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This is an interview with Mr. and Mrs. G. L. Richards for the
Appalachian Oral History Project by Donna Clawson at Rt. 7,
Boone, en June 12, 1973.
Q: Mrs.-Richards I'll start with you.
Where were you born?
A: Well, I was born at Silver Stone in 1902.
March 5, 1902.
Q: And your parents always lived in there?
A: Yes.
Q: They were born in Silver Stone two?
A: Well, my mother was born rear Poplar Grove and my papa
was horn there.
Q: How many brothers and sisters did you have?
A: Well, does that mean living?
Q: No.
A: Well I have six sisters and one brother all the others
are gone.
Q: Can you remember, do you have many memories of what life
was like when you were growing up.
Did you live on a farm?
A: -fes.
Q: What kind of crops did you raise?
A: Well, Papa raised corn, wheart back then to amke our flour,
you
taow.
WB used to gst out the Dutch oven, my brother is
one of the younger ones, you know.
Us girls, he used to cut
his wheat with you've seen these old cradles you know. Did
you ever see cne and cut wheat by hand?
�We raised our corn, hogs and chickens, things like thata
didn't have to run.to the store for everything.
You
It was pretty
hard vork.
Q: Did your father sell any of his crops or did he just
A: Well, I didn't have ituch0
0
.
I went to "the sixth grade.
Q: How many months out of the yaar did you go to school?
A: Well, when I first started in school it was four months.
Then they got to having six month school.
Q: What was the names of the schools you attended„
A: I always went to Silver Stone.
Q: Do you remember you teachers names.
A: Well, my first teacher was Mrs. Lottie Bowes, she's still
living and I think my next .teachers name was Jack Greene and
Mr. Charlie Haigaman, and Mr. Alie Tugman and Mr. Don Horton
and that was all of them.
Q: What kind of thing did you learn and what kind of text books
did you have?
A: Well, at first we didn't have anything only first reader,
they called it.
And then got a little high.
We had a reader
and spelling, arithmetic and grammer they called it, geography
history.
Q: About the same thing they teach no isn't it?
A: I guess so.
Q: I think it is0
Mr. Richards where were you born?
�A: Caldwell County, I think.
Q: And were your parents from these too?
A: Vfell, ny father was.
My mother and father lived there and
I come back up here to this country in the mountains when I
was six years old.. We lived up on Meat Camp from 6 til I was
grown, about 20 or something like that.
farmed you know.
I lived up the 1s and
About everybody ip there farmed.
It was
hard labor of course but we farmed.
Q: What year were you born?
A: 1897.
Qi What kind of crops did you raise on your farm?
A: Well, it was just about like she'd tell you.
Corn, pota-
toes you know wheat, rye, buckwheat alot of buckwheat«,
thing to eat on too, you know.
Some-
And that was before they had
the market crops like tobacco, beans and cabbage.
In the later
years we got to having market crops, like tobacco and stuff.
Q: What kind of live stock did you have?
A: Cattle mostly, worked steers.
Did you ever see any steers?
Q: Yeah, I seen 'em.
A: Steers to plow throught the harvest.
Had an old cross cut
saw to saw up wood in the winter, to put in the fireplaces about
half as wide as this house.
Q: Go diead.
A: One time one side would burn up and the other side would
freeze.
�Q: I didn ' t know.
A: My father would, Jater years got to rasing tomatoes and cabbage to sell0
Q: What about school?
How many years of schooling did you
bave?
A: I don't know.
I did n't do no good when I did go.
About quit between fifth and sixth grade.
Q: Howmany months out of the year did you go?
A: About ibru months sometimes we'd run short about three
monthso
It didn't take long sessions like they do now.
children most of them any account at all had to work.
to farm the time I was twelve yaars old on.
The
I had
We all had to work
seem like to make it. We didn't have a bif family no how.
Just myself and two sisters.
One of them lives in California
and the other one passes away a week ago Saturday.
My mother
married, you know Jason Muller don't you.
Q: I don't know.
A: He lived here and was raised up on Meat Camp up there and
never traveled around too much.
He was Larken Miller's brother.
All passes away I think but Jason.
But he married my mother
and I had a step father for about five or six years.
up about 12 years old0
(Mrs. Ro 'I think he was about 10'))
A: Well, something along there.
(Mrs. R. 'I know he's 94')
I can't remember0
I was
�Q: When did you two get married?
A: Miy the sixteenth, 1918.
