The following interview was from a 1975 assignment given to students at JEFFERSON COUNTY JUNIOR COLLEGE in Hillsboro, MO. They were to select a longtime resident of the county and ask them a prepared list of questions about their recollections of their family's experiences in the county.
Interview with
Ive: Yes, that was usually the way we had to
go. Now I would hesitate to give you a,
as far as dates, I could just be as wrong as could be and somebody'd
come up and say who gave you this information you know. I mean you know.
Ivr: Just general.
Ive: Well at one time I would say there was oh at
least six passenger trains through here
a day.
Ivr: Oh wow, you could go into the city?
Ive: At most
any time.
Ivr: Do you have any, any memory of how much it
used to cost?
Ive: About a dollar and a half, a dollar and
eighty-five cents
Ivr: Round trip?
Ive: No,
about three dollars
round trip.
Ivr: Boy
that was incredible.
Ive: And then
they used to
give ten ride
tickets which I
don't remember what
they were but
it lessened the
fare you know. But with working, people who
worked here and
or lived and worked
in the city
would buy a
ten-ride ticket and
that cut the fare
down quite a
bit you know.
And there was
freight trains, this was
the liveliest place
between here and Little
or something like that to go to
Ivr:
I'm really
interested in that because I have
no experience with trains
at all
and I really wish there was one I could ride downtown now.
Ive:
Well, I don't know what else I could
say really, except that
we had
that railroad station was open
day and night down here
you know. We had a telegraph operator that was there
and
a passenger agent that
was there all the time, You could, there wasn't a time
day or night that you couldn't
get into the station. It seems that the horrible
part of the whole thing is that you can't get anyplace by train
now. I mean
nothing stops here, you know.
Ivr: Right.
Ive:
And
at that
time.,
and
during
the war days when, when trains
were made up
of soldiers
you know; that was a lot of fun. I mean we were
young then
and you know we used to enjoy being out on
the streets
and
seeing all the soldier
trains you know.
And cars,
train after train load
of
soldiers. Lots of times
they stopped and the boys
would get off and course the
young girls
all had a yen to get
over
and see them you
know.
Ivr:
Girls are always that way.
Ive: Always
that
way
and so were
the soldiers
always that
way.
Ivr:
I
guess.
Ive: And I
guess the trains were, I guess this Missouri Pacific train
was
about 18 and
55 because my father-in-law was born
in 1858 and it was a new thing
when dad,
Edwards was a little boy. The train was new. I can remember hearing him say that
he came to Camel's crossing which
is, do you know where he lives?
Ivr: No,.
Up here about two miles. And the train, to see the train but we
lived up Selzers lived. I
mean dad did when he was a
little boy, dad Edward. So I guess the
first trains ran through here I'd say
about 55 because dad was a little boy
then.
Ivr: 1855?
Ive:: Yes
Ivr: The state
had only been a state for thirty
years, or 34 years.
Ive: Yes.
Ivr: Did many people live in St. Louis, or work
in St.
Louis
and live in
Ive: No, not too many. Not too
many worked
then because the
only way would have been by train you know. There was
an
early
morning train that went and the
men who
did work in the office
or
whatever in St. Louis would ride
that
early train up about
three O'clock
in
the morning
which would put them in the city
at
working hours and
then
there was a train came down
about eight
o'clock in
the evening that the working people came on. Course there
was a good deal of commotion
then because there were no
paved
roads to St.
Louis.
Ivr: Oh
that's
incredible.
Ive: You
know, you couldn't get there
any other way
but by train.
Ivr: Did
most people have horses and
buggies?
Ive:
Oh
yes,
that was it.
Ivr: Were
there livery stables and things that you'd
have?
Ive:
Oh
yes,
down
here where
they, where they on
Ivr: Ye ah , oh
my .
Ive: But we had our own, but then that was some
place if you came to
town and
the
drummers, you know, salesmen always came
in on this train. They had no other
way and
they'd get off
of the train with a lot
of cases
like they'd have
to have and they'd have to get horses
from the livery stable and carriages, you know them.
Ivr: About how
many, about how
many horses
would a livery
stable have, do you have any idea?
Ive: I
really
don't know. I would have an idea
they'd have, I don't
know really. I would say ten' or twelve
,or
maybe more .
Maybe more than
that.
Ivr: Yes, I would
say you could. But
you could
walk and get the necessary sales? Yes,
1
would easy you could, but I, I just
don't have any
idea how many. And then of course
I saw the
first automobile that
came to town,
T.B, Maness as far as I know
had the first one. And they
would go from here to
Ivr: I came home in the snow the other day and it
took just about that long.
Ive: So I saw all the streets paved. WE were in business on Main Street and about
19 and 22 or along that time and I saw all the streets paved by WPA.
Ivr: Oh, it was all during the Depression.
Ive: Yes, oh absolutely. The streets were paved during, after
the 1929 slump you know.
And the man who had charge who was the engineer
of all the paving lived up where your
sister lives.
Ivr: I'll be durn.
Ive: Mr. Robert
Hearst.
Ivr: Now how many
houses were in the town then? Was the
town
pretty well built up?
Ive: Oh yes. Yeah, pretty well. Not the subdivisions, this part oh
part of the town was here. This is the old town edition, but of course
you can drive around and see the subdivisions
are new, but this was the old town part and it was pretty well here. But the schools, the
Ivr:
When?
Ive:1926.
Ivr: 1926.
Ive:
19 and 26.
Ivr: So you've been in this house almost 50 years
then?
Ive: Yes. Next year it will be 50 years.
Ivr: That's a long time to live in the same house.
Ive: Long time, yes it is,
Ivr: I
guess
you've had your furniture every way you could possibly
have it.
Ive: There's only one way
you can put it. That's what I say,
there's not much you can do with there houses
the way the windows
and doors are arranged. I mean, I don't know what you'd do with them really and truly. If I were
to take a fortune to go
buy furniture
I
wouldn't hardly know how
to buy
to
furnish this house. I mean
it is hard.But it's just, you just move them
and put it where
you car
and that's the way. Make yourself happy that's all.
Ivr: What
kind of business were you in town?
Ive: Meat and grocery business.
Ivr: Meat and grocery.
Ive: My husband
was a
butcher.
Ivr: He
did all the cutting and everything?
Ive: They did all the cutting and everything.
Ivr: Where, I guess you remember the nickel's
worth of round steak days then?
Ive: Yes, I sure do, and the good
soup bone that went into the box for
the dogs you know. Now you'd pay oh
a dollar for
it. The same thing you threw away.
Ivr: Sure.
Ive: Six pork chops
for a quarter.
Ivr: With a family of growing children like I have that
sounds
lovely.
I ve:
Yes ,
indeed.
Ivr:
Did you buy produce and things from the local farmers?
Is that where you got your produce?
