• Growing up in Scotford

• Courting Cecil

• Marriage to Cecil

• Living in West Virginia

• Life in Uniontown, OH

00:00 [LAKv1: Growing up in Scotford (00:00-02:11)]

Mike: Is that where you lived--up by Ida Church?

Laura: No, I did not live there, but that is where I went to school.

Mike: Oh, I think I remember the school building up there--was that the same one.

Laura: Yes, that is where I went to school. Went up there, I don’t know what happened to it, but they did away with it, I guess. That was just one room I went to up there, but they taught all the grades. Think about it…up to 8th grade. But they did away with the school building, I don’t know why I cannot remember that anymore. But then they built a new one down to Bentree, and it was 2-room, and I went down there and finished up. Dr. Dunbar’s son was our teacher, Jamie Dunbar. I never did forget it. I went to the 8th grade. That is all the education that I have. I never thought about going away to school, to high school or anything because my folks (my granddad and my dad) had good educations. My grandfather was a schoolteacher before he became a minister. But my dad and him where great readers, and they learned from reading, you know.

02:11 [LAKv1: Scotford changed to Bentree (02:11-03:57)]

Mike: When did they change the name from Scotford to Bentree?

Laura: Well. I cannot remember the year, Michael. But it was while I was living there. I was probably a teenager. I would maybe think when I was 8 or 10 years old. How come they changed the name: there was a gentleman came in from, where I don’t know, and opened up new mines, and that is where it got its name. I think his name was Benjamin and instead of calling it Benjamin, they called it Bentree. And that is how it came about that they changed the name from Scotford to Bentree.

Mike: Was his last name Tree or something?

Laura: Yeah! Benjamin Tree was his name. I thought that was rather clever.

[Sidebar: This is one explanation of the name change. My personal opinion is that this is less likely than the other possible scenario involving Michael Benedum and Joseph Trees.]

03:57 [LAKv1: Coal mining in Bentree; town was booming (03:57-06:16)]

Mike: Where were the mines? Were they deep mines or strip mines?

Laura: No. No, they were deep mines, back in the mountains. Not too far from where Kate lives,

[Sidebar: The coal seam in Scotford/Bentree is about halfway up the mountainside (at about 1,200’ elevation). I am not exactly sure how it was mined at this time. Based on my personal observation of the seam when I was a kid, I think they extracted the coal without digging too deep into the earth. When strip mining was introduced in the 1940’s, they used large diameter augers to drill at regular intervals along the seam.]

When your mother’s dad and I were going together, my, it was booming. Mike, there were houses all over that hillside. You would not believe--and they were nice houses. This guy [Michael Late Benedum] came in here and opened the mine. They built a big opera house. We thought we were sitting on top of the world. They had a fine big club house.

I got in with the boss’s wife. She took a liking to me. They brought their nanny with them, taking care of the kids. But, someway, she just liked me, and I would go down. And I think they had two children, as far as I remember. They were awful nice people, or they seemed to be. McFase?? was their name. I just did little things for her and would sometime help with the children. She was a beautiful seamstress. She made me several pretty dresses. I felt kinda honored. I was trying to think how long that guy was there. But he was there for quite some time

06:16 [LAKv1: Logging and the railroad in Bentree (06:16-08:05)]

Mike: Was there logging there before the mines?

Laura: Absolutely! The railroad, I guess they called it the tramroad, didn’t they? It is not big like the train runs, but it went up the hollow there and back where the road is now. They had a regular little engine and everything to pull them logs out of the hollow. They just called it a tramroad then. They may have been a yard wide with a dinky little engine. And you would be surprised what logs was hauled out of that hollow.

At the mouth the hollow where Grandpa lived across from Aunt Georgie, there was a big sawmill in there. Aaron Warten run it. Then of course they always had those sawmills down around Dixie. Smiths had them, you know. But there was lots of timber back then. That is all the work there was, Mike… you either worked for the coal company (Colmel Coal Company) or else you worked in the woods.

08:05 [LAKv1: Ramsey’s, mules, dogs, and cows (08:05-12:21)]

I can remember on the weekends, there weren’t that many people back there where we lived. Ramseys, we were always good buddies. On the weekends we liked to take a walk, and they had those little bank mules. They weren’t very big and that was what they hauled the coal out of the mines with. But those little mules back then, they would let them loose on the weekend and let them run. And we were scared to death of them. I was afraid of them, so lots of times we would like to go for a walk and sometimes we wouldn’t. But they had no law back then about cattle or anything. Because I could remember we used to take our dog and his name was Old Taylor and go up on the mountain and get our own cows.

We had cows. We always had two and finally Grat trained Old Taylor which was our cows. And he would go over the field and the Harveys…up that mountain. You would turn them up Sangamore, and then they go out, and then they would have to go get them. But someway, Grat trained Old Taylor to go get those cows. He would go get them…but he would bring all the neighbor’s cows off the mountain, get them down to the bottom. But he would only bring his two home. He was a smart dog…that was pretty cute.

Aunt Vergie Taylor gave him to us. That is why we called him Taylor because of her name. But he was smart, but he would nip those cows in the heels until he got them home. And then someone would let them in the barnyard. You see there were not any houses, only our house set there. All the land belonged to where we lived. We had a big barn and it was a big barnyard all fenced in. I supposed as Grandpa got older he sold it off. But he owned about every bit of that up there when I was a kid growing up, Kate. He also owned down there at Dixie across from the lumberyard. On the opposite side of the hill there was a house in there, and there was a big orchard. We would go down there in the fall and gather our apples and things. But that belonged to Grandpa, too. He owned all that through there. He was kinda well-to-do at one time. Bless his heart. For back then, people did not have much, Michael.

12:21 [LAKv1: Rider family origins (12:21-16:15)]

Mike: So, were you born right there?

Laura: Right there in the old home place. That’s where I was born

Mike: That’s where the McGraws used to live, is that what you are taking about.

Laura: No, no, no! Right there, you know in that house. Old home place. I was born in that house. All of kids were born there.

Mike: Now, where did the Rider family come from.

Laura: Virginia. Wytheville, Virginia. That is where my dad’s people was from.

Mike: Do you know any further back than that?

Laura: No, I have heard grandpa talk about his people. I’d love to sometime go down into there and go to the courthouse and see if I could find some name. See where my great grandpa and grandma would be buried. Grandpa had two sisters, Aunt Susie and Teresa, and I don’t know about the brothers, if they came to WV when grandpa did. But he had two sisters buried down there somewhere, and also his father and mother. So, it is something to think about. When Bruce was a baby, we took a ride down through there (Wendall, Betty, Bruce and Dad and I). We went in the hotel and were eating out dinner--it has been a long time ago too. When the waitress came along to wait on us, Daddy said to her “May I ask you a question?” and she said, “Yes, sir.” He said, “Do you know any Rider’s that live around here?” Well, she looked up and around and said, “There goes one now.” So that is about as far as we got back then. But I have often thought I would like to go down there and see if I could trace back the Rider’s. But I don’t know if it would be possible.

