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.
This interview is a recorded phone call in which the interviewer asks Wesley M. Delay Sr. about his familys pottery-making business and other potter families in northeast Georgia. Delay Sr. begins by explaining that as a child he worked in a pottery shop in Statham, Georgia, with his uncles Van and Jim, and in Gillsville with his father, John M. Delay, and Eli Hewell. At the time, Winder, Georgia, was still known as Jug Tavern and Statham as Barbers Creek. At 4:23 Delay states that he is related to the Fergusons of Bogart, Georgia, and that his grandfather, too, was a potter. Next at 8:30, he recalls his uncle Jim Delay, a farmer, postmaster, and slave holder. By the end of the Civil War, he owned between twenty-five and thirty enslaved African-Americans. Next at 9:10, Delay retraces his familys immigration from Ireland to South Carolina and Georgia, where they became potters and millwrights. He also describes the white glaze they typically used, which contained glass, ash, and lime. Then at 15:25, Delay vividly remembers the mule-powered pug mill. He also explains their steps to make pottery and the kilns his father built that used hot bricks to fire the clay. At 20:23 Delay states that two of his fathers brothers, George and Wiley, died in the Civil War and were not potters, whereas his father and his surviving brothers Jim, Van, and Newton Delay started making pottery after the Civil War to make money. They quit shortly before their deaths. He then remembers Jim Archer, another local potter, and the Sullivan family in Jackson County, Georgia. At 27:45, Delay explains that none of his fathers pottery remains, that they signed their work with a shop pencil, and that the Hewell family still makes pottery. The interview concludes with Delay agreeing to call the interviewer back to update him on additional facts and anecdotes involving pottery-making.
Wesley M. Delay Sr. (1885-1979) was born to John Milton (1838-1931) and Martha Emma (1858-1934) Delay, one of eight children. John Milton had four brothers: George, Wiley, Jim James, and Russell Van Delay. Wesley Delay lived in Miller, Gillsville, and Douglassville, Georgia, and in Alabama. He received an eighth grade education and worked as a farmer, pottery, and carpenter. He married Maud Collins (1890-1974) and they had six children; after her death, he married Becky Dawson.
No transcript exists for this recording.
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.
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