Ivan Prim interview with Willie McKenzie, Effie Mckenzie, and Emma Tensley

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Note: This recording contains racist language. To start this interview, Effie McKenzie talks about quilting and quilting bees, then about purchasing land and growing cotton. Willie McKenzie then talks about harvesting and selling syrup, then tells a story at 18:10 about hogs and distilling moonshine. At 27:50 he describes the process to make cane syrup. Next he tells a story about visiting his niece at Emory University in Decatur, Georgia. At 41:32 Willie McKenzie shares the history of the Smith Family Farm, which Prims maternal grandfather purchased in 1921, and tells a story about finding rattlesnakes in a wild blackberry patch next door. Then Willie McKenzie describes his son-in-laws hog raising farm and tells stories about Prims maternal grandfather, Oliver Smith. At 1:00:10 Willie McKenzie describes hardships associated with moving homes while caring for young children. Prims maternal aunt, Emma Tensley, begins her interview at 1:05:26 by discussing Prims paternal grandfather, Ivan Gray Prim Is, drug store. At 1:09:33 she remembers her father, Oliver Smith, who built several houses. She then talked about their family farm on which they grew corn, cotton, and tobacco. At 1:14:00 she says that fertilizer was the only item her family bought from the store. Then Tensley recalls when her family relocated to a new farm in 1921, where she continues to live. Next at 1:19:15, she describes sharecrop farmers who worked on her fathers farm and their farm animals. Then Tensley discusses her relationship to the McKenzies, who were tenant farmers on the Smith farm for 15 years. At 1:23:20 she states that her family always raised hogs and cattle. Next Tensley describes her mothers butter churn, the local blacksmith shop, wagons used to haul harvested cotton, and clothes her mother made. At 1:29:30 Tensley recalls picking cotton with her siblings every day before school started; however, they all graduated from high school and attended college. At 1:35:30 she describes community quilting bees, her mothers aggressive pet geese, and her mothers laugh. Next Prim she talks about quilt patterns that she created and traded with neighbors. To conclude the interview at 1:44:10, Tensley explains how a furnace heats her home.
James Wylie Willie McKenzie (1894-?) was born in Montezuma, Georgia, to John Henry McKenzie Jr. (1861-1932) and Mary Ida McKenzie (1867-1950). He married Effie Little (1899- ?), who was born in Macon, Georgia, to Willis Tilman Little (1853-1914) and Obedience Grady Little (1862-1904), and they had several children. McKenzie and his wife moved to Soperton, Georgia, where he lived most of his life. He worked in the cane syrup industry as a young man. Emma Smith Tensley (1920-1982) was born to Oliver Augustus Smith (1877-1965) and Bertha E. Rogers (1884-1967) in Soperton, Georgia. She graduated from high school and college, where she studied education. Ivan Gray Prim III (1946- ) was born to Elizabeth Smith Prim (1918-1998) and Ivan Gray Prim Jr. (1921-1980) in Highlands, North Carolina. He graduated from Georgia State University and later moved to Roswell, then Atlanta, Georgia. Additional biographical information has not been determined.
Field Collectors: Ivan G. Prim Joanne Power GEORGIA FOLKLORE: A Survey of THE SMITH FARM by Ivan G. Prim Informants: Mr. (Pop) McKenzie Mrs. Emma Tensley INTRODUCTION IVhen Oliver Smith moved to the Soperton, Georgia area in approximately 1920, he had just enough money to buy a small farm, the Pendleton Creek place, and the supplies to get him through the first year. By much hard work, Mr. Smith was able to buy another farm, the Crooked-Run farm, a few years late~ which he moved to while renting out his previous farm. After several years at the Crooked-Run farm, Mr. Smith then bought the old Phillips farm, which he made into his permanent home, though he still continued to buy other farms when his capital was sufficient. ..'. He was a frugal man and an excellent farmer. His goals in life were to obtain enough land for all of his children and to be able to send all of them to college. He and his wife, Bertha had nine children, eight of whom grew to maturity. Their names were, Truman, Robert, Harry, Junior, Doris, Elizabeth (my mother), and Louise and Emma. They were all sent to college and all provided with at least one hundred fifty acres of land upon Mr. Smith's death in 1965. My grandfather's home and the other buildings around it are essentially unchanged from the day that he bought them almost forty years ago. None of the out-buildings have been repaired since his death, and they will probably collapse in a few years. I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 'l'APg 'l'HANSCIHP'J'iIONS 'tue Iirst portion OJ: tIle tape , transcrli>ed IJy ,Toanne Power for her report on syrup making , consisted la~gely of Mr. McKenzie's stories rohout making cane syrup. About three-four-~hs of the way through the first side of the tape , Van asks Mr. McKenzie about ~le history ef the Smith farm and this is the POillt at which this transcription begins. Yan: And another thing I want to know before we lo~se it 0,1 together is the history of the farm when my grandad. ( Mr. f;mi~h) came in IYOU know, 'Pa,pa', e,ncl where he moved. from and. got in there and Mr . MOl Well now, you have blocked me - he came down here in Truetlin County from uh-ah Mamma wasn't it Warren uh- are there are a ':farren County? hJl's.Mc: I dont.