Ive: Oh no, no.
Sometimes we did, but they were, well about
the time that we went into business was about the first
that you could buy say lettuce and that was all packed
and shipped out of St..Louis. I mean nothing here.
Ivr: Did that come on
the train?
Ive: I
mean out of season. Oh yes it came by
freight, all our produce that we bought came by freight. But we did
buy from farmers when they had
it. But of course it was too,
well when frost came and all that time from that time on it was
shipped in you know and shipped to
Ivr: When was canned goods, when did canned goods start
coming in?
Ive:
Well we bought, there was a salesman for canned goods. We used to buy from Weather Owl and
General Foods, just like except that they were shipped in by freight all the
time. They came by and got your order you know.
Ivr:You
didn't do business by telephone?
Ive: No,
no indeed you didn't. No, the salesmen
came and got your order and I don'-t
remember how long it took but a resonable time
we'd get our order of canned goods
that came in wooden boxes you know then.
And . . .
Ivr: How many stores were there? Were you the only one or were there other
stores?
Ive: Oh no, oh no, there were a lot of
businesses. More than there is now
really end truly. More because we were
here before Kroger’s or any of the chain stores came see here. Well
Ive: When
the
Kroger's,
when the chain stores came, Kroger
was
the first
I
believe, and then
A & P,
(correction : A & P came a few years first) small
people couldn't compete. And we were,
we
went, we came
into business
about 1922
and the Depression
in 1929 about cleaned us
out see.
We
did a credit business and delivered
with a little pick-up truck. And people had no,
I
mean, now I look
back and people had no, I don't
know
what to say, no idea of what it cost to run
a business, you know. If down
in the north end of town somebody wanted
a
loaf of bread for dinner, they'd just call
up
and we'd send it down, see, they , the
shops closed down,
they went on strike. And it
was one of the biggest shops in
this part
of, on the system,
on
the
Pacific System. They had a strike and all of those men were
our
customers. I don't mean all, but they very our customers, they made our living
for us. And when they struck
nobody knew how long it was going
to
last. So my husband said, well they've been my living while they while
they were working, and I can't
cut them off immediately because maybe the strike will be over
and to our ruination, we carried
them too far. So then
nobody could
help us. They were
good honest people, all of them, but if you don't have it, you don't have
it.
Ivr:
What year was this,
do
you remember?
Ive:
1919 and
29, 31, 32. During the
Ivr:
They were on
strike
during the
Depression then?
Ive:
No,
it was later. I would
say, no it wouldn't
have
been
1929, that's why I say I get the dates
mixed up. It's
probably about
32, would be like that's more like
it. I would
say, I'm not sure about
that.
Ivr;
Did people always
p?»y you iri cash
or
did you , did
you trade?
Ive:
Oh
no, people paid,
paid
in cash
when
they got their
paydays. They'd trade oh
sometimes the farmers you know you'd
maybe there'd be a little
trade if
they had
produce or something
you know. No, the general rule was cash. And they
were,
Ivr:
Right.
Ive:
And
they could sell
cheaper. And then
there were
some who would take their cash and buy
cheaper from
Kroger's and we'd
carry them when
they ran
out
of cash we wouldcarry their accounts.
Ivr:
The
chain
stores did they carry
credit accounts?
Ive:
NO,
no. So that was you just
can't compete with big
business. So that's
when it was nobody's downfall but
our own. I mean and
that it just happens everywhere.
It's happening today, it always did it always
will.
Ivr:
Were there people who spent
their whole
life in
Ive: I wouldn't know. Oh
you mean
just never did go to
Ivr: Right, just you know was
Ive: It was
self-sufficient.
Ivr:
People could do that?
Ive: Yes, it was, a lot more than it is now in that where as with now I don't know, not having any men in the
family for a long time; I don't think you could just say there is a
good men's clothier here in town, would you say? I
haven't
seen one. I don't know.
Ivr: There's one called Howards that's quite expensive.
Ive: Well ok, well,
there used to be several men's stores, just men's stores. And well so there you're not self-supporting
anymore because people go into
Ivr: Do you remember
the first time you went into
Ive:
To the World's Fair.
Ivr:
Oh wow. What was
it like?
Ive: Well I went with my sister. She was a little older than
I and an .uncle of ours took us. And well we went up
on this early morning train-left here I guess six o'clock
and spent the day at the fair. That's
the first time I'd ever seen or ridden on a street car. And I was kind of
dodging
all the time because thought they'd
eventually ran, I mean must have had tracks
pretty close together. because, I suppose they did, because I can remember as
a kid I kind of dodged when one would pass. My uncle laughed at me because I didn't know if it was coming right through you know.
Ivr: How old were you then?
Ive: Well I was born in "91 and that was
1904, I would have been 7 years old. No,
I was born in '91.
Ive:
And that
was in 1904, the fair was.
Ivr:
So you
would have been
13 years
old I guess.
Ive:
No,
I wasn't that old.
Ivr:
What?
Ive:
Couldn't
have
been, well where's your mathmatics ?
Ivr: From '91 to
1900 would be
nine
years.
Ive:
And four, yeah
I guess I
was. Well
that
was the first
time I was in St. Louis. Yes, you're right.
Ivr:
Did St. Louis
seem really big to you?
Ive:
Oh
yes.
Of
course we went
straight to the fair and you have
no idea
of w hat that was
like.
Ivr:
It
was still out
in the country wasn’t
it, more or less?
Ive:
Out
where
Ivr: Yeah, well I mean
but that wasn't considered the city?
Ive:
Oh
no, no, no.
But
it was, I can't even imagine
now
you
were just agog.
(amazed) I mean
it was so big
and
so many things. You
spent a whole day
and you
couldn't imagine all the things
you'd seen.
But
it was, and
then I did
go
back a few times, but that
was the first time I
was in St. Louis. I did go back when my
mother and dad did.
Ivr: So people were not down
to deadrock by any
means. There was some
good homes and people
were pretty well on their
feet,
Ivr:
I was
intrigued. 1 was reading some clippings from a man in Kimmswick, He
had saved a lot of newspaper
clippings and
in
one newspaper that he had saved it said that the mayor of
De Soto
said that there was absolutely no factory
space available. Recently a doll factory and
a string
factory had opened up and
there were
more
businesses that wanted
to come to
Ive:
Yes I
do.
It
was, I think
the building
has been torn down now, but I think
it
was in a brick
building south of the,
north of the
depot it would have been, that was put there by
the railroad
company. And
I'm sure that's where the doll,
I
think that's where the doll
factory was. Well the reason
I
think they would of years ago have said that . .
. now you can see for yourself that there's lots of places
you could go out
now and put
a factory and
I guess they're crying for them now.
But here we were,
or
here we are
between two hills
and
the railroad was here. Where were
you going to put anything? I mean
there's no place t6, the creek
was over there
and there wasn't they didn't extend themselves
like they do now.
