6 10 1775 https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/ee5d53ad24fb4db9fb2b51661b2ec66e.jpg 9ea14e23e1a295cb7f246ea6f3cd10ff https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/4616ac6275de6da2c8b64ba01bb1f00d.jpg 3ea3512551ad08c9b6dbc6c20f83bcbe https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/15992ef4b50adae6d0f4a8cd2beea260.jpg 2061f03cca606115cb1c0bdde0433953 https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/e7b639ee5373f7c19fd4ca8c31ea636a.jpg be6218bc51e1ca4d71584e59c200950b https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/31e30ff0ff3623a4fe1708e5aa560c0e.pdf f17b800482f07de4c44072be51e79aef PDF Text Text Letter 44 Item Code: AWL44 Unedited Transcription 03 January, 1868 Benjamin Stover to Anna Wilcox Milford, Delaware AND Letter 45 Item Code: AWL45 Unedited Transcription 03 January, 1868 Benjamin Stover to Alexander [surname unknown] Milford, Delaware This letter was enclosed in a 5.75” x 3.25” yellow/orange envelope, with a cancelled three cent stamp affixed sideways in the upper left corner; postmarked JAN 6, MILFORD, DEL. The postmark is 15/16” in diameter and is stamped partly off the top of the envelope. The stamp cancellation is moderately faded, consisting of four concentric circles, the largest is 3/4” in diameter and the smallest is 3/16” in diameter, it is also slightly distorted. Both the postmark and the cancellation are black ink. The postmark and cancellation are black ink and did not stamp completely. Addressed in black ink to: Miss Anna Wilcox Smyrna Chenango Co Newyork The envelope was opened by tearing the right side. Slight foxing, especially at the edges. There are brown stains of unknown origin on the back. The envelope is somewhat tattered along the bottom and right upper corner. Letter 44: three pages. Letter 45: one page. One 9.75” x 15.375”sheet folded to form four 7.625” x 9.75” pages. �Written in black ink on blue lined stationery paper, page four appears to have been unlined. Embossed, in the upper left corners of pages one and three, in the shape of a governmental building framed with filigree. The legend above the building is too faint to discern, there may be another legend below the building. Ink appears unfaded. Moderate foxing, especially along the edges and center vertical crease. Watermarked with thirteen horizontal lines. Ink slightly faded. There are small (<1/8”) holes where the five vertical creases cross the single horizontal crease. Folded size is 5” x 3”. There are six creases: five vertical and one horizontal. �Milford Kent Co Del 3d 1868 Annie it has been some time since I heard fromor Smyrna we are all well at present and hope soon to hear from you and your folks and the good 99 rest of the neighbours we have verry weather at present Devo 101 Letter 44 Page 1 99 son finished plowing his peachorchard day Chirstmast and to 102 he has been plowing we have had but little cold here yet we have had but one snow here yet I have been traveling some and think going again I have been to Maryland and washington and virginia there were three men went in company with me since they have gone with their familyes mooved to virginia they were all from york State I think I shall go down in two or three weeks I want to hear from Wm wrote 103 him last week and want Roberts before I go I to hear from to know whether he wants Alex ander or not if he dont want him I dont no but I shall have to look him a place in virginia or down there somewhere there is a great deal of land for sale since the war their blacks are freed and they have payed all the money Word inserted in superscript. Letter inserted in superscript. 101 Letter crossed out. 102 Word inserted in superscript. 103 Word inserted in superscript. 100 l 100 �Letter 44 Page 2 they could and the war went against them left them with know help to work and the money cofederate Scrip good for nothing they are in a bad way to get along their blacks cost them more or they valued them higher than their farms or some of them did now they are gone from them and great many of them are in debt and have large farms or plantations and they have got to sell for what they can get there are a good many york State folks living where I went Annie I think it be something of a sight for you to see the Capital at washington that is a head of anything I have ever seen in a building it would take one all day to look it over as they would wanto I never had any Idea of seeing any thing like it we Staid one knight in Alexandria at the Marshall house where Ellsworth and Jackson was killed seven miles from washington we went to manassas the rifle pits and forts are there yet the fences and buildings were all burned except one where burigard had his quarters there a large brick house W. I. Wier is the names of the folks that live there they have sold to a man in milford �Letter 44 Page 3 104 or one that lived last summer in milford I have seen him several times he has been here at our house he bought thirteen Hundred and fifty. Acres.104 these wiers these folks had owned onehundred and sixty blacks at one time pretty large family Cammel is the man that bought the land he used to live in york state they have about the same number of acres left all Joining Eveery house in that village was burned down but one from manassas to bull run it is onely six miles they are the village 106 up again if you see any of mr building it 105 Northrups folks I wish you would ask them where Wells Hatch once lived I think it was near Falls Church on the loudon and Hampshire Rail Road I passed that place when I went to Leesburgh when you write please let me know where he once lived I shall try and see you all in the spring if I live and all is well with me Please write as soon as you Receive this I shall want to hear from you all before I go South As Ever to All B Stover Word inserted in superscript. Word crossed out. 106 Words inserted in superscript. 105 �Letter 45 Page 1 107 milford Kent Co Del Jan 3d 1868 Alexander I dont know what to write you Jane Prettyman Johns sister was married last knight to William Deputy this After noon John and myself went to thee creek a fishing we fished with a net we caught Sixty nice Pickerel and a lot of other fish we have been a fishing a good many times time 107 we got so many we went with this fall one a waggon to fetch them home I have killed Ducks and muskrat on the marsh I brought one rat home and dressed it and sarah cooked it for Dinner I was gone from home that day at noon Devol come in the house and she was taking the rat up for dinner he thought it was squrrel all of the time it was cooking when she put it on the table vol said it smelt better than any she had cooked for some time he set down and eat of it he said it was better than any duck or fresh fish he had eat this fall then she told him what it was he could eat no more of the rat we went a few days ago John and myself to the bay to get some clams the tide was out we got onehundred and eightyfive clams all we could carry home we went an aboat on the creek part of the way and then a foot the rest I think I shall hear from Roberts in a few days and then I shall know if he wants you or not write and let me know how you get along yours B Stover Word inserted in superscript. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Anna E. Wilcox Family letters Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives ; Soldiers--Correspondence. Description An account of the resource The collection consists of 45 letters on 44 sheets, 8 photographs, 4 unassociated envelopes, and ancillary materials. Most of the letters were written between October 16, 1862 and August 10, 1865. Ancillary materials include the "scope and content" note, the "finding aid", and the "transcription note". Also, the ancillary materials include photocopies from the National Archives and Records Administration of the Military Service Records and Military Pension Records for William Pike, B. Leroy Pike, and Emory Wilcox (Service Record only). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilcox, Anna E. Pike, William S. Wilcox, Emory Pike, Benjamin Leroy Pike, John Pike, Ruth Pike, Corintha Pike, Mary J. Stover, Benjamin Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Binghamton University Libraries Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1862-1868 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In copyright. Relation A related resource <a href="https://archivesspace.binghamton.edu/public/repositories/2/resources/106">Binghamton University Libraries Special Collections, Anna E. Wilcox Family letters</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text ; image Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1860-1869 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Accessibility Copy/Paste below: Binghamton University Libraries is working very hard to create transcriptions of all audio/visual media present on this site. If you require a specific transcription for accessibility purposes, you may contact us at <a href="mailto:orb@binghamton.edu">orb@binghamton.edu</a>. Binghamton University Libraries is working very hard to create transcriptions of all audio/visual media present on this site. If you require a specific transcription for accessibility purposes, you may contact us at <a href="mailto:orb@binghamton.edu">orb@binghamton.edu</a>. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter from Benjamin Stover to Anna Wilcox Subject The topic of the resource Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877) United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 Country Life--United States--19th Century Wilcox, Anna E -- Correspondence Stover, Benjamin -- Correspondence Description An account of the resource Benjamin Stover writes to his niece Anna Wilcox from Delaware in 1868. Stover writes about his travels through Maryland, Washington (D.C.) and Virginia. He comments on life after the war, describes ruins, and battle sites. Original format: 1 sheet, 25 x 40 cm, folded to 20 x 25 cm, and 1 envelope, 9 x 15 cm. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stover, Benjamin Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Binghamton University Libraries Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1868-01-03 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://www.binghamton.edu/libraries/special-collections/servicesandpolicies/docs/duplicationpolicy.pdf Relation A related resource Anna E. Wilcox Civil War Collection Binghamton University Libraries’ Civil War Collections Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 digital resource (3 pages) image/jpg Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context AWL44 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1860-1869 https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/2d9b6738f92647c403ef1e0766b0a9f7.jpg fc70986eef4ab075c1a210837bfe13f7 https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/080c135c0ccfe1598e6780f6e3bc3b00.jpg 4ace9a40e9f4a64ef5588495945c99ce https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/15ad0d6169d1fbda2f5129c5194de368.jpg 20ecdbe7df0403f67858def7a3695bd1 https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/d56292dce8b75ab6789a52754dc9905e.pdf ddfc8b78a132ee5c0664859f2a25b8b1 PDF Text Text Letter 41 Item Code: AWL41 Unedited Transcription 29 November, 1866 Corintha to Anna Wilcox Charlotteville, [New York] This letter was enclosed in a 5.75” x 3.25” yellow/orange envelope, with a three cent stamp in the upper right corner; postmarked NOV, NEWFANE, [N.Y.] The postmark is 17/16” in diameter and is stamped in the lower left corner. The postmark did not completely stamp. The postmark is black ink. There is no evidence of a stamp cancellation, except for a black ink mark on the stamp. Addressed in black ink to: Mr Benjamin Stover Smyrna Chenango Co N.Y The envelope was opened by tearing off the right side. The tear removed a portion of the stamp. Very slight foxing, especially at the edges. One and one-half pages. One 5.25” x 8” half sheet, cut, or carefully torn, from a wider [10.5”] sheet. Written in black ink on blue lined stationery paper. Embossed, in upper left corner, in the shape of a shield surmounted by a crown and framed in a palm leaf motif; the shield contains a diagonal band from the upper left to the lower right (bend dexter). Watermarked with eleven horizontal lines. Ink moderately faded. Very slight foxing, especially along the two horizontal creases. There are two creases: both horizontal. Folded size is 5.25” x 3”. �Letter 41 Page 1 Charlotte Ville Nov. 29th 1866 Dear Cousin We moved to Charlotte Ville two Weeks ago yesterday. John is Married to Emma Rose and lives on the farm. We have Commenced to go to school here We have Went to school three days. We like the school very Well. Edith goes to school to a Woman and I go to a man his name is Mr Craw. We dont have to go But a quarter of a mile to school. and about half as far to go to Church. We have not Comenced to go to Sunday school yet But expect to soon. pa has bought john out and gone into the Store With Will. john and Leroy has took the farm on shares. its thanksgiving and the �first bell is just ringing and Edith & i are going to meting ma is not Well Enough to go. asn 96 and it is time to get ready to go and i must stop. good bye from Corintha to anna Wilcox write soon. Letter 41 Page 2 96 Word crossed out. Uncle Ben please hand this to Annie � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Anna E. Wilcox Family letters Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives ; Soldiers--Correspondence. Description An account of the resource The collection consists of 45 letters on 44 sheets, 8 photographs, 4 unassociated envelopes, and ancillary materials. Most of the letters were written between October 16, 1862 and August 10, 1865. Ancillary materials include the "scope and content" note, the "finding aid", and the "transcription note". Also, the ancillary materials include photocopies from the National Archives and Records Administration of the Military Service Records and Military Pension Records for William Pike, B. Leroy Pike, and Emory Wilcox (Service Record only). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilcox, Anna E. Pike, William S. Wilcox, Emory Pike, Benjamin Leroy Pike, John Pike, Ruth Pike, Corintha Pike, Mary J. Stover, Benjamin Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Binghamton University Libraries Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1862-1868 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In copyright. Relation A related resource <a href="https://archivesspace.binghamton.edu/public/repositories/2/resources/106">Binghamton University Libraries Special Collections, Anna E. Wilcox Family letters</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text ; image Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1860-1869 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Accessibility Copy/Paste below: Binghamton University Libraries is working very hard to create transcriptions of all audio/visual media present on this site. If you require a specific transcription for accessibility purposes, you may contact us at <a href="mailto:orb@binghamton.edu">orb@binghamton.edu</a>. Binghamton University Libraries is working very hard to create transcriptions of all audio/visual media present on this site. If you require a specific transcription for accessibility purposes, you may contact us at <a href="mailto:orb@binghamton.edu">orb@binghamton.edu</a>. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter to Anna Wilcox from Corintha Pike Subject The topic of the resource Smyrna (N. Y. ) -- Biography Chenango County (N. Y. ) -- Biography Pike, Benjamin Leroy Pike, John Country Life--United States--19th Century Pike, Corintha -- Correspondence Wilcox, Anna E -- Correspondence Description An account of the resource Corintha Pike writes to her cousin Anna Wilcox telling her about her recent move to Charlotteville. She writes of the wedding of John to Emma Rose. Corintha mentions the local schools and church. She writes that her father has joined the store with Will and that Leroy is on the farm. Original format: 1 sheet 14 x 21 cm, and 1 envelope, 9 x 15 cm. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Pike, Corintha Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Binghamton University Libraries Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1866-11-29 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://www.binghamton.edu/libraries/special-collections/servicesandpolicies/docs/duplicationpolicy.pdf Relation A related resource Anna E. Wilcox Civil War Collection Binghamton University Libraries’ Civil War Collections Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 digital resource (2 pages) image/jpg Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context AWL41 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1860-1869 https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/dea30bb5c8749368d5d7350db5bf1f50.jpg b67c990054842c5d444e19af5782d2cb https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/93349c98a4a46d6c7b73eb5ca8000592.jpg 8a28fc716b605357cde056a029f9976d https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/2e9cfe1b4be898ccfc3452010fa274cd.jpg 884cb7db92e5b2aec1ca9048b912b38c https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/58feeddb1a4350c5c9778b62dc1c2a2a.jpg 3b8eeb7f1d5097cbd2c07a23c3553fc1 https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/efde4c42be8037d97094a843dfe247bc.pdf ad39d35934999adef7060f3089615ea4 PDF Text Text Letter 38 Item Code: AWL38 Unedited Transcription 22 April, 1865 John Pike to Anna Wilcox Elmira, New York This letter was enclosed in a 4.625” x 2.625” white envelope, with a cancelled three cent stamp in the upper left corner; postmarked APR 22, 1865, ELMIRA, N.Y. The postmark is 1” in diameter and overlays the stamp. The postmark did not completely stamp. The postmark is black ink. Addressed in black ink to: Miss Annie Wilcox Smyrna Chenango Co N.Y The envelope was opened by cutting the right side. Very slight foxing. There are black stains on the back of the envelope. Three pages. One 7.375” x 9” sheet folded to form four 4.5” x 7.375” pages. Written in black ink on blue lined stationery paper, page four appears to have been unlined. Embossed in the upper left corners of pages one and three, in the shape of an oval frame in a flower and palm leaf motif. The oval contains the legend, “CASTLE.” Ink slightly faded. Very slight foxing. There are three creases: one vertical and two horizontal. Folded size is 4.5” x 2.625”. �Elmira April 22d/65 Letter 38 Page 1 Dear Cousin Annie, I received your kind letter yesterday and am glad to hear from you. I am well excepting a bad cold if I get along without being sick any more than that I shall be very thankful. most every thing has been trimed in mour ning for a week here on the account of Lincolns death. I hope it will not prolong the war any if it does not I think it will soon end. you spoke about my coresponding with Mrs Ransom you thought about wright when you thought that I corresponded with her about as you did. It is rather muddy �Letter 38 Page 2 here now for it has rained considerable lately. we expect to stay here a number of weeks yet. we have to drill two hours every day now but that is nothing but good exersise for us. It is rather hard for that Girl that kept the Post Office but no harder for her than a good many others I have seen since this war commenced but we hope it is near an end. you rem ember you promised me your Picture when I was down there I have not got any of of them. I am going to get some taken when I get a chance and then I will Send you one. when I come down there again it will be earlier in the season when it is a little �Letter 38 Page 3 more pleasent weather but I may never be down there again. but if I live and every thing goes well it will not be many years before I see Chenang again but no knowing what may turn up within a year or two. There is a good many Deserters here that have given up themselves under the Presidents Proclimation that they should be Pardoned if they should give themselves up. Well Annie there is not mutch news this morning so I shall have to stop writing for this time. give my best respects to all of the folks. Write Soon. from your affection ate Cousin John Pike Baracks No.1 Ward 12th̤ Elmira N.Y � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Anna E. Wilcox Family letters Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives ; Soldiers--Correspondence. Description An account of the resource The collection consists of 45 letters on 44 sheets, 8 photographs, 4 unassociated envelopes, and ancillary materials. Most of the letters were written between October 16, 1862 and August 10, 1865. Ancillary materials include the "scope and content" note, the "finding aid", and the "transcription note". Also, the ancillary materials include photocopies from the National Archives and Records Administration of the Military Service Records and Military Pension Records for William Pike, B. Leroy Pike, and Emory Wilcox (Service Record only). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilcox, Anna E. Pike, William S. Wilcox, Emory Pike, Benjamin Leroy Pike, John Pike, Ruth Pike, Corintha Pike, Mary J. Stover, Benjamin Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Binghamton University Libraries Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1862-1868 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In copyright. Relation A related resource <a href="https://archivesspace.binghamton.edu/public/repositories/2/resources/106">Binghamton University Libraries Special Collections, Anna E. Wilcox Family letters</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text ; image Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1860-1869 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Accessibility Copy/Paste below: Binghamton University Libraries is working very hard to create transcriptions of all audio/visual media present on this site. If you require a specific transcription for accessibility purposes, you may contact us at <a href="mailto:orb@binghamton.edu">orb@binghamton.edu</a>. Binghamton University Libraries is working very hard to create transcriptions of all audio/visual media present on this site. If you require a specific transcription for accessibility purposes, you may contact us at <a href="mailto:orb@binghamton.edu">orb@binghamton.edu</a>. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter to Anna Wilcox from John Pike, April 1865 Subject The topic of the resource Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865--Assassination United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives Elmira (N. Y. ) -- History, Military -- 19th century Chemung County (N. Y. ) -- History, Military -- 19th century Wilcox, Anna E -- Correspondence Pike, John -- Correspondence United States. Army Description An account of the resource John Pike writes to his cousin Anna Wilcox from Barrack No. 1 at Ward 12 Elmira, New York. John writes about the weather and of having a cold. He mentions Lincoln's assassination and that deserters have been turning themselves in hoping for a pardon. Original format: 1 sheet, 19 x 23 cm folded to 12 x 19 cm, and 1 envelope, 7 x 12 cm. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Pike, John Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Binghamton University Libraries Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1865-04-22 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://www.binghamton.edu/libraries/special-collections/servicesandpolicies/docs/duplicationpolicy.pdf Relation A related resource Anna E. Wilcox Civil War Collection Binghamton University Libraries’ Civil War Collections Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 digital resource (3 pages) image/jpg Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context AWL38 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1860-1869 https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/191466bc5e669af6208b51b2f22738e8.jpg 7afbf655dc9d5e9cba979c654fe7ef08 https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/4696c16a6fcdd82b0694c4e81c370841.jpg 16310cde400cc7b189c4cc500ba0934b https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/8e9e1193326427f1c4868910408a3b51.jpg 587511be6489c604157e797e102149c4 https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/6013c26d6df7790726144594832622a1.jpg bc3e7c80d8dbeecf84d7720d1ce93e4b https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/6765d1a8bfdf56556a106f5dcb9fd974.jpg 0054ee644147cf2a727bbd0c400278f9 https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/f7ef4abfb4f4c0fbf80ed226572512ab.pdf 8a8dd8d9e95cd536f13a023a03fbfc3a PDF Text Text Letter 37 Item Code: AWL37 Unedited Transcription 11 April, 1865 John Pike to Anna Wilcox Elmira, New York This letter was enclosed in a 5.[25]” x 2.875” white envelope, with a cancelled three cent stamp in the upper left corner; postmarked APR 1, 186[6], ELMIRA, N.Y. The postmark is 1” in diameter and is stamped in the top right portion of the envelope. The postmark did not completely stamp. The stamp was cancelled with a second postmark identical to the first. The postmarks are black ink. Addressed in black ink to: Miss Anna Wilcox Smyrna Chenango C[o] N.Y The envelope was opened by tearing off the right side. The tear removed part of the ‘o’ in ‘Chenango Co.’ Very slight foxing. There are black stains on the back of the envelope. Three pages. One 7.625” x 9.75” sheet folded to form four 4.875” x 9.75” pages. Written in black ink on blue lined stationery paper, page one is entirely taken up by an illustration captioned “BATTLE OF FAIR OAKS—JUNE 1 1862.” Watermarked with thirteen vertical lines. Ink moderately faded. Very slight foxing. There are three creases: one vertical and two horizontal. An approximately one and one-half by one-quarter inch piece torn from the lower left corner of page one. Folded size is 4.875” x 2.625”. �Letter 37 Page 1 89 Elmira April 11th̤ 1865 Dear Cousin Annie. I received your kind letter the day I was Drafted and have neglected to answer it untill the present time. I got here four weeks ago to night and have been expecting 89 yo go to the front every day or I should wrote to you long before this but I have given up going front at present so I though I would write. I am well and feel first rate we have nothing to do but Eat and Sleep. We had a bond fire in Camp the other night onthe Strength of Richmand we came into Camp about midnight and have not been out Side of Letters written in subscript. �Letter 37 Page 2 90 the yard Since we got here but we are all going out in the City on Parade to day. I do not think I will ever see mutch fighting the way the thing looks now. Bill of fare. for Breakfast Bread, Poark, Coffee. Dinner Bread, Bean Soup. for Supper Bread, Beefes, Coffee. Lodgeing the I 90 Soft Side of a Plank. So you see we have no reason to grumble. There is some one gets out and Deserts most every night. but I do not want to try it and run the resk of getting Shot. I like it first rate here I had just as lives serve up my year here as to go front. but I think I Shall get home in less than a year Letter crossed out. �Letter 37 Page 3 91 My Pardner sends you his respects. he wanted to know who I was writeing to but I would not tell him so he says send her my respects any ways he was drafted from the same town I was. his name is Charles Woolent. I think of no more to write at present so good by. you must excuse bad writing for I have not seen a Chair nor Table since I have been here. give my respects to all. write as soon as you get this for we do not expect 91 know how soon we shall go from here Direct to John Pike Baracks No. 1 Ward 12 Elmira N.Y Word crossed out. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Anna E. Wilcox Family letters Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives ; Soldiers--Correspondence. Description An account of the resource The collection consists of 45 letters on 44 sheets, 8 photographs, 4 unassociated envelopes, and ancillary materials. Most of the letters were written between October 16, 1862 and August 10, 1865. Ancillary materials include the "scope and content" note, the "finding aid", and the "transcription note". Also, the ancillary materials include photocopies from the National Archives and Records Administration of the Military Service Records and Military Pension Records for William Pike, B. Leroy Pike, and Emory Wilcox (Service Record only). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilcox, Anna E. Pike, William S. Wilcox, Emory Pike, Benjamin Leroy Pike, John Pike, Ruth Pike, Corintha Pike, Mary J. Stover, Benjamin Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Binghamton University Libraries Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1862-1868 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In copyright. Relation A related resource <a href="https://archivesspace.binghamton.edu/public/repositories/2/resources/106">Binghamton University Libraries Special Collections, Anna E. Wilcox Family letters</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text ; image Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1860-1869 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Accessibility Copy/Paste below: Binghamton University Libraries is working very hard to create transcriptions of all audio/visual media present on this site. If you require a specific transcription for accessibility purposes, you may contact us at <a href="mailto:orb@binghamton.edu">orb@binghamton.edu</a>. Binghamton University Libraries is working very hard to create transcriptions of all audio/visual media present on this site. If you require a specific transcription for accessibility purposes, you may contact us at <a href="mailto:orb@binghamton.edu">orb@binghamton.edu</a>. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context AWL37 Title A name given to the resource Letter to Anna Wilcox from John Pike, April 11, 1865 Description An account of the resource John Pike writes to his cousin Anna Wilcox from his barracks at Ward 12 Elmira, New York while awaiting deployment to the front. He describes the day's menu and sends the regards of a fellow soldier, Charles Woolent. Stationary contains illustration titled 'Battle of Fair Oaks-June 1 1862'. Original format: 1 sheet, 20 x 25 cm folded to 13 x 20 cm, and 1 envelope, 8 x 14 cm. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 digital resource (4 pages) image/jpg Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Pike, John Subject The topic of the resource United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives Elmira (N. Y. ) -- History, Military -- 19th century Chemung County (N. Y. ) -- History, Military -- 19th century United States – Virginia – Fair Oaks Wilcox, Anna E -- Correspondence Pike, John -- Correspondence United States. Army Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1865-04-11 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1860-1869 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource English Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Binghamton University Libraries Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://www.binghamton.edu/libraries/special-collections/servicesandpolicies/docs/duplicationpolicy.pdf https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/e431f562d1c9405a55512768a3bd3ee4.jpg ef484ab5fddd28666a15854ac8050ea3 https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/49399b4450957f2edfaae4c57a177a9a.jpg d5ba82ac9e3e4c2a935a5d36b3afc33e https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/7b3bbecee0321eaa02570d772f266894.jpg 395c05e807f40fb86d35205b5b7fabff https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/4d7395d9e2224061fb56123c2b8aa3fe.pdf e52ac8f79bf5644eab773b489bc51519 PDF Text Text Letter 34 Item Code: AWL34 Unedited Transcription 17 December, 1864 Leroy B. Pike to Anna Wilcox Petersburg, Virginia This letter was enclosed in a 5.[5]” x 3” yellow/orange envelope, postmarked DEC 20, WASHINGTON, DC. The postmark is 1” in diameter and is stamped upside down in the top left portion of the envelope. The postmark did not completely stamp. There is no stamp cancellation. There is evidence of stamp glue residue in the upper left corner. The postmark is black ink. Addressed in black ink to: Miss Anny Wilcox Smyrna ChenangoCo NY The envelope was opened by tearing off the left side. Slightly stained along the edges. Two pages. One 8” x 10” sheet folded to form four 4.5” x 8” pages. Written in black ink on blue lined stationery paper, page four appears to have been unlined. Watermarked with ten horizontal lines. Embossed in the upper left corners of page one and three, in the shape of a oval framed with palm leaves and laurels. The legend contained in the oval is too faint to accurately read. Ink appears unfaded. Very slight foxing, mostly along the single vertical crease. There are two small (<1/8”) holes where the two horizontal creases cross the vertical crease. Page four has a small (<1/4” diameter) black ink stain. There are three creases: one vertical and two horizontal. Folded size is 4.5” x 3”. �In Camp on the Front at Pettersburg Dec 17th̤ 1864 Letter 34 Page 1 79 80 Dear Cousin I is With pleasure that I Seat myself to pen a few lines to you I recd your kind note in due time I was pleased to hear from you that you wer a haveing a good time and that you wer well and all of the folk in general! I am well and ing in good Spirits and a have- 79 a fine time for a Soldier we are encamped in a beautiful Plaice burg 80 and about five miles from Peters we are buisily engaged a building log huts for to live in our Camp is on a beautiful rise of ground it is a very beautiful day hear Letters written above rest of word at edge of page. Letters written above rest of word at edge of page. �Letter 34 Page 2 81 to day to day 81 the Sun is a Shining brightly82 and beautiful well Cousen anny I have been home on a fifteen day furlough I was at hone ten days I had a Splendid time I found our folks all well and all of my friends the weather was quite Cold but for all of that I enjoyed my Self first raite! well there is not much news hear at ed Present except wee have whipp 83 the enemy at or near nashvill you have probaly heard of it ear this wall aney you must excuse this poor writing with much love to you and all of your friends I will Close So fair you well from your Cousen Leroy Pike Words crossed out. Letters crossed out. 83 Letters written above rest of word at edge of page. 82 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Anna E. Wilcox Family letters Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives ; Soldiers--Correspondence. Description An account of the resource The collection consists of 45 letters on 44 sheets, 8 photographs, 4 unassociated envelopes, and ancillary materials. Most of the letters were written between October 16, 1862 and August 10, 1865. Ancillary materials include the "scope and content" note, the "finding aid", and the "transcription note". Also, the ancillary materials include photocopies from the National Archives and Records Administration of the Military Service Records and Military Pension Records for William Pike, B. Leroy Pike, and Emory Wilcox (Service Record only). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilcox, Anna E. Pike, William S. Wilcox, Emory Pike, Benjamin Leroy Pike, John Pike, Ruth Pike, Corintha Pike, Mary J. Stover, Benjamin Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Binghamton University Libraries Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1862-1868 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In copyright. Relation A related resource <a href="https://archivesspace.binghamton.edu/public/repositories/2/resources/106">Binghamton University Libraries Special Collections, Anna E. Wilcox Family letters</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text ; image Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1860-1869 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Accessibility Copy/Paste below: Binghamton University Libraries is working very hard to create transcriptions of all audio/visual media present on this site. If you require a specific transcription for accessibility purposes, you may contact us at <a href="mailto:orb@binghamton.edu">orb@binghamton.edu</a>. Binghamton University Libraries is working very hard to create transcriptions of all audio/visual media present on this site. If you require a specific transcription for accessibility purposes, you may contact us at <a href="mailto:orb@binghamton.edu">orb@binghamton.edu</a>. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context AWL34 Title A name given to the resource Letter from Leroy Pike to Anna Wilcox, December 1864 Description An account of the resource Leroy B. Pike, a Civil War soldier writes to his cousin Anna Wilcox from Petersburg, Virginia. Leroy writes that he is good spirits and is engaging in building log cabin for camps about five miles from Petersburg. He also writes that he had recently returned from furlough and his family and friends at home were well. Leroy also mentions the Union victory at the Battle of Nashville. Original format: 1 sheet 21 x 26 cm folded to 13 x 21 cm, and 1 envelope, 8 x 14 cm. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 digital resource (2 pages) image/jpg Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Pike, Benjamin Leroy Subject The topic of the resource Petersburg (Va.) -- History -- Siege, 1864-1865 United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives Nashville, Battle of, Nashville, Tenn. , 1864 Wilcox, Anna E -- Correspondence Pike, Benjamin Leroy -- Correspondence United States. Army. New York Artillery Regiment, 8th (1862-1865). Company B Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1864-12-17 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1860-1869 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource English Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Binghamton University Libraries Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://www.binghamton.edu/libraries/special-collections/servicesandpolicies/docs/duplicationpolicy.pdf Relation A related resource Anna E. Wilcox Civil War Collection Binghamton University Libraries’ Civil War Collections https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/49c042132debf22a813ef44f22a5df98.jpg 32583d4ab35fd79ef72047b433171103 https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/a6c65eacf600669cde37f96b08e6a1fe.jpg aa80cf6da7d2916a800ca751f2aa1dd4 https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/6cdbf9ec51e8fbab7fc1f0e5f6e42fba.jpg 6edbb1d89c5a82ce6c5e33404cd5c5d9 https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/7b91f47a7bfb35775c7f7281d307ecae.jpg 9a686ac24198661d43fa64db567ada64 https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/5137ebda93aa3c40af48a89784c6ecf1.pdf 23bd51e8605775911f099cfc13d597b0 PDF Text Text Letter 5 Item Code: AWL05 Unedited Transcription 17 April, 1864 William S. Pike to Anna Wilcox Posted from Fort No. 5, Baltimore, Maryland This letter was enclosed in a 5.25” x 2.875” white envelope with cancelled three cent stamp in the upper left hand corner of the envelope; postmarked Apr 1[8] ‘64, BALTIMORE, MD. The postmark, rather than the stamp cancellation, overlays the stamp. The postmark is incomplete, with some characters missing entirely and portions missing from all characters present. The postmark is 1 3/16” in diameter. The stamp cancellation consists of four concentric circles, the largest is 3/4” in diameter and the smallest is 3/16” in diameter. Both the postmark and the cancellation are blue ink. Addressed in black ink to: Miss Anna Wilcox Smyrna Shenango Co NY The envelope was opened by cutting the left side. Foxing/staining along most of bottom edge. There is blue ink staining on both the front and back of the envelope, likely from the postmarks and cancellations of other letters. Three pages. One 8” x 10” sheet folded to form four 5” x 8” pages. Written in black ink on unlined stationery paper. Watermarked with eleven horizontal lines. The ink is slightly faded. Very slight foxing. There are two small (<1/8”) holes where the two horizontal creases cross the single vertical crease. There are three creases: one vertical and two horizontal. Folded size is 5” x 2.75”. �Letter 5 Page 1 Fort No.5 Defenses of Baltimore Apr 17/1864 Dear Cozen I received your kind letter in due time and I was glad to hear from you to hear that you were all getting along So well the weather here has been verry fine for a week or two and it is so Still I wish you could be here Some afternoon and See us have Dress Parrade iff you could we would have a fine time and �Letter 5 Page 2 a pleasant one I arshure you well Anna I have Sixteen more months to Serve in the Army and when that time is up I am thinking Some of Comeing to old Smyrna once more and See the home of my Schildhood those lovely Mountains and pleasent Valies that I used to See a long time ago in the days when I was a little Urchin I received a letter from Father a few days ago and my folks were all well as usuas at that time Mother is not verry �Letter 5 Page 3 Smart but she is better that she has been before in some time Anna you rote that you were afraid that I would get out of Patience with you you need not be afraid of it for I shall not for I know that it will come Sometime but Anna I must close for I have got three more Letters to rite to day So goodbye Write Soon Anna Wilcox Wm̤. S. Pike � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Anna E. Wilcox Family letters Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives ; Soldiers--Correspondence. Description An account of the resource The collection consists of 45 letters on 44 sheets, 8 photographs, 4 unassociated envelopes, and ancillary materials. Most of the letters were written between October 16, 1862 and August 10, 1865. Ancillary materials include the "scope and content" note, the "finding aid", and the "transcription note". Also, the ancillary materials include photocopies from the National Archives and Records Administration of the Military Service Records and Military Pension Records for William Pike, B. Leroy Pike, and Emory Wilcox (Service Record only). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilcox, Anna E. Pike, William S. Wilcox, Emory Pike, Benjamin Leroy Pike, John Pike, Ruth Pike, Corintha Pike, Mary J. Stover, Benjamin Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Binghamton University Libraries Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1862-1868 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In copyright. Relation A related resource <a href="https://archivesspace.binghamton.edu/public/repositories/2/resources/106">Binghamton University Libraries Special Collections, Anna E. Wilcox Family letters</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text ; image Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1860-1869 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Accessibility Copy/Paste below: Binghamton University Libraries is working very hard to create transcriptions of all audio/visual media present on this site. If you require a specific transcription for accessibility purposes, you may contact us at <a href="mailto:orb@binghamton.edu">orb@binghamton.edu</a>. Binghamton University Libraries is working very hard to create transcriptions of all audio/visual media present on this site. If you require a specific transcription for accessibility purposes, you may contact us at <a href="mailto:orb@binghamton.edu">orb@binghamton.edu</a>. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context AWL05 Title A name given to the resource William S. Pike Letter to Anna Wilcox, Fort No.5 Defenses of Baltimore, April 1864 Description An account of the resource William S. Pike, a Civil War soldier writes to his Cousin Anna Wilcox from Fort No. 5, Defenses of Baltimore in April of 1864. He comments on the weather and wishes she could the soldiers in Dress Parade. He writes of his remembrances of the mountains and valleys of his childhood home in Smyrna, NY. William writes of a letter from his father and comments on his mother health. Original format:1 sheet, 13 x 26 cm folded to 13 x 21 cm, and 1 envelope, 8 x 14 cm. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 digital resource (3 pages) image/jpg Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Pike, William S. Subject The topic of the resource United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives Soldiers -- Correspondence Soldiers -- New York (State) -- Smyrna -- Correspondence Soldiers -- New York (State) -- Chenango County -- Correspondence Wilcox, Anna E. -- Correspondence Pike, William S. -- Correspondence United States. Army. New York Artillery Regiment, 8th (1862-1865). Company B Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1864-04-17 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1860-1869 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource English Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Binghamton University Libraries Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://www.binghamton.edu/libraries/special-collections/servicesandpolicies/docs/duplicationpolicy.pdf Relation A related resource Anna E. Wilcox Civil War Collection Binghamton University Libraries’ Civil War Collections https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/5060549da8373d7c0f3f2ed5ef6d18ae.jpg 671211b79bff3afff67fbaaa0d22d368 https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/7a70a21712b43cd793bc4f3a9dfeebc5.jpg 1f3a8e8d7a366405e5b85305b25214f1 https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/c0291db49568a2bed4dcdde589f495a7.jpg 600cb5832ec1bbb88ee9aba95a42b7bc https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/d027c957155256e6a3905b6d3ac2b422.jpg 8d1379b81e23200946cb282644da2ab6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Anna E. Wilcox Family letters Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives ; Soldiers--Correspondence. Description An account of the resource The collection consists of 45 letters on 44 sheets, 8 photographs, 4 unassociated envelopes, and ancillary materials. Most of the letters were written between October 16, 1862 and August 10, 1865. Ancillary materials include the "scope and content" note, the "finding aid", and the "transcription note". Also, the ancillary materials include photocopies from the National Archives and Records Administration of the Military Service Records and Military Pension Records for William Pike, B. Leroy Pike, and Emory Wilcox (Service Record only). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilcox, Anna E. Pike, William S. Wilcox, Emory Pike, Benjamin Leroy Pike, John Pike, Ruth Pike, Corintha Pike, Mary J. Stover, Benjamin Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Binghamton University Libraries Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1862-1868 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In copyright. Relation A related resource <a href="https://archivesspace.binghamton.edu/public/repositories/2/resources/106">Binghamton University Libraries Special Collections, Anna E. Wilcox Family letters</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text ; image Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1860-1869 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Accessibility Copy/Paste below: Binghamton University Libraries is working very hard to create transcriptions of all audio/visual media present on this site. If you require a specific transcription for accessibility purposes, you may contact us at <a href="mailto:orb@binghamton.edu">orb@binghamton.edu</a>. Binghamton University Libraries is working very hard to create transcriptions of all audio/visual media present on this site. If you require a specific transcription for accessibility purposes, you may contact us at <a href="mailto:orb@binghamton.edu">orb@binghamton.edu</a>. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Envelopes addressed to Annie Wilcox. Subject The topic of the resource Wilcox, Anna E. Smyrna (N.Y.) Envelopes (Stationery) Description An account of the resource Four envelopes addressed to Anna Wilcox of Smyrna, NY. Not matched to any letters . Original format: 4 envelopes, 7 x 12 cm, 7 x 13 cm, and 9 x 14 cm. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Binghamton University Libraries Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Approximately 1862-1868 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://www.binghamton.edu/libraries/special-collections/servicesandpolicies/docs/duplicationpolicy.pdf Relation A related resource Anna E. Wilcox Civil War Collection Binghamton University Libraries’ Civil War Collections Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 digital resource (4 images) image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context AWE46 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1860-1869 https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/8f7c008bfe576da0c3e5a436e77c9ca4.mp3 297878bc8dd73fafb2c5b74afa68be52 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Broome County Oral History Project Subject The topic of the resource Broome County -- History Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Binghamton University Libraries Description An account of the resource The Broome County Oral History Project was conceived and administered by the Senior Services Unit of the <a href="http://www.gobroomecounty.com/senior">Office for the Aging</a>. Funding for this project was provided by the Broome County Office of Employment and Training (C.E.T.A.), with additional funding from the Senior Service Unit of the National Council on Aging and Broome County government. The aim of this project was two-fold – to obtain historical information about life in Broome County, which would be useful for researchers and teachers, and to provide employment for older persons of a limited income. The oral history interviews were obtained between November 1977 and September 1978 and were conducted by five interviewers under the supervision of the Action for Older Persons Program. The collection contains 75 interviews and transcriptions, 77 cassette tapes, and a subject index containing names of individuals associated with specific subject terms. One transcribed interview does not have an accompanying audio recording. In 2005 Binghamton University Libraries’ Special Collections Department participated in the New York State Audiotape Project which undertook preservation reformatting of the audiotapes, and the creation of compact discs for patron use. Several interviews do not have release forms and cannot be reviewed. See the <a href="https://archivesspace.binghamton.edu/public/repositories/2/resources/44">finding aid </a>for additional information. Acknowledgment of sensitive content Binghamton University Libraries provide digital access to select materials held within the Special Collections department. Oral histories provide a vibrant window into life in the community. However, they also expose insensitive, and at times offensive, racial and gender terminology that, though once commonplace, are now acknowledged to cause harm. The Libraries have chosen to make these oral histories available as part of the historical record but the Libraries do not support or agree with the harmful narratives that can be found in these volumes. <a href="https://www.binghamton.edu/libraries/about/collections/digital/">Digital Collections</a> are created for educational and historical purposes only. It is our intention to present the content as it originally appeared. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In copyright  Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Ben Coury, Digital Web Designer Yvonne Deligato, Former University Archivist Shandi Ezraseneh, Student Employee Laura Evans, Former Metadata Librarian Caitlin Holton, Digital Initiatives Assistant Jamey McDermott, Student Employee Erin Rushton, Head of Digital Initiatives David Schuster, Senior Director for Library Technology and Digital Strategies Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1977-1978 Relation A related resource <a href="https://archivesspace.binghamton.edu/public/repositories/2/resources/44">Binghamton University Libraries Special Collections, Broome County Oral History project</a> Template: Simple Audio Player with Transcription This template displays an audio player by Amplitude.js with a scrollable transcription which is loaded from the "Transcription" metadata field. This template displays an audio player with the first attached image file as the 'cover image'. For its audio source, the template looks for the first attached audio file. If additional audio files exist, they should be combined using audio editing software, or a separate Omeka item should be made for each part. Streaming Audio Streaming URL <a href="https://eternity.binghamton.edu/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE56107">Interview with Dr. John P. Ayers, Veterinarian</a> Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Ayres, John P. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Dobandi, Susan Date of Interview 1978-03-04 Collection Broome County Oral History Project Subject LCSH Ayres, John P. -- Interviews; Broome County (N.Y.) -- History; Veterinarians -- Interviews; Farmers -- Interviews; Corbettsville (N.Y.); Agriculture; Food Quality Control Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 32:16 minutes Biographical Text Dr. John P. Ayres talks about his upbringing in Corbettsville, NY, his interests in agriculture and animals in young age that led him to succeed in the fields of farming and veterinary work. He discusses his experiences in the Army, college, and his professional life. Rights Statement This audio file and digital image may only be used for educational purposes. Please cite as: Broome County Oral History Project, Special Collections, Binghamton University Libraries, Binghamton University, State University of New York. For usage beyond fair use please contact the Binghamton University Libraries Special Collections for more information. Digital Publisher Binghamton University Libraries Digital Format audio/mp3 Language English Material Type Sound OHMS Object URL https://omeka.binghamton.edu/viewer/viewer.php?cachefile=Ayers.xml Interview Format Video or Audio audio Accessibility Copy/Paste below: Binghamton University Libraries is working very hard to create transcriptions of all audio/visual media present on this site. If you require a specific transcription for accessibility purposes, you may contact us at <a href="mailto:orb@binghamton.edu">orb@binghamton.edu</a>. Binghamton University Libraries is working very hard to create transcriptions of all audio/visual media present on this site. If you require a specific transcription for accessibility purposes, you may contact us at <a href="mailto:orb@binghamton.edu">orb@binghamton.edu</a>. Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound, or alternative text from a visual medium Broome County Oral History Project Interview with: Dr. John P. Ayres Interviewed by: Susan Dobandi Date of interview: 4 March 1978 Susan: Dr. Ayres, could you start by telling us where you were born, something of your parents and, ah, your early childhood experiences, and then go on with your schooling and how you became a veterinarian? Dr. Ayres: I was born in, ah, Broome County, in Corbettsville, NY, Snake Creek Road, which in those days was a dirt road, and my father didn't own the farm that I was born on, so I presume that makes me a tenant farmer’s son, which seem to make for great relationships and rapport with some people. However, my father had the determination that someday he would own that farm, and he did own the farm and today I own the farm, which is the story that, ah, goes with the majority of people in this country. Ah, my mother was orphaned at—at sixteen and she had, ah, five younger brothers and sisters and, ah, she went to work and supported them and held her family together in turn, so I was therefore blessed with two people that were ideal for parents, because my father was a strong, steady, determined individual, in a rural atmosphere, and had a—had a very happy boyhood on the farm, perhaps the happiest days of my life, and again I emphasize, as a tenant farmer’s son, because ah, having lived 60-plus years I find out that the biggest asset is not being left with money, but being left with pride and responsibility to this government, that we live and enjoy and have the opportunity to develop ourselves to our maximum, and my parents strongly believed that and in those days the farm we had, ah, was primarily a dairy farm, a small dairy farm of a hundred seventy-five acres. Our house had at least four if not five bedrooms, as I recall, and we were, had none of the niceties that we reflect on today. We had three stoves that burned wood, that was our only source of heat and therefore, of course they went out at night and it was a question of my father getting up, perhaps at 4:30 in the morning, as I recall, and getting the first stove started, and then the rest of us coming down one by one and, ah, entering into it. Having no heat in the house, obviously we had no running water. The well for the house was thirty feet from the house, and that was partly the responsibility of us children, to bring the water in—in pails, and the warm water was heated on the tank on the side of the stove, as I recall, and that took care of the acid, of getting the water in. The waste material of the body, the toilet was the common standard privy at the time. It was located twenty feet from the rear of the house, and everything that James, ah, Whitcomb Riley, as I recall he wrote a piece of poetry on “The Passing of the Backhouse,” and that is, ah, one that certainly fills the bill and describes it as accurately as any farmer’s son could. We—ah, my brothers and I had—we were blessed with two brothers and two sisters. We all went to the Corbettsville school, which was a two-room schoolhouse—one floor above the other, and it still stands and is now a residence—and I think that was the first time I realized that I was handicapped. I was handicapped in being left-handed and had a schoolteacher who had one thought, that I would become right-handed and it was a question of wills, and I'm still left-handed today, but I well remember her hitting with the ruler, hitting my left hand with the ruler when I'd use it, and I lived long enough to tell her when I was a fairly successful doctor that—that was the only thing I regretted of that period in school, that she had many valuable assets, but her determination to break me was probably only exceeded by my determination that I wouldn't be broken. That was my first handicap, and there came a time, then, when we left there and moved into Binghamton and left the farm behind, and my father went to work because he couldn't buy that farm for another man at a dollar a day. I remember his wages were a dollar a day, and he was considered to work for that a minimum of ten hours each day, so it was about ten cents an hour he got. Obviously, living in Binghamton and working outside was something couldn't successfully for him, and so he located a job in Kirkwood and operated a feed and coal supply that, ah, took care of the people in the Village of Kirkwood and the farmers throughout there, and it probably was the best thing that period in my life, because again I mention I was blessed with a farmer who could be a businessman, who never thought this country owed him a living. He was grateful for what it offered and he imbued that to us, that we had the opportunity to achieve whatever we wanted. That was a period somewhere between 1925 and 1930 that we were there, and that, in that period, I had many friends there, and I want to emphasize that because I still have, ah, but the outstanding unfortunate thing that happened to me there was in the Kirkwood school, which again was a two room school. I went there and I was the only Catholic boy in eight grades when Al Smith dared to run for President, and I still carry one of the scars over my eye from the beatings I used to take because a Catholic dared to run for President. I laugh now when people tell about minorities and their problems. I don't know what they would do if they were the one in the entire school, ah, but the challenge was there, and today I say, “God Bless it,” because it's the challenges that makes us if we have the guts to rise above them, because of the ones that attacked me in those days, we all lived to forget, though—that period, most of us were kids, we were all kids. We really didn't know what the whole problem was about. It was only what, we were getting it at home and it was through ignorance that we were receiving it, and my side of the question wasn't, of course, was, ah, that someday there was going to be a Catholic President, and I've lived long enough to see one and I'd have to admit that I didn't vote for him when he ran. I—I was one that voted for Richard Nixon [in 1960], so you see, the years have worn off the antagonism that might have developed in my mind so that I would’ve blindly voted for the man of my religion, and instead I voted against him. And of many of those that perhaps were pretty unfriendly at that period, I lived to do their veterinary work, which I think is a challenge to many of us, to overcome the difficulties that we have in our youth. Then I went on from Kirkwood and my father bought the farm I was born on and we went back, we turned to the farm, and from there I—I gradually formed the opinion I would become a veterinarian those years, even when my father had this feed business. I was out working and I bought a horse for eighteen dollars—I bought a horse for eighteen dollars—and I agreed to work for the man eighteen days, and when my father looked over the horse he told me, as a good father should, “You got the horse in effect without my advice. It's not worth bringing it home.” The horse lasted a few months, lasted such a short time that I hadn't earned the payment on the farmer’s farm for it, and my father insisted that I go there after the horse was dead and work it out with the farmer. It was a humiliating thing, but it was the best thing happened to me. If you give a man your word, you keep your word. If you buy something, good or bad, you’re stuck with it. There is no whining, no whimpering or crying out, and I look back and I think that was my first real business transaction that was a complete flop, but I had two parents and neither one relented. I had to go there and pick potatoes in the fields in the fall after the horse was dead until I paid for a dead horse, and so I thoroughly understand the expression about buying a dead horse because I bought one almost dead, with that I formed my opinion on there ought to be a better way to do business that I had done, and I—I think it was a beginning of a challenge to me, because I think each one of these, ah, strengthens my determination to do more. I had dogs in those days, and cats, I always had them as a boy, and ah, we were impoverished, ah, not with the point of pity do I say, but it wasn't considered practical and it wasn't practical to take the dog to a veterinarian in, in those days. So I had a dog with distemper in that town of Kirkwood, and I went and talked with the man about it and he gave me some sulfur to give the dog and he knew it would cure the dog, and well, the dog would throw up, I guess every time I'd push the sulfur down the poor dog, and eventually the dog had fits—he had repeated fits in our home—and the man was corning along that I had talked to, and he was carrying his gun, and I remember as a boy him opening the bedroom window, saying, “That dog has rabies,” and shooting it and splattering the brains over the wall of the bedroom. Of course the dog had distemper and, ah, I guess that again fortified my there must be a better way than this, and— Then we went back to the farm and I raised rabbits. My brothers and I had, at one time, over a hundred rabbits, and we got into other things that—raising calves, and of course we had dairy cattle, and in that transition on the farm from being born there and then coming back years later, I reflect on what a vast difference, how things were changing—when we left that farm we had no running water, we had no inside toilets in the house. We were cold in the winter, we, ah, we had an old broken down car when we left the farm. It was a used car. In the winter when we needed water for the cattle we had a stream, there was a little stream, there was a pipe, brought water outside the barn. The cows would go out to drink, and the pipe would freeze in the winter, so you would have to go down to Snake Creek and cut a hole and drive the cows down through the snow, and they'd slide on the ice and I—I just can't remember any of our cattle breaking legs there, but how many, many cattle I saw afterward did break their legs on the ice trying to get out to drink water where the holes had been cut for them—then when we returned to the farm, all that had changed. We put in a heat within the house, got a new well, added inside plumbing so that my poor mother, for the first time on that farm ever, had running water. We had the same thing at the barn, a well, drinking buckets for the cows, metal stanchions, and the biggest thing of all from the standpoint of quality of milk—and even we could detect that—was, for the first time, we really had electricity and we had the means of quick refrigeration of milk so that we had quality milk. When we left the farm in the summer we had to get ice out of our icehouse that had been put there the previous winter, that we had put there, by cutting it off of the Susquehanna River and hauling it up on big sleighs with the horse. The farmers got together, pooled their efforts and brought this ice home, and then it was covered with sawdust, and then in the summer, piece by piece, it was taken out. It was cleaned off, as best one could, of the sawdust, and put in water to chill the milk down instead—in that period of time of change we had, it was the beginning of quality controlled milk and we had inspectors coming to the farm and the improvement in milk rapidly following. One of my memories there, however, was again the question of veterinary services and a dog I had that would never stay home. He was probably the stud dog of the town of Conklin, and at my end I guess I was sort of proud of him, ’cause he took on many a dog and whipped them. He also got into a bit of trouble, too, of course, got me in and therefore got my family in, and so my family made arrangements for me to take the dog with my oldest brother to this man—now long since dead, so I guess I could tell