Q: Where did you live then?
A: Well, he lived on Meat Camp and I lived. . 0 Oh, you mean
where we lived after we got married.
Q; Yeah0
A: Well, we lived on Meat Camp awhile and we moved over to Silver
Stone over there.
while aid out
And we moved over to Howard's Creek a little
to somewhere.
Q: You've always lived in this county then0
A: Yes.
A: (Mr. R.) No we lived about four years in Cleveland, Ohio,
wasn't it.
R: Well we didn't exactly move up there.
A: We lived up ther with Sally Roten (Mr. R).
A: You was vorking up there and I would go up there awhile.
Q: Mr. Richards what kind of jobs did you have?
A: All kinds.
I've worked in several shops.
I've worked in
a shop up there in Cleveland and I used to work at Lenior in
a furniture shop.
And I've had several jobs sawmilling, car-
pentry work and I never could be very choicy about that.
I
had to work at something or another that wasn't hardly right
to work awhile and find something better.
Jones, don't you. feymond Jone's brother.
You remember Hubfoard
Joneses sons.
I
�worked for him a whole lot.
I reckon liked him alot.
Most of anybody that sawmilled
I don't guess you remember a bunch
of Jews around run a pie factory a few years ago.
when ve first moved out here wasn't it.
ago0
It was
Close to 30 years
I don't imagine you're that old.
Q: Not qiitec
A: I vrorked there 10 years ago or longer around and about, around
and around.
Q: Can you remember a time when you had a hard time getting
a job?
A: Yeah, yeah, oh yeah, lots of times you couldn't hardly get
a pi?.
Eack then they didn't pay much, they got labor real
cheap»
I used to vrork alot for a dollar a day and wages like
that.
And now they don't like tlBt you know.
A: (Mrs. R) If you got a hold of five dollars you thought that
was a whole lot of money , didn't they.
A: (Mr. R.) How much was it a dollar and seventy five cents or
a dollar and a half, something like that.
He was awful good to pay what he promised,,
I don't remember.
It wasn't very much,
but still we sorta lived about all you could expect was to live
and went to Cleveland, then and made better there, better than
I ever had in this county.
Q: What kind of wrk did you do in Cleveland?
A: I worked in a factory or where they made
�R. I call them clothers hampers.) Clothes hampers.
For people to carry their laundry around in.
like that*,
All kinds of stuff
I did so many different things I can't remember
all of it.
A: (MrSo Ro) . . „ we have had it a long time andit's getting
old.
A: Bunch of Jews I worked for and they were from New York and
ate these0
I cut out all that stuff outl
I cut it all out
on a shaping machine a saw, a big table saw, and shaping machine
and a , they tad all kinds of machinery and I ran a machine
all the time myself.
They vent to a lot of. . . They was
alot of people worked there0
We went to a more colored people.
QK How many hours a day did you work?
A: Well, I worked eight„
We were supposed to work about eight
hours, but they let me work a lot of overtime„
10 hours, 10 orU hours alot of days.
I'd work avbout
We got time and a half
for o/er forty and thats the reason I made pretty good, was
the over time.
The pay wasn't but about a dollar and sixty
cents, I believe it was0
Then I'd get couple hours, maybe 3
everyday of overtime and when it ran over forty hours I got
time and a half.
Then carried up pretty good when payday come.
Q What year was it you were working up there?
A: 1952, fall wouldn't it.
3952, I went up there then about
four years later I come back about '56 or '570
Something like
�8
about 1956 or 1957.
Then messing around here I haven't done
too nuch work since I came back0
On a job.
I've been busy
all the time but it's been a farming and messing around,,
Q: What about diurches in the area.
Can you remember churches
that been around here?
A: ¥>u Mean.
Q: The denominations.
What kinds of churches?
Just in the
county and around.
A: (Mrs. R.) You nean we've attended.
Q: Well, yeah, Just any you can remember.
A: Well, I can remember Methodist Churches and Lutheran, we
still have them. Baptist, we always went to the Baptist Church.
Oh, I have been to the Methodist Church that was up at Silver
Stone.
I don't think to any denomination outside of the Baptist
Church since we lived over here*
Q: To which church did most of the people belong.
Which church
did most people attend?
A: (Mrs. R.) I always thought it was the Baptist, of course I
dan't know for sure.
Q: What were the churches like, have they changed slot?
A: Well, some of them have , but I like the old time way.
Q: How are they different.
