gas tank
one night. He heard me getting up to investigate before he had taken anything
and about the time I raised the window he lit out with his truck, but I let him
have one so he'd know it wasn't safe to try it again. Another night, later when
the weather was warmer, I woke up on night and heard a noise out by one of the
250-foot wooden towers holding the antenna. I knew there wasn't anything out
there to steal but I went out with the rifle anyway. Imagine my surprise to see
a man and a woman climbing up the tower ladder, which was made of rough stuff
and was only a temporary makeshift. When I called and asked where they were
going, the man said, up to the top. I told them there was nothing doing, they'd
better come down or I'd take a shot at them. They finally climbed down and when
I asked them what the big idea was the girl spoke up and said, well, I've 'loved
him up' about every other place along the Maine coast and when he stumped me to
try it up there I said 'let's go. I was afraid one of them might fall of the
thing if I let 'em go up so I insisted that they must turn round and get off the
government reserve or I'd phone the sheriff. They finally left and I went back
to bed. Well, I had a fine time hunting and taking pictures on that
Page 38
tour of duty. You know the fine game preserve belonging to Edsel Ford and young
Rookefeller was near there and we boys were given the freedom of the place
because we were rightly good in helping keep prowlers away from there.
"Well, I was called back to Norfolk and assigned to the Whitney which went on
Atlantic Coast duty with the destroyer squadron. Not going into detail about the
fine things in our own country. I remained on the Whitney until 1932 and was
assigned to the [League?] Island Hospital at Philadelphia.
"Here is where we can tell about how I came to be a 'Georgia Cracker' because it
was during my stay at Philadelphia that the matter was settled. Further back in
my story I mentioned Joe, the 'rebel,' as being the reason for my coming here.
Well, it's funny how men will take a younger man under their wing or make chums
of them, and that is how Joe and/ /I
came to buddy together after meeting on the Pittsburg. One time later he started
talking one day about how we ought to fix
things so we would have a home to go to when we left the service, and he was all
for buying a farm where we could both settle down and raise chickens. Said he
knew the very section where we would do the best. Of course he didn't press the
matter all at once but mentioned it once in a while to keep me interested. Well,
when I got to Philadelphia, I had a lot of time on my hands, especially on week
ends, and one time Joe invited me to spend the week end with his parents, who
were living in Philly at that time. After a few visits with them they started
talking about this place we are on, what a fine place it could be made into, how
cheap it could be bought, and that it was the very thing for us to buy it and
have a living in view when we came out. We finally agreed that each of us would
put in so much each month out of our pay, his folks would move to the farm and
get things in shape, improve it as much as possible and they would be grateful
for the chance to make their living
Page 39
out of the crops. The matter was finally settled and we made the purchase and
the folks moved to Georgia. That's when my troubles began. Joe and I were not
together much so I had no way of telling if he was doing his part, but it wasn't
long before the folks started writing to me for money to do this and the other
thing, buy mules, tools of many kinds, pay taxes, and God knows what else. Of
course I didn't worry then, I thought I was preparing a little Paradise for
myself and Joe later on.
"Well, not long after the matter was settled I was transferred to the Brazos and
went to San Diego for duty with the Pacific fleet. Although I enjoyed the tour
of duty I was looking forward to my new home, as my time was nearly out, and in
February 1935 I came back to New York and was mustered out at the receiving
ship.
"After a short visit in New York I came to the farm and I guess you know my
feelings when I found the conditions here. I don't accuse anyone of being
crooked, but for the life of me I can't imagine what was done with the money I
spent on the place. The folks were still on the place and I lived with them and
began trying to clean things up, but it was a discouraging job. Later I found
that Joe hadn't put in one cent toward either buying or fixing things up and so
I had to pin them down and get a release from the contract and took over the
contract myself. In the fall of 1935 I went to Pensacola and bought a half
interest in a business there but was taken with pneumonia and had to quit. I
came home in May 1936 and finally told the folks they would have to move out.
Out of the frying pan into the fire --- I got another family with a fine team of
heavy mules, four big husky sons, and a lot of promises, but look what at what I
got! The place is worse than ever. Just this last season, [on 7?] acres of good
land they raised only three small bales of cotton, the
Page 40
heaviest only 450 pounds. And if it wasn't for the good neighbors sending stuff
over I don't know what we would have done for garden stuff. It seems as if there
was always some very important matter to be attended to in town, the weather was
too hot or too cold, too wet or too dry, most anything for an excuse to put the
work off till the next day, which never comes.
"Well, neighbor, I guess I've talked myself out. You know I got rid of the big
family and now have a new tenant, just man and wife, and I believe they will do
what I ask them to do; in fact, you can see that they have already cleaned the
place up more than anyone else I've had and maybe I will get over being
discouraged and begin to make things hum as I want them to."
"Well, Chief, that was some story, most enough for a book, if you could let me
put in all details, but I want to know 'how come' you are so successful with the
'buzzards' as you call them."
"That's easy. Just as soon as we had decided to buy a farm I began to write to
different dealers in the States, and to many concerns dealing in materials
connected with the poultry business. I also took a correspondence course which
in connection with my own knowledge of anatomy and drugs have given me a great
advantage over the ordinary poultryman. Of course, I have made mistakes like
everyone else. The biggest one was in not buying baby chicks often enough. At a
time when I needed eggs most, and the market was high, I didn't have layers
enough and had to buy lower quality eggs to piece out. You know I weigh every
egg I sell to my regular trade and don't deliver one under two ounces in weight.
The culls I sell to the stores."
"Well, Chief, one thing more before we quit. You told me one day about plans for
raising grapes and making wine. Are you still looking forward to that?"
Page 41
"Yes, if I keep my health and never, I still plan to lay out some of these bills
into a vineyard. I already have a small start, but it takes capital to do the
thing right. I have a bachelor friend in New York who spent many years in France
and who knows the wine business as much as I do, and if things work out to our
satisfactions he may come down and go in with me on the proposition, and we will
go into it on a large scale. If he does come, we plan to tear down this old
house, build a modern bungalow with basement, facing it toward that fine view of
the mountain, and tear down the barn which obstructs part of the view. I want to
see that long valley pasture made into a clear water lake, with perhaps a few
small cottages on the shore, and most of all, a pavilion where the good people
could come out to sit and rest and sip some fine home-made wine from Georgia
grapes. Maybe I'm dreaming, but I bet you have been dreaming too, and there
ain't any harm in us old folks dreaming."
"Yes, Chief, I've dreamed of owning a piece of land in these red hills, seeding
it down to cover crops and rotating as they did where I was raised, just to show
the folks that it can be done. I'm too old to expect to see it through, but my
two boys could do it, and although I was born and raised in the city, I hope
that they will become inured to the soil, and stick to it."
"Well, neighbor, it's nearly time to feed the buzzards, so let's have a little
drink of wine and call it a day."
Standing with our glasses in hand I happened to be facing the picture of his
ancestral home, so I raised my glass and said, "to Switzerland." The Chief
raised his and said "to Georgia." ... together we said "[Gerundheit?]." The subject of this sketch died on Dec.
23-1940
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project,
1936-1940 Item 17 of 73
[The Family of an Automobile Worker]
Mrs. Sam [?]. Whelchel
1391 Miller Reed Ave., S.E.
Atlanta, Ga.
The Family of an Automobile Worker
A few months ago the Chevrolet plant in Atlanta was shut down and all the
workers were idle for several weeks. But now the labor troubles are over, and
the plant is working five days a week. The change in the outlook of the employee
was typified in the expression of Mr. Whelchel when he came into the labor union
office with a broad grin on his face, to get the lunch that his oldest son had
brought in a basket. He recognized one of the interviewers, who had formerly
taught a class among the automobile workers. They exchanged quick, hearty
greetings before Mr. Whelchel hurried into the back of the office with his
lunch. The interviewer asked if it would be all right for him to go down and
interview his wife.
"Sure, go ahead."
The Whelchels live on a side street near the automobile plant, in a brown frame
house of seven rooms - seven small rooms, as we found when we made a tour of the
house. The lot is narrow but deep, stretching back almost two hundred feet to
form a pasture for the cow which supplies the family with milk. The front yard
is very small, but sodded with bermuda grass. The houses around the Whelchel's
are similar in style and size, all frame structures, with small front yards
planted in grass, and a few shrubs here and there.