the story on how the operation, how that dog was castrated—and he took the dog into the barn and he wrapped a chain around the dog's mouth and he told my brother to hold that, and he took out his jackknife and then he deliberately sharpened while I was watching him, and then he just cut the testicles off. There was no tying off blood vessels or nothing, and that dog lingered along for perhaps three or four days before he finally bled to death at our home, and I watched it each day, and my parents didn't know but they thought there was something wrong, but they thought that man had more experience and he assured them that the bleeding would stop, well, it didn't fix it at all. The dog bled to death. So I think that was the final straw in in that aspect of my thinking there must be a better way to do this, and it sort of convinced me that, ah, I was going to do a little more with that, even though I would talk to people about becoming a lawyer, and in due time I went to Cornell, and then I was trying to get one year in and my father had a stroke. He was confined to a wheelchair from then on. The Depression was on us and there was no question about, ah, help in those days. There was no tuition assistance program and again I say, “Thank God there was no tuition assistance program.” I have little respect for the present-day college students who whine for extra money when there are jobs available all over the county for them. I was successful in the veterinarian college. I was given a room in the basement to live in, and I worked for 40¢ an hour and I used to have to sit up nights, watch the mares have colts, and I cleaned laboratory equipment and so forth, and I worked my way through college and I—I came home rarely, because as I say, I, my pride had then, I think, equalled my parents’. I wouldn't ask them for a penny, because I knew they had all the struggling they could trying to maintain the homestead, and with my father in a wheelchair and confined. I learned at that point in life when he had this stroke that—it was interesting, that everyone my father owed money to had it well-documented, people who owed my father, and I knew they did even from the days in the feed business, he didn't have it well-tallied, and many of the people I think owed him never paid him. I think, again, it sort of toughened me to realize life was that way. In fact, I remember one man, he said he owed my father and he said he wanted to work it out in plowing, and he came to our farm and he plowed until he thought the bill was square, and at that time, nor until the time he died, no one ever knew how much he owed my father, and he wouldn't tell us and we didn't know, but it was a question. My father was primarily a dairy man and a smalltime, ah, fellow in this market that we call this outside world, and he wasn't able to cope, so financially, we weren't in a good, ah, set of financial circumstances, not because he didn't work, but because he didn't realize that everything had to be documented. He was, at that point, not businesslike enough in case of catastrophe, which we've all learned we have to be, but it did provide a good basis for me to realize that if I was going to make it at Cornell, I was going to make it on my own, and I did, and I remember the high point of my life in that was when I came home and I gave my mother three hundred dollars, besides going through college, and then I went to New York and worked, and in due time I worked in dog and cat hospitals, and then I came back and went to work for the Dairymen's League—[Clock chimes]---which was a milk company, and I worked for them two years until the Army called me up, and I was five years in the Army. Then I came home and became City Veterinarian of Binghamton, and in that period I had seen the transition, the change that had gone on again, and of course I was then completely on the other side. I was no longer someone from off the farm. I was then a man that had become a doctor of veterinary medicine and served in the ranks of the Army in quality control of foods in general, from the state of Maine to Florida and as far west as Michigan. I served in ranks of Lieutenant and Captain and Major and Lt. Colonel—ah, in fact, when I came home from the Army I was Chief Veterinarian in the First Air Force and I was the youngest veterinarian in it, and the Chief, so I came home with that kind of background to bring about quality control of foods in general in the City of Binghamton and the farms that supplied milk to the city and the milk plants, and found myself pitted to some degree against many of my former acquaintances—I use “acquaintances” rather than “friends” because I, ah—some of them didn't accept change, men who get older, I guess many men don't accept change, especially coming from a younger person—but I remained a city veterinarian for fourteen years before I went with the State. I saw all the changes come about. I saw rabies so bad in Broome County in 1947 that we had over 50 cases of rabies in the city of Binghamton in July of 1947, and I can say in 1977 we didn't have a single case in the city, and the few cases that we do have outside of the city are generally attributed to wildlife, where I'm sure rabies will always exist, but by vaccinations we eliminate that, so that three quarters of the veterinarians in the county have never seen a case of rabies. They talk about it, and we know it's there in wildlife, but we just don't see it. That was accomplished by the use of vaccination, and the same thing is true with the dogs, but I've experienced—in treating my own dog in Kirkwood with distemper and using sulfur, it merely made the dog vomit and had him shot in the head in my bedroom—has changed now by the advent of vaccination, so that no dog need die of distemper, it's a question of, perhaps, our failure to get to the people that can do it. On the other hand, I do think there was a—a stronger character in the people then—if they couldn't afford a veterinarian, they said they couldn't—today many people want the dogs, or want the children, and yet they don't want what goes with them, and so it is part of the work and the responsibility that goes with having pets or having children, you have to have enough responsibility to be willing to sacrifice for them, and sacrifice isn't done by an expression of words, but by acts. Susan: Let's continue, Dr. Ayres, by telling us something about the women in your life. Dr. Ayres: Well, the women in my life start with my mother, and my mother was a school teacher, and in those days it took two short winter courses to become a school teacher and one stayed ahead of one’s students, I believe, and therefore she was the one that instilled into us education was the only way to get ahead in this country, that was the, ah, the best and logical course of events. I can remember when I would be losing the rounds while Al Smith ran for President, this mother of mine’d tell me at home how I could overcome them, and that was only one way, by education, and my mother was proud in the sense of real pride, but she knew that success for our family meant being a partner to my father, and she was that, and many a night and many a morning my mother was with us milking the cows, which today might sound degrading, but my mother, she was the best. Then the next woman in my life was my wife, and my wife, thank God, was a nurse. She was of the generation when the nurse had all the basic training that was needed to inculcate in her mind the willingness to, ah, take care of the patient in all events, so—so it really did never seem to me a difference whether the patient was a human or an animal, and I've been privileged, as a result of having such a partner, to have my practice always contiguous to my house. When I had a heavy practice and my wife could advise the owners of animals as well as I could, and many times, I've had to admit, much better. She had a charm that I didn't have, because I was of the generation that, ah, was pretty practical, and you had to tell someone very bluntly whether the animal would make it or not, and there was an economic value on animals in a large animal practice that there isn't on a small animal practice. My wife had the right background by becoming a nurse, and my wife is first generation from Lithuania. Her father came from Lithuania and crossed over the border and got away from the Russians who had engulfed, ah, Lithuania years ago, as they again did after World War II, and that little country, like the little country that my people immigrated from, Ireland, has stood the mistreatment of a larger power all the time, and my mother dwelt much on history and pride, family loyalty, and knew that her people had come from Nova Scotia and she carefully documented what little knowledge she had, sufficient that even though she never knew her relatives in Nova Scotia, nor did her father before her know the relatives in Nova Scotia, with what she had documented I was able, after a hundred-plus years, to locate relatives in Nova Scotia and develop a genealogy and have composed and written a twelve-page booklet on my relatives from the time that they appeared in Nova Scotia in about the year of 1800. Last fall my wife and I went to Ireland and tried to establish connections there, but in a country that, ah, 50% were either starved to death or forced into immigration by the horrendous laws of England, ah, it is very hard to establish much on genealogy—however, we are pursuing it and we'll follow along on that. But prior to that time, even before I retired and became, in the present-day terminology, the “double dipper”—because, ah, I did continue my Army career in reserve and I continued my work for New York State until I achieved a pension in both, ah, I have kept my private practice—but I did start with my children and, I have a boy and a girl and I started taking them, first to Puerto Rico, and I went on a group tour and promptly left the tour and took my children down to the most godforsaken areas that existed in old San Juan and so forth, where people were living in tin shacks under lean-tos, et cetera, that they had never seen before, and from there we continued taking various trips to Spain, Mexico and Italy, ah, primarily for the children by that time, and I thought back of, ah, when we stood at Rome—when my mother made one trip, and that was into Canada, she always asked me, sometime before I die, to make a trip to Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré Shrine in Canada, little thinking I'd get to the Vatican first—then, ah, my daughter followed the image of her mother, I think, and was inclined at times to become a nurse, but she went into Languages in the SUNY system and she went through college, and in the summer she has worked, just like my son that's in Pre-Med, he worked the last two summers at General Hospital, and again, thank God he started the first summer in the laundry room and I was pleased when his boss told me that fall—that fall he was through, he told me, that's where every doctor ought to start, down there where the towels came down with the blood and fecal deposits and pieces of bones and everything else that goes with a hospital come down, the laundry room, and I think too many people rise too fast out of the basement of life and not realize what's down there, so I was pleased when he got that job, and then last summer he worked as an orderly in General Hospital, and I think that he has now an awareness of, if he is gonna become a medical doctor, of the basic thing that goes with it, the understanding that goes with it, and of course he had all the years with me, because my practice being next to my home, he was able to render first aid, and both of my children helped me on caesarean sections and so forth—rubbed the little puppies and kittens, ah, from the minute they were brought life on into them, when they were overwhelmed with disease or need patrician or something, so they both had the opportunity to learn, and I look back at my life now and reflect on the terrible situation that so many children come up in—the terrible situation of not knowing how their parents make money—not knowing what makes this country tick—and I think they've have had that opportunity. I thank God that they've had as much as they have had, that they realize how money came in this house and how it went out of this house because the business was, ah, contiguous to it, and in so many lives today the check comes in once or twice a month and it has to do, therefore there is a price paid for it. The price is that while we probably have now the most intelligent people graduating from our schools, they may also be the most immature. Susan: That about sums it up, doesn't it? Dr. Ayres: In retirement I enjoy every day, and like any doctor I think I'll probably continue practicing until I cross the divide, if God gives me the strength. Susan: Well, thank you, Dr. Ayres, it's been nice of you to take time out from your busy life to talk with us. Thank you. Date of Digitization 2016-01-28 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Interview with John P. Ayres Subject The topic of the resource Ayres, John P. -- Interviews; Broome County (N.Y.) -- History; Veterinarians -- Interviews; Farmers -- Interviews; Corbettsville (N.Y.); Agriculture; Food Quality Control Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Recording 1 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Ayres, John P. ; Dobandi, Susan Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Binghamton University Libraries Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978-03-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This audio file and digital image may only be used for educational purposes. Please cite as: Broome County Oral History Project, Special Collections, Binghamton University Libraries, Binghamton University, State University of New York. For usage beyond fair use please contact the Binghamton University Libraries Special Collections for more information. Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Date Modified Date on which the resource was changed. 2016-01-28 Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Broome County Oral History Project Extent The size or duration of the resource. 32:16 minutes https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/500ade25491ee66ea64f6a2c83693d96.pdf 06c621f0e5bd0e3b8eb4370e38d95515 PDF Text Text 1\ctio:· 1 for :·11,:cr Pcr:::o:1s, I.1c. :,roo:!2 Cou11tY l:ourt '.'.ou::;...:, :t-,. Court ·.. ou::2 :; <; t,.-irc :'.:.i11�:1;u ;to:-i, : :21: Yo1-':� lJ V)} Tden:rnne: ( :,,)7) 7 :2-12:.il JJ0',.i, i..ISTO?,Y PIWGilA!i Jurinp, t 1e pnst ye2.r, you uere intervi(!\IC:l ::i:1 ?. person froi;i our 0r2l 1.istory �ro:ram, so that a tape recordin: of vour recollections could :.12 :JaJe. ·i:,e t.:J:)CS .1ill be available for ye2rs to cor!e to persons 1.1:10 ,.risil to l,:�Jerst2ncJ Dore about \-':�.:it life \Jas like :Jec:ides af;o. 1 . ·. c .:ire >la:-ini:1: to place t.1esc tape rccordin�s, alone 1. ith ,:Titten tr2;1scri;)ts of ti1�r.,, at ti1e litrary of s·:./f{/�inr.:;h:1,Jton 2nJ at t,1c ::roone Count? i:istorical Society. 1 '.:ould ou \:inclly si:_::n and retu·r:1 to us the authorization forTJJ belo11 so that 1-;e uay do this, and so t,1at ot:1ers T'lay uencfit fro:J :1earin�. t'.1cse iT'lportant recorclinr;s. I'lease enclose t:,is s:1eet of p2per in the return cnv.2lope t:1at 2cco;_1�)anics t!1is letter. TnanJ.: you ap,ain for :;our 1.1illin�:1.css to participate in this rro�ra�.1. ;'c �·:. J :1'"ro2u:· .Juthori:::e i�ction for Older Persons to place t:1e recording of r:iy cunv�rsatiou Ll.:ide unJer the Oral i:istory Procrarn nt local libr.:iries, so that i.t ::10.:' i e listcneG to (or t'.1e transcript read) by persons uis"iin� to !:now ·.,urc o.�,out t.1e i1istory of our area. (Date) tl�� /\_,,; vv "� c-·t 'V�C----0 �� , -:,, ·: ..) �ACTION FOR OLDER PERSONS BROOME COUNTY ORAL HISTORY PROJECT ABSTRACT Mrs Clara Bell was born in Hawleyton, N. Y. near the Pennsylvania line on a farm in 1888. She was raised in a poor but kind home and mentions the hardships of having parents with failing health. She accepted the Lord at an early age and the church played an important role in her life. Mrs. Bell went through the 10th grade and later attended a business college. pastor of a church. She has a son who is a She had a great desire to become a writer and has and still writes poetry. Mrs. Bell is a resident of the Good Shepphard - Fairview Home where she is happy and secure. �ACTION for Older Persons, Inc. Independent, Membership-based, Non-profit Broome County Court House, Room 307 Court House Square, Binghamton, New York 13901 Telephone (607) 722-1251 BROO:ME COUNTY ORAL HISTORY PROJECT Interview Transcription Interviewer: Susan Dobandi Address: Date: 5/178 Tape No: 1 295 Front St. Binghamton, N. Y. Person Interviewed: Mrs. Clara Bell Address: Good Sheppard Fairview Home 80 Fairview Ave, Binghamton, N. Y. Date of Birth or approximate age: 90 Mrs. Bell: Could you tell us a where you were born, something about your parents and any work experiences that you've had in the community and any of your recollections of your Childhood? I was born in Hawleyton just this side of the Pennsylvania line the seventh child in the family born to a mother that was really an invalid that shouldn't have born a child at that time and we lived on a farm. I was born in 88 - 1888 and a we were what would be considered poor - OFFICERS Board Members R,·, ,, h \,Hgclft'l Hourt·n 1\\r, llt•\ l'I I\ /\ l\f(l\\ 11 /\ C1·org1• Cub., PrP\/dcnt ,\\r, I l11,1lwth �lut,,,•r V1cP-l'r<•'1rlpn/ 1\\r l<>s1,il1 I Nt'\\!Ornb V1cc-/'reS1<ic111 1\\r, I lor .. 111 ,. ( r.ilt �C'CrC'/ar\ ,\\1 1)011.ild I 1 r(' i hurcr llrm\11 I{,·, w I ( ,1111plwll ,\\r ll1•11r\ I C,1110".1\ ,\\r ll1•rn.ird ( .old" 111 ,\\r R,1lph I l,111 1\\r, lrt•nt• 11.irtung ,\\r, I ''" I !,•,1th R,•, I r,·dt•rn, I lop,,· ,\\r V\ ill.ird I ,1ud .. rh,1! h I{,,, Member. Agency United way i\\r 1\\r Mr RP, 1\\r 1\\r, 1\\r 1\h ,\\r, 1\\r J,11111•, C I 1•1·111•1. J1 VVill1,t111 I 1•1gl11011 I ho111c1.., I I oughlm v\ ,ll1.u11 ,\\ /\It I ,•,111 C h,,rl,•, I i\\urn I ho1n,1, /\\ P,irkhur,t I c1v1o1 rt•ric (') l'oltt.•r. 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One year I had to be kept from school because there wasn't a proper coat - warm coat for me to wear, and but it was a kind home but a very poor home and I think my father and mother tried always to cover up the poorness of it and dwell on the richness of it and there was a heap of richness there when you look over other homes today - and I was a unwanted child and a homely little runt of a child and born to people that had some nice looking children but very early in life I began to feel the conscious�� of God and I hope nobody misunderstands that it's nothing freakish at all but it was the sense of God and the dependence upon him and there was really nothing in the home life that would have made me that way but I was very conscious of it. I still remember the lay of the land and the spring in the pasture lot and to put things every contour of that place. It seemed as though God was in it with me and I think that �e must have known that I needed him so much because I was naturally a sour disposition child and my mother just could not - she could not CJ-- ('(\Q ) I (: (' ..:i, feel towards me and that's w " ·ve and so - love and so that has made me think that perhaps that had something to do with the queer child that I was and a when I - I went to Sunday school with neighbors and wanted to join the church and I told my parents that I - that I wanted to join the church well they told me that there would be a time when I was old enough but the time wasn't yet for me to join so that was alright with me - and I can remember reading the Bib le and the scorn of my eighteen year old brother because I was reading a Bible because of course he had no use for such a thing by the way I did have five sisters \Jr\ L)� and-a one very dear to me like a mother and -a-it was so beautiful that 1 at the time that I joined the church which doesn't mean becoming a �Mrs. Clara Bell Page 3 a Christian at all but it does to many peoples mind but not to mine. My mother had the feeling well if one of her children joined the church and I will say if one of my children accepted the Lord - mother felt that she should and I as a child was so ashamed that I didn't love her and I didn't love her and I had no reason to feel that she loved me but my mother joined the church but my mother became a Christian and if nobody else believes in Christianity I would have to for the change that was in my mother and she and I over and over again have thanked the Lord together that he spared her that time and we had that mother daughter experience. It was beautiful for quite a few years and she mean't so much to me. My people because of father's failing health and mother's of course u� had been we moved to Binghamton when I was sixteen years old and a my a father was a janitor in the school here not able to do that work at all and I fought desperately to get work of some kind. I may have had a foolish pride to be ashamed of but I - I still know the roots of it. I couldn't bring myself to go into one of the shops. It didn't seem as though it belonged some way to me and so there was a twitter twitter well my sister told me that her husband would lend me the money if I wanted it to go through business college so I did and very foolishly which is up to my way of thinking. When the time was up there was no offer made to me to get a job so I just simply left without interviewing the man who was head of the thing at all. Well I - one of the women who had gone through girls with the school �Mrs. Clara Bell Page 4 with me she said if I find a job at all that you can do why she said I will let you know - she did - she found a job in the a - a bookkeeping branch of the shoe factory here and she let me know and at the same time she did my mother said found out that my sister in Deposit her husband was bookkeeper at the Outing Publishing Co. she was ill and my mother said that was my duty to go there and so I went and a then three months Outing moved to New York and a many people went with it but I - I came home vY\ then and a-was engaged to be married at that time and so by - I took in washings to earn the