TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:

Mrs. Evans' daughter, Kathleen, is present and Mrs. Evans directs some questions to her for factual information. Janet Levine.

SIGRIST:

Good afternoon. This is Paul Sigrist for the National Park Service. Today is Sunday, January 31, 1993. I am here in Bridgewater, New York, in central New York State with Annie Evans, who came from Wales in 1923 when she was 21 years old. Good afternoon, Mrs. Evans. Can we start by you telling us your birthday?

EVANS:

Yeah.

SIGRIST:

What is your birth date?

EVANS:

March, wait a minute. My birthday, when was it? You know I forget things, you know it?

KATHLEEN:

(in background) March 18.

SIGRIST:

March 18. And what year were you born?

EVANS:

1902

SIGRIST:

1902. March 13,1902.

DAUGHTER:

18TH.

SIGRIST:

March 18, 1902. Thank you. And what town were you born in in Wales?

EVANS:

I was born in Llanfaelu.

SIGRIST:

Can you spell that for me please?

EVANS:

Llanfaelu. You want me to write it, I . . .

SIGRIST:

No, I have it, I have it down. Where in Wales is this? What part of Wales is this?

EVANS:

Well I couldn't tell you where that is, north Wales I think.

SIGRIST:

Can you tell me, is this the town that you grew up in? did you grow up in this town?

EVANS:

Yeah, I grow in that, see.

SIGRIST:

Can you describe for me what the town looked like?

EVANS:

I know every bit of it.

SIGRIST:

Tell me what you see when you think about this town. What did the town look like?

EVANS:

Oh this town, you mean?

SIGRIST:

The town that you were born in, in Wales.

EVANS:

Well it's nice place near the seashore. I could tell you that. Of course I didn't live much there, we moved you see.

SIGRIST:

How old were you when you moved?

EVANS:

Well, I don't think I was more than 3 years old.

SIGRIST:

Oh, you were very young.

EVANS:

Yeah.

SIGRIST:

Where did you move to?

SIGRIST:

Well, they moved to house in Llandessant, you see.

SIGRIST:

So that's the town that you grew up in?

EVANS:

Oh they moved, then perhaps they were there quite few years, you know, then they moved to some other place, you know it?

SIGRIST:

Oh, so you moved around a lot as a child. What place did you stay in the longest?

EVANS:

Well I stayed home, I don't know, yeah, home I think most. Of course I went out to work when I was, when I was, what was I? Fifteen, no, thirteen. Thirteen I had to go out of school. So I didn't get no schooling, you know it? Yeah.

SIGRIST:

What job did you get?

EVANS:

I went on the farm and I milk cows, I can do most anything.

SIGRIST:

Was that common for young ladies to get jobs somewhere else?

EVANS:

Yeah, it was hard, and you worked for hardly nothing, when I went to work, yeah.

SIGRIST:

What was your father's name?

EVANS:

Hugh Parry.

SIGRIST:

How do you spell . . ?

EVANS:

H-U-G-H.

SIGRIST:

Yes, and Parry? EVANS; P-A-R-R-Y.

SIGRIST:

And what did he do for a living?

EVANS:

Well, he work on a farm. Yeah, the wages was awful small.

SIGRIST:

Did he own the farm?

EVANS:

No. Nobody owns much of the farms over there, you know it? They belong to somebody else, you know it? A lot of them.

SIGRIST:

What kinds of work would he have done on the farm? EVANS; Well he was with horses and things.

SIGRIST:

Did he train the horses?

EVANS:

Did he train the horses?

EVANS:

No. They work them, you know it? Yeah.

SIGRIST:

What was your mother's name?

EVANS:

Elizabeth.

SIGRIST:

What was her maiden name?

EVANS:

Ellis. E-L-L-I-S.

SIGRIST:

What did your mother look like?

EVANS:

Oh, she was kind of good looking. Yeah.

SIGRIST:

What color hair did she have?

EVANS:

Black.

SIGRIST:

And was she tall or short? EVANS; No, she was kind of small.