Mike: It would be interesting to check on the family tree. I got a book from Doyle on the Workman family, and they trace it back all the way to the 1600’s.

16:15 [LAKv1: Cecil Kiser information (16:15-18:24)]

[Audio become undecipherable for a while at this point.]

Mike: Now what about Grandpa, was he from Ohio. Or how did he get down to West Virginia

Laura: Grandpa who? Cecil. No, he was born in WV in Charleston. His mother was originally from West Virginia, Belva--there all their lives.

Mike: What was his mother’s name?

Laura: Lola Osborne. Do you remember Uncle Fred? That was his mother’s brother. Well, but Cecil’s dad was born somewhere in Ohio. But I don’t know where. I did not know much about his dad’s people. There were three of them. The way I understood it, but their father and mother passed away when they were just small kids. And Cecil’s dad, and Uncle Henry, and Aunt Ruth. But Cecil’s dad was raised by a man the name of…[everyone was distracted by a deer along the road.]

18:24 [LAKv1: Laura and Cecil meet at the silent movies (18:24-22:05)]

Mike: How did you meet Grandpa?

Laura: Well, they were down—they had been out in Ohio, and he came to his grandma’s to visit. And they had a show every Saturday night, and my daddy would take us (he sold the tickets). And then we could stay for the show. Cecil, and a gang of them from Dixie, came and they sat in back of us. I don’t even remember who was sitting with me anymore. But anyway, we struck up a conversation someway, and I don’t remember how. He said to me, “May I take you home?” and I said, “I don’t know you!” But he said, “But I would like to take you home.” And I said, “Well, I don’t know. I will have to ask my daddy. He is here.” So, when the show was over, I talked to my dad (of course, my folks knew them). And he said, “Mr. Rider, may I take Laura home.” He said, “Yes.” And it was early, just about 9 o’clock. So, we walked home, and I think he came in and stayed 15 or 20 minutes and met Mother and Grandpa. Then he had to walk back to Dixie. So, before the next week was over, he came up to the house. And he said, “Well, can I take you to the show this weekend?” I said, “As far as I know, it will be all right, and remember my dad always goes with us.” And he said, that was fine.

Mike: What kind of movies would it have been.

Laura: Silent movies. Nothing, think about it. But it was a treat to us, Michael, you know. We hadn’t been any place or hadn’t seen anything.

Mike: Where was the movie at?

Laura: Right down there in Bentree. You wouldn’t think there would be enough room for it would you. You would be surprised how much room there was down there.

Kate: Where was it?

Laura: Well, if I live to get back home, we will go down through there, and I will show you just about where it was. I can picture it in my mind, but it is pretty hard for me to explain just exactly where it was.

22:05 [LAKv1: Cecil and Laura courtship details (22:05-30:33)]

But that is how I met Cecil. And we went together a year. And then his friend had been staying with him there at Belva, Jess Osborne. He has the same name as his mother’s maiden name, but they weren’t any relation. But anyway, they worked over an old Model T Ford--put a 16-valve head on it, and they was getting ready to come to Akron. And he hadn’t told me anything about it. Now this a true story, Michael. Anyway, I did not hear it from him for three or four days, and my brother had gone to Dixie and stayed with his friends overnight. When he came home the next morning, and of course the boys in Bentree were jealous of the boys in Dixie. So, my brother said to me, “How are you this morning?” And I said, “Why do you ask?” He said, “Well, I am just going to give you some news. Your old Kiser Bill is gone.” That is what they called him. I thought, it is a joke. But I never said nothin’. Well, Saturday night came, and we went to the show. And sure enough, everybody was there except Cecil. By that time, I knew that it was true. So, I thought, well, he is gone. I will never see him again. So, I grieved around there for probably a couple, three months, maybe a couple months, I don’t remember anymore, it has been so long. Didn’t hear a word from him. So, I went to the show again the next weekend--that was the only place we had to go. And sometimes they would have a square dance after the show. Daddy would allow us to stay and dance, as long as there wasn’t any rumbles or rowdy going on. But most of the time somebody always had a bottle sneaking around, you know. It was moonshine back then.

But anyway, when they would start that, Dad would say it is time to go home girls. Go home. But this one time in particular, the boys from Dixie was there, and there were some people there by the name of Kidd (?). And they had three boys: Charles, Jim, and I forget the third one’s name. But anyway, during the show…again the boys always managed to sit in back of the girls, you know. So, Charles tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Laura.” I said hi to him. He said, “May I take you home tonight?” I said, “Yes.” He was really handsome: tall, blonde, curly hair, peaches-and-cream complexion. So, we had gone together a couple of weeks.

Mike: Mike teased her about being popular.

Laura: Well, if that is what you would like to call it, I don’t know. I really didn’t look too bad, I don’t think. So, we went together. He asked if it would be alright for me to come up tomorrow afternoon, and I said, “Sure”. As I said, there was nothing to do. Maybe five or six of us would get together and go for a walk and come back. He did not stay too long because he had to walk back, he lived up to Bell Creek (that is quite a little ways). So, he said, “Well if nothing happens, I will see you next weekend.” And I said, “Okay that will be fine.” Well in the meantime, I went someplace, I don’t know where, maybe to the company store. It was a nice big store. Someone said to me have you heard the news. I said no, I haven’t been any place. Well, your old Kiser Bill is back. Well, sure enough when we went to the show on Saturday night, who was there but Cecil. And Charlie was there, too. I didn’t know what to do. Because I loved Cecil, but I didn’t know if he would ever be back. He never told me he would be back or never told me he was going away. But anyway, he said, “Well, sweetheart, I am back.” I said, “Yes, but it has been a long while. How’s come you didn’t write?” He said, “You will never know how many letters I have written, but somehow I never had the courage to mail them.” He said, “Can I go home with you?” I said, “I don’t know. I’ve been going with Charlie.” He said, “Yea, but I love you. That is the reason I came back.” So, we were married within a week. I thought he must have loved me, or he would not have come back. They were “hoboing”. They had money, but they were hobos. You could do that back then. There were three of them, Uncle Gib went with them. Yeah, he was hoboing.

30:33 [LAKv1: Cecil and Laura married in Belva (30:33-35:03)]

Mike: Tell me about where you got married.

Laura: Well, it simply rained cats and dogs. We went to Summersville to get our license. And it was just a dirt road then. And Uncle Fred and my cousin got married at the same time we did. They went along with us, and my dad went with us, too. I was not allowed to go up there to even get my license to get married, without my daddy being with us. I was 18 years old in May and was married the 29th of June. On the way back we had a flat tire in there in Belva. It was a Model T that belonged to Uncle Fred.