~ h:now. uh.... Ylhctr f dMr. Smi-bh come from? Mrs.Me: ,\Ye11? when he come down here he come fronl Wl'iHh.tsville, tlu1t's where he was moving from. Mr. Me: Yeah, woll - I'd love to carry yo. right out town here a 8hort way8 an show yo. where he landed the day tho;\; he moved here - him an Iv!rn,. Bert.ha and bfd)y 'J.'rlllHan-: ('l'l'uman is now in the h,illedgevil1e StaJGo nospi~a.l where he VTas put after boing caught neveral ~imes hi i,ch-hildng nalted in the Soperton 111'ea,)-1 don't 10'0'1 whethor Truman 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 Mr. Me: Van: Mr. Me: Vn,l1 : was born there or not. lIut he g;oe(l up in -the night to a little ole log cabin there - no door - and the floor out of it - anc[ Mrs. Hertha he1t him a ligh-t with-uh--a old time of light with a chimney -La it - till he eoulcl temporarily 1l1y l~ pll1nk clown in there to put the hell on - put up It bedstead. Hmm - is that house still thore'! Uh - thl1t l,onse is gone, but the ole house place is there '- it's right ontta town here [~bout three m:i1esuh- we'll ride out ~,ere if you want to. Uh - wlmt's the name of that place? Does it have 0, 110~e to it? We rode l111cl saw Mr. Me: Well it (loes in, but it 1\/1"8. Me : ... , lIntehiso11 :Plo,ee. 1\11'. Me: Van: Mrs.Me: \1JO,11 &, : oo..nne Mr. Me: J oo..n11e: Vall: Mr. Me: Vnn &.; : Joanne '1.'he Hutohison Place. Uh-hu You went by there if you come by Junior's. Yeah - we went by there. You did? Umm-hmm We rode a,'ormd with Emma today to some of -Llle old property Bnd took S011\8 pietllres. That' s where yl1 went. Uh-hu Mr. Mo: Joanne: Mr. Mo: lYI~an 8; : "r. Me Mr. Mo: Van: Mr. Mo: Van: Mr. Mc: And right '~here - right a-t -Llltlt same 1)lace - wi,cre I go ever year and picJt blackberries - L-a-a-awd kids, '~hat beats any,thing -that I've ever seen - - uh-eh- 'the dadgone ra'Vtlesnu.kes have got to he so dadgone bad here till Pop's scared to go. Heally? Reallyll? Wall A ,rienel a mine here JIlst a while ago J,i110d one that I)i[( 0', (,1' o:t Ilis house. ('l'alJt at the same time) Excuse me. Yeah - that's okay - I wa.s jus't -thinking I 'Picked some blackberries in that same plaoe when I wo,s a small kid. ~Jher' 13 a house S'Landing there now - uh-uh- that ole house -uh- I think your grandaddy built that ole house where those 010 briarberrios are at. Uh-hu That other house on the road there a little while - he lived there -uh- J,e moved away from that little ole house where his wife helt him a lam]) to put in the fleor. But he built Jlim anothor hOUGO up there - in it's day tlmt was considered a pro't'ty good house - bu-t its about to like down. All a tllat sapling thicket out -there and pillea in front or it is - that was- w~ JHl,r~ of iii s J:aTllI and i..lt! wus e-o-o-od lv,ad. Dh boy! 1 I i,e11 you, it 1'/0,13 Good. And. Harry (one of Mr. Smith's sons) - when the kids growod -their part- !larry goi; ,there Mr. Mc: Van: Mr. Mc: Van: Mr. Mc: -and so- he had it Bet out in pine - - oh lawd, that's been done allover this country. Y(mh, I think that's a shame. Yeah it is - it's worse than that son, god knows. Just makes me sick. They work :for days,weeks, and months clearing those :fields thon they go plant em up in pine trees. That's right - yos sir. At this point, Mr. McKenzie begins to talk about his son in- lmrc and. other members of his :family. 'I'his eoncludes the portion of the tape that inwolves tho Mel( enzios. 'fho next part of the tape records an ilyterview with Mrs. Emma Tinsley, Mr. Smith's daughtor, who still lives on the Smith farm. Emma: Van: Emma: Van: gmma: Is this gon be recording now? Yeah, its going - just act like it's not there. Just -uh-uh-you know start J'ust start -yeah- and tell me about whore Papa was born and about when he moved down here. Well - Daddy was born in - uh - Warrenton County, Gibson Georgia, and when-uh-he got growed ho moved on down to -uh-Johnson County end there he met Mother. And after a whirl-wind courtship, they got marri od a,nd-uh- my mo,ther owned -uh, her mother owned some la,nd - my grandmother owned some la,nel. and-uh- when ,they ('.ot married then Daddy sold my mo,ther's land ltnd teok it to buy the EmmR': Van: Emma: first rarlil tJlll,t 'Liley owned after they were marl'ied - the Pendleton Croel, place- and thoy moved there. And-uh-i'L was a li'Ltle -- wha'L they call a dirt and stick chimney house and )0hey hacl a rough time \Vas it 10g'l Yeah, a little log house. AJld-uh-titey lived there o.nd I 'Lhink maybe the first threo chirren was born there; you know, cause I remember Doris asaying that they all played together. And he \,/o:L'ked hard, he blowed up stumps, and you ],now - boing he owned it-and ho improved it all the 'Lime - every year that he, ,'rn,sFhere. But i'L watn't too good a farm and-uh-he workod hard - he really worl\.ed. Mother said he' d {~e-L up hefore day and work till after dark. And-uh-he lived there -- they had three chirren - it was in the early nird;een hunclreds. And their first son WD,S ho),'n and they - it 'Lool\ bout all they could make 'Lo ge1:. that child to live. He had pneumonia and jus1:. a