MF 023 “Hancock County Elders” Hancock County Cooperative Extension Service/ Roberta Chester

Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History: MF 023 “Hancock County Elders” Hancock County Cooperative Extension Service/ Roberta Chester

Number of accessions: 9
Dates when interviews were conducted: 1983
Time period covered: late 19th and 20th centuries
Principal interviewers: Roberta Chester
Finding aides: transcripts
Access restrictions: NA1706
Description: A series of interviews by Roberta Chester sponsored by the Hancock County Cooperative Extension Service.

NA1699 Doris B. Johnson, interviewed by Roberta Chester, September 19, 1983, North Orland, Maine. Johnson tells of her life and family in the early 1900s; the practice of ladies calling on each other; grange meetings; changes over time in socialization, mindsets, and values; the community bonds and taking care of neighbors; traditional medicine; her advice to people; and recollections of her grandparents. Text: 29 pp. transcript. Recording: T 1820 1 ¼ hours.

NA1700 Roberta Chester, interviewed by Dorothy P. Duffy and Harry (Bob) C. Duffy, interviewed by Roberta Chester, August 25, 1983, Blue Hill, Maine. Bob shares, with occasional additions from Dorothy, how he interacted with his grandparents; the intergenerational closeness of family in the early 1900s; farming, bartering and selling their crops; taking care of the elderly and sick; and the concept of neighboring. Text: 26 pp. transcript. Recording: T 1821 1 hour.

NA1701 Edith Towle, interviewed by Roberta Chester, August 26, 1983, Hancock, Maine. Towle talks about Hancock community life in the early twentieth century, social activities and neighboring; early days of the Royal Nursing Home; recollections of her grandparents’ lives and interactions in Hancock; the coming of movies in Ellsworth; life as a seaman’s daughter; friendships and visiting between women; and her grandfather’s role as a leader and advisor in town. Text: 26 pp. transcript. Recording: T 1822 1 hour.

NA1702 Lilla Bowden, interviewed by Roberta Chester, August 31, 1983, Blue Hill, Maine. Bowden talks about her childhood in the late nineteenth century in Blue Hill; traditional medicine; the upper class of Blue Hill; sewing clubs; children’s recreational activities; interaction with elders in the community; calling on neighbors; continuing social involvement in her nineties; and Meals for Me. Text: 37 pp. transcript. Recording: T 1823 1 ¾ hours.

NA1703 Emery Jordon, interviewed by Roberta Chester, September 23, 1983, Osborn, Maine. Jordon talks about his childhood in early twentieth-century Osborn; how the elderly were cared for; his education; the lack of retirement; his grandfather’s role in the organization of Osborn; life in a lumbering community; Ellsworth as a big town; religious life; and outdoor activities. Text: 38 pp. transcript. Recording: T1824 / CD1184 1.25 hours.

NA1704 Beatrice Knowlton, interviewed by Roberta Chester, September 20, 1983, Deer Isle, Maine. Knowlton talks about of growing up on Deer Isle in the 1890s and early 1900s; community sings; making horse nets; her mother’s role as a housewife; the poor farm; grandparents’ involvement with their grandchildren; and how Deer Isle had changed by 1983. Text: 29 pp. transcript. Recording: T 1826 / CD 2539 1 hour.

NA1705 Ethel Johnson, interviewed by Roberta Chester, September 20, 1983, Hancock, Maine. Johnson discusses her childhood in the early 1900s in Hancock; families who adopted non-relatives of all ages; family care for elderly; berry picking; community programs and suppers; and her education. Text: 17 pp. transcript. Recording: T 1827 1 hour.

NA1706 Marion Spurling, interviewed by Roberta Chester, August 28, 1983, Cranberry Island, Maine. Spurling, with added comments from her husband, tells of her childhood on Cranberry Island in the early 1900s; lack of retirement; the grange; familial closeness; Coast Guard on Cranberry Island until 1945; stories about Russians who anchored aboard Asenbrea in 1878; Thimble Club sewing group; use of Elizabethan English; traditional medicine; playing cards; and what they ate, with the importance of seafood. Text: 39 pp. transcript. Recording: T 1827 1 ¼ hours.

NA1708 Iva Morey, interviewed by Roberta Chester, August 30, 1983, Deer Isle, Maine. Morey talks about her childhood in Deer Isle during the late 1800s and early 1900s; life with her grandmother in the house; recollections of her grandmother; wood chopping matches; and assisting with births. Text: 10 pp. transcript. Recording: T 1830 CD 2555.