SIGRIST:

What was her personality like?

EVANS:

Oh, she was nice. And she strict.

SIGRIST:

How did, why, how was she strict? What would happen to you if you did something bad?

EVANS:

Oh, we'd get licking. I tell you, it was different than it is now!

SIGRIST:

And it was your mother who would do this?

EVANS:

Yeah, yeah.

SIGRIST:

What was your father's personality like?

EVANS:

Well he was different. He was more of a kind man, you know it? She wouldn't do anything if my father was in the house.

SIGRIST:

So he was the gentle one and your mother did all the disciplining. Because your father worked on a farm, did you see your father a lot or was he gone a lot of the time?

EVANS:

No, he wasn't gone lot. Yeah, see him every day, you know it? Yeah.

SIGRIST:

Did you have brothers and sisters?

EVANS:

Yeah, lots of them!

SIGRIST:

Can you remember their names?

EVANS:

Yeah. That was, umm, next to me was Lizzie, the first one and she died. And then there was Ellen Jane, ad she's dead. And then there's Kitty, she's alive. And Mackey, she died not too long ago. And Sarah, she died, not too long ago, yeah. and Grace, and Grace is alive. so I got two sisters alive, you know it. And I got one brother alive, Owen.

SIGRIST:

Owen.

EVANS:

We was from big family, you see. I had four or five brothers, and they all gone. They were TB then, you know it? Remember the TB was in the old country? Yeah? SIGRIST; They died as children?

EVANS:

Yeah.

SIGRIST:

So how many children did your mother have altogether?

EVANS:

Well I think it must be ten. Yeah, it must be ten anyhow.

SIGRIST:

How do you fall into that? Are you the oldest, the youngest, how do you fall into all those children?

EVENS:

Well, I went to work you know. We all had to go out to work, you know.

SIGRIST:

Did you have brothers and sisters who were older than you?

EVANS:

No. I had one but she died of TB, you see.

SIGRIST:

How old was she when she died?

EVANS:

She was thirteen years old.

SIGRIST:

Do you remember when she died?

EVANS:

Oh yeah. SIGRIST; What do you remember?

EVANS:

Oh I remember I saw her dying and everything. You know, they were in the house, you know. The casket and everything was in the house, you know it. Yeah, a poor time, you know it? Yeah.

SIGRIST:

Was she buried nearby?

EVANS:

Yeah, in the cemetery in __________.

SIGRIST:

Was that difficult for your parents?

EVANS:

Oh yeah, you know. People didn't have money over there, you know it. But nothing. She was sick for three years with TB and there we was all in a small house. House like that. That's when Wales, that's where he, we start from to this country,, just think of it.

SIGRIST:

What did that house look like on the inside?

EVANS:

Well, small, yeah.

SIGRIST:

How many rooms did it have?

EVANS:

Only just a, didn't have much, two bedrooms, you know, and they were close together, you know it. And a big long room, and we have to sleep together, you know it.

SIGRIST:

Did it have a fireplace?

EVANS:

Yeah, that's where they cook, you see.

SIGRIST:

What kinds of food do you remember your mother cooking?

EVANS:

Well my mother made, well, she always bake bread. Always bake bread, you know, and have potatoes, no much meat, no nothing like that. We was brought up plain, you know it, yeah. Once in a great while we get rice pudding, you know it. Yeah.

SIGRIST:

Was that a treat?

EVANS:

Yeah.

SIGRIST:

How did your mother make rice pudding?

EVANS:

Well she made it with mild, you see. Yeah. SIGRIST; Did your parents grow some of their own food?

EVANS:

Oh yeah, we had garden potatoes, you know, but the garden wasn't too awful big, you know, but we had enough for winter anyhow, you know it. It was tough living, I tell you. SIGRIST; And you said that several of your brothers and sisters died?

EVANS:

Yeah, yeah, died with TB. Well I imagine they got it from each other. I bet they was sick each of them about three years. My mother had awful time. SIGRIST; What kinds of medicine did they have for TB at that time?

EVANS:

Well they didn't get too much, you know it.