Mrs. Whelchel was sitting on the porch, with her youngest child on her lap. She
was combing and curling its hair. When
Page 2
we told her what we wanted she said that we had come to the wrong place, for she
didn't think that she could tell us much that would be interesting. However, she
began talking anyway, and told us that she was chairman of the home arts
committee of the Women's Auxiliary. The home arts class, she said, was then
working on some "gypsy glaze" pictures. She showed them to us later, and we
found them to be designs painted on glass in transparent colors, with tinfoil on
the back to reflect the light. She showed them with pride and sincere interest,
and was genuinely pleased when we evidenced some enthusiasm over a design of a
[sombre?] looking ship sailing a black ocean. She regarded her work critically,
and remarked of one of the pictures, "I haven't ever been satisfied with the way
that bird in the middle looks. I'll have to do it over." Impartially considered,
the pictures were crude and gaudy, inharmonious mixtures of bright reds,
yellows, and greens; but it was obvious that they were to Mrs. Whechel an outlet
for the creative impulse. She did not draw the designs freehand, she said, but
traced them from stencils the teacher of the class supplied. They included a
ship, butterflies, and flowers, and parrots.
She showed us over the house, first explaining, however, that it was not all
cleaned up. There was a mixture cleanliness and untidiness. The plaster of the
walls and ceilings was badly cracked, giving an air of dilapidation, as did the
mantel, with its cracked mirror, and the empty aquarium upon it. The living room
had many cheap and incongruous knicknacks
Page 3
here and there. The large calendar which hung on one wall of the dining room
helped the gaudy 'gypsy glaze" pictures to make the walls look like the displays
at the midway of the fair. The front bedroom was a jumble of bedclothes, an old
bedstead - which Mrs. Whelchel explained was the only piece of furniture that
Mr. Whelchel had brought from his mother's home - a box full of books, and
trash. It was evident, however, that some degree of order and cleanliness was
usually maintained, for the colored girl who lived in one of the back rooms had
just mopped the floors. All the floors were covered with linoleum. "Sam wanted
to get regular rugs," said Mrs. Whelchel, "but I said, no, we'd better get
linoleum on account of the children, and they're so much easier to keep clean."
Mrs. Whelchel had first told us that we had better come back for the interview
when she was not so busy, and up to now had been merely extending to us a sort
of preliminary hospitality. But there didn't seem to be a time when she would
not be busy, after some minutes of trying to arrange a future date, she decided
that now was as good a time as any. We sat down in the living room, and she took
up some crocheting so that she might work with her hands while she talked. She
was making some coasters for iced-tea glasses.
One of the interviewers, seeing some wandering [jew?] in a hanging vase,
casually asked if it were not bad luck to have wandering jew in the house. "I
never heard of it," she said, "but did you ever hear that it was bad luck to
have goldfish in the house? There's a lady down the street from me that
Page 4
won't have any because she believes it is bad luck." Mrs. Whelchel, however, did
not share this superstition, but planned to fill her empty aquarium and get more
fish.
We had both noticed a large atlas that sat on a table in a corner of the living
room, and asked about it. "I was hoping you would ask about that," she said,
obviously proud if it. "We got that with a set of books we bought for the
children. Sam bought the Book of Knowledge Encyclopedia, and we could either get
that or a bookcase. We took the atlas, because I had always wanted one." She
carried us into the front bedroom where the books were still in the box in which
they were shipped. On examination they proved to have bad print and worse
reproductions of photographs and other illustrations. We asked how much they
cost. "Eighty dollars," she replied. "We pay four dollars a month." It was
impossible for the interviewers to refrain from observing mentally that the
books were not worth that much, even with the atlas, which was almost as cheap
looking as the "gypsy glaze" pictures. She had bought the books for the
children, she said, and this led us to ask what plans she and her husband had
for their children's education. "It looks like now we will be doing good if we
can put them through high school. Then if any of them shows any talent for
anything special, we'll try to send them to college."
Neither Mrs. Whelchel nor her husband went to college, and Mr. Whelchel did not
finish high school. "I graduated
Page 5
from Piedmont High School at Demorest, Georgia," she said. Don't get it mixed up
with Piedmont College," she cautioned, "I wish it was, but it was Piedmont High
School." She was proud of the fact that she had had five more points than was
necessary when she graduated, even though she had attended the school only two
years. She had attended another high school for one year before going to
Piedmont, however. From high school she went to a business college in Athens,
Georgia, and took a general course.
Mr. Whelchel's various jobs include being a shipping clerk, refinishing
furniture for the Western Union Telegraph Company, and working as a lineman for
the Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company. He is now on the unloading platform of
the Chevrolet Company, having been until a few months ago a buffer, which, Mrs.
Whelchel explained, meant that he polished off the scratches from the fenders of
new cars. He now works forty hours a week on the unloading platform, making
eighty cents an hour.
"No, we'll never get rich at that," she remonstrated, "but it's all right while
it lasts. But two weeks off will just ruin you."
We were interrupted by one of the little boys coming in with an orange which he
wanted his mother to peel for him. It was Bobby, who had broken his arm a few
days before and now carried it in a sling. He is the middle child, aged four.
Philip, the oldest, is six years old, and he is the one who carries lunch to his
father each day. Tommy is the baby, only two years old. Mrs. Whelchel fixed the
orange, while Bobby
Page 6
stood at her side, very shy in the presence of the visitors, and whispered
something in her ear. In a few minutes Philip came in, also very shy, and walked
timidly into the back part of the house. "Hello, Doll," greeted Mrs. Whelchel,
but the little fellow was too timid to reply where the strangers could overhear.
It was evident that Mrs. Whelchel was fond of all her children, and we were
surprised that they were so very timid. During the whole time we were there they
did not speak to us, though we tried to get a rise out of them by making
comments about the toy mechanical train and asking them to explain how it
worked.
Someone knocked on the door, and Mrs. Whelchel got up and paid the insurance
collector. "We have two policies on each child," she said. "We let them lapse a
while back, "but we've renewed them." One of the policies on each child is with
the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, and includes a free nursing service.
"Yes, it's right good," she answered our query, "but when one of my children
gets sick I don't wait for the nurse. I send for the doctor right then." The
nurse attended Mrs. Whelchel when she returned from the hospital after her last
confinement, and also helped when the youngest child had the measles some weeks
ago.
"No, we haven't got a car. We had one up to the time we moved over here. We were
living in a house up there near the school then, and paying fifteen dollars a
month rent. The landlady said we could have the house for a year for that much,
but in about six months she told us that in two weeks the rent would be raised
to twenty-two fifty." Both Mrs. Whelchel
Page 7
and her husband were angry at this breach of contract, and decided to move
rather than pay more rent. They wanted to buy a home, but Mrs. Whelchel knew
that they could not afford both a home and a car. "'It's either a home or a
car," I said to Sam," Mrs. Whelchel related. "Sam sat there a while, and said,
'I can't live in the car. I'll let the car go and get me a house we can sleep
in.' So we found this house and bought it because the terms was reasonable, and
it was close to Sam's work." When they moved into their new home it needed much
work done on it. The front yard was a series of red gullies. There was no
bathroom, and the only toilet was in a shack connected to the back of the house.
They fell to and [sodded?] the yard, built a concrete-floored bathroom with
shower, and painted the woodwork on the inside. Recently a new sleeping porch
has been added, the work being done by Mrs. Whelchel's father. The whole family
sleeps on this porch.
She carried us back through the house to see the sleeping porch, of which she
was very proud. On the way through the kitchen she showed us her electric ironer
and new gas stove. "A while back," she said, "when Sam was laid off for so long,
he wanted to let the ironer go, but I just couldn't see it, with the two little
ones coming on. We managed to hold on to everything." While we were examining
the new stream-lined kitchen stove Mrs. Whelchel opened the oven door and gave
us some /cup cakes which she had just
baked. She gave us also a glass of milk each. She had told us before that she
kept a cow. "Sam can't quite see havin' her, but we use so much milk I told him
it was cheaper. Two quarts a day pays for the feed."
