Harriet Fenn interview with Paul Gunnells

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 recording begins with Paul Gunnells sharing a story about seeing a meteorite in Whitehall, Georgia, while playing hide and seek as a child. Then he tells a joke about a salesman asking a child the location of his family, and the childs humorous response. To conclude the recording, at 3:20 he describes a feud in Whitehall, Georgia, which led to one side throwing members of the other side off of bridges after tying them to trees. William Paul Gunnells (1944-2005) was born in Athens, Georgia, to James Gunnells (1906-2000) and Gladys Parnell (1909-1988). He married to Melba Ledford (1949- ), and they had a son, Jeffrey (1960- ). Gunnels and Ledford later divorced, and in 1967 he married Twyla Jones (1950- ), with whom he had a daughter named Robin (1968- ). Gunnells died in Winder, Georgia. Folk Tale Collecting Project Burrison 26 Jllay, 1975 Spring Quarter Folk 301 Harriet E~ Fenn My two ma.jot informants were a husband and wife from the Athens area. I became acquainted with them through a long series of relationships. Roughly, they are the brother and sister-in-law of a friend ( ) of my fiancets (Br~tt Wilson) next door neighbor (Michael Bates)~ Needless to say, the distance between the informants and I has diminished, and we had gone on various outing of s-orts prior to the recording time. Paul and Twyla Gunnells were both born in Athens, Ga~, at St, Mary's Hospital. Paul was born July 14, 1944, and his wife was born Twyla Jones on June 26~ 1950$ They were married in 1967, and have a daughter, Robin~ wr"o is 7~~ Paul was married previously and has a 14 year old snn by this previous marriage. Twyla grew up in Athans on Lumpkin St~ Beth Twyla and Paul have spent almost all their lives in the Athens-Clarke County area. Paul grew up in Whitehall, Ga,, a small town outside of Athens. Bath their fathers were master mechanics at plants. Paul's father worked at the Cotton Mill, and TwylaJs daddy at the fertilizer plant~ Paul is cu~rently working in a printing shop and Twyla is a programmer for- UJNGC (a country music station)~ They are currently living in Hull, Ga. 1 which is in rnadison County~ They nave a real nice trailer off Highway 72, in ~s Mobile Home Park, Lot 18. They own a car and a truck, Outside the trailer~ is a rather pleasant half 5:reed boxer called Lady,, On the evening of the irrterview, I was invited over to eat supper~ Paul was the cook, as Twyl,a had coma down with a kidney infection and was staying as comfortable as possible~ My other informant i.s lYiary Lunsford Bates, the wife of the other half of the duplex my fiance lives in, She told me a few jokes she had heard through work, The other two voices that can be heard on the are those of Keith Wilson, my fiance's brother, and Michael Bates, the next door neighbor~ The first story~ Paul related was claimed by him to be true. He said it had happened to him when he was young. The only motifs l found that could apply were- F960- extraordinary nature phenomem, and possibly F960,7- extraordinary nature phenomena at the cruel treatment of innocent person 'fhe second story draws parallels with the king and the clever youth stories (H561.4) However the one that best applies is- H580- enigmatic statements H583,4- mother and with some variation The tale of how Whitehall became named was learned from Paulis father~ It touches on several of the motifs- C900- Punishment for breaking tabu C923- Death by drowning Q422- Punishment- stoning to death er C929,4- Death by stoning for breaking tabu the use of the number 3 can fall under H602.1.1- symbolic meaning of numbers 1-7 or Z71.1- Formulistic number, 3 Twyla gave a short recital cf the P!:'inceton Beach incident that is regarded as a sort of tov.m legend~ Two mofis appear- E425, 1- Revenant as woman E334.2.2- Ghost of person killed in accident seen at death or burial spot In the tale of the betraying slave, which appears to be another localized legend, several motifs apply- E334.2,2- mentioned above E281, 3- Chost haunts a particular room in house E585.4- Revenant revisits earth yearly Q413.B- Hanging as punishment for treachery 5113.1,1- Slave killed by hanging Twyla's third l don't know, is related as true. How much exaggeration is involved, one motif seemed to apply at all, but ! 'm incleding two others as they might be valid- F473.2.1- Chair is rocked by invisible spirit 5112- Burning to Death F555.3- very long hair The Golden Hand Story was another story that wa~easy to fin;j motifs for. She had heard this one will a little girl~ There is even a specific motif for it"!" E:235;4.1- Return from dead to punish theft of golden a1'm from grave [2221 .1- Dead wife haunts husband on second marriage E2221~2- Dead wife returns to reprove husband~s second wife Q555- madness as punishment or N384,0,1- madness from Fright F1041,1.11- Death from Fear Stith Thompson avoids the subject covered in the joke about the girl with no legs~ Unfortunately, I was unable to find a catagory in legman that would cover it. The onl.y mdoifs available are, X?OO- Humor concerning sex X143- Humor concerning lameness The owl in the story about Twyla's grandmother is the main attraction in the motifsi D1812, 5, 1 ,-27, 1- Hooting of owl a bad omen B147,2,2,4- Owl as bird of ill-omen E761.7.6- life token, Bird sent each day to tell of hero's condition; when owl comes it will be ta announce death F964- Extraordinary behavior af fire In the stories of prophesized death there are several overlapping motifs, , Those applying tc the first story ere, f11341- Death prophesied tn.370, 1- Prophecy of death fulfilled M341,6- Prophecy-person foretells own death D1273,1,2.1~ 5 ass magic number Concerning the second tale of death prophecy, all the above motifs, excepting the last one, apply. There is however, another added: J157- Wisdom (knowledge) from dream Again, with the same exceptions, the motifs for the final onei ffl341.1.1- Death within a year of marriage