that was 1'ruman. And they had D, time with him but he got alright and then their second son was born in seventeen months. Two years later their first daughter was horn. And-uh-l,hey were ridjng Elround-uh-one Sunday -uh- I beli eve-uh-o,nd DD,ddy found the prettiest country farm and. he decided he wanted it and nothing he could do cept work El liti,le he,rder and gei; it. And he bOUgllt it and til e Crooked Hun fo,rm (?) they was six, seven, and ei.ght years old,y'ou know,when Emma: Van: Emma: Van: Emma: he boug!1"t -tIle Crooked nun farm. What did he grow on the first farm? What kind of 'rhe same things; corn and Gatton -he believed in cottonand bac!, then there we,sn't too much to,baccer raised -uhand cotton and corn in the garden and stuff they could use for the hogs and cows - nnd ths,i, was the mo,in crop then. And then when they-uh-when they co,me to the ,Crooked Run and bought thai; one, t,hey expanded a little bit and tahaccer came to be a little more -you knowprominen t, but it was a,lwll,ys cotton with Daddy. He was a cotton farmer. And he - tha't's where he made his living mostly. W!Ut'G idnd oJ.' 'dungs did you !lave to iJuy :'1'0'" the s'001'e? Were they just about completely solf-sufficient, or diel they buy lil,e food. and stuff like that? Pre'V{;y neo,r. 'l'hey n"J.sed -(,Jleir own lood and-uh-'GlJey mostly just fertilizer for the farm. He ra,ised cornwell they ground UlOir own meal and they elidn't oh, they lived on their pork and. their mille, corn bread B,nd what they ro,ised out of the ge,rc1ens. And they canned i,t back then a,nd didn't spend mueh - - I mean, there wa,tn"{; no such thing e,s grocery buying ela,y, And they had n:ll us kids to feed and clothe aJncl it "a,s ha,'rc1. And then he ntayed there v,nd he reali zed tlu:vt the Croolxcd Run f,,;rm wa,tn It -I':d say maybe e, hundred fifty, mn-ybe I I I I I I I I I I I I l'I"el1 t!lO,t "atil"t enough. He still had the Pendleton Creek pln-ce and he rented it out see a,nd he !copt the infringoments('!)'. I I I I Oh-hu '['hen-ull-then he hoard of U,i s farm for sal e and he the old times and he 'Lau[(ht em how (,0 f",rm n,nd what I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I another farm. Borrow the money you know well hegot this family over there and-uh-they lived there in than ever. And he'd always improve it. And -uh- he And he bought that farm, well, and 'bl1011 he vras husi cr out to be a pretty good farm !md Daddy nmde money' so if be ever got a little money ahead, he put it in well, the other chirren were born at Crooked Run and Brantley llouso- you know- they lived. here so long and I call it -uh- he called it 'Lhe Phillips farm. You Imow whore Rob (onc of Mr. Smi'th's sons) lived. he just kept cz-pandin'. So from ,this ono he bought the-nh- He nUHle -eh-Dacldy money. And so he{Mr. 131l1i'th) made he wanted em to do and he turned out to be a good farmer. I was the-uh-baby, so-uh-they moved hero from Crooked Q / Run in-ub nin'teen twenty/ono or two. An<l-uh,-this turnert 1\ money on thn,t farm ancl then there 1'Iatn't but just IJ~ 'Lhey'd I<;eep and-nh-they' canned everthing else and-uhbought this one lIe started planting cotton,corn,tabaccer, and they rai sed theil' own sweet :rotaters and planted 0. go,rden and. rwised their Irish potaters}vnd 'Lhat-and that would lws-L em. They'd ,you l,now, fix em so's he came here and bought t,l1Bt one. And-uh-well after he came here and it was -well, it was really called the Emma: Van: Emma: Van: gf1lma~: Emma: few yefU[; before he wanted to buy ano-ther one. He'd get a little money ahead and he'd put it in lanel, And so then he the Herndoll farm and he said tho:!; it was -the besot farm thl>t he oWlled and. to live in. 'rhey were all gooel, but the Hornelon farm wo,s real good. And the feller that he started off with, living ever there and working for em, always got out the first spell a cotton in 1'r\1etlin County. Ev('ry year! he just-uh-, he was smart. And he made money over there. And. he stl,rted rai sing lIlore tailace cr, co"lit.on and. corn. I-Ii s main crop was s-bill cotton. Back then you could. make money off cotton. And-ull-well, all his chirren - we all helped him see. He wanted a big family, so we were help and he didn't have to hire so much done - cause we picked cotton and helped in the fields and we hoed tabaccer a,nd-uhthat saved llim some. Dicl he hn.ve a tenant fantler for en.ch place? Yes, on every place Were tllorc one or more? and sometimes more tha.n one. We had we11-11h-, Just one on tile Phi llips plo,c e and. one on the llernc10n pIne e IJOCQ.1.UiC they coulcl farm it, all you h:now w:i.'Lh no hop. And this one here, fl, COltl'Se j10 IHl,<l-uil~.sha:recropp8rs ancl day toda,y farmers; and they 1'{orl\ed cutting weeds a,round tlw fence and - an~'r[),y - he ]<.ep em busy 1,11 winter repairing B,nd eloing cn.rpentry work - and he was always repairine thinp;s ar-ber a few years, everything got in bn,d slmpe. \1: Emma: Van: Anil.-ui,-lle -[:,.II0U[I,,,t he'd. had enough land, but thon -\;his farm noar Crooked aun , it was such a good farm, ho one -\;ime owned it wi th <Tames ','/",ller in i3opGrton and -uh- he just sold ou-\; his half to him. Well, it lU:lp-t on bothering him till he-cl.-rebought it from James Waller; and had to pay a bigger price, but he bought it - he wnnted ii ihlti bad, I ,thinlt he was thinldng about his children you know, enou~. lands to divide u.p. Enoug:i1 i'or say a .