You take this
Ivr:
Right,
now
you've got these big Caterpillars drive through
these
hills,
Ive: Well that's
right, that's right. And otherwise
there's no place to go. You were between
these two hills.
Ivr: What kind of
dolls did they make at the factory? Did
you
ever see any of them?
Ive: I
really don't know. I really don't know.
Ivr: My mother
had some incredible old
Ive : Did she ?
Ivr:
They
belonged to my
grandmother.
Ive:
I
really don't
know. I do remember there was a doll
factory here, I never did
factory work like the shoe factory
or, or
and there was a dress factory here
at one time.
Ivr: Has the
shoe factory been
here for a
long time?
Ive:
Yes,
it's been here oh I would
say oh I
would say 70 years anyway (1907)
Ivr:
Oh
that's a long time. I didn't even
know it existed until recently
I ran into a woman who said she worked there.
Ive:
The
first
people who
came here
was
the Peter
Shoe Company.
They were the first
people who came. It has changed hands
a
time or two. I'm not sure just how many
times since
that time. Ant it's
had it's ups
and downs,
you
know.
Ivr:
Did people vacation
back many years
ago like they
do now.
or was everybody
just too busy?
Ive : No,
people didn't. No, not too much
I wouldn't say.
There was no way
to go except by train and not much way to go after you got there. You know, I mean
it's not like it is now,
I mean you couldn't
get
in your car
and go, and nobody had a car when you got there ,
you know what I
mean.
Ivr:
What
did people think
about the cars
when they came?
Were people skeptical? They said it will never last,
or was everybody enthusiastic?
Ive: Well, we had no
roads for one thing. So that would, was
not inducive But well I suppose it's just like everything else,
1 guess everybody wanted one when they saw the possibilities, I guess. But until we got roads then there
wasn't much.
Ivr: What, how
about -gasoline? I wonder, if you're the
first guy
in town, where do you buy gasoline
for your car?
Ive: I don't
know.
Ivr: I wonder what
Mr. Maness did then?
Ive: I
don't know, I really don't.
Ivr: How about
city services? It occurs
to me that
if you have a whole population
that gets
around by riding
on
horses you
must have a certain
amount of
manure and that kind of
thing that accumulates in the street. Did the city do any clean-up work
like that or did it just get ground in?
Ive: I
have an
idea it just went in
with the mud, I've seen
Ivr: How about
weather, was weather a lot different back then? People
always say, well they used to
take sleighs
and stuff across
the
Ive: Well I can
remember that it, the winters were colder I'm sure
because when we
lived out where
the Silby’s live nowthat's where I first
married and went.
And
there wasn't a road
built, they were just gravel roads. And no bridges.
Ivr:
You
had to go through
creeks and things?
Ive:
Through the
creek. I, would
say that we crossed
the
creek seven or eight times to get
from Silsby's place to
Ive: That's
right. So that was pretty, and you never
see these
creeks, I
mean you don't, but I don't ever see these creeks frozen no where enough
so even kids could skate on them anymore.
Ivr: No, that's
true,
Ive: So the,
evidently there is a change in the weather, there
evidently
is. I mean winters must not be so bad as they
were .
Ivr: Oh, Really?
Ivr: Did your
dad farm?
Ive: Yes.
Ivr: So did you have a lot of farm chores to
do when you were?
Ive: Well, I
guess I
did, yes. I liked the farm and liked to
work outside better than I liked to work in the house. I did, I always
did and my older sister would do the house chores and the sewing and all that
sort of thing and help
mother. And I helped my
dad and more outside because my brothers were older and they got away
from home earlier. So I, I guess I loved
the farm. I really do. I do now. I always would,
Ivr: And then,.when you got married, how old were you?
Ive: Twenty-two,
Ivr:
Twenty-two. And what kind of a
man did you marry? Did you already have
that store? Did he have the store when
you got married?
Ive:
No, I married a farmer.
Married
a farmer.
Ivr: And they were
living on the farm where Mrs. Silsby lives now. Do you know where the old Silsby
farm is?
Ivr: I have seen
the mailbox I'm sure. But I can't
exactly place it
Ive:
Well, well that was what my husband's home when we lived
there for oh about five years and then he went .into
business and we came later into
Ivr: Oh I see,
Ive:
They had breeding barns?
Ivr: Yes, I'd
like to know about them. I'd like to
know just
how it was .
Ive: Well then we had,
they own
breeding barn
and
the first stallion that we had I can
remember that we had
was
one
that won the blue
ribbon in
the World's
Fair in St. Louis.
Ivr: Oh, what kind of horse was it?
Ive: He
was a saddle horse. Highchief was his
name, Highchief. And
then we had a lot of good
horses. A lot of had, they had well
some of
the best
horses in the state
I'd say.
Ivr: Did you ride?
Ive: Yes.
Ivr: Did you drive
a horse and buggy?
Ive: Oh yes, that's
the only way I came to town.
Ivr: Oh well I
can't imagine tbat.
I've never driven, I've
never even ridden
behind a
horse. We have horses and we ride them but . . . did you have any favorites or
did yov just take whatever horse was there?
Ive: No, no we had
favorites. You, you
had one you like to ride better
than the rest of them. But, and some you
liked to drive better. Yes, we had very, very fine
horses and I did love them.
Ivr: Did you ride
side-saddle?
Ive: Yes, I ride
side-saddle. Everybody did then.
Ivr: That would be
hard.
Ive: Well it wasn't
if you knew how. And I mean it just came
as easy as could be.
Ivr: How about
clothes, did you buy clothes or were your clothes
made for you?
Ive: Either
way. You usually had your when I was a kid
mother
did all of our sewing for us you know. And we went to school, didn't have
too many clothes either. But when you could,
the Huntshalls (Hoethhalls) had a very fine clothing store. Right at
the foot of the hill down here and you could
buy some good clothes there. But you
could buy as good of clothes as you can now.
I think even better.
Ivr: I didn't
have any idea that you could get ready made clothe
Ive: Oh yes, you
could get beautiful clothes. Yes you
could.
Ivr: When you
went to school, did you come into town to go
to
school?
Ive: No, I went
to school out in the country. I went to
a
country school when I was growing up.
Ivr: Did you
walk?
Ive: Three
miles.
Ivr: Did anybody
ride horses to school?
Ive: No, except
when the creek was up, and you couldn't get
across
the creek. We always went where we went
we had to
cross the creek here. And we had horses or maybe some of the
neighbors would hitch up a team of horses and take the neighbor kids in the
wagon you know and get them all
there
together. And those ones that were on
the way you
know would pick up the kids as it'd g'o along.
Ivr: How many people
were there in school, how many children
were
there?
Ive: Oh.
Ivr: Just
roughly.
