Lyndell Gliedman interview with Kathryn Worley Lanford and Greta Worley Miller

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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 starts with Kathryn Worley Landford and Greta Worley Miller describing Christmas traditions in rural Georgia. Because they could not afford gifts, the family would give a small gift to the earliest riser. Another Christmas tradition was the children serenading neighbors with buckets, sticks, and bells to wake them up. Lanford talks about Easter clothes and how no one dressed up because they were at church for God and not to be seen. 4:38: The interview shifts to food and chores. They briefly discuss making hominy and kraut. Lanford and Miller talk about wash day and washing clothes with lye soap and beating out the dirt. 10:49: Kathryn reminisces about walking to school along the railroad tracks and crossing the trestle. The women switch to discussing making leather britches and how beans were processed with singing and talking amongst neighbors. Lanford and Miller then talk about traditional medicine used by their mother, such as using grease from meat skins to cure croup and catnip tea for hives. Every spring children would take blood purifiers consisting of sassafras roots, herbs, and greens. 19:08: Next, the women explain how their father would dig a hole, place vegetables inside, cover them with pine needles, and replace the dirt to keep them cold. Around Christmas they would dig up the vegetables and cook them. The topic moves on to chores and how the children helped their mother by cleaning dishes, milking the animals, bringing in stove wood, and carrying water. 24:52: The group starts talking about how they spent their free time sitting around fire, singing, and telling stories. Kathryn tells three ghost stories told by her father. One story is about an old man and a swamp; another about an old, shabby house, and a headless man; and the last about a haunted house with sounds of footsteps and chains. Kathryn remembers her older sister, Dots, boyfriend being so frightened after hearing the stories that he refused to go home. 32:00: To conclude, Kathryn and Greta talk about singing songs such as Letter Edged in Black and Broken Engagement while sitting around the fire. They then sing Eastbound Train and The Lightning Express Train. Kathryn and Greta were born to Percy Worley (1907-1982) and Grace Holcomb Worley (1908-1985). Additional biographical information has not been determined. FOLKLORE COLLECTING PROJECT Lyndell Gliedman E:ngli.sh 307 November 27. 1967 John Burrison Kathryn Worley Lanford and Greta Worley Miller were born in 1935 and 1939 respectively in a small North Georgia town oalled Lakemont in Rabun Gap. The family of ten lived for a while in Lakemont in an unpainted frame house without electrioity and without a well. They moved to Wylie, Tiger, Rabun Gap, and then back to Lakemont. TheIr father is part Cherokee, and Kathryn inherited his blaok hair, dark eyes, and high cheekbones. Greta does not resemble her older sister in the least; she has faIr hair and lacks Kathryn's angular features. I Interviewed Kathryn and Greta at Kathryn's home at 2356 Woodcastle Lane in southwest Atlanta. where she lIves with her husband and two young daughters, Greta lIves with her husband and young son and daughter at 800 Fayetteville Road. The intervIeltT took plaoe on November 21. GLIEDMAN: 'Phis is Mrs. Kathryn Lanford and Ml'S. Greta Miller, sisters from Lakemont, Ga., near Rabun Gap in North Georgia, Mrs. Lanford, would you like to tell us something about grow ing up in the country? KATHRYN LANFORD: vJell, there isn't a whole lot to say. really. (ClXcept that there was quite a few of us children and our life grow ing up wasn't easy, but we had an awful lot of fun. And special occasions, such as Christmas, there wasn't a whole lot that we got as far as Christmas ,JaS concerned--as far as gifts and things like we have now. But we always had fruit and lny mother did a awful lot of cooking. And every Christ mas Eve we had a tradition that my mother said they had done several years before and that Iva:;; whoever woke up first on Ohristmas Eve mornin' screamed out "Ohristmas Eve gift" and every--all the children had to give that one each a separate gift, whether it was a cookie, orange, or an apple, or just anything. And then Ohristmas morning we did the srone thing. We hollered "Ohristmas gift" and