-'r,wo hori~e j:arm f1piece. And-llhLie -tHl- Fl/ course jltst I:l-Ln.yecl I-lUsy cont..i.nuous. Ho'd leave here ever morning, come honw wi, dinner, leave after diwter, go round and see bout em (tbe sl,a1'ecroppersl he never loft em alone cause some of the sharecroppers culdn't set a plow - i,hey ouldn't do this, that and the other,ahd he had to continually 'tr!tde mules cause back then we plowed with a mule an plow. We didn't h:now nuthin[s bout a tractor. Or he was either having sUlllthing built and he was seeing bout -\;hat and he - he worked mighty hard at it. Well, tbn,t's i-to Well how auotd; Mr. McKenzie? Did he work hero? I'Ihat did he do? Oh, yeo.h, Af'\;er-uh- well, when Da,ddy was here he wanted a good tenant faJcmer down there. lIe had one down 1,(]re and. one up here{gestures), but he want,ed one you lmow where Whit(another tenant farmer) lives now. He wanted a good tenant farmor and he - well - Mr. ,'>'Ic1<en2Oio and his family - he Im(l a lot H, lit-\;le o11ir1'on, bout like I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Van: Emma: Van: Dnddy, sec. And they lncvcd clown 'there and he (laughs) had a lot v, help ancl Daclc]y liked that so he !cep him on year after year. Hc lived down there I' Hw,gine probably fifteon years with Daddy. And-uh- well, in 1act his chirron an us grow up togethor. AntI aJi,er hr. McKenzie learned to farm -J)V,dIJy vms a eood teacher- uh, they'd come here not IdlOwing anythine and before they left, they was one of -the beS"~ farmern , you ID10W, there was. And when n. Gene Ganders ('anot,her tena,nt farmer) lived up here in 1;Jli8 athol' little houne, sec, o,nd-uh- they were livine here at the 8o,me time - Mr. McKenzie o,nel him. And MI'. Snnders made enough after he stayed here wiHl Dallcly ooh, bout as 1011[', V,g Mr. McKenzie he made enough money farming with DD.ddy to buy him a farm. And i,e' s expan(lcd si nc e i;hell - (?) Did ya'll fix dinner for aLL ~he hands J mean with JGhe dinndr bell fwd D.l1 tlmt? l'Iell we -ull- yeD.11, I hD.d to rina the dinner hell ever day right on the dot of twelve o'cloc!c; well, the mulcs , they mugJG a known it eD.Usc they eome a running and they'd ho,ve to tulu) out - then they headed for the house. 'l'hen they'd. turn em in the lot and the fir8t thing they'd do is roll in the dirt ,you know, then ao get em some water. Ancl-uh - go hu,ck at -u11- oh, it wu1dl1'-~ ever taJre over n hour and D. half for dinner - hiteh em up a,n [SO bacl' I),gD.in. lIow ahout l1nimals? Did yD.'11 luwe cows a.nd. pigs? I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I l~mma: Van: EllliHth : Oh ;y u.s, there wa,s always hogs. And Dadely - hack then though , you know , they ,turned things out in the road. The cows watn't shut up in the fields or nuthin. And Daddy was con)(,inually huntinl; his h0rlS and cows. And lle could go !.1C-:lt 0118 0,-1,,1' of corn and go Lind his 11CIUS-ull-WOY off Jown ill -~Jle iJranch Romowllere - mayiJG with -pic;s - and. lJe could lead that hog to tilo houBe, walidng up tile road .Just letti"g D, grf>.in fall onco in a wid I c - ono oar o:i.' corn. 'fhere 0 ain't nobody el se and' never will do that. I have ,to run after em. I have to head em off like that, you lmow. And-but he oould do i't just as easy. And he could always find em. Anit then his cows - we had our own milk cows, you know,- mother'd go out to milk, and we'd go out and agivate hor a little (laughs), but she taught us all how to milk. And see tha,'t. and Mothel: churned, see, we had our own milk ",nd huttcr. I me",n, we didn't never huy milk, and she didn't never huy buttcr cause we'd ohurn i't an,1 hONe our huttcrmilk and all tho sweet milk we could use. Well, in fact, hack then we just raiscd cverything. When Daddy went to town it was just mostly for a sack a flour,see,to m",ke bisC]ui ts, cause we'd hoNe to shell our corn andd,ake it to mill had our own mill. Did-a- wh",t kind of churn did she use? Was it", wooden one or was it one that was ah-ah- a pot? \tell, it was pottery, you Imow , with a wood dn,sher you'd Imve to jog it up and down to mal\e bu'I,Ler. Van: Emma: Van: }I]mma: Van: Emma: Van: Emma: Vfln: And ano"t,il(er -clling I vms wondering about was -the hutter molds - were they all called thai,? Oh yes, I),nd then the butter mold yeah, most of were, you lmo\~ - she'd fill it up wi'th the soft huttnr, you lI:novr, after i t-uh- ahe got - she'd pan it out and work it and work all tl1() water out of the butter and and fill t11l1t up and then mold i't out and sock it with sunl'thing and the littln flower woule) bn on thnre. Well, did she have the mold made hnrn or act thn store? Wnll, she bought i-to ( Now she changes the subjec-t) But baek when Daddy was - cven I can remember when I WA,S Ii ttle they-uh- they dic1n't go anel huy things to cover barns, you know i,hcse shingles, an() Daddy and his help -his sharecroppers and all -would go and get the woocl Oll't of their own -timber - nothing was to buy and -take -this thing an(} \'fha-cls. "this wood so (e;es'turcs). 'l'ha:I:i' s a fro e. Um-hmm. Ancl-uh-t,ltcy did oJ.1 -thaL 1101'1, -Llte.i.rselves. And eovered all the harns. Nohod_y ever had tin barns thenwas all shingles. How abou'0 all the wood;'; clid they send it to the mills? 