MF 139 South Bristol Oral History Project

Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History: MF 139 South Bristol Oral History Project

Number of accessions: 11
Dates when interviews were conducted: 1997
Time period covered: 20th century
Principal interviewers: Ellen Vincent
Finding aides: some transcripts/partial transcripts
Access restrictions: none
Description: This collection consists of 10 interviews for an exhibit, “Down on the Island, Up on the Main: A Recollected History of South Bristol, Maine,” assembled by Ellen Vincent, as well as newspaper and newsletter articles, exhibit text, plans for the exhibit, and exhibit text. The purpose of the exhibit was to display the heritage of coastal South Bristol. Click here to read more about Ellen Vincent and her legacy in South Bristol.

NA3013 Afton “Junior” Ferrin, Jr., interviewed by Ellen Vincent, December 18, 1997, at his home in South Bristol, Maine. 27 page transcript. Ferrin talks about life in South Bristol, Maine; lobstering; changes in lobster traps; bait; fishing for mackeral, herring; choosing a fishing spot; sport vs. commercial fishing; striped bass; changes in fishing methods; mending nets; fishing boats and crew; transition from water transport to automobiles; products delivered by steamboat; products available in local grocery stores; economic and social changes; trawl lines for cod and pollack; gill nets; sculling vs. rowing; weather problems; boatbuilders; raising and shearing sheep; marketing urchins, clams; digging clams to survive the Great Depression. For more information on this project and the exhibit resulting from it, see NA 3023. Text: 27 pp. transcript. Recording: C 2053 – C 2054.

NA3014 Nellie McFarland Frey, interviewed by Ellen Vincent, November 4, 1997, at her home in South Bristol, Maine. 22 page index with partial transcript. Frey discusses life in South Bristol, Maine; the post office; school; family history; social and recreational activities; Masonic Lodge and the Eastern Star; holidays, esp. Christmas; clothing and sewing; Ladies’ Aid Society; food and cooking; gardening; canning; homebrew beer and wine; rum running; Great Depression; raising chickens; toys; milk delivery; and iceboxes. For more information on this project and the exhibit resulting from it, see NA 3023. Text: 22 pp. index with partial transcript. Recording: C 2055 – C 2057.

NA3015 Margaret Farrin House, interviewed by Ellen Vincent, October 31, 1997, at her home in South Bristol, Maine. For more information on this project and the exhibit resulting from it, see NA 3023. Recording: C 2058.

NA3016 Nellie McFarland Frey and Margaret Farrin House, interviewed by Ellen Vincent, November 17, 1997, at Frey’s home in South Bristol, Maine. For more information on this project and the exhibit resulting from it, see NA 3023. Recording: C 2059 – C 2060.

NA3017 William Arthur Kelsey, interviewed by Ellen Vincent, December 12, 1997, at his home in South Bristol, Maine. Kelsey identifies and discusses photographs and postcards not included in the accession; in the process he also talks about: changes in the town and its buildings over time; marketing fish; fishing boats; fishing nets and their maintenance; finding and buying old postcards and other memorabilia; Fourth of July; Christmas Cove; winter storms; Kelsey family history; and boat launchings in South Bristol. For more information on this project and the exhibit resulting from it, see NA 3023. Text: 151 pp. transcript. Recording: C 2061 – C 2064.

NA3018 Frank Y. “Pete” McFarland, Jr., interviewed by Ellen Vincent, December 12, 1997, at his home in Christmas Cove, Maine. His wife, Adele Rice McFarland, was also present. McFarland talks about working in a shipyard and as a boatbuilder; designing boats; caulking, methods and materials; boat launchings; stepping the mast; rigging; scalloping; scallop draggers; and the history of South Bristol and Christmas Cove. For more information on this project and the exhibit resulting from it, see NA 3023. 31 page transcript. Text: 31 pp. transcript. Recording: C 2065 – C 2067.

NA3019 Mervin Rice, interviewed by Ellen Vincent, October 24, 1997, at his home in South Bristol, Maine. 15 page index with partial transcript. Rice discusses newspaper clippings and photographs not included in accession; other topics include a chicken farmer; lobster bait; dousing; school; transport of goods and mail before automobiles; clamming; and the Damariscotta Fair. For more information on this project and the exhibit resulting from it, see NA 3023. Text: 15 pp. index with partial transcript. Recording: C 2068 – C 2070.

NA3020 J. Douglas Thompson, interviewed by Ellen Vincent, November 19, 1997, at his home in Belfast, Maine. 21 page index with partial transcript. Thompson discusses photographs and newspaper articles not included in accession; other topics include: history and inhabitants of Damariscotta, South Bristol, and Christmas Cove, Maine; changes in daily life during the 20th century; economic activities; changing buildings; and other aspects of local geography. For more information on this project and the exhibit resulting from it, see NA 3023. Text: 21 pp. index with partial transcript. Recording: C 2071 – C 2073.

NA3021 Catherine Jordon Walker, interviewed by Ellen Vincent, October 23, November 3, and November 18, 1997, at her home in Christmas Cove, Maine. 11 page partial transcript, of interview on October 23, 1997. Walker discusses old fashioned grocery stores; cookie varieties; going to school in a one-room schoolhouse; holidays; gardens; doctor’s visits; home remedies; childbirth at home; summer visitors; local libraries; and childhood reading. For more information on this project and the exhibit resulting from it, see NA 3023. Text: 11 pp. partial transcript of the Oct. 23, 1997 interview. Recording: C 2074 – C 2078.

NA3022 Robert Kendall Woodward, interviewed by Ellen Vincent, November 11 and November 20, 1997, at his home in Walpole, Maine. Woodward talks about ice cutting and marketing; family history; transportation; school; changes in daily life during the 20th century; town meeting; his career as a personal secretary; mother’s cooking and dairying; farm tasks; neighboring; keeping goats; holidays; husking bees and other social activities. For more information on this project and the exhibit resulting from it, see NA 3023. Text: 13 pp. index with partial transcript. Recording: C 2079 – C 2081.

NA3023 Assembled by Ellen Vincent, information on the exhibit “Down on the Island, Up on the Main: A Recollected History of South Bristol, Maine,” including newspaper and newsletter articles, exhibit text, plans for the exhibit. Text: 39 pp. exhibit text, newsletter and newspaper articles.