Harry V. Smith interview with Nell Smith, Virginia Smith, Jean Smith, and Betty Riviere (part two)

The John Burrison Georgia Folklore Archive recordings contains unedited versions of all interviews. Some material may contain descriptions of violence, offensive language, or negative stereotypes reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. There are instances of racist language and description, particularly in regards to African Americans. These items are presented as part of the historical record. This project is a repository for the stories, accounts, and memories of those who chose to share their experiences for educational purposes. The viewpoints expressed in this project do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of the Atlanta History Center or any of its officers, agents, employees, or volunteers. The Atlanta History Center makes no warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of any information contained in the interviews and expressly disclaims any liability therefore. If you believe you are the copyright holder of any of the content published in this collection and do not want it publicly available, please contact the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center at 404-814-4040 or reference@atlantahistorycenter.com. From minute 28:38 to 32:11, Nell Smith and Betty Riviere use racially discriminatory language. In this second part of a four-part interview, Harry Smith interviews his aunt, Nell Smith, his mother, Virginia Smith, and his aunts African-American retired cook, Betty Riviere. Nell Smith begins by remembering her grandfathers orchard, particularly when her uncles got drunk on grape wine and when she read novels in his cherry trees. At minute 2:28 Nell and Virginia Smith discuss Bramblett family members and names. Next at minute 4:42, Betty Riviere remembers her childhood, including chores such as cooking and picking cotton with her sister, as well as visiting Indian Springs Park in Butts County, Georgia, with her father to drink sulfur water. At minute 9:45, Riviere recalls being hexed and how to cure the curse along with removing a haint from her house. Riviere recollects a variety of events at minute 17:22, including hurting her foot, trying to visit her friend, eating watermelon, giving a boy candy, and someone stealing her comb. At minute 26:48 she fondly remembers her fathers dancing. At minute 28:37, she recalls superstitious signs, the pain she felt when she was hexed, and hearing unidentified voices. She ends at minute 32:12 with a story about being upset with her tutor. Nell Bramblett Smith (1903-1987) was born in Crabapple, Georgia. She married Milton Wallace Smith, Jr. (1899-1955) and lived in Barnesville, Georgia, almost her entire life. Her children include Jean Smith (1931-1988), Betty Crawford (1926-2014), and Milton Wallace Smith III (1924-2010). Jean Smith (1931-1988) lived in Barnesville her entire life. No additional biographical information has been determined. Virginia Bramblett Smith (1916-2012) was born in Meansville, Georgia. She married Harry D. Smith (1911-1982) and lived in Atlanta most of her life where she worked as an artist. Her children include Harry V. Smith and Eugene D. Smith. Betty Riviere (approximately 1886- ) was the daughter of a former slave. She lived in Barnesville, Georgia, where she worked as a housekeeper and cook, including for Nell Smith. Riveire never married. No additional biographical information has been determined. - sa s folklorE. '300 lD Vli.~tef )969 . ; . 1',' I I I I I I I I I I I 1 1 I 1 1 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I As I should hD.ve oxpentod, the collection of folkloro is no "ras liko to rocord eonvorso.ti.ons, l'ontlnisoes Has a total d:tsaster e Hy first o;l;tempt 1'1as uith tho cooks :i.n the nrLrs1.ng home uhero my fiD.nco Horks, since thore Horo only tHO or three ]X\ti.onts that Hor0 ''''' clearly lucid. I first. experimented HUh the cook, in tho Id.tch~ Huch to my dw.grin, inrJtant folk modicine and rumOl'S of uhero to find a herb doctor ':19.13 not to bo found ( no luck on that GO far), It im.S impossiblo to get a recording in the kitchen and corta'm sodal inhibit.ions - not mine - seemed to pl'event thorn from being able to si:t elm,n SOIlMh01'e and be reco1'(1ec1, Needless to say, my longhand ':18.S pretty useless, and I haven't includod any of this in my project, My next, ac1vontul'C~ viaS wit.h one of the p9.tients. This gentloman uaDn't. nuko shy, or so he so.1.d, bu:l; he absolutely rofuscd to be l'ocorded. I did f(anv.go t.o get severv.J. of his storios transcribod, bul; his jolwll D.nd st01:i.os )'oliod so hev.vily on ha.nd actions v.nd dialoct that they' Hel.'O lost. on ;the ]X\go. My noxt excUl'llion HD.S to soo a la.dy in stono Mountain. of i,hom I h1J.d chilhood momorios n>s 8. talo spinnel'. 1~his a.lso turnod out to be 8. flop. This ]X\rticulD.r HOl1k9.n !'las t.ho irido~, of a. man Hho oporated a rock m,'ushOl' a;t tho mountain fol.' thirty or forty' yoars and oimed much of tho lD.ncl D.round tho mountain, Thill lady said sho didn't Imo!'l (romomber) anything and oven D.fter I rosorted to a high prOIlSUl'O nPPl.'oac.h nnd appoal to vanity, posterity, and. lD.ter somo voiled thl.'eo,ts. sho refused to see me o;t oJJ.. So do~m Hent anothor inforunnt. I obtained from sovoral souPoes tho namE> of a man in 'rucker. Georg;ia 1'1ho 1'W,S roputod to tell'Tanh1Stic"truo st():~ics" about moonsh1.ninjl; dUring pPoh:i.bition. A IfJ,dy tlW't runs a furniture store in ~~uckel:' said his fr:l.ends C8,11 him "King" and she clJJ.:i.morl. this reforred to tho faet thD.t ho Has .2 Idngpin of the entire stn.to's "lightni..n'" operation during this time. I spoke ",ith tho ln9,n 0'11'01' the tolophone and ho agl'eed to talk to l11e. \'!110n I \'lent to moot him, he did not shoH at the a.greed upon time. I ealled him the next day and ho s8,id ho ho,d to go to D. funeral. I asked him l'Ihon it Hould be cOllvenient to soe me, and he said he had been thinking a,bout it and folt ho didn't HD.nt to bd.ng it up - "drag it out ago.:i.n." I finD.lly got him to at loo,st think a.boul; it, and ho said ho 'hd.ght" call me, I have ineludod his ntJ,mo; ho might bo vnltw,blo. All of the follmnng tre.nscr:l.ption l,ms 1m,de in my almt' s "sitting room" in d01'1ntol'ln Barnesvillo. Goorgia - sixteon m:Ues south of Griffin. Tho session stal'ted D,t about t"IO o'clock P, ~I. D,nd 11l.sted off D,nd on untll about six 0' clock p. M. My inforlll'\nts ,le1'e vory enthusiastio nbout the project. In fact, if I. h9,d expJJ1.ined more to my mother about \'Ilw. t I 1'Ianted I could have gainod mo:~e inforr@,tion. I!y aunt is :1nteJ~estecl in the loc.8.1. history and probnbly ImoHs enough possible inforul9.nts to keep sove)~D.l collector'::; busyt Hy' Aurrlo,Nol1 (MI'S, J.I, vI, Smith) iG D. Hldovl, sixiW..f:l.vo. Hho Has born in Crahe'<pple, Gool'gi,9. ne9,rby in FOJ.'Gyth County. Sho hns l:l.ved in &'1,rnoGvllle almost IW1' ol1t:I.1'e life. H1Gr; ,Jean Sud.th ir; Nell ~r; daughter and is th1l.'ty-oight. Sho lw.s lived in Bal'nesv:Ule hal' entire 11fe 1'1ith hoI.' mothor. ~11.'s. Thrl'Y D, Smith (Virginia) 1'1ar; bOl'n in Hee.nsvillo, Geol'gia about tNenty mi.l"s fl'om Bal'nesv:i.llo I).nd has lived in Atlant!J, tho lil". jority of 11.01' lifo. She ir; Noll' s "1~.by r;istm,1l \'Ih1ch eo. n 100 noted somo1'1hIJ. t in tho conversation tone, Miss Betty'R(were he.s been lilY a\ll1t's Globk for about h-rent;y' yeD.rs. She iG t.he d".ughtE>l of a sJo,.ve, ir; oighty-thl'ee !).nd he,s noVOl:' mo.l'l'led, In the strange southern tl.'.9.ditien, my aunt h9,s begun t.9Jdng ('.8-l'e of the l'1OmO.n \'Iho servod ho'p for so n:09,ny yOf:U"s. I have u!Jod D. single initiD.l to cut down on the excossive retyping of tho inforrrt1.nts l1arrl0; N. Noll; V. V1rgil1ia; ,J, Jean; B. Betty Revoy,'o I and H. Harry. J. He "Ias also the one talking in church on time - a group of men were tallling, rather - and they aslj:ed him, says Mr. Smith, do you belong to the Baptist Church. An' he said, "Hell, no. The Baptist <lurch belongs to me. \I (Laughter) 'Cause he spent all the money, and he gave them the money for the organ. He practically forth~lith built it. So he felt like it belonged to him. H. Guess he figured it was his. N. That's true. H. W-w-~Iho started the buggy factory? N. He did. J. Je.ckson Greenleaf Smith. H. And then i t ~Ias l'lill for 11!k"l. t - hm1 long? N. Uh oh to about nineteen-- just a few years ago they shut it dOlm. H. Hm1 long did they make buggies - "1hat about eighty years? N. From eighteen sixty-seven I believe it was - sixty-seven. H. Gosh, a hlilldred years probably or close to it. N. Almost. H. Eighty years at least. Hmmm. You say - w;"fI1ho did you say played some of those songs you romembered? N. My daddy. H. What? "Crippled Creek" and what? N. Uh he had "Crippled Creek" and - and uh "Black-Eyed Susan" and uh "So1lnlood Mountain" and "John Henry" and uh"801dier '5 Joy" - that was a good one - and "Shortnin' Bread" and there's another one, H. ~lhat ~/as it - can you think of any more that \'/eren't on there? N. That's all I see, "Bile Them Cabbage Down," they used to play that, too, H. Any others that you r.lan think of? N. That's 0.11 the music that I ever heard. Just the fiddle and what about the songs. Now some of these songs I used to heaY.' MalW. sing, Uh she really had some good ones and o.h there was one somethin' If ~ about dig my grave \lith a silver srade and one of the boys that I used to know when I ~las yOlmg said, "I never ~1i11 fOl.'get you the fh'st time I ever met you were - you sang that song 'cause I used to could play by year, And then I took music and after I took music I lost it. H. Couldn't do anything, huh? N. Couldn't do neitheY.' one of them, That's the truth, V. I didn't know that. N, It's the truth, It just went a,~ay, Absolutely went a,~ay, But I -' course it was chords, You know I just - chords, And then improviso a little bit too on the chords to rrake the things do, V, And thon you must've lost interest, N, I don't kncm - anyho.