A: Well, I don't know what.
You go to diurch now.
the people have the interest that they used to did0
then they had monthly meetings0
Seem like
Of course
The preacher would preach once.
�They'd have Saturday meetings to attend to all of the business
you friow, and on Sunday.
Of course we'd have Sunday School
every Sunday, but we wouldn't have preching any more till next
month.
Aid I remember the fourth Sunday was the monthly meeting
in Silver Stone.
once a uear.
And , oh, they'd have revivals you know about
Sometimes they'd last two weeks and they would
have a big time.
Have services in the daytime, then at night.
Q: Do you know how this community got its name?
Rainbow Trail
community.
A: I dan't rightly know0
Thats the name as far back as I can
remember. (Mr. R.)
A: (Mrs0 R, > Maybe Mr. Walter Cullins could know.
Q: Yeah, I talked to him.
A: They used to call it the Doe Ridge Section back up in yonder
that mountain right thea is Doe Ridge Mountain.
This used to
go by the name of Doe Ridge Road till after we moved out here
then they got to calling it Rainbow Trail.,
come they to change.
I don't know how
(Mrs. R.)
Q: Well this road here goes in around to Doe Ridge Church, years
ago,
It maybe now that it's impassable back up there in that
mountain.
I've been through these a couple of times, it's
just a dirt road , around through there years ago.
I can remem-
ber a person could walk up throug there. (Mr. R)
A: (Mrs R) Well we've not been out in there in 7 or 8 years
have we.
�10
A: (Mr. R) Yeah, I guess,
A: (Mrs. R) We've been living out in here nearly fifty years0
A:(Mr. R) What?
A: (Mrs. R) We've been living out in here nearly 30 yearso
Johnny wasn't hit about 3 years olcU
Johnny's 32, maybe 29
or 30 years.
Q: How has the community changed over the years?
A: (Mr. R) Everybody living, buildt em a new house.
A: (Mrs. R) Much better ttiat it was then.
moved in town yonder.
I know when we
Lots of barns looked better than it
did.
A: (Mr. R) You remember, that old house down yonder0
A: Yeah,
A: (Mrs. R) She did n't look to see if it looked worse.
A: (Mr. R) You oould tell from the outside before we tors it
down.
Couldn't possibly be very much on the inside.
A: (mrs. R)) I wonder how we kept from freezing to death of
a winter time.
Q: How long did you live down there?
A: (Mrs. R) Law we lived down there. We moved into this house
from down there in 1960 and I never stopped to count.
A: (Jtfr. R) Down there about 12 years.
A: (Mrs. R) Down there about 29 or 30 years then 1960 we moved
up here.
A: (Mr. R) From "72 it been 12 or 13 years0
�11
A: (Mrs. R) From 1960 on, no 1959 then it come that awful, can
you remember that awful snow that come in 1960=
Q: Yeah,
A: We vas moved in this house thei?,we was lucky we got moved,
Well, the weather seemed colder on us you knowa
One winter
time0
Q: I bet these alot more people lived around here now than
they used to be.
A: (Mr. R) Yeah.
A: (Mrs. R} The
0
. . moved in there.
We moved out here.
Who
moved out there at that house? Anybody living over there at
time?
Well, he lived over there awhile and Mr. Ladkey.
A: (Mr. R) Oh yeah he lived there longer than us.
A: (Mrs,R) Yeah, he bought up that place and then Gladys Smith,
she moved up here in this house a little while after we moved
in that old house dswn there0
where John Greene lives now.
And Mr. Hartley lived up there
Ed's mother.
But they Mr. Lewis
and Hartlys were off down the country a working.
daddy moved back.
When their
Mr. Colors he lived up in the hollar and
Donald Miller and ttet was about all.
And Mr. Woodry.
And
we lived down in the old house which we tore down.
That little
house that stood over there and they tore it down.
I forgot
them, and I believe Jeff Garner lived out there where Mr.
in an dd house that s$bd over there and they tore it down.
Where Mr. Woodring lived„
Of course they lived in another
�12
home.
And then there is Glenn Pierce the were living out there
in a house that got burned.
I can't remember.
I guess the,
Mr. and Mrs. Lackey living over there across the river.
A: (Mrs. R) Yeah, I remember em living over there along time.
A: The old road was like a stieeps path, the road down there„
The bushes out the other side of Mr0 Woods would generally lap
across the road.