Mike: What kind of roads were there between there and Summersville?

Laura: Dirt roads. Mud roads, we were muddy as we could be. But we went ahead and got married. Have you ever heard of Benny Bird; he was the minister. Kate knew of him. We were supposed to go on up home and get married there. But we had put the whole day in and everybody was wore out, so we decided we would just get married at the minister’s house. And, of course, it is called a parsonage, but it is just a house. We stopped and got married, we had a double wedding. Uncle Fred and Delda got married, and Daddy and I got married. It was planned on their part, but I did not know it. Her mother did not know they were going to get married. Delda was a Harvey. They were first cousins. So, after we had the double ceremony, we went on up home, and of course we took the minister with us. Mother had a nice dinner fixed for us, fried chicken and all the goodies that went with it. Cakes and pies. You might as well say we had a pretty decent time after all. Even though it rained all day on us. It took us all day. We left early in the morning, and I felt so sorry for my daddy--he had a toothache all day. Bless his heart. When we got to Summersville, he went and got something that kind of eased it up just a little. But of course, it rained and made it worse. And you know how that road is today, all crooked and what it would be if it was dirt. But I guess at 18, I was happy, and you did not think too much about those things. Dad [Cecil] was 21.

35:03 [LAKv1: Cecil and Laura’s early married life (35:03-42:42)]

Mike: Where did you live?

Laura: Well, we stayed...I’m trying to count the houses…our house was the oldest house, then McGraws, and where your Grandpa lived…Clem Odell lived there, that was the next one. And Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey lived down across the street. And where Lakes live now, Lees lived there, that would be Earl’s mother and father. Then up around the curve, Mr. Ramsey’s sister lived up there, it was a beautiful house. I never did forget it. She was married to Mrs. Ramsey’s brother, Charlie Morton. And then there weren’t any more houses, until you got up there to Mayflower and Roy’s in that old house. That is all the houses there were up in there.

Mike: I thought you had said there were a lot of houses up in there.

Laura: That was in later years. This was when I was a kid growing up. They did not build until the man came in and opened up the mines, by the name of Benjamin [Benedum?]. But I was a teenager then, you know. I would say there were probably two or three dozen homes, and they were nice ones. I cannot remember, he must have got rich and left. But after he got out of there, they sold the houses real cheap. I can remember that. People would come in there and tear them down and haul them away to…I supposed they must have had their own lots. They did not last too long because they probably got them dirt cheap. It really has not boomed since then. This was when Dad and I were married.

Mike: You were going to tell me where you lived when you got married.

Laura: Oh, well, we probably only stayed at home a couple of weeks. Then we came out to Akron where his folks lived. And loafed for maybe a year and picked up odd jobs. And then we went back to Kanawha City, and he got a job working in the glass plant, Libby Owens.

Mike: I must have worked at the same plant a couple of summers.

Laura: It was quite nice there. That was where Betty was born. She was the only one that was a hillbilly. And then Dad got mad, they made him mad one time, I don’t remember about what anymore. And we had always lived with his folks in Kanawha City…we went to Whitesville, WV. It was right on top of a mountain. There was nothing there but the coal mines, and we had to ride a train to get up there. I got deathly sick on the way. When we got up there the house was not ready for us to move into yet. We had to go to the hotel and to cap things off, I found I was pregnant with your mother. Now this will go down in history, won’t it! We went to the hotel. I went to bed as soon as we got there. And I was really sick, and they got the doctor. He asked me if I knew I was pregnant, and I said yes. He said, “Well, you aren’t only pregnant, but you cannot live up here.” That is when I found out I had that inner ear trouble. So, we did not stay there very long, because I could not take the height.

42:42 [LAKv1: Cecil and Laura move to Uniontown. Laura buys a house while Cecil is away (42:42-50:35)]

So, we got out of there and came back to Akron. That is when your grandpa got a job driving long distance trucking. I finally said to him “Dad, we are going to get us a place of our own.” He did not answer me. He thought he could not leave his mother and daddy. He was an only child, I guess I can understand it. So, one day he went out on the truck, I cannot remember if he was gone three or four days, or a week. I’d been saving money, so Aunt Roxie and Uncle Frank lived over there on Hayne Road, where Amy had been living. They said to me “well there are some places for sale; why don’t you buy one of them”. They said that would take me down and get things straightened around. I said, “Okay, let’s go”. While Dad was gone on this trip, I went and bought us a place to live. And not only that, I went and bought the furniture and everything and him not there. He went over to his mother’s when he came home, the old farmhouse. We lived upstairs and they lived downstairs. (It was over on Swinehart Farm, on County Road.) So, Dad, Cecil’s dad, said to me, “My gosh, you must have lots of money”. I said, “No, I didn’t have any money, Dad, I’ve just been saving some out of each payday. But I thought it was time we got out on our own.” They did not want us to leave, of course, he was there only child. So, after Kate was born, I said it was time to get out on our own. But Dad had never done anything on his own. We lived with his people; when he would give his payday to his mother. I never seen it. I felt like a child.

Mike: Did they move to back Akron at the same time you did?

Laura: They were already out here. They came back when we came from Whitesville. They always stayed where Cecil was at because they loved him to death, you know. And he was all they had. I guess I dare not say what Cecil said when he came home and found out I’d bought this place. Anyway, when he came home and he came over and he looked all around and he said, “How in the world did you do this, Laura”. And I said, “Well, honey, I’ve been saving money for a long time, you know that.” He gave me the money. He couldn’t manage it. He said, “I cannot manage it, you take care of it.” He said, “So, I’ll have to say it looks pretty nice.” And I said, “Well, I hope you aren’t mad at me. I don’t think your folks liked it too well. But I thought it was time, sweetheart.” So, we lived there two or three weeks, I don’t remember anymore, and he came home one evening and he said, “Let me tell you something, honey, I never knew that I could be so happy.” I said, “What do you mean?” He says, “Well, I have always been with my folks, but now this is really like living.” So, I felt pretty good then.

Mike: Tell us how you bought the house.

Laura: Well, like I said, I was a saving money. As well as I remember, it might have been $200 down. I don’t just remember the payments, but I think they were probably about $20 a month. And then when the interest came due, I paid that. That did not go into my house payment. And then when I had some extra, I would always put that in on the house payment. As I remember it was $1,200. That was a lot of money back then, honey. There wasn’t too much money. But I thought as soon as we got it paid off. Well, they had three rooms, a living room and our kitchen and dinette together. One bedroom. My couch made a full-sized bed. After we got it paid off, we added on to it. Your grandpa was pretty handy.

Mike: Where was this house in relation to the home place?

Laura: The old home place I sold? That’s where we started from, we had three rooms. We had an acre of ground. You cannot buy an acre of ground out there today for less than $10,000. Carried the water the first year, from our neighbors. We did not have a well. Then the following year, we drilled a well by hand, him and my brother, Roy. Every year we seemed to get along and add a little more.