~ I never did like to take music and I used to, as I said, play Frankie and Johnny and I used to could sing - oh about the - twenty verses or so of that, Then this Jesse James son5 too, I don't remember any of the Jesse James song nOvl but I remembel' I used to sing it, V, Do you remember Daddy and Uncle Jim when he used to play the stravlS on the - N, Yeah, V, Tell him about that, Hoo'd they do? N. Oh, u11 one would play and you'd take a straw and balance <it in your fingers like, you Imo.l, like this (ShONS grasp beh'leen thumb and forefinger) 8.nd then they'd hit it vlith this hand and it'd hit on the strings 8.nd it makes great music along ,dth :I.t, H. What vlould they -i~hat vlould they use that along vlith1 lvhatjust any of the f:l.ddle songs? N. It is a fiddling song that they vlould play. One would play and the other was standing nearby beatin' on the strings where there's up above his - usually where his fingering, ya kno,~, (Above where he was fretting the fiddle), H. Where he was frettin' at? N. Yeah. H. With a stra~T. That's ~lild. N. It really sounded good though. It really improved it a lot. V. \fuat ~ras he playing? Was it the oose chords1 Was that ,it sounded like was ooss1'(" ;,' N. No, uh-huh. He'd just be fiddling vrhatever piece he vras fiddling and then - H. Did it give it a drone effect, maybe? N. It'd give, you ImoH - ~lhat's th:~t brush that they do on the drum? V. Oh, yeah. N. That's ~That it'd give. H. The brush effect. N. Oh the drum. H. With a stl!'a~T. N. Um'hum. V, Well, did Dad use the English hold or the regular hold? H, Hovr did he hold i't - the fiddle - did he take it up under his neok? N, Dm-hmm, H, Played up under his neck, There's some - Sometimes you uh See occasionally people that plny it - they play it to get it away from their ear, Played it dmm on their chest, Play it like that, N, Is '~hnt - v, Tlw,t's the English, H, Right on the chest, N, He played his under his ~l:, V, That's the Classic, (They then Irent on to talk about I-rhat became of the violin,) H. Hhat do you remember 'bout any of those stories? Remember any stories that - N. Dh I don't }{nail, H, That Granny used to tell? N. I Imo,r some, I don't ImoH any funny stories much, I knoH some real stories. Dh but, of oourse, they used to tell these uh stories about the tar baby and Br'er Rabbit and all that. Dh ~larll9, did to us, but uh - but uh Grandmaril'l Vaughan, NOl., I Imo\<l this :l.S true because she did it to n16, Dh you Imc'" Grandma Vauglw.n, H.' Uh-hch. N. Uh she l'lould bind, I Irnoo one time I had a big scratch - you lmoH ho,r ch:i.l'ren don't JXl.y not attention to soratches and get infected and uh vIC vrould visit up in that place where she lived and she bound my arm with a pieco of moldod bread to take cal'e of the irlfection. Just take a rag and bind it around a picco of molded breD.d onto your v11 arm. UsuaUy they made their own bread. And uh it molds very easily. They'd dampen it 8.nd let it mold. It took pieces if it vIaS a bad pla.ce. And uh to prevent infection if it lias just a ooratch like burn or if, i.t got infocted used it to clea.1' up the wound. And I remember one time I stepped on a. na:U around at the barn. A l'usty nail around at the barn and uh - II. Before the days of tetanus shots. N. Yeah and u11 - Well I guess they had them but vIe \'1ere in the count1'~r, a small pJJ:l.ce like Cumrrdng, Georgi.a. And uh she took a deep bucket and put some sand in the bottom and slu,'edded some \'1001en cloth o.nd put in the on top of that o.nd set it afire. lilien it smolders you k1101'1, \'1001 vlOn't burn and blaze, I guess smoke. And then she had me to sit :In the chair and ha.nd YOUl' foot over in the top of the bucket. And then she'd take a cloth and uh wind around it to keep the smoke from disappea.ring so quickly and that way it uh - V. Smoked ham. N.-smoked the wound. It kept you from having tetanus. II. liliat \w.s the ene - Hhat vw.s the ones a bout. the the bleod stoppers. Hhat was it used - vlhat \'1as it used - just coh\'lElbs? J. Cobt'1ebs. N. Yeah. It stopped the bleeding ". And uh soot - uh, uh Luoille used to do that 111.th the ohildren. H. Soot f'rom the chimney'? N. Soot. V. Soap Sally! J. and N. both. Soap Sally! J. Ooh, oh - Soap Sally. H. \iho ~Ias Seap Sally? J. Uh Hhen I ~lD.s little, Lucillo our oook used to tell us tlw.t there I~as this person "hose mme 1/8.S Jsoap Sally\~nd she carried a sack. And if' you Heren't good Soap Sally ~lOuld come do~m and put you in the sack and take you home and nmke soap out of' ya. And it didn't ~latter Hho you I~ere nor l~here you lived or nothin' She didn't have a specifio residenoe 01' anything she just l~andered around and picked up all the bad little ohildren and put 'em in her saok and took 'em and lik'1de S08.p out of' 'em. You botter believe she s carod the billy out of' ya. H. Yeah. Did sho tell ghost stories or anything to ya'll? ,T. Yos, and thore's one that I'd give a niokel if'I oould find out the end of' it. And none of' us can remember it. '1'here's one about - (> apl>9.rently he Has a Nigro nmn beC8.use he he.d a big black to'and {, the only part of it that I can remember is tlw,t someho~1 01' another his toe oither got cut off 01' something happened to't and ho camo b,.ok and he Has ahmys saying I l~ant my big blaok too and that is the on1y part that any of us can romomber. V. I 've..'hoard that one. () N That's a Grinnn' s Fairy Tale, I think 01' one of the other. J. 11e11, I don't knovr - that's the only f'9.rt of it that I can remember. (Here I got dravrn into explaining about fairy tales and hOl'T they f'9.SS in and out of oral tradition). N. \fuen you're smoking your foot, you do it for forty-five minutes or an hOUl' B.nd I never ~Till forget h(m terl'ible i t ~ras to sit there and me about eight years old. Sit there and smoke my foot B.nd everybody out playing. H. Playing, having a good time, N. And it really l;loorly' Jd11ed me, H. IVell, lThat'S SOllie more remedies? Any more remedies? N, Ah that - nothing except ub cobrebs and ub - J. Molded bread, H, vJhich, of course you lmo~T, couJ.d quite possibly be penicillin. N, Yeah, um-hmm, That, ~1Cll it's Toade fl'om mold, you ImOl;, Could be. H. 'Course ther's a lot different kinds, N. But that vras t.hat ~ras the thing th,,'\tub, uh that did the good lras that. And Betty Revere - that's my cook - father he ~ras 8. slave vlith the Landins, and he - 111'. Landin vms uh a founder of Gordon Institute in 1852 and uh this boy - he was young then. His uh he uh his job was to colleot eggs e,nd so he decided he wanted some eggs so bad he didn't lmovl 1'1hat to do, and he asked his lll'l,ma to cook him tvlO. lIe said, "No, don't cook me tvlO I cook me s:tx" says I cause I Imou 1 'm gonm get a vlhoopin' anyvmy and I vlanta ll~tke it vlOrthrhile " (Laughter) II. Y-y-yn. '11 remembor any of the - like the Jack Ta.les. Nell, you lmml in modern day there's Jack in the Bewmstalk (Hore again clue to my fantastic inabi11.ty to koep my mouth shut," I got into a long harangue on tho Southern mountain Je,ck Tales). N. This Fl'ank Revere, Betty Revere's fathel~, ub he could jump up in the air and cou_ld do the "Buzzard vling" and dtJ.nce and he could jump up in the ail' 8.nd crack his heels thr'ee times befm'e he hit the ground, in his sevenM,os. H. Good gosh. N. I 'ye seen hilll do :it. They used to get him to do it dOl'1lltovm. You kn<m, :it's beon tuenty-fiv0, thirty years ago or longer. H. \vow. He really stayed agil.. and in good sha pe. N. Yeah, he really did, didn't he. Yeah and Betty Reyore 1'1ouJ.d twe uh for a headache she 'd use uh Octagon soap Hrap01' bound around hol' head. Said thn.t it cure it hea.dache. II. ,Just the "Trapper from the soapi N, Yeah, just the l-Irapper from the soap, You lmOl~ it smells. It's got a good bit of soap still in it you kno", V, Evidently she \'las getting some vapor from the sO/J.p. The smell, the fumes - l-Ihatever I-las in that thing ~Ias - .J, IveI1, you knO\'l you used to take bro\'ln paper ~Ihen yOll had a nose bleed and fold it up and put it up tLnder your your lip. Bronn lk~per, V, Ever heard of that? H, Never heai'd of that, N, You haven't? Vlell, it'll do it, .J, 'Course it's the pi'essure, I'm S11I'e, 'fuat's applied somel~here tlw.t stops it, V, But you had to use brOlm lk,,-per? .J, You had to use broNn paper, V, It really didn't m;.t.i;er I-lhat kind of paper it \'las you just thought you had to use bl'o~m paper, ,J, I said bi'oVln paper, What ever happened to resinol salve? V, We had it everyday at our house, N, Do ya? V. We got a big jar nOH. Great for pimples for teenagei's (Here l~e got into a discussion a bout patent medicines.) , , , J, No, but I tell you pine oil to this round-eyed day is used greatly by a lot of people for most anything you \<18.nt - headaohes; anytM.ng, 'Cause I knmr Gertrude Smith, Joyoe's mann, they used pine oil just like most folks use aspirin, V, Just drink it? ,J, No, they rub it on their nose or if they got a sore 8.rm, they rub it on the sore arm, It's uh I reckon, it's the cure all. II, \~ell, a lot of people urw "ritch hazel that ~ray too, Use it for every!;hing imaginable , I lmow uh fiance's mother thinks it's good for every!;hing or t\nything, 'Course ,Jamie's specific cure all for any kind of aches and pains is Bitgeloil, And you !mow what that is, It's horse liniment, It's made - it's made by Absorbine, Jr, And I mean it ain"!; Absorbine, Jr, It's Absorbine, It's made for horses and it is pmrorfu..l , , , V, Sure you remember some ))'J.tent medicines from YOtll' chil<lhood? I don't remember any, N, Pa))'l ,las a doctor, and ~re didn't have paton!; medicines, II, Well, ,rh-,rhat did he use in the Hay of pills, I always wondered what ,'ras in that - ,1hat "/8.S in that case, Mother's still got that case, N, He rolled - he rolled his own pills, ya Imow, H, HO\<1 did - N, \~ell, I have seen him do it, I mean he'd dictate these portion an' made up a batch of uh medicine. You lmOl~ in one of these mortars and add the different ldnds of po~rders and everything. Then he 1'Tould take, say for instance if he ~ras goin' te m9-ke a dozen, he'd - I mean t~T01ve, he'd sort it out in little piles on lk"-pers to get the pl'oper amounts for each pill so they'd be 'buut the same and then he'd roll 'em s.nd dip 'em in some ldnd of sugar tYl)e of pcmder to t'llk'\ke em congeal and ldnda glaze so they'd hold together. Make 'ell} you kn~T, put a little ~Tator Hith 'om. H. And just bottle 'em up. N. And then just roll 'om, m9.ke 'om up for peop10 and then he'd make up some and have 'em ready to give out. V. lie used calomel - ''8 1'That he gave us1. And he called 'em candy to.b1ets, see. Had that sugar coating Jon them 'n "re Here stupid enough to think they,rere. That's the only thing that I remember about him and the pills ~ras calomel. H. \'Tell, "That - did he ever doctor any animals or anything much, too? N. No, he didn't. Grandl~ did both. At up uh in Cumming. he had about, they Has several of the boys about five, and they all had horses and had this big lot and ull he ahmys had hro for himself 'cause he'd drive one at brealmeck speed and go see somebody 'n he'el come OO.ck and and they'd have another trip. He'd use the other horse. II. It. lk'\Ys to keep up a fast horse. N. They did have good hors()s. TheyH. Had to. N. DIll-huml. H. Bo lilm, be lilm a dootor not having a decent par today (yeah in 1:xJ.ckground) he ~10ull be at a loss. V. Ive11, you don't remomber anything of the stuff he presoribed? You oughta be able to remomber - N. lIa~l, I don't relllBmber 8.nything of the stuff he presoribed. I remember one time uh I "lent in the uh offioe ~ he had a room fer his effice and his medicine 'n shelves and I had this cut on my knee and uh I ~lanted - 1'10 HanGed to go on 8. trip. Carl (a brother) and I \fere gonna drive tho buggy olll'solves 'n gosh, he ~las t'1elvo, and I Has ten. NO\1 '1adn't tlk'l.t great? And uh ~10 Here gonna go twmtyfive miles 8M8.y to visit Aint Lula's chil'ren and ~le had this ole horse flamed Millet. And she had boon a race horse and she Has really fast and \]h lilarlk't let us go and I. - as I said - I had this out on my knee. And I "anted it. ot get Hell :i.n a hUt'l'y '1'1 I took the cnbolio (0'-,rbolio) ao:i.d stopper and just deftly touoh the spet. Yeu Ime1'1, thD.t 1'18.S kindn. en his hands er somothin,l. n.nd it o\\);'es it up in a hurry. But I get too much and burned mine and had te hn.ve n. rn.g on it. (Laughter) But I "lent on the trip just the same. II. Didn't slO\1 you up n.ny. N. And o:f oOUl'se, lilalfa told \\s not to clrivo fast. And 1'1e rn.n. Carl - I couldn't do one thing \fUh him - I kept tollin' him I' s :) gonl19. tell on him and ",hen Wf' got up there r;he war; just lathered /.'; with foam and uh - H, Hot ar; a pir;tol, N, Yeah, 'n tm Uncle Trum nk'1,de me take out tho horso 'n 1'w.lk it and "ralk it'n "mlk it' n 1,ralk it 'n put a blanket on it, H. Cool him d01m 'n - N, YoD.h, II, Cool him d01m grlllcluAlly, You ('~'tn ru:ln Do horse if you just turn 'm .9. loose like tOO.t, Hey there's something tOO.t I keep remembering, I don't know where I heard :I.t from or what it is, It's som0lthing the.t's scared lue som01'fhere along the Hay, 'Sat durn l'e.:\J:road trest.le over there 'bout. five miles othel' r;:lde of the farm goin' out tOHard Meansv:lllo, yo. '11 lmm-f 1'fhere I'm talking a bout1 N. Yeah, I lm01'f the one you're talkin' a bout, It's lo~ong, H. It's long D.nd it's high - at Piedmont, V. Ricky pl'ol}9.bly got up on :\.t. H. 'l'hcre's a durn story somobody tole me about that th:l.ng 'n I used to have n:lghtl1l'l.res about that (]otton-pickin' thing 'cause seems like somebody told mo e. r;tory e.bout sotrl<~body being tl'apped up there, N, Prol:Xl.bly some of the boys - probably Joe, It probably 1'far, Joe (another broWlol'l theN) "fore nine in the family), V. \'1e11 , some of them did - yoa.h, I remember r;omebody too, va.guely', Probably, you(i\r),bD.b1y heard the story sommfhero from "fhon we lived there and when you a1'f the trestle you - :\.t (:D.me to lrdnd - and you got it mixed up, you know, N, \vel1, I kno"1 thor's one o,t Meansville. It's not very long. It's about a third as long. V. I believe Joe - N. Or as fourth. I think it ~las .Joe o,nd thom had ta - I think thE,,\; Joe had t' lie d01m on the side. I bolieve they did 'cause he was a wild one I mean. They Here out doing things all the time. It ~las probably Joe - got C8.ught on the trostle. \vel1 I ]01();I we ran one Sundo,y afternoon, and .'le used to oross this trestle and go ovor on the mountain in Meanville Pine Mountain. And u11 then H0 ' d come lx~,ck home, and \'10 "A),me back, and ~le couldn't keep up ~rith ~lhen the trai.n Has condnI. You 'd hear it ~lhistle a,nd I remember one timo '-le had to run to got oEf 'foro the train got there. That scared the billy out of us. V. I ]0101'1 it. H, That 1119.y be - it may hE,ve been vh Joe that had told me that. Thero's somebody 'cause I remembel' I Has ther0. N, I'm SU1'e it W),S .Joe. H. I don't know ~lhat the mme of that creek is - soems like that creok ts named Potato Creek. N. Yeah. H. An' I c."n remember in - N. He prol:><J,bly told yo. the talo about it then, H. Some~lhore or the other I got the tdoo, that someono was hung on that track. (No one could remember anythtng else about the trestlo). V. Oh, I'll toll you a tale about that old houso that somobodyc:shot somebody, You ]01o~l, there's a ~1011 d01m thol'O - you remember that Hell ~lay down in the ~lOods , (This ,ITt6~y' also proved to be a dead end) N. Yeah, I'm sure you did. V. ~lel1, nON listen. Oh yeah, Old Man ,Jackson (G. Smith) Sm:i:t,h Would you be :l.nterested thei 11ay he's btU'ied different in the cemet01>y? H. Yeah. V. Tell him about the. t, N. Ivel1, he's buried vh let's see north and south. II. North and south? N. Yee.h, north and south instead of east and. Irest., Everybody in t.he cemet.ery's buried east and west. except hiul him he's b\~ied - H. lfuD.t did. he do, specify the.t? N. Yeah D.nd he has a (l1Il.usoleum right therE) in the point of t.he cemetery and he se.id somebody asked him why' that. he he had it f:l.xed 'for" he died 'n uh said h" Iw.nteel to see hOI-I it looked and uh just for he and granny and he had it uh somebody asked him I1hy he uh fixed it that ~ro.y' and he said uh he just Irated to keep uh koep his eyo on the cooh's p9.n as she l'lent by Hith l'lhat she's totin' off from his widovl. (Laughtel' ) , H. lIe had. D. pe'l,n tot.in' - N, Yeah, p9.l'l totin! That.'s right. v, Yeah, l1ell they kinda figt~ed. tl1c::ttin. They took ImOl-I, that. vIas left. H. Yee.h, scraps and uh uh any':stuff t.hat IID.S left froll! the te.ble, V. It's pe.n totin', Yeah, sho HO.S D. p'l.n toter, H. Co.use thore) 11D.dn't much refrigeration D.dd there lradn 't any count in keeping things very long, V. Can y'ou think of any of tho othol' things about jxm totin'. Kinde. j,ntol'osting. N, Yeah, i:[; ,~as - II, vlo'l'e firin' '[;0 run out", tape. N. You lmow it's funny how people uset8. scare children so. Now I never did do that tr.i.th my children. NotT I never did I 'I 8.ltrays - V. I nevor did eUher. I tIM pretty' careful aboul; that, but N. I never thought 8.bout it one tlay or the other. V. He looked do,m and it f.l'ightened him an an Hhen it firtghtened him he thought I \'/IJ.S goin' to t.hrOtr him of.f 'C/l.use it frightened him tThen he looked do,m, you knoH. Somothin' happened - I don't knotl. N. Yeah. It really does, the heights frighten me, too. V. Look at Daddy. N. I mean I'm not comfortable (Next, Nell relates a story about someone she remembered in Crabapple tr.i.th a "Van Dyke Beard" as she puts it). N. Land and had quite 8. fOH p9.sture and he had several boys and they had cousins and brothel.'s and uh children, you lmOtI - cOUl'lins. And he got this :fine bull, and this was \,hen HO lived there he got his fine bull. And the bull ,ras mean and Hould run 'em out. of tho ps.sturo and they used to play ro.ll thore in the.t pasture and Uh it'd lmke 'em so lll'l.d 'eauso they bull Hould run 'em off that they castrated the bull one Sundll.y. They \'las just teenagers (Laughter) V. They 'bIlk aboul; delinquents - N. I lmoH somebody was htlppy about losing thoir prize bull. And Cantroll ReesE', Hhieh ,ras his son-in-1D.