SIGRIST:

Did they have any kind of home remedies?

EVANS:

Well, not much, I don't think, there was nothing you can do to that TB once, now they can cure it, you know it. Oh they was sick, you know it. They cough and cough. It's a wonder we didn't get it all.

SIGRIST:

Tell me about the green cap when your sister died/ the green cap when your sister died.

EVANS:

Well, I saw her dying and everything, because I jus come from church, you know it, you know. And I can remember that day somebody gave me a green cap, and I won't wear anything green anymore.

SIGRIST:

Because it reminded you?

EVANS:

Yeah, yeah.

SIGRIST:

So the living was very poor?

EVANS:

Yeah.

SIGRIST:

How did you heat your house?

EVANS:

Well, they heated it with coal, you know it. Or if we go out and pick a few sticks around.

SIGRIST:

Where did they get the coal?

EVANS:

Well, man would sell it, you know, by the hundredweight, yeah.

SIGRIST:

Was that a lot of money for your parents to . . .

EVANS:

Oh yeah, they didn't have money for nothing. My mother would patch the old clothes or somebody would give a little clothes. I was brought up poor, I tell you now.

SIGRIST:

When you were a little girl in Wales, what did you do for fun?

EVANS:

Well, we went to school, you know, and we played a little house, and things like that, you know it.

SIGRIST:

Do you remember any games that you played as a child?

EVANS:

Yeah, we play merry-go-round and things like that. I can remember pretty good. SIGRIST; Were there lots of children where you lived?

EVANS:

Oh yeah. I think it was getting to be hundred perhaps, you know it, yeah. And I know we took our dinner to school, two pieces of bread and nothing else.

SIGRIST:

Who made the bread?

EVANS:

My mother.

SIGRIST:

How did she do that?

EVANS:

Well she baked bread, you know it. Unless she took it sometimes, we took it, my mother wasn't good anyhow and we took it to the big bakery to bake, you know, and bring the rolls home.

SIGRIST:

So she didn't actually bake it?

EVANS:

That was years ago. They don't do that now.

SIGRIST:

What kind of bread did she make?

EVANS:

White bread. And perhaps wheat bread. Raisin bread we get Christmas.

SIGRIST:

Tell me about how you celebrated Christmas in Wales.

EVANS:

Well, she always have pudding. Plum pudding. Yeah, yeah.

SIGRIST:

How did she make the pudding?

EVANS:

Well, I can make it. With everything, know, raisins, and things, you know it.

SIGRIST:

How was it cooked?

EVANS:

I do it now. I was going to do this year but I got taken sick, you see.

SIGRIST:

How is it cooked? How did she cook the plum pudding?

EVANS:

Well, she put it in a saucepan, you know, and have the water boiling, and put it, we put it in cloth, you know it, and then she put it in this kettle, you see, to boil. But you can't let it sand at all, you know it, keep it boiling all time. Yeah.

SIGRIST:

Did you eat much meat?

EVANS:

Not too much. We get a little slice of bacon on Sunday, that's all.

SIGRIST:

That's it?

EVANS:

Yeah.

SIGRIST:

Did any of your brothers and sisters have jobs outside of the home?

EVANS:

No, they were too small, you see, and my, tough living, I tell you.

SIGRIST:

What do you remember about going to church as a little girl?

EVANS:

Oh we went to church every Sunday three times a day. The church would give us, somebody made the dresses for us and we would wear them for a year. My mother took care of things.

SIGRIST:

Can you describe one of the dresses for me? What did the dresses look like?

EVANS:

Just one piece, you know it. Yeah. And we kept them every Sunday. Mother always had a chest and she always keep those dresses, you know it.

SIGRIST:

What church did you go to? EVANS; Umm, what do you call those churches in, I went? Well, it's just a plain church, you know it? What do you call them? Tawaith (sp.?) Welsh phrase).

SIGRIST:

Was it a Methodist church?

EVANS:

No, not Methodist.

SIGRIST:

A Baptist church?

