This is the tape of Grammas interview by Robert Beimdick, 6/26/78

  I was born in Ohio County at Fordsville. ( In what year?) In the year 1894, April t he 9th. ( Who were your parents?) John Miles and Lydia Fentress Miles. ( Did you have any brothers and sisters?) Yes I had one half brother and one half sister and three own sisters.  (How long did you live in Ohio County?) I lived in Ohio county 12 years. ( And from Ohio county where did you move?)  I moved to Breckenridge county and lived there 4 years.( And when did you move to Grayson county?)  Well ah, me and my husband was married in 1911 and we came to Grayson County to live. ( Did you come to this farm that we're on now?) No the farm adjoining down here.It was his Fathers farm.( What was your husbands name?)  Scott Bradshaw.( Did you raise a family here?)  Well, ah, part of my children were born here and part of'em in Ill. We went to Ill when we'd been married 6 years. ( How  many children do you have). Well, I have 8 living children and 4 dead. ( What was life in Grayson like when you first moved here? )Oh! it was, uh fine. ( Was it like today?) Oh no it wasn't anything like what it is today.  We had to carry our water from the spring, we had no water in the house at all, no electricity. The washing we did on the wash board...dirt ro, well, haha, mud roads.( How big a farm did you all  have?) Well, ah, Scott's Father had 150 acres that joined this farm and in ah 1913 Scott's Father bought this farm and moved to it. (And how much is in it ?) 200 acres.( So you had 313 acres?) Well, no, When he bought this farm he sold the one down there.( What kind of crops did you raise?)  Corn mostly...at that time. ( For feed or?) Later we raised tobacco.( Was the corn for feed?) yes we had horses and mules to tend it with.  And ah put up our own hay. ( Did you do most of your own preserving and canning?) Oh yes, we've always canned a lot.  Vegetables and fruit and made our own preserves and ah tapped our maple trees and made ah sug, made syrup you know.( What time of year did you do this? Make the sugar?) In the Spring..Well, usually in Feburary  January and February.( Would you explain the process please?)  Well you uh......you have to bore a hole in the tree..in the sugar tree  and they...there's some little gadgets they call spiles, you have to make then out of, we usually make them out of elderberry wood, saw 'em off you know and there is pith in 'em and you poke that out you know to make a hole in 'em, you leave 'em round on one end and flatten 'em out you know for the water to drip down into a bucket and the water drips into a bucket and you have to boil it down you  know into syrup. ( "Bout how long do you have to boil it?) Well,...... as a usual thing we had a big kettle ya know  and we made a fire outside and boiled it down in the big kettle and we'd pour water in the kettle all that we'd get in  one day ya might say and we'd boil it down and it would take ohhh a half a day  to boil it down.( About how much did the kettle hold?) ohhh...(  About how much syrup did you get?) Ohh I guess the kettle held about 15 gallon and you'd get uh oh less than a gallon, to boil it down. ( Thats a lot of work for a gallon of syrup.)  Well, it did take a lot of work, but twas real good.  (Did you ever make sorghum?)  No my Father made sorghum but I never oh I never did do much toward making sorghum, of course I helped strip the cane and ah helped make when he was making, but then, I didnt know anything about the process, had a pan ya know to boil it down  in and a mill that had rollers and you'd put the cane through these rollers you see and a horse would go in a circle around to turn that to grind out the juice and then he would put it in a pan, run it through a big long pan oh, I guess was 10 ft long and a furnace under it ya know, Well, he'd start in with just green juice ya know  as it boiled down ya know he gradually had a little thing that he pushed it with, I don't know what twas called, but he pushed that juice all around them little trays til he got to th, when it got done h'e open...a faucet and ...drain it out into a kettle  ha ha ha if you can understand that.( Oh. yes I can understand. I just wanted to get an idea of the process I just wondered if it had remained the same  over the years.)  well, that ah that's they way they did it in those days.( When you first moved to this farm or to the adjoining farm, Where did you do your shopping?  ...When you had to go) at falls of Rough or at Short Creek, there were some little stores at Short Creek and we did part of our shopping at Short creek and part at the Falls. ( was Falls of rough a large town then?) No, it never was a large town.  It ha ah, it jist  had one store at that time and it had uh a flour mill  and uh, uh saw mill  it at the falls rough ya know and at the Falls the water run the saw mill and they put out a lot of lumber there. ( What types of items did you rely on the store to provide you with? what did you shop for at a store?) Oh! sugar and coffee'n uh regular needs, shoes, clothing it was jist a store that had ever t hing ya know it wasnt uh  uh clothing store it want a grocery store it's a combined store Do you remember who owned it?) Well, Lafe Green & Sons owned it the store at the Falls. (What about at Short Creek?) Short Creek,..... I'ontremember who owned the store at Short Creek.  do you know how the name Short Creek came into existence, why it was called Short Creek?)  No, I dont. ( At the Falls, who had the mill?)  