Oral History Interview with John W. Snipes, September 20, 1976. Interview H-0098-1. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).
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Abstract
John Wesley Snipes was born near the town of Bynum in Chatham County, North Carolina, in 1901. His family is as old as the county and played a role in its history: his great-grandfather won a land grant from England, and one grandfather fought in the Civil War and owned a slave. In this interview, Snipes relates his family history, entwining it with the history of Chatham County. He remembers chasing geese on his grandparents' farm; Civil War veterans' tales of combat; rural recreations like corn shuckings, candy pulls, or rabbit hunts; home remedies administered by an African American woman; and more. Snipes provides a detailed portrait of an early twentieth-century farming community, self-reliant and religious, and shares his concerns that the values of his youth are fading.
Excerpts
Chatham County's famous rabbits
Running a farm
Shearing sheep and plucking geese
Listening to Confederate veterans' Civil War stories
Community interdependence in rural Chatham County
A grandson shares his grandparents' tobacco habit
Playing baseball, hunting rabbits, and watching square dances
A farm life is free, but difficult and subject to the whims of nature
Memories of processing corn and cotton
A prayerful rural home
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