EVANS:

No, the other one. SIGRIST; Presbyterian?

EVANS:

Well, what do you call it? A minister, you know.

SIGRIST:

Congregational?

EVANS:

No. There's another one.

SIGRIST:

Umm

EVANS:

ne more.

SIGRIST:

Well, maybe it will come to you, Episcopalian? Church of England?

EVANS:

Oh yeah, that's what it was!

SIGRIST:

The Episcopalian church?

EVANS:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SIGRIST:

What else do you remember about church? Did you have Sunday school?

EVANS:

Well I went to church. I was confirmed over there, and everything like that, you know it?

SIGRIST:

Was it a pretty church?

EVANS:

Yeah.

SIGRIST:

Do you remember what it looked like?

EVANS:

Yeah. It looked like you see in these pictures, you know it. But, you know, they let everything go now, you know it. It's a shame. They don't do anything. People don't go to church.

SIGRIST:

Did you practice your religion at home, somehow?

EVANS:

No, I was baptized in the church, yeah.

SIGRIST:

Did you say prayers at home ever?

EVANS:

Yeah, we had to learn things, you know it. Learn the big psalm and things like that, you know it, yeah.

SIGRIST:

Did you speak Welsh or English?

EVANS:

No, Welsh. I didn't, couldn't talk english when I came to this country. I had to, my husband is worse than I am and I had to remember what to say to people! We had the darndest time. We was ready to turn back!

SIGRIST:

Tell me about going to school in Wales.

EVANS:

Yeah.

SIGRIST:

How old were you when you started school?

EVANS:

Well about five years old.

SIGRIST:

And was the school in your town?

EVANS:

Yeah, yeah, there was school.

SIGRIST:

What was school like? What was it like to go to school?

EVANS:

I don't know, they were awful strict. My, you get it awful, you know it? I can remember if we was late we had five miles to go to school, walk, you know it, and the old teacher'd be out by the outside if we're late and we get the darn stick right across our hands.

SIGRIST:

Was it a man teacher or a woman teacher?

EVANS:

That's the way they did with everybody, you know it? Yeah!

SIGRIST:

But did you have men teachers and women teachers? EVANS; Yeah, oh yeah.

SIGRIST:

What kinds of subjects did you have in school?

EVANS:

Oh, about the same as here. Yeah.

SIGRIST:

What was your favorite?

EVANS:

Oh, I don't know. but I learned to, you know, I could always learn English and everything, you know it? We learned it quick when we come here. We went to a place where there was children, you know it, and they talk English and we picked right up. He pick it quicker than I did.

SIGRIST:

Your husband did?

EVANS:

Yeah.

SIGRIST:

Tell me a little bit about what, was there a train that came through your town in Wales?

EVANS:

No. No, no, you ad to go quite far to get to, well, there was a train from Holyhead from Valley to Holyhead, from Holyhead, and I been on that, you know.

SIGRIST:

What were the major industries in this town? What did people do for a living generally?

EVANS:

Well, they did everything, you know. They had little stores, you know, and things. Everything is changed there now.

SIGRIST:

Was there any mining going on near this town?

EVANS:

No,. No, you had to go south Wales for that, yeah. SIGRIST; So mostly farmers, and . . ?

EVANS:

Yeah, yeah. They work on the farm, you know it.

SIGRIST:

What was the weather like in Wales?

EVANS:

Oh, not very good. Lot of rain. But when we came over, it was a nice weather there, sun was out. I came to this country, there was snow on the ground.

SIGRIST:

Now tell me about your first job. You said you got your first job when you were 13.

EVANS:

Well, I milk, I had to get cows and everything, I was so afraid, that if I know that, and I had to milk them, you know it. We sit them by the stool, you know it, under them. Oh, I was afraid.

SIGRIST:

Now, did you have to . .

EVANS:

And I had to feed pigs. Too. carry water. I work hard, I tell you, all my life.

SIGRIST:

When you worked at this farm, did you live at this farm?

EVANS:

Yeah. Yeah, and there was six children there, too. They were kind of growing up, you know it. We had to scrub the floors, and everything, you know it.