\f, later tell about that and it \,as D.n' hml thoy held him dmm, you knotT, 'n the trouble they had roping him. H. HOH nl'J.n;y boys ~I8.S it? N. 'Bout six or oight of them and uh those - sOllie of them ~rel'e the tucker boys. Uh Nrs. Broadwell ,'18.S 0. ~ucker before she lre,rried and these were her nephews and those boys - cousins of course - and W, he Has the n\!l.l1 tImt had the Broadwell Vo.riety - developed the Broadwell Vo.riety of uh coUon and it ~lo.S one of the better kmmn w,rieties of - until dul'ing tho.t time say a,bout 1910 - 25. H. Beforo the ero. of hybrids o.nd everything. N. That's right. That's before they got so many. V. I remember Nama talld.ng 0.bout that. N. And ,til he Imd - he h~d this stalk of cotton. I've forgotten ,'rha t - something al'ound five hundred bolls on it. I believe it ,'18.5 five hundred o.nd fifteen. II. \'1hew. N. Tho. t he used to exhibit every ye.ar and several times o.t the Southeastern Fair T!5 and infaet i\'l in the capitol building novr - Sw,t", Capltol. ill, I believe it ltil 11I).s tho largest number of bolls of o.ny stalk of cotton ever grovm a~rhere o.nd he developed that and uh - V. NOH you lmmr tho thing about, Nell, something that made me think of it - I'm interrupting - but ~rou remember the gil,me - Are yeu interested in ga,mes? H. Y(~p. V. -yeu J~emember you holped me with this I 1?he boys would ~lhitt1e a p:J.ddle and you ImoH they ~lo1J~d uh whittle a po.ddle o.nd they - they'd drivo a stob in the ground and they'd put this and they'd ,fhittle uh - it looked li.ke a screl'ldr:Lver, a ~loeden scrEllfdriver lw.ndlc - yeu knel1, I1h a peg like the.t. And part of it ~lou1d lean on the stob an' stick out of the ground about net mor'e than thDoe quarters of an inch, N, Oh, they'd put that that peg leaning over it just ever the steb and then they'd eeme do~m ~Tith the paddle - the edge of the p9.ddle - vJh.ap - an' it'd go in tho ail' and then they'd hit it. S~Ting it like uh uh ping pong paddle Idnd of thing, see, And I don't remembor the rest of the gamo. HO\'l did thoy play tho rest ef the game? 11. \'las catching somothing involvod or dist-"nce or '-lhat? V. It "las distance. H. See hO\>1 fo.r he could hit it, v. 'rhore ~18.s more to it. Joe san tell you the rest of it 'cause they Here the ones that did it, They used to pls.y "Peggy" all the time. N, And that ~18.s "Peggy," N, \vas tlJ..",t Mwublepeg? v, Co.lled "Peggy." H, No, Mwnblepeg is played ~Tith a knife, V, No, th:i.s Has Peggy, a game the boys plo,yed, 1'ememoor 'em playing it all the time and then they ho.d bones all of them used to lfhHtle benes, you ImOlf, and play "Bones," tlw. t liD.S a mus:i.cal intrwnent of course they - N. 'hiO benes l? and Mather had the longest fingers and he could really play. H. What did they do? Just take 'n just take 'n cut it \1ith a SRH or somethin'? N. NRH, they'd just mke t~lO flR t pe.ddles. 'l'hey usually Here of \'lood - V. I'lood, N. - Hooden paddles of good seD.soned popL'tr or s0111ethin' that's Rnd they'd be 'bout this long (riV1t finger on left Rrm) Rbout a foot long or fourteen inches long and they'd have t'lo otf them that put one of them beh'leen here and one beh1een here (beh'leen first Rnd second and second and third fingers) and then they'd flip 'em together with their thumbs somehoH or the other just play tunes ,lith 'em comin' and ll. going, H, Kinda like a rhythm band. N. Yeah, urn-hrom. V. And they called 'em "Bones," They Heren't really bones, II, Thoy Heren' t l1ltde 'out of bon<~s, were they? N. But I ill1'tgine they were originally, H, Probably origin9.1ly they used bones some WJ.y. N, Like rib bones of cattlo you could find and like that, V, I don't knoH whether the.t ce.me fran the Nigroes - Negroes - N, An U11 these boys there at Cl'Rbapple - the Rucker boys - and Rt that time Hr, Matt Rucker ,las the one of the big league ball players. He WlS from Rosl'lell and his neph0ws;8.1l lived up al'ound Crabapple, And they' had a Rucker ball team uh - all of them Here ll<mned Rl1ckor that played on :it and uh they played the Atlanta Craclmrs. At tl1<?t ijime uh and one one Fourth of July vTO - the - everybody loved b9,seball and tlu'ough there and uh thoy pla.yed in front of our house. The big lovel field - they'd been rots 01' "lhe8.t - one of the tl'10 - and it 1'1as stubble and this lIas in - on the Fourth of July and they'd cut it and everything and thcy uh they p]D,yed 'om there in the afternoon 'n on the Fourth of July the Atlanta CrD,ckers D,nd the Rucker ro,ll team D,nd they ,'1ero famous allover that section and I knovl they must've beon uh a lot of interest D,t that time 'cause Mr, Milt uh used ta keep books up at Tate Marble \forks. They came dOvm here and got him to go up there an' he 1'10.s pitchin' vms vJallace's father (Milt vms her father-in-18.vy) and he used ta go up there an keep books just tokens, of course, he could keep books D,nd did, but it ,'ID,S just for him to p18,y vlith the Tate Marble \forks. H. So they could have the playe!.'? N. So they could have the pla.yer. H. Yeah, k<3ep him eligible, N. That's right, th9.t's right so they played ball and the Rucke!.'G beat the Crackers that clay and they'd sell lemonade and all that sort of stuff and boy 1'18.8 I 0. b:lg fan. I v!US about eight years old (Laughter) and speD,king of ;the Broadvlells, they had the first cal' up the1'e D,nd Norman Broo.dHell - I guess I must 've been 8.bout nine - He took 8. bunch of Ue g1.rls to !.'ide in his Ford roadstuh.. That's the fil'st 00,1' I ever rode in in my: life. 'Bout nine yearG old, V. I remomber I guess the first one I ever rode in I came to Barnesvillo 1'1ith tho Gordys. Some - 111'. Pete probably had a car - cmlle over from Meansville. I guess I rode in DD,ddy's - I don't knoH, N. 1'heso three brothers came from someHhere up to Forsyth county and 1111 one of 'em's name HD,S Cicero Bramblett, Abe Bramblett and uh lfilJ,rtin Bramblett e,nd uh they ~T0re French descent. And uh he ph'1,nted uh HarM.n Br:J.r'lblett, Hho 1m,s my gmndfather, pla.nted uh an orcho,rd around his house and 'bout five acres of grapes and 11h so they had these grapes $,nd uh Hould make 11ine every year 8.nd his boys - he had five boys $,nd th1'ee girls - 8.nd uh these bOyIJ dr8.nk so much of the .Hine that they made from the g1'8.pes after they greN up an uh got to be frui't:.ing and uh Hell that he got mad 1'lith the boys. They just kept drinking every year and 11ou~dn't do any Hork 01' anything so he got ltk'1,d ~Iith them about i.t and uh plml0d up his grape oh U11 orchlJ,rd. V. Pulled up all the vines - that's terrible. Makes me sick. (Laughter ) N. And he had these nngnificont cherry trees and I don't lrnm'l, they lfl9.y stili grml up thcro 8. t this time, but at that time they 1'101'0 1'08.1 leafy and just full of these huge black cherries and I - 1'lhen I 11as 8. 11tt]:e girl HO used to go up there Q,nd uh I 'el get these uh Jesse James books and 'cause they HouJ,dn't 8.1101'1 me to read anything like thD:t.. I Has about ten I guess. H. 