PAUL, HARRIET, KEITH, AND MIKE P: ya got it- ya ready to go? K, yeah lAUGHTER~l Hi ok1 we need l!hitehall,_a,. P: yeah- w@"s uh- no, i ain''t gain to tell t"at one- messed it up-yeah K: Ailright-ok P: I'm gonna tall one'bout Aika stealin all this stuff outta this man's freezer K1 Owright-hold on (feedback) Hi Some extra batteries, I think K, Uwppp babes P: You ready-huh7 K, Yep-let's go Hs L-1 1m scrr~, Paul P: Well shit--well, like I said1 we~s--we chose up teams-L-uh, we chose up teams to play,u!) hide ango seek-bout 8 of us- M: Lisen this lie- 0 : bout aor us- so- uh, while's thez- wed.tin for us to go hide-- so, we went up thru the field--I ain 1t gonna call no names out on this one H: ok P, went up thru the field to this guy's house--pryed the back do l:' down, get some food out of the freezer-- so1this other guy had to be smsrt--he vmnted to prowl thru the house, so went thru there and the lady was home layin on the couch asleep and so he messes around the bathroom and got some stuff he shouldn't ha got an' thru drawers an' stuff an' so, was, eh, au, they left an' fixed the door beck an' went thru the field an' this big bust-o-light come thru the a:i:r--it mas a meteorite an,, it kinda scared us all1 so1 took all the stuff an' hid it, goin on down to the house, an,, we all quit playin an' went home- H;: L P: better the 1st time---what was the other ons I told? H, Uh- probably the one about thaP: About the salesmen? ,-, , Yeah- the salesman, that was it- P: Salesman went to this--the houss, an' this boiv---knockad on tha door an' this" little boy come to the door1 an' he asks"where's vour mothar"sn' ~ / ha sez- well, she went to the outhouse--he sez"well, hom'd ya know she want to the outhouse-- "well, she took a newspaper with her an' she can't read:.!-he says-'\'well,, where's your sister at':..~well, She 1s up .iri the att,ic~- ' how you know she's up in the attic1'"VJell, momma called for supper en;, uh1she hadn't come; an', uh,; she said she'd rather fuck than eat, so thats mhere ma sister is~--L---sn he sez,"well, where's any--anybody else in your family here~ he sez .."'yeah, my grandmother, out there in the backyard tied , to a treef'-.:'she tied to a trae~he sez'yeah~~well how come she's tied to a trse?' "well her an I grandaddy done it so long dog fashion, she got where she chased cars~--l---that's the way it's sposed to be to start with-- H: Well, we got 1 on ---L--- P: yesh--let's see--whyn 1t we get some outta s book---soma of hugh hefner's outta a book an 1 read em H: L--can't do thst P: that's a no-no huh'? H:; yeah, that 4 s a ;11,c-no Pi well, a long time ago1 thers a_, ... theys havin a feud between new town and old town an,) u~ the msn didn't want the. ones from ne1M town gain with the women fro_m old town,an 1 the men from old town did11 1t want the wornen=-men goin with the women from new town, so theys- uh- havin a feud about it~ sc uh, at dark--long es it wuz light it was ok to be--if they wanted to cross the brJ.dge, talk to people, see the women en' all that stuff--night time comes, an' they couldn't get caught so, if they got caught, they would uh/ tie em up, thro em in the river or stone em comi.n across the bridgeso1 as it is/ there' s1 these- they tr)I to slip across at night end they got guys from the other side would start up, stone em end ell an' uh, ketch em or if they caught em 3 times they thro em off the bridge, so these guys they uh, above the dem,we used to,.they took em, s beet end made it slip around1 an I so on over to the other side there= so uh, they got caught so uh, so they tied 1 of em to a tree,,so the next morning/took the other un and tied, tied his hands and you know an' set im in the waterJthe next rnornin, so thats people comin to work1 the next,.-the,mornin1 1;i:1 go ta the plant--there's just one plant H: uh huh P:. They go down to ths1 to,.the.to. to .. the mill en' esls where they found the guy thas tied up en' ell- so really it really get bad then1 thats when uh., they caught a coupla the women try in to come over to to see the men of'l the other side of the rivsr, so1 uh1they; ul'l had en election and hadcuh,- one man to., uh1 may pr, of the so the mayor of the town d,ecided to quit usin the old town-new town end just change the name to Whitehall, which uh the man that owned the mill, IYJc .. IYJ,:,.,J1c,.l'1hite owned the mill, so 1uh,they just added the name Whitehall to it1 so thats ,here they get \1Jhitehal11 coz/ thats where all the mill people worked st, Thats it, H l H 'ray! P: Can't1member what Doug Hammand told about gettin caught with that women one night----L----but the way he tells i.t1 its funny H: can ''i: remembsr thet \ . P: no H: Umm------Are you from ~Jhi tehall? Pi born an' raized Hi born an~ :raized---thats right=-and Ray's your brother? P t mmmhmmm----you met iiay? H1 yeah, l met him about the first time I met fflika P: yeah, VAAn--rs,,,~~s mhen Mike was livin with was livin with Mike -,.,. ..................... you H: yep Pi He 't take it? Iz tjcnna sa~ if he didtyou can ride home with me K: You can uh- the reason I moved the maverick down in here is 1so you can park right behind me so that nobody could park in back H: No, he took his car--you need me to run you some place? P, huh by H: You need me to run you some place? No, like 1 say, if you want to go on over tc the house and let me et; and l '11 go by--you don't know how t'{get to my house tho do I'd have to follow you yeah, well, I cen just cook what we got at the house--yeeh1we'll go and she'll tell you them while I'm fixin supper Ok-=wanna turn this off Pi you done eat supper? H: Pardon Pi Have you eat supper? H, unh unh- P: VJell, you can est with us,- , HARRIET, AND Pf,UL T, uiell, I 'm kinda used to it ( the microphone) coz I ha\Jeta do it at work H, ok T, You know- o,hen I do commercials ar,d ? ---! .. "- I dbn 't 'thinl/. people want to hear about Hell ts angels comin in here and draggin me outa my house-H, You can just put anything you want on there-you got- ::+{iot 2 ninety minute tapes and you can talk all you want--= T: I hate water ( had to drink it coz of kidney infect ion) T:: I ain gonna tell that, I don't want nobody to know about it P1 ? T: The legend of Princeton Beach---!1round a hundred years ago, a lady and her family were boating and,uh,somehow or nother,I forgot how it goes- anyway the lady fell outta the boat and drowned-- and the legend is-that on Saturday nights at midnight you can go down to Princeton Beach and see the lady walking across the dam--she's searching for her family- as the legend goes-Hz I'll just turn it on.and if you think of any of them, any of the ghost stories or anything, just toss em out T: well, ok H: you can chew oreos T: ufi H: I had a whole list of different things, you know, the ghost story, urn, about fools, or- ,J.