Page 8
We asked if she ever sold any milk. "I have sold some, but we use it all now."
She also showed us a calf in the backyard, which she said they would kill soon.
The sleeping porch was not so much a porch as we had imagined, having no more
windows than an ordinary bedroom.
In the living room we had seen a gas heater, and asked her now if that was the
only kind of heat the had. "That's all," she replied. "We have three heaters,
and an automatic water heater that holds thirty gallons, and a gas
refrigerator." We wondered if this were not expensive. "Cheapest heat we've ever
had," she said. "Our gas bill was five dollars and two cents last month, and the
coldest month last year was only eleven dollars. The other people around here
burn about a ton of coal a month, and we figure this is cheaper.
There are two boarders with the Whelchels. "Sam kind of lets me do what I want
to with the board money," she said, "but I usually pay bills with it." Besides
this extra income from boarders, they sometimes sell milk or chickens. "We
raised thirty-five chickens once, and sold enough of them to pay for the cost
and the feed, and had the rest clear. We ate about twenty of them ourselves."
Although Mrs. Whelchel does not sew for others, she does her own sewing. "I sew
it all," she said. "Make clothes for the children and for myself too." It was
apparent that the dress she was wearing was home-made.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Whelchel were reared on farms in the northeast section of
Georgia. Mr. Whelchel worked in all the surrounding states before finally
settling down. "I always said that he went all over the country first, and then
come back home to get him a wife," commented Mrs. Whelchel. They are both
between thirty and thirty-five years old.
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project,
1936-1940 Item 18 of 73
[A Farming Preacher-Prophet]
LIFE HISTORY
March 6, 1939
March 7, 1939
Nick Waller (Negro)
290 Tabernacle St.
Athens, Ga.
*1 [Preacher*2] and [farmer*1] *2
Grace McCune THE [?] A FARMING PREACHER
-Porphet I had heard quiet a bit about Tom,
as he [?] is a well known figure
in about town, and coming across
him on one of the main street, I asked him
if he would give me a the history of his
life. He readily agreed to meet me [?]
about two hours at a local barber shop where he agreed, but said he would be busy for about two hours
for he had to would
talk but in the meantime he had to "tend to some business" tend some business. But that he would meet me
at that time at a local barber shop where we could talk.
Tom is famous for his knowledge of his
remarks about the Bible , as he understands it , also for his [?] power or gift of
seeing things and predicting future events. I didn't want to
miss him and was at the appointed place I arrived at the shop ahead of the time appointed for
I before time did not want to miss
him. Several people was were in the shop there, and [?] having a very friendly but spirited arguement
argument. and just as one
of them a young
man was told that he was " just
impossible," Tom came in.
The young man said, "Tom, did you hear what they called me ? and what do you think about it?
"That they is wrong," Tom [solomanly?] replied, "for with
God, nothing [?] is impossible.
He [?] He's the only one that is that's mpossible impossible.
"I knew Tom would take up for me," the young man said youth boasted, "and [?]
I guess you all will let me alone after this." After a
little The
argument more of their
argument, [?] and they left.
As they went out , Tom said, "Mistess just what is it that old Tom can tell you, for
you knows I'se just a plain old ignorant
Page 2
stick man, that was borned and raised in the country. Yes'm [Yess'm?], I was borned right
down yonder in Oglethorpe County, and that' is that's still home to me.
"I worked in the fields when I was too little to last - out all day. When I went to school it was in just a plain old
country school. The school house was made out of logs and the cracks was daubed
with red mud to keep the cold wind out for us really had winters then.
"Along in them times schools won't wasn't no
ways lak they is now. Our only book was that old Blue Back Speller. Yes,
Mistess, that is that's what us larnt
,
and too , us stayed all day, and we us started
out to school soon as it was good daylight. [?] Wasn't no going then at eight and nine o'clock in the mornin' lak chillun chilluns do so now. I didn't git
to go to school, 'cepting just two or three years, 'cause I had to work in the
fields. ∥ When I was bigger big enough
to work all day, I was paid 15cts [?] a
day. Yes sum em , 15cts a day was good pay for us chillun in them days. My home was
just like all the other houses then on the farms 'specially for the colored
folks, just a plain old log cabin, and they called 'em notched houses, don't
'spect you knows what a notched house is ?
"But you know us didn't have saw mills back then, so us couldn't make planks,
and nails won't wasn't plentiful
[?] neither, so they just notched the
logs as then they would log to make 'em fit
and the cracks was all daubed with red clay and them old chimbles chimblies, they was made with
sticks and red clay too but [?] us was
happy and contented 'cause that was all us knowed.
"I tell you them old black molasses and ash cakes sho' [#?] tasted good
'specially after a day in the fields and us only had a biscuit on Sunday
mornin', but that one biscuit made us feel rich, or as you say now like lak millionaires, only us didn't
know nothin' 'bout that then. When us had biled [?] [vitals] it was most times just plain poke
Page 3
berry sallet, but we us enjoyed it.
"I remember too [#?] that good old eatin' when my mother [?] fixed ash cakes and [in ?] sweet milk and many a day that is what us et,
and us was happy to git it. Yess m Yess'm them
was happy days, more so than they is now.
"We won't Us wasn't up to dressin' then
lak us is now and most all us wore was just one garment . that's right
!
and that garment was just a long shirts shirt. [?]'se worked many a day in the field in [????? just a long shirt shirts. They was made right at home too . [??] mother would weave the cloth on her old loom at nights , and
plenty times when us didn't have candles, she worked by the light from light[??] lighted knots and us chillun
would play 'round on the floor.
"The very day I was big enough to plough
plow, what you 'spose I ploughed plowed
with? Well it was [?] old Mike, our old
ox. He was just as good as a mule any day and when we us got out of bread, then one of us just put a sack of
corn on Mike's back and a way us went, and it was eight or ten miles to
the mill. While the corn was being ground, Mike had his dinner of corn shucks
.
and we was ready to start back home and if
it won't too late, [?? got back
home, us went right on to the field ' cause
Mistess , us was raised to work.
"Long at that time, we us thought [??] twenty-five or thirty five cents a day
[?] was doing fine wages. Then us had plenty of corn and 'taters , [??????] and a meat box full of good meat. That was some good meat 'cause we ra*3s[i*3]ed our own hogs and cured the
meat by smokin' it with hickory wood. Back then, I don't know if you has done
heered about this, but soda was mighty scarce skerce. Even that didn't 'mount to so powerful much 'cause corn cobb cob soda would sho make that
bread rise. Yes [?] us just burn
burnt[#?] the corn cobbs cobs til they was
just a fine powder. That was good as anybody's soda.
Page 4
"That old persimmon beer was half of our living. Us chillun would gather
persimmons by the bucketfulls. Mother would cook, them 'em with wheat bran and make it out into the big pones that [?] she used to make the beer mash and she [?] put lots of locust locusts in that beer it. It That beer
was really good and so refreshen' after a hard day's work.
"We was not wasn't sickly ' long in that time,
but when we was did get a little
sick, mother would go into the woods and git herbs and grass. There was one
kinda grass 'specially that she used. Just let me call Sally Anne, that's my
wife, and bless her soul, she'll know." ∥ Tom went to the telephone
and was back in a few minutes. He said, "I told you Sally Ann would know. She
always knows and I can 'pend on her. She stays right at home in her field of
duty , just right on the job all the time.
"Sally Anne said it was just plain old scurvy grass, and you find it mostly in
pine woods. It has long yellow roots and the roots is what they made the tea
with. It was , and still is , 'cause us use uses it now. Its It's the finest
medicine anybody can get git to cure colds
,
and then when folks has git the measles, if
they would just drink old scurvy grass root tea, they would soon be well and
[?] wouldn't have to worry even 'bout gittin' wet even.
"Another good tonic is this very simple one. and It'll will make you eat your head off and lessen you wants to gain in
weight you had better not try it and [?] is that's just the plain old turnip. Yes, that is that's right. You just bile turnips in clear water 'til
you have 'bout a quart of the juice and drink that juice two and three times a
day, but I 'spects you would have to put some sugar in it 'cause it's mighty
bitter. Along in them days us used the old black mo'-lasses to sweeten most
everything; even used it in our coffee. "
Page 5
Tom laughed and said, "Why even our coffee won't wasn't what it is today. Most all us had was corn meal, parched right
brown, but to us, that corn /[#?] meal coffee sweetened with mo-lasses was really
good, and we us was thankful for it.