'l'he what? 'l'he wood -to -the mills? 011 yOD,h, and there wa.s ll,lvrn.ys i\'!r. (l'illis over here closo hy. lie had_ 0, little saw mill, see. A"rli,i1ey' d get their wood - thoy'd -to,lce their own trees o,ncl t(~ll him how gmnUl,: 'to cut it, and-and that watn't exspencive, nee. ':,'ns right han,ly renlly. !Jut -uh- huilding, you'd hONe to have his lumber, but he'd cut it out of his own trees, out of the pasture down yonder. Van: How abotrt wagons - did they Imvo I'ragons or sleds? Emma: Van: Oh yeo,h. Did they nmJ<e their own wagons? They clrv,wed oh - the ba'lll\; v, eotton throll.gh town on I a horse and waeon a mule lnight. And Daddy built his Van: own bodi es. Yeah, and had e, blacksmi th if v,nything happened to the wheels - tv,ke it right over t,o town to the hlacksmith and h,,;ve it - you know, lik.G the spolces in "f,he wheels come loose or sumthing - and he'd take thn:t over there and have it fixed. iJut it tool< n, half a day now for him to tako off a bail of ootton he used to hauL He'd leave ee,rly that morning with the bail of cotton - '~hey' cJ. load it up tho nigh'~ before- an,l thtl.t was what he believed in was cotton. Load it, on tho wagon, an nox morning IrOt up an hi tch those mules an go to tho gin. \7ell naturally there'd be a rOIY of em vre,iting and itt ,1 tD.l,e - it'd be dinnor time hefoi'e he'd get hacll~ and that was five miles to town, take a piece of cotton, have it ginned, oome bac!,., but that, was the only thing back then hrought, any money. Anel he made his - most of hi s money ou'~ of the cotton. Arc allY" of the wagons ~hD..t he built still around? Emma: Van: Emma: V(Ln: Van: l~mma: Van: Emma: Van: Yon,h, that's ono down thoro undor my bn,rn, J told you about. 1'hn:t l S onH of hi s? Yoah. 'fhat's whero-uh-Whi'L livos? No. That's not his old \\ouse. You know down yondor at ,that tahaocel' be,rn yo, turn off a,nd up from n little houne off the road down there. Where the highway in. There'n one still there - I don't think the tongue's still in it nee, but the wagon itsolf in there. Or should be - was 0. few days o.go. Ha, (laugh,~) ain't no telling what ~lOSO niggers'll do. Row about clothes o.nd stuff, did a Mo'thor maelo overythi ng. Did she woavo the material or did slle buy her own. No, she'd huy it, but haok then it didn't cost hardly anything. She'd buy tho materi,tl but she sewed and Hw,de evory,thing for us to wearvto sohool. I mean 'there wa,sn't no such thing as buying StOl'O hought clothes oxcept for Daddy yon ]tnow worll: olothof'. And-uh-she mael() all hers, SllH lnade fl,ll ours..,.. course, hays clothes you had -to buy em; she I1mcl,e the shirts but not, ])ants. YDU all went to school - J moan, when did you star'!;? Di,l you hlwe to worl, in the :riel,ls and then [~O to school? No, we we)!)'t to school and we ho,d to go every day and then weI <1 uh . 1,'{elJ f:;C0, cO-~'i,on pich:_i,llt~ started b8fol'e Va.n: Emma: Van: school - used to it'd :Ttar-t, in AU!(,UB-l:', or by A11.guf:d; fl,ny1'll),y. And the" wi",n weld come up fl'0111 school we'd pick. BU'b there was days there that we ho,d to pick every day out in that hot sun. Ancl we'd bcg J)o.dtly to let us not eo back 1;ill two o'clock, v,nd we'd get the best of him v.nd hc' d say' Well, come on tJJcn 1.t two o'clock '. Wc'd go picking with our little cotton sael,s oU'b there in tho/b hot sun, and you know, your mother ( Van's mother) could beat everyone of us. (laughs) Me and Louise would pick just as hard as she picked -look like- and hers'd weigh two hundred and ours wern't but a hund.red fifty pouncls. Oooh -0, dayin one day Oh - lardy- and picldng cott,on cotton burrs would make your fingers so sore you couldn"b hardly touch no1;hing till you go-b used to it, you know. And then the weighing up time. That was the happy time, just tOI.see how much we had. And then at thc seales it took two people to put it on thcir shoulders~ you know, anel hang ib in the sheet of cotLon and. lift it up and weigh it. And that was the happy time for everybody that had picked cotton and Daddy would pay em - either for the 1'I0el, or da.y, if they wanted 'it. lintel. pay so mueh f1 pound. How much did you get a ponnd for it? Hmm - Don't know. nut you could pi.ck about two hundred, pound8 n, day in one day? I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Emma: Van: Bmma: Yes, a good cot'Gon picker could pick about '(;wo hUJl(lrec1 l)Ounc1s or '0"10 hun(lrod and fift,y pounds a day. And us lii,t,le tykes - well, it was cause '10 vms so little 1, reokon - wo just, couldn't carry it. Wo'd usul1~lly got about a hundred 0>11(J. fifty. Did overybody in your fnmily finish high school? Everyone. And he sent everyone tio college, everyone. Eight chirI'on he sont - he mennt to sond. us to schooL Well, 11e tried to lUaJ\e Hchool -Leachers ou,-{j 01' all us girls. We were all G.S.C.W. membersllips (?) Arter I went two yoars, I begged Jlim to lot me stop. I didn't want to be no school toa.chor. I mean, everybody's not alike , you know, and I took a husiness courso B~d worked in an office and the res'G of em tnl1ght school there. Now I wa,s gonna tell yo. o,bout, tabn,ceer. You clon't know no'Ghing about putt,ing in tabo,ce er. But aftor Do,dc1ywhen he moved here - he-uh- you know, I're hn,d more tabaccer than ho'd had beforo then on his first farm. And. 