\' . . T: Wall, that one I told you last night about the'sla\Je being hung H: Yeah, you could tell thet T; lJJell, h8 was up,pc,sE,d to- its uh- as old sotthern mansion~. 21nd it1 -itdown there in Pt'inceton, all that land belonged to, uh, people that owned this hoGse durin the civil war,an' the slave that was hung m~s sop~~eedly a traitor' to the, uh, confederates, uh, to the yankees and he was caught by confederates and hung in the rafters in the second flrxJr, and at the same time of year, the. same date that he was kil_l--he was hung.,..and I don it even know the da~e-you could go up in there up in i:m the second floor and see his body hanging or see him hanging from tha rafters--- \,1/el~ I don ]t know whether it 1a true or not lt ~,. just, you know--what. ~s heard-- H: Can you tell anything about hma different towns got th2ir names- anything like that--he told me one about vJhitehaH T: yeah- well- I know that Clarke county got their nsme fr m a General Clarke---but I don ~t know------An Georgia was named after Ceo:rge ttJashington-H: I didn't know that P: TelJ/er bout that lady in the green house down the.,_ that old lady that got burnt up T: Miz Po Pi Yeah ; yeah, that ~s true T, Oh yeah, that's true Pc ycu tell that---?. T: No---I/knew her,...I/used to go down there an play all the tirne.--She lived down the road from mi , ya know, an the old Princeton Road, it~s calledan she looks--she 's 2n old maid/an she lived with her mother/ and her name was riiz Polly "lorton an everybody called her r0iz Pallyfand she wore her heir up 00 her head on a bun, you krn::n1;, like you've read in books where their hairs so tight it pulls their skin up on top of their head you know- H: yeeh T: Thatws the way she ware her hair and when she took it down it was almost down to her knees--wa:s how long it was--she never had a hair cut .... --an, uh, they had an old gas stove and she, uh, want out in the backyard to get some gas f,sr it-- Tian, uh 1 flli.z Pn11y~s mother kept waitin for her to come back-""and she never did come beck-an so !Yliz '!5 mother 'you know rniz Nortori, got worried ' J - ) I _. , about her cause she waited about an hour and she couldri f1gu:re out what in the wci'!"ld happened to her- you know1and so she went out in the bai:kyard and saw-t-t_;ft~i leaned up against a tree-burnt to a -well she went runnin, 1 down the road screami" and miz Odom-used to be the nr1nc1 of Princeton Elementary--lived :right up above am~she went and told frliz 01.:kim-fliiz Odom came dawn there _and then bhey call all the fire and the police and everybody an it was flliz Polly an they ha1Jen't figured out to this day what happened-- but she was leanin .. she was leaned ui:- against a tree-just like she had set' down and leaned up against the tree- and the bucket with the - that had tho gas in it was sitbr, right next to her- an uh-the house was, left exactly as it was that day-that she got burnt up-the only thing that was m 1Jed out of the house was r11i2 Norton's belonging&- and not all that just her clothes an just a few personal thirigs that she wanted-and this was-oh-I guess about- 18 years ago and that house is still exactly like it was-rn,t a thir:g has been moved out of U H: Is anybody livin there, et all? T: Yep-no-nobody lives there-H's empty-it's settin empty and the people that owns it-Miz-lYliz Norton's family and everything-rniz Norton's dead now H, yeah T: But she told her family that she wanted-she didn't want a thing moved out of it-she said that was Polly's house and that's the way it was goona stay-arid that's the way it stayed-up or course 'during the yea~s people have busted winders and broken in-and stolen things-but the table the dJ,nin roam table was sstfor them to eat dinne1and it's still set- H: you been in the-re? T: I been up- l 've looked in the "-'indows-I 've never werit in- but we used to go on down the:re.1when'I was little- we used to go down there and play--and P1iz- she'd come oui:/in the yard and play with us- we'd sit on her back porch and make mudpies{'lnd all this-- v ,_,, _ H: about how old was she? T, early forties, Jfguess, early forties, late thirties she was -a beautiful lady- she was s real pretty lady and uh-but uh-it was always a mystery, nobody could ever figure out whet happened to her:- why she burnt up-like that- and she used-thy had a kinda a big front porch and they had a rockin chair- Miz Polly's favorite rockin chair-and uh-you can- tue went by there one night-and uh- we went by the house- and the-you know after she got burnt end everything- course ell kind of ghost stories started up bout the house-you know-bout -everybody seein riliz Polly welkin, around you know and in the house and all this-we walked by there - me and a friend of mine, one nioht anr' rniz Pally 's rock in chair-: it 's in her front porch was just sittin out there- Just rockin back an fot\Ht just like somebody was sittin in thei, rockin it ' ~-H: Were there ariy others up there? any other rockin chairs? T-: Just the- well there was three-thers ;;, swing and then two rockin chairslYliz Polly's and !Yliz Polly's mothers-rockin chair-and Miz Polly's rockin chair was rockin back and forth - H: and that was the onl1& ,me mo11in? T Drily 'one mbvin--we ran H i guess so! T, Down the road- just ran- but even put up things like Miz still layin there- an her-her uh bed every mornin when she got up H: Yeah it- !Yliz- you know- it "s funny coz they didn't 's knittin-wee layin on the bed-arid it's housecoat, she- you know -layin across the T: An foi:.