A: (Mr0 R) You couldn't meet somebody two a walking, you couldn't
hardley passing0
Holler and a scare you to death.
Car couldn't
come out in here at that tLme0
A: (Mrs. R) There was one once in a while, I don't hardly see
how it did.
A: (Mr. R) The bushes was high and the cliffs down in here one
time.
Antler's one, hung on the youngest one, what's his name?
A: Petty
A: (Mr. R) Help me cut out the bushes off the bank of the road
so they wouldn't lap over the road.
cut em let the state cut em0
And they said let -ftie state
The state wouldn't come out here.
No electric lines, nothing out here.
A: (Mrs. R) We did have no maid; out there0
A: Yeah, we had to put our mail box out theie at Mrs. Barnes0
(Mrs. New Barnes0)
A: (Mr0 R) And they says let the state and I think to myself
you've got a long wait.
Q: The way it goeso
Well how long wag it till the mail started
�13
coming ip in here?
A: I don't Know but it was a good long while.
A:
(Mrs* R) I took awhile.
I don't remember how long it took.
The School bus come out there at to Mr. Judd Barnes and turned
there and the mail gst coming out that far. And it wasn't too
many years till ttie moil got to coming out that far. And as
to where you used to turn over to your house.
And then a little
later on it got to going to the top of the hil!0
Q: Wello
A: (Mr.R) There was Clyde Rumbarger. Do you remember Clyde Rumbarger?
Q: "feaho
A: Me and him used to go to school together.
We while,
we was raised up on Meat Camp and he carried the mail back here
A: (Mrs. R) I know a Johnny.
Tried to rush around and get out
to Mr. Woodring to catch the bus. Of course after they left
home, they's poke around and let the school bus leave them.
I'd get so aggravated.
Q: How did people get"around back then, when you were growing
up?
A: (Mr, R) They was a few people had horspes/ some wouldn't
or couldn't buy a saddle hores and buggy0
A buggy would
just run over you0
A: fclrse R) If you can believe it, I have gone to church
and other places in an ox and wagon.
Roads rough , rocky
�14
you know, just jolt around.
Q: I'll bet it would.
I guess it could.
A: (Mrs. R) Well, my daddy always kept an exxtra team.
out horse to work on the farm.
He kept an ox,
Rent
you'd better
b elieve they were pretty slow, but they started to plow farming
-he done with them oxen.,
here on the mountain0
Around the old turnpike you know up
Hauled all over the whole county0
Q: Where did most of the roads run?
Well just where were the
roads you had there?
A: (Mr. R) They were mud roads.
You sorta know this one was
when you fold moved in the old road.
in the country, where we growed up.
Gravel road or two like that.
worked
About like they all was
They wasn't no paved roads.
on them a little.
labor wanted the people out you know setting roads.
Free
Then they
would go in and take a rake, I call it a hoe.
A: (Mrs. R) Well a lot of the old new roads now run pretty
close to SDiaejof the old roads o
A: (Mr.R)> Pretty much the way they do now0
A.s Mrs. R They didn't used to be any old roads0
them pretty close to where the old roads were.
End
of Interview
Alot of
�
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Appalachian Oral History Project Interviews
Description
An account of the resource
In 1973, representatives from Appalachian State University (ASU) began the process of collecting interviews from Watauga, Avery, Ashe, and Caldwell county citizens to learn about their respective lives and gather stories. From the outset of the project, the interviewers knew that they were reaching out to the “last generation of Appalachian residents to reach maturity before the advent of radio, the last generation to maintain an oral tradition.” The goal was to create a wealth of data for historians, folklorists, musicians, sociologists, and anthropologists interested in the Appalachian Region.
The project was known as the “Appalachian Oral History Project” (AOHP), and developed in a consortium with Alice Lloyd College and Lees Junior College (now Hazard County Community College) both in Kentucky, Emory and Henry College in Virginia, and ASU. Predominately funded through the National Endowment for the Humanities, the four schools by 1977 had amassed approximately 3,000 interviews. Each institution had its own director and staff. Most of the interviewers were students.
Outgrowths of the project included the Mountain Memories newsletter that shared the stories collected, an advisory council, a Union Catalog, photographs collected, transcripts on microfilm, and the book Our Appalachia. Out of the 3,000 interviews between the three schools, only 663 transcripts were selected to be microfilmed. In 1978, two reels of microfilm were made available with 96 transcripts contributed by ASU.
