Interview with Bob Miller, July 30, 2001

Partial Transcript: It's July 30th, 2001. I'm speaking with Bob Miller as part of the University of Kentucky's oral history project. We'll be focusing on the landscapes and forests of Kentucky.

Segment Synopsis: Bob Miller talks about his early life as the youngest of ten children in the family of a carpenter who lived in Campbellsville, Kentucky in the 1920s and 1930s. He talks about his ancestors settling Kentucky in the mid-19th century and his ancestors' support for the Union in the Civil War.

Keywords: Campbellsville College; Civil War; Great Depression

Subjects: Campbellsville (Ky.); Depressions--1929; Families.; Family histories.; Genealogy; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Partial Transcript: Tell us a little bit about, uh, your schooling. What kind of school did you go to when you were a, when you were a little fellow?

Segment Synopsis: Miller talks about his primary and secondary education at Campbellsville public schools. He says he left school in 1945 and volunteered for military service in the Navy to avoid being drafted into the Army. He says he is a World War II veteran, but was never deployed to combat. He talks about living near the edge of town and playing and hunting with his siblings in nearby Turner's Woods. He talks about finding stone tools as evidence of Native American presence in the woods. He discusses subdivision development and timbering in the woods and nearby farm lands.

Keywords: American Indians; Campbellsville Grade School; City Lake; Dams; Indian Springs; Old growth forests; Stone tools; Trace Creek; Turner's Woods; Water supply; Watkins and Associates

Subjects: Archaeology.; Campbellsville (Ky.); Childhood; Country life; Education--Kentucky; Hunting.; Land use, Rural.; Logging; Native Americans.; Rural children; Rural conditions; World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945--Veterans.

Partial Transcript: Okay, now is th--is that what is used today for Campbellsville's water supply?

Segment Synopsis: Miller talks about local projects to increase the water supply to meet the needs of the Fruit of the Loom textile mill nearby which used up to five-million gallons daily. He talks about his work on improving the water supply in his capacity as mayor. He discusses establishing and maintaining new sources of water for the community.

Keywords: Bleach; Deoxygenation; Dye; Fruit of the Loom; Green River Lake; Green River Reservoir; Mayors; Pipelines; Standpipes; Textile mills; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Union Underwear; Wastewater treatment plants; Water treatment plants

Subjects: Campbellsville (Ky.); Country life; Land use, Rural.; Rural conditions; United States. Army. Corps of Engineers; Water resources development; Water--Purification.

Partial Transcript: Now, uh, this was pretty close to where you grew up. What, what--(Miller clears throat)--was in that area that was uh, eventually inundated with water?

Segment Synopsis: Miller talks about a dairy farm that was flooded by the construction of the lake. He talks about swimming in the lake as a child.

Keywords: Dudgen's Creamery; Guinea pigs; Lakes; Swimming

Subjects: Campbellsville (Ky.); Childhood; Country life; Family farms.; Farm life.; Land use, Rural.; Recreation; Rural children; Rural conditions; Subsistence farming; Traditional farming

Partial Transcript: Okay, let's go to uh, to your place. You had that, that woods back behind you, you had, uh, the reservoir off to the side. What did, what did your place look like, this in the city place?

Segment Synopsis: Miller describes playing and getting into mischief in the woods and springs near his house, which was located at the edge of town. He talks about the games he played with other children in the street which had virtually no traffic. He describes a truck driver who delivered groceries and ice cream. He talks about a farmers' market and social gatherings at the courthouse on the weekends. He talks about the rules to play mumblety-peg with pocketknives and sharpened sticks. He talks about playing games with marbles and visiting the theater on Saturday afternoons to watch matinee serials and cartoons.

Keywords: Cartoon films; Courthouse square; Dees; Farming; Grocery delivery; Grocery stores; Looney Tunes; Marbles; Matinees; Mumblety-peg; Patent medicine; Pocket knives; Serial films; Street games; Trucks

Subjects: Campbellsville (Ky.); Childhood; City life; Country life; Land use, Rural.; Recreation; Rural children; Rural conditions

Partial Transcript: Okay, now uh, back to your, your house. Uh, the Old Lebanon Road, what was the other--today, how would we be able to find your, your house or where you used to live?