-that -know,;.. not that night- it's still la.yin across it~ Her clothes- all in the closet. 1 their little ninknacs-all their sHverThey- uh-they hed a horde of silver H: I'd think it's probably all stolen now- T I All stolen now-you know- but right after it-you know- it happenedwe went down there- 1 guess- well, about 5 years ~guess after it happ,enedc. l1'Ment down there when-uz just look in around-ussd fo go down there anclpic:k up pecans-they had a big ale pecan tree in the yard an we'd go down there and pick up pecans, fm I was just lookin thru the windows an e11erything was just exactly the same, Not a thing was moved-'cept now-uh-like I said that um they've boarded it up an they may have moved the furniture out now that Miz Norton's dead-but for I guess-uh-I-I-I-I'd say 10 yeers- it stayed exactly the same, since the dey thet r,liz vw,~i.v died H: That's a pretty weird story, I wonder wha:t did happen ta her T: Nobody ever-nobody ever found out- but you know-er-er-I guess it viouid have been different if she'd been layin out in the yard- coz they might heve figured that she'd caught herself on fire- but settin, leanin up against a tree with a gas tank-gas can right aside her H, She wouldn't do it herself would she? T: Well, they tried to say that at first- they tried to say suicide- but IVliz Polly- wouldn't have killed herself- I mean....,he was an old maid and all this but- she was happy as she could be-she loved people, she loved animals and kids-especially kids- she just loved kids to death--~ut,uh,I,I just don't believe that she mould have done it--she 's a litt.l~~''Eiut I guess all old maids are a little weird, set in their ways and- she lived with her mother all of her life an-well, I don't know no more,,,,,! know a ghost story about a golden hand, but it's not true, H: you can tell that if you want to it doesn't have to be true. T: It's scary H, you can tell/it.:.--L---It 'd be good T: If I can remember it after all these years- boy1 this one was when I was a little girl--lemme see---Once upon a time- P: (comment from the kitchen) T: Right P : ( comment ) T, Right--Now we' i:-e g in to talk about cooki n meat, tell everybody how to cook meat--Is it gone out?(the tape)--Once upon a time-there mas this man and-he had a wife-an they'd been in a car wreck-an she'd got her arm cut off- an they were real, real :rich-an she told her husband that if she couldn't have her real hand that she wanted a golder hand-so he bought her a golden hand-and that's what she had-a golden-solii: gold-hand--eo they lived like that' for years and yeartjan- never had any children or anything an they grew to hate each other--an so that, this, that man meet another moman an he fell in loveso they contrived, an~an-an-durin this time too, they'd lost just about all their money- you know- an so him and this woman contrived to kill his wife and take her golden hand an sell it so he could get all the money for it coz it was worth a mint- you know- so they did- they plotted and they killed the old woman an buded her-an they waited a reasonable amount of timelike I th1nk 6 or 7 months you know- they got married an they moved into this beautiful house an all this you know- an on their honeymoon they were layin in bed and they heard somethin- an so ths man got up and he went in the livin room an he looked around- an there was his wife- the one that mas dead-her ghost- and he hollered out- he sez what do you want? An she says give me back my golden hand, He sez go away-an he runs and. goes jumps back in the bed-you know- an locks the door-eo she went away an his other wife didn hear all~his,you know- she's sound asleep- so this want on for about a year-every night- an it about drove him crazy- an he was scared bout half out of his mind, he wouldn't be left slon~in his house-you know- so he finally went nuts-you know-an so his- the-they- the women that he married said well I' 11 get all the money now- so she had him put in a meni;al Institution- an she went to bed- after all this, you know she went to bed one night-she was layin there- just drifted off to sleep an something woke her up and she jerked up in the bed an she looked up and there was the ex-,the dead wife- seyin give me back my golden hand-an she started screamin soreamin an woke the neighbors up- the neighbors come runnin in there an uh, she was dead and next to her body lay the golden hend,,.,,,l,,. H, She got her just reward,,,, that was good T, Yeah, she did- she didn't get the golden hand either-matter-a-fact .. ., told that to Old Charles one night and liked to scared him half to death, P: what? T: Charles- that ghost sto!:'y H: The one about the golden hand P: Oh really, tell er- tell Harriet about that date l had with t_hat gi:rl with no !.egs Ti PaUl=-1 ~m not goir: to do that,, that's dirty P: I, I got one en there filthier than that- It's a true story, tell abput it- Really, I mean, you know, she'll like it--But it wasn't me really tellin it, it was Brett who it was- gc head an tall it T: It's dirty H, Dirty stories count- says so on here T: I'm not gonna tel.l it about nobody- it's not a true story- it's a jokethat's what it is P: Don't tell er--you shouldn't a said that on there T: Well-it is--she can wipe that out-- be a goad joke to tell your friends thouWhen I was workin at Roses, Mr, f\tkinst;'assistant manager, Jimmy Atkins, he 1s about 25- goodlook-ing- schew! he was toug;h- P: He was outa college, .. ~~well, he didn't finish college T: He .. he lived on South Carolina, and he'd come an-l<eep- uh he was off that w8ekend- hewd come back and he 1 d'J'>me-0'1e and Glenda, uht Park,(?) got along with him rral well-you know we's always joking and cuttin Up-an I was