whoever it was that hollered got the gift. Greta, would you like to say something? L~reta shakes her head "no;~ GLIEDMANI OK. Mrs. Lanford, I think you mentioned something about going serenading with bells. Was this during Christmas? lCATHRYN LANFORD: Well, at sometimes. GLIEDMAN: Well, would you like to tell us about it? [Greta takes the microphoneJ GRETA MILLER: \4ell, on Christmas Eve we'd ahmys get buckets and s'l;icks and bells and little bit of everything, really, that would make a noise and we'd go to people!s houses and we'd beat on buckets and ring cowbells and scream and holler and really act like a bunch of heatherns. But we Ivould get people out of bed--that was the main thing and invite oursolf in and when we got in then, lvhy, we would all have a good time just really cuttin' up--just havin' a real good time. GLIEDMAN: OK. Thank you. That was Mrs. Greta Miller. You said earlier about Easter--about working clothes and aprons. ivould you like to explain that a little bit further? KATHRYN LANFORD: Well, on Easter, instead of drossin' up and buyin' new clothes and all this harem scarem that we do here, as far as gettin' dressed and our bonnets and all for Easter--we couldn't wear anything. My mother and daddy--my daddy wore his work overalls with the old-fashioned bib and my mother always wore a dress and and had to wear her apron on it, and nobody ever dressed up--everybody was dressed with their work clothes, rather tha.n tryin' to get new clothes. They said they did not go to let people see them--they went to worship God. They just don't believe in this tradition now of dressin' 'to C~IW(Jv up and goin '11 and everybody fussin' over who lool{s the purtiest. GLIEDMAN: Well, I think that's a real good idea. ~~ause] GRETA MILLER: Well, in the country we used to have to make our food because we didn't have the money to go to the store and buy things, and so therefore, my mom taught us hal, to make foods. And one of the main things that I remember was how to make kl'aut. And to take the husks off the corn, she'd take the big corn--or to make hominy--and she'd take the big grains of corn and she would take and put the ashes--burn the wood- oak wood and get the lye then out of the ashes--the clean ashes and put it in water. And tal~e the husks off the C01'n and that would soften the corn to make it hominy. And then. of course. Ife made kraut. And. Kathryn, would you lil~e to tell us about making kraut? KATHRYN LANFORD: Well, it's quite different to what I maUe kraut this srunmer. I put it in jars and it was real simp;Le., But:my mother used to have the old-fashioned churns and He'd have to chop the kraut; and instead of having grinders and every thing like "Ie have now, we had a can--a cream can--and even before that we had sharpened rocks. but then we did bUy a can of milk every once in a while to be a little bit differ ent. So He'd melt the top of:thtl can off on the wood stove and that \fould be real sharp around the edge, and there we'd stand a day at a time, standing there choppinl up and down \-lith that tin can cuttin' the kraut--the cabbage for the kraut;. And my mother Hould l'leat boiling \>later and we'd pack it in the churn--and then she packed it dO\fn real firm and she had an old Hhite rock--I never Hill forget it--that she always, after she got it packed and poured her hot water in on top of it and then her salt, Hhich she put in--she didn't measure it like I would now. She'd just take her hand and dip dmm in the container where she kept the salt and put it over in there and then she'd put the rock--the white rock-- Hhich had been boi.led and cleaned until it was just spotless and put it dOlfn in there and then \fe had pieces of plates that had been broken that she packed in on top of that. Then she had a whole plate that she put on top of the churn and then she had a sHck--or a flour sack--and she'd tie it across the top of the churn. And it was dare some for us to touch it, but I remember several times when we'd get home from school in the afternoons. That kraut, after it had worked off and which now we say it rotted, but they called it worked off-- and we'd go down there--and snow on the ground--we'd climb up under-into-the basement, which had no cement floor or anything--it was just dirt--and we had to crawl a latta time up under there, and we'd strip 8.11 th8.t off' and I've got many 8. whippins because of gettin' into that ehurn 8.nd squeezin' me a handful of