Ive: Oh I'd say
kids, there used to be a lot, say forty-five
or
fifty kids in one room.
Ivr: Wow and one
teacher?
Ive: And one
teacher, oh yes mam.
Ivr: Oh, that must have been a busy
teacher. So she had children of all different ages and grades?
Ive: And all grades. I taught school before I was married,
Ivr: You did?
Ive:
And I
had at one
time fifty-two
children in school. Taught all the grades beginning from the lowest
up.
Ivr:
And
did you, did the
one room school house go all the way
through the twelfth
grade?
Ive:
No, just the eighth
grade.
Ivr:
Eighth
grade.
Ive: Eighth
grade.
Ivr: And then,
if students wanted to go on?
Ive: They come
to high school here in
Ivr: Did many
people go on and og to college?
Ive: Not many
people. We were talking about that the
other night. And the thing that just
floors me is that I look
back now over that age group, let's say kids
that we
had
in
school then, and I can think that more of then on an
average went places and got to be somebody and did things
than they do now. Now that's for sure.
Ivr: I wonder
what, what's the difference?'
Ive: I mean I can
look, I don't know, I think they had
such a hard time and went through so many hardships going to school in the
country that when they went to high school
they
took advantage of every minute and everything and I
don't think children do now,
Ivr: That's
it. Children have a lot today just given
to them.
Ive: Absolutely,
absolutely.
Ive: And we were
discussing that, my nephew and I the
other
day. And I said we just
named over
a bunch of these in his age group
and I said they're just people
you could be real
proud of. Maybe percentage wise there's as many now, I
don't know, but you just marvel if they ever got anyplace.
Ivr: Did you have
any discipline problems when you were teaching?
Ive: No, no.
Children respected the teacher.
No, you didn't have. You had
a slow people in school just like you do now. I mean, but we gave more than the
teachers do now.
I mean we try. I know we tried herder because many times
we'd
give up our recess and noon and take in the youngster who was having difficulty with maybe mathematics or whatever and
you'd sit sown with him along and try your very best.
I don't believe they do that now.
I don't believe too many people do
that now.
Ivr: Yeah, it takes a lot of commitment.
Ive: Yes it does, yes
it does.
Ivr: How long did
you teach?
Ive: I taught four
years.
Ivr: Four years?
Ive:
Yes. I taught one year after I was married I
believe. No, I didn't. I taught one year
after I was married and then the war came along, that would have been about '
42
I guess, teachers were short. They, a lot of them were drafted into war and
I took another two years of teaching.
And I'd been out an awful long time, but they were so short of teachers out of North
town here. And I
could see the difference in children's
attitude in the interim
between the time I had taught.
I
taught said
my
last year would
have been 19 and
oh
18 perhaps and
then from that
time to '45 there was
such a difference in the
oh the attitude
of
the children
in
their desire to learn, or I don't
know what the change was, but I could see a marked
difference.
Ivr:
I
see. So you remember any
of the suffrages,
the
people who
were trying
to
get the vote
for wonen?
Was anybody in
Ive:
Well,
let's see, that I don't
know. I'm not sure about
that
Ivr:
That would have
been around 1920.
Ive:
Yes, well I wasn't living in
Ivr: I see,
Ive:
I
really
don't know. Oh
I guess there
was women of
this
town were
always pretty active in all
the
civic affairs.
Ivr:
You
interested
me
when you said you helped
to
run the business because then many
years ago you know
there just wouldn't have been too many
women deeply
involved in doing things. Do you think farm
life was a lot
different back then
than-it is
now?
Ive:
Oh
definitely. I mean
nobody had
farm machinery. They didn't
have
anything but horses and mules
and plows.
And
when we farmed, my dad farmed,
nobody had a tractor.
We
did have a binder
to
bind the wheat. And maybe
a hay( rack, but my goodness,
this heavy equipment people have now-they never heard of.
Ivr: Right.
I guess farms were a little
bit smaller.
Ive: Oh sure, they
would have to be.
Ivr: Did you have a lot of
hired people that worked on the farm?
Ive: No, not a lot of
hired people.
Most of the farms weren't that
big, but you couldn't afford to keep them.
People had help, my husband's dad always kept help. A couple of men helped them farm. But there were in the first place farms didn't
pay off, you couldn't keep help, you couldn't afford to.
Ivr: Had to be
a family effort.
Ive: Had
to
be a family
operation or you couldn't do it.
Ivr: Did you have
to pitch hay,
all the hay by hand?
Ive: Oh
sure,
sure you did.
We’d go
out and
get
bales of hay for our horses
out
of the field, that's a lot of work
and I look
at that and
think if
you had to do it all
with
a pitchfork.
Ivr: Did you
help with that?
Ive: Oh
yes. We had a mower
to cut the hay.
Ivr: Did
the
horses pull the mower?
Ive: Yes, which was horse drawn. And
a rake to
rake up the hay, it was horse-drawn
too. They raked it in what they
called wind-rows, you know across the field and then
from that
we pitched
hay
onto a frame.
Ivr: Did people get hurt
a
lot farming?
Ive No.
Ivr: No?
Ive: No, no not too
much. People were aware of things. People very
rarely got hurt, there was some occasional accidents
course, but not often.
Ivr: I guess so.
Ive: And then it was put into barn lofts. Most people didn't
stack their hay out and that was a hard job. Somebody pitched the hay into the loft and
somebody that was
already in the loft, and they moved it back
you know and made room for that carload, truckload, wagonload, there
were no trucks.
So it was a slow process and same way wit!
wheat harvest. That was quite a deal. Thrashing was a lot of fun.
Ivr: Did, when did thrashing machines come out there? You
mean
you used to do that by hand?
Ive: No, no I never knew that. We always had a thrashing machine
but it was well, what could I say it was? It was an engine
kind of a steam engine operated thing.
Ivr: Oh
I see.
Ive;
And they
were slow and they
would break down
and you'd have your
dinner all
ready and the next
fella would be
broke down
someplace. I mean
it was a sort
of
a slipshod thing.
Ivr:
Right.
Ive: But it was a lot of fun. All the neighbors helped everybody
else
and the women always went and helped cook.
Maybe we'd 25 or 30 men you know by the time they all got around there having a thrashing,
Ivr: You mean everybody would do it together?
Ive: Everybody, well no I
mean if I were getting thrashing
dinner for them
thrashing at my house, the neighbors came and helped me you know. Maybe there would be a dozen women
come and help you. It was quite and ordeal.
Ivr:
I
see.
I
guess there was
a lot more
community kind
of
feeling,
Ive:
Oh
yes, oh yes,
oh
yes. There was a different sort of
you knew your
neighbors then and
you don't now. You
know, I mean
you knew.
Ive:
If you were
going
to
build a barn
or something,
did everybody do their own barn
building or were there
contractors that you would say-I need a
barn built?