money for I couldn't get a job and my mother was too ill to leave and I was married in April and a in three years and about a half the Lord blessed our home with a little girl who was so very dear and precious to us and we had her for forty-two years but the 'r Lord has taken her home and� she was the wife of a pastor who established a camp in Michigan and then a 10 years afterwards I always said that I'd like to have six little girls but I wouldn't want any boys at all but the Lord sent me a little boy and oh I never knew the treasure that had been witheld from me and I can say it today he will be 58 tomorrow. He has been one of the greatest blessings of my life. He is pastor of a church in Cincinnatus and he has I think that we are compatable let me say. Life looks funny to us at times riduculously so and yet we love the Lord so dearly. ;q Well in my life after my husband died and -a 12 years ago I had - we had a home in Port Dickinson and oh we had a lovely, lovely lot - extra lot and lovely flowers and shrubs I had and I worked until I was too weary to enjoy it and I so I decided to come here to the Fairview Home and one of the greatest blessings that I have found since being here and I have �Mrs. Clara Bell Page 5 found a heap of them is - I am not afraid anymore. there ever was one. I was born a coward if There were breakings in all around me when I was home and there was nothing that gave me that sense of security even though we put on these aluminum screens I thought nobody could get in - well people did get in so I came to Fairview. There is some people that would say they were false in Fairview and a I don't have to acknowledge it so I'm not going too. have found kindness. I have found grea.t-.blessing in this home. I I have broken my hip, fractured my hip and I have broken my wrist and the joint in it and I had to be in the infirmary here which many people say they would rather die than go into the infirmary to the - in the infirmary I found more grand-daughters and they were just so good to me and yet today when I see them there is just that warm�th feeling about it and while I can say that I can see improvements I couldn't be critical because I have been treated so kindly and the Lord is with me and I feel that I am one of the most fortunate people in the world and I praise the Lord for it because he has gone with me through some pretty deep troubled waters but he has always been there and led me out and on and it's good - it's good. the Lord leaving me here. I can't see the advisability of I thought when I came here I would be able to go to the infirmary and help and bless some lives there maybe and I now I don't do any of those things I go with a walker oh once in a while I get down there I love the folks there but I don't see where there is one particle of use of me taking up the place on the earth that I do. I have thought now it's so near the time I would like to wait till I was ninety but after that I don't dare to tell the Lord that I think so I think it's the time for me to be taken because I am a useless person really as far as being a blessing to anybody else oh I wanted to do such things. I wanted to go through college. �1 Mrs. Clara Bell Page 6 I wanted to write and I wanted you see the Lord couldn't trust me with that I'd probably would have gotten very cockey and puffed up and all of that - he had to keep me down - but oh he has been down with me and he has been up with me. The Lord is to be praised. ( Tell us about the poetry that you write. ) About - beg you pardon. ( The poetry) Oh - well that was a was a happy outlet even in my childhood and a - of writing poetry and then in Binghamton I was - oh I had a poem published by Lucia Trent and in her western anthology. dont't know how I ever got the idea of sending there. I There must have been something in my head or something that made me send it and that was accepted which was a real puff to my vanity and there was a write-up in our paper and a picture of me and another woman who had two anthology poems well that had brought me to the notice of our local poetry class that Miss Herrick a retired English teacher at high school was established that and so I went to that and of course I learned a great deal and awaited to write more properly perhaps but it was - it was a great "' 11\ 1i cU pleasure as long as it I think it just disbanded if I rcember or for some reason I had to give it up but it has been a pleasure and a few well the course and the class she sent out our work good deal to colleges in their books or whatever they call them and we had quite a few published in them and then I had I was very fond of Woody Magazine because both of my children went through school and I had two poems there and - and some other places some other mostly Christian magazines they had been but I think that my writing has tended to be along the line of nature very much - very much and it hasn't been anything sumptuous but I shall always feel that if it had been the Lord's will for me �Mrs. Clara Bell Page 7 to have had an education that I could have written for I had the feeling ,n I have the en� and he's blessed me perhaps with an appreciation that they don't all people feel. That's just - just splend�d to see who has - has a written and who has arrived and can do it and so I have been wonderfully blessed by them. ( Could we go back to when you were a 1.itt 1e gir � and see the ch anges in . 1 J"\ . \ the community a as far as transportation the way you were brought up?) We lived 2 miles from the school and we lived up a dirt road and a that was real steep over half of the way there and so that we - when wintertime often times it would be with great difficulty that we would get to school and once in a while we would have a hired man that would come for us �h when it was impossible to get home and -a we - we learned the reading, writing and arithrnatic and I had dear teachers that helped me a in my desire for more. (It was probably a one room schoolhouse wasn't it?) Yes, uh hu and a so that one teacher very kindly offered to stay on in the school and teach 10th grade which she didn't have to do and she did and I was I had my certificate for having passed that and then that is the formal educat ion that this poor soul has had but in heaven I'm going to be one of the smartest women there and we did have a - a yoke of oxen in my childhood and a they were larger than any of the others that I saw at the time - � �� very large red steers I called them red and a but they my a they seemed to adore my father and I think he did them and they'd be so obedient to him but he would leave me to - to ride them - to sit by them while he went for an errand or to get a drink and I would be so frightened I can �Mrs. Clara Bell Page 8 fee1 it yet those great oxen would no more of paid attention to that peeping weening voice and anything under the sun and most of our neighbors 1L I think had more of the worlds goods than we did but I do think much of our I can't say poverty because we were not poverty people at all because there was too much within and people coming and living in our home and coming - coming to us so much but - - - - - there was peace and goodness and joy in our home and I lost my train of thought that I was on and that's what 90 years old does to you. ( Well, you're doing very well. ) vh ,J And� so that a we had - we had such a desire for a what they call a II\ platform wagon that was a good size larger than a carriage and-a but we never had the money to get it so if we had to be a need for something like that we had to use a lumber wagon and a I tnow that a ride in that lumber wagon and look down on those horses scar�ed the liver right out of me as a kid. It seemed as thdgh I was up as high as heaven and they were elephants or something and a that was the way we were then and finally my people were able to get a horse one horse and in time my brother came back home and they got two more horses, and things moved more swiftly but not better - not better at all I think it was a leadCJ re of r 1 .,, ' 1 -1 . '' ing of what was coming to town and my brother-inlaws got a gramaphone /\ gramaphone I think it was called. Oh we just swarmed that 11ouse every night we'd go and we were so thrilled with that it was so wonderful and then another brother became affluent enough to a buy a Ford car and that was just - just immense to us. In - I was - I had been a member of Calvary Church for nearly 60 years and through those years from the �o time I was 16 until oh maybe - maybe I better say 10 years or-m0-Fe I �Mrs Clara Bell Page 9 don't think it was that long I taught Sunday school and from every grade I even caught - taught a college choir - class ignorant as I onward. am and enjoyed them and a there was so many things in the church you can do and love to do and people to love and I - that was a dear church and is a dear church but there in difference in the church I was in things progress. I learn everything progresses but old women 90 years old they don't progress but it's good - it's good. regret. I have no feeling of I had such a desire to be good looking and I was such a homely child and always had been and I had some beautiful sisters b�t it just didn't happen to mother the seventh child they tell about as favorite but this one wasn't much in health and to think - to think I had so much to thwart my growing up and my strength and I'm the only one of those other children who are living and the husbands and wives are gone too. Even now the nieces and nephews are going some an still the Lord is having me stay on here. must be. I would never quite dare to ask him Lord please take me out of my body and take me home. to do. It's his will and his will is good I just don't quite think it's the thing He has got the program he knows and it's very wise that he doesn't let us know. ( No, it would be very difficult to get through from one day to the next if we knew what was ahead of us. ) It surely would - it surely would I do pray the Lord if it's his will that I shall never have any more broken bones. They are difficult in a way but you know the way the Lord went with me through those hard yeilds is just unbelieve able and even now this sounds boastful too dear but this is the Lord iht, I'm boasting in the when I was in this insumary- infirmary the - the nurses did praise the progress that I made they thought it was �l. .. Mrs. Clara Bell Page 10 remarkable and a once in a while a dear one just doesn't try and that is too bad. - - - - ( Well thank you very much Mrs. Bell for taking the time to talk with us is there anything more that you would like to add to this interview? ) No, I don't think so only if I may add this I wish that everyone who might ever hear this would love the lord and depend on him as much as he's caused me to depend on him. ( Thank you. ) � https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/50a3a941c5076b4b54f360d0cd5e4de4.mp3 89d809b026880d5cddb53ce3ae68a231 https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/9884896bf5ee8132e0143ba7f0948428.mp3 89d809b026880d5cddb53ce3ae68a231 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Broome County Oral History Project Subject The topic of the resource Broome County -- History Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Binghamton University Libraries Description An account of the resource The Broome County Oral History Project was conceived and administered by the Senior Services Unit of the <a href="http://www.gobroomecounty.com/senior">Office for the Aging</a>. 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Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Bell, Clara Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Dobandi, Susan Date of Interview 1978-05-01 Collection Broome County Oral History Project Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 32:32 minutes Date of Digitization 2016-03-27 Subject LCSH Bell, Clara -- Interviews; Broome County (N.Y.) -- History; Authors -- Interviews; Hawleyton (N.Y.); Cavalry Church; Poetry Streaming Audio Streaming URL <a href="https://eternity.binghamton.edu/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE55362">Interview with Mrs. Clara Bell</a> Accessibility Copy/Paste below: Binghamton University Libraries is working very hard to create transcriptions of all audio/visual media present on this site. If you require a specific transcription for accessibility purposes, you may contact us at <a href="mailto:orb@binghamton.edu">orb@binghamton.edu</a>. Binghamton University Libraries is working very hard to create transcriptions of all audio/visual media present on this site. If you require a specific transcription for accessibility purposes, you may contact us at <a href="mailto:orb@binghamton.edu">orb@binghamton.edu</a>. Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound, or alternative text from a visual medium Broome County Oral History Project Interview with: Mrs. Clara Bell Interviewed by: Susan Dobandi Date of interview: 1 May 1978 Susan: Mrs. Bell, could you tell us, ah, where you were born, something about your parents, and any work experiences that you've had in the community, and any of your recollections of your childhood? Mrs. Bell: I was born in Hawleyton, just this side of the Pennsylvania line, the seventh child in the family, born to a mother that was really an invalid that shouldn't have borne a child at that time, and we lived on a farm. I was born in ’88—1888, and ah, we were what would be considered poor—people, we really did have hand-me-downs that would help us. One year I had to be kept from school because there wasn't a proper coat, warm coat, for me to wear, and but, it was a kind home but a very poor home, and I think my father and mother tried always to cover up the poorness of it and dwell on the richness of it, and there was a heap of richness there, when you look over other homes today. And I was a unwanted child and a homely little runt of a child and born to people that had some nice-looking children, but very early in life I began to feel the consciousness of God, and I hope nobody misunderstands that, it's nothing freakish at all, but it was the sense of God and the dependence upon Him, and there was really nothing in the home life that would have made me that way, but I was very conscious of it. I still remember the lay of the land and the spring in the pasture lot and to put things, every contour of that place. It seemed as though God was in it with me, and I think that He must have known that I needed Him so much, because I was naturally a sour disposition child and my mother just could not—she could not feel towards me, and that's a mother’s life, and so—love, and so that has made me think that perhaps that had something to do with the queer child that I was, and ah, when I—I went to Sunday school with neighbors and wanted to join the church, and I told my parents that I—that I wanted to join the church, well, they told me that there would be a time when I was old enough but the time wasn't yet for me to join, so that was all right with me—and I can remember reading the Bible and the scorn of my eighteen-year-old brother because I was reading a Bible, because of course he had no use for such a thing. By the way, I did have five sisters and, uh, one very dear to me like a mother and, uh, it was so beautiful that at the time that I joined the church, which doesn't mean becoming a, a Christian at all, but it does to many people’s mind, but not to mine. My mother had the feeling, well, if one of her children joined the church, and I will say if one of my children accepted the Lord—Mother felt that she should, and I as a child was so ashamed that I didn't love her, and I didn't love her and I had no reason to feel that she loved me, but my mother joined the church, but my mother became a Christian, and if nobody else believes in Christianity I would have to for the change that was in my mother, and she and I, over and over again, have thanked the Lord together that he spared her that time and we had that mother-daughter experience. It was beautiful for quite a few years and she meant so much to me. My people—because of father's failing health, and mother's, of course—had been, we moved to Binghamton when I was sixteen years old and, ah, my, ah, father was a janitor in the school here, not able to do that work at all, and I fought desperately to get work of some kind. I may have had a foolish pride to be ashamed of, but I—I still know the roots of it. I couldn't bring myself to go into one of the shops. It didn't seem as though it belonged some way to me, and so there was a twitter-twitter—well, my sister told me that her husband would lend me the money, if I wanted it, to go through business college, so I did, and very foolishly, which is up to my way of thinking. When the time was up there was no offer made to me to get a job, so I just simply left without interviewing the man who was head of the thing at all. Well I—one of the women who had gone through girls with the school with me, she said, “If I find a job at all that you can do,” why, she said, “I will let you know.” She did—she found a job in the, ah—ah, bookkeeping branch of the shoe factory here and she let me know, and at the same time she did, my mother said, found out that my sister in Deposit—her husband was bookkeeper at the Outing Publishing Company—she was ill, and my mother said that was my duty to go there and so I went and, ah, then in three months Outing moved to New York and, ah, many people went with it, but I—I came home then and, ah—was engaged to be married at that time, and so by—I took in washings to earn the money for I couldn't get a job and my mother was too ill to leave, and I was married in April and, ah, in three years and about a half, the Lord blessed our home with a little girl who was so very dear and precious to us, and we had her for forty-two years but the Lord has taken her home, and she was the wife of a pastor who established a camp in Michigan, and then, ah, ten years afterwards, I always said that I'd like to have six little girls but I wouldn't want any boys at all, but the Lord sent me a little boy, and oh, I never knew the treasure that had been withheld from me, and I can say it today, he will be fifty-eight tomorrow. He has been one of the greatest blessings of my life. He is pastor of a church in Cincinnatus and he has—I think that we are compatible, let me say. Life looks funny to us, at times ridiculously so, and yet we love the Lord so dearly. Well in my life, after my husband died and, ah, twelve years ago I had—we had a home in Port Dickinson, and oh, we had a lovely, lovely lot—extra lot, and lovely flowers and shrubs, I had, and I worked until I was too weary to enjoy it and I so I decided to come here to the Fairview Home, and one of the greatest blessings that I have found since being here, and I have found a heap of them, is: I am not afraid anymore. I was born a coward if there ever was one. There were breakings-in all around me when I was home and there was nothing that gave me that sense of security, even though we put on these aluminum screens, I thought nobody could get in—well, people did get in, so I came to Fairview. There is some people that would say they were false in Fairview and, ah, I don't have to acknowledge it so I'm not going too. I have found great blessing in this home. I have found kindness. I have broken my hip, fractured my hip, and I have broken my wrist and the joint in it and I had to be in the infirmary here, which, many people say they would rather die than go into the infirmary, into the—in the infirmary I found more granddaughters and they were just so good to me, and yet today when I see them, there is just that warmth feeling about it, and while I can say that I can see improvements, I couldn't be critical because I have been treated so kindly and the Lord is with me, and I feel that I am one of the most fortunate people in the world and I praise the Lord for it, because he has gone with me through some pretty deep troubled waters, but He has always been there and led me out and on and it's good—it's good. I can't see the advisability of the Lord leaving me here. I thought when I came here I would be able to go to the infirmary and help and bless some lives there, maybe, and I, now I don't do any of those things, I go with a walker, oh, once in a while I get down there, I love the folks there, but I don't see where there is one particle of use of me taking up the place on the earth that I do. I have thought, now it's so near the time, I would like to wait ’til I was ninety, but after that I don't dare to tell the Lord that I think so, I think it's the time for me to be taken, because I am a useless person, really, as far as being a blessing to anybody else—oh, I wanted to do such things. I wanted to go through college. I wanted to write and I wanted—you see, the Lord couldn't trust me with that—I probably would have gotten very cocky and puffed up and all of that—he had to keep me down—but oh, He has been down with me and He has been up with me. The Lord is to be praised. Susan: Tell us about the poetry that you write. Mrs. Bell: About—beg your pardon? Susan: The poetry. Mrs. Bell: Oh—well, that was a was a happy outlet even in my childhood, and ah—of writing poetry—and then in Binghamton I was—oh, I had a poem published by Lucia Trent and in her western anthology. I don't know how I ever got the idea of sending there. There must have been something in my head or something that made me send it, and that was accepted, which was a real puff to my vanity, and there was a write-up in our paper and a picture of me and another woman who had two anthology poems, well, that had brought me to the notice of our local poetry class that Miss Herrick, a retired English teacher at high school, was established that, and so I went to that and of course I learned a great deal and awaited to write more properly, perhaps, but it was—it was a great pleasure as long as it—I think it just disbanded if I remember, or for some reason I had to give it up, but it has been a pleasure and a few, well, the course and the class, she sent out our work a good deal to colleges, in their books or whatever they call them, and we had quite a few published in them and then I had, I was very fond of Woody Magazine because both