An annotated index referred to as The Appalachian Oral History Project Union Catalog was created to accompany the microfilm. The catalog is broken down into five sections starting with a subject topic index such as Civilian Conservation Corps, Coal Camps, Churches, etc. The next four sections introduced the interviewees by respective school. There was an attempt to include basic biographic information such as date of birth, location, interviewer name, length of interview, and subjects discussed. However, this information was not always consistent per school.
This online project features clips from the interviews, complete transcripts, and photographs. The quality and consistency of the interviews vary due to the fact that they were done largely by students. Most of the photos are missing dates and identifying information.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Collection 111. Appalachian Oral History Project Records, 1965-1989
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1965-1989
Document
A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text.
Scanned by
Wetmore,Dana
Equipment
Hp Scanjet 8200
Scan date
2014-02-25
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with Mr. and Mrs. G.L. Richards, June 12, 1973
Description
An account of the resource
Mrs. Richards was born March 5, 1902 in Silverstone, NC where she was raised on a farm. Mr. Richards was born in Caldwell County in 1897. He worked many different jobs including sawmilling and carpentry.
Mr. and Mrs. Richards recall their childhoods growing up on farms and their small amount of schooling. Mr. Richards talks about the hard time he had finding jobs and describes his working experience in his different career paths. He worked for four years in Cleveland, Ohio. The couple talks about the community and the changes it has experienced in transportation and religion.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Clawson, Donna
Richards, Mr. & Mrs. G.L.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a title="Appalachian Oral History Project Interviews, 1965-1989" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/195" target="_blank">Appalachian Oral History Project Interviews, 1965-1989</a>
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
6/12/1973
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Copyright for the interviews on the Appalachian State University Oral History Collection site is held by Appalachian State University. The interviews are available for free personal, non-commercial, and educational use, provided that proper citation is used (e.g. Appalachian State Collection 111. Appalachian Oral History Project Records, 1965-1989, W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC). Any commercial use of the materials, without the written permission of the Appalachian State University, is strictly prohibited.
Extent
The size or duration of the resource.
14 pages
Language
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English
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
document
Identifier
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111_tape75_Mr&MrsGLRichards_1973_06_12M001
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Boone, NC
Subject
The topic of the resource
Richards, G. L.--Interviews
Richards, G. L., Mrs.--Interviews
Watauga County (N.C.)--Social life and customs--20th century
Avery County (N.C.)--Social life and customs--20th century
Farm life--North Carolina--Watauga County--20th century
Caldwell County
carpentry
church
Cleveland
crops
farm
furniture shop
G.L. Richards
Lenior
Meat Camp
North Carolina
Ohio
Poplar Grove
sawmilling
Silver Stone
Sunday School
transportation
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/74f1927f4e7baa04fde1ffc3c674d110.pdf
2cee9b841fba1c3ba7b9ee2453db9121
PDF Text
Text
Tape # 46
Outline
I.
Name and birthplace of parents.
II.
Parents schooling.
III.
Occupation.
IV.
Churches in the area.
V.
Community
A. Formation.
B. Change.
C. Decision makers.
D. Minority groups
E. Population.
VI.
Politics
A. Change.
VII.
Transportation
A. Layout of roads and railroads
B. Building of railroads.
C. First cars.
VIII.
Mountain crafts and customs.
A. Courting.
IX.
Outlaws
X.
Legends, folktales, supersitions
XI.
Depression
XII.
Shull's Mill
XIII.
Honorary degree of Kentucky Colonel.
�This is an interview with Mr. N.D. Shull for the Appalachian Oral
History Project by Bill Brinkley on March 27, 1973.
Q: Could you give me the name and birthplace of your parents?
A: Well, my father was born here at Shull's Mill. My mother was born
over on Cove Creek.
Q:
What were their names?
A: R. L. was my father's name; Mamie D. Graybeal was my mother's name.
Q: Did you have any brothers and sisters?
A: None alive.
Q: But you did have some?
A: Two.
Q: What were their names?
A: They died when they was small. William, and I forget the other one's name.
Q: How much schooling did your parents have?
A: I have no idea.
Q: What is your occupation?
A: Engineer.
�3.
Q: When you lived in this area, what sorts of churches were here? Have
you lived here all your life?
A: Well, I was born here and stayed here until I was about 18.
Q: What sorts of churches were in this area when you came back, or in
the earlier days?
A: Well, in the early days the same churches were here except Hebron
bought out the Presbyterian Church.