in advertisin--in my little office back in the back--he come in the middle of Roses one day- he come fly in back there and hf says l 1ve just got to tell ya' 11 this story, you II re not gonna. believe i t"1ft:~1/out'e neve Ir' gonna believe what happened to me, and we said ther ain't no tellin tohat happened to youyou know, he sez-you're just not gonna belie\/e it and he, he proceeded to tell us that his friend had gotten him a date with this girl- said she was a beautiful girl, had a great personality ancL-ryou knot,1j--a terrific figure, it was a blind date-and uh- so Jimmy said W"ll,, ok-I '11 date her, so he called her up and';asked her for 21 date and everything, you know, an got it all setand he went an picked her up, and the guy didn't tell him a thinq bout what he'djust that she was beautiful, had a great personality and a nice figure-that's all he told him-so before he's fixin to leave for the date, his friend called him up and said he, said Jimmy, he said, I really- feel bad, he sez.,, co,: thar's somethin I didn tell ya about this girl-an Jimmy sez u~ oh, what is it? he sez 1 shE::'doesnt ha.vs any legs, Jimmy sez:, well-you sonof8;bitch-you shouldnow what'd you get me into this for-and the guy sez, now I'm just tellir, ya, now just go ahead and date her, she's a real sweet girl-he sez, you'll like herand Jimmy sez, well I done made the date now, l 1m not gonna stand her up-- he sez well, I 111 go get her-so he went and pioked her up-but he was just flabbergasted- coz she was, she was just beautiful-you know,and uh.,but she didn't have no legs-so ha went in an' he got her an picked her up arf::arried her out to the ca~nd set her down an they went to the drive-in--and uh,so they made T: out a little bit at the drive-in you know-an an Jimmy really liked hershe, s really aJniceJyou know 1 nice girl-so uh as the movie was over1an they \JJas gonna come home an uh now Jimmy asked her j ha sez there's n, anywhere else you'd like to go--she sez, yeahi She sez~ I td like ta,, a\,.,ride-she sez off thru the woods, l don't get to get out much and I, you know, just like to ride- you know- down there- just ride around- so he took her ridin around out on some- you know, where there wasn 1t much traffic,.-or anythingyou know-and they VJas goin by som- 1Jrnnt by some woods an she, told him, she sez, let is stop- she sez JJ she :sez, w.ill you carry me and walk with me1 an walk with me in the woods, - and he sez sure--you know-he pulled over an uh- got her outa the car an was carr\lin her down thru the woods- an they ment unner this tree limb an she grab holt of the- tree limb an you knom an Jimmy mas wslkin along an all of a sudded, she maddent there an he looked up an said what are you doin?- she sez make love to me- he ssz UJHATshe sez make love to me,ha sez you~re kiddin an sha aez no I'm not, she sez please, so he did an-he felt terrible-ha just felt awful-he got her, he got her down,::you know an got her back in the car an took her home an when he got home, her daddy was sittin up wait.in or1 her-and he really was, you know,domn in the dumps-coz what he'd done to the poor girl, vou know,- so he took her in an set her down<- an the girl ~s daddy sez w911, _ said uh- well Jimm~~tay an have a beer wid me-he sez an uh talk, I don't getto see very many young folks, he sez, my daughter don't git, you knocv, go out. very much-en Jimmy sez, mell ok, an he was really embarrassed, you know,-he set down en had e beer an talked for a little while, an he go to wherer welr5-really got to go he sez--coz I got to go back to mark tomorrow, you know- he sez I got to go-and so the uh, the girl 1s daddy said,mell1 sez thank ;'OU a lot for takin my daughter out, he sez we're real appreciate it, she don't get te date very muc_p, an Jimmy sez well, you know, you 're welcome- you know--an :k: sez, yeahl;'Ven I really want to thank ya for bringin her beck\1Jl:he last sonofabitch just kept, left her hangin thera--- H; Oh, no! L "<'- P: Tell Harr,. about\'the guy on the plane H: v./hy don't you come tell it P: She tells it better., ,an she member it better ... the guy an the plane, an uh you knom went an used the bathroom an the told him don't mash this button an that button an that butto~an push that button T, I've forgotten that one,,. I have forgotten that one P: an he woke up in the hospital an didn't have no balls .. (COUGH) .. automatic tampax remover , , .. , , (unintelligible). ,pulled his balls off T: removed his balls!., I don't remember H,.I don't remember tha whole thing or I'd tell it,,,,, ,When he told ~'t'h~t I thought I was gonna die-I could've shot him-coz here we was feelin real sorry for him an everythin ycu knom, an o~how bad,an how terrible an then he come back mith that-- that sonofabitoh- (unintelligible) H: There's a list of tales domn thei:-e,the very bottom of that,turn it over, those are some of some of em that could be included-this one girl's just collecting just.1 dirty stories~~.~~~.~ .. Can it you remember any of those, nmv, Paul? P: Huh? H: Can't you remember any more of yours now fla.ul'? P: No, 1 'm try in to cookin~ ~ Q H: I'll go in thar an cook,, 1: I can tell you somethin-1/just thought bout it, fflomma told me thisbefo: re my Grandmother Waters died-0 ~ ~uh 1 k~ ~will it pick me up from over here? H: I think so , ~ l1Jell-my Grandmother IJJatars-died-of a heart attack , but she, she suffered you know i a .lot bef-o:re she cited-an r.