Interview with Charles Shouse, June 29, 1992

Partial Transcript: This is David Rotenizer with the University of Kentucky Family Farm Oral History Project, Cane Creek Study Area.

Segment Synopsis: Shouse gives a description of various photographs of his family. Scenes include a riverside baptism, a hunting party on horses, and the home of Shouse's grandfather. The photographer who took the majority of the pictures is also discussed.

Keywords: Clay City (Ky.); Cobb Hill (Ky.); Creeks; Furnace (Ky.); Grandparents; Hen houses; Homes; Pittsburg (Ky.); Relatives; Smokehouses

Subjects: Baptism; Families.; Horses; Hunting; Mehanics; Photography

Partial Transcript: Uh, during our earlier conversation, um, we had talked about where you had, had lived, uh, during your life and all...

Segment Synopsis: Shouse details his childhood home, beginning with a sketch of the property. Along with the floor plan, he talks about the tool shed, the kitchen, and the fruit room. He describes the location of different other smaller structures.

Keywords: Clay City (Ky.)

Subjects: Architecture; Childhood; Farmhouses

Partial Transcript: In the smokehouse, uh, did you smoke the meat or did you just cure it with salt, or?

Segment Synopsis: Shouse describes the smokehouse, tool shed, chimney, fences, and outhouse in his childhood home. He also talks about having pet dogs.

Keywords: Animals; Dogs; Outhouses; Pets; Smokehouses; Tool sheds

Subjects: Architecture; Farmhouses

Partial Transcript: Were there any kind of like large, uh, trees?

Segment Synopsis: Shouse talks about the large maple tree near his house. He remembers how his mother had a huge variety of flowers all around the house. He also talks about the well beside the porch that was their source of water. He describes the porch and how old the house was.

Keywords: Flowers; Maple trees; Porches

Subjects: Farmhouses; Water-supply; Wells

Partial Transcript: And you had the barn. Um, now how about the, the garden area, home garden area? Where would that have been?

Segment Synopsis: Shouse talks about the garden area, the hen house, and the different kinds of fences around the house. He says that this old house is not there anymore. He also describes the hog lot that was behind the barn.

Keywords: Fences; Gardens; Hen houses; Hog lots

Subjects: Architecture; Farmhouses

Partial Transcript: And where were the other major fields associated with that farm?

Segment Synopsis: Shouse describes the location of different fields, including the creek that ran near the house and the street near the house. He also describes holing vegetables after harvesting them. His family holed cabbage, potatoes, and turnips using leaves and straw. They could be kept one year like that. They also dried apples and beans. They had two apple trees at the house.

Keywords: Apple trees; Drying fruits; Holing; Holing vegetables

Subjects: Farmhouses; Food--Preservation; Fruits; Vegetables

Partial Transcript: And how about, uh, uh, if you had to get rid of trash or something or need to burn uh, trash, where was that location?

Segment Synopsis: Shouse talks about how the family managed the trash. There wasn't much trash, but what they had they piled in a big ditch and burned. He talks about a nearby school that his siblings attended.

Keywords: Schools; Trash management

Subjects: Education; Farm life; Farmhouses; Refuse and refuse disposal; Waste products

Partial Transcript: And, uh, how about the, the livestock on the farm?

Segment Synopsis: Shouse describes the different livestock the family had and how they butchered the hogs. There was a post behind the smokehouse where they butchered the hogs. He talks about why the family did not grow sorghum.

Keywords: Cows; Hog butchering; Hogs; Horses; Livestock; Mules; Sorghum

Subjects: Farm life; Farmhouses; Livestock

Partial Transcript: How about, uh, did your mom make soap on this farm, or?

Segment Synopsis: Shouse talks about his mother making soap on the farm. She used ash and lard, and made it in a large kettle. He describes how they used the large front porch. They had rockers and a swing. They used it mostly in late afternoons and on weekends.

Keywords: Furniture in farmhouses; Homemade soaps; Porches

Subjects: Farm life; Soaps

Partial Transcript: Now did your dad have a vehicle at this time?

Segment Synopsis: Shouse recounts anecdotes of his father driving his brother's vehicle, which always ended up in accidents. He names his old neighbors and how far away they lived. The community where the house was located is called Bond's Mill.

Keywords: Driving; Fathers; Furnace Mountain (Ky.)

Subjects: Farm life; Farmhouses

Partial Transcript: Now how many acres was on this farm that you all lived on?

Segment Synopsis: Shouse describes the farm, its size, and ownership. His father leased the land. He talks about the suicide of the land owner's husband. He talks about a post office that used to be outside the farm.

Keywords: Farm lease; Suicides

Subjects: Family farms

Partial Transcript: Well, um, what I'd like to do next is, uh, do kind of the same sort of deal.

Segment Synopsis: Shouse provides an overview of the home that was previously located on his current farm. The house is found to have been built in the 1920s. A floor plan of the house is given; the locations of different parts of the house are noted without much description.

Keywords: "Scale house"; Driveways; Fences; Living rooms; Outhouses; Porches; Renovations

Subjects: Architecture; Farmhouses

Partial Transcript: How about a smokehouse?

Segment Synopsis: Shouse describes the various parts of the old house including the smokehouse, outhouse, and well. He talks about the construction of the old houses and the family circumstances surrounding the construction of the new house. He says that there used to be a school that was at the location of the house. It was torn town to build this house.

Keywords: Cane Creek schools; Outhouses; Smokehouses; Wells

Subjects: Architecture; Farmhouses

Partial Transcript: So you--we sh--were there other kind of outbuildings like hen house, or?

Segment Synopsis: Shouse describes the hen house and its design. They also had an above-ground cellar and he describes its construction--it was temperature controlled. He talks about waste management in that house. He remembers that the house was papered with newspapers when they moved in. The house was torn down in early 1970s.

Keywords: Cellar construction; Cellar design; Hen houses; Papering; Trash; Waste management

Subjects: Cellars; Farmhouses; Refuse and refuse disposal; Waste products

Partial Transcript: Uh, fruit trees or anything there with, with it, or?

Segment Synopsis: Shouse talks about the fruit trees and garden around the house and their locations. In those days, he says, every family had apple trees and plum trees that still survive the destruction of the houses. He also talks about the scale house and the barn, ending with a discussion of the foundation of the house.

Keywords: Apple trees; Barns; Foundation of houses; Fruit trees; Garden; Plum trees; Scale houses

Subjects: Architecture; Farmhouses