Ive:
Well
everybody, they'd probably have
a day of
work day
and
all the neighbors
would go in
and help.
And
it was the same
way with
they traded work. I mean
if maybe somebody would
come
and plow for you
all day and you and you would exchange work
is what I
want to say. You know everybody helped everybody.
Ivr:
What
happened in those
years when you
had a
really bad
growing season and everybody
had really bad
crops and everything? How did people get along?
Ive:
Real
rough.
Sure it was. In '19
and I think it was 4 we had a drought.
I
can't remember too
much as I
was not as concerned then
as I wasn't old enough to be.
But
we, the people mostly
depended on their wheat crop
because they'd sell
their wheat or
have it ground
and exchange it
for flour
and
sell wheat and that
was going
to
pay the taxes
and all that stuff. People had a real
rough time
that year,
that particular year we
always referred to
it as the
dry year
-- an entire
failure in crops. And this was just, how do
we manage now when
things go wrong?
We’d just plow through, we’d manage.
Ivr:
Were,
were banks
here then. I mean
did you go
to the bank
and get a loan?
Ive: Oh yes.
Yes, you could, yes you could. I
saw several bank failures in this
town. People's Bank closed here.
Ivr:
And then
people would lose all the money they had in that bank?
Ive: Well practically. And Farmers and Citizens Bank is downs
believe me. And it's really, they've
been pretty
good I'd say. They stayed in and pitched pretty well I
think
Ivr:
How about medical care back when you were a child? Or when you «ere
newly married, were there doctors?
Ive:
Well, there were, oh yes. And it
was different. If you
another bank that closed and
called a doctor then you got they were
general practioners And any time day or night they'd go in horse
and buggy
you
know. That's the only way they
had to go. Course we weren't too far out of the town, let's say a couple, three miles out
and they came. And they came. And the doctors then had a, well, they weren't bus$ I guess as much as they are now.
They had a different attitude.
We've had the doctor come to the farm and stay all night. Just come and stay all night. Just take bed there and if we needed him in
the night, My dad Edwards had very bad
sick spells and he'd just stay all night.
Next morning he'd eat his breakfast with us and you could die now if you
could get a doctor to do that, I
mean you'd fall dead if you got. a
doctor now cared enough about you to come and stay. And doctors were I guess they were less busy
and could do it I suppose. Or had. I
don't know whether they were more
sympathetic
or what it was.
Ivr:
Maybe it
was
just
a
different attitude.
Ive: Different
times I
think.
Ivr:
Everything seems to move so
much faster
now
than it did.
Ive: That's what I say.
Ivr: How about
hospitals? Were
there, if somebody
were terribly sick were there hospitals where they would
take them?
Ive: Not here in,
there's always been hospitals in St. Louis.
As long
as I can
remember of
course. But
there was none
local nothing
local.
Ivr: How
about, well then
the babies
in
the area were
always born at
home.
Ive: At
home.
Ivr: And did the, were there midwifes or did
the doctors assist?
Ive: The
doctors
did but there were midwifes. I think I imagine there were more babies born by midwife then by doctors:.
But the babies were born at home because there
was nowhere else, no place§, you know.
Ivr:
Everybody just accepted
it and nobody worried about it?
Ive: That's
right.
Ivr: Do you know of people who maybe died in
childbirth? Was
that common at all?
Ive: Not
common, no. There might have been a case
or two of
cases
that even nowthey couldn't save the mother I guess.
But it was rare. Very rare.
Ivr: How
about doctors fees? Were doctors fees relatively high or?
Ive: Not
compared to now.
Ivr: No,
how about compared to groceries or other things?
Ive:
Yes, they were perhaps, yes. I
expect we thought doctors’ fees were pretty
high then.
Ivr: Were the dentist's?
Ive: Yes, not to compared with now. Not by any comparison,not
by any comparison then dentists weren't.
But doctors for heaven sakes groceries didn't cost anything in those
days
Ivr: True,
How much were groceries per week for a family on the
farm
Ive:
Well we were, we raised, mother always had chickens
and we had we made butter to sell and
I guess I don't remember, it seeme to me we'd get
about fifteen cents for a dozen eggs. But we used .to buy three pounds of coffee
for a quarter,
Ivr: For a quarter?
Ive: For a quarter. R. Buckles coffee, three pounds for a quarter, I can remember that but it was for coffee
beans and we had to
grind it at home. But sugar was, I can't
remember, just a minimum cost of what it is today. And we didn't buy many groceries. I don't know, the farmers just didn't buy
many groceries. We raised our living.
Ivr: I guess since you were raised on a farm
you raised
everything
you
needed.
Ive: You raised your living. We
had I often think that we lived better then we can
today, and we didn't have anything. I mean we raised cur garden and we buried
turnips and parsnips and
cabbage. They'd dig a hole in the garden
and fill it with straw and then put these things in and then put some more
straw on top of that and put the dirt on and there would be times when we couldn't possibly get to
that hole because of snow and ice. But
there it was. And apples, burying
them by the bushel.
ive:
Now
that served just like a fruit cellar did.
Ive: Well sure, sure.
Ivr: I had no idea you could do that.
Ive:
Oh
yes.
Kept
just as good, and apples
tasted better
dug out of that hole
than you could
buy them any place cause there's
something about that
and it was just
snappy and brittle
as could be. So we
buried and raised potatoes why we never bought a
potato in our life you know. And mother
canned fruits and made apple
butter and dried
apples and dried peaches.
Ivr:
How
did
they dry things?
Ive: Well they would peel the apples
and
cut them up and
took out the cores
and sliced them
and put them
onto, well of you had corrugated tin or iron
or something; whatever,
and we had, we had rail
fences and if you know
how a rail fence is built
you
know you
could put a
board in the corner
you know how
a rail fence
is, and spread
those apples out
there and
then at nights
we'd bring t in
before the dew fell
and
then next
morning we'd scatter them
out again on
that and dry
them or sometimes
people had porches that they
take them
up
lay them
on
and dry them,
or, or where
ever. Anyplace you'd
get the sunlight.
Ivr:
How
long
did it
take to dry
those?
Ive:
Oh I
expect it took
nearly
a week
to dry
fruit good.
And then they just packed them
and put them
in paper bags
or whatever and course
it
took a long time to
cook apples,
too. But boy, they're good. The
best ever. And the same
way with peaches. They,
they'd half the peaches
and took the seeds
out and turned the, the half side up, I mean you know.
Ivr: They cut the side of it?
Ive:
Cut
side
up, that's what
I want to say.
And then put them
out
just the same
way. And mother ………
Ivr:
Did birds try
to eat them when you did that?
Ive:
I
don't
think so. I guess we must have had them close
around
the
house
most of the time I think. And my
mother used to dry
pumpkin and she'd slice the pumpkin, she'd cut them in rings
you know and it'd
be', like in rings
and a bout, seemed to me like
they were
about half
an
inch thick or so and
put
them on a pole.