The other churches were the same.
Q: To which of these churches did most of the people belong?
A: Well, they were divided.
There was no particular preference.
Q: How do you think that they have changed over the years, if any?
A: I can't see any change.
They still have the same beliefs they had earlier.
Q: HOT# did this community get its name?
A: Four brothers came over, one of them settled here, had a mill out here
on the river, and it was called Shull's Mill.
Q: How was it formed in the first place, just because of this mill?
that reason?
A: That's where it got its name.
Q: How do you think the community has changed over the years?
For
�4.
A: It was strictly a rural farming area, and now it's gone into a summer
resort area.
Q: Who have been the community decision makers? Mainly the Shulls
or other people involved also?
A: I don't see that there was any one person that was the community
decision maker. It was all handled through the individuals that owned the
property.
They made their own decisions.
Q: Are there any minority groups in the community?
A: None.
Q: Has the population changed greatly in the community?
A: Well, since Hound Ears and some of the other resorts being here, of
course the population has increased. But if you discount that, the population
is about the same as it was when I was growing up.
Q: On politics*
do you have any memoires of specific elections, local
or state?
A: When I was growing up, they always had a big fight, and everybody got
about half drunk, that's about all I remember. Republicans wouldn't vote
a Democrat ticket, or vice versa.
Q: How do you think the politics have changed over the years?
�5.
A: I don't think it's as clean now as it was; it's a dirty bunch of politics,
a dirty bunch of politicians.
Q: How did the people get around in the community? What sort of
transportation did they use?
A: Horse, buggy, foot.
Q: Where did the roads and the railroads run?
A; Well, the railroads ran from Johnson City to Boone, that was Tweetsie.
With the exception of this new 105 they built in here a few years ago, the old
roads were essentially in the same location, but they weren't hard surface.
They were just dirt roads, the first ones, maintained by county labor.
Q: When were the railroads built?
A: About 1914.
Q: Do you remember the first cars in the community?
A: Well, my father had about the first car that was right in this community.
It was, I believe, a 1914 Ford. That's somewhere around '20 I guess, '18 or
'20 when he got it.
Q: Do you know very much about the mountain crafts and customs?
Soapmaking, curing, weaving, anything like that?
A: No.
�6.
Q: Are there any mountain cures that you are familiar with?
A: Well, there's an awful lot of them that people use and talk about, but
I'm not familiar with any of them.
I believe in a good ol' doctor.
Q: How would you compare the courting then and now? Dating back then?
A: Well, back then you either walked or rode a horse. You usually stayed
at the girl's home, didn't wander around much. Now, I don't do any
courting now. Looks to me like they're all over the country.
Q: It was more back then, you traveled in groups didn't you? If you went
to the girl's house, weren't you more with a group than like now it seems
that they're alone so much?
A: No, I'd say you were more by yourself back then.
Q: I was thinking that maybe a group of them got toether in a horse and
buggy, went somewhere, picnicking or something like that?
A: Oh, well. When you got together, that's right, on an outing or something,
you traveled in groups.
When you went courting, you went by yourself. You
had no competition or interference.
Q: Bedtime was pretty early back then wasn't it?
A: They sure was, but getting-up time was a lot earlier.
Q: Were there any badmen back in the area during that time?
�7.
A: Oh, sure. We had a few that were considered a little wild, but I don't
imagine they would be considered bad now.
Q: No outlaws ?
A: Not in this particular section that I know of.
Q: Are there any folktales and legends associated with this community, or
any superstitions that were maybe passed down from your father or mother?
A: There's a lot of tales about how tought living was back then, as far as
legends, I don't know .
DEPRESSION
Q: When did it start as best you can remember?
A: Started in the early '30's, maybe '29.
Q: How many years did it last?
A: Well, I believe you could feel it up until the war started in,the '40's,
'41.
Course, it wasn't as bad in the latter part of the 30's as it was in the
early part.
Q: Were you living here at the start of the Depression?
A: No.
Q: Where were you living then?
A: Tennessee.
�Q: How many were in your family?
A: There was just my mother, my father, and myself.
Q: Did anyone else live with you? Any boarders?
A: No.
Q: What was the effect of the Depression on your family?
A: Well, you just didn't have the money t o spend, didn't buy the clothes
and food that you normally would. You made do with what you had.
Q: How did it effect the working conditions?
A: There was no work to be found.
Q: Were you working during the Depression?