SIGRIST:

Did you have to send the money that you were making back to your mother and father? EVANS; Well, I didn't do only two pounds for six months! That wasn't much, that wasn't enough for you to get your clothes! You know it?

SIGRIST:

So you had just enough for your clothes?

EVANS:

Yeah, I had to get them to get my clothes.

SIGRIST:

How long did you work at the farm?

EVANS:

I work last place three years and a half. And I work another place year, I think. Two places, a year, that's all.

SIGRIST:

That's a hard, hard way to . .

EVANS:

Yeah. Oh, it tis!

SIGRIST:

What do you remember about World War I? What do you remember about the First . .

EVANS:

Oh, I remember the soldiers coming home, and I can see them now, marching in the street, you know it. Yeah, it was quite a thing, you know it.

SIGRIST:

Was that a scary time for people?

EVANS:

And a lot of the boys got killed. They had letters every day, you know, come to their door, people, they killed, you know it. Oh, we lost a lot a boys.

SIGRIST:

Did you know people who were killed in the war?

EVANS:

Well I don't know, the one you haven't been over there, Evelyn, over there [Evans refers to the person Sigrist is to interview later in the day.], she had a brother killed there I guess. You know, yeah.

SIGRIST:

Did any of your brothers or your father have to fight?

EVANS:

No, no. See my brothers wasn't old enough then, you see, that's the trouble.

SIGRIST:

And your father was too old?

EVANS:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SIGRIST:

Well, tell me why you wanted to come to America.

EVANS:

Oh, he made up his mind, you know it. Oh, I said, if I was single, I'd go right back.

SIGRIST:

This is your husband?

EVANS:

Yeah.

SIGRIST:

What was his name?

EVANS:

Richard, yeah Richard Evans. [This is a mistake; her husband's name was William.]

SIGRIST:

And did you marry him in Wales?

EVANS:

Yeah, we married in Wales.

SIGRIST:

Do you remember what date it was when you got married?

EVANS:

It was on Saturday.

SIGRIST:

What year was it? Do you remember?

EVANS:

19. . the same year I came over, you see.

SIGRIST:

1923?

EVANS:

Yeah, yeah.

SIGRIST:

How did you meet your husband?

EVANS:

Oh he was on the farm living, you know, and I was there.

SIGRIST:

And that's how you met him?

EVANS:

Yeah, yeah. But you couldn't go out only once a week, you know it. One night a week. And you had to be back home 10 o'clock.

SIGRIST:

If you went out somewhere with your husband, husband-to-be, where would you go, if you went out on a date?

EVANS:

Well, we'd go t a village or something. There wasn't much time, you know it. Late when we get out of the house, perhaps it'd be 6 or 7 o'clock, you know it. Oh, they didn't care. It's hard, I tell you now.

SIGRIST:

Can you describe for me what your husband looked like? EVANS; Well, I don't know, we got picture of him, don't we?

SIGRIST:

Did he have dark hair?

EVANS:

You know where the picture is? (Evans is speaking to her daughter Kathleen.)

SIGRIST:

We'll look at that later. So you married in 1923. Did he want to come to America?

EVANS:

He was tall. Yeah. But he was an awful worker, you know it. He worked himself to death, yeah.

SIGRIST:

Did you want to come to this country?

EVANS:

Well, I didn't want to come so much. I came with him, you know it. I said if I was single I'd go right back.

SIGRIST:

So you didn't really want to go very much?

EVANS:

No.

SIGRIST:

Do you remember saying good-bye to your mother and father?

EVANS:

Oh yeah. My mother said, "I'll never see you again." Yeah, but I've been back four times, you know it. I went out to work after my husband, and I saved my money, and get to the old country.

SIGRIST:

Do you remember what you took with you to come to America?

EVANS:

Well, I just took the clothes I want, you know it. I know I have a trunk, you know it, and I put clothes, what I had, in that, you know it.

SIGRIST:

When you came, how long had you been married, when you came to this country?