sauer kraut and eating it right outa the churn. Greta, we weret8.lkin' about washdays. Would you like to talk about that? GRRrA MILLER: Well, \,ash day was a big event because first thing in the mornin' wold have to get up and earry water and put it in the pot, build a fire up around. the pot then and boil the we.ter. And Mama made her own soap-'-that sounds real terl'ible, but she did. And she made it,out of lye and so she'd take and cut that soap up iil Iitty bitty pieees B,nd put it in the pot and let it get real good and hot. Then Elhe'd take and sor'c her elothes and drop 'em down in the pot. And then vie had a--take 'em out af'ter they'd boiled awhile and take 'em out and put 'em on a battlin' bench whioh consisted of just a sttunp with a piece of board nailed over the top of it and Papa had out a battlin' stiok--it was kinda like a paddle--and we'd take those clothes outa that pot and battle 'em for a while and we'd put 'em in a tub of water and rinse 'em. And when you go through, they was certainly clean and there wasn't no dirt in 'em 'cause it was all beat out. But it ,vas a big event then and we would hang lem, when we'd hang lem, we didn't have clotheslines so weld hang 'em on a barbed-wire fence or bushes or just anywhere we could could find a place to hang the clothes 'cause there was eight kids and you can imagine wash,in' for eight children in the family--and then the mother and daddy too. And the work that daddy cUd, he got peal dipty, so it took that lye soap to get 'em all olean. [And then I asked hep if she remembeped hew to maJce ly'e soap I didn't have the microphone, so you can barely hear my que s'l:; ion;] No, Not peally. I remember having to cook it out in the open, you know, in the pot. And Mama'd use the grease after we jellIed hogs and sh' d ,pender put the grease, you know, outa the fat and put it in and make it with lye Like that. But I don It pemerrl.ber all the ingpedients other than that she put in it othep than just lye and the grease, But it never sudsedl KATHRYN LANFORD: There's one other thing that I remember my mother taught me, On goin' to sohool,,-when I Was just firsij started into school, we had to ahmys walk the railroad traok. And my mother went with me that first day and \,e had to walk sevepal miles. And I know she told me to always, if we started La cross the trestle or into one of the cuts, to be sure to lay our ears down on the track, on the rail, and listen the hear the train. And if we heard the train coming, then we could not go through the track--the cut--or across the trestle. But if we didn I t hear it, we could go ahead--it vms safe. And several tlmes we've been crossin l the trestle and we forgot to look--to llsten--and weld get hung in the middle of the trestle and the train Hould come, And there He had to swlng dOHn between the crossties and stay there and let the train run over us. But non of us ever got hurt, really. So I guess there's--the sayin l is that God takes care of people like us, So, really, I guess he does. GLIEDMAN: OK, that's real good. Can yalll remember anything else about gro"Jing up? You said something about ms.king "leather britches". Would you like to tell me about that? KATHRYN LANFORD: Oh yes. We made leather britches--all our lives, I guess--until we moved away from home, And my mother--I .know we asked her not too long ago, when we Here there, was she still makin' "em and she said, "no", 'Course she has a freezer and all that stuff nOvl, so it's not necessary. But--pick the beans and He 1 d "lash' em out by the branch and brlng 'em in and sit there and break 'em, And usually while we broke beans er fixed anything like that for canning, iele'd sit around and sing and taU:. And sometimes the neighbors'd come in and we--they'd be ten or fifteen of us sittin' around workin'. And then we'd swap days--go from one place to the other durin' the cannin' season and help each other. So-- on makin' our leal;her britches, after the beans are broken and all--well, they're put on a cloth out in the sun and I know my mother used to put 'em on top of the smokehouse. And we had a cloth and all that covered it up to keep any flies or anything from gettin' on there. I know my mother'd watch the clouds--the skies--and if it started raining, I can hear her tell us, "Allright, Kathryn, you go get the leather britches. Greta, you get the dried fruit!" and so forth--so we just all had things like that to do, And those