A-If you don’t mind, would you tell us how old you are?

M-Oh, aren’t things like that supposed to be secret? Of course, I’ll. tell you. I’m 85.

A-When were you born?

M-1913, April,22, in New York

A-Where did you grow up? Did you grow up in New York?

M-Mostly in Cleveland

A-What were your mom’s and dad’s names?

M-Harry and Ferol Brawley

A-Did you have any brothers or sisters?

M-One brother and one sister, one of each.

A-What were there names?

M-Mildred and Wesley

A- Where did you go to school?

M- The first school I went to was Dawning it was mostly a grade school. Then there were others that followed. I went to West Tech in Cleveland. Back at that time we didn’t have buses, but we mostly rode the street car. Today, I don’t think street cars are in existence.

A-After school did you have any chores or anything you had to do?

M-Well, you had to help get dinner and things of that sort.

A- Were there any that you didn’t like?

M-I wasn’t crazy about doing housework, but it had to be done, so we

helped with it.

A- When and why did you move down here to Sharpsburg?

M- That’s a real tangled story. My grandfather, John E. Parimeter, lived over across the hills and had a big farm, and, of course, coming down to stay on the farm was a highlight year after year. I would come down here during the summer months, and I liked that better than living in Cleveland all the time.

A- When did you get married?

M- About 55 years ago, a long time ago, in 1933.

A- How many kids did you have?

M- Four

A- Did you have them all in the hospital, or did you have them at home?

M- First one I had at home. The others I had in hospitals.

A- Was it exciting or nerve breaking when you had him at home?

M- It was an ordeal.

A- Did you live in a log house?

M- For the first one, yes, and back in those days the doctor came and helped for the time of birth. All went well as far as that was concerned.

A- Did the baby almost die?

M- Yes, there were times when the only doctor, Doctor Whitaker, who had his office in Chesterhill, would make a flying trip out to the house. That was the way it was done in those days. A lot of times you would call the doctor and he would come to your house.

A- Did the Great Depression effect you any at all?

M- It did everybody especially in the food line. You weren’t allowed to get things you would originally get , but we got along.

A-Was there a lot of crime during the depression?

M- Yes, it was hard for everybody. So many things were unavailable in that time. But we managed to get through.

A-You told me last night that people stole clothing off the clothes lines.

M- Oh, yes, back in those days people were really hard up and if you left clothes out on the line all night, they wouldn’t be there in the morning. So we learned how to live that way. Don’t leave our clothes out on the line all night.

A- Did any wars affect you at all?

M- Only in the grocery line. The things you ordinary had sometimes they got real scarce and weren’t really available, but, for the most part, we got along all right.

A-What wars were the worst about that?

M-I would say World War I and II, both.

A-Those are all the questions I have, is there anything else you wanted to add that I didn’t ask you?

M-Being in Cleveland, of course, we had the advantage of having things people didn’t have in the country, but we got along, but sometimes it was kind of hard.

A-What was your husband’s name?

M-Ralph C. Frash

A-How did you meet him?

M-Well, that was quite a story. My uncle was married into the Frash family and so through the relative connection, I met him. What he did was of course mostly farming, and we had one of the biggest fruit farms in this part of the country. We raised apples, strawberries and peaches, and it really kept us busy all summer long. One kind of fruit after the other and we sold it right here on the farm so we knew where our fruit went. Back at that time people did a lot of canning, and today they do so little bit of canning that it’s hardly worth going out to the farm to get fresh canned fruit. You can get it at the store so much easier.

A-There wasn’t any running water in the country yet, so where did you get it?

M-Every farm had a well you might say you had your own water, system but most of your water you carried in a bucket from you well to you house even to get a drink of water you had to work for it.

A-Did you have to walk over a hill to get it?

M-Mostly every farm had a well out in their yard somewhere.

A-What was it like to live in a log cabin?

M-Well, you‘d say you had shelter, and that was about all. The little log cabin did. We had a fireplace and you had to keep a fire going to stay warm the living conditions were about the same as everybody else, Every farm had a well, and you had to pull the water up out of the well or crank it. Conditions we have today and live in are no exception to what we had then.

A- About the canned fruits and vegetables?

M- Oh, yes, we all had a garden, even green beans. We canned about everything you could think of that would fit in a can. We lived out of what you might call a pantry.

A- Did it ever freeze?

M- If you didn’t watch, it would because sometimes it would get cold enough during the night that it would freeze the cans, but we managed to get along.

A- If it froze enough would the cans break?

M-Yes, yes it would

A- Would it make a big mess all over?

M-Yes, so we just had to think about all those things. A lot of people had a cellar and you might say it was a cave close to the house somewhere. They would put their fruits and vegetables in the cave. They didn’t call it that, but that was what it was, and it kept them from freezing.

A-What were the roads like you traveled?

M- Mud roads, you didn’t go very many places in the wintertime, but if you did, it was long mud roads. You didn’t have any paved roads like you drive now. Today you can go out anytime that you want to.

A- Did you use horse and buggy?

M-Yes, early in our marriage we had horse and buggy, but they weren’t very substantial for the kind of weather we had. You always had to think of the horse. He got cold sometimes too. So sometimes when the horse was put in the barn, we’d put a horse blanket over the horse, and that kept him from getting too cold.

A- How long did it take for you to get to town?

M-You had to give yourself plenty of time because that was slow transportation but it would be an all day trip.

A-That’s all we have to ask you, and we want to thank you for letting us interview you.

M- If you have any other questions, I’ll try and remember what it was like back there. It was different than you have it today. There were no school buses. Usually there was a country school close enough that a roomful of kids could walk to school from home, so some had longer trips to school than others did. The little one room school had desks just like you do today. They had to bring their lunch to school, and the way they kept the school room warm they had big what they called a pot belly stove. They fed it from time to time with big sticks and big things to keep it going. So that’s how it was, and the kids had a good time when they went to school.

A-How long was the school day? How many hours

M- Well, about like what you have today, longer maybe, but the kids seemed like they enjoyed school, and even though they were all different ages the teacher had to be educated enough in all the different grades, so he could say whether or not if they were ready to pass on.

A-What kind of discipline did you have at school?

M-It was strict, but the kids got away with a lot, and they all had fun out on the playground.

A-Was your husband a teacher?

M-Yes

A-Did he work in a one-room schoolhouse?

M-Yes, that’s the way it was through the sixth grade, and then after that they went to Amesville in the old building. I don’t know if you remember the old building, but they went to Amesville for a couple of years.

A-Did any of your kids get taught by your husband?

M-I don’t know.

A-Well, unless you have anything else to add then, we’re all done.

M-Well, if you have any other questions about the old schools, I’d be glad to answer them.

A-Thanks for letting us interview you.

M- You’re welcome indeed. We’ll have to get on that subject again.