A: No, I was in school when it started. I got out in '32.
Q: Did you ever hear of any government projects, WPA, CCC?
A: Yes, had WPA here, and CCC camp was not too far from here. It wasn't
in Watauga County.
Q: What did they do exactly?
A: Most of the WPA workers worked on the roads, including the roads,
highways; and the CCC Boys were brought in and taught how to survive in the
wilderness. They built trails, and I think they grew some timber.
�9.
Q: When did the welfare program, start?
A: Are you still speaking of WPA, CCC. . . ?
Q: Yes, something like that.
A.
Best I recall, it was in the early '30's.
Q: Was any of your family affected by those projects?
A: No.
Q: Was there a scarcity of food?
A: Not in this particular section, because as I said before, this was strictly
a rural area and all the local families raised their own food.
Q: What crops did you raise?
A: Oh, outside the gardens which we raised everything we ate, main crops
were cabbage and potatoes.
Q: Did you have any animals?
A: Well, we always kept a cow. I had a pony when I was growing up.
dogs, normal animals on a farm.
Q: Were prices higher or lower during the Depression.?
A: Prices were lower.
Cats,
�10.
Q: Were there any new ways of making money that arose, such as maybe people
took up making moonshine, gathering ginseng?
A: Well, I don't know if people took it up or not, but that's been going on in
this section of the country as far back as I can remember. And it's still
going on.
Q: Do you remember any of the banks closing?
A: I remember when the President closed the banks in order to get them
reorganized back then.
Q: Do you remember any in this area particularly that closed?
A: Well, they were all closed for a few days.
Q: What was the community reaction to the banks closing?
A: Oh, I guess, it was pretty evenly divided. Some thought it would never
open again, and others agreed with the President's idea.
Q: What date was it that the banks closed?
A: '31, 1931, I'm sure.
Q: How was the community affected?
Was there any profound effect, or
did things stay pretty much the same?
A: Things stayed pretty much the same.
�11.
Q: Was there anyone that you blamed for the collapse of the banks?
A: The bank's didn't collapse here. The banks were financially in good
shape. And as for other sections of the country, I have no idea, poor
management, I guess.
Q: Did the schools change during the Depression?
A: Yes, they did. We had better buildings, we built some new buildings.
Course, I believe we had better schools.
Q: How about the churches and businesses, the country stores?
A: They was about the same.
Q: What do you think caused the Depression?
A: Well, looked like the stock market was in pretty bad shape; too many
people over bought, caught up with them and from that it snowballed into
a very uncomfortable situation.
Q: Who was hurt worst by the Depression?
A: Small investors.
Q: Do you think there was anything particularly good about the Depression days?
A: Well, at least during the Depression days a dollar was worth a dollar,
and if you wanted somebody to work for you or if you wanted to work for
somebody else, you could put out a day's work.
All in all, I think our economy
�12.
was healthier than it is now.
Q: How is life different today than from the Depression, such as the family
life, education, etc. ?
A: Back then, all you had was a newspaper and a radio, and the newspaper
got here when the mailman rode his horse. Now, you got television, good
automobiles to travel, and naturally you have a little more interest in what
is going on.
Q: What do you like best about today's way of living?
A: Retirement.
Q: If you could change anything about the way they are now, what would
that be?
A: I'm not too fond of these subsidies that the government hands out for not
growing some crops.
I believe that the old law of supply and demand would
help us a lot.
Q: What I want to get you to do now is to tell me all about Shull's Mill if
you would? The founding.
It's effect on the community. The history of it.
A: Well, the founding and the effect of the community, I don't know anything
about that. My grandfather was the postmaster back in 1879. That's a grant
that was given to him.
The fact that the railroad came in here, and then
Whiting Lumber Co. moved in here, and cut out all the timber on Grandfather.
�13.
Had a little narrow gauge railroad that went up to Boone's Fork, hauled logs
in on that.
Plants were just across the river from here. They had quite an
operation here. At one time they were here. We had a hospital, summer
drug store, a big commissary, theatre, I think it was 500 families.
large, or larger than Boone at that particular time.
It was
Course, after the
timber supply was depleted on Grandfather Mountain, they all moved to
Butler. Families, of course, migrated out of here. There's very few of
them left, in this section now. The older families that were here before the
mill, their descendants are here.
Q: What was the mill exactly?