Just put a pole through those
rings you know and out
them up
on something
and they dried.
And
then they
made hominy.
Ivr:
Now what is
hominy
made of?
Ive:
That's
corn, white corn.
Ivr:
What
do
you do with
this?
Ive:
Shell
the corn, well that's quite a process.
Then they, shelled the corn
and then it was,
you brought lye, you know
what that
is?
Ivr:
Yes.
Ive:
Not,
my
mother didn't,
my
mother made the
lye out
of
ashes, out
of wood ashes, andf the lye and she
soaked the corn
into that. She'd
take
the husks
off and then it was
cooked and cooked and cooked until it
got tender. But that's how they
cooked the husks off and then
you washed
it
and washed
it
and washed
it
I don't
know how
many waters
before you cooked it to get that
lye taste out.
But then after people got concentrated lye, you know,
they'd use
that instead
of the wood
ash
Ive. But I don't
know
how, I can't remember how
mother did
that.
Ivr:
Then
did she can
it. when it was
all through?
Ive:
You didn't have
to
can it. You just
put them; you just put them out . They had big earthin’ jars and put it
in a
big earthin’ (crock) jar and my
mother used
to
take a piece of that
brown paper and make a paste with flour and paste it over the top, you know.
That’s all you did to seal it.
Ivr:
Oh I
see it didn}t spoil
or
anything?
Ive:
No, no. No,
no, no.
So we had our living on
the farm like I said. We
depended on the wheat of course to take it down and exchange it for flour
and we'd
have the
winter's flour and
maybe the whole year, I don't know.
Ivr:
Was
there
a
mill in town
that ground flour?
Ive:
Yes, Lep’s Mill
was
here in town
right at the, down here
where the City Hall is now. And that
was I can remember
very well and then
this town used to have Artesian
wells.
Ivr:
We
have an artesian
well.
Ive:
Yes, well this
used to have flowing
wells. There was
one down
by the
mill and there was one
down by ….•on
Ivr: Yes.
Ive:
And the
drugstore
is down there
and oh I
remember I
can't just remember but I remember
those two very
well. The water
flowed all the time. And that's where the farmers would take their horses to water when they
came to town
you
know.
Ivr:
Did the
houses in town
have wells
or
cisterns?
Ive:
They had
cisterns
and
wells.
Ivr:
And they caught rainwater from the roof?
Ive: Before
there was, I don't remember when
water system it has now, I don't remember, I'm not sure.
Sure is interesting to think about. How about the churches?
Were there always a lot of churches in town?
Ive:
Oh yes, yes.
Ivr:
What kind of services
did they have? Did a lot of people go to church?
Ive:
Oh I think people went just about like they do now.
I think so. I
think so.
Ivr:
Did they have a lot of, were there a lot of activities
centered around the churches' social life and everything?
Ive: I
would say so, yes. I think people were
pretty active
in all of the church affairs as far as I can
remember.
Ivr: Yeah,
we have a little chapel out at our farm.
And apparently the people built it for the farm and I guess they
had a priest come out.
It was a Catholic chapel and everything.
Ive: I guess so.
Ivr: It's really something if all the neighborhood
people
must have come
there.
Ive: I
don't
know
about that.
I
was not out there then and I
didn't know about
that. I don't know.
Ivr: How
about,
were people
tolerant of other
people's religion’s
or
was there
a
tendency, for instance, if there
were Jewish people in town.
Did everybody accept them just
like
everybody
else?
Ive: Yes,
yes. Most of the businesses
were
run by, I mean clothing business was
run
by Jewish
people.
Ivr: And the black people
always just got along with everybody got along well together?
Ive : Yes, oh yes.
Ivr: That's really a nice
thing.
Ive:
There is a
little
different on, maybe not with everybody but I think it used
to
be that
the
Catholic were kind of far out, as far as we protestants were concerned you know what
I mean. And I believe they're different, maybe you're a Catholic, I don't know.
Ivr:
No, I'm not a Catholic,
Ive: Maybe, maybe they were different than now, I mean
I think they were
more, . .
Ivr:
I
think
they've loosened up.
Ive:
I'm
sure
they must have, because…………
Ivr:
I
wanted
to
ask you about
when people got married,
when young men and
women started going
out together,
what
was it like? What kind of social things did people do?
Ive:
Well,
when I
was a youngster
growing up we
had singing,
you know, say on a
Saturday or any nigh. Somebody,
most everybody
had organs or
a piano and they'd
have a
group singing, you know.
And all of the
young folks
would go
to a singing
and
that was a lot of fun.
And
they used
to
have candy
pulls, you know.
Somebody would
make taffy
and ……
Ivr:
Would that
just happen in somebody's
kitchen?
Ive:
Yeah,
I,
somebody's, yeah. And maybe
several couples
would go
and have
taffy pulls. And then
we used
to
have play parties. They didn't call them dances, but they
were play
parties,
Ivr:
Where,
where did
you have
those?
Ive:
Anybody's
home. They'd just clean everything
out in one room and they'd
just cut the “mustard”, you know. They'd have more
fun, they'd sing songs instead of having music, you
know. They sang like little old play party songs and they
had, churches would
have things in
the evenings,
you know, and that's another place
the young folks
got together on
Sunday nights.
It
was, I guess
in a lesser degree, young
folks were
always young
folks.
Ivr: They found a way.
Ivr:
Did you go out driving
in
your buggy?
Ive:
Oh
yes, yes.
Ivr:
Was that,
did the older
people frown upon
that?
Ive:
No, no, no.
There was not
the, I don't know what
I could say, but young
people were
more
dependable that
they
are now. I mean
there was no, not so much
hanky-panky these
days
Ivr:
Maybe a
little bit more mature.
Ive:
That's
right.
Ivr:
Were most people
around 22 or
23 when they
got married?
Ive:
I
expect
the
average people
were, they didn't take this
14,
15, 16 year old stuff that now, I mean
like they do now, I don't think so. There was some
younger people married
but evidently they
were more mature
or knew where they were going more than
they do now
I think. Or maybe I just don't understand the
young people,
I
guess that's it.
Ivr:
Well I don't know,
I
think it's
a
little bit of both.
Ive:
But I
think
Ivr:
Did most
people
get married with
the idea
they
would have large families?
Ive:
I
don't know
about that.
But
most of them
did.
Ivr: Most of them
did.
Ive: Most of them
did.
Ivr: Wasn't much choice about it then?
Ive: No, no, I don't know that
they had,
I
don't know that
they even speculated on what
about that.
But
then it was kind of
a, I guess
that's the way
it was and
they accepted
it whatever it was, and made
the best
of
it. And they
did a
good job
doing it.