50:35 [LAKv1: Laura adds on to the house on Hayne Road (50:35-53:38)]

This is another story. We did not have a garage, and we did not have a bath in yet. This was when he was in business for himself. So, they took off and went to Chicago on a whirlwind, I never knew what it was about. But anyway, one of the fellows, Orville, one of the fellows that was in with him in the company come out to get Dad and they were going to Canton Airport to go. And he said to me “Well Laura, aren’t you going?” And I said, “No, I wasn’t asked?” And I wasn’t too happy. They went on, and I didn’t go. I stayed home. And I was determined that I would do some work while he’s gone. So, I called Mr. Miller, from over in Suffield (?) he was in the excavating business. I told him what I would like to have done. He came the next day and removed the dirt to build two more rooms and a bath and the garage. Well, your grandpa cut his trip short in Chicago. He came back and saw what I had done. He come in and he said, I won’t use his exact words. He said, “Well, what do you think you are doing this time?” I said, “Well, I am building me two more rooms and a bath and a garage.” He said, “Well, that’s pretty nice isn’t it?” I said, “Well, I think it is.” He said, “You aren’t too happy with me; are you?“ I said, “NO, Cecil, you hurt my feelings. The other wives went, how’s come I didn’t?” He said, “Well, we aren’t going to talk about that now.” I said, “Well, until you do, I am not going to be very friendly with you.” So, there is a lot more to the story, and I’ll finish it.

[For whatever reason, we never finished the conversation.]

53:38

• Grandpa Lewis Kiser was a tough bare-knuckle fighter

• Info about Lewis and Cecil Kiser

• Cecil’s “Hobo” trip

• Info about Cecil and Laura in Bentree

• Info about Kiser family in Belva

00:00 [KISERv1: Lewis Kiser was a tough bare-knuckle fighter (00:00-05:40)]

Don Kiser: Well, you remember Mom said every Sunday (I’d guess Dad [Cecil] was like 12 or 13 years old), and here come him and Grandpa [Lewis]. Grandpa has him on his shoulders. Because he was the only boy grandchild, all the aunts and uncles loved him, too. She said he was going up to Bare Knuckles—he was going up to fight. It was up the road in Bentree there—I don’t know exactly where it was at. He had Dad on his shoulders because they babied him to death.

[Kate said she did not know where it was.]

Nancy Miller: What was that story you were telling about that fight where either Grandpa or Daddy took on those guys downtown?

Don: Oh, them. There were two colored guys...back when they had the streetcars track. Now Grandpa had to be in his 40’s then. Grandpa and Dad stopped at Thornton Street and South Main Street. Can you remember what that looked like out there Kate?

[She replied, “Sort of.”]

Well, it is nothing like that today; it has all changed. Dad stopped there and two black guys ran into the back of them. So, Dad gets out, and they start mouthing off. Grandpa got out and he said to Dad, “Cecil, are you having a problem here with these guys?” And Dad said, “Why are they are mouthing off at me Dad.” Grandpa said, “If you’ll just step over behind me, Cecil, I’ll whip their fanny for them.” Both of them were bigger than Grandpa. Dad says to the two guys, ”If I were you, I would just get in my car and go. As soon as I step out from in front of my dad here, he is going to hurt you.” They did not believe him…by the time the police got there, neither one of them could get up off the ground. The policemen laughed, and said, “What happened to these two guys?” Dad [Cecil] said, ”Well, I told them to get back in the car and leave before my dad turned on them…they didn’t do it.” And both of them were like 220-250 pounds.

Mike: So, he was the on the way to the “bare knuckles” fight?

Don: Yeah, and Grandpa had to be in his 40’s because this was after Mom and Dad moved up there. Dad had to be in his 20’s or 30’s, I don’t know.

Mike: So how big of a man was he?

Don: He was probably 5’ 10-1/2” and weighed 190 lbs. But his arms were like Goliath’s. He was slinging that 16# sledgehammer when he died. He had great big hands, but his arms were like gigantic. I can remember that.

Nancy: Well, Daddy was tough, too.

Mike: Now what was his name?

Don: Lew. Lewis, but they called him Lew Kiser. Mom would say I can hear the people who were coming to the post office, and they would say, “Well, Lew Kiser has beat the tar out of the guys up there again today.” And she said it was just a 50-mile radius, but it was 150 miles away that they knew of Lew Kiser, the bare knuckler.

But Dad was tough, too. I have seen Dad whip that guy next door up there. Now, that was after Dad was in business. There was a beer joint next door. I was up there that day, me and Joe Green. Dad went over there. And it was a wop [Italian slur]—the guy probably weighted 250 lbs. I don’t know if Dad was in a bad mood that day, you know. The guy said something smart. Joe and them was drinking…they always drank, you know. But Dad did not order any booze, because he did not drink. The guy said something smart, and it hit Dad wrong. Dad told him to get out on the sidewalk. He was the owner. Dad put him down in one shot. Knocked him colder than a cucumber in one shot, boy. How I found out Dad could fight was when I was fighting Rory. Every time Dad hit him it cracked. He could hit, boy.

04:52

Nancy: He could pinch, too!

Mike: I always remember he had that stub finger or thumb, and he would pinch your leg.

Don: Yes, Dad was a good fighter. He could handle his dukes. He was like greased lightning. Because I watched him when he went out there on that sidewalk; that big ole wop thought he was going to have it easy…but, oh, boy, Dad put him out in one shot.

Mike: You did not inherit that did you?

Don: I did a little bit of fighting there at one time. But regardless how tough you are, there is always somebody tougher than you. You don’t have to be bigger, but they may be tougher.

05:40 [KISERv1: Cecil and Laura courting in Bentree (05:40-06:35)]

Kate: Tell about when they went a courting up in Bentree.

Don: Who Dad? Well, I am just going by what Mom told me. But when she was courting Dad, the road was reversed to what is now, right? The main road was behind the house, by the creek, because Mom said when Dad would leave there, he would carry a gun on him. The first thing he would do is shoot it one time to let the boys know down the creek that he was coming down through there. He had the gun because he had gotten in trouble. I guess they were doing things they should not be doing and tried to beat the tar out of him. He said, “I’ll just carry a gun. Me and that gun makes it equal.” Mom said the first thing you do is shoot off that gun and let those boys down the creek know that. They did not bother him any either.

06:35 [KISERv1: Cecil went on hobo trip (06:35-08:35)]

Kate: And then he went on a big hobo trip.

Don: Yeah, him and Jess Osborne, wasn’t it? Did Uncle Gib go with them? [They tossed it back and forth. Don thought maybe Uncle Gib was part of it, but he may be wrong about that.]