Lafe Green & Sons owned ever thing down there . (They were the wealthiest people in this part of the territory then) Yes, unhu. (Did you ever have any of your corn ground into meal at the mill?) Oh yes, unhu We'd uh take our corn to mil to have made into meal and we used homemade meal all time.  lot better than this bolted meal ya get now.  (I've heard that, I've never eaten water ground meal) It is lot bett I think course other people probably wouldnt think that  (What kinda dishes did ya make out of your meal? what did ya make out of cornmeal?) Corn bread mostly and cooking fish ya use meal on th fish to fry it instead of flour. (unhu ) and then they's a mush they call it its uh ..well, its not a cereal but  [Pauline puts in, it would be I guess] a cereal?well, probably. ita, it was real good, still is I make it sometimes now. ( did you ever make {cant make out} ) no  ( Its using meal and meat like left over pieces of pork and bacon and then fry it). ( Miz Bradshaw, when you were a girl, where did you go to school?)  Well, uh,  I first went to school at Poplar Grove about 2 miles from Fordsville a little ole one room school house (Do you remember anything about it?)  why sure! (Could you describe it) hahaha  well around 50 pupils...sometimes, sometimes not so many and uh ( what classes you get? what subjects?) well, uh reading, writing an 'rithmetic, geography, civil goverment an history ( were the teachers strict?) Well, some were and some werent ( did you generally have the same teacher year after year?) no, we usually changed teachers every y.. term (When did your school term start, you have any idea?)  no, I dontremmer, but twas jist through the Summer. ( It wasn't like our schools today then) (Maybe 3 months?) Something like that yes 3 or 4  months something like that, and uh once in a while they'd teach a Spring school ituz I think, 2 months and then in the summer they'd start the main school ya know tha regular school and teach until up in the Winter (How many years did you got ta Poplar Grove) jist 4 years ta Poplar Grove'n then we moved and I went one year ta Davison Station an uh (Where was that) HA I dont know if Ic'n tell ya or not torward Short Creek........( was it in Ohio county) it was in Ohio county down  near Hites Falls on Rough Creek ( after your year at ..There where did you go) then we moved to Breckinridge and I went to school at uh..GlenDean ( HOw many years at GlenDean) 2er3   dont jist remember (About how old were you when you got out of school) I quit school when Ise 16 (For any particular reason?) Ise gonna git married(Pretty good reason) hahaha (so you were married at 16) no Iwas married at 17, but I was out of school a year before i married ( you remember anything aobut the churches you went to as a child) well, thy was jist  country churches ( did you go to the same church every Sunday) no (Why not) well one year I lived in one country er community and another year i'd live in another un we  moved about and we'd just go to the church that uz handy ( did they have services every Sunday at these churches) No1 Sunday a month ( did you ever go to a different church in another community to attend services) oh yes once in a while we'd go to a didfferent church ( what denomination are you) Methodist (Methodist?)  (Do you remember any of the preachers that would preach at these churches) Well after I was married and we moved to Grayson County why then they was ...../oh I cant think of their names they uz......Bro Hennigar....and......Well I jist can't think of any more (the electricity came to Grayson county about when) you remember)  well er ...we got electricity in here..in this community in '59 no '49  wasnt ----- born in 'w9 [pauline says yeah] '49 is when we got electricity in here , but zi think that...I dont know....that there was some places that had electricity before that but I dont know how long before (what was the first appliance that you bought when you got electricity)  refrigerator I think  [Pauline says: you had your washer] yes, I had a washer  I had lived in Ill and 'course they had electricity out there and I had an electric washer, I had that already, but the refrigerator I believe was the first appliance we bought (was there any strange reaction of any of your neighbors to electricity when it first came through)   oh I ont know some tried to tell me how nice an electric washing machine was, well i'd used one 10 or 15 years so I knew bout as much about it as they did I guess  course everybody was proud to have electricity and to have a washing machine and refrigerator'n everything  (what did you do for entertainment at home before electricity and the radio came along)  oh we had piano and guitar and violin and all my children sang  and we'd have get togethers and sing ( do you remember when you first got a telephone) .........I thin, I think that my husbands father had a telephone when we uz married...yes I know e did  I guess he had the telephone well in   now 1908 er 9 er 10 somewhere along there we uz married in '11 and I know they'd had it a while then....quite a while  so I dont know just when they got it (what type of power and implements did you to farm with in the early days) Horse power and uh jist a old fashion turning plow and uh cultivator well first we used just double shovel plowsa they called 'em and uh single shovel to lay the field off with you know and uh one horse drill to plant the corn ( did it take a lot of labor to run a farm in that day) yes it took a lot of labor but then we had plenty of time------------------- they was their own boos they could do what they wanted to do