1'/11'. McKcl1:0ie was living down t.here "Lhen, and -bha1-, W!1S our big dny - taba,eeer day. Put in oneo f1 woek, crop 'Gabaccor, after, you know, tabaccor eets up high togetlHr, then you - uh - 'Lhc croppers would go out in the fi olds o,nd Cf'Op talmccor - tho.'h's 0. pulling off your golden bottom leONes; you fJu11 off so many loaves each week '(;i11 ya go a.llLhe way uIl 'Lo 'Lhe tOIl. Then the sle(1 8,nd \Hule hl1,u1s i'l, to tho tal",ccor ho,rn whero 'Lho t.ie"'ers Rn<1 Emma: Van; Van: Emma: handers are waiting, And I was always a llRllder, and Lib and Doris ( two athol' Smi~l daurrhters) tie-ers. Me ancl Louise was h8Jnders and tJunior ( one of tJle Smith sons) drovo tho sled - oourse 8,10ng with his kids to(?)and that's tho way it'd go. Well, he'd mal<o us war!, Mr. Mo1\enzie- would malce us work a lit-(;lo 11o,1',ler by saying he .W[1,S gonua cut a waLormellon af-{Jor while. JIe'd J<eep us a tying D,nd going to it. Ile"d alwo,ys have us a big ole wo,termellon to cut, see. And then after we got through -sometimes it'd take us till after cJinnerD, nd-uh-when they hung it all in the Imrn, then we'd nIl go down to the 'Golden Hole' (local swimming hole) down here and go in swimming In the two horse wo,gon drivo the mule and wagon and that is fun. I don't know peoplo don't have as much fun o,s we used to. uh-uh, too many convieniences. Now -thoy've got 0, beach to go down to - it man -made beach. Yeah - well is that about it? I can't think of nothing else which would Itelp you. I'lell, did you over Imve corn sJmcldngs whore you'd get all the J.leople toget,hor O,nd kinda have like 8, l)arty? No, I I vo heard about em though. We eIi dn' t have em. Yle'd have quiltings and mother oh, back then thoy'd do all their qniU,ing D,nd J used to - I u;reJ\'f up hclpin(" Mother C1vilt. And slle'd toll people then sho was J.lutting in B quilt. "Lo,w, I'll corne help you." So 0,11 onr neighbors would come Brounel and we run a quilt say, in one or two do,ys. IJut they <lilln't buy bltwkets, just quilts. ',10 (llliltoc[ our 01'fll quiU;s. And you have to have frames and tJwy I)ut four things, , stapled or some thin[(, up in 'UlO tor of the houso a,nd they'd hang it down on these frames, then yOIl gm all the way 'Hound. tho quilt, then you havo to tall:e those little frames o,nd roll em "J). Ancl you lI:ee]1. on quilting, and you keep on rolling em Hl) and uc-l;. smoJller and smaller nHcl you eat to tho mid,lle. But anyway, I pieked my fingers down to the nubs a quilting, eause I was the one that wo,s always hero and. hacl to get i'l; out. Oh, and mothor had some geese and that was the bie~est fun. Her and Mrs. McKenzie and )lorace(7) would go out there and they a little cow pen. It's torn down now. I don't believe you ever eot to see it. But they'd get there - see, they ho,tl to shut IIp the [reese o,nd-tlh- 1;ha1; was evory year they ha<l to pick the geose. '.'loll that's where we made - thcw made out of their mattr0880s ,',nd ]1i.11 01'8wore the goose feaiihers. And slJe raised ilei' own goose. Well sir, they'd. [;et out there and have that goose ]1icldng every year. Get em some low elmirs and sit dowp there and piek tho geeso. And 1'10 wero little ole thi.ngs antI thoy'll be having such fl, good time, we'tl hang around antl wa:teh em, you I,now. 'IIell sir, I' tl hetter not S8,y that on that -- well, cut it au t (7) 'they'd stick their ole heacl up und()J.' their arm and start picking, you know. And l,ere was - o~d then they'tl (lookey, you know - doc10 on em. Well sir, one day they was talking and lo,u/t,hing and all of a sudden Mrs. McKenzie's chair turned over right in a cow dookey. Dut honestlY, them ole geese wo,s alwo,ys a dodoing on em, you 1I:now, fwd -tIley'd have to put their ole - - they hurt, I mean pec1l: em you know, and they -Mother- well, and. her tor Emma: OJJ, yun tJ..ill't never heard suell lu,u.p;hing (Ln(l going on and when Mother laughed, she would shake allover and they h(1d a time th(1t d(1.Y. But I never will forget tha\,. We liked to died laughing out there. But they'd h(1ve sueh good times out there p:i.cIdng those geese. But' ,tho,t , s where the mattresses - they ealled em feather heds and everybody b(1ek then wo,nte(L a f efl,i,her bed , even if they had (1 eotton mattress they'd put the feather bed. In the wintertime they'd put the featherbed on '(;op cnuse you'd sink down in thcre nncl. h:eep warm even on eold nighi,s. lInd '(;h8 llillers well, they just nnturally sleep bet'l,eI' a foather pillcr. And there's so many things thnt Uley did back thcn tho:!, nobody knows about today, you know. Van: Well, tlmV s whitt we're trying to find out - exactly what everybody did. What did you buy - when you'd go to the s'(;ore, I mean? D:mma: 'fhere watn I t hardly any money spent exc cpt for -well- al wnys hac! bo11weivi1s an the cotton and had '(;0 buy, you know, fertilizer and -uh- poi Bon for that. Fertilizer,guaner nnd all from "town. Emma: Van: Emma: Van: 'Emma: Van: nut athol' than that didn't spond much cause he raised everything and they knew how to clo everything theirselves. They di(ln't have to hire war), done. Daddy could do everythi ng. He built all that (gestures towards out buildings)? Oh yeah, it's juwt o,nmzing. llow ,...bout the -uh- he did the shingles and he huLL t the wagons? He bought tho frames and rebuilt the wagons. He