"Another good medicine that the women folks used lots of times was what is known
these days as black hall [?] root. They made tea out of that 'cause it won't
easy to git out and buy medicine back then, for us didn't have drug / stores
lak us does now. A doctor was seldomed called. Folks just made their own
medicine. Yet there won't many folks sick in them days.
"Long back in them days when we us got in
distress, trying to make a living we
us
have [?] up many used to set lots of
nights, burning lightwood lighted knots to
make tar. We sold that was sold by the
quart or gallon. You know that blessed old mother of mine has even used that old
homemade tar as a medicine. We had to drink the water off of the tar for colds
and it was a good tonic also for any one ,
that didn't have no appetite.
"Still and too , that won;t wasn't just
prezactly what us made it for , ' cause you knows back then us didn't have no such
stuff as [?] [?] grease. That old tar
answered the same purpose and it was used on wheels and harness to too, and just 'bout everything they needed to greeese grease.
"Another thing , Mistess , us didn't git no shoes 'ceptin' one time a year,
and that was on Christmas, that was our Santa Claus . and we us would go to bed
and try to see when come . , but [?] it wan't long 'fore us would be sound asleep . and in the Next morning we would find our brogan shoes with the bright shiny
brass toes would be there, and how happy we us was ! just thankful for everything.
They said I was always a very [?] peculiar[#?] sort of a chap even when I was just a little tike. I was always asking
questions. I was gifted with some kind of a strange power, but it was sometime
before I could really understand this strange and wonderful [????????????]
Page 6
power. Fact is, I don't understand it now.
"But things just comes to me. I can see them and tell folks for it is just like
a vision. Back then some folks would laugh at me about them visions. But , Mistess,
they is all glad now when old Tom can help them out sometimes. Sometimes I can't
help them a-tall for the vision just will not come and that is all I tells, is
just what the Lord shows me and tells me to help folks, and I has been trying to
[?] help for fifty years or more.
"Along then we us had confidence in each other.
We were Us was taught to live right and
serve God. Never to take nothin' that didn't belong to us and never to do
anything that would hurt anyone. We Us just
lived in the bonds of the law . nobody broke the laws, and when night come
, us
could lay down and sleep with a good clear conscience.
"I still 'members the first time I ever heerd 'bout any one breakin' the law. It
was just-outrageous. People for miles around were upset, skeered , and shocked. A man
killed his wife. It was just terrible. We just Us couldn't understand it. When they tried him in court lots of folks
couldn't git nigh the place 'cause everybody t#4i[r*4]ed to go . But he was sentenced and hung for murder.
"From that time-on folks began begun to
grow weaker and wiser , and how wicked they are now ! Murder is a very
common thing now and folks [will*5] just*5 take things that don't no ways belong
to 'em. We Folks just don't live right. And
God is going to how show us one these
days. Oh, how wonderful and grateful it was that I could hear my mother pray."
Here Tom broke down and cried. After a few minutes, he said: "You couldn't go
wrong on her prayers."
At this moment someone called an and asked
if Tom was there. The proprietor of the shop called Tom to the telephone. He
came back to me [?] and said it was "[?] two men tgat wanted to see
Page 7
me [?], but; I told them that I was
busy ," he added. The They men didn't accept that excuse and before Tom could get
back to his story, they the men were at the shop
for him.
Calling Tom to the door, they said, "We have just got to see you for a few
minutes, but we won't keep you long." Excusing himself, Tom said, " I will I'll be back in a few minutes."
The men were evidently farmers, dressed in
their overalls and heavy shoes. They seemed to be farmers. They [?] escorted Tom out to
their car . where they talked. I waited
over an hour and still Tom didn't get back. I waited on
and finally he came in and said, "It is so late and I just
can't git 'way from them men. What is I going [?] to do?"
I asked him if I would come to his home in the the next morning and finish our interview.
Tom thanked me and said, I am I'm sho
sorry 'bout dis this, but; one of
these men is in trouble and wants to see if I can help him ." and [?] He
told telling me how to find his house and but asking asked if I had would rather he would prefer to have him come back to town and talk to me "cause he lived
way cross town." I wanted to see his home and said, "I will go be there if you are going to be at home. Yes'em Yes'um I
will I'll be there lessen someone dies 'cause
that happens very occasionally. I will
I'll
call you if that happens." He went back to the car where the men / were waiting for
him.
Reaching Tom's house early the next morning, I found that even then he had
done been over in town. already been to town and returned home. He asked
ask
me to have a seat, in the livingroom and would I apologetically said: " Excuse him
me
while he I [?] eat his breakfast , for
he I went to town early so that he I could git back by the time
I you got there here." As he went out of the room to eat his breakfast,
I looked around. The house was a new four-room cottage, painted white and
trimmed in green on the outside.
Page 8
The inside was quiet different. The walls
of the livingroom were were plastered papered with the comics comic
sheets of from the Sunday papers, with a and the border [?] around the top [?] of pictures cut from
magazines. The room top was ceiled . overhead. The floor was covered with a brightly figured congoleum linoleum square covered the floor.
The furniture consisted of a very [??] [
a
player piano , *6] with the rolls of music
were
neatly stocked stacked on on top of *6 it
which was [?] by On each side was a large
fern ferns in [?] home-made
[?] boxes painted white The bench at the piano was covered by a long cushion with
A crocheted cover adorned the cushion on
the piano bench. a
crocheted top. [?]
I noticed a cabinet-style victrola and three large plain rocking chairs
that were painted a bright shade of green . Fancy lace curtains were
draped at the windows and a rocheted
crocheted squares covered the glass panes in the door opening in
the room. front
door.
Tom was back returned in a very short time and asking asked me if I wouldn't would like to go through the house . and He said that he wanted me to see Sally Anne and his
daughter. I followed him through a bedroom, where I saw furnished with an
a walnut colored iron bed . painted a dark walnut Which was, and
covered with a red silk spread, telephone stand, with
the a telephone rested on a stand near the bed
.
There was a dressing table and several chairs , [?] completed the furniture, a
heater , and [?] furnished heat for this room. The walls were
also plastered with newspapers and the
floor was covered by an old faded wool rug. The two windows
were draped with [?] clean scrim curtains
. , and the walls were covered with newspapers.
The next room was also a bedroom and a [?] fire was burning very brightly in a the grate. The A brown
iron bed in this room was very much like the bed in the [?]
other room, and was covered with a green silk spread. A
dressing table , and a small table and
several rocking chairs completed the
its
furniture in this room. The walls were
also plastered [?] papered with
newspapers . , and the floor was covered with
linoleum square . in front of the fire was a box of baby chickens. The only window in this room was
covered in a light cream [?] scrim curtains . [?]
hung at its only window.
Page 9
As we passed to the next room which was the kitchen, I saw that it too was
plastered papered with newspapers. It was
warm and comfortable from the fire in the large woodburning range. A small
dining table was covered with a clean white cloth . a side table held some dishes,
and a very large cabinet was in one side of the room. A shelf just inside of the
door held several very brightly polished water buckets. Two
large windows furnished light and were covered with plain
white curtains . draped the two large windows.
When we passed through out of the kitchen
door, we was were in the yard and right in front of directly before the door was a
well. Tom said, " This is one of the best wells of water that you will find any
where in in these days. It is cold and
pure too, but yonder is Sally Ann and Sister at the washhouse. They are a little
put out cause they is washing today, and, haint ain't had time to git fixed up. I told them that was all right cause
you knowed us had to work."
As we reached the washhouse I was greeted by Sally Anne, who is a very dark
skined skinned Negro Negress, and in spite of the fact that they were at
work, both were [?] *7 were very
clean and neat [house dresses *6]. As Sally Anne smiled she showed a mouthfull mouthful of gold teeth. She is
rather inclined to be fat, but Sister, as they called her, is [?] thin and tall, not as dark as her mother and father,
and her hair was combed back and [?] close against her head. Chatting with them a few minutes, we looked around the
large clean yards . as we chatted
Showing me the hedges and different kinds of flowers, that they had just
recently put out, Tom said, "If we us can ever
get git the
place fixed up lak we
us
want wants [??] this will be a right nice little place, but you know
it takes money to do that. I have seen the time when I wouldn't have to stop for
that, but like [?] most everything [?]