They went hoboing. There was a lot of it back in those days, you know. But they would put you in jail today for that. They went out west. He met Burl Ives. [Ives was a famous folk singer and actor.] They ran into him when they were hoboing; I don’t know where it was at. But he was hoboing, too. That was before he became popular as a singer. Yep! That is what Mom told me. Back in them days, they must have just done it for the adventure. I am sure Jess Osborne went, and I am quite sure it was Uncle Gib also. It could have been before Uncle Gib married Aunt Mary. I don’t know. He was older than Dad…a little bit.

08:35 [KISERv1: Cecil & Laura moved to Akron 08:35-09:20)]

Kate: They run together a lot. That was before they got married and they all came to Akron.

Don: What did Mom say…that she was 19 when they come up here? That would have made Dad about 23 years old.

Kate: No, Daddy was born in 1900, and Mom was born in 1902. But Mom says 1903 or 1904, but that wasn’t right.

Don: Okay, well Dad would have been 21...I think Mom was saying she was 19 when they come up here.

09:20 [KISERv1: Lewis Kiser family lived in Belva (09:20-09:50)]

Mike: So, then Lewis lived in Bentree or Scotford at that time.

Kate: Belva, the whole bunch lived down there in Belva.

Mike: Was it on Twenty Mile?

Kate: No, I thought it was right along the road, but I may be wrong. Maybe it was up one of those hollows.

09:50 [KISERv1: Back to discussion of where they lived in Akron (09:50-11:08)]

Don: You know, Kate, that one house that we have picture of that house over off Theison Road…you remember that old farmhouse? You know that house still is there, Nancy, and it looks just the same. Mom and Dad lived there at one time with Grandpa and Grandma. They rented that house, because the picture that Mom had (had to be taken in the 20’s), and that house looks the same today. I cannot think of the name of that road. You know where it is? Off Theison Road there.

Nancy: Pontius.

Don: It could be Pontius. You know where that church is over on Theison Road. There at the corner, there on the right-hand side. You go around that real sharp turn. There is a road right there, and that house is right up there. I went by there about two or three months ago and stopped there to look at it. [Bill Miller chimed in from the back…he seemed to know where it was.]

11:08

• Lewis Kiser stories: Bad eater; Kind to grandchildren

• Nancy and Kate got dirty playing; Don did not

• Uncle Fred and other Osbornes

• Don’s hunting trip on Twenty Mile Creek

• Brick pavers on Canton Road

00:00 [KISERv2: Discussion about birth certificates; Norma’s birth (00:00-01:10)]

Bill Miller: That’s what happened to me. They told me that I was born in Stark County. I thought my birth certificate was in Stark County and we could never find it. But it was never there; it was in Summit County.

Don: Do you have to have that straightened around for any purpose?

Nancy: Well, I need to go find out.

Don: Well, how did that happen?

Bill: Well, Old Barrs probably [doctor who delivered Norma?]. I remember him the most was when he brought Norma. I think he had her is a satchel, didn’t he? I remember something about a satchel. Because I said, I was the baby you know, and now Norma was going to be the baby, and I told him to take her back. I remember Mom saying it, too. But he had a satchel there.

Kate: Well, his tools were probably in his satchel.

Don: That is what I thought, you know, but I thought that is what he carried Norma in. I will never forget that.

Nancy: He was a big man.

01:10 [KISERv2: Recollections about Lewis Kiser; bad eater; kind to grandchildren (01:10-05:03)]

Mike: Do you remember any other stories about Lewis? What was his middle name?

Kate: I don’t know. I was thinking about that the other day. I have no idea.

Kate and Nancy: They were not sure if he had a middle name.

Nancy: Maybe Betty would know because her name is Lou, but spelled LOU.

Kate: Remember the time we stole the bicycle?

Don: You guys got in trouble; it wasn’t me!

Nancy: It was me and you. It wasn’t Don.

Kate: They had moved, and we thought that they had left it. So, me and Nancy went over and got it. And it was a boy’s bike, so we pounded the bars down. Pa got us out of that one. He paid for it because they came back for it. Pa gave them $25 for it.

Don: That was a lot of money back in them days.

Kate: That was a lot of money. But he got us out of it.

02:31

Mike: What else do you know for stories Don?

Don: I remember going to there to eat supper, and Grandpa he come home. No wonder he had that stomach trouble. He ate that bacon and Grandma would have that great big skillet had that much grease in it, you know. And Grandpa would get that kettle of beans and take that grease and pour every bit over it. Well, you would have to have stomach trouble, you know what I am saying. And then, he would pour his coffee out to cool off in his saucer, you know. I was just a kid, and I had seen him do it. And so, I did it, and Grandma gave me the devil. He looked at her and said, “Now shut up. He’s doing alright. Just let him alone. Shut up, I don’t want to hear no more.” And she never said any more.

Mike: Where did they live?

Don: That little house out there on Hayne Road where the old house was. They was living there, and I could walk over. I’d go over there when Grandpa would get home from work.

Kate: We couldn’t do anything wrong by him.

Don: No, but Grandpa he saved me from a whippin’. Harry Howell and Harmon Hollister, you remember them two characters, don’t you? Well, they were over next door there working on a car just cussing and carrying on working on the car. I don’t know how old I was. You remember that great big old rock Dad dug out when he was drilling that well. The well for the water. There was this big stone shaped exactly just like an egg. This great big old thing. I was setting there just a cussing. I heard those fellows cussing you know. And Mom come out there and she said, “What are you saying, boy!” So, she whipped me. She said you will get another one when you Dad home. I remember that I ran over to Grandpa’s house about the time he got home, you know. Grandpa got home before Dad did. Here comes Dad after me. And Grandpa says, “well just on back home Cecil, he is going to stay here with me.” He knew, you know. But I was just a cussing just saying everything those two guys were saying, every other word was a cuss word.

Mom whooped me and she said you are going to get another one when you dad gets home.

05:03 [KISERv2: Don was “clean” after playing; Nancy and Kate were filthy dirty (05:03-06:07)]

Don: Mom completely cleaned me up in the morning. I could play all day and I would never get dirty because I didn’t like getting dirty, you know. I played with them cars. She’d clean Catherine and Nancy up, especially Nancy, and she would be dirty in 15 minutes. It was like she hadn’t been cleaned up in three or four days. Mom would go get her and smack her a few times and put clean clothes on her. She said say, “Now, I want you to stay clean”. And it wouldn’t be half hour, and Nancys filthy dirty again. Ma used to get so mad.

Nancy: And I have the pictures to show it!

Don: Yeah, that one picture of you just filthy dirty. But Mom used to say, “Nancy got the dirtiest.”

Kate: She got that picture from Uncle Fred.

06:07 [KISERv2: Where are all the old pictures? (06:07-06:50)]

Kate: Do you have any of Mom’s pictures? Do you have any pictures of Uncle Fred?