Segment Synopsis: Miller describes the layout of Campbellsville, Kentucky during the 1930s and the location of his house on Lebanon Road. He says that the family house was built piecemeal by his carpenter father as the family grew, on a lot purchased from his grandfather. He says the house was electrified and he talks about appliances the family used. He talks about his parents raising hogs and chickens and growing a vegetable garden. He talks about butchering livestock and preserving meat and garden produce. He talks about his family maturing and siblings getting married and moving away.

Keywords: Butchering; Chicken coops; Chicken yards; Chickens; Cracklings; Food preservation; Ice boxes; Kettles; Lye soap; Old Lebanon Road; Refrigerators; Smokehouses; Wood stoves

Subjects: Campbellsville (Ky.); Childhood; Country life; Families.; Family farms.; Farm life.; Food--Preservation; Land use, Rural.; Rural children; Rural conditions; Rural electrification.; Subsistence farming; Traditional farming

Partial Transcript: Uh, would you, would you tell us a little bit more about, uh, the, the place that you grew up, the--how about that vegetable garden?

Segment Synopsis: Miller talks about his father's work as a carpenter during the day and working a garden plot in the evenings with the help of the boys in the family. He describes tools used to work the garden and the process of preparing the garden. He talks about the types of produce grown in the garden and about preserving vegetables in glass jars for winter storage. He speculates that the family diet with so much bacon contributed to heart disease among several members of the family.

Keywords: Bacon; Canning; Carpentry; Food preservation; Fruit jars; Hams; Harrows; Horses; Mules; Ploughs; Tractors; Vegetable gardens

Subjects: Campbellsville (Ky.); Canning and preserving; Childhood; Country life; Families.; Family farms.; Farm life.; Food--Preservation; Heart--Diseases.; Land use, Rural.; Rural children; Rural conditions; Subsistence farming; Traditional farming

Partial Transcript: [Laughing] Well, at the time, uh, we didn't know that much about, about cholesterol and all that sort of thing...

Segment Synopsis: Miller continues his discussion of preserving garden produce and finding other sources of food for the family. He talks about parts of a chicken that each member of the family preferred eating. Miller talks about his finicky eating habits and his avoidance of game.

Keywords: Chickens; Oatmeal; Rabbits; Small game; Squirrels

Subjects: Campbellsville (Ky.); Canning and preserving; Childhood; Country life; Families.; Family farms.; Farm life.; Food--Preservation; Land use, Rural.; Rural children; Rural conditions; Subsistence farming; Traditional farming

Partial Transcript: You, you began this interview talking about the, um, the woods up there, that old growth forest, and then your dad being a carpenter.

Segment Synopsis: Miller talks about timbering in the old growth forest nearby and his father's use of a local lumber company for his carpentry work. He talks about different species of wood and their use in carpentry. He discusses various building construction techniques, such as plastering walls.

Keywords: Boards; Carpentry tools; Lathes; Lumberyards; Maple trees; Oak trees; Planes; Plaster; Poplar trees; Studs; Timber; Walnut trees

Subjects: Campbellsville (Ky.); Carpentry.; Country life; Families.; Family farms.; Farm life.; Land use, Rural.; Logging; Rural conditions

Partial Transcript: Do you remember, this was--the blight--the chestnut blight had already hit by the time you were, you were a kid, but do you remember any of the chestnut trees still standing around here in the Campbellsville area?

Segment Synopsis: Miller talks about his brother purchasing property in Campbellsville and the prices he paid. He talks about collecting chestnuts from the trees near his brother's lots. He recalls how the chestnuts were sometimes of poor quality because of the blight affecting the trees.

Keywords: Chestnut blight; Chestnut trees; City lots; Turner's Woods

Subjects: Campbellsville (Ky.); Childhood; Country life; Families.; Family farms.; Farm life.; Land use, Rural.; Logging; Rural children; Rural conditions; Trees--Diseases and pests.

Partial Transcript: Well now you, you mentioned at the beginning of this that, uh, that you played in the, in the forest. Did, uh--what did the forest mean to you when you were a kid?

Segment Synopsis: Miller talks about his memories of spending time in the nearby forests and woods.

Keywords: Forests; Trees; Turner's Woods; Woods

Subjects: Campbellsville (Ky.); Childhood; Country life; Families.; Family farms.; Farm life.; Land use, Rural.; Logging; Rural children; Rural conditions