beans, though, had to dry several days and 'course it was accordin' to how long we could get to leave 'em out at a time as to how long it took to prepare 'em. And then weld take a string--after they had clrlod--and string'em up on a string and we tied'em--lotta the timevm just put 'em in a bag and and a flour sack and tie 'em uP. and when we got ready to cook 'em, they had to soak fOl" sevoral hours and tb.en they were put on and cooked until they were tender. GLIEDMAN: Well, that's fine. Mrs. Lanford, would you mind telling us about ths:1; croup cure of your mother's? KA'rtIRYN LANFORD: Well, I know this is gonna sound real funny to all of ya, but It happens. So maybe someday if you have children--when you have chlldren--you'll at least think about it when you're l"1mnln' to the doctor and things like that--of hO"1 people older than you used to have to do, rather than have the ne"J miracle medlcenes like we have now--this is one of the things that we used to have to take. My mother had kindlin t , which she always used for startin l the fires in the cook stove and the fireplace which we had at that time. And she'd tah:e the richest splinters and all outa the kindlin'--where the boys had gono and found the pine knots and all and split lem up--why. shetd take the richest ones out and tie 'em in a bundle and if we ran out of kindlin', those were daresome to be touched. We just could not use Ism. And my older brother, Don, had croup real bad so Mama would take the meat-skins and let lem get old and rank--which she had tied up in a cloth so nothin' would get to lem. And then H}lGn he t d get up I'd th the croup, why she I d go to the fire-- get the splinters and go '0 0 the flire and set the splinters on fire. And then she'd take that meat-skin and put it on 8. fork and render the grease out of the meat-skin with the pine Idndlin I and catch it into a spoon, which some of the child ren--other children--or my daddy had to hold and the sheld make him swallm'l that grease, I guess you'd call it, ,lith the tar outa the kindU.n t And I seen him get up in the middle of the night and couldn t t talk.. and have the croup so bad he couldn't hardly utter a sound, but then held take it and shortly thereafter he could talk and breathe all l'ight. So thatts just one of the l'emedies that she had that was just something that she had learned from olden days and she just continued to use it even though we did have doctors. But she didn't use 'em unless it waS an absolute emergency. GHEI'A MILLEH: Well, then too, when a new baby was born--why \'Ie didnlt ImQ1c1 \\fhat it was--other than to give i.t catnip tea and mother used to .c.8.11 it the hives. And the doctor III tell ya no\'l that there's no such thing as the hives. But she'd give us catnip tea and in the spring of the year--come spring of the year--why, sh'd git out and dig up sassafpass roots, and that they called a blood purifier. And then in the spring of the yeal' too she l,Jould get out and find poke sallit and she I d pick up--go and pick out bl'ial' leaves and little bit of evel'ything l'eally that she thought that--betts lettuce \'las one of the main ones too that she put there and all those together, you know, any kind of gl'eens anyway is a good il'on builder and that was the best because items gr01Vl1 right out in the open. And they ealled all this blood purifiers and come the spping of the year we a 11 had to have blood purifiers. GLIEDMAN: OIL Thank you. Mps. Lanford, ya III didn I t have re frigepatol's. Can you tell us hOH you keep things eold? KATHRYN LANFOHD: Well, in the fall, pight befope the roasting ears--or corn--Has hard, we couldn't use it anymope, \1hy we I d take-- pick out the ppime ears of corn or ppime sta1ks.--1et me put it that Hay--weld cut lem down 8.t the gpound and just the stalks with the eaps in the shucks and allan the stalk and dig a big hole and my daddyld take a board--or a plank, as we called it at that timo--and put it down in the bottom of the hole. And He I d pile alli;he copn that \1e had cut down--doHn in the hole. And' eourse \"e had capried sacks of pine needles that He had pulled--carried--out of the woods to the house or to the garden and pile all the corn do,m in there and we I d cover it with the pine needles. Then l"e I d put the board on top of it and put the dirt back on, And we did potatoes--sHeet potatoes and Irish potatoes and [pausel Greta IS sayin I "cabbage" over here and I don't know if I