Page 10
else, it is all gone now. " I has had my day, and I has been wonderfully
blest by a gracious and understanding God, and I wouldn't call back them days if
I could cause I'se done had my day. I tried to make good use of the days past
and I hope the good Lord can say " well done," when I goes home, but we us will go back to the fire to talk. This sunshine
is mighty warm and pleasant, but if you stay out too long you can feel the
chill."
As we were seated in comfortable chairs in the room, where the fire was burning
so bright, Tom removed his large white felt hat, and asked if he might smoke his
pipe, "'cause he I could think better
if he could I can smoke." he said. Assuring
him that it would be all right for him to smoke, I watched him as he very carefully
filled his old pipe. He was dressed in a
white shirt, gray wool trousers and a blue
coat, not new, but clean and neat . black shoes , and a very bright red and blue
tie , and white
shirt, completed his costume. I wondered
if some [?] had died, since I saw him the
day before. He does not look so old, as he is tall and very
straight. I judged that he was between sixty and seventy.
Getting the pipe going good he looked around and smiled. "Pride done ruint this
old world , Mistess. Pride just done took the day. Back long in them times,
us won't 'fraid to work. Didn't know what it was to go to the store when us went
to cook a meal, 'cause [??] [?] was
raised at home and all the cooking then was on done the fireplaces . clothes
[?] was made at home. Why , when us went to
church, it was in old home-made clothes, that our mothers made.
'But bless the Lord that she didn't stop us from having meeting. Folks had
'ligon 'ligion then and from the time
the pastor read
Page 11
out the song and the brother over the corner started it off, every-body, would 'gin
to git happy, and when that old song, Amazing Grace How Sweet The Sound
, was sung the shouting could be heard for a mighty long ways off cause didn't
nobody stay home 'cause they didn't have no clothes to wear. Everybody was there shouting.
"We All of us worked hard in the fields,
and as dutifully as the sun rose in the morning it found us in our fields at
labor for that was the way we made our living and I did work. I wanted to have
something and from daylight 'til dark we
us
was at our work. We *8 was tired out [At
night *8]. that we us was, and ready
for the bed. Warn't no running 'round at nights for us on the farms, but we us did learn new things to grow and how to grow
them 'em better. As we 'vanced 'long
we could raise more things to eat and we
us
learnt how to grow sorghum cane to make [?] syrup. That was a change
from the old black mo-lasses but I'se frank to say, them black mo-lasses is
still my favorite. There was just nothing lak them gingerbread cakes that my
mother made with mo-lasses and baked in them old ovens in the fireplace.
"I has I'se farmed all my life and
I has I'se made money in farming and
then and too I has I'se lost money the
same way, but mostly after farmers started to raising cotton as the money crop
.
for a while us made money that way then prices of cotton would go up and then
[?]
to the bottom. When the price started up, everybody would hold all they
possibily could just wasn't arn't goin'
to sell, just waitin' 'til it got a little bit higher and fust thing us knowed
it had done hit the bottom.
"I was just lak everybody else. I knowed I was goin' to git rich that way, but
one thing I didn't do, I didn't quit raising plenty of foodstuff for us as well
as plenty for the stock. I done pretty
Page 12
good. [?] I took care of what I had. I didn't th*9o[r*9]w it away and from my old
ox, Mike, that I learned to plough with, I [??] had good mules and some
fine horses. I loved good horses and I raised only the best, and if I does say
it [?] won't wasn't no finer horses in that
county than mine. "I sold one to a man here in town for a thousand dollars. Yes,
mam that is right I had 'vanced from that little notched log house until I had a
good farm , and a comfortable house for
those times. When I married In 1894, I had besides my farm and horses, a
sawmill, shingle mill, grist mill, and a gin , and I run them by myself.
"Course now you understand there was different times to run 'em. I couldn't do
it all at one time, but I got it all by hard work and saving what I made." The
insurance man came to collect [?] [???] was ready and waiting for he Tom went to
a nail at one side of the fireplace, and took down an envelope
with the book and money in it. We The collector chatted a few minutes with Tom and asked him if he was going to farm again
this year. "I guess I will try," Tom replied, "but all this rain us has been
having , will sho bake this old earth
later on."
As the man left, Tom said, "How does you write that way and me just talking my
head off ? I just can't see how you does it."
"It was hard at first," I replied, "but you know, when you have to work, you
have to learn how to do the work."
"That's right," he said. " I has I'se been
watching you as I talked and I has I'se had a
vision. See if I am right."
"Well, I hope it is a good one," I said.
"I has I'se seen seed that you is the only one of your family left,
and the last went, less than a year ago. Is I right?
"You are," I replied. He started to say something else when someone called to
him to come out in the yard for a minute.
Page 13
As I waited for him to return, I picked up one of the small chickens out of the
box. Sally Anne came in the house. Seeing
the baby chick, [?] she laughed and said, "Does you lak little things to? Bet you
laks dogs."
"I really do," I answered. "I think they are one of the most faithful animals
that we have, and I always had a dog when I was at home and the little girl where I
board has one, that I am very fond of. "
Tom came back in the room and said, "It was about them same men that wanted to
see me yisterday [yistiday?]. I done
told him said that I won't [?] gwine nowhere "til us got through talking 'cause
they can just wait. Won't Wasn't us talking
'bout cotton? I remember back in 1920 when things was sky high and I had forty
bales of cotton here in the warehouse.
"Cotton was sellin' for forty cents a pound, but lak everybody else I held helt on to that cotton, just
knowed it would go higher, and I 'vest
'vested heavily in land also, bought every bit I could git a hold holt of. Everybody was just money mad. But it won't wasn't right. And I lost
everything I had 'long with the rest of the folks. I has I'se learned learnt that the best
way to make anything out of cotton is sell it, just as quick as it gits out of
the ginhouse.
"I never ploughed plowed up one stalk
of cotton, cause I 'bided by the laws and didn't plant only what I was 'sposed
to plant. Yes'em Yes'sum I has stayed
right in the bonds of the law. I has
I'se
got some money on my land and it was a blessing to me. Why , last year the
farmers didn't make anything. It was the worst year I ever 'rmembers 'members for farmin'. Course
most folks wouldn't do lak the great President done asked 'em too. They just
went ahead and planted their cotton and then when it was ruint, they ploughed plowed it under so they could
git their check checks.
Page 14
"I think our President is the grandest man that has ever set in the president's President's seat. He is a
blessing to humanity. He has done more for the farmers, than anyone else has
ever done. He is just lak Moses, leaden' the chillun of Israel, just rying trying to lead us out of
struction, but he don't git much help. He feeds the poor, and fixed fixes jobs so that people could can work . he is a blessin' sent by God."
Picking up a [?] worn Bible from the
table, Tom said, "Does you believe in this Good Book? Cause if it is wrong then
there ain't nothin' else left for us . does you believe in it?
"Yes,indeed! I replied. "I was taught to believe in that by my mother."
"Do you ever read your Bible?" he asked.
"I do," I answered.
"But did you just read it or did you [?] study it? I'll find out
later, cause I am goin' to ask you some questions.
"I ain't never had much education. But when I married, I decided that I was
going to larn and make a man out of myself. I has sho tried to do that. I has I'se worked hard and I can read
and write a little, specially can I read this book of Life. God lets me understand its meanings.
"But tell me about your wedding." I said.
"Well, along then times won't lak they are now. We Us had a big weddin', big for Negroes. Crowds of people was at our
weddin' and there was plenty of white folks too. All Sally Anne's white folks
was right there 'cause they sho did lak that gal and I'll tell you, she is one
of the best of women and if I had a million dollars today, I would lay it all in
her lap. She has never failed me. I always know that she is right here in her
field of duty. She has worked right side of me in everything.