-:.ornma and them saw settin- around the around the bed .. -the last n.i:iht, you kr10w 1 , I best back it up a little bit, coz uh ... right before Grandma got sick- Momma and th ems balieiues in owlsif you hear an owl outside yau:r window somebody in\the family 1s gonna die- yeah- well., right before Grandma got .sick they uh they heard an owl-wa1', way off-and said uh the next night Grandma got sick-and the wl was closer-to the house-and so every night you know she'o:i get worse and worse and the owl would get closer, and closer and closer to the house- the night she died] he was :right outside the house-in a tree-and uh- so Plomma. said they was sett in by Grandma ~s bed and saicl that uh, Momma was SffC'tin by her an said Grandmother reached out ther and grabbed Momma~s hand and said-Sarah, she sez, now you ta~e_ care of eve-ryb1?dyf~~z 1 I 1m goin" and Momma sez nah, Momma sez said you're-not gain, just quit talkln an um rest- an Grandma lJJaters sez ~Jo Sarah she sez, I can see the Lord callin me, sez He; s want in me she se:z it 1s time for rne to go and i'llomma and -t.hern were cry in and carry in cm an upset an everything an they sal.d that Grandl7a just lay just she'd you know set up a little bit in the bed, she just laid bac~and closed her eyes and smiled- an that's the last breath she took-and just as she took he:' breath'-,,;.Momma had a f i:rep.lace you know- so a great big ball of firs come up auta the fireplace- and went up over the top of Grandma LiJatersas bed, ~nd When she died, it a;.1erit right back down in the fireplaceand l\1omma sez that s the truth! H: What, the bed was sittin in front of the fireplace? T: ,ireplace--yeah, the fireplace, like the bsd wes right here you knov,, and the fireplace was down there- at the wall- and said a great big ball of firs just corns up outa the fireplace and went over the head or the bedan that, an then it just v,ent back dov,n H: It moved out into the room? Tt It moved, yeah~ into the room, over grandma 1s head, and whan she died, it moved back, went back into the fireplace, H: vJhew! That s the kinds thing that could scare ya- T: Yeah, fnomma sez -that JJs true- sheJ she set -there an VJatched it- an she sez that 1s why they all be~"' always believed in bout the awl- said they 1d always heard the legend- you know about the owl- yeah-but uh said after that said they believed it , :she said because- the night before Grandmother got S,ick- they heard it way, may off in the distance, you know, they said the night she got sick, it was a little bit closer, said the night she died, it ~as settin right outside the winder, in a tree- H: Yeah, I think I'd heard somethin about that- about owls an all that but I didn't really know anythln about it T: Yeah, Ya'll heard about if you dream of a death, somebody gets married; and if you dre2.m, dream of a UJSdding-~ somebody dies~ H, NO, l never heard that, T: You never heard of that ?! I i\Je ,hear:d that all my life- If you dream about somebody that means sumebocly you know ~s gonna get married; you dream about somebody you know gett.in married, than somebody you know 1s gonna die- - H: Do you know anymore superstition typie things like that? P: The Night my Grandaddy died, Mike's mor:ima heard a "who,rc,,nwi "(whippoormill) an she sez somebody ~s gonna rlie with in tl.uc: mell, my C:randaddy died v,ithin two days-an uh, you'know, the nJ.ght that uh, her mother died, the:daJI,' uh two days before her mother she heard a ,,,horperwill.-said somebody's gonna dieshe died, and uh somebody else she said, she told us, they uh I heard it again last night-and somebody's gonna die mHhin two days an somebody else died, well two people .in her family and one person 5.n my family- fl'like ns momma did it, ... T: Superstitions~~~ H1 Things like that .. Dr things that you would dream about P1 What a~e you doin? T: 1J}hat? Scratchin my knee- uh, You ever though about people knrnMin when they gonna die?- subconsciously, knowing that they're goin to die?- H: ~lot really, I haven't been around many people that have died. T: I know two people that I would swear that knew that they were gain to d1eto this day-Iknew, I, I think they know, they knecv, before they died, that they were goin t_o die- Subconsciously, not 1 they didn't sit around say wall I~m gonna die- but they knew it subconsciously, H: What'd they do? T: l1Jell, Uncle Frank1 mym rny mother's brother- he, uh, died of a heart attack .... Uh, the day P: r~ot actually, he, he had a "blood clot T: l\lell, he had a blood cl t-clert-clot- uh the day that, the day that he diedwell, he died about.,let 1s say the day before he disd,coz he died in the mornin, somethin like three or four o'clock in the mornin- you know- ok the day before he died, he used to come up to momma !s house ~.:.::L day- it n~ver failedbut only one time a day-in the morning- the day that, before he died that nighthe come up to ma momma 1s house 5 times- an he "d naver done that before in his life- 5 times- he c6me over there that mornin, just like he usually didan sat down on the porch an talked to Daddy, as a matter-cf-fact, it was while Daddy was on Vacation- it 1s 1for0 Daddy retired-.. l!JHAT'? . ., He said you 're gonna eat aren't ye H: Oh,ok, if ya'll are gonna feed me I guess I will- P: It'll be a while yet, everythings been done but the beans- T: He, he coma over ther that mornin- set down on the porch an talked to Daddy- well he left- en he ccme back about two hours later- en he sez, I didn' t get to see Sarah- en he sit an he talk to Momma about two hours-well, about a hour I guess- he left- about an hour later, he come back- he sez I didn't see Robin an I planned on seein Robin--we lived right in front of em at the time--end he loved Robin to death- she's just a baby-an he sez, cell Twyla an R9.Jn over here I went 'try see Robin- as ,S"\1 ivi,s busy in the house an I told Momm~a--"'.,,I can't come, I sez, you come get Robin~ so Momma come over there an got Robin en took her back over there an Frank set oye,r, ther an played with her for about thirty minutes- an he left agin-an my"'it, my mother's other sister- uh my, my only sister left now- Grace- lives right next door to my mamme-ok, about 45 minutes latei,, he come, back agin-an he said , 1 didn't say nothin- I didn't even .. speak to Grace while Iz out heir- he sez I gotta go out ther an see her- he went out ther an saw Crace-an he left-an then he rnent home-an late that afternoon, he come back- right before he went to workan I happened to be at Morrima: an thems 1;;hen he come, an he said1 well I come to see you Twyla-an I said vou did?, an Iz, you know, lz just cuttin up, carryin on anhe sez yeah, i;le' sez,,: 1 t:an tt never tell"' might ba the last time I sse yai. t was--he died that nightP: ''"!?