Ivr: How
long
did you go out
with people before
you got
married?
Ive: Oh
then,
that depended I mean,
just like it
is now.
Ivr: You
just dated?
Ive: Yeah
a lifelong courtship
or maybe a
short
one
depending the way,
people are no different
in
a way, I don't think then
they are now.
Ivr: That's a totally different world.
Ive: Yes, it is, but it's kind of fun to think
that you've seen
it all.
I mean I don't know what the next 25 or 30 years
are going to bring, but I mean the fact that you came
from
there
to here.
Ivr: That's incredible.
Ive: It's a lot of fun.
Ivr: It's incredible just to be able to adjust to
it and
appreciate it.
Ive : Yes,
but you do it so it comes so gradual and you just kind
of go along with whatever happens, what else can you do?
Ivr: True.
What impact did, when airplanes came, when the Wright
Brothers started flying their airplane do you remember
that at all?
Ive
:
Yes, I don't remember particularly that. Well, it's
just like, I can remember the first
highway they
put in was old
61
and I can
remember my dad saying "Well, we'll never
live
to see it finished.", you know.
You know I mean when
you start laying that concrete
from say St.
Louis to where ever
they went. I'm not sure what their destination
was, you don't think you'll ever get it done. I mean
my dad couldn't see they'd ever finish it, well you don't believe
they're going to get
them off
the
ground, but they do. So you
accept it and like it.
Ivr:
Have
you
flown an airplane?
Ive:
Oh
yes. Two
or three
trips. I've gone to
Ivr:
Oh I
did enjoy it.
Ive:
I
like it.
Ivr:
Let me
think, there must be, oh I
have to, Oh I'm
supposed to
ask you about hunting. When you lived on the farm, did your father hunt?
Ive:
No, my father
didn't hunt, but none of
my men folk were hunters, really,
neither were my brothers,
but
my husband was. Had a big old,
I guess hound
dog named Drum
and well they usually had some hired help.. And
I can remember when
we were first
married in the fall
of
the year
and in the wintertime
old Drum, we
always called
him, did night hunting. He was a coon
dog. That's what he was. And way in
the night
you'd hear old
Drum someplace
and, Newman was
my husband's
name, he never let that old dog down. He
called this fellow from the house and say “ I hear old Drum. He's got a coon”, and they’d get up in the
coldest night ever was and dress and go to that
dog
and they always
got a coon.
I mean they got
results, he didn't let, they wouldn't let that old
dog
down and he didn't
let them down. But really he was not
a hunter.
Ivr:
Did you eat the coons
then?
Ive:
I
don't
think we did. I have
eaten coon, but I'm not sure I did at home, I'm not sure that we ever did. But
they were good, they're real good.
Ivr:
Did the people
who hunted then, you think the
hunting was better then than
it is now?
Ive:
Oh
yes, yes. Because,
well, the country wasn't settled then like
it
is now.
There was more, the, the idea of night
hunting, I mean
they used, the whole
skins, you know. That's
the
idea I guess in my time.
But I don't think people
ordinarily, coons were good eating. I don't think
we ever, I don't
remember of
ever having cooked
one, but I'm
sure people did. They are clean
meat, they never eat anything filthy. They are nice
clean meat, so it would have been good. But I
think the idea was, I guess it was,
I
guess that was their thing just like-
football and soon
is now with
everybody. I guess it was just
fun
to go.
That was their
sport I suppose.
Ivr: Yeah.
Ive: But I never had any, and my men folk, oh
maybe went squirrel
hunting a few times, but not, they weren't
hunters.
Ivr: Do you know
anything about the fur industry? For instance,
where
we lived used to be a fox farm and they used to raise
foxes for furs. Do you know if there were people in the town who
bought furs?
Ive:
I
really
don't know. Not here. I'm sure they didn't here, they
must have had a market
other than local.
Ivr:
Must have gone into the city.
Ive:
They'd had
to
gone some
place else, there wasn't nobody here
who
would have bought. When we
were in the
meat
market and
we did,
had our own
butchering done over
in the, slaughter pen, over on
the Eastside
and
there was a big
market then
for cow hides, but they
were, people would
come
down from St. Louis and do the buying.
Ivr:
Oh, the shoe
factory didn't buy them?
Ive:
No, no, no, no.
Because they had
to be tanned
and all
that, you know, so
they couldn't
have
used them.
They, they
bought the rawhide, somebody from
St. Louis came
down and bought
them and I
suppose that was
the tannery. I'm not
sure who did buy them,
but
some tannery I'm sure and then I guess they, where you sold,
maybe I don't
know where they went from there,
Ivr:
I
see, do they have a general store? You
know, stores where you could
go in and buy just about anything? Or was everything
divided into specialty shops, clothing
shops, shoe shops?
Ive:
Oh
no.
Well,
rather so, now stores
In the
country had everything,
but I mean
here in
Ivr: Did these houses have gaslights in them?
Or was it electricity at that time?
Ive: Guess then electricity was more
common, I know
I'm sure
they
were some.
Ivr: How
about
telephones,
when did telephones come
in?
Ive:
Well
we had telephones on the
farm and they
were-I was thinking
about that
the other day. Maybe six or eight
people in a
neighborhood got together
and decided
we
needed telephones
and that
was, the telephone
company was owned by Coxwells who lived,
who are native
Ivr:
Just hung on the wall?
Ive: And
the company, I
suppose
the
Coxwell
Company evidently wired them, must
have strung
the
wire, I don't know, but they set
the
poles. The farmers
did themselves and they
could only have so
many on the
telephone line,
say six or eight.
And
it was always
funny the way we'd
have two short
rings and two long ones, that was
ours and somebody
else would have
two short
rings and somebody
one long ring and everybody
knew whose ring, telephone was ringing
I
mean you know we didn't have numbers, we just had
rings we'd use, would recognize by the ring your own number, your own ring. And they kept their own, they did the work on
the lines pretty well. I mean if
something happened and you couldn't get your neighbor, well you must have known a limb had blown on the line
you know. And all that stuff and the men
would get out and go through. They'd
follow the line until they found the trouble and maybe a pole had blown down or
something you know, but they
maintained their own telephone lines pretty well as far as I could remember
when we were on the farm,
Ivr: Did
they have an operator and when you wanted to call
somebody you would?
Ive: Yes, yes you could.
Ivr: So what, what would you say? Would you?
Ive: Now on our own local line let's say,
people, we didn't
bother an operator, we just rang the number,
Ivr: How did you? You mean you had a dial on the phone?
Ive: There was a crank
on the phone and you just rang two shorts like that, see, and then ring two
longs. There was not an operator
connected with it in any way, you did your
own,
Ivr: Well, could you call
Ive: You could through an operator.
Ivr: Through an operator,
Ive: You had to call
Ivr: And then what would you say
to her?