Page 15
"We Us has both farmed ,
[??]
raised our things to eat. I didn't never try no 'bacco, just corn, peas,
'taters, rye , and wheat. Yes, I has made money farming and I has also lost
money on the farm. It is hard work, out any kind of work is that way if you
stays at it. [?] My check from the
Government for thirty dollars came just before Christmas. It sho did come in a
good time. I took that money and bought us all something to eat and some
clothes . with it.
"We has just got two chillun: a girl, Sister, and a boy. Sister is a good and
smart girl, but my son is just no 'count." At this time someone called him again
and he went out to see who it was. Coming back in a few minutes he said "I has
been wonderfully blest for God gives me these visions so that I can help folks
and I has been so thankful, but Mistess war is comin'.[? arrow]
[? arrow] " I know it is, 'cause I has had
the same visions I had before the World War. I has seed the people gatherin'
together and marchin' in crowds, and then the Bible is full-filling fulfilling its teachin's, for it
says: 'there shall be wars and rumors of wars,' and the war thats comin' and
comin' fast, is goin' to be bad 'cause folks is [?] wiser" in [?]
ways than they in the last war.
"I has had visions and predicted for our Govenors. Yes 'em I has had letters
from more than one of them 'em, askin' me to
help 'em. But lessen I gits the vision I can't help a'tall. But when God lets me
see these things I think it is my bounding
bounden duty to tell 'em.
"I has I'se been a liceneed licensed preacher for more than
nineteen years, but I has I'se never been
ordained. They has wanted to ordain me, but I just don't feel right yet in that
way 'cause I is just plain and ignorant, but I takes my stand on my Bible, if it
is wrong then I am wrong. But if this Blessed Book is right, then I
Page 16
am right, for as the Lord said to Nickodemus Nicodemus, "Ye , must be borned born again.'
"Churches ain't lak they used to be, just too much high poluttin' polutin' preachin' now. I don't
lak that. I laks to hear 'em preach from the Bible, and the heart, not just read
off a sermon that somebody done prepared
purpared and writ down for 'em. Why they don't study the Bible no more. They reads
it, but not with understanding. Some of our greatest preachers today, can't
explain what the soul of man is.
"Now my Bible says this, and I takes my stand on the Bible. See right here in
the second [?] chapter of Genesis in the
seventh verse." Tom slowly read with some difficulty, "'and the Lord God formed
man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,
and the man became a living soul.' Now that is plain for anyone to read. The
soul is the breath of life. My white folks comes to me lots of times and ask me
questions about the Bible.
"I 'member one time. Us had up a question about the Sabbath Day. Has you always
been taught that God made the earth in six days and rested on the seventh day?
"Yes I have always been taught that." I replied, wondering just what he would
say about that.
But he was ready, as he said, "Well then Mistess just let me read the second
verse of the second chapter of Genesis to you."
And again he slowly read, "And on the seventh day [?] [?] God ended his work which
he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had
made."
Handing the Bible to me, he said, "There read it for yourself,
Page 17
and you can see where it says he ended his work on the seventh day." He has this
place as well as the seventh verse which he had just read marked with a cross.
As I handed the Bible back to him, he said, "Don't you think that is plain for
anyone to understand? For he says he ended his work on the seventh day. I is
just a plain old Missionary Baptist preacher, but that is plain to me, and if
all people would read with understandin' and belief it would be plain to them.
"*9 I was called to preach at my old church where I still keeps my membership 'cause
I never has moved it in all these years. That was [a little more than a month ago , *9] everybody was upset and
distressed 'bout these hard times. I just tore up that church. God just told me
what to say. I told them that us didn't have no panic now, and I took 'em back
to the days of Moses and Aaron and when Elisha led the people into Samaria and
there was a great famine in that land.
"People were was so hungry that they et they
own chillun. Some of them didn't lak and said won't no sich thing in
the Bible. I asked them to read Second King Kings, sixth 6th chapter, twenty-eighth 28th and twenty-ninth 29th verses. They came to me and
told me I was right. I had took my stand on my Bible and now it proved me right.
Now I want to read them verses to you. " When he found the place which
was marked with crosses, he read:
"'And the King said unto her, What alleth thee? and she answered, This woman
said unto me, Give they thy son that we may
eat [?] him today, and we will eat my son
tomorrow.
"So we boiled my son and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day: give
they thy son, that we may eat him:
and she hath hid her son.'
"See I was right Mistess. This Blessed Book has never failed
Page 18
me yet. I always tried to preach just what I see, 'cause I don't like [?] this high polutin' preachin' and God don't
lake lak it neither. He wants his
deciples disciples to preach the truth
and nothin' but the truth, but Oh, just for some more of them old meetin's when
people got happy and won't wasn't 'frald to
show it, that is what I calls real 'ligion.
"But I has I'se had my day and I 'spects
I am I'm gittin' old. I don't knows know how old I is 'cause my
folks didn't know how to count. I sill try
tries to farm and I sell sells face creams,
powder , and sich things as that and piddles 'round on odd jobs all the time."
"
What did you do back in those days for pasttime?" I asked.
"Well, 'bout the biggest times was them old corn shuckin's. Now Mistess they
were was really enjoyable. Sometimes
they lasted for two and three days 'cause folks sho raised corn then. We had a
general that led the singin' , and there was big suppers , and I has shucked corn by the light of the moon
and camp by bon fires. After thw the work was done, there was
games and I tells you playin' marbles was a great sport.
"When we us just wanted to set a get together supper and party, us had hominy feasts.
It was the real old lye hominy . just cooked in big pots full of it was cooked
and that was something to enjoy and be happy and thankful for. ∥ I was afraid
to ask about dancing and I just asked if they [?????] continue to have cornshucking in the [???]
"Why, yes, lots of times, when the corn is all gathered in 'specially 'mong the
colored folks. They 'vites croewds crowds to
help git the corn shucked cause they don't change much as the white folks and
many of them is still lak they used to be but we are our *9 as getting
gitting our [folks *4] in better shape just
'vancing' right along."
As the same men came back for Tom again, I prepared to leave. He walked out to
the sidewalk with me and said, "This
Page 19
sun is delicious today and makes me feel good. I'se glad I'se not in the trouble
dem folks is.
"Come back again when our flowers git
gits
to bloomin' out, and our place will look better."
As Sally Anne came around the house to tell me good-bye, Tom said, "Mistess,
I am I'se going [?] to come and tell you 'bout that vision . cause It ain't right clear yit, but I has seen
enough to know that you is goin [?] right
on to success. I can tell you more about
it soon. [??] that Tom
was right, I started on my long walk back to town.
On my long walk back to the city I pondered Tom's parting remarks, and I hope
that he is right.
******
The End
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project,
1936-1940 Item 19 of 73
[God Helped Us]
GOD HELPED US
Written By:
Mrs. Ina B. Hawkes
Research Worker
Georgia Writers' Project
Athens -
Edited by:
John N. Booth
WPA Area No. 6
Augusta, Georgia
October 6, 1939
August 28, 1939
Mrs. Luther Crawford
Danielsville Road
Athens, Georgia
Ex-School Teacher, Farm Owner
and Housewife.
I.B. Hawkes -
"GOD HELPED US "
"Yes, we live right across the road here," said Mr. Ford. "Oh, yes, it's my wife
you want to see. I'm sure she'll talk to you, because she likes company. Just go
on up there and I'll be there to let you in just as soon as I can put this
school bus under shelter."
Approaching the modern frame house I admired the shrubbery that enhanced the
appearance of the well-kept place. I had to go around to the back door where Mr.
Ford met me and assisted me up the steps nd into a tidy kitchen. Coming in out
of the glare of the afternoon sun, I didn't see anyone at first, but when my
eyes were accustomed to the shadows I saw a woman sitting very still in a corner
of the room. Her face was illuminated by a bright smile.
"I've brought you some company," said Mr. Ford, when he had introduced me to his
wife.
"Sit down over here by me," she said, as I repeated my name to her. "I was just
ironing some pants for my husband, but it's not necessary that I finish them
now." It seemed incrediable that a person so drawn
Page 2
and twisted in body should be able to iron clothing, especially difficult pieces
such as men's trousers.
"Did you really iron those pants?" I inquired. "Oh yes," she proudly answered.