remember the cabbage or not. But anyway. we did all of our vegetables or the main part of 'em that way until lve finally got jars--cans--to put them in, like \"e do nOH. I~~l~' But that's the Hay \"e kept our vegetablesi\for the Hinter. And 'course arolmd Christmas time, \ve I d go out and take all the diJ:>t off of that and we I d have vJhat--really', fpesh copn just like you'd taken it outa the fpeezer'. And cook it for oup meals, then, that way,and I can pemember--I don't know whetb.er any of you know hOH ,ve used to make cream gravy, And we didn't have biscuits and stuff like that all the time, We had lem some but not completely all the time. We had our own corn and vie capried the corn to the mill and they'd grind it and then we carpied it back home. And Mama always made What she called copn meal gpavy and that's Hhat we had a lotta the times, even for ]JPeakfast before we'd start to school. And then, He think now we have an awful hapd time \dth all the conveniences, but we always had oup chores to do and--I know I had to milk every mornin l bef'ope I went to scJ:1001. And we never left the house without the dishes bein' washed 'cause Mama had an avlful lot to do with all the little ones runnin' around and each one of' us had things we had to do. So some of lJS Hould milk, some would Hash dish.es, V \t.rt4 Ho( f ~J bring in the stove wood and stuff like that so Mama wouldn't have 1;0 (lO~dUring the day. And, I know when l"e used to come home from school, Mama would always have us sweet potatoes cooked and they'd be in the warmer of the stove and we'd go get the sweet potatoes out of the stove, like Wf-l have ice cream or something nOH for the children when they get home--He had a sweet potato--baked sweet potato. And that was a treat for us--was just those baked s1tJeet potatoes. Greta, is there somethin' that you wanna say? GRETA MILLER: Well, just like Kathryn said, I,e had to carryall the water and He had all our chores to do. And He used to car ry Hater in lard buckets--we couldn't afford to buy buckets, so Wf-l had to bUy lard and buy the lard in the buckets. And Mama \oIou1d Hash I em and clean I em out real good. And He had this spr:Lng and He had to carry vlater a good half mile, I guess, or a good quarter mile or' somethin'. I knoH it (oJaS a long way whf-ln you 1"8_0. 1itt1e and it seemed like tl10 mile, but \ole had to carry it in those lard buckets and there was this spring and the Hate.r Has real good and it come from back up and under the mountain. And somebody had taken a chisel and dug out a hole in this blg 01' rock and \ole had to dip it up with a d:l.pper. And sometimes :l.t was pretty hard to come by a d:l.pper -1;00. And we ahrays had a good WOlflc/ t::l.me. But anyh'ay, He ."'ad to carry that water and vie had grea-l; 01' big tubs that we had to fill up because we had to carry enough water to do the next day so Mama wouldn't have to leave the children to go get water tl:le next day. GLIEDMAN: OK. Thank you. That's just fine. GRIiiTA: j"lILLE,R : Used to--we didnlt have any kinda movies or anything like that or any kind of entertainment other than \vhat we made ourselves. And so we'd sit around the fire at night 8.nd sing and tell stories and laugh and cut up. And so lV'e used to have this one story that we always loved to !t>eo.rMother tell. And she'd always tell it vJhen us kids'd ask for it and she said that one time there's this 011 man and said that he vJanted some tobacco and said that there's this othor man across the swamp that had just, oh, he jusi; had a big barn fulla tobacco. And so he went across the swarnp and he stoledall tho tobacco he could get. So he stapted back through the SHamp and so all of a sudden'he heard somethin' and it sound like it Has goin' \~aid in a deep, slow voie~ "You stole1 You stole~ You stole~" So the 01' man listened for aHhile--he stopped dead still and he listened. And it happened--it started--again. It, said "You stole~ You stole~ You stole~" So the 01' man got kinda fed up and he said, "Stole "hat', I! ! I" and all of a sudden it sounded like something said "Tobacca tobacca tobacca tobacca tobacca~ hIgh voIce:] I.By the Hay, the voices wepe coming fl'om fpogs:7 GRETA ~lILLER: We used to--while we were sitting around that same fire-- lotto. times He'd tell ghost stores, first one thing and then another. And they'd always turn out right silly, but my daddy used to tell about this one--said that there Has this old shabby