of my children went through school, and I had two poems there and—and some other places, some other, mostly Christian magazines they had been, but I think that my writing has tended to be along the line of nature very much—very much and it hasn't been anything sumptuous, but I shall always feel that if it had been the Lord's will for me to have had an education that I could have written for, I had the feeling I have the in and He's blessed me, perhaps, with an appreciation that they don't all people feel. That's just—just splendid to see who has—has, ah, written and who has arrived and can do it, and so I have been wonderfully blessed by them. Susan: Could we go back to when you were a little girl, uh, and see the changes in the community, uh, as far as transportation, the way you were brought up? Mrs. Bell: We lived two miles from the school and we lived up a dirt road and, ah, that was real steep over half of the way there and, so that we—when wintertime, often times it would be with great difficulty that we would get to school, and once in a while we would have a hired man that would come for us when it was impossible to get home, and—ah, we—we learned the reading, writing, and arithmetic, and I had dear teachers that helped me, ah, in my desire for more. Susan: It was probably a one room schoolhouse, wasn't it? Mrs. Bell: Yes, uh huh, and, ah, so that one teacher very kindly offered to stay on in the school and teach tenth grade, which she didn't have to do, and she did and I was, I had my certificate for having passed that, and then that is the formal education that this poor soul has had, but in Heaven I'm going to be one of the smartest women there, and we did have a—a yoke of oxen in my childhood and, ah, they were larger than any of the others that I saw at the time—very large red steers, I called them red and, ah, but they, my, ah, they seemed to adore my father, and I think he did them, and they'd be so obedient to him, but he would leave me to—to ride them—to sit by them while he went for an errand or to get a drink, and I would be so frightened I can feel it yet, those great oxen would no more have paid attention to that peeping weaning voice than anything under the sun, and most of our neighbors, I think, had more of this world’s goods than we did, but I do think much of our—I can't say “poverty,” because we were not poverty people at all, because there was too much within and people coming and living in our home and coming—coming to us so much, but—there was peace and goodness and joy in our home, and I lost my train of thought that I was on, and that's what ninety years old does to you. Susan: Well, you're doing very well. Mrs. Bell: And, ah, so that, ah, we had—we had such a desire for a, what they call a platform wagon, that was a good size larger than a carriage and, ah, but we never had the money to get it, so if we had to be, a need for something like that, we had to use a lumber wagon and, ah, I know that a ride in that lumber wagon and look down on those horses scared the liver right out of me as a kid. It seemed as though I was up as high as Heaven and they were elephants or something, and ah, that was the way we were then, and finally my people were able to get a horse, one horse, and in time my brother came back home and they got two more horses, and things moved more swiftly, but not better—not better at all, I think it was a leading of what was coming to town, and my brother-in-laws got a gramophone—gramophone, I think it was called. Oh, we just swarmed that house, every night we'd go, and we were so thrilled with that, it was so wonderful, and then another brother became affluent enough to, ah, buy a Ford car and that was just—just immense to us. In—I was—I had been a member of Calvary Church for nearly sixty years and through those years from the time I was sixteen until, oh, maybe—maybe I better say ten years ago, don't think it was that long—I taught Sunday school and from every grade onward. I even caught—taught a college choir—class, ignorant as I am, and enjoyed them, and ah, there was so many things in the church you can do and love to do and people to love, and I—that was a dear church and is a dear church, but there is difference in the church I was in, things progress. I learn, everything progresses, but old women, ninety years old, they don't progress, but it's good—it's good. I have no feeling of regret. I had such a desire to be good looking, and I was such a homely child and always had been, and I had some beautiful sisters but it just didn't happen to Mother, the seventh child they tell about as favorite, but this one wasn't much in health, and to think—to think I had so much to thwart my growing up and my strength, and I'm the only one of those other children who are living, and the husbands and wives are gone too. Even now the nieces and nephews are going, some, and still the Lord is having me stay on here. It's His will and His will is good, must be. I would never quite dare to ask him, “Lord, please take me out of my body and take me home.” I just don't quite think it's the thing to do. He has got the program He knows and it's very wise that He doesn't let us know. Susan: No, it would be very difficult to get through from one day to the next if we knew what was ahead of us. Mrs. Bell: It surely would—it surely would. I do pray to the Lord, if it's His will, that I shall never have any more broken bones. They are difficult in a way, but you know, the way the Lord went with me through those hard yields is just unbelievable, and even now this sounds boastful, too, dear, but this is the Lord I'm boasting—in the, when I was in this insumary [sic]—infirmary, the—the nurses did praise the progress that I made, they thought it was remarkable and, ah, once in a while a dear one just doesn't try, and that is too bad. Susan: Well thank you very much, Mrs. Bell, for taking the time to talk with us. Is there anything more that you would like to add to this interview? Mrs: Bell: No, I don't think so. Only if I may add this—I wish that everyone who might ever hear this would love the Lord and depend on Him as much as He's caused me to depend on Him. Susan: Thank you. Rights Statement This audio file and digital image may only be used for educational purposes. Please cite as: Broome County Oral History Project, Special Collections, Binghamton University Libraries, Binghamton University, State University of New York. For usage beyond fair use please contact the Binghamton University Libraries Special Collections for more information. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Interview with Mrs. Clara Bell Subject The topic of the resource Bell, Clara -- Interviews; Broome County (N.Y.) -- History; Authors -- Interviews; Hawleyton (N.Y.); Cavalry Church; Poetry Description An account of the resource Clara Bell talks about her childhood growing up in Hawleyton, NY on a farm with her family. She discusses the hardship of her parents' declining health and the importance of the church in her life, as well as her experience in college and desire to become a writer and poet. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Binghamton University Libraries Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This audio file and digital image may only be used for educational purposes. Please cite as: Broome County Oral History Project, Special Collections, Binghamton University Libraries, Binghamton University, State University of New York. For usage beyond fair use please contact the Binghamton University Libraries Special Collections for more information. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Recording 2 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Bell, Clara ; Dobandi, Susan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978-05-01 Date Modified Date on which the resource was changed. 2016-03-27 Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Broome County Oral History Project Extent The size or duration of the resource. 32:32 minutes https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/f56fb6173268435ba1e46feb34826063.pdf 9ba50e40e7c67035e91ce2b86ff4452e PDF Text Text /1.ctio:1 for ,l.l�'...::r Pcr,;0:1:;, I.1c. j";roo:·'.2 Cou:1c,.- ,:curt :.o,r:,:, :'.:- .. Court . . rl 11:. 2 S •! 1, .11· 2 �i11":1:u1to!l, .:2·,· Yor·:: lJ '"l Tc:le:1irn:1c: (:,,J7) 72'.2-·1'2)1 Jf'Ju.. i.lSTO?,Y PJWG:'J1.: i Jurin� the -:-iast ye2.r, )'OU \/ere intervic,,c.! '.:>:• c1 !'erson froiJ our vr::il Li.story I'ro:_:;ram, so th£1t 2 tape r<Jcorcin:3 of vour recollections could be ::.1a<le. ·i·:1e t.:ircs Fill be c1vailablc for ye.:irs to co!'ie to per:,ons u::JcrstancJ nor2 about ,:;;.:it life uas like ::Jec.:1cJcs ;:i�o. 11:10 ·,->is11 to · ,_, :1re pL:i:1ni:1 n to place t:1esc tape rccordin::;s, along \·Jith 1.-rittcn Lr.:.1scri;)ts of ti1�1�, at tlic library of s 1 ·:r{/�in::;r1.1,.1ton anG at t!1c �rom1e Countv liistorical Sl)ciety. '..;ould you ;:indly si::;n and retur:1 to us the .:iutnoriz.::i tion i:or111 helon _ o that ,;e u;:iy co this, anC: �o t:1at ot:1ers P1ay benefit fro:J l1earin: t'.1cse il'lport;:int recon.lin�,s. Plense enclose tl1is s;1eet of paper in the return cnv�2.ope t:1::it 2.cco11:).Jnics t:1is letter. T'nan'.-: you a�ain for your '.:illin::;ness to pnrticipate in this pro�r.:1::1. ;', , ... I '.1crcu:' outhorize i'.ction for Older Persoi1S to nl2cc t·:1e recorJinG of TJ)' coi1versi:'ltion r.1.:1ue ,mJcr the Oral i:istory Pro3raE1 ;it local lil>r.:1ries, so that "j t ::1c1:• i)_ listcncC: to (or t:1e transcript read) bv persons uis:iin� to .�now ·.,\ire :10out Lie iiistory of our ar<:'.a. (Date) (,'\._ ·\\.,V\. [� J _1 ' • I �ACTION FOR OLDER PERSONS Broome County Oral History Project March 6, 1978 ABSTRACT Mrs. Anna Borsuk was born in 1891 in Pittsburgh Penn. Spent her early years growing up in Pennsylvania then came to Binghamton in 1915. She worked in hotels as a waitress and all around girl, i1ent to work in a hotel in New York City while there learned the beauty parlor business and opened one of the first beauty parlors in Bing hamton in the Press Building. Waving. Her salon was the first to have Marcel She also ran a tourist house. She mentions her poor health suffering from tuberculosis and her struggle to raise her son alone. She also mentions the help from welfare later in her life and the kindness of the people from urban renewal in relocating her in an apartment at the highrise for the elderly at 24 Isbell St., Binghamton, New York. �ACTION for Older Persons 1 Inc. Broome County Court House, Room 307 Court House Square, Binghamton, New York 13901 Telephone (607) 722-1251 BROOME COUNTY ORAL HISTORY PROJECT Interview Transcription Interviewer: Date: 3/6/78 Susan Dobandi Address: Person Interviewed: Address: Tape No.: 295 Front St., Binghamton N. Y. Miss Anna Horsuk 24 Isabell St., Binghamton N. Y. Date of Birth or approximate age: 87 This is Susan Dobandi interviewer and I'm talking with Miss Anna Borsuk who lives at 24 Isabell St., Binghamton, N. Y. The date is Mar. 6, 1978. ( Anna, Could you tell us something about your early beginnings where you were born, any recollections of your childhood? ) Anna: Yes, I can - I can remember bh from the age of 5 ·or 6 I guess I remember. ( Where were you born?) Anna: I was born in Pittsburgh Pa. - - We moved from there to Mayfair, Penn. and I was I guess I must have been 8 or 9 years old. From there we moved again to Carbondale, Penn. and I started to work in a hotel. I was there 5 years as a waitress and all around girl. - - I'm ahead of my story but lets see I got married before I started working at the hotel. �Anna Borsuk Page 2 I was married when I was sixteen years old and a I had my son, my son and then when he was a year and a half old I left and went to the hotel. I went to work as a waitress and I was there 5 years and I met some good friends there who were salesman - saw how hard D worked and how much money I was making and they felt sorry for me and I in the meantime my mothers and fathers home burned down and they lost everything and I felt very badly while I was working some of the guests noticed me that I felt badly and they asked why I was upset and I told them that we had lost our home. We lost everything and they said why do you stay here in Carbondale and work in this hotel ? You work too hard they used to tell me and a I really don't know whether too - ') 0 ., 1-< >I L ... h� Why don't you move to Lestershire? We'll see. W" �· '> So, Mr. Bennett ', a salesman for ladies hats and used to come around and show his hats around. In those days the salesman used to bring their stuff to different hotels. They didn't have it the way they do now and he travel- ed by train and then so I came home and,told my mother the good news and she was delighted to hear it and she said II Oh Anna please go to Binghamton. Your sisters are getting older now and they - they could work and help us. 11 Y,c l',n,u My father was a miner and he wasn't getting any money•ott�. So, mother had a garden and she had chickens and she had everything we lived off that rather my family lived of course I was working and I came to Binghamton and it was June 15, 1915. -l�n'<-' I'll never forget that was a rainy da�. I came here and I was soaked and raining very hard that day and I was soaken wet and my sister Julia which was next to me If you come with me I'll find you a job. So, while I was here - while I was here in Binghamton I did not know a soul nobody and I stopped at the Press building and I looked in the dictionary to find out where the Russian �Anna Borsuk Page 3 are - I thought wherever there are Russian Churches then there are some Russian people and they would help me and sure enough I - I took a street car and I forget an old factory a cigar factory people were in there and I could smell the odor from cigars and that was something new - and I got off at the church right on Clinton St. St. Michael's Church and across the street I noticed a Russian name and I went in there and I spoke to him in Russian and he answered me and I asked him that I'm a stranger and I'm looking for a house for my family and a he said well there is - I don't know anything about it he said to me I couldn't tell you but my wife is coming home if you'll wait she'll be here any minute and sure enough she came in and she ��d yes, I'll take you to the lady on the corner of Charles and Grace St. and the lady is giving up her apartment. So, I went in there with Mary Driscoll her name was Driscoll and she spoke to the lady for me and I told her and she said yes, I'm moving out right now but I thought who owned the property but I supposed that she was the landlord and she told me that Dr. Hutchings on Front St. so I went there all in one day I did all that. I went there and I met this doctor and I told him my story, my sad story and he was very kind and very helpful and he said a I'll rent you this house as soon as you can get here and I'll help you all I can. So, he a I said well we have nothing - nothing to bring over because everything was burned down. My mother was living with her sister and so I - I stayed here one day and then I went to the shoe factory Dunn McCarthy's and a I wanted to talk to the foreman or the superintendent and a I met a very nice man and I - I should remember his name because he was a wonderful to me. I was a child. He talked to me like He said " My dear girl he said you bring your sisters here and I'll give them a job and bring your father and I'll give him a job too." So, I felt I was delighted and a a I was on the verge to go back to the �Anna Borsuk Page 4 hotel because I know my manager there would be displeased that I left and a I said a I have to go back to Carbondale to my job and they gave me only one day off and a so we hurried, we hurried and hurried and I wanted to get off and anyway I had everything arranged and we said Dr.Hutchings I think that was a his name Dr. Hutchings - they used to live by up there it's hard to say up there you know from the corner the third house up there you know. I think probably it's still there. He said, 11 I won't charge you any rent I won't expect anything from you whatever you can do so I - I didn't have to pay any rent any - anway I didn't have any money and a see I dont know what to say. Yes - so this neighbor the next door neighbor from the house that we were going to move into they were Slovish people - I think they're name was Kusmach. I asked them if my sister could stay there all night with them - with them while I go home and break the news and my family would come here right away and then she stayed there she began to cry Julia did she thought she's among strangers you know and she was oh about 15 years old and a well anyway Julia you have a job and there are two girls in the family there and they have supported her too because they were working too so then I said goodbye to her and she cried and I cried too. I came to the station. on my way to the station in the rain the next day. I was I had to spend the night over in the neighbors house and a the next day I was going to the station and Mr. Hart and Mr. Bennett the two salesman that had told me to come here, I ran into them or rather they ran into me and he said what are you doing here Anna? And I said well Mr. Bennett you told me to go to Lestershire so I came to Lestershire and I have everything arranged and they were very surprised that I did it so quickly so then I said a and then Mr. Bennett and Mr. Hart said to me well where are you going? �Anna Borsuk What are you going to do? Page 5 I said well I'm going back to the American Hotel because Mr. & Mrs. Mccann will be cross with me that I'm taking off and they took me by the arm and they said you're not going back there you're working like a slave there and it's too much for you. We're going to intro duce you to a hotel manager here and they took me to the Bennett Hotel. That's the Bennett at that time and it was a very nice hotel at that time. They introduced me to the manager I think his name was Mr. Proseman and his beautiful wife and a Mr. Proseman said that I was a very fine girl and I was supporting my son and he told them the story and a they gave me the job right away and I was there for about a year and when some other friends that recognized me in the lobby some of the people who remembered me from Carbondale saw me there working there and a Mr. Bennett waiting on the table that I waited on the manager and his wife I just hadone table just the family and a so I felt kind of proud you know that they ch'ose me among all the others you know so I felt kind of well I was I was just a very happy about it that everything that I had so many friends that were helping me and I was they just a - they were so pleased I do whatever they suggested everything. I and a I a I called well anyway I said alright I'll have to go back to Carbondale and give my notice that I'm coming and I went back and the manager and his wife didn't want to let me go. They didn't want to pay me but they said you gotta stay here and I said I can't I promised I'm going there and I said my family is going there and my little boy was you know with my mother and my son was going to be a year and half old and a I said wherever he's gonna be I ought to be there too. reluctant to let me go. So they were very They didn't like it and a so as I said in the - I worked only one year at the Bennett and one of the other guests recognized me and they said we can find you a better place than this to work so �Anna Borsuk Page 6 they went to the Arlington Hotel and spoke to Mr. Turney the old gentleman Turney was in there you know there at that time. They spoke c.