'hey didn 't ~Iant you to read those wild novels. N. I novel' will forget - one of them 1'1aS name~ Jesse James A-neema- sis - 'Course I called it Na me sis. So I'd got up in the cherry tree ar0 eat cherrios and overybody'd c~ll vThere I Has Hhere Has I an' even I 1'1ouldn't/ans~ler so I'd si.t up in tho cherry tree 'n eat cherries, I'eD,d Jesse James books and they ho.d an old ono of thoso big 01 horn Edison Victr0111s - I ~Ionder \'Ihat ovor happened to that thing, V, I don't remonroor ever seeing it. N, And uh they had these rocords they used to p1o.y up thero and \'Ihat Has so funny uh ~Ias that Uncle Abe uh ono timo uh got in front of the mirror and tried to shoot himsolf and eouldn't e.nd missod (Laughtor), V. Ho 1re.S ,'). poor shot. N. Oh, they ~Iore klnda morose kinda people th as Aint Lu."k't says the queor Brambletts. V. He - 1'his is tho family - this Hould soom - this crops up \'lith Harion , (Hero another discussion ensured about another fa m:Uy, though unrelated, seomod to he.ve tho same charaeteristics). N. 1'ap-:\ 1'llJ.S namod Cicero - Jamos Robert Cicero V. T-they e.1-ahm.ys gave them throo IW.mes instead of one - they 1mntod to be sut'e they Iw.d a lot of names, N. 1'1ell, rock then you see that ~ms uh used to be the Idng you Imml, Old English people namod their children seveml names and. like Aint Lula's named ,Josie - V. ,Joseph Ann - no 11ait a minuto 1-1ary To.llu1o.h Josephine - N. Josie Gertrudo - V. Josephine Gertrude-Hary Tallulah Josephine Gerb-ude Vaughan Bramblett - that's her full name ~1o.ughter). She 1-1aS eighty-sevon. HOH she surv:l.w,d, WeD., listen , (Here again the discussion got into the familiar "I-That ever happened t.o?"). After this my aunt suge;ested He go get. l1iss Revere, and this is Hhere tho next section of the tape begins, The "B" stands for Betty Revere, B, Like he t.ole me Henry and 'em I-Tere gro,m an' he tole 'em all over tHO hun'red pound doy pick he gie 'em a quarter and he tole me allover t.HO hun'red I piok he gie me a quart.er, An' l1am)., she got mad, She say Hister John you ought not do Betty dat WJ,y - she ain't no boy and sho ain not nothin' like old as thom boys. NOH puttin' mo' on her th,'ln you puttin' on Lottie, He tell'em I pick him a dun'rod and eighty-five e,n'Lottie coudn't pick the same (laugh). N. Lottio's her sister, B. En so ullra I 11M! piold.n' and Lottie l~ouJ.d amp my sack in hers 'n hers in nd.no and thv,t I-ray she get empty sack and I kopt pieldn' '? I went l1i' him everyvrhero ho vrent but the eetton---- lrdll houso. HHTouldn't let me ge to the mill house Hi' him, l!, vlhy l1euldn' t he let yeu go te the mill house? E. You knovT ho put some grinding - enough grinding somevrhere I1hero ho cotLld ge back e,L>'in on got it, He tough'(; I'd toll it. If I tought 'bout it I'd tell it. But I dih't, Hell I I-Touldn't. Yeah, but ho didn't Irnol1 I1hat I was gonna say. II, So he dih't Hant to take the chance. hole over dere. B. You knml Hent over to Indian Springs and Hadn't nothin' but a little ? PaP'" say old lady _";"_ git gl'8, 'mal1l'3. some Hater oh but old folks he alH8,ys called 'em grandffi'lH and old lacly had on, you knoH those long dresses, Hiss Nell, I don't vlhere (vlear) tHO dresses, Haffi'l used -[;0 Illwe tHO I Hear -1:.1-10 dressef3 you lmoi'l, black and vlhite and a long 'un, ancl I gvn.ne to get the old lady some '-later and come b3.ck and He go dOI-Tl1 to tho springs tMiuot a yoar and lain 't been over, dere but once since he been dea.d. II That right? B. Lillie Hitchen. ca.m overe dere, II. Hhat did you go d01-1Yl to Indian Springs for? B. Git th-that Hater. N, Sulf.ur, II. Sulfill' Hatol'? Smells funny? N. Yes, B, Onco't you'd smelled it, you aORIdn't drink it, N, Hv.ve to hold your nose and (kink it, B, That's right, H. \'/h,.?,t V10uld you Use it for, just to help your health 8.nd evorything? B, Ye8,h, for health. Ura-hmlll, PaP'" go t,dco a yoar 8.nd I's I-lith him, Ho drovo a mule'n it ,ras sCEll'ed of a bridge. ',Phat big 01' long bridge 'fore lfe got there, Bl'i.ndfold 'j.ln. Novel' seen nobody blindfold a mule, Had a big ole h'lg set tie it OVel' her eyes. n, She l'1Ouldn't laID1'1 it l'18,S D, bridge, huh? H, An' load 'im 8.cress, den't they? B, CotLldn't lead hor, Got in front an' she liablo to jump on you, She jump agB.imt that bridge's mUin' and last time 1'Ie's there it 1'Ias broke right there and ha'n't ever fixed it. And she 1'Ias scered of bridges, Il, Yeah, lfell , , N, vlell, listen. '.fell him about that. hex stuff you ,1M t.enin' me one day', You said somebody put a hex on you 'bout taking t.he trash out 0' the chair 8.nd bllJ:'mn' it, B, It's in my house, !-liss Nen., Yes'm, N. Still there? B. Yes'm, Cain't get it. out, N. I thought you said that you got rid of it 'Ihon you bllJ:'ned that trB.sh out of tho chail', You sook it and got all them stick 'n trash out and burned them, B. I got rid of some of it, but somo i)f it's still there, I ldn go to my telophone. I ciin't c9.11 you some time, and go o'er to !-Iary Uu hon ce.ll Doree May fo' me, I says, I C','l.n' get, '1' on my 'celophone, She (,.filled, \~hen I got h'tck I called John May on mine 'n I call sOllletimes I cain't y'say you c-~.in't dial out from here, I cain't dial 'n the hor SD.ys is dis the l'ight num'er, I say yos you look :tn de book, But morst them I have 'em 1'YJ~ote dOlm for mo. You knml, bec'ttlse sometimes I just ('A).in' just road 'em too good in the book. And so you knml but I got somo of it out, but .some of it still in thore. VTo~. n c'1,lled mo toda;v and tole me say I conlin dOlm D.nd see 'bout you Doi~ty Rovoro, I tolo her all :cight, I was horo. N. Vias it somebody you kmm? B, Nil. 'm? N, Vias it somebody you kneH? D. A"l, it ,10.13 Sally Goodson - worrJ9.n I knOltl. N. Well, Hha.t'las it you. told me about that time 'beut one of 'em in the Hall one timo in the corner uh? H. Do you remember that? ,~ell, 1'1h-l1hat do they' put a hox on you forjust somobody you don't like? \~as that Vlha.t they do? B. Das oonyurin ya, Tl'y:i.n' W. trick ya. Bu:c, you ImOl'I, they ('.8.in't triok mo. H, Do you out trick 'om? \~h-h-hoVl do yo. undue ono of them conjuros Hhen somebody puts a hex on you hOl'l do you keep it from hurtin 'ya? B. You lmo!'T this !'TOman tole me, says Betty, I don't care when or 1'There you put on :yo shoes you get you some red pepper and some black peppOl' and some sulfur and, Yeah, put all, be sure Em salt en mis it all up together en put it in yo shoes, you ImoVT, it kinda when yo. get it 0,11 mixed it ldnda looks like this bl'Olm nMJ.de pepper. But I beon raising lny pepper but I just got th-tho placo I couldn't raise an I havta buy that g"L'oun' peppel'. You see, me on Hi my shoes I got dat in it. En I put it next to my shoes en I put brown paper on top it te't keep my foot 1rahm. Cain't nobody hurt eha an Idn I'lalk over these things. Some pla,cos I have 1'TOnt, uhra d01m thero just I'w,lldng aoross tho fiolds I stub10 and fall, en thore be Slnooth, Miss Nell. It look like 1'Then \'1e usod to laugh 0,' our boy, ho 1'18.13 clumsy. .Jus' wa1kin' ~roun here en he fall dOl'm. En uh since I do that I don't have no trouble bout falling. \Vhen, see, I have to take my time, I cain' go too fas' Ncm I'm slol'f 'bout whon I fastened up, I takes lny time '(',I),use ain't nothin' like taldn yo time Sometimes I cain't lock IllY do' en I call out SI~y Essie Mae, como lock rl\Y do' for nu3 plOD,se and she COlne uh lock rl\Y do.' \~e He,lk HD.y out yonder to Mulls Church (elaborate ritual about locldng doors). H. Can you romembor anyt,hing a bout uh Hho'tt your uh Im,m9, usod 01' yOlll' daddy used to keep lIHay haints or anything al'ou:nd the house1 B. Papa say cuss 'im out. They ml,de me be cussin'. I've cussed 'em out 0' my house. 1I. Really? Does tlw:t lmop 'om, dOt)s tl18.t keop 'em away. Vlhat elso, Nhat olso did he use? B. (Cackle) He.s you se.y scorod. I say na1'T I en I say Ann, Hill it hm't you. Betty, a he.int cain't h=t you, "Till m9.ke you hurt youso1.f, I say, I says 9.in't nothin' ma.ke me, Sho tole me it couldn't hw.t me, Nhon she tole mo it couldn't h<u,t me, ought not to tolo rna it could make mo hw.t myself. I HItS sittin here on night, I Has so,'ling en evory cornm' 0' my houso ll''1de a cw.ious noiso on I looked aroun' I say Hhat in tho HOl.'ld do you vlant1 f<:n all at onco, come right bohj,nd my cl18,eer and n~ldo dll.t noiso en I'Thon it come bshin my cheer and made 'at noiso liko j.t Has a arm ax, I got that arm ax an Ull flashlight. You h08.r L\ do' comin' to. HeD.r him gain' dovTYl da lw.ll. \vont dOlm tlw.t hall, Hhortlod at me. Sho so.y it oouldn't h<u't mo B.nd I Hont down that b~,llil cusdn' it out. f<:n the h.st I hc<'\rd hit \mnt in the StOVfJ and didn't 1'1ant to got out 0' thore. Hado it get outa thoro, I cussed it out. You ho.vo to do it and lot tho Lord Forgivo yo., f<:n I got It ou:lo. thero an wont in tho dinin' room, I h08.rd 'im out thero grC1lrLlin' thon the next night I said L9.vTd HhD.t must I do, I's scered an' I Hanted to sta:l't.od to Ionvo hOX'le,En I said I not gtdno lee:vo homo I said. He l'1Ont all the 1T8.y roun' that house and I toll. ya tho truth about that. ~rlk'lt sort./). nerved mo in a W).y, I didn't se.y sleep sound that night, but foro anybody got up on tl18.t stroet, i's got up an vTont all aroun' my: houso. An 1t mo.do a no1so all 'roun by my' houso, I givo it a blossin' out Hh0Yl I got through t.alld.ng, that thlng nin't bO(3n h'ick thoro no more since, H, Do yn have to say anything speci8,l? B, Huh? II. Do you ha,vo to sny anytld,ng special or do yo, just - just bless h:im out? B, I tole that goddalllillit I had to Illove :? and get off it, don't llome baok thore no mo', I s8,:i.d 1,rell somebody say, Betty hON come you cuss that Hay , , , (talk a bout a 1'10,terillelon) , H, Hell, ('.8,n you tell me any more about anything you remember about your dD,ddy' or abou\; 'bout Hhen you Here grovring up? I'ihon you Has D, kid, can you romombor any stories they told you 1Il1' anything? B. You knoH I ~ID,S glad to seo Christlll'J,S COlll1,n', Bn Papa Hould jump up an' knock dem CroHs, lIo' d dance for us every Christll19.s. En uh "Picldn in tho Cotton" 8.l1Cl'Cotton-Eyed Joe," Don't you i;hink, don't you Jmo~T Joe killed a lllln 'bout a hundred yc*"rs ago, An' thon ho'd jump up D,nd go to dancing for us, H. Oh. B, Uh-hmm H, Did he sing D,ny songs? N. 