EVANS:

Well, we was married that Saturday before we come, you see, yeah.

SIGRIST:

So this was like a honeymoon, kind of, coming on the boat for you.

EVANS:

Yeah, yeah. I was sick all the time on the ship.

SIGRIST:

Where did you leave from? What port did you leave from?

EVANS:

We went to Hollyhead, you know that, Holyhead and then we went to Liverpool, you know it, and we didn't know a soul. We didn't know where we was going or nothing. It was hard! And then we got that culprit, we call him.

SIGRIST:

What was the name of the boat that you came on?

EVANS:

If I remember, (to daughter) do you remember the boat? It starts with "C".

DAUGHTER:

Cedric.

SIGRIST:

The Cedric? Yeah, the Cedric?

EVANS:

Yeah, yeah, oh Cedric, that was it! I'm getting that I can't remember things, it is terrible!

SIGRIST:

What do you remember about being on the boat?

EVANS:

Oh, I was sick all time, I couldn't go and eat or nothing.

SIGRIST:

So it was not a very pleasant . . .

EVANS:

Oh, it was always stormy too, oh, they had it all closed. yeah. But I remember there was lot of people there then, you know, and they had to wash their hair, they had nits, you know, in their hair. I can remember that alright.

SIGRIST:

Where did you stay on the boat? Where did you sleep on the boat?

EVANS:

Well, we was in a room, you know. You know, together, you know it, yeah.

SIGRIST:

Were other people in the room with you?

EVANS:

No, no, no. Oh, but it was stormy.

SIGRIST:

Did your husband get sick?

EVANS:

Well, he could talk some men, or something, you know it. He could go round you see, where I couldn't, you know it. I stayed in bed.

SIGRIST:

You were right in the bunk?

EVANS:

Yeah.

SIGRIST:

Were there doctors on the boat that helped you?

EVANS:

I didn't see anybody. Yeah.

SIGRIST:

Did you ever go up on deck to the fresh air?

EVANS:

No, it was too bad weather.

SIGRIST:

Oh, it was a stormy trip?

EVANS:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SIGRIST:

What time of the year is this? What time of the year did you come over? What month was it?

EVANS:

It was, uh, ( to her daughter ) what month was it?

DAUGHTER:

March!

SIGRIST:

It was in March. So it's the winter then.

EVANS:

It was nice in Wales, you know. Gee the sun was shining and everything. We came to this country, there was snow on the ground.

SIGRIST:

How long did the boat ride take?

EVANS:

I think we was quite long time, you know, it was stormy, you know it. I think we must be twelve days, anyhow.

SIGRIST:

Was this the first time you had ever been on a big boat?

EVANS:

Oh yeah.

SIGRIST:

Was that scary for you?

EVANS:

No, no, I wasn't afraid.

SIGRIST:

When you left from Liverpool, did any of your family or friends come to say good-bye to you?

EVANS:

No, I didn't see a soul. We didn't, we supposed to see, but we couldn't find them. see we didn't know nothing about there, you know it, yeah.

SIGRIST:

Did you see the Statue of Liberty when you came into New York?

EVANS:

Yeah, yeah, we went by it.

SIGRIST:

What do you remember about seeing that?

EVANS:

Well, we stopped just a minute, you know it. Yeah, it was nice, yeah.

SIGRIST:

And then did they take you to Ellis Island?

EVANS:

Yeah.

SIGRIST:

What do you remember about Ellis Island?

EVANS:

Well, we went over there and we had, we went inside and there was a lot of people there, and i tell you, that was the best cup of coffee I ever had in my life! I remember that alright!

SIGRIST:

Did you have, do you remember any of the examination? Did they give you examinations?

EVANS:

No they didn't, they wasn't bad at all. No, they were good, you know it, yeah.

SIGRIST:

Lots of people?

EVANS:

Oh, there was lot of people, every kind of people there, you know it. And I guess we wasn't there too long, you know, they put us on the train to come to West Winfield, you know it.

SIGRIST:

So no one met you then at ellis Island?