~~Dinner -at -the bet they sent $200, 00 worth (Concerning the funeral for T: He'z the night watchman H: He died at work? club fixin for him, you wouldn't believe,I bet, I of meat over there,,,cockteils. stuff like that "Uncle Frank") at the Country Club-that's where he died- P: well,they wuddn't-he was, f1e" was, died at the hospitel- T: He died- wen, they found him- that's where he had it at- at 1,iorkthat's where he sick-But I believe that subconsciously, he knew that that'd be the last time h~ ~ver 1got to see any cf his family- an Momma an Crace an .. -mell us, is all the family he had- besides his wife , Donna, and his son !nickey- en he went an sew Mickey three times at work that day- his son- three times- et work-en that's somethin he never did, never), ,an then my rlf:riend, got killed T: ~ what 1 6 ~?6B .. yeah 168~~5'69~.she got killed on June 14, @69.~on a Saturday night.,7100 P: Saturday morning T: Saturday night! P: \,/ell, it was ) Afternoon- T I cVell, it was efter.,.7,00.,,,an uh-but uh, l was s'posed to, me an Robin was s 'posed to go with uh Lir)da Gail-she was up my houee-just bout all day. that day- en we's all gcmna<(';"- go to Lowes that night-an we's gonna have a party down at her house aftawa:rds-an her momma an daddy hed gone to South Carolina to see, uh Linda Cail's sister-and her husband-that weekend- so ,me and Robin were, ,we, ,she v,es drivin her daddy's, uh, truck, he had this, uh, bits -(?) on the side of thtrse portable toilets-for construction crews and stuff--and he had the solution an everythin t,~ uh, clean em out in this truckan that~s what shs~z. drivin- was the t:ruc:k-an uh, well, anyway, me an Robin was s i posed to go with her, we ~z gonna go pick up a case of beer ... take it dovJn to her house an put it in the refridgeretor--for we ell went to Lawes-an so I had gone , got thrown behind that day coz I .had to wo:rk that mornin-en l was behl.n' with everythin an I told her, I said well I just c,m't go-I sez just go on by yourself-an she begged me fo' two hours to go with her-en I finally I sez alright, I ~11 go:,..;~ Just as I said it, I got up an started to get my pocketbook-an she sez~No-~'tou ?re not gcdn-she sez1 you an Robin are not goin-an I said1 well, make up your mind Gail-you knm1.1;..,, -an, I set down on the bed an said what ;s vJrong wid an uh, she sez, nothin-a~ she come over there an set down beside me on the bed an she put her arms a!'.'ound me an she sez just remember, she sez, I'll alw,ays lovs you--she'sez an Robin- she sezi you~re the closest thin to a sister i 'v,0 ever had--that 11 s the last time I laid eyes on he:r-- she got killed-an hour laterp I fllike an Ray :.wuz H,. the. truck ith her-- 11ike an Ray both wuz In the truck with her-- H: They were in the truck with her'? T: f!iike won't talk about H--at all--see- me an Linda Gail i,un around together for eight years-- we were like,, P: rnike an Ray were in the T:ruck-T: .,like this-- Pi Linda Cail was pinned between the truck and the car doo:r-- T, Truck an the tree,,uh,,.telephone pols--killed her instantly--lest time I laid eyes on her~- P: As far as from here to that trailer right down yonder-T: from where we lived-":"' P: Thats where they(?) ( UNHJTElUC IBLE cmnrnrnTS) H: I heard somethin about a gi:rl, you know, real vague , about somethin about a wreck-concerning f11i.ke P; He (mike) don~t like (sorne comment about ri1ike not liking to drive) H, He don't like anybody else to drive, either-- p; It messed h.irn '"Jp real bad-- T: He, uh, that, when shB, uh, -the riight it all happened, e.;erybody was in sue h ~w" ~, I was in shock-=I 'iMUZ in a state of .shockc:oz me an Linda Gail wu:z just like sis'ters--we ran around together for eight years-you know, an my sisters 15 years older than I am an hers 1s somethin like 15 yesriolder than she was-:-so we were real 0 ,~0 --<n know--an uh, frlike, uh we~w'~nt to the hospital, you know, and ~like was back there i.n the emergency room cal.lin.,Don't tell Twyla, Twyla--and he said it'l.l kiH he:r, don't tell Twvla- ' . .. P: I m' the only one he'd let see him~ the only one he'd~et in T: an uh, I told the doctor-I sez, Isaid, ask ~like ndo,~0 n~p .. ', , J' 'h. b , R Pi 1~~~wou.1dnt 1.::e . ..i:. momma nrri.; 1n out ay'? T: I went to the doctor an I told him ,I said1 I sez tell Mike, I sez, uh, if he wants to see me I'll comeback-- you know Michael wouldn't see me-- an af'tar-- H: !Mell, who was drivin? r: Linda Gail--an uhJthe day that she uh~ well, the next day~ I went. up "l~o seo Mike and Ray--an you know fVlike wouldn ~t even look at rne--I walked in the doerhe turned his head--away---hs wouldntt even look at me--it was a long tima before he ever came around me agin--he, he told me, he said} I, I can Et look at ya--I couldn!t face ya--he thought, he said, I thought that you blamed me-It wasn't his fault--! mean, it')) uh, waddn'at no way you could blame him-=or Ray either one--you couldnt blame Linda Cail for it coz they weren~t ev~. they v,eren't drinkin--they 'd bought a case of beer--they hadn t even-none of em had to drink all day---an there ~s one beer taken outa t-hat case- a.nit was stiU sittin between Ray's legs--when the wreck happened, It hadn't even been apened=-but it tore up--but, 1;,his~ you knmv what I ~m say in is uh, I think she knew ... -because, it 1,:ioked like somethin just hit her when I finally said, you know, I'll go--just like, you know, somrthin just hit her- an uh, she hed -dreamed two weeks before that that me anher an Robin was in that truck-and we went up under a bridge, an the bridge fell on us an killed us-- Pt she h6'8Just lef-t_rr!iz Fergusonis store--get bought, she, 1Yliz Ferguson let her have ~$2@ 00 worth of gas on C:t"edit--she, uh, Linda Gail was gonna pay her when her momma got horne--an uh, they J.eft from ther en went straight home-an