'fha,t's "C'btton=li;yed ,Joe," (Hhich Dhe could never romember any rrlOl;'O verseS of) & B. Uh-huh, he'd sing 0, song 8.n' dancllO' II. Do you J'emember hOl'l it l'Tont'l B, No, I don' think I kin. H. Remember any of the Gongs he used to sing? Did you ever learn D.ny of tho songs'/ N. Any cotton picldn' songfJ lilw they used to sing in tho fields? B. Ho H01.1.1d sing S1J)ll en he tlOuld danc(~ too sayin' My girl is a high-toned lady She's not b18.ok, but she looks sorta shady', lIe could Ging that an dance and 8.11. an uh aH he could Ging and dance, but I novor c01.1.1d dance, but you kno,r, I vras hard on shoes. He buy the boy'S tHO pe.ir everyday shoes, he had to buy me tvrc> pair too. An I I cotlld-eo1Jldn' do nothin' but shake good ogg b1'oad. An I shake it on one foot D.n sM.ke it on tho other foot. Papa w.ys Betty one day I don ''I'. ('AWO hOH good that bread is, Betty don' you shake J.t /J.t me. N. \-Tell, liston. lfuat about; what Has it you said the sign tlaS "hen you dropped a fork1 You said "hen you drop a fork it's a sign of sOYrl.ethin' D. Doh! It's a fOl.'dt, it's a trOli\9,n comin' en if it's 8. knife it's a llV.n comin'. An look like if you be washin dishes a drop anything like that, N. Dishrag and vrhat about the diGhrag? B. A. tlOllJan. N, \fuat ~laS it yom' PD.))<'J. said about tho signs? Said it's the Af niggors got tho signs and the vlhite folks got th,-, money, Botty told me that. 'I thought that vIas funny, II, Can you rOlllember anyl;hing olse he told you about that? Anything else about tho ld.tohon? 'Bout dookin' or anything? B, Ubra y<,.ah, but he 1'1ould talk o.bout the 1'1hite foles an to.lk about Nell, bu:t I forgot it nOH, I cain't think lik I usotAJ" gn you knO\oI "lhy for o~nonth or so at a timr, v.n I don't Imo\o1 my m,me IJJ~xdly. I just cain't think. Somebody say vlhat kin ya think. I - I stD,rted to say likolit (1 - somODRO Botty and Nelllmevl) N, Oh, Betty Revero! N. Listen, Hell "lhat vias it you told me one time a bout you had that pain in YOUl' hip and had to lay dONn in bed and ~Ient out YOUl' leg and out YOUl' foot1 B. Oh, it did, Yeo.h, but you ImOI'I, let me tell you. It ,'laS Hhen they conjured lIle and. I did.n't lm01'1 Hhat to do. \veD.r it to my shoe. The vl0))l'ln told me to ,'lear it (ot) my shoe. En btlt you Im01'1 somotilll()s I 1'1(mt somoph'l.co just like I Halked. to your front door. I coNe r.e. nk en I nou1c1n't lr>'l.lm it less I had a stink. En sometimes, en sONetimes I had to hoI' myself 11ke ole folks. En PaIX'. used to sO.y, he say 0].(,' folks better go to bod for ynu get the devil in the young fblkd' head, ? N, !lad to go to bed 'foro you get tho dovil j.n tho young folks's head. B. Ah, yea'ill. Tha:t's Hhl1t I thought I'd just as said ~1011 OOillO in an go to bod, En so I just. como in. I tolo __ just liko tl18.t I s8.id I just e;ott3. p~y, Don't nothin' boat pre-yer, I askod the folks uh HhHt to do an asked 'em 'botrt a thing - I don't knoH ya'll, Than ~lhen I go in to rest, ~lhon you lmoH you done samothin', I say I D.sked you for tho glass, I say you didn't givo it to iIle, 'ehen I said, I don't noed it nOH, That's Hlw..t I done D.nd I ~rou~dn't have it, N, 'rhat's -"'---- B. He say holoT nomo? I say told me you put up D. sing out thel'e at yom' pla.ce. I say no. NOH I got dbvm undor my b(~d en somethin' spoke to me just like, you sell that place these niggors on tho street could IdU you. Just ~Jpoke to iIlE', J,heard it. Them niggers on tho streot'll ldll you. You knmf all of them kinda. kin folks, They kinda mossy folks en I don' mess Hi' 'em, N, Betty l:1.vos to hersolfl she's independent. (Betty bogan to l'D.m1>lo Dond reminisce.) , You kno~1 Hr, Rosvrell Middlebrooks, he rtill a sto I ~re 'd go ovel~ thore, '('le go over thoro on sa.y 111'. l1iddlobl'ooks Mallt'!. SOoy sen 11'01' tloTonty -five pounds 0' sugar, That ~lay eolored folks dey callod us Big Nigger (laughter). En somatimes and I hOod, I had a. fo\'1 I had eight guinea hens an foh roostors and thoy layod D.nd on l1iss uh lvhll.tchJJ.0..all'i.t had a boardin' houso D.n un an sho say she tIl.ko all thom guinoa oggs UJn Hiss Loo Young o.nd. she 0.11 Miss Maybolle Young - e,11 had a bo'din' houso. \'10 clJ,rriod 'om oggs dore am' \10 l'1Ould have eggs en ev - not one Sunday but 0' ory Sun(lay. Lonmo don poddlin' on dey didn' didn' ha' this Yg'~lt, brend here lik dey do n01'1 in about en sh(~ lll'3.ko this light bread too t N. And br(Jvn! broe,d, too. Gralw,l1l hrond. B. En she g,"' up fm'o de,y an m'l,ke it on I'd help to uk9,ke it. Beulah said hON eOllle you didn't mg,ke j.1;, nnd I didn't OOve to but vlhat i'he ceuld do I didn't do it bocaUSa she 1'/e,s dere to do it. N. That NM her sister thnt mevod to Dayten (Beuhh). II. De yeu romol1lb,~r anything e,beut hog ldll:l.n' time 'bout \'loot they' used to do >Then they'd ldll tho hegs? B. Yoah, but - H. Hovi >Toulcl they go I),bout doin' it? Do;you relnembor? B Yoah, hetl; rl\Y' >Thon doy ldll hogs eh Papa used to Jdll nine and ton he,vlS at a timo. Oh out dOl'O vlhoro He l:1vod. \lIe had a b:1g olel p9.stuh l:1ke people had. CO\'IS en 11l9,ele 11ith rails. \lIe'd ho.va hogs an COI'IS :1n the same !'l'J,sture. En uh 11a'd !w,ve shoke COlHe up en sOl>!otimes Oill' hog vlould come up 8,t Christm9.s timo ho 'el be a grco.t big pig en he 'd be bout toot high en 1'10 'd. never seen him (holds lw.nd about :!lhirty inches off the :floor) En Lottie se.y Po.p9, you let me sell me one thom pigs. Pap9, say uh I'm goin' get three dollar fo' 'em er for pig. I1e't not a pig h<,' s a shoke. fn he, evorybody he Gold. ~18.l1tod a pig. he made 'om pay three dollars. Nado her pay t.hree en Itt. th.at time Tom uh uh George has give uh a son to Lotti.e en LoU,ie say I'm 'oin sen' son to Tuskegee, A1abe'tllJf'\ to be a uh uh doctor and you kno\>1 goin' to school. She he,d t.o see da manan he goin' HDl'k hs,lves en she goin' pay halves en but. Lottie couldn't ~Iait, En uh there I'las a " bottom dOHn ere en 011 doy had this hog 1l0~1 like hse bought the hog like 1l0H Hhon she Hellt to lNl'k like date year befeh time en clean up that bottom, Have corn 'nuf t.o feod an' Papa says I ain't gi'i,n night gra:tn 0' n\y corn en uh you kno~1 ah,ays had a big barn em thing, His thing Has ina barn, Anyr..,ay they used to had en build these log Cl':tbs - yOu.']moH log to log that aHay, En He foed Lettio raised three t.Ho-hoss Hagon load 0' corn in t.ha t bottem, Folks den' raise corn like they do then. Hit. "ere kinda small pla ce bet.\>1eon ditehes en uh Papa say "hat "e ~rol'ked maybe Sa'm'day night, \>Ie \'Ierked de\'ln thel'e so long it 'as Sa'm'day night - yeu knoH, clean:tn' off, En Papa say HImt.cha gonrl'l. do \>1i' t.he foddel'. I tole him I din't kne", I din't. have any~hing t.o do with it en ,1011 Lottie she say you {'~'tn h.,ve t.he fodder, Fl.pa, you kin have the fodder. N, What. did ya.'11 do?! Did ylJ.'11 shoot ya, hangs, knock' em in t.he head Hi.:th an S,X or Hhat? B. Ha 'am? H. HO;I d:td ylJ. '11 Idll the hogs? B, Ooh, di 'n' knock 'em in t.he head Hi' t.he ax ell just like somet. imes He'd ha' da --'?