Would you say you
wanted a
certain number in St.
Louis? Or a person's
name? Or how?
Ive: I
have an
idea more the address
than
anything else.
the
address.
Ivr: Gee, that's incredible. Was the
operator always there, I mean
like was the
switchboard in somebody's
house?
Ive: No, it was
on
telephone
office
was
on
Ivr: So
they
must have had
more
than one operator.
Ive: Evidently did, I just don't remember about
it. But I
know where the
office
was, I'm sure you could have made a
telephone call any time. You could have gotten through to St. Louis
any time you'd want to, I'm sure.
Ivr: Who
were some of
the
first people
that had a telephone,
do you
think.?
Ive: Rurally we were, I think.
Ivr: How about radio? Do you remember when radio came and people
started listening to the radio a lot?
Ive: Well, I couldn't give you a date on that or
anything
like a date, I just don't remember.
Ivr: How about just electricity when you were on
your farm when you were a little girl?
Ive: No, we didn't have electric, no. We just had coal oil lamp;
Ivr: How did you heat? All wood
furnaces?
Ive: Stoves and fireplaces,
we had stoves. And cooked with wood and
had a little range of some kind. Some
people had ranges, some just had little stoves.
Ivr:
How
did you regulate
them
for like if you were going to
bake a cake?
Ive:
You just didn't
put
so much wood
in.
Ivr:
You had
to
kind
of
watch it?
Ive:
Oh
you
knew, you
learned, it was just something you knew. You
knew about how
much wood
it
would take to heat
your oven, you learned,
you
knew. And like the houses were all lighted
with coal oil lamps. I can
remember when, after I was married,
one
of my neighbors, one of
our neighbors, got a Delco
light system put in.
I don't
know
what that,
how
that's operated, I don't
know. But anyway, they used to always
kid me and say I could
never see by
lamplight anymore after the neighbors
got the Delco.
Then I had trouble seeing
by
lamplights. And I hated
lamps
Ivr:
Did anybody have
fires because of
them? Did they get
knocked over
at all?
Ive: I don’t think so.
Ivr:
What did they do
if they had
a fire? Did everybody just gather together?
Ive:
The
neighbors went and helped,
that's all. And most of the time it just
burned up.
You know,
well that's just
all we could do. The
neighbors would go help,
but
that,
we
didn't have
the rural fire department then.
Ivr:
Its really changed a
lot in the last
few
years. What do
you think has been the biggest change you've seen? Oh say in just the last ten years? Could there
have been such a change
you know,
people moving
into the county in
the last ten years?
Ive:
The
last ten years, I wouldn't hardly know well, anything that should be done about the new population, new services?
Ive No I really wouldn't.
Ivr: I guess because
Ive: Well I don't know exactly what your
question would pertain to. I wouldn't
have any idea how, you mean change
things,
or improve things?
Ivr: Yeah, if there should be better medical
facilities, maybe
a
Ivr: Right.
Ive: We certainly do need that. But I guess that's something everybody needs,
that there's a shortage somewhat I'd
say
everywhere.
Ivr: Does the population change worry you at all?
Ive: Not at all.
Not at all.
in?
Ive: No, not at all, no. The fact that, well that's just a thing, You're not worried about having
new people
move
that's just time moving
on^ The fact that. There was a time
in this
town
when I used to speak
to and call the name
of everybody in this
town. That's right. I mean we were in business
and
I would say that that's a true statement. Now,
I
can go to
church or walk
down
Ivr:
Now where were
you
working when you retired?
Ive: At
Hirsch's.
Ivr:
Oh, I'll be darned.
Ive:
P
Ivr:
I guess the
whole
population has changed.
Ive:
The
thing has changed.
And I don't know, I suppose
each person is self-sufficient. But I used to, well like
everywhere you knew everybody. Now
the whole thing
is changes. And some of them
don’t exactly extend yourself because you don't know whether
you want to
know them or
don't, I mean.
So, except the ones
who
are and people
used to
own their
own
homes. Everybody owned
their own homes.
Now
they come and go.
Ivr:
Deeper
roots I
guess. Are there
many people
around still
that you went to school
with
when you grew up?
Ive:
No, not too many.
Ivr:
Not too many.
Ive:
Even
in, the last
fifteen years I've made the biggest
change in
my
friends.
With, I mean
I've lost
more
friends in the last
fifteen years, We used to have,
I
used to belong
to
a bridge club. And out
of that,
there was
twelve of us
that played
and
out of that
group now there's three available. That's real tough you
know, and the
same way with
our, our pinochle club. We'd have
one per month and there'd be
a group of
men with their wives, you know, there's
just none of
them left.
They're all
gone.
Ivr:
That's
hard
to take.
Ive:
That's
hard to take.
Ivr:
It's
amazing to
be able to deal
with that and adjust
and
live your life and be
happy and everything,
though.
A great admiration for you.
Ive:
Well,
thank you very much,
I don't,
I
mean I take
it as it comes,
try
to, because I don't
know
what I could
do about it.
Ivr:
That's
the
only thing that
would keep you sane.
Ive: I
think.
Ivr:
Well,
I
think we'll close and I
really appreciate it,
Ive:
Well,
I
would rather my
name wouldn't
be
used because
maybe some
of these dates
or times would
be wrong. I
mean, if it's
been
a help to
you I'd be glad
to
it.
Ivr:
It's a great
help and if you don't wish us to use
your name we wouldn't do it
without you;
but
dates aren't important, the
main thing
we
wanted to know
was just
how
it was. Because to a person
like me.
envisioning, not
having a road to get on to
go to St. Louis. That's the important thing because
it's really hard to, cars are so
much a part
of
my life,
I
can't even remember
having a time
with not getting
in
the car
and
going,
Ive:
Well yes, yes.
That's right, that's right.
Ivr:
So
that's
the
important thing. And the
school will
send you a transcript, they'll type it
up and it will,
you
know, you'll be able
to read it all and
they won't
use it at all without permission from you.
It's all up to you.
Ive: I
see.
Ivr:
You've
been really helpful,
Ive:
Well,
I
don't know what I've
done that's helped, but I didn't want you
to think I
was dodging you
, it was just that…….. .
Ivr:
Oh
no, no. We just had trouble
making contacts,
Ive:
That's
right, that is right. I didn't want to
get myself involved or tied
up
till I couldn't be with
my nephew when he was here.
Ivr:
Sure.
Ive: See.
And I never knew just what they wanted to do or where they'd want to
go. And now that he's gone for a week to
the Leadbelt to visit with his friends and her
family, why……….
Ive:
But I
didn't know how
to make a promise,
Ivr:
Well you sure are
a busy person,
Ive:
Not
too, just enough.
Conclusion
of interview.
Ada Mae Winer Edwards
Birth: Jan. 14,
1891
Death: Nov. 12, 1987