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Excerpt from Oral History Interview with Ethel Marshall Faucette, November 16, 1978, and January 4, 1979. Interview H-0020. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) See Entire Interview >>

Mill-owned homes underwent changing clientele

Workers relied on mill-owned homes, and Faucette was no exception. Her father was a firm yet compassionate landlord over the mill homes. Faucette blames the changing town demography on an increasingly boorish renter clientele.

Citing this Excerpt

Oral History Interview with Ethel Marshall Faucette, November 16, 1978, and January 4, 1979. Interview H-0020. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Full Text of the Excerpt

ALLEN TULLOS:
Well did you all move into a house of your own right after you got married?
ETHEL MARSHALL FAUCETTE:
We moved in a house over on that street-a little three room house. Then, we decided we wanted a bigger house and we moved on to this house. Back then they'd let you have a house-if it come empty you could get it, if you lived here. Of course now, they was particular-they rented houses too. They didn't have none of this here fighting and drinking and cutting up. You done that, you got out.
ALLEN TULLOS:
Who would see to it that the people got the houses, and if they were rowdy, who would see to it that they were . . .
ETHEL MARSHALL FAUCETTE:
My daddy was the one rented the houses, every one of 'em. (chuckle) And he was strict on 'em.
ALLEN TULLOS:
Do you remember him ever having those times where he had to put somebody out of a house?
ETHEL MARSHALL FAUCETTE:
No, no. I never did. I don't remember 'till this day that he ever put anybody out. But now he'd go and talk to 'em, and tell 'em he just wasn't going to have it. And he wouldn't. But I never did know him to put nobody out.
ALLEN TULLOS:
Well what kind of things would make him mad so that he would go and talk to them.
ETHEL MARSHALL FAUCETTE:
Well, if they got drunk and got to fighting and cutting up he'd go and-try to, you know, straighten it out-and tell 'em just what they'd have to do if they didn't. And, they'd straighten up about it. We had a decent place to live all the time, and we haven't had no rough people here until the last few years that they run, have we George? (George: That's right.) And then they got in some rough ones but they didn't stay long. And this was a pretty place, they kept it clean, it was clean as it could be. And all this growth around here has growed up since this mill shut down. `Cause every one of these houses stayed full of people. They had a big garden, they raised their hogs, they kept their cow-if they owned one, and their horse-everybody, and there wasn't no trouble here. They kept things cleaned up-you didn't smell no hog lots nor cow lots or nothing-they had to keep it up, keep it cleaned up.