--- shoet 'em, En ahlays gie 'im a rope on t.he ot.hel' , n knock 'im in t.ho head Hi' t.he ax. II. Then Vlhat 1'1euld they de ~1ith it1 B. Kneck 'em in the head l'1ith the ax, then they'd ge hang 'im up. II. Up en a t:~ee ef somethin' 1 B. Thoy go hang 'om, yeah, dey sometimes dey'd make a g8.l1ace like. Dey'd hang him up 11h he'd be hranging dOHn thon po' on put a crocker sack like on him and po' hot I'rater on him en tRko sharp knivos and sC)~ape 'im dOHn on git Rll the hail's off'im on - H. \~ha t did thoy do - just koep bit 01', one of thom big old pets with a fire undor it. 13';: Oh, that Has a kittle. Didn't ha.vo 8. kittlo at that timBo Eny on oVBrybody didn't ha' e. kittlB. But ~10 alHays, I alHays toto big 01' ~mter pots - ~m.rsh pot. N. \<lash pots. B. Wo usod them on but but you kno~1 ,~o didn't, Mr. lfolllll9.ICBr, Mr. WBllmdwr. Folks didn't clBan hogs good lik" tho R"vBre' s did. En th"y fBll out "n I thought that was funny. Pap!. said Bn ~1hon I Bn everybody eomo dO'/rl1 'at road, T,le soo had an 010 11l'l.n comin' down at __1.:-_ poddlBr. En uh this ole 11i'J.n nome dOlm 'here on had a mule, had a greD. t big ele red mul,? I say Ma.ma, herese. eeme D.n ole peddler. En M.'tmo. said where in tho HerId yeu oomo from 11,.ud (1) uh an Ml'. Maud M.d boon over in 'rhouk'l.ston en eh I den 't kno~1 tho h"x of some mule. En he got him seme lilules ovel' in tho ThOlll'lston mules en great big ele black lllule. En he, en ho p'l.int., took peke J:3el'ry en p'l.intod him red en he COllle up thm'e II n se.id Lut.her, Hhero' S George, H9.111'l. sa.y he's do.m in the bottom plol-lin' en I turned this mule en tell Geox'ge jus' Horkin', Say I come ho.ck en horo after \qhile, ho como h'l.ck on you ImoH 'Ihen you Idnda seQ blll.ck splot.ches oomin' on the mule (laughing), N, vJhQre he Has s\qeatin' 1 B, NaN, them borl'ins steo.in they hnd him JXdntod, B, WeD.Il, ;)Onh I l'eckon it's "Ienr just. like anything else, Umhl'mn, An' den M'l.mo. say you knoH ono thing, say he l-wnt. to chUl:'ch and she cooked a pie, , , (I' left tho fol101dng sogment. out bocauso it did not. soem to lUl.V'e l'Jfl-;1 pre'\rlous connection 01' value). en (in t.ho Ha.rmor in a s'hbre bought range), 'Ie'd put 'em up t.hol'e en en overyt.ime Ho'd put to.tcrs in the fire some ole I1k'l.n come by. Henry; say I he aJ.n' gonm ot my teo. tors this timo, like ho didn't eome en eD, t. tom! Evol"ytirne 0\1.1" t,.g.ters get dono here he oOHle, horo ho comc, And tho man come _-,,1__ (3n ho say' chil'ren I smoll a ta.tor. Ain't tlwy done1 j,n Honry sa~', m.l-lSir, m.,rsir. gn "Ie lot the taters burn up, Thon ho didn' com" h.o.ck, 11tJ.1l19. nomo on 'Ihon Mo.l1l9. come srd.d, I'Iho all had to. tel'S in tho fire, en lIel'll'y en 'om didn' knoH ,hoVl to 'lOt the shucks, you nOl'1 an put ovor them. N, Wrap 'em, B, Just like balmcl pot.atoes, F;n I I had an Lotti,e had to, He all had so many. I heard her, I sald me, I>n en U}l I dldn' kn(M ~Ihat l1e.m" 's goln' do em l1e.1i~1, ~Ient out do 'h an got her a good s\'llteh, En sho sald she'd dldn' thlnk she 'cl over l.'aisod ohll'ron that narrml hoarted. (Laughtor ) , N. NarroH heartod, B, En gavo mo a good \'Ihoppin, She reached dmm en get ,yo. dress en earry It 0' er you head en git tho meat, II, villat \'Iould sho sp9,nk you \-lith I \'lith her hand or ~lith a SI'lltch? N. \-lith a SI-/iteh, B, A s~lltch, Umhmm, I>n that's I,rh"n I run a~w.y, I rem a~lD.Y; I 1'lD.f) all'eady om, day en I dldn't thlnk hOH it HIlS. She had D. Hhole lot 0' clothes to ~Tash en Henry' and George 'as up thero $,t the apple treos en uh you lmoH, She had Lottio to ]:e,tho mo on every t:tnro shE>'d carry thE> rag up, but I had to en Lottle had to ])!l,tho me all over, but my neek. !>very time she 'd the rag over l'd go to gl.'innln I en (',l,tch hel.' hand, En she sald I'll call lhlll'J. on kept on, I said, Lottlo nnd I begged'r like a dog, Sho Hoaldn't do it on ull Nnma nevor hnd had tl10 cl\{~~chins ~/ith me, Nalll'l, , nome here on she 'd a little fat HOllnn. Sh(~ come right l'lith t~/o switnh I-Then como in, out the cloor I I'lent. En Pal'a had gone to tmm ell she said HhoN) ya g01n'? I say' 1 'm goin' to tmm Hhoro Pal''' 113, I>n tho boys on up tho1'0 in tho apple orchard on npple orchard - you knoH ~/hel''' apple orchal.'d 1s - en uh thoy had th" dogs Hl' om. ~I.c'\l1n say CD,tch her. When 11uma say cat.ch her en the dogs 9,1], shuted on yeu knOH. Our dogs, you soe I Has buck naked, you knoH, en just. goin' _--,-1__ You knO\'I en old Doc and Doc say' yOIl IdlDW ain't nobody but. Bet. You bet.t.or not. l~n tho dogs laid dOl~n en I l'un on up here on I ~1D,s just. in sight of tho ra:i,lroad \'Thon I met Papc'),. En I ~rasn', I \'las goin' right straight on do~m thoro to ~1r. Rom'Tell lfiddlebrook's store on uh I Has just. as htlt as 1. ceuld ,en uh, the mule got sccred on jtUnped out tho road. En Pap', he got lrad Hi' me en you lmoH (l{l,Ughtor) en Hhoopod the mule en said don't you lmO\'I that ain't nobody but Bet. En he, cause I 1'111,13 scared, seo1'fK! you knoH on said ~Teron't. you ,;cere 0' the police en I said I ain't thought about no police. N. Just t.hinldng about gettin' to tOlm \~horo Yo\u' 119,P', \Tas. B. That's right. Hhen 1. got, Hhen Hhen I got \rent homo thero by tho 1 I soe look like Pa pa ldll himself. He say Lucy HJ:1.at happoned. ~1D.r119, say that fast heifer weuldn't let Lottie bathe her. (Ln,ughter). Nm))'J. ~lD,S so lli'l,d - tho,t's ~lhat she called mo. N. Fast hoifer'.' B. y(~S 'm en uh ub. Papa st.,arted lIJ,ughin'. M.'l,lll9. says I'm gorula ith:i.p'r fer :i:t. Papa says NaH you ain't. Poh littlo thing, anybody :run that hard as she is en overything en like this ain't gej..n' do nothin' to her. En JJ got my clothes an ceme put 'em on an evel'ything. I I'Tent out to tho buggy \~har Boulah. I'Iha1' I sat. in the btlggy, yotl lmo~l it I'1D,S ~T8t. I 1'10nt out there and looked \'Thoro I sat dOlm 's Idndn ~lot on Papa he.d dono Hhipped the mulo (laugh-tel') on CRUSO tho mule done got soored, Mulo hadn't ever seen me tl19.t ,lay before, Bn tlw.t mule and 11"m9. snid, yes I'll toar '1' up, Mama'd toar ya up, too" , (Hal'O a c1:lscusrlion begnn), H, Do you renl()mbor anything else about the farm? B, vlho? H, Do you remember anything else about the farm, about farming? B, 011' yeah, I reckon I do, But I didn't ImoH 1'lhat kind 0' plO1-1 to put on, I kin tell you right nOH 'cause I laid 'bout 0.11 my do.ddy's cohn, you knml dur:i.ng toot Io.st plOllin' en some I 0' the fil'st plovJin' too, En I done, I laid it by 'cau he Has sick en uh he kinde. laid d01'1ll on the porch en he he hlild a young mule oloE11it, En thc'J.t mule 118.rn't scaired 0' nobody, \'10 ahlays 0-allod these tran'for truck, movios. Bn un I say ain't s0~'J.J.'od 0' noth1.n' but a movie, I said, Miss Gussie say I'm sm.l'od 0' them, Dotty, and Hhen He seo one ,w.y off 1'le stop uh you knml, 1119.ko it 'n) the road, you !alON to tUl'n on so uh 1'10 01' you kno'l, En he, tho mule didn't t-ake Hhoopin' , N. It doesn't? B, Par>9. 8.hmys tole me fore night nOl', you come home. It's \le.s 'tvl'een hie little Heods like en Ull yeu knol-1 fine time :\.t fHes. Horo dey come, Zoora, zoom, zoom, En doy get on the hend .9.n I see the Hay he done he broke 8. bush en I broke a bush en \'Ierk doro on put on it, but you kU()VT dat didn't do no good. You Imo,T he run an' sturtod 'cross tho rond 1'Ii' mo. gn Par<l, all~ay(; used Hord, put the plo'T right in tho gl'oUl1d. En so, I put the pl()VT in the ground. En I hit a liok m:' hTO. Honoy, He'd oome Outll thore 1'IIlY' fOl'O sundo1'/ll en on ho thought an' he say, Hhy hOl'Toomo you come so .soon. I said I got through. I'Iel1 he didn't Imo,T I Hhoopf3d that mule. H. Kf3ep on mavin', huh7 B. JIh-huh N. \'1011, tell him 8.bout Miss Wren Rogors and hoI' coffin upstairs. B. Hmm7 Oh! Hiss Vlron ';ras a sight. She say or u11 - N. She I'Torked for hor. B. I sa,y, Boulah, I say you C.8.l'e Hiss Rogm.'s. You don't get dOlm on your knees, you'ro 'fra.id. BO'll1D.h 7 oha11' on 'e bench on uh BoulAh 1'Touldn't do it. ]~nHhon I Horked for Hiss Rogers, Hiss Gustus saJ.d uh Dotty you hD,f te. tell 'om. I said Hiss Rogm's. En uh I to10 it lileo this, I so.id I don't Ho.sh HindOl'Ts, you ImoH Hhat she say. I don't look for you to, you're too Itttle en short. That's a llnn's job. Beulah, I said, tel]'r. Some things you havo to tell folles 1~lw.t you de on ;rhat .you don't do. I to1o h01', I sald, Boul'l,h, oettldn' do it, I so,1d you shoulda tolo lIBr en I think sho Nouldn't talk slfl,ek 'bout YD.. She say 7 I koep Botty Rovoro horo on I stay th()l'o on n 11ttle bH.ty tub. G1mme four of 'Ellll tho.t gEl in n. room. You knoH sho's m'Tful fumw. You go :In that )~oom to scour, you got use oue, all dom to wash an wrinch up a flo' on "Toay I "Tou1d do - I'd take 'om all <>n sot right c10so and lock the do', koop i;h,~ l'at out, Sho's sCOl'od 0' rats, En I locked t.ho do' on t.ho fil'st ~mte)' I Hash 'e))1 in good, I tH.ke that l'ag and '18.sh that mg on laid it in the ,m.tor an Hhen I como b~ck sho said, Bot.ty, h:tt looks a hun'l'od per cont botter. I I just couldn't do. all sho Hanted dono tl18:1; elaJ' 8.n she s8.iel, 8.n sho to10 mo the ll\9.n' s name you ImoH, Sho'd mighty lhandy 'bout havin'e. pistol, Boulah ,18.S scarod lilw? But I'll'. \Jo11rrnkor aluays tole me. I said \111'. \'lollY@.kor, I Hont in ovory room she hB,s en cleaned up but. onc., sho had upsb.irs I didn't. go, Ho said that's t,hore she hnd a coffin, Bet.ty, It's up thoro, Sho got it. An 1111 she don't Hant me to seco it, I S8,y I cl08.n up cvol'ything. I say, Hiss Bo<tlah say to me I say an ~,hon you como up thore to Niss Rogol's on then say you hafm to up there to this house an this ole door slam, you knoH ~,hen you slam them old doors D.nd lock t.hom 0.10 d60.'l." on I Imdda go outsido an unlock it. Hith ~Iiss Hron' houso en I took an givo hoI' a' bath en thol'O en fixed a costume on her en that's Hhere I Vlo11lda quit her. \Jouldl1a SOM mo no mol'O, I said, ye,9.h honey, I bathed her just like she t,as 8. b9.by en t.his felloH, he se.y sho ain't nevc.l'~1l3nt It day in her I:ifo less f;he got gro~m that she didn't Hear. "10901' hol' 10-00 jo.cket, An you 10101'T sho' s so old and H:d.nlded. I declare sho VIas funny. N, &ho could go out there in the b9.ck 'n pick out a ,chicken 'n "hoot his head off, They lived :right up th01'o on ~rhom'l.ston stroot.. B. (Botty' s ~oJJd.ne; about D, oog biting D, lll'l.n) on Thm Ottomooro sho Hont out to the farm en hit bit him so ]),\0, they had to tie him up like tJ'w:c for a "10ok en couJ,dn't sit dOrm V. Batty, did ya ever play bottleneck7 B. M'l. 