Don: I don’t know what happened to all of them pictures mom had.

Kate: I think Norma took them---

Nancy: Lori’s got them. She has lots of them.

Don: I remember them old time pictures. I don’t know how many is left down there. I don’t think there is hardly any left.

Nancy: Mom said before she died, “Well, Normie took a box of pictures, and I don’t know whether she brought them home.”

Don: Well, I will have to talk to Todd about that. I don’t know. I may have some pictures of Uncle Fred.

Nancy: Because Eleen doesn’t have any pictures of her dad.

Don: She doesn’t?

Nancy: She asked Kate.

06:50 [KISERv2: Discussion about Osborne family (06:50-08:05)]

Don: Have you talked to her lately?

Kate: No, she said…well we said that we would like to come over and see you. And she said, “Well if you come, be sure and call; I have a boyfriend.” I just thought that is okay, that is it.

Don: Now, how old is she?

Kate: She’s as old as Betty or older.

Don: Oh, I thought she was young like you and Nancy. (Many laughs!) I didn’t know Eleen

Kate: Well, you don’t call her Eleen. I called her Eleen, and she stopped me right now. She said I am not Eleen. I don’t know where that name come from. I said, “Well, that is only what I ever knew you by.”

Don: Well, where did that name come from? What was her mother’s name?

Kate: Well, I don’t know. Mary Ellen?? Her mom’s name…Ada.??

Don: She’s been dead for years.

Nancy: Is she the one that got married the same day mom and dad did?

Kate: Yeah, her and Uncle Fred.

Don: Her and Uncle Fred got married the same time Mom and Dad did?

08:05 [KISERv2: Lewis was the “boss” (08:05-08:42)]

Kate: Yeah! I don’t remember what was the matter with Eleen. You don’t remember, you weren’t there, but Granny slapped me over Eleen. Yep, slapped me right across the face.

Don: Granny could be right sassy.

Kate: Oh, yeah, she was sassy! And Pa jumped up and he said, “Lola, don’t you ever do that again!”

Don: Boy, she listened to Grandpa. He was…

Kate: He was boss, and that is what she needed.

08:42 [KISERv2: Fred Osborne information; other Osbornes (08:42-12:10)]

Nancy: I’ve got some genealogy stuff in there…of different parts of the family.

Don: Well, how old was Uncle Fred when he died? He was 85 or 86, wasn’t he?

Kate: Yes, he was every bit of it. He went downhill after he was in that accident, him and Ruth both.

Don: They got a settlement out of that, too, didn’t they?

Nancy: I think they got a lot.

Don: Over there in Atwater (responding to a fleeting question of where the accident happened.) That was about $80,000 wasn’t it. I think that is what she told Mom that one day she came over and visited. When she was right, she’d come out to see Mom all the time. I liked her too.

Kate and Nancy: Both chimed in that they did, too.

Kate: Uncle Fred was good to us when he’d come down.

Don: Yes, he was. He’s come up to see Bill and Nancy all the time.

Nancy: He came here a lot when Mom was here.

Don: She just talked weird. She was a character.

Mike: I remember that time. He always had a cigar.

Don: Cause Uncle Roy used to mock him. Uncle Fred would put that cigar in his mouth and do that with Grandma Rider, too. Posey. He would do things, and I would just die laughing at him.

Bill: I took him out to see that steam train, one of the last years it was here. We chased it all the way down….

Kate: He was good to us kids.

Nancy: Actually, he was a good person.

Kate: And Minnie was good to us and Aunt Roxy and Uncle Frank. Do you remember going there?

Don: Oh yeah! I often wondered…you know I was just a kid. You know Uncle Frank died—he was a heavy drinker, boozer, and his nose was red. And I wondered, I don’t know if I asked Mom, must have asked Mom. I couldn’t understand why his nose was red. And it was drinking that whiskey. He had a good job at Ohio Edison, he had a good paying job. They were good to Mom and Dad. When the depression came, they gave them $5 a week, Mom said. The first thing Uncle Frank and Aunt Roxy would do is come out and give them $5.

[There was a story here that was very complicated to decipher. Something about a doctor office near Thornton and Main with lots of steps. Uncle Frank and Minnie were courting, and Aunt Roxy climbed all those stairs and caught (them/him). Cannot tell.]

Don: Okay, now. Aunt Roxy and Aunt Mae, they were sisters?

Kate: No, Aunt Roxy was Granny Kiser’s sister.

Don: What was Minnie?

Kate: She was a cousin. Her and Amy were related.

Don: Oh, okay, they were sisters.

Kate: But they were kin by cousins.

Nancy: And they helped take care of Daddy when he was ill.

12:10 [KISERv2: Lewis Kiser’s lineage (12:10-13:48)]

Don: Amy was sharp until she passed. The only thing I know was…they really did not know where Grandpa came from.

Kate: They said he came from down along the Ohio River or something.

Don: Because Grandpa, he wouldn’t go to school. Cause Mom…the last people she’d heard of. They were well-to-do. He was a doctor of some sort and well-to-do and was going to send Grandpa to school and make sure he had a good education. Well, Grandpa…Mom said she thought he was like 12 ½ or 13 years old. He ran off from them. Only thing she knew it was down in southern Ohio or some place. And they really didn’t know where Grandpa came from. But whoever was attempting to adopt him was well do people, and they were going to try to make something out of Grandpa and he didn’t like it and he ran off. [Later research indicates that Lewis was born in Wellston, Jackson County, Ohio.]

Kate: Well, he must have run off about to Belva, because he got right mixed up with Lola. Lola Mae.

Don: I am just going by what Mom told me, ‘cause I don’t know.

Mike: Lola Mae Osborne?

Kate and Nancy: Yes.

Nancy: I have some genealogy.

13:48 [KISERv2: Don’s hunting trip story, in WV (13:48-17:02)]

Mike: We were talking coming down about Grandpa and hunting trips. Did you go on any of those hunting trips?

Don: I only went on one and got sicker than a dog. We went back Twenty Mile Creek. We was clear back there on Twenty Mile. And that happened to be the time Uncle Roy went. I don’t know what it was, but they had to bring me out of there. I was like 13 years old I think, maybe 14. And I got sicker than a dog. But we went 20 miles back that hollow. Uncle Roy and Roy Marsh and Dan Moore. Roy Marsh was doing the cooking. He was a good cook. The fellows they probably had some drinks up there. I don’t know if they had drinks or not. But now there were two families that lived up that hollow and they only came out twice a year to get groceries. Uncle Roy, we didn’t see him for a while. And there was a girl back there. He was back there puttin’ the make on this girl. I am 13 or 14; and I was putting 2 and 2 together what was going on there. Uncle Roy was gone three or four hours. Somebody, Roy Marsh says “Roy, where have you been?” But anyway, I didn’t believe it, but they said these people only come out twice a year to get groceries. Well, we were back there because if it rained hard…

Kate: Did they have vehicles?