\� to him and told him about me and that I was a hard worker and,a very decent girl and all that and of course they were giving me all that recommendation I didn'thave to tell them all that about myself but a they all felt sorry for me that I had such big responsibilities and the guests were always very nice to me in every hotel whereever I worked and a finally a I got the job at the Arlington and I left the Bennett which was not a nice thing$ to do because they were nice to me I had no reason to leave to leave but a a they thought that I would do better at the Arlington which I did because they gave me more money and that helped. I had to give so much money to my mother to help her towards my son's support and his Ir r ,-i-, • r [, f>, - clothes and everything and a of course before that I was separated from my � husband but he wasn't supporting me. He was working on the railroad and he was drinking and he just didn't care about - about the baby or me or anything. He never gave me any money so I just - I just left him - I couldn't - I didn't want to continue living with him and have anymore I stayed at the Arlington for 5 years then I went to New York City and I started working at the Statler Hotel which was only there two years before and I a I was there only a year at this hotel and then I noticed they were opening up a beauty parlor on the mezzanine floor and I had an interview myself I kept thinking about my poor sisters working in the shoe factory and I thought what a wonderful idea it would be if they would take a beauty parlor work and a go into that kind of work. I couldn't afford to - to work at the salaries that the learners in those days they didn't have �Anna Borsuk Page 7 beauty - beauty schools like they have now cause we had to work in the beauty parlor as an apprentice and you only got $12.00 a week. A girl that just took up hair and keep the box filled and so I got my sister in New York and she got the job at the President at the they called it Pennsylvania the Statler Hotel and she was there for a while and I had to leave her because my mother had a big 12 family apartment in Binghamton and she thought that I should be with her that I that she couldn't get along without me being there to help her with the and she wrote me that I'm breaking up her home by taking my sisters away and I left the Statler Hotel to be with my mother to help her with that big property she got. And my sister liked New York so well she stayed and she had been modeling and - and a she made good money and she stayed about 2 years but while I was here trying to help my mother with that big 12 family apartment house and she came back - finally she came back and then I said well I'm going to look around Binghamton and see if we can find a little place where we can start a little beauty parlor. Of course my sister took up marcel waving we were the first people that had that method you know when we came here. She took that up in New York and of course Dorothy too was a manicurist and my second sister and so the two of them had a little training and so I found a location in a beauty parlor I ran around Binghamton and asked different people what to do with it. Get a good place and my lawyer my family lawyer Mr. Polletta told me to talk to Mr. Tyler which was the superintendent of the Press building at the time and I spoke to Mr. Tyler rather Mr. Polletta spoke to him first and he gave me a little room that had only 2 chairs and two dryers and 2 manicuring tables?course I had to buy my equipment in New York. They didn't have any equipment up here in Binghamton and so I had to order it there and mother came to New York an gave me the money for the equipment and begged me to �Anna Borsuk Page 8 come home with tears in her eyes and I agreed to come home and bring the girls back home and so they my sisters wanted to stay away because the found more opportunities and finally when I opened the beauty parlor and Martha and I were the first two that were working there. ( Can you recall any of the prices at that time?) Oh, yes the manicures were SO� and our shampoo was SO� and of course the only big item they were the highest was the permanent wave which I was doing that was my speciality I charged $6.00. I had the beauty parlor where I'd have to go to New York to the hairdressers show every six months take just take up the Eugene Wave by Mr. Eugene himself personally gave me the instructions. That was the Marcel wave, the permanent wave they used to call it a Marcel so then my sister Martha was lliss Martha she was giving a marcel with an iron you knowbut I was so we made a big hit in Binghamton and then we outgrew the beauty parlor it was too small for the business. It just boomed the first year that we were there. only a year. We were there I spoke to Mr. Tyler that - that I'd like to move into a larger room and he said that Judge Parson is moving away from - he's giving th•r up his position and he's right on a corner he has two rooms. he said I could take the partition down and you could enlarge it would be an L shaped beauty parlor for you but you could have as many boothSas you want so I said that would be fine so Mr. Tyler the superintendent was very nice to me. He suggested it and I - I thought of course it was a good idea so I said I'd appreciate it very much I think if you would do that because I have two cth!r sisters that are ready to come in with me and we wouldn't fit in this little room we have here. They did it in a hurray and they did special piping for us and 9lso drains from each booth from the shampooing booth. We had seven �Anna Borsuk Page 9 shampoo booths and 3 manicuring tables and one barber chair - hair cutting chair and I have some pictures of that and a we did very good business and and of course all my sisters were in by that time they all 4 of us - 5 of us and I - I was about I used to give six and seven permanents a day and I got terribly run down and I got a cold one day and I just thought well maybe I need a change I'll go to New York maybe I just need a change I thought you know because I had so much responsibility so I packed my little bag and I went. My mother didn't approve, my sisters didn't nobody approved of me going but I said I'm getting away from everything I can't take it I didn't realize I was sick although my doctor kept telling me that I'm going to get sick and he threatened me that I'm going to get sick. He told his wife was a customer of mine, his daughter was my customer and his aunt and they all saw how hard I worked. I used to work from 8 o'clock until lo every night and I never had time to eat my lunch and if I did I - I had indigestion and the doctor said before I go to lunch to lay down for a minute before I go - he said if you don't be careful you're going to get TB Dr. Arfonse said that to me and I said a no I said I'm not going to get TB I'll be alright so I just packed my suitcase and I went to New York and I went to Sacks Fifth Ave., N. Y. and I talked to the manager there about a and he gave it to me. job I was working there about 4 months when one day I had a spell while I was on duty and a there were two - four girls there they were Russian girls there they were from Russia and they were only shampoo girls they were really they came they were refuges from Russia here and they didn't know nothing about hair work but the only thing they could do was wash the hair and they saw that I looked sick and then they took me over to the clinic it was on the ninth floor and the doctor and the nurse said they had one room just like a hospital and they found that I had TB. They sent �Anna Borsuk Page 10 me away for a year and then I came back home cured and I couldn't go back to the beauty parlor because there was something about the cosmetics that I would cough and I - I thought well I'd sit at the desk and just get the appointments prepare the customers and let the girls do the rest. We had 13 girls working there by that time, colored girls too and we were teaching girls beauty work and I know my uncle came here from Pittsburgh and he 'd say I don't know why your teaching anybody they're ti h' .:I, going to take business away from you b�� they did but it - it didn't hurt us and a because the business kept booming and a so I a was managing it from the house and the girls would come home and tell my mother that Anna's coughing too much and they were trying to keep my condition secrete from my customers nobody didn't know so then my mother said why don't you stay home Anna and we have a big house a 22 room house on Court St. there why don't you do something with this you seem to know what to do so I said the only thing I could think of is start a ourist house now that I'm sick and can't work in the beauty parlor anymore for another year the doctor say I can't go to the beauty parlor for another year until they pronounce me arrested - my case arrested. I had to go to the doctor every month to be exrayed and questioned and so I started the trurist business and that business boomed you know and I ran that for 13 years. And talk about my mother got sick gall bladder and she she didn't get up in time she got this palsey you know so that when she got down here she needed me so I was a nurse I was taking care of my mother and I was running the tourist house. I used to have 30 people in my house every night during the summer and I had to show them the rooms go run outdoors and show them where to park the cars. I did that for 13 years and then my mother passed away and then you know she passed away and a then I had another breakdown �Anna Borsuk Page 11 after she died with pleursy on my bad lung and I was in the hospital 11 weeks and the doctor hollered at hlY doctor and he shook his finger at me that I'm not being fair to my self but he pulled me through - I - I - I had a 103 temperature for 11 weeks and he called my daughter-in-law by that time my son was married and he told my daughter-in-law the things that that I did but a by that the family wanted to sell the house they thought it was too much for me and they all wanted to get out and on their own they were getting married and I didn't want to sell it because I wanted a home I wanted something if I knew I was going to live to this age I would have fought it more I would have kept it but I thought I'm finished because my family gave me up so many times then I had a second breakdown after we sold the house I had another breakdown of my lungs and I was at Chenango Bridge and I'm still here and but I still didn't give up I got back on my feet and started working again and a I a the family pressed me so hard to sell sell sell that I finally gave up and I sold it. to do. So then I wasn't welcome anyplace I - I just didn't know what What am I going to do. I - I - - - ( So what year did you come to the high rise?) Well I came to the high rise in 1968 when they just opened it. I'm here 10 years and well well first I - I traveled with a suitcase I went all over you know and the money that I had from the property you know 17 years I was doing nothing just traveling with a suitcase trying to make myself live someplace. I didn't know where I belonged and a as for a job they said they didn't want anybody at my age which was around 40 and I was around 40 and a I no matter what I did I was a telephone operator, I worked on a switchboard worked at the New York City hotel and I worked �Anna Borsuk Page 12 at the switchboard in the front here and I had all this experience and they didn't want to give me a job because of my age so I said what am I going to do. I just retired. Well I lived off the few hundred - thousand dollars that I got for 17 years but then the money was gone so I was older and I said what am I goingto do now so I had another good friend at the Bennett Hotel and he and I told him my story and he and his wife and he was Mr. Lamb I guess everybody in town knows him and about my story and he says well I can help you all I can say is a good work for you to go on welfare so I said yes I will go on welfare but I didn't my family and my son didn't know anything about it that I was doing that I was very independent I never went to any of them for a dollar or a coin - - or anything I'm kind of independent and I was too spunky you know my mother and father used to say to me I never seen anything like you if you make up your min� your gonna do it I still do, but a so then people were very kind to me the urban renewal people a a Margarette a a what's her name she's in the office over here. I can't think of her name now, she was very kind to me and she said I was living at the Arlington I was on welfare already and of course welfare were giving me only $85.00 a month and I hadto pay $50.00 rent so what did I have left so I used to do - I used to help a lot of little old ladies take them someplace and they'd buy my meal and a or I used to sew I I was a dressmaker for 3 years and then my eyesight failed t-h�l \.I/., failed me and I managed n-i:-eet� ut I always meet nice people that were couldsew. always very helpful to me all the time not that I - I didn't go to them purposefully to tell them my sad story but a I- I wanted to get along as best I could so then a - a well we were living at the Bennett you know the place was condemned the Bennett hotel and we were living there - �Anna Borsuk Page 13 there were about 20 of us ladies living there and a I couldn't make - I couldn't make ends meet so I used to take care of another sick lady but a retired from Washington from the Pengagon and she - I used to escort her around and sheused to buy my lunches for me. I used to escort her around town and well after that we had to move out of there. We were there I was there about 6 years at the Bennett and then the urban renewal moved us to the Arlington. We were supposed to bethere only one year but instead of that we figured two years waiting for this to be finished so then a the'd moved me here they a urban moved my furniture and they bought furniture that I have here. It's from the Arlington they bought it for me through thewelfare I don't know who paid for it and some of the odd pieces were given to me that I have but a so I have been here ever since. ( Well Anna, I think that we can close by saying that you have a very lovely attractive apartment so that you are comfortable.) Well a lot of people say that to me but a when a I was runningthe tourist house you know the guests used to come in and say that I had the cleanest house that I used to have the cleanest rooms of any tourist house that they ever had and they always came. house. We used to have a lot of flowers around the I had a lot of boxes and I know I had a hairdresser from New York City stop and he said he had his family with him and he saidwe went all over Binghamton and my family wanted to go in that house where all the beau tiful flowers are so they would come in and they would come in and they saw - I must say so but I had the flowers and everybody that came in that had children they said that it was the cleanest neatest place and I had 15 rooms to rent sometimes I had 30 people in one night in the house and I had all that laundry to take care of and I had all those beds to make myself. I was �Anna Borsuk Page 14 doing it myself do and but then I did breakdown after my mother died. ( Well now let's finish the story by telling the people how old you are you've lived throygh a great deal. ) Yes, well I - I'm 87 years old now and I don't know how much longer I'm going to live because everybody tells me I don't look my age. ( You don't look your age you're a very very attractive woman. ) But a I have this a chest condition - chest pains now and I don't know lately it's been kind of they've been kind of although I have a very good doctor he shakes his finger at me. ( Well let's just hope for the best. Mrs. Borsuk.) Thank you very much for the interview � https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/files/original/d14f8cd82f5d117973cebf43420452d1.mp3 7bb74e2c7b4d9165847b18fc84742e19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Broome County Oral History Project Subject The topic of the resource Broome County -- History Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Binghamton University Libraries Description An account of the resource The Broome County Oral History Project was conceived and administered by the Senior Services Unit of the <a href="http://www.gobroomecounty.com/senior">Office for the Aging</a>. Funding for this project was provided by the Broome County Office of Employment and Training (C.E.T.A.), with additional funding from the Senior Service Unit of the National Council on Aging and Broome County government. The aim of this project was two-fold – to obtain historical information about life in Broome County, which would be useful for researchers and teachers, and to provide employment for older persons of a limited income. The oral history interviews were obtained between November 1977 and September 1978 and were conducted by five interviewers under the supervision of the Action for Older Persons Program. The collection contains 75 interviews and transcriptions, 77 cassette tapes, and a subject index containing names of individuals associated with specific subject terms. One transcribed interview does not have an accompanying audio recording. In 2005 Binghamton University Libraries’ Special Collections Department participated in the New York State Audiotape Project which undertook preservation reformatting of the audiotapes, and the creation of compact discs for patron use. Several interviews do not have release forms and cannot be reviewed. See the <a href="https://archivesspace.binghamton.edu/public/repositories/2/resources/44">finding aid </a>for additional information. 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Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In copyright  Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Ben Coury, Digital Web Designer Yvonne Deligato, Former University Archivist Shandi Ezraseneh, Student Employee Laura Evans, Former Metadata Librarian Caitlin Holton, Digital Initiatives Assistant Jamey McDermott, Student Employee Erin Rushton, Head of Digital Initiatives David Schuster, Senior Director for Library Technology and Digital Strategies Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1977-1978 Relation A related resource <a href="https://archivesspace.binghamton.edu/public/repositories/2/resources/44">Binghamton University Libraries Special Collections, Broome County Oral History project</a> Template: Simple Audio Player with Transcription This template displays an audio player by Amplitude.js with a scrollable transcription which is loaded from the "Transcription" metadata field. 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Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Borsuk, Anna Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Dobandi, Susan Date of Interview 1978-03-06 Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 34:55 minutes Streaming Audio Streaming URL <a href="https://eternity.binghamton.edu/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE55862">Interview with Anna Borsuk</a> Collection Broome County Oral History Project Date of Digitization 2016-03-27 Subject LCSH Borsuk, Anna -- Interviews; Broome County (N.Y.) -- History; Binghamton (N.Y.); Pittsburgh (Pa.); Beauty shops; Tuberculosis -- Patients -- Interviews; Single mothers -- Interviews Accessibility Copy/Paste below: Binghamton University Libraries is working very hard to create transcriptions of all audio/visual media present on this site. If you require a specific transcription for accessibility purposes, you may contact us at <a href="mailto:orb@binghamton.edu">orb@binghamton.edu</a>. Binghamton University Libraries is working very hard to create transcriptions of all audio/visual media present on this site. If you require a specific transcription for accessibility purposes, you may contact us at <a href="mailto:orb@binghamton.edu">orb@binghamton.edu</a>. Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound, or alternative text from a visual medium Broome County Oral History Project Interview with: Miss Anna Borsuk Interviewed by: Susan Dobandi Date of interview: 6 March 1978 Susan: This is Susan Dobandi, interviewer, and I'm talking with Miss Anna Borsuk, who lives at 24 Isbell Street, Binghamton, NY. The date is March 6, 1978. Anna, Could you tell us something about your early beginnings, where you were born, any recollections of your childhood? Anna: Yes, I can—I can remember, oh, from the age of five or six, I guess, I remember. Susan: Where were you born? Anna: I was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We moved from there to Mayfair, PA, and I was, I guess I must have been eight or nine years old. From there we moved again to Carbondale, PA, and I started to work in a hotel. I was there five years as a waitress and all-around girl. I'm ahead of my story, but let’s see, I got married before I started working at the hotel. I was married when I was sixteen years old and, ah, I had my son, my son, and then when he was a year and a half old I left and went to the hotel. I went to work as a waitress and I was there five years, and I met some good friends there who were salesmen—saw how hard I worked and how much money I was making and they felt sorry for me, and I—in the meantime my mother’s and father’s home burned down and they lost everything, and I felt very badly. While I was working some of the guests noticed me, that I felt badly, and they asked why I was upset, and I told them that we had lost our home—we lost everything—and they said, “Why do you stay here in Carbondale and work in this hotel? You work too hard,” they used to tell me, and ah, I really don't know whether to— “Why don't you move to Lestershire?”  “We'll see.” So, Mr. Bennett, you know, he was a salesman for ladies’ hats and used to come around and show his hats around. In those days the salesmen used to bring their stuff to different hotels. They didn't have it the way they do now, and he traveled by train and then, so I came home and I told my mother the good news, and she was delighted to hear it, and she said, “Oh, Anna, please go to Binghamton. Your sisters are getting older now and they—they could work and help us.” My father was a miner and he wasn't getting any money, you know. So, mother had a garden and she had chickens and she had everything, we lived off that—rather, my family lived, of course I was working—and I came to Binghamton and it was June 15, 1915. I'll never forget that was a rainy one. I came here and I was soaked and, raining very hard that day and I was soakin’ wet, and my sister Julia which was next to me— “If you come with me I'll find you a job.” So, while I was here—while I was here in Binghamton, I did not know a soul, nobody, and I stopped at the Press building and I looked in the dictionary to find out where the Russian are—I thought, wherever there are Russian Churches, then there are some Russian people and they would help me, and sure enough I—I took a streetcar and, I forget, an old factory, a cigar factory, people were in there and I could smell the odor from cigars, and that was something new—and I got off at the church right on Clinton Street, St. Michael's Church, and across the street I noticed a Russian name and I went in there and I spoke to him in Russian and he answered me, and I asked him that I'm a stranger and I'm looking for a house for my family and, ah, he said, “Well, there is—I don't know anything about it,” he said to me, “I couldn't tell you, but my wife is coming home. If you'll wait, she'll be here any minute,” and sure enough she came in and she said, “Yes, I'll take you to the lady on the corner of Charles and Grace Street, and the lady is giving up her apartment.” So, I went in there with Mary Driscoll, her name was Driscoll, and she spoke to the lady for me and I told her and she said, “Yes, I'm moving out right now,” but I thought, who owned the property? But I supposed that she was the landlord, and she told me that was Dr. Hutchings on Front Street so I went there, all in one day I did all that. I went there and I met this doctor and I told him my story, my sad story, and he was very kind and very helpful and he said, “Ah, I'll rent you this house as soon as you can get here and I'll help you all I can.” So he, ah, I said, “Well, we have nothing—nothing to bring over, because everything was burned down.” My mother was living with her sister and so I—I stayed here one day and then I went to the shoe factory, Dunn McCarthy's, and ah, I wanted to talk to the foreman or the superintendent, and ah, I met a very nice man and I—I should remember his name because he was, ah, wonderful to me. He talked to me like I was a child. He said, "My dear girl,” he said, “you bring your sisters here and I'll give them a job, and bring your father and I'll give him a job too.” So I felt, I was delighted, and ah, ah, I was on the verge to go back to the hotel because I know my manager there would be displeased that I left, and ah, I said, “Ah, I have to go back to Carbondale to my job and they gave me only one day off,” and ah, so we hurried, we hurried and hurried and I wanted to get off and, anyway, I had everything arranged, and we said, “Dr. Hutchings” —I think that was, ah, his name, Dr. Hutchings—they used to live by up there, it's hard to say up there, you know, from the corner, the third house up there, you know. I think probably it's still there. He said, “I won't charge you any rent, I won't expect anything from you, whatever you can do,” so I—I didn't have to pay any rent any—anyway, I didn't have any money and, ah, see, I don’t know what to say. Yes—so this neighbor, the next door neighbor from the house that we were going to move into, they were Slavish [Slavic] people—I think their name was Kusmach. I asked them if my sister could stay there all night with them—with them while I go home and break the news and my family would come here right away, and then she stayed there, she began to cry, Julia did. She thought, she's among strangers, you know, and she was, oh, about fifteen years old and, ah, well anyway, Julia, you have a job and there are two girls in the family there and they have supported her too, because they were working too, so then I said goodbye to her and she cried and I cried too. I came to the station. I was on my way to the station in the rain the next day. I had to spend the night over in the neighbors’ house and, ah, the next day I was going to the station, and Mr. Hart and Mr. Bennett, the two salesmen that had told me to come here, I ran into them, or rather they ran into me, and he said, “What are you doing here, Anna?” And I said, “Well, Mr. Bennett, you told me to go to Lestershire, so I came to Lestershire and I have everything arranged,” and they were very surprised that I did it so quickly, so then I said, ah, and then Mr. Bennett and Mr. Hart said to me, “Well, where are you going? What are you going to do?” I said, “Well, I'm going back to the American Hotel because Mr. & Mrs. McCann will be cross with me that I'm taking off,” and they took me by the arm and they said, “You're not going back there, you're working like a slave there and it's too much for you. We're going to introduce you to a hotel manager here,” and they took me to the Bennett Hotel. That's the Bennett at that time, and it was a very nice hotel at that time. They introduced me to the manager, I think his name was Mr. Proseman, and his beautiful wife, and ah, Mr. Proseman said that I was a very fine girl and I was supporting my son, and he told them the story and, ah, they gave me the job right away and I was there for about a year, and when some other friends that recognized me in the lobby, some of the people who remembered me from Carbondale saw me there working there and, ah, Mr. Bennett, waiting on the table that I waited on the manager and his wife—I just had one table, just the family, and ah, so I felt kind of proud, you know, that they chose me among all the others, you know, so I felt kind of, well, I was, I was just, ah, very happy about it, that everything, that I had so many friends that were helping me and I was, they just, ah—they were so pleased I’d do whatever they suggested, everything. I and, ah, I, ah, I called, well anyway, I said, “All right, I'll have to go back to Carbondale and give my notice that I'm coming,” and I went back and the manager and his wife didn't want to let me go. They didn't want to pay me, but they said, “You gotta stay here,” and I said, “I can't, I promised I'm going there,” and I said, “My family is going there,” and my little boy was, you know, with my mother, and my son was going to be a year and half old and, ah, I said, “Wherever he's gonna be, I ought to be there too.” So they were very reluctant to let me go. They didn't like it and, ah, so as I said in the—I worked only one year at the Bennett and one of the other guests recognized me and they said, “We can find you a better place than this to work,” so they went to the Arlington Hotel and spoke to Mr. Turney—the old gentleman Turney was in there, you know, there at that time. They spoke to him and told him about me and that I was a hard worker and a very decent girl and all that, and of course they were giving me all that recommendation, I didn't have to tell them all that about myself, but ah, they all felt sorry for me that I had such big responsibilities, and the guests were always very nice to me in every hotel wherever I worked, and ah, finally, ah, I got the job at the Arlington and I left the Bennett, which was not a nice thing to do because they were nice to me, I had no reason to leave to leave, but ah, ah, they thought that I would do better at the Arlington, which I did because they gave me more money and that helped. I had to give so much money to my mother to help her towards my son's support and his clothes and everything, and ah, of course at that time, before that, I was separated from my husband but he wasn't supporting me. He was working on the railroad and he was drinking and he just didn't care about—about the baby or me or anything. He never gave me any money, so I just—I just left him—I couldn't—I didn't want to continue living with him and have any more—- I stayed at the Arlington for five years, then I went to New York City and I started working at the Statler Hotel, which was only there two years before, and I, ah— I was there only a year at this hotel, and then I noticed they were opening up a beauty parlor on the mezzanine floor and I had an interview myself, I kept thinking about my poor sisters working in the shoe factory and I thought, what a wonderful idea it would be if they would take, ah, beauty parlor work and, ah, go into that kind of work. I couldn't afford to—to work at the salaries that the learners in those days, they didn't have beauty—beauty schools like they have now, ’cause we had to work in the beauty parlor as an apprentice and you only got $12.00 a week. A girl that just took up hair and keep the box filled, and so I got my sister in New York and she got the job at the President, at the, they called it “Pennsylvania,” the Statler Hotel, and she was there for a while, and I had to leave her because my mother had a big twelve-family apartment in Binghamton and she thought that I should be with her, that I, that she couldn't get along without me being there to help her with the, and she wrote me that I'm breaking up her home by taking my sisters away, and I left the Statler Hotel to be with my mother, to help her with that big property she got. And my sister liked New York so well she stayed, and she had been modeling and—and ah, she made good money and she stayed about two years, but while I was here trying to help my mother with that big twelve-family apartment house and she came back—finally she came back and then I said, “Well, I'm going to look around Binghamton and see if we can find a little place where we can start a little beauty parlor.” Of course my sister took up marcel waving, we were the first people that had that method, you know, when we came here. She took that up in New York, and of course Dorothy, too, was a manicurist and—my second sister—and so the two of them had a little training and so I found a location in a beauty parlor, I ran around Binghamton and asked different people what to do with it. Get a good place and my lawyer, my family lawyer, Mr. Polletta, told me to talk to Mr. Tyler, which was the superintendent of the Press building at the time, and I spoke to Mr. Tyler, rather, Mr. Polletta spoke to him first, and he gave me a little room that had only two chairs and two dryers and two manicuring tables—of course I had to buy my equipment in New York. They didn't have any equipment up here in Binghamton and so I had to order it there, and Mother came to New York and gave me the money for the equipment and begged me to come home with tears in her eyes, and I agreed to come home and bring the girls back home and so they, my sisters wanted to stay away because they found more opportunities, and finally, when I opened the beauty parlor and Martha and I were the first two that were working there. Susan: Can you recall any of the prices at that time? Anna: Oh yes, the manicures were 50¢ and our shampoo was 50¢ and of course the only big item, they were the highest, was the permanent wave, which I was doing, that was my specialty—I charged $6.00. I had the beauty parlor where I'd have to go to New York to the hairdressers’ show every six months, take, just take up the Eugene Wave by Mr. Eugene himself, personally gave me the instructions. That was the marcel wave, the permanent wave, they used to call it a Marcel, so then my sister Martha was Miss Martha, she was giving a marcel with an iron, you know, but I was, so we made a big hit in Binghamton, and then we outgrew the beauty parlor, it was too small for the business. It just boomed the first year that we were there. We were there only a year. I spoke to Mr. Tyler that—that I'd like to move into a larger room, and he said that Judge Parson is moving away from—he's giving up his position and he's right on a corner, he has two rooms. Then he said I could take the partition down and you could enlarge it, would be an L-shaped beauty parlor for you, but you could have as many booths as you want, so I said that would be fine, so Mr. Tyler the superintendent was very nice to me. He suggested it and I—I thought, of course, it was a good idea, so I said, “I'd appreciate it very much, I think, if you would do that, because I have two other sisters that are ready to come in with me, and we wouldn't fit in this little room we have here.” They did it in a hurry, and they did special piping for us and also drains from each booth, from the shampooing booth. We had seven shampoo booths and three manicuring tables and one barber chair—hair-cutting chair, and I have some pictures of that and, ah, we did very good business, and, and of course all my sisters were in by that time, they, all four of us—five of us, and I—I was about, I used to give six and seven permanents a day, and I got terribly run down and I got a cold one day, and I just thought, “Well, maybe I need a change, I'll go to New York, maybe I just need a change,” I thought, you know, because I had so much responsibility, so I packed my little bag and I went. My mother didn't approve, my sisters didn't, nobody approved of me going, but I said, “I'm getting away from everything, I can't take it.” I didn't realize I was sick, although my doctor kept telling me that I'm going to get sick and he threatened me that I'm going to get sick. He told his wife was a customer of mine, his daughter was my customer, and his aunt, and they all saw how hard I worked. I used to work from 8 o'clock until 10 every night and I never had time to eat my lunch, and if I did I—I had indigestion, and the doctor said before I go to lunch, to lay down for a minute before I go—he said, “If you don't be careful you're going to get TB.” Dr. Arfonse said that to me, and I said, “Ah, no,” I said, “I'm not going to get TB. I'll be all right.”  So I just packed my suitcase and I went to New York and I went to Sachs Fifth Avenue, New York, and I talked to the manager there about a job and he gave it to me. I was working there about four months, when one day I had a spell while I was on duty and, ah, there were two—four girls there, they were Russian girls there, they were from Russia, and they were only shampoo girls, they were really, they came, they were refugees from Russia here and they didn't know nothing about hair work, but the only thing they could do was wash the hair, and they saw that I looked sick and then they took me over to the clinic, it was on the ninth floor, and the doctor and the nurse said they had one room, just like a hospital, and they found that I had TB. They sent me away for a year and then I came back home cured, and I couldn't go back to the beauty parlor because there was something about the cosmetics that I would cough and I—I thought, well, I'd sit at the desk and just get the appointments, prepare the customers, and let the girls do the rest. We had thirteen girls working there by that time, colored girls, too, and we were teaching girls beauty work, and I know my uncle came here from Pittsburgh and he'd say, “I don't know why you’re teaching anybody, they're going to take business away from you,” which they did, but it—it didn't hurt us, and ah, because the business kept booming and, ah, so I, ah, was managing it from the house, and the girls would come home and tell my mother that “Anna's coughing too much,” and they were trying to keep my condition secret from my customers, nobody didn't know, so then my mother said, “Why don't you stay home, Anna, and we have a big house, a 22-room house on Court Street there, why don't you do something with this? You seem to know what to do,” so I said the only thing I could think of is start a tourist house now that I'm sick and can't work in the beauty parlor anymore for another year, the doctors say I can't go to the beauty parlor for another year until they pronounce me arrested—my case arrested. I had to go to the doctor every month to be X-rayed and questioned, and so I started the tourist business, and that business boomed, you know, and I ran that for thirteen years. And talk about, my mother got sick, gallbladder, and she, she didn't get up in time, she got this palsy, you know, so that when she got down here she needed me, so I was a nurse, I was taking care of my mother and I was running the tourist house. I used to have thirty people in my house every night during the summer, and I had to show them the rooms, go run outdoors and show them where to park the cars. I did that for thirteen years and then my mother passed away and then, you know, she passed away, and ah, then I had another breakdown after she died, with pleurisy on my bad lung, and I was in the hospital eleven weeks, and the doctor hollered at my doctor and he shook his finger at me that I'm not being fair to myself, but he pulled me through—I—I—I had a 103 temperature for eleven weeks and he called my daughter-in-law, by that time my son was married, and he told my daughter-in-law the things that that I did, but ah, by that the family wanted to sell the house, they thought it was too much for me and they all wanted to get out and on their own, they were getting married and I didn't want to sell it because I wanted a home, I wanted something, if I knew I was going to live to this age I would have fought it more, I would have kept it, but I thought, “I'm finished,” because my family gave me up so many times, then I had a second breakdown after we sold the house I had another breakdown of my lungs and I was at Chenango Bridge and I'm still here and, but I still didn't give up, I got back on my feet and started working again and, ah, I, ah, the family pressed me so hard to sell, sell, sell, that I finally gave up and I sold it. So then I wasn't welcome anyplace, I—I just didn't know what to do. What am I going to do? I—I— Susan: So what year did you come to the high rise? Anna: Well, I came to the high rise in 1968, when they just opened it. I'm here ten years, and well, well, first I—I traveled with a suitcase, I went all over, you know, and the money that I had from the property, you know, seventeen years I was doing nothing, just traveling with a suitcase, trying to make myself live someplace. I didn't know where I belonged, and ah, as for a job, they said they didn't want anybody at my age, which was around forty, and I was around forty, and ah, I, no matter what I did, I was a telephone operator, I worked on a switchboard, worked at the New York City hotel and I worked at the switchboard in the front here and I had all this experience and they didn't want to give me a job because of my age, so I said, “What am I going to do?” I just retired. Well I lived off the few hundred thousand dollars that I got for seventeen years but then the money was gone, so, I was older and I said, “What am I going to do now?” so I had another good friend at the Bennett Hotel, and he, and I told him my story and he and his wife—and he was Mr. Lamb, I guess everybody in town knows him and about my story—and he says, “Well, I can help you, all I can say is a good work for you to go on welfare,” so I said, “Yes, I will go on welfare,” but I didn't—my family and my son didn't know anything about it, that I was doing that, I was very independent, I never went to any of them for a dollar or a coin—or anything, I'm kind of independent and I was too spunky, you know, my mother and father used to say to me, “I never seen anything like you, if you make up your mind you’rer gonna do it.” I still do, but ah, so then people were very kind to me, the urban renewal people, ah, ah, Margarette, ah, ah, what's her name? She's in the office over here. I can't think of her name now, she was very kind to me and she said I was living at the Arlington, I was on welfare already and of course welfare were giving me only $85.00 a month and I had to pay $50.00 rent, so what did I have left? So I used to do—I used to help a lot of little old ladies take them someplace and they'd buy my meal and, ah, or I used to sew, I could sew. I was a dressmaker for three years and then my eyesight failed—failed me, and I managed that way, but I always meet nice people that were always very helpful to me all the time, not that I—I didn't go to them purposefully to tell them my sad story, but ah, I—I wanted to get along as best I could, so then, ah—ah, well, we were living at the Bennett, you know the place was condemned, the Bennett hotel, and we were living there. There were about twenty of us ladies living there, and ah, I couldn't make—I couldn't make ends meet so I used to take care of another sick lady, but ah, retired from Washington, from the Pentagon, and she—I used to escort her around and she used to buy my lunches for me. I used to escort her around town, and well, after that we had to move out of there. We were there, I was there about six years at the Bennett, and then the Urban Renewal moved us to the Arlington. We were supposed to be there only one year, but instead of that we figured two years waiting for this to be finished, so then, ah, they'd moved me here, they ah, Urban [Renewal] moved my furniture and they bought furniture that I have here. It's from the Arlington, they bought it for me through the welfare, I don't know who paid for it, and some of the odd pieces were given to me that I have, but ah, so I have been here ever since. Susan: Well, Anna, I think that we can close by saying that you have a very lovely attractive apartment so that you are comfortable. Anna: Well, a lot of people say that to me, but ah, when, ah, I was running the tourist house, you know, the guests used to come in and say that I had the cleanest house, that I used to have the cleanest rooms of any tourist house that they ever had, and they always came. We used to have a lot of flowers around the house. I had a lot of boxes, and I know I had a hairdresser from New York City stop and he said, he had his family with him and he said, “We went all over Binghamton and my family wanted to go in that house where all the beautiful flowers are,” so they would come in, and they would come in and they saw—I must say so, but I had the flowers, and everybody that came in that had children, they said that it was the cleanest, neatest place, and I had fifteen rooms to rent, sometimes I had thirty people in one night in the house, and I had all that laundry to take care of and I had all those beds to make myself. I was doing it myself, too, and, but then I did break down after my mother died. Susan: Well, now let's finish the story by telling the people how old you are—you've lived through a great deal. Anna: Yes, well I—I'm 87 years old now and I don't know how much longer I'm going to live, because everybody tells me I don't look my age. Susan: You don't look your age, you're a very, very attractive woman. Anna: But ah, I have this, ah, chest condition—chest pains now, and I don't know, lately it's been kind of, they've been kind of, although I have a very good doctor, he shakes his finger at me. Susan: Well, let's just hope for the best. Thank you very much for the interview, Mrs. Borsuk. Rights Statement This audio file and digital image may only be used for educational purposes. Please cite as: Broome County Oral History Project, Special Collections, Binghamton University Libraries, Binghamton University, State University of New York. For usage beyond fair use please contact the Binghamton University Libraries Special Collections for more information. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Interview with Anna Borsuk Subject The topic of the resource Borsuk, Anna -- Interviews; Broome County (N.Y.) -- History; Binghamton (N.Y.); Pittsburgh (Pa.); Beauty shops; Tuberculosis -- Patients -- Interviews; Single mothers -- Interviews Description An account of the resource Anna Borsuk talks about her early years, moving from Pittsburgh, PA, to Binghamton, NY, and working in hotels in NYC. She discusses opening one of the first beauty parlors in Binghamton, running a tourist house, struggles with failing health due to TB and raising her son alone. She remarks the help she received from welfare and the kindness of people working in urban renewal in her later years. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Recording 4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Binghamton University Libraries Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This audio file and digital image may only be used for educational purposes. Please cite as: Broome County Oral History Project, Special Collections, Binghamton University Libraries, Binghamton University, State University of New York. For usage beyond fair use please contact the Binghamton University Libraries Special Collections for more information. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Borsuk, Anna ; Dobandi, Susan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978-03-06 Date Modified Date on which the resource was changed. 2016-03-27 Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Broome County Oral History Project Extent The size or duration of the resource. 34:55 minutes