Tape number: V16
Name: Eva Braxton
Location:
Date of Birth: 10/20/02
Date of Recording: 12/9/03
Recorded By: Dianne Jordon
Log Sheet by: Grayson Mattingly
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1/20 | F | Raised in Middlesex County - Father named Henry Scott. Lived at Syringa. Eva describes in great detail farm she was raised in: the house, barn, ice house, etc., 4 brothers and 2 sisters. Walter Robinson was her mother's father. |
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9/28 | W,M | family worked on the farm - growing corn, potatoes, tomatoes, strawberries, wheat, beans, onions, cabbage, kale. Used horses - Sadie and Betsy to help with the work. Sent corn to the mill to be ground. Wheat was "thrashed out" and sent to the mill for flour. Describes where mill was - about four miles from home. Used horse and wagon to get items to the mill. Winter time father tonged for oysters -" raking up the oysters". bushel of oysters sold in early 1900s for 35 to 40 cents/bushel. |
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18/14 | SW,M | talks about items shipped to Maryland on steamer. Describes how they were paid for items shipped on steamer - items numbered. |
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21/14 | W,M | At eleven years old worked in factory peeling tomatoes and potatoes - four buckets - 5 cents a bucket - got "chips" for each bucket. Would use chips to pay for items at the grocery store. 7 or 8 women worked in the factory - each person had their own "stand" or place they worked. When finished would call out "bucket full". Man would pick them up. Describes packing and scalding process. |
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28/47 | W | Mills Creek Landing is where factory was located. Two factories - Grinners a tomato factory and BC both tomatoes and potatoes. Would make about 40 cents a day. |
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32/15 | F | Father was born in slavery - was 8 years old when slavery ended. Worked for white people that mistreated him a lot. Was able to buy land and build a house in Lancaster, white people burned him out, came to Middlesex bought another house and raised family. His life was a struggle. |
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36/00 | F | House Eva lives in now was built by black man but was chased away by white man that he had said something "bad" to. |
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38/52 | E,M | Recalls first school she went to. Describes school room. Julia Roberts was the teacher. Went to training school after primary school. Went on to teach in Middlesex at Harmony Village. Taught 50 children - older children. Taught grammar, arithmetic, history - got $25 per month. Taught at another school at Locust Hill for $30/month. |
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47/00 | SW | At age 18 took first trip on boat. As younger child would go down to wharf with father. Describes Potomac Steamer, the long wharf. Knew boats were coming from the whistle and day of the week. Middlesex was the largest steamer and Eva's favorite. |
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53/22 | SW | Describes steamer coming into wharf. Davis and Davis was the name of the wharf agent that recorded items being sent to Baltimore. |
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55/34 | ST | Talks about traveling on the boat. Had separate state rooms for blacks. Could sit any place you wanted but most of the time the blacks sat on one side and the whites on the other. |
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57/31 | W | Went to Baltimore Md to work at age 18. Went to work for the white people. Made 6 to 7 dollars a week. Did lots of jobs washed, iron, cooked, cleaned. |
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Second Title | ||
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00/15 | SW | Gives sound of steamer coming up the river. Talks about going down to wharf with her brothers - imitates whistle - describes docking of the boat |
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3/40 | SW | Crew stayed on boat. Black and white men. Describes loading of goods. |
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6/27 | ST | Came home New Jersey on the steamer to West Point to go to funeral. Storm of 33 destroyed wharfs on Rappahannock so she went to West Point. |
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10/20 | ST | Traveled to Baltimore on the Middlesex. Had two aisles with something in the middle that separated one side from the other. |
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12/00 | W | Work experience in Baltimore and Plain field New Jersey |
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18/00 | F | Talks about adopting daughter |
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30/50 | Daughter reads some poetry. | |
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