Interview with Toney Pelfrey, July 3, 1992

Partial Transcript: This is David Rotenizer with the University of Kentucky Family Far--[interruption]--Project.

Segment Synopsis: Toney Pelfrey describes the layout of his childhood home, talking about each room inside. He talks about aspects of its construction, and talks about other structures on the property including barns and the chicken house.

Keywords: Barns; Bedrooms; Boards; Chicken houses; Construction; Corn cribs; Dining rooms; Farmhouses; Fathers; Kitchens; Leaking; Living rooms; Log houses; Porches; Roads; Roof; Rooms; Upstairs; Wood

Subjects: Childhood; Families.; Family farms.; Farm buildings; Farm life.; Farms, Small.

Partial Transcript: Well where was the, uh, area for the, uh, wood kept?

Segment Synopsis: Pelfrey talks about where his family stored their firewood and where it came from.

Keywords: Chimneys; Cutting wood; Fences; Firewood; Living rooms; Saws; Yards

Subjects: Country life; Family farms.; Farm life.; Rural conditions

Partial Transcript: Now, with this, uh, bedroom here, who, who slept in the, in the downstairs bedroom?

Segment Synopsis: Pelfrey talks more about the layout of his childhood home. He talks about other structures on the property including tobacco barns and livestock barns. He talks about farming for his neighbor David Crowe.

[Sound quality at the end of this segment is poor. It returns to normal at the beginning of the next segment.]

Keywords: Additions; Bedrooms; Cellars; Children; Construction; Dairy cattle; David Crowe; Land; Leases; Parents; Roof; Stalls; Stripping rooms; Tenant farming; Tobacco barns

Subjects: Cattle.; Family farms.; Farm buildings; Farm life.; Farms, Small.; Traditional farming

Partial Transcript: Course when we growed up, you know, they didn't have everything like they've got now.

Segment Synopsis: Pelfrey talks about what he and his family did for recreation during his childhood including silent movies, and listening to the radio. He discusses the first cars his family owned.

Keywords: "Grand Ole Opry"; Automobiles; Batteries; Bowen (Ky.); CC Camp (Civilian Conservation Corps); Cars; Entertainment; Films; Fun; Holidays; Model A; Model T; Mt. Sterling (Ky.); Mules; Roads; Silent movies; Trucks; World War II veterans

Subjects: Families.; Powell County (Ky.)--Social life and customs; Radio programs.; Recreation--Kentucky; Transportation--Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Now what prompted you and your brother to, uh, get involved in sawmilling?

Segment Synopsis: Pelfrey talks about various sources of income on the farm, including a sawmill, selling furs, and selling milk.

Keywords: Beef cattle; Brothers; Dairy cattle; Fathers; Furs; Guns; Hunting; Hunting dogs; Income; Jobs; Milking; Mt. Sterling (Ky.); Names; Opossums; Part-time farming; Possums; Prices; Problems; Raccoons; Railroad ties; Rifles; Sawmills; Smokehouses

Subjects: Agriculture--Economic aspects--United States.; Agriculture--Finance; Cattle.; Country life; Employment--Kentucky; Family farms--Finance; Family farms.; Farm life.; Lumber trade.; Rural conditions; Traditional farming

Partial Transcript: And, uh, you mentioned there was a, there was an earlier house near the house where you grew up.

Segment Synopsis: Pelfrey talks more about his family home and the other houses built on their property that his siblings once lived in. He talks about other people who lived near them on Cane Creek.

Keywords: Bellamy family; Cemeteries; Construction; David Crowe; Farmhouses; Grandparents; Ownership; Property; Roads; Sisters

Subjects: Families.; Family farms.; Farms, Small.

Partial Transcript: Now besides the barn with its shed addition and, and later I guess dairy, uh, addition to the barn, were there any other buildings out around the barn?

Segment Synopsis: Pelfrey talks about raising animals and crops on his farm, where various crops were grown, and what happened to his family's property after his mother's death.

Keywords: Barns; Bench fields; Cane; Cattle; Corn; Cousins; Horses; Land; Montgomery County (Ky.); Mothers; Pastures; Renting; Selling; Sisters; Tenant farming; Tobacco; Tobacco setter

Subjects: Agriculture.; Crops; Families.; Family farms.; Farm buildings; Farm life.; Farm tenancy; Sharecropping; Traditional farming

Partial Transcript: How has your family, uh, traditionally done inheritance?