"I ironed them, and I do all my work now, but I guess I'd better tell you
something about my earlier life and about how I got like this. My life at home
as a girl I won't say much about. I went to school in Daniellsville, Georgia,
and then I taught for 15 years in three different school. Believe it or not, in
teaching all three schools I never went but five miles from home. I always went
on horseback; you see, we were country people. My father always said, 'If you
can teach at home what's the use of going abroad?'
"My sister had typhoid fever, and it went into rheumatism which left her
crippled for life. It fell to my lot to wait on her. I taught school in the
spring and summer. After my long hours at school I'd start nursing her soon as I
returned home. You see, she was in such a fix she couldn't stand the covers or
nightgowns to touch her. I finally had to quit teaching. I just went to bed with
her, night and day, to hold the covers so they wouldn't press on her anywhere.
Now, you can imagine what a strain I was in. This went on for weeks
Page 3
When the doctor came one day and found us like that, he flew into a rage and
said, 'this had to be stopped! There's no use in both girls dying.' My mother
was not well either at that time.
"I'd met Mr. Ford here - I still call him Mr. Ford - and we were planning to get
married, but it looked as though I couldn't leave home with no one to look after
my mother and sister. You see, I always felt that way about them. I wasn't sure
either what married life would be like; that kept me back some.
"After my sister died, my married brother and his wife said they'd take care of
mother, Mr. Ford and I married after I was 33 years old. My father had left me a
small sum of money, and we decided the best thing to do was invest it in land.
"The year after our marrige - in 1912 - our baby was born dead. Somehow I could
never blame the doctors, for I had the best of care, but it left me helpless. I
haven't walked [a?] step in long over 20 years now. No, I don't use crutches or
wheel chair either. You can see why I am like this today.
"Well, things were going fairly well with our crop. Mr. Ford had to take care of
me, for no one could do me any good but him. He worked with me night and day and
for 4 years continously, getting up sometimes twenty-five or thirty times a
night, and sometimes not even going
Page 4
to bed a t'all.
"It went on like that until he became so exhausted that he would completely give
out and fall asleep. Sometime it would be impossible for me to wake him. You
see, I suffered agonies all over, and when he went to sleep I couldn't 'rouse
him a t'all. He decided to pull my cot up to his bed at night - we didn't sleep
together then - and tie a string around my finger and then tie it to his hand.
Then, when I couldn't stand it another minute, I'd pull the string. I'd have to
keep on pulling harder and harder sometimes for he'd be so tired and worn out
that when I pulled the string he'd just shake it off his hand, and turn over and
go to sleep. Well, he gave me a stick to punch him with, but I was so weak and
gradually losing use of myself, till I couldn't use the stick to any advantage.
He kept on working with me and having me treated until finally I got to combing
my hair, and then I found I could use my limbs a little.
"It was a terrible sorrow to me when I began to lose strength again and for 12
months I lay helpless again. One night during this relapse our home caught fire.
When they came to get me out of the house it took four men to hold me. I was
carried to that little cabin you see out there in the back yard. I was still
suffering bad, but the doctor said he couldn't
Page 5
give me much dope. He was afraid I'd get in the habit of taking it. I'm telling
you this because I was determined not to be a dope addict. The doctor advised
Mr. Ford to give me some whiskey, but that didn't ease me pains.
"Mr. Ford and I decided that we were not living up to God's word and will as we
should. Now this is where my life changed. I'd always been a Presbyterian, but a
lady came and talked to me one day about my soul, and she told me about
Christian Science. The doctors weren't doing me any good, so the lady taught Mr.
Ford and me to declare and affirm the truth. After we had kept this up a long
time I began to move my head and arms. Soon I was stronger. I only weighed 78
pounds when I put my whole heart and mind on God. You see, until we understand
and stay steadfast with God we don't get any relief from Him. We cling to Him;
we know He is divine love. He has done so much for me since I learned to declare
and affirm His love and promises.
"We lived in that cabin in the yard for 12 years. Mr. Ford continued to plant
crops of cotton, corn, and vegetables. Of course, we still had our land. We even
saved a little money, and with a loan we built this house we are living in now.
With God's
Page 6
help, Mr. Ford takes me up every morning, dresses me, and puts me in this chair
where I'm sitting now. With the help of this chair I can go most any place I
want to. He made it just for me. It's the only one I can get about in. In the
mornings we first come to the kitchen for breakfast. Here, I'll show you how I
walk in my chair." To demonstrate, she folded her gnarled arms as best she could
and placed her toes on the floor, then reared back and twisted about one way and
then the other, forcing the chair, which is a little higher than the ordinary
straight chair, across the floor. She propelled it with almost incredible speed.
"I carry my chair with me to church and everywhere else that I have to get out
of the car," she said. "After we get to the kitchen, I fix the table and other
little things about breakfast while Mr. Ford makes the biscuits. I can't use my
fingers enough to make them.
"After breakfast, I wash dishes, churn, sweep the floor, and I even do our
washing and, well, you caught me ironing. The reason I'm using this coal-heating
[sad?] iron is because my electric iron is being fixed. I burned it out the
other day."
I had been so interested in Mrs. Ford's talk that I hadn't realized it was
beginning to grow dark. I suddenly knew that I had to go, but first I asked her
Page 7
permission to look through the house. "I was wanting you to," she replied. "I
want you to see my rock mantel. Mr. Ford and I value it so much." The mantel,
beautifully designed and finished, was in the diningroom. The furniture here was
plain, but clean and well-kept.
In the bedroom everything was arranged so that she could do her own house work.
Noticing that she had only one narrow cot in the room, I asked where Mr. Ford
slept. She laughed, "That's all we need. I'd have twin beds or a double bed, but
you see, I have to have Mr. Ford to brace me at night, and he might roll away
from me in a double bed. I can go to bed now and sleep like a baby because I
work all day. I never hire any work done. Sometimes people come along wanting
something to eat or wear and I let 'em help me out some then so they can earn
what they need so bad." "Do you own your house now, Mrs. Ford? You said
something about a loan or mortgage on it," I inquired. "Well we're still paying
on it, and if we keep loving God we'll soon get it paid for. That's where God
helped us again. You see, the mortgage was to be paid off on a certain day. We'd
put in for another loan and it hadn't gone through, so of course the place was
advertised for sale. Well, the man that put the house up
Page 8
didn't show up at the sale a t'all, and in a few days the loan went through and
we used it to pay off the old mortgage. We've managed to make our payments on
the new loan regularly ever since.
"I have my telephone fixed so I can carry it anywhere over the house that I want
to. When I go to any part of the house I always take it with me. I have friends
that I've never seen that call me 'most every day for a chat. I take orders over
the telephone for our farm produce and have it sent in to town 'most every day.
And, too, I have my electric lights, frigidaire, electric iron, and radio. Most
of all I have my God who is the cause of my having what I have today.
"I do lots of political work on my telephone, too. You see, that's the only way
that I can help, and I do all I can that way."
As I prepared to leave I told her, "I've enjoyed this short visit with you, Mrs.
Ford."
"I'm go glad you came, and do come again or call me sometimes over the
telephone," she said, as she walked her chair toward the front door.
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project,
1936-1940 Item 20 of 73
[A Good Investment]
A GOOD INVESTMENT
Written By:
Mrs. [Leola?] T. Bradley
Research Field Worker
Georgia Writers' Project
Athens Georgia
Edited By:
Mrs. Maggie B. Freeman
Editor
Georgia Writers' Project
Athens, Georgia
WPA Area 6
October 12, 1939
October 9, 1939
Andrew Johnson (Negro)
168 Pope Street
Athens, Georgia
Insurance Agent
Bradley - A GOOD INVESTMENT
One afternoon I went out on West Broad Street, one of Athens largest negro
sections, for an interview. When I arrived at the address I found that my
consultant had just left town. I rested for a few minutes, then went on my way
wondering where I could go to get my next story.
As I walked down the street, I saw a nicely dressed, young negro man go up on a
porch and rap on the front door. In his hand he had a book, to which he kept
referring, while waiting for a response to his knock. No one answered and he
turned to leave. I knew that insurance agents were usually out collecting on
that day, so I asked him if that was his business.
"Yes, Miss," he said, "and I like it very much."
"Would you take the time to tell me something of your life work?" I said.