EVANS:

No, no. We didn't see anybody we know at all.

SIGRIST:

Did you already have relatives living in America?

EVANS:

No, I never saw them before. Yeah, but they were some relation to my husband, far away.

SIGRIST:

So the train came right to West Winfield?

EVANS:

Yeah, yeah. And we stop in West Winfield and they was an old people there, and they took us in and had, we had breakfast there.

SIGRIST:

Were they Welsh?

EVANS:

Yeah.

SIGRIST:

Did it feel good for you to talk to someone in Welsh?

EVANS:

Yeah, I know it, I know it.

SIGRIST:

How long did you stay in West Winfield? Were you here for a long time?

EVANS:

We went on this, on a hill over there. It was, you know, from the town, you know it, and few days, somebody come over there and want us to go there and work. so I work in the house, and he work outdoors. But in July, I had appendix, and I had to go to the hospital. I was sick all summer.

SIGRIST:

In July of the year that you came here?

EVANS:

Yeah, yeah.

SIGRIST:

Oh well, what do you remember about having your appendix? What were you doing when that happened?

EVANS:

Well, I was over there two weeks or more, yeah. I know there was fourteen in that room. Yeah.

SIGRIST:

Was that frightening for you?

EVANS:

And I was sick, you see. I got pregnant too. So I was sick all that summer.

SIGRIST:

You were busy. Now were you originally supposed to come to West Winfield?

EVANS:

Yeah.

SIGRIST:

You were originally supposed to come to West Winfield. You were originally supposed to come here?

EVANS:

Yeah.

SIGRIST:

Tell me what your husband, what jobs your husband got when he came up here?

EVANS:

When he died?

SIGRIST:

When he came up here in 1923. What job did he get?

EVANS:

Oh he work on the farm. He work hard.

SIGRIST:

Whose farm was it?

EVANS:

It was, um, Watkins in West Winfield. Yeah. It was a big farm.

SIGRIST:

Now did you live on the farm?

EVANS:

And I milked there too, you know it, yeah. I milked with him.

SIGRIST:

But you had experience from Wales. So how long did he work on the farm?

EVANS:

Oh we stayed there quite few years. Yeah.

SIGRIST:

Did you miss Wales?

EVANS:

Oh, sometimes. I didn't have no time.

SIGRIST:

So when was your child born?

EVANS:

They born home every one.

SIGRIST:

Yeah.

EVANS:

I was awful sick with the first girl, yeah. I had two doctors. But I got through it.

SIGRIST:

What umm, were you writing back to your family in Wales? Did you ever write to them?

EVANS:

Yeah, I write back and forth, you know it, yeah.

SIGRIST:

Did you ever send them any money?

EVANS:

No, Didn't have no money to send!

SIGRIST:

Did your, um, did any other members of your family come to America? Did any members, like any brothers and sisters want to come to America?

EVANS:

No, I don't think.

SIGRIST:

You're the only one from your family?

EVANS:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SIGRIST:

Did your mother miss you?

EVANS:

Oh she did. She said when I went, "I'll never see you again." And of course I couldn't afford to go before, you know, and she died. I think she was, eh, was it 58, or something like that, see?

SIGRIST:

Quite young.

EVANS:

Yeah.

SIGRIST:

Tell me a little bit about learning English. You started talking about how you learned English.

EVANS:

Well, I learned with these kids, you know it. We pick up quick, you know it. Of course, we, in school, we used to translate things, you know it. That helped, you know it. But you learn English quick.

SIGRIST:

Were there lots of Welsh people living in West Winfield?

EVANS:

Not too many. We was on the farm, I didn't see any much Welsh, you know, so I didn't talk. I was forgetting my Welsh, you know it, yeah. Now I see this Evelyn, you know, and Margaret Williams, you're gong to see [She refers to interviews Sigrist is going to conduct.], and I got them, now we talk Welsh like anything. I can write and everything Welsh.

SIGRIST:

Your husband also had to learn English when he came here. Was it easy?

EVANS:

But he learned quick. He's with the men working out, you