everybody said Linda Gail was drunk-- Hi Said she was? Tc,P: Yeah- P: Said she uh, left IYliz l"ergueon's - S??? Ferguson said she was drunk-? She can't e1Jen smell beer on her breath? she was pumping gas-- T: Said she was in the truck naked~~ p, Yeeh--she hed a pair of short, short shorts on--! mean, they was-- that's the way that Linda Geil Dressed--real short, you-"know--- an e longman's-- she had a 1 a Jimmy~ sl3hirl-- T: NO- she had on 11arshell "s shirt, no r1olan's-- a man's shirt-- P: Yeah, a shirt, like thi~her......,thik~thlsis--a 15-15and :it 1d come down on Linda Gail about right there-~ Ti coz shews short P: 11n it'd a looked like she didn't have nothin on but a shirt on T: She wuddn it, but 4 '11 ii~ you know 1 she was short--an1 uh, well, no, she was 5 foot--you know it 0011e1ud up her shorts-- P: Boy, she was built like you wouldn 1t belleve-- T: Uh, en they got stories around thet she wes drunk, or she was in the truck naked-an, --Nobody' 11 tell me about it thou--nobody wouldn't tell me-- P: You, you already had one fight about thet-- T: I know--made me so rnad--coz i ~ d been over at fnomma ~ s- you know- an I heard the ambulance gain, an I knm;; ther~d been a wreck~ but,uh, there~s a bad curve on Princeton Rd. enyway--an they's always havin wrecks en everybody run down to the pond and all this, you know- an I clidn 't think that much about it--en when, l uh, left my houee, to take l~obin over to mornme 's- she was goin to keep her that night---viell, when I got back- when I left, there 1/JUZ about 20 peoplelat my housean when I got back- there wuddn 't a soul--you know, an I figured they\'d all go down to the wreck--you know- ar, I come out on the front porch an I said, where 1s Peul--gone to the Hospital. ,an it scared me half to death-I thought somethin, somebody ~d run over him or soniethJ.r,"' you knotM--sa1.d why?--VJhy~s he gone to the Hospi.tal?--He 'went with Ray-- well, what's wrong with at the time, see, we didn1t know that Ray was with her--Rey or fnike either one-- yeah we did--yeah, left vsi th herfram our house andfhs VJent _ an p:Lcked up IYlichael, or is it. the other way around?--anywaY, she went by Paul~s momma an T: , , picked up one of em--on the :JJey back-on the wey--before she went to rniz Ferguson 1s matter-o-fact--an1 uh, P: (from kitchen)? (Ray at s meona 1 s house) r: Yeah, that *s r5.g,ht--let ~s see~~ we didn*t know either one of' em was with her-no matter-o-fact,we didn't--she left by herself- so it didn't hit me, you know, aboutCail- you know-an, uh, this girl that was livi.n with us at the time,she was settin out on the porch-she was cryin-ar, I kept seyin, what's happening?-you knoweverybody 'd come up in the yard, the 'd look at me a~,hey 'd start cry in-an I'm goin,an uh, even my next-door neighbor-He was on a motorcycle-he come up in my yerd an I sez, Dwayne, What's goin on?-an he looked up at me an he started cryinthen, he took offon the motorcycle, nobody'd tell me nothin-an uh, do you know Dcvight Eberhardt?-you met hJm? H, I think I've me thim-I know I've heard about him- , T: Well, Dwight was settin- was out on the front porch- an he was settin over there just bawlin-coz he was half in love with Gail at the time anywaypt He'd been in a figh-1.\week before that, him an organ was in a f 1.ght bout Linda Gail T: Yeah, an uh,well, he v,as sittin over there just a-be,Mlin an I mm .. mike, .uh, uh, uh Dwight,i sez, v,het in the world~s goin on, if somebody don't tell me, I'm gonna knock the hell outa one of ya' 11- ? wouldn't tell me what <.vuz goin on-an uh, Dwight, he just shook his head from side to side-wouldn't tell mean I looked over at Dorthey an I walked up to her an I said if you don't tell me I said, I gonna hit cha- I mean I 1m gonna hit cha- I 1m gonnahit cha right in the nose- an she just looked up at me an said Linda Gail's dead--an 1 pushed her off the porch--an I said, I said, that's nots very funny joke--an then fllsrsha.11 looked over at me en hs '""'" cryin---I cried----! cry every time I think about it-- It's been 7 years-- I been out ot the cemetery--twice-I can't go, I just can not go- I just get tore up every time I do----But anyway--thet "'s what I was say in about people knowin-~uh, uh, somethin like subconsciously before they die before they're goin to--an, uh, another thing, too--this lady:~girl that works for me, well, women tha-tt1orks for me- Francis came in-bout a this~ these friends of hers, Crow, - their granddaughter got married a year ago- and married this, this guy, uh, I don't even know where they live-but, anyway, they'd a big church weddin- he's goin to school to be a doctor an all this-they'd only been married a year an they were vacati,min- last week- an he got caught on the undertow, en drowned-an, uh - the granddaughter called , uh,them, the grandmother, you know,Suhdey, after the , funeral Saturday, this past weekend- and said, told her grandmother,she sez, you know,she sez, it's the funniest thing-she sez, but we were talkin eboutdeath- just two t1eeks ego-her an hDr husband, that gotkilled- an said, he told her-he sezdon~ ever be afraid of death-he sez, coz it, it's a nothin to be afraid of-it's weird, it's really weird-- H: Did you wreck her car last night? T: I'd killed him if he hadda- H: Paul, she seid she was gonna have a big fight with you if you wrecked her car last night- P, Yep- T: No they con1e d-r-a-g-g-i-n- in about 10:30, I was dead to the world,, Vlell-- H: (Conversation concernin the type of beans cooking for supper) you wontt t.ell me about Hell ffs Angels? T, Alright, I ain't never been so scared In ell my life thou,,,I'll tell you t~e~ How you feel if '12 dudes ride up, on your yard, with Hell's Angels wrote n the back an say- you, on the bike- i. say oh, shiiit- H, How old were you? T: 12- H I 1 2! T: 13-12-13--somethin like that-- H: you won't tell me uJhat happened ,nmv- you got me all wonderin what happened T, Iwas goin--goin (laugh)at 13-- end of side 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.