"Sure I will," he said. "Of course this is one of my busiest days, but I can
make up the time I guess. But why do you want to know anything about my life? he
continued. "I haven't lived in this old world so very long and my life story
might not be of much account.
Page 2
I explained to him what my business was and why I wished his story.
"All right he said "if you wish we can talk right here." He looked around for a
place for me to sit down. On the porch was a swing with most of the seat torn
out. It did not look to be very strong either so I was afraid to risk it.
"I'll just sit right here on the edge of the porch," I said.
"Wait, Miss, it is very dusty," he said. He went to his car which was parked in
front, brought a newspaper and spread it out for me to sit on. He stood very
respectfully and we began our conversation.
Anthony Jackson is a negro far above the average of his race, about twenty-six
years of age, rather tall and slender. He has, bright black eyes that were keen
with [enthusiasm?] and his short mustache gives him the appearance of being
older than his years. He was dressed in a neat business suit with a soft felt
hat to match and wearing a nice looking ring, which he afterwards told me was
his fraternity ring. Being a well educated negro his conversation shows none of
the characteristics of the illiterate Negro.
"I was born," he began, "right here in Athens, Georgia, down on Pope Street. I
live at 168 Pope Street now, but that's not where I was born. My childhood was
Page 3
very happy. Somehow we children had a better living than a lot of colored
children. There were just two of us children. Yes, Ma'am, just two of us, one
brother and myself. I owe the most of my advantages though, to my mother and her
people. She had fine people on her side. I don't remember my father very well;
he died when I was just six years old. Of course, there are a few little things
I can remember. Funny how little things stick with you. I can remember good one
day when he took me 'cross his knee and paddled me for running away. Oh, it
didn't hurt such, it hurt my feelings more, than anything else. Yes, Ma'am, my
parents were strick on us. We were not allowed to run 'round on the streets like
a lot of children.
["My?] father was a carpenter and did well. Yes, he made good money. He always
took his money home to my mother and she put it away with what she made. Yes,
they pulled together. Yes, my mother, she worked too. My father didn't leave us
much money, just a little insurance, that's all. He had a nice funeral. Of
course I went, but I can't remember much about it. She doesn't want us boys to
forget our father, so she keeps us in mind of him all the time. No, we had a
small family. Large families, I guess are nice, but my daddy died and left us so
young; I reckon it's best that there were only two of us.
We don't own our home, never have owned one, but we are planning to try to
borrow some money soon and start us one. Of course I have to have a car in my
business.
Page 4
We live in a nice house now. Oh! it isn't fine, but it's all right for now. It
isn't so much to look at but my mother is proud or how comfortable it is. And
her flowers! I just wish you could see them. If you ever happen to be down that
way stop at 168 Pope Street and see my mother and her flowers. She's not there
all the [time?], but most in general she is. She does [? shing?] so that keeps
her there. She is a good cook too, but she don't cook out, just cooks for us.
She makes a nice house for us, too.
"[Somehow?] after my father died, we got along better than we did when he was
living. I believe I told you my mother had fine people, well they helped my
mother raise us two boys.
"I have a fairly good education, and would have had more, but I had an accident
that disabled me for a while. The first school I went to was Knox Institute,
right over here on [Reese?] Street. When I went to the old Union Baptist school
over on Baxter Street. [These?] are both elementary schools. Part of the time,
too, I went to Morris Brown School in Atlanta. The reason I went there, my
father worked there a short while, so we moved with him. When we came back to
Athens, I went to Walker Baptist College in August and I finished there. I was a
pretty good athlete and I got a scolarship for playing ball. That was a fine
school but it only carried you so far and no father. My real college education
was at State College over in South Carolina. While I was there I majored in
chemistry and minored in biology. I was working toward a pre-med degree.
Page 5
I really wanted to be a doctor, but, during the time I was in college, I got a
[fractured?] skull and had to quit my course. I believe I told you while ago
about my accident. Well, I can't say just how it happened, it was done so quick.
The first I knew I was in a hospital and doctors and nurses were all around. I
was seriously injured and have never been able to go back to school. Sometimes
now I am tempted to try it.
"I began writing insurance when I had to quit school, and have been at it now
for several years. It is nice work and pays well. I'm with the North Carolina
Mutual Company and my office is in the Mack Payne building on Washington Street.
Our district office is in Atlanta and the home office is in Durham, North
Carolina. There are three things we need when we get sick. God, a good doctor
and life insurance. Insurance is surely a good investment. People of my color
believe in insurance. They say that's the only way they can save money. It's too
easy to draw out of the bank. Funny thing too about insurance - it looks like
the poorer and more ignorant they are, the more particular they are about
keeping their payments up. Seems that [those?] who know values do not carry
protection.
"Collecting is not so bad as some people think. Most people are pleasant about
it. The first week in the month is always good, but the last gets kinder tough.
I try to help my customers all I can when they can't pay. One old lady pays all
her insurance in vegetables. Sh has a good garden and we don't have one where we
live, so she furnishes us all the kinds of
Page 6
vegetables she raises and in turn I [dodust?] the amount for the vegetables from
the amount she owes the company and I take care of her premiums myself when they
come due. It's all the same to me. We write a lot of different kinds of
policies. [Indowment?], participating, industrial, sick and [accident?] and most
every kind any other company carries. One of the finest kind we write is group
insurance. Usually that is for a firm where lots of people are working. The head
of the firm takes it out, and the premiums are taken out of their salaries. That
is fine, for it compels people to have protection.
"I forgot to tell you, I have taught school some. I liked that too but like
insurance better. This spring when schools were gettin' in such a mess, I was
glad I was out of it. Governor Rivers is 'bout to get things straightened out
though. I thought he would if they would just give him time.
"Going back to writing insurance," he continued, "we have some funny things to
happen. Our company is fine to pay off. We never have any trouble on lawsuits or
anything like that. Of course there are always people who think they are
[mistreated?].
"A man who had a policy with us got sick and was down a long time. We knew he
was going to die and he did too. His wife kept up his premiums. One day they
told her when the end was near; this woman left her husband and came to our
office.
"Good morning," I said, "can I do anything for you? I really was surprised to
see her for I had heard John was dying."
"Yes, sir," she said, "John 'bout gone; I [jist?] thought I'd let you know, so
you could rush up the insurance."
Page 7
"I explained that we couldn't do anything until after he died. "
"Well," she said, "he caint come back fer his eyes is done set. Now how [is?] I
ter berry him?"
"I told her to let me know as soon as he died and I would see that she would not
be worried about putting him away. In a few hours he passed away and he was put
away in grand style."
"One right troublesome policy is the sick and accident. People will try to
impose on us. Even if it is my own race I'm talking about, some of 'em are
crooks. They will lay off from work from pure laziness, and then want to collect
for it. We have some strict regulations though, and it's hard for them to get by
now.
"Yes," in answer to a question, "I go to church, [Ebernezer?] Church, that big
one right around the corner. J. C. [Gresham?] of Atlanta is the pastor. Yes,
Ma'am, I'm baptist. I'm a junior deacon and I help usher, this is, when I don't
sing in the choir. Yes, I sing or rather I like to. What voice I have is tenor.
I never have studied singing but I wish I had. We have special music only on
first Sunday. I don't go to the B.Y.P.[U?]. much. Guess I should, but I don't.
"Yes, I believe every one should vote. I never have, but I'm qualified, so I'm
[goin?] to vote next time. I'm crazy about President Roosevelt. Why, Miss, he
helped give me my schooling. It was NYA work. I was assistant to the physical
education instructor at this college in South Carolina, I was telling you about.
Yes, Ma'am, I believe in voting. My fraternity had a
Page 8
motto that says, [a?] voteless person is a helpless person.'
"I've never married, I guess I'm old enough, but I never have felt like I had
enough money. It takes money to set up a home. Course now, I don't know how long
I'll be single, but like it is now, I'm afraid to get mixed up with anything
like that. Oh! I have a nice friend and I guess we sorter have an understanding,
but I haven't ever breathed getting married yet."
It was getting late and I knew he should be busy with his collecting, so I
thanked him and went on my way. He went in the next house and as I passed I
heard someone say, "Good evenin', Mr. Jackson, it sure is a good thing you come
right when you did. I wuz jest about ter spend my polishy money."