ILookin' house and the trestle and the water, it all, well, the house had a river 1'unnin I behind it. !Ind the river was called 'rahlulah Hiver, incidently, and the house, I think, still stands. But he said that he used to have to go across the trestle and he used to have to Halk this trestle and in the mornin's, why, he'd start across the tpestle and he could see this headless man--he vJaS always ca:C'ryin I a lantern. And he said that he Hould follow it and then he'd get to a certain point and he'd go aHay. So a bunch of eager boys one time decided that they "Jere gonna find out Hhat it was. So they follmifed it fO.r several times and it'd still just--every mornin and it'd go across the trestle ~md it Has st:Ul that same man holdin' a lantern. And they'd foller it and it'd go to a certain point and o~e. Vli,ht then it'd go aHay. So they follered it/lup underneath a waterfall that was behind a house and they said the people had evidently--when they found it--why, it had went up into-- lmderneath the Haterfall into a cave-like affair. And when they go up underneath the cave, they dug eut peck and every'- thing and they found this pot of money up in there. NOH how much truth thOJ'e was in it, we don't lm.ow, but that was just a fable that they told. And then there HaB this other one that they used to tell about 8. haunted house and--they would go to thi.s haunted house and they could heal'--there wadn't anybody li.ve in it incidently--and they could hear footsteps goin' down the stairs and it sounded like a chain--a man draggin' a chain dOlm the steps. So this bunch of boys--they was real up for findin' out Vlhat was wrong and Hhat it was. So they Has real eagel' so they Hent We." T" r-o t1Ie hOl!:>e} one day and they' found-,,-they was goin' to spend the night., So 'bout twelve o'clock Hhy, they got--heard the nolse and e~'1cif\j it did--it sounded just"litce a man draggin' a chain down the stairs. So they go to loolcin' D,nd "hen they found out really what it l'Tas--I betcha couldn't guess--but it was a squ1rre . 1 1 . p ay1n I th 1 t t t ,,1 .. pecans or Ha nu s or some sor a nu's up in the attic. And that ,vas the really--the haunted house. GLIJDDMAN: Hrs. Lanford, you were telling me about a funny experience after your sister's boyfriend was listeningtb ghost Stod.0S one n.ig]1.t. II/ould you like to tell us about that? KATHRYN I,ANPORD: Well, my oldest sister--her name's DotJand her--we hO.d just moved into the new neighborhood and he had met her and came to see her and all the neighbor's had gathered around and 1;10 were sittin' in ther'e--told stories--flrst we'd played ihel'\ music and sang for aHhile and/lthey sorta settled dOHn and told ghost storie/3. So they told' em awhile and everybody got sleepy and started goin' home, excopt my brother--my brother-in-lm'i nOH--' courtre it Has her boyfriend' then. And s.fter everybody Nent on to bed, ,'illy, he decided he had to go on homo. So he \{ont on home--wo thought he\.rent home. My daddy got up in tho middlo of tho night, ho kept hoaring this noise outsido and got up--and dogs barkin' like ovory thing--and 110 wont outside on the porch and ho kept hoarin' this mununerin' sound and looked ovel' where tho chimney and the house--thepo's a corner pight thepo--and thore stood my brothep-in-law with a fishing cane in his hand and ho Has saying,"Don't ya como noar me, don't ya come noap me." So he \1as so afraid 'lhen they got through tellin' tho gb.ost stories until ho wouldn't go homo. So that's just somo of the activities--some of the entortairunent--where \{e get together now and play records and things like that--we got together and san,and told ghost stories for OUJ~ entertainment. GI.IEDMAN: Ya'll Here telling me about entertaining yourselves a'l; night by the fire when you didn't have TV's or radios and everything, and you said your daddy could play a lot of the musical instruments and ya'll used to sit around and sing. Could you tell me a Little bit about it and then, if you remember any of the songs, could you sing a :fm.r for mel' cmmrA MILLER: Well, other than tellin' the storios, why, VIe did sing and my daddy played the 01' timey pump organ and a lotto. t:1.mes--1'1011, you don't see veJ~y many of 'em anymoI'e. But we sang songs like "The Letter Edged :in Black" and "BJ~oken Engagement" and "Put My I,ittle Shoes Away." And we have one here that \'Ie have the word.s to. I won't grant ya that the;y're all right, but