built the bodies? Yeah, he built the bodies his {Jelf and p,'reased em and put in the tonp,'ues. He groases his own cars and gear and all an.d if he' fJ groasing near winter he'd. finish 'tying and repaint Umt. The -uh- he d.id all his leather wad:. you )O)Ow tho,t. :Did he buy the leai,her ancl nw,]'.e ern? \'Iell, he' c1 have to buy em the things, you )'"0W, from th C) harc1wo,re store, [md he bough,t, i t, but '(-;hen when he needed I' CJlf\.i r work dono he hought his own leather. Anr] Jl e cUd it all Van: hisself. Repair it and greo.se it and e;et it in good sho,1)8 'to stu.'I'-*G plovlin 1 in 'the s]?ring. Oh yeah, rIo you have any of thos() quilting pwttel'ns on ho,nd - uh- patterns to nmke the 'lui 1 tn'! Yeo,b, but they're not here now. Yeah, they hONO quil t pa.tterns to go by. Back then neighbors would soe if they could find a new pattern and then they' cl l'o.nrl it(?) to the next neighbor and it'd. go all the 1vl1,y'round, and J~mnHt': they'd cut their ewn pa-I;-I;erns from it ,md ]',eep Hi. Yen,h, j reekon we had to find (7) our own pattern a,nil [,et down !1nd t,ake ,dl your - your scraps from maJdng dresses, and mother had a lot' GO,use she moxie all of our clother; - hn-c1 d. lot of scraps antI you'd take every little scra]) and sit down and. cu't, you ]U1()W, enough for a <.]\.dlt and it' G am8~zing. Hut she'd sit there tor - you know in the wiuter they cH,ln't have too much to clo and sho' cl cut quilt patt,cn'ns o,nd gllil-t all winter. And you're roady to start in tho gn-rclon and all that in t,he s])rine. Van: Yeah, I've got ono of' -I;he quilts ma<1o down here - one of -the last onos. 1'1;' s an orange and yellow one. Van: Em.rna: Vo,n: Emmo}: Vu.n: Emma': Yeah, Vrobably "0. 1'a11 were working on it in bere (gestures toward next room) hanging from the quilting frame .. . (7) I was a thinking Now can you tell hie a,)oul; Guring tob8.CC8,7 You iiloan ~l'rom slo.;-re ::d~nge on up? Well, tell me Q,hout it from where you cut it to when ".(7) Oh, yeu,h. Well after fthey hauled it to the barn on -the sled, then we' cl tie i'e. We' cl have a s-to,nd thine: ani! you' cl have tobaccer s-tickf'. You'd have to have long tobftGcer s-ticks and tobaeeer twine and. tho handel'S bfl,\ul three leaves, t,hree or four len-ves in a wad to the tier. He loops tho -brine 8.- round it and ties it, ono on one side and one on tJ10 otllcr till you get the stiGJ< filled uV. And you -uh- after you tie i-t o,ll up like that, then they have to get "p - clirnh Van: EnlIn(v: up in tho bo,'rn- nnd hnnd sticks up and stnrt a-t the tal) of tll0 bo,rn nnd comc tlown' -U.ll you fill -tho barn with fJ'ticks. And aJ:-ber i -b gets -lJhl'ough - YOll [~{)t, thrOl.l,fih on i"l:, -~ t,hnll -thcy let it - -they closed the harn and let it stay ovcr ni{~ht a.ncl then "bbey f~tar-t the -Lempora.tUl'E},' on i-L next rnol'nin t hinutl' a-L low heat. How did the barn - bow did. the fire work, did they have 0, chimney at one end 01' 1'fhat? Well, bo,cl, then they twod -uh- wood.. They had thc .- well, better go hack - well not now, they'vo chauf(cd to fin.S n,nd oil, hut batJlt. thon they had to hau1. this(?) onk wood. !lelwnys 001.'1"1.;('1) to cut wood to cure the tob[~ecer with. Antl Dide the Darn o,n<1 mako it catch on :Cix'c it'd. gct:'BO holi. But most l'eo1l1o wou1.d have to sit up 0;1.1. nip;]rt, wel1., they'd 8leop a.' 1.i tt1.e, but they' cl have to get trp and look n,t the -thermometer. You'd hewe l), thermometer and you'd keep it at a certain heat inside the door. !lend -uh- they ),now o,fi;er n, Van: day or two when -uh- after it cures a littJ.e, then you tur'n the heat up a li'vtle hif.';her n,nd -111> it -1111- ta),ell -we1.1- it takes from one to like you put in the -[;obaccer . (end of the reel, side one) Do you remembGr \'rherG we were a'V? Yeah, I rembmher -nh-'after two or -three days, U,ey woulel turn the heat up 1nd it -[;nJ.,e8, you 10101'1, by degrees to t11rn golden. And -uh- it -U]l- they, they know wh(7n 1;0 -turn -the hea;t off if there's not any green s-Lenw, you know. And sometimes some of it is cropped too green ftnil -uh- it just kindo, goe,~ in the -Lro,fJh after iV s cured, you know, and you gra,de it. Bu't -uh- it -uh- it -Lak e s from -uh- you put it in like one dfty of the week, like ever ,~uesday you put it in, Well, tile day 'JeLore you have to put, it in Q,l':a.in, then i'(,' s ready to come out. They take it out the <lay hefore they put in the next 10ac1, see, for the next weel" It takes thwt long to cure o,nd then put iJb in a building, 0, closed-in huilding, and pui sheetfl over it to keep it where it won't dry ou-L, you know, a li,ttle moisture in it. ,\nd then when you get ready to p;ro,de it you have to you have to have somebody to take all the tobacc er off tbe stickn and pile i i down. Then you have - you grad,e ii in first, second and 'trash pile. Anci LJ",[.