Don: Yeah, we had…

Kate: No, you did. But did they?

Don: No, I think we had two vehicles that day, because I remembered the creek. If it had been raining, there were a few creeks you could not get through. The water would be too deep.

Kate: I don’t know how you went up Twenty Mile. You must have turned off there somewhere. Cause I know that Jason goes up Twenty Mile hunting and goes he goes up by Elswick’s down at Dixie. And they have a cabin up Twenty Mile somewhere. It is off the main road… way off the main road. And they go hunting up there. So, I don’t know, there must be a turn off somewhere up there. That is called Greendale Mountain now. That just takes you over into Lizemores.

[I believe Kate was confused about how to get there. Twenty Mile Creek Road can be accessed at Belva, as well as from Lizemores. Jason hunted on Cane Branch, near Gauley Bridge.]

Mike: Well, there are branches that go back into Nicholas Country. Actually, some of them go over into Clay from there.

Don: One thing I remember…I would get out there and ride on the fenders in these creeks. I thought that was fun. I was just a kid, but I was alright. Shirley could have gone went with us…I am not sure. But somebody else was riding on one of the fenders, ‘cause I was riding on the fender. I only went that one time, but that was enough for me. Boy, I got sicker than a dog.

17:02 [KISERv2: Lola Mae information (17:02-19:08)]

Nancy: Do you remember Granny going over to Adonijah? I don’t.

Don: Grandma Kiser?

Nancy: Yes, she had people over there.

Kate: Thornton Bird, and who was the other one? Dorsey, wasn’t it.

Nancy: Dorsey.

Kate: Well, we took her over to Adonijah. Me and Denvil. Grandma Kiser.

Nancy and Don: Neither of them remembered her going over there.

Kate: That’s been a long time ago.

Nancy: Well, you are older now.

Kate: Well, she come down there and wanted to go over to see Thornton Bird and Dorsey. And I don’t remember what Dorsey’s first name was. We went over there, and they were some kin to Granny Kiser.

Nancy: You know I’ve got some genealogy on this. The Osbornes, and they are mentioned some of them Dorsey’s.

Kate: Well, is that some of what I am supposed to get?

Nancy: Yeah, we will go through it.

Don: What was Norma getting, Nancy? That she had talked to that woman down in WV.

Kate: It was the Osbornes, I think.

Mike: I actually have a copy of it. It is about that thick. Wiley Winton Osborne family.

Kate: That is mentioned in there.

Don: Well, what was Grandma Kiser’s maiden name?

Kate: Procter.

Don: Procter. Did Norma check on some of that, Nancy?

Nancy: Yeah, I have some of that.

19:08 [KISERv2: Posie Rider information (19:08-19:40)]

Don: Where was Grandma [Rider] from, do you know?

Kate: Over on Pond Gap.

Don: Where is that?

Kate: Well, you [Mike] know more about it, Pond Gap.

Mike: Yeah! From Dixie, you turn up the shortcut over to Montgomery; before you get to Mount Olive turn right. Off to the right it goes back into Pond Gap.

Don: Lord, you would never find that place if you were not familiar with it, would you?

Mike: No, you wouldn’t.

Don: That’s where Grandma Rider was from?

Kate: Yeah!

19:40 [KISERv2: Discussion about Lowes and Strand theatres (19:40-23:03)]

Don: Well, you know I ran into a guy, he is dead now bless his heart. Just by coincidence I was sitting up there at the Corral eating. And I got talking to this guy…I will see if you guys remember this. Do you remember the organ player down there at the Lowes Theatre?

Kate and Nancy: Both said they remembered it.

Don: The organ came up out of there. And intermission time they would bring it up...this guy was the organ player. And his last name was Proctor. I said my grandma…if I am not mistaken my Grandma Rider was a Proctor. He was from Pennsylvania. Because he said, “Don, did you ever go down to Lowes when you was young? And I said, “Yeah!” Well, he said, “I was the organ player.” I said,” You are kidding me!” At one time he said he weighted 350 pounds. But at the time I seen him, he had cancer of the esophagus. He was already down to 150 lbs. He weighed about 375 lbs., he told me.

Kate: Well, I remember that.

Don: I said, “Yeah, I can remember that thing coming out of the floor.” And he said, “Well, I was the organ player.”

Kate: You will remember they had these here…we went to see every one of them big shot bands. The big bands.

Don: I tell where you can go, Nancy, and still go down there today. That pizza place down there. What is it Luigi’s? Well down there, what used to be Main Street, but it’s that pizza place. He’s got pictures in there of all these celebrities that show up at these theatres, on the wall there.

Don: It’s Hollard Street…right next to Hollard Street. I think it’s the old South Main Street before they built the new bridge. But it’s still there. I think it went in business in 1928.

Kate: Boy, he had a lot of pictures on the wall.

Don: Oh, boy, the whole bar there was full of pictures of celebrities that had come either to Lowe’s, Palace…there was another one wasn’t there? The Strand??

Kate: There was a Strand.

Don: Yeah, I know there were two or three of them had big time celebrities.

Kate: The two main ones were Lowe’s and the Palace.

Nancy: Bill is not saying a word, he must be younger.

Kate: Now Bill, you can remember those theatres, can’t you?

Bill: Oh yeah, I’ve been there many a times. We used to ride the bus down there.

Kate: Well, that is what we rode.

Bill: Well, we rode the trolley. I walked down from where I lived at the end of the trolley line.

Kate: Well, we used to walk the tracks but now there aren’t any tracks.

Bill: Well, that is when the old doddle bug used to run through there years ago. The train went from Akron to Canton.

23:03 [KISERv2: Using bricks to pave the roads (23:03-26:01)]

Don: Mom said there was a turn-around out there by…you remember where Tripp had that feed store. Do you know anything about that Bill?

Kate: I don’t remember.

Bill: For the train?

Don: Yeah, there was a turn-around right about where Mr. Tripp built that feed house. I carried all the brick and block and mixed all that mortar in that place. Down just a little ways. Mom said there was a turn-around there.

Nancy: I don’t remember that.

Don: Cause Grandpa and Dad helped lay all them brick on that Canton Road during the Depression. They laid them great big 4 by…bricks.

Bill: That is what my chimney is made out of. The fireplace.

Don: Yeah! And they did not put them in solid. Did they put tar on them, Bill?

Bill: They put sand in them

Don: So, they were flexible, and then they were as smooth as blacktop, like brand new today.

Bill: I can remember in 1937. In Uniontown, when it was raining, and some guy came through there with a ‘37 Ford car. Tried to stop there at that light, at 619. He rolled her. And some guy from across the street there, I don’t know if it was one of them...the blacksmith.

Don: Pressler.