A: Just a lumber mill. They made lathes, you know wooden lathes, that they
used in place of metal lathes. They were strictly a lumber mill. They cut
timber in the woods, hauled it in, ran it through the mill. Then they dried
it and sized it and shipped it out.
Q: Did they ship it all over the United States, or just to North Carolina?
A: It was shipped out of here on Tweetsie.
After it got to Johnson City, I
don't know where it went.
Q: What is the Kentucky Colonel over there? I noticed that last time I was
in here.
A: My wife and I both were appointed Kentucky Colonels a few years ago.
�14.
Q: What is that exactly?
A: It's an honorary appointment that you get from the Governor of Kentucky.
Q: What is that for?
A: It's just one of those honorary commissions that they give you.
Q: You got it from the Governor of Kentucky? How did you manage that?
A: Well, it was managed through my sister-in-law. She's the one who had
the influence.
�
Dublin Core
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Title
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Appalachian Oral History Project Interviews
Description
An account of the resource
In 1973, representatives from Appalachian State University (ASU) began the process of collecting interviews from Watauga, Avery, Ashe, and Caldwell county citizens to learn about their respective lives and gather stories. From the outset of the project, the interviewers knew that they were reaching out to the “last generation of Appalachian residents to reach maturity before the advent of radio, the last generation to maintain an oral tradition.” The goal was to create a wealth of data for historians, folklorists, musicians, sociologists, and anthropologists interested in the Appalachian Region.
The project was known as the “Appalachian Oral History Project” (AOHP), and developed in a consortium with Alice Lloyd College and Lees Junior College (now Hazard County Community College) both in Kentucky, Emory and Henry College in Virginia, and ASU. Predominately funded through the National Endowment for the Humanities, the four schools by 1977 had amassed approximately 3,000 interviews. Each institution had its own director and staff. Most of the interviewers were students.
Outgrowths of the project included the Mountain Memories newsletter that shared the stories collected, an advisory council, a Union Catalog, photographs collected, transcripts on microfilm, and the book Our Appalachia. Out of the 3,000 interviews between the three schools, only 663 transcripts were selected to be microfilmed. In 1978, two reels of microfilm were made available with 96 transcripts contributed by ASU.
An annotated index referred to as The Appalachian Oral History Project Union Catalog was created to accompany the microfilm. The catalog is broken down into five sections starting with a subject topic index such as Civilian Conservation Corps, Coal Camps, Churches, etc. The next four sections introduced the interviewees by respective school. There was an attempt to include basic biographic information such as date of birth, location, interviewer name, length of interview, and subjects discussed. However, this information was not always consistent per school.
This online project features clips from the interviews, complete transcripts, and photographs. The quality and consistency of the interviews vary due to the fact that they were done largely by students. Most of the photos are missing dates and identifying information.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Collection 111. Appalachian Oral History Project Records, 1965-1989
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1965-1989
Document
A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text.
Scanned by
Wetmore, Dana
Equipment
Hp Scanjet 8200
Scan date
2014-02-19
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The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with N.D. Shull, March 27, 1973
Description
An account of the resource
N.D. Shull was born in Shull's Mills, North Carolina and worked as an engineer throughout his life. Mr. Shull and his wife were appointed Kentucky Colonels through the Kentucky governor.
Mr. Shull describes his childhood including topics such as church, politics, and transportation, specifically cars and the railroad. Mr. Shull lived in Tennessee with his parents during the Great Depression, and describes what that was like. He also explains the background of Shull's Mill.
Creator
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Brinkley, Bill
Shull, N.D.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a title="Appalachian Oral History Project Interviews, 1965-1989" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/195" target="_blank">Appalachian Oral History Project Interviews, 1965-1989</a>
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
3/27/1973
Rights
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Copyright for the interviews on the Appalachian State University Oral History Collection site is held by Appalachian State University. The interviews are available for free personal, non-commercial, and educational use, provided that proper citation is used (e.g. Appalachian State Collection 111. Appalachian Oral History Project Records, 1965-1989, W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC). Any commercial use of the materials, without the written permission of the Appalachian State University, is strictly prohibited.
Extent
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14 pages
Language
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English
English
Type
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document
Identifier
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111_tape46_NDShull_1973_03_27M001
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Boone, NC
Subject
The topic of the resource
Watauga County (N.C.)--Social life and customs--20th century
Watauga County (N.C.)--History
automobiles
cars
Great Depression
Kentucky Colonels
Politics
railroad
religion
Shull's Mill
transportation