'am7 V. Did you evar play bottleneck. I n(wcl.' have heard of "nyone ~Iha plD.yod bottlenoek oxeept Ew, Helton and I used to play bottleneek (ran out of w,pe). V. You kno;l D,h wa' red :fu.nnels 'til I Ims eight years old, B. Ye::), 'me Hhtle I 'wts siek. V, You mean that kept you frolll being sick, ~lear:i.YJg red flanneln7 N, Ank her if sho eV0l' Horo 8.sphidity7 B. You ImoH I had HorlllS in me. N. Oh, you di.d7 Boautif1.111'1orms7 V, You h9.d Horms 7 B, Yes'm. And you knovI they kinda como out 0' my nasa once. ~l'hat's lfhen they found it out, V. And so thRt - you had to vleRr red flannels for tlw.t? V. Did you vloar stockings? 13, Couldn't bUy no :~ocl fl"nl\lols hOD.h, M9.Hl9. a.n' Miss Lottie POHors 'd go to .A.tJ.furt.e'J. 'n buy )~ecl flannels like dat, V, And she'd nnke you unclerHear out of it? Dicl you ,leM' undo)'Hoar or both, too? 13, Yes'm. V, You Hore it in the summertinlo, too? 13, I hadda ulln vlear it da year round. V, Be('..8,use it'd lweI' you from being sick all tho timo? B, Yos'm, An' I ,1HZ uh kinda puny, An so uhra hit Hel'e right funny, Inn'a Hr, Bonny p'J.fJsocl through an' he fJtopped and he tolo me ta tell him fJomethin' and u11 looked at c1'J. nl!J.n, I sa.y, yes I'll tell 'm, I say vlho I'lUZ I tollin' of, You Imo'll, a little miss mossongor, He says, Bett..y, don't you knoH vrho dis is. I says no, lIe says dis 010 Bon, You ImoH He usota pick cotton. He sa:l.d VlO picked cotton \'leeks 8.t elf), t:l.mo st.de by s:l.dH an you knol'J 11115,: Truro. ahul.YS picked cotton l~i' Na.nn an you knot'l - I,ll', Ben Evorett, 1,1' tho cotton vTOuld bo too thick for us to oar'lJY tHo l'OHS an you ImoH. vio 11,UZ. you knOl' , ,10 shouJxln 'e, ('flu'ried ono, but '110 alhn\G 08r1'iod l\ grab 1'01'1. Ah HUll \'1ith 11p. Bon. I lot him piek tho first tHO stalks ah ho just thought he bD,d it. He piekecl - he d:i.dn' piek anothor frt,9,lk sOlilotimes. I'lhon I'd get out nea1'bout out - you \'1e,nt me to holp you up. N8.H! lIo'd be lfl9.d - No,v,wp! An so T1'uie 'el say', Betty, you botwh Hatch ole Bon. An Hhon I'd got out, ya ,lant mo to help you out. Na8.I'1'm, ho'd say Yk'l,OM'm. And Lottlo Hould (Jollie ompt.y my sack an' just kopt mo a 'picId.n'. Kept mo ahoad of 'om, soo. And I 'el ('"'l,I'I'y t\'1<) 1'Oim bottor'n ho'd m,1'ry ono. H. Hoy, ,lhat 1'f8,S th/),t - 08n you )~OlllOlllber t!w,t "Naming tho Baby" age,in1 I liko tho,t. I 1'lish 11mOI'l tho,t. (Laugh:tOl~) V. Say :i.t ago,in. Say it 8.gain. II, I li,ko that, 's roally good. Co,n you do it again? D. YO.9,h. II. Lot 1110 hoe,1' it ageJ"n. I lilw it. Soo if I CO,ll )'01110111b01' [;Ol11e of it. Hcm doos it. go? B, 'You ]w.V'o birds in tho ('<"'go. You have boe,utiful flcMo1's You havo not at yOUl' house vlhl);t 1'1'0 have at ours. Itts my m-rn si.stor h).b;y. She just [Jovon clD.ys old, Sho too litUo for any but gl'01m folks t' hold. Sho's qu:i:to Hithout ho,ir, sho has got boautifuJ. ByOS, She D,lH:J.;Ys looks pretty 'x~opt. 1'7110n sho ex'i0s. \'Ilmt. name shall He give her? Thor'n no one CfW t.el1. ~ly fat.hm says Sl1,l.'ah, my mother likes Bill (Belle). Ny gre;),t. unco, ,John, he's o,n old fashioned. lik'1,n, Hants for t.o name as his Hifo Hho :ttl cleo,d, ~hry Ann. The name I ho,ve choosoll t.he darlin' t.o call It is pretty, but then they 1'10re 0,11. Givo it (otl baby - my heart is quite siok. Vio1n I1aybello Rosella 14argl'it. (L9, ught.er ) II. That's great. N. An' then she'd sl1o"-ke. V. Good:i.e, goodio - shako it, shake it., shake it. I remombor t1mt. 'Causo I 1'(clmOmber ho1' do:i.ng it. I t ,ms oith01' h0r or Botty one. I'm like Nother - I get them all mixed uPI thoy all rUll togothor, and I hONo to stop and think ,Those friond H\fl 'Thoso. Hith 1I0,r'1'~" VD,ug]w.n, too. N. \oJe11, Hell :i.f y'ou think of tlmt "Cotton-Eyed Joe" you put it you let me knotT sonlotimo and I'll come dOI'1ll thoro D.n copy it. dotm, Detty. B. Yos'm I suro Hill. B. You study on :i:l;. 'M \- os. '('{\. W. 'S 1vut~ Q /\Jet.. fu<;. s cr eq.)S ~-th 2:> 'J., 'd-- F <9 n,,,t\\.. ">:,t . e:-,Q. IJES U ~LLG J (3) Po' 1\'\( '6 S ~ e.t:Ltj~~ v 120"'(1' \-'6 -">t ' IClC:U- iJe 'S U'ILL V.J Q, A , \\Ilt- 4" \--\' U, 'S~,\ ~ ( I~ I-I P-'j \)' <:., ",,:'.,tt., \ \ \ () to \--0 \- 'K' '0't' \~ (u& ' \)e e p,nHo J C-, t\ ' f- '.J\ k el'-'I' \ L0 E' (bQ.ifJ"N 'lu~l<e\ 1 GeOf''(\LCG \.- I "r: ~) L l \-c I I') ", ~..Y' 'I<-<:!:> CLeo.- 'R:* \ 13 0 'f.. "L -=3 1..1 C-i9llE'de..- 'PQJ\.. \.c) Gl'lv <0G4- 3 \?;!-\ '1, f.ELEASE 'I, By letting UP collect your traditions--stories, songs, music, sayings, riddles, or beliefs of earlier days-you have made a valuable contribution to preserving and understanding Southern history, and especially the history and way of life of your C01'rUl1ity. Because you have given unselfishly of your time to do this, the Georg:'.,' Polklore Archives, whose representatives are dedicated to preserving thcCG ,r.lditions, wants to protect your rights to this material by guaranteeing th<it :lit: \~ill not be used for unscrupulous commercial profits. By signing this sheet, you are giving us permission to use this material for educational purpo&~s so that people who are interested can understand how life was in the old-timey days. Your material will probably not be printed or issued on a record, but if it is, and you don't want your name to be used, say so-owe reapect your right to privacy. Thank you for the time you have SD important part of American life. that you want to send along to ua so given to help us record a heritage that w If you remember any more old-timey things that it will always be preserved, write to: Signed Georgia Folklore Archives c/o Prof. John Burrison Department of English 33 Giuner St., S.E. Atlanta, Georgia 30303 Address "</ II it R. c) Jrr""''JJ<... -------_...._-_...._----------_._--------- For Ga. Fl. Archives:. _ ,', r,ELEASE ,~ By letting us collect your traditions--stories, songs, music, sayings, riddles, or beliefs of earlier days--you have made a valu~ble contribution to preserving and understanding Southern history, and especially the history and way of life of your community. Because you have given unselfishly of your time to do this, the Georgia Folklore Archives, whose representatives are dedicated to preserving these traditions, wants to protect your rights to this material by guaranteeing that it will not be used for unscrupulous commercial profits. By signing this sheet, you are giving us permission to use this material for educational purposes so that people who are interested can understand how life was in the old-timey days. Your material will probably not be printed or issued on a record, but if it is, and you don't want your name to be used, say so--we respect your right to privacy. Thank you for the time you have 8n important part of American life. that you want to send along to us so given to help us record a heritage that ~ If you remember any more old-timey things that it will always be preserved, write to: Signed For Ga. Fl. Archives: Georgia Folklore Archives C,o Prof. John Burrison Department of English 33 Gilmer St., S.E. Atlanta, Georgia 30303 ~ss ~T;)aJt,"'L",L"-<'U", !<J, > I A PDF transcript exists for this recording. Please contact an archivist for access. Professor John Burrison founded the Atlanta Folklore Archive Project in 1967 at Georgia State University. He trained undergraduates and graduate students enrolled in his folklore curriculum to conduct oral history interviews. Students interviewed men, women, and children of various demographics in Georgia and across the southeast on crafts, storytelling, music, religion, rural life, and traditions. As archivists, we acknowledge our role as stewards of information, which places us inaposition to choose how individuals and organizations are represented and described in our archives. We are not neutral, andbias isreflected in our descriptions, whichmay not convey the racist or offensive aspects of collection materialsaccurately.Archivists make mistakes and might use poor judgment.We often re-use language used by the former owners and creators, which provides context but also includes bias and prejudices of the time it was created.Additionally,our work to use reparative languagewhereLibrary of Congress subject termsareinaccurate and obsolete isongoing. Kenan Research Center welcomes feedback and questions regarding our archival descriptions. If you encounter harmful, offensive, or insensitive terminology or description please let us know by emailingreference@atlantahistorycenter.com. Your comments are essential to our work to create inclusive and thoughtful description.