\' s 'the way i't goes io nw.rket, It's sheeted up in sheets. Put 'the hest and hrightest leaves in one sbeet and -uh- i,t usually brings a good pl'ice. And 'tben the next bssi and thch the trash - tbat's the little ole burnt leaves. Aml you f~et a'li'V"le for i't n,ll, But that's every week for ahout - they sta-rt putting in - well, i {, lasts I reckon, ahout two months. Tohaccer season's not long, hut it's an expensive time for '"obaccer growers calwe they got to get out and finel tho help ancl, get to have 'HlOII[;h of help and pay em off for that, dfl,y. \'1 e 11, , you !cnow, t,hey -uh- 110W these ole pants is worn out, well they used to get clown and cut 8quares, well, you know, just It , I called it a square quilt. It's made out of that instead of, you know, Ermno, : dress ma'1oerial like 1ohoiJe o1oher quil1os. We,'d cut 'bhis up and use up 'bhe bri tehes, in fact, -they'd use - they' d male(~ uses for everything. There wasn't IlIDthing thrown almy, see, lilce we do now. Oh, we wfts'be more and more. It's i;he i,rld,h. But they -uh- had Btar pl1tternB, you know, in the sho,p e of a Btar. I Sfty, eo oui; there and look o:b some of thoBe quilts if you want. (?) Well, even Lib, (Van' B mother) she was a reo,l quilter. Van: She probably knows, she did a lot of that stuff, and she liked ib. You (roferine to Enlilla) t11dn"1; partieuln.rly like it-rIA.ugh) Emma: I iUdn'1o like it, but I did it. J'oannc: t Cause she had to. EmmA): Yeah'. But she could help you oU'b wi th the quiIt'patterns, I believe, hotter thwn I eoul(l. Joann.: Did y'all ho,ve quilting bees? Yeah, we used to have framers you know. It'(l talce Ul) your wholD 1'0011\ - hang it in your room. Yeah" you know, it' d hang down from the ceiling; then you'tl !1.ave to put it in, th,vb's -uh- tacld-ng it. Mother' <I go ronnel and tacls it to the (?) Tac], tho bottom, then you'd 18,y - you bought that little -cotton- already fixed just faD quilting and l1ld; that- i,hen you'd put -the o-ther layer -then your other- well, the lining Goes on the bottom, then - then the cotton and then the quilt top thai; it's 'bale en so long to make. Joanne: Uh-lllUl Emma: 'fhen you: d to;ck it around on i,hose fro.nws. doanne: About how lonE; did it -take to get iJo qnilted? EWIt!l=), : Well, when you hael friends and neiGhbors to come in, they ~ml1la : could quilt one out in well, two flays, just worJdng in the [vi'tel'noons, say. .Hut, lilrG me and mother, wo i d just worh: on it when we could and we' (1 stay up a. weele wi th it, maybe. doannc: Uhhu. The Smith home, front and side views. The rear section shown in the top photo was adtced about 1835. lherest of ,the home was built prior to 1910. I I II IIIIII , iI =I '.:=, 'I==:-= . - - ~ - -- - - _ __-__M'- _:..:.- '- ,. , IZ ,, ,,. -, !i li . I ;:,~ : l' (: -:--;:--~:'-~0~~,;-~-,~7j~~- __~~_. --- ;~.~.; --.:__:,----J~~_.-'~~,:~_d_-~---'--Jl \ \ \ \l,L :-;-1~\' ; Ii': . The opposite side of the house. Note the well and the irregular additions to the main house. 'I'he third chimney can just be seen among the trees in the top center of the bottom photo. '--'--1--- -... --~------;~------,-~- j;.- J< j III I \'. I , j, . J i , '-,' I " , - , IJ j~ :.-:, J. '. ~he top photograph ShOWS the ~mith home seen from the loft of the barn and includes, on the far left, a glimpse of the wagon shed and in the right-center forerrround the base of the windmill, the bottom photograph is a close-up of the well pictured on the preceoding page. 3 si tting , on the Smith farm, main house. syrup house road from the "wo views of the just across the " !II i II I " j' II I rI ; j IIIIII! ,I ,III IIII I III I !I , {_'-'__"" ",_~'~ ~ ~"'----.---l~---.:.--'---_' ~'e:...:.._....i__~~ 'i \ ! I .;. '~-j'~' ! !, \, Front and rear side views of the main barn, showing its general outline and construction. ~ote the small square portals and the many fallen boards. The Smith hom~ can be seen in the rear along wi th the wind mill which was '. in use as recently as ten years ago. i" 5 5 I' : l<'ront and rear side views of the main barn, showing its general outline and construction. ~ote the small square porta1 s and the many fall en boarc1.s. 'fhe Smi th home can be seen in the rear rolong with the wind mill which was ',' in use as recently as ten years ago. "" , -Ir"--'----- 1j 11 1 , _1' 11 II :'I'III" ", i. i , 1 " , ;i,. r ':. ! , 1> , r, ' ': the insitle view of the main barn is shown in the top photo. The bottom photo is taken from beside the house and shows both barns. j :1 I 1I I I~" 1 , I I ,I1 I ~i , .1 I I ,-II 1 I I',---- , " !' ,1 7 -':, - ,,- ,':' II ____~-_1 < i .. ~'----__ ~,~_c_' ,~ ._, ,~ ,__J,__~':', _ ..' ,--'-~-- "";! ,,\ -:I :1 'I I[ . '1 , . - -0-" : ' j - ,i', --------!'----,-~- --';-'---'__' '~ ~- IiI ' fhe wagon shed, front view and interiar. Note the Dell in the foreground. It was the dinner bell which was rung ,every day at noon to call all the hands to dinner. '! ,, . ! , ( ", 1'-- ., , , ~--""""'-~-----'------------,= . i, i III!!Ii I IIII .:.....------.':...-,,--.:..:...._.~- ,,_---.i:.. , ~~..'-_,' _~.............'._. _._'_~'_._'. i IJ I 'I.'he Crooked-Hun house which Mr. Smith fell in love with in 1925 or thereabout~ Note the unusual double chimneys and the ornate woodwork. The house is still very sturdy, and it's original beauty is still easily seen. II ( Ii H I i , i 1 i ~ ...., "i: ;, , . ! , - --~.- ~----~--'- .."-~__~ c_ _i.__ l . '['he mill, approximately three miles from the Smith home, owned by John Miller, husband of Doris Smith, one of Mr. Smith's daughters . I t~,~~,___,-,--~--------. , (-'j III IIII I I I ;, ,L <;pwd. , , ..... QWahgaWNFA@DJRZ'dgmomg[NG?99;~ADCA>:81//4752-%~L+;JUAdjs{ueAoi'r%%%r'6a06u6~
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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.