Bill: Pressler. Somebody went over there, and they lifted that darn thing and flipped it back on its wheels and they took off. That stuff was slicker than…

Don: Just like glass, just like ice. I can remember that because Dad was…

Bill: It was on the 224 all the way clear into Canton, with those bricks. They did it during the Depression.

Don: Cause when I had that ‘39 Ford, from Uniontown on, it had blacktop that was still the brick.

Bill: When I was a kid down there, it was just like glass. That brick in my fireplace, they are paving brick. They come off Buchtel Avenue.

Don: Did they? Well, Mom said that Grandpa and Dad helped lay them during the Depression.

Bill: They had all those people, and they paid them little to nothing. They laid that all.

Don: I think they made $5 a day or something like that, didn’t they?

Bill: They didn’t make that much.

Nancy: I thought they made $15 a week.

Bill: It was about a dollar and half or something like that. Those were all laid by hand, but they were made right down there.

Don: Mogadore Brick and Block

Bill: Yeah, and some were made in Greene Town. I’ve got Akron Brick and Block on some of those bricks.

Nancy: I thought there was a date or a name on some of them.

Bill: It was a name, Akron Brick and Block.

26:01

• Nancy and Kate working downtown Akron

• Memories of Cecil: away a lot; strict, liked to pinch

• Granny (Lola) Kiser incident

• Laura raised the kids; Cecil worked

• Laura bought house on Hayne Road when Cecil was away

• Always had good food, big garden, fruit trees

00:00 [KISERv3: Nancy and Kate working downtown Akron (00:00-03:33)]

[The audio picked up with something already being talked about.]

Nancy: Kresge’s was brand new, and I got a job there. I don’t remember how long it lasted.

Mike: Akron?

Nancy: Down by O’Neil’s. And then I got a job at Polsky’s. That is when Kate worked there, too. I worked in the candy department and the hat bar. That was fun. And then I got a job at Howard’s. Got fired from there.

Mike: Oh, really!

Nancy: Harassment. The boss…the old codger. Do you remember that, Kate? Because I would not go out with him. I wasn’t that old. I may have been 18.

Mike: How did you get down there from home?

Nancy: Bus. A Greyhound….

Mike: Greyhound must not have run on Hayne Road though?

Nancy: Well, they went by on Canton Road. They went hourly, didn’t they?

Kate: Yeah! That is the only way we had to get around—was the bus.

Nancy: And the bus station was where?

Kate: Downtown, somewhere. I don’t remember, but we had to walk to where it was at.

Nancy: I guess it was Main Street. But then they moved it up on High Street. I cannot tell you much, Mike.

Kate: Well, you are worse than I am.

Nancy: Well, we went to the movies a lot. There were a lot of movie theatres. Powers, Lowes, Strands. Wasn’t there one named the Orphan?

Kate: Yeah, we went down the street from Polsky’s…the Main.

Nancy: That is still there, they re-did that. That is called the Civic Theatre now.

Kate: Well, that was the hang out place. Big band. At least I went.

Nancy: Well, I went some, too. But I think you went more than I did. I think Helen went a lot, too.

Nancy: Yeah, we used to run with Helen McMackin and Ann Tripp.

03:33 [KISERv3: Recollections of Cecil, Lola, Laura; life in Uniontown (03:33-10:23)]

Mike: What do you remember about Grandpa, Cecil?

Nancy: Well, he wasn’t home much! [Laugh] He was on the road a lot. He drove that van. That radio truck. He wasn’t home—maybe on the weekends. I don’t remember a lot about him. He wasn’t home that much. That was his job. He was good, he was real good at it.

Kate: He had a good job.

Nancy: Then he got a better job and went into that business; he was very generous.

Kate: Very fair.

Nancy: Yeah! That is about it.

Kate: Strict

Nancy: Yes, he was very strict. I listened to him! [Kate and Nancy laugh] I did. Now when he looked at you, that is all he had to do.

Mike: Now I have always wondered. He had either a stub finger or stub thumb. Was it cut or something?

Nancy: Daddy?

Kate: No, not really. All I remember was the pinch.

Mike: Okay, so I was thinking it was because it was part of a finger cut off. I always wondered how it was done.

Nancy: I don’t remember that. He had big hands.

Kate: Yeah!

Nancy: No, I don’t remember that. I think that was someone else you are thinking of. Now Wendell, he had his finger half cut off.

Mike: Yeah, maybe I am thinking of Wendell.

05:45

Kate: Remember the time…there was that guy that came up there to the house. He got a new cab, and he came up and took us for a ride.

Nancy: That big semi?

Kate: Daddy wouldn’t let us go. Do you remember?

Nancy: I know He wouldn’t let us go. And I remember what you said. Granny Kiser was there, and she laughed. It made you mad.

Kate: And she called me a little devil, didn’t she?

Nancy: And you said, “If I am a little one, then you are a big one.”

Kate: Sitting on the front porch.

Nancy: No, he wouldn’t let us go.

Kate: I don’t remember who was driving it.

Nancy: I don’t know who it was.

Nancy: He wasn’t much on letting us go places when he was home.

Kate: Well, he wasn’t home. Mom let us go. Mom raised us really. Daddy worked.

Nancy: Yeah, he drove all over. I don’t know how far he went—Massillon, Canton, Dover, down in through there.

Dianne: Was he gone overnight a lot?

Kate: Some. When he drove for Patton, that was long distance. And I can remember he didn’t have any heat in the truck.

Nancy: He didn’t have any windows in that truck, Mom told me. They put some kind of stuff on the window. No windshield wipers. He would have to get out and wipe the windows. Now that was when we were real small.

07:53

Kate: And Mom was the one that bought the house.

Nancy: He was gone. I don’t know where he was; probably out working. When he came home, she had bought a house. The one on Hayne Road.

[Neither Kate or Nancy could remember where they lived before that.]

Nancy: I never really thought about it. Mom must have rented. Or didn’t she live with Uncle Frank and Aunt Roxy?

Kate: She may have. I don’t know.

Nancy: I think they must have lived with someone when they first came up here and then she got tired of that and bought that house. I think that is the way it was. Other than that, that is about it. Kind of boring.

09:10

Kate: We always had good food.

Nancy: We always had plenty to eat. We had a big garden. Mom canned, and she made us help her. We had all kind of fruit trees, and Daddy really took good of everything.

Mike: Do you ever go back over to that place?

Nancy: We go by there once in a while to look, because Lisa lives out in there.

Kate: She lives down close to where we used to go to school.

Nancy: They tore the old school down.

Kate: That was crazy, wasn’t it?

Nancy: Yeah, I don’t know why. But I think it had asbestos in it. And that would have been a job taking that out of there. It cost money.

Kate: What did they put in there?

Nancy: They built a school—a more modern school in back of it.

Mike: Any last words of wisdom?

Nancy: Well, that’s it.

10:23