if they worked a little harder they could make more than the person that didnt work so hard my husband was a  hard worker ( do you have any recollection of what your crops brought when you took them to market) say in 1912 or 13) well the tobacco.. sometimes we'd get 2 9s and 3 do you understand what that means? ( no I dont) well, the leaf tobacco and the lug tobacco thatud be heavier that ud be higher priced then trash and tps and uh so you wouldnt get but very little for the trash an d tips  3 cents was a good price at that time, in 1912 ( good grief) ha  and 9 cents for better (but 3 cnets went a long ways back then) yes you could get a pair of shoes for $1.50 ( what about a dress) well a dress if you bought material and made it why it wouldnt cost morn that I ont guess (what about a store bought dress) oh maybe 10 or 15 dollars( um)jist a tolerable nice dress , now you can get one you can wear around home for that much maybe ( and it might last a day er two) yes They lasted good when we got 'em back in 1912-15 (did you ever buy hats when you were a young woman) yes we wore hats all young girls wore  hats then (were they expensive) well no not much couple of dollars oh I guess anyone could have bought a higher priced one but then we were poor people nad we jist dressed oprdinary we didnt try to dress with the hight flyers  ( how did you get to town) in a road wagon er walked ( do you remember whne you got your first automobile) we got the first automobile in uh-------in uh--1924 ( what was your reaction to it) oh my goodness ituz the greatest thing ever was un and we'd get out and  come to a muc hole wed all have to get out and push and go on with the ride when we got back after we got it out of the mudhole (how long did it take you by buggy or wagon to get into town say to Falls of Rough  from your farm) -------------- ( would it be more than an hour) yes I guess it would Idont guess you could drive it in an hour I guess it'ud be two hours ( what was the comparision when you had the car)oh ------------- if the roads was so you could get over them at all ( were the roads tarmac roads or mud roads) dirt roads ( so in rough weather you were pretty well stuck) I'll say you was ( what di you do in the winter time) well we went jist the same one time uh we us livinf in Ill and we took a notion we'd come home for christmas and uh we got on the train and came as far as GlenDean  thats near where my father lived and uh we expected him to meet us at he train with his wagaon you  know team and wagon  well it had snowed and the snaow had drifted and they couldnt possibly get there with, in the wagon so my father and one of my brother in laws was there waiting to meet us you  know  at the train well we all walked with all the babies and carried them and we all walked from GlenDean to may dads that uz about 21/2 miles and uh had to go around drifts, couldnt go the road the roadwas drifted in they was paths around you know so taht anyone could go through so we got to got to my dads and stayed there a day or two and we was gonna come on up here to Scotts fathers well we got my dads team and wagon and come up here to the house across the creek over here well it uz drifted in full  this valley here and we co uldnt get on over here so we had to walk again and uh we came on ( about what year was this you have any idea) that uz 1917 (do you remember WW1)  well  uh---yes I remember it but then we didnt have much to do with it (none od your family was involved) my husband was exempt because he had a family had 2 or 3 kids at that time ( and none of your children were old enough yet of course to fight) no (what about ww2) well none of my children was in ww2 one of my soninlaws was in ww2 tow of my sonin laws was in ww2 (youve been lucky0 yes I not had any children in the army now 3, 3 of my grandsons have been in the army in this las, i dont think they ever fought maybe but then they was in the service  ( do you remember the depression) well---yes-- (how did it effect you)  oh not much, we didnt have anything and we didnt expect to have anything so it didnt bother us too much, my husband worked,  he got layed off from his regular job and he dug ditches in order to buy coal and food for his family  we never did  go on welfare (you heated your house then with coal) yes we were in Ill at that time (when you came to Ky to live) oh we heated with wood (did you also cook with wood) yes we cooked with wood til the stove give out here the other day I' gonna get me another stove  hahaha I like to cook with wood  I dont like to cook on electric stove atall I burn things seems like I cant watch it close enough ( i'd always been told that wood stoves you tended to burn thing with too)  well they, i never did have any trouble with them ( is there any difference in the time it takes to cook something on a wood stove than there is on an electric stove does it ake longer or shorter time) well I guess it'd take longer on wood stove than twould on electric stove for the electric is same heat all time ya know ya have a steady heat and if ya happen to forget to fill up ye stove you dont have a steady heat on a wood stove  haha the fire goes out (then you just add more wood and hope you can get it cooked) yeah  haha (did the railroad have much effect on you life here in this sectiom of grayson Co)  railroad? (yes) well the farmers used it to ship theier stock, they take their stock down to the  Falls and ship it out by railroad . This is as far as I can get it to play dont think it is the end of the tape though I will try more later