it'.s the "East Bound Train" and l'\ . we I re gonna try' to sing it for 'Ja and thet we'll tell ya .some mO.re about the other.s. EAST BOUND Tl1.AIN The East Bound Tl'ain was crovlded One cold December day. The conductor' .shouted ticl{ets In old time fashioned ~ray. A little gil'l in sadness Ii 941:" Her hair as as gold She said I have no ticket And then her story told. My fathel' is in pl'ison He's lost his sight they say And I'm going fop his pardon This cold December day. My brother and my sister Would both be very glad If I could only bring back My poor dear old blind dad. My mother~daily sewing To try to earn our bl'ead vfuile poor deal' old blind daddy J( in prison almost dead. The conductor could not MS\'ler Or make the least reply But taking his rough hand wiping The tear drop from his eye He said God bless you little one Just stay ri.ght '\>Jhel'e you are You'll nevor need a ticket While I am on this cal', ](A'rIIRYN LANFORD: '.Phen there's another one that my mother used to slng all the tlme--\.;ras "The Llghtning Express Tl'ain". Now this one we've had to piece together it's been a long time since we've actually heard them sing it. And we're not; sure that the words are even ~dght. We thlnk it's pretty near, but we're not sure that it is. THE LIGHTNING EXPRESS TRAIN The Lightning Express Tl'ain From the depot so grand Had started on its way. Everyone aboard the train Seemed to be happy and gay Excepting a Y01mg man tfuo sat by himself Holding a lettel' in his hand. You could tell by the look on his face That his conscience pl'oved to be sad. The silly old conductol' He stal'ted al'ound And ticleet from everyone near And then approaching the side of the lad He bravely demanded his fair. I haven't the money to pay you kind sir 1'11 pay you bacl, some day. I'll put you off at the next station he cried But he hushed when he heard the boy say: Oh, please, MI'. Conductor Don't put me off this train F'or the best friend I have in this Hor1d Is waiting for me in vain. Expecting hel' to die at any moment She might not last thl'ough the hour And I'd like to kiss my Mother good-bye Before God takes her away. A little girl sitting close by she replied To put this boy off Hould be a shame ,so taking her hat in her hand she replied A gift for his fare on the train. I'm obliged to you miss for such kindness says he I'll pay you back some day And evepy time the conductor passcJd thpough the car These Hords would ring in his ear: Oh, please, Mp. Oonductop Don't put me off this tpain Fop the best friend I have in this \vopld Is '(,valting fop me In vain. Expecting hep to die at any moment ,she Yfdght not last through thehoup And I'd like to Id.ss my Mother good-bye Before God takes her away. FOLK LORE Lyndell G1iedman Sandra Morse November 28, 1967 This log b;Jrn is in Blairsville, 'ieorgia, 011 J;'lckson Str'ent. It is clonG in thp half-dovetail Jlotch and is roofed \d.th ct-;dar shinilles. 'tie believwj it to be 8 transverse-crib barn. \)e tt'ied of the people :in neil;hb()rjnr~ houses ,",,'ere at home. ENGLISH CABIN Vie found this English cabin, with a frame addition, near Dah lonega, Georgia. The cabin was located in an overgrolm area in back of the property of Mr. S.F. Arrendale. It is on property which now belongs to a Mr. Powell, who lives in Atlanta, but Mr. Arrendale told us he believed the cabin had once belonged to the Thompsons or the Corns. The cabin was notched in the square notch style and was roofed with split cedar shingles. There was a fireplace at one end with a small window by the fireplace. There were what Mr. Arrendale said ,Jere millstones illlderthe house and part of the mill-grinder on the porch. Mr.PbrterlDavis informed us of the cabin when ,Je stopped to take pictures of his house and barn, and Mr. Arrendale was niee enough to give us directions and then follow us down there j.n his jeep. The cabin is in the midst of illldergroVith and cannot be seen from any road. 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 in a position to choose how individuals and organizations are represented and described in our archives. We are not neutral, and bias is reflected in our descriptions, which may not convey the racist or offensive aspects of collection materials accurately. 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 language where Library of Congress subject terms are inaccurate and obsolete is ongoing. 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