Segment Synopsis: Pelfrey talks about the process of inheritance in the Cane Creek region. He talks about his own family's temporary move to Grant County, as well as the exodus of his generation from the Cane Creek area after World War II.

Keywords: Cars; Cattle; Children; Farmhouses; Fathers; Generations; Income; Jobs; Leaving; Money; Mothers; Moving; Mules; Relatives; Selling; Tobacco; Uncles; Wagons; Williamstown (Ky.); Wills; World War II; Young people

Subjects: Agriculture--Finance; Country life; Employment--Kentucky; Family farms--Finance; Family farms.; Farm life.; Grant County (Ky.); Inheritance and succession.; Powell County (Ky.); Traditional farming

Partial Transcript: Did you by chance know a, uh, a Pete McCall when you were growing up?

Segment Synopsis: Pelfrey talks about the rock pile formed from rocks found while his family was farming. He talks about other chores on the farm and how the work was divided between the men and women.

Keywords: Bench fields; Brothers; Chimneys; Chores; Cooking; Fathers; Feeding chickens; Feeding hogs; Gender roles; Hauling; Hens; Horses; Marriage; McCall family; Men; Milking; Mothers; Rock piles; Rocks; Routines; Schedules; Sisters; Sleds; Women

Subjects: Country life; Families.; Family farms.; Farm life.; Gender; Rural children; Sex role; Traditional farming

Partial Transcript: What was a typical breakfast like?

Segment Synopsis: Pelfrey talks about his mother and sisters cooking for the family. He talks about a typical breakfast on the farm, and talks about the types of food they raised.

Keywords: Apples; Bench fields; Berries; Berry picking; Breakfast; Chicken; Chores; Dairy cattle; Dinner; Dinner bell; Fruit trees; Gardens; Honey bees; Meals; Meat; Peaches; Spraying pesticides; Supper; Working; Yards

Subjects: Country life; Families.; Family farms.; Farm life.; Food habits; Traditional farming

Partial Transcript: In your family, whose, whose job was it to go out and get the, you know, the raspberries, or--

Segment Synopsis: Pelfrey talks about encountering snakes while picking blackberries. He talks about animals being bitten by the snakes. He talks about the animals his family raised on the farm.

Keywords: Bench fields; Cattle; Cows; Coyotes; Dairy cattle; Dogs; Gender roles; Home remedies; Horses; Limestone; Livestock; Milking; Poison; Powell County (Ky.); Sheep; Snake bites; Snakes; Soil; Water springs

Subjects: Animals; Country life; Family farms.; Farm life.; Rural conditions; Traditional farming

Partial Transcript: Um, how did your, your parents keep money?

Segment Synopsis: Pelfrey talks about his parents' banking habits, and the smart decision his father made at the beginning of the Great Depression in regard to their money. He talks about how the Cane Creek area was affected by the Depression, including foreclosures and work done by the WPA.

Keywords: Cane Creek (Ky.); Closing; Equipment; Fathers; Federal banks; Foreclosures; Government; Grant County (Ky.); Great Depression; Land; Machinery; Money; Mules; Parents; Powell County (Ky.); Works Progress Administration (WPA)

Subjects: Agriculture--Finance; Banks and banking--Kentucky; Depressions--1929--Kentucky; Family farms--Finance; Family farms.; Roads--Design and construction--Kentucky.; Rural roads

Partial Transcript: And when did you move to the, the farm we're in right now?

Segment Synopsis: Pelfrey talks about when he and his wife moved to their current farm. He talks about the types of farming they did there over the years, and the construction of various buildings on the property.

Keywords: Barns; Cane Creek (Ky.); Cattle; Construction; Crowe farm; Farmhouses; Floods; Lumber; Milking; Moving; Property; Public works; Sawmills; Sheds; Tobacco

Subjects: Family farms.; Farm buildings; Farm life.; Traditional farming

Partial Transcript: I noticed that you have a, a farm tractor out front. What, what, what kind is that?

Segment Synopsis: Pelfrey talks about several tractors he has owned over the years. He talks about the first cars he and his wife owned. The interview is concluded.

Keywords: Automobiles; Banks; Cane Creek (Ky.); Cars; Cash; Children; Costs; Credit; Crowe farm; Farm school; Military service; Pickup trucks; Wife; World War II

Subjects: Agriculture--Finance; Family farms--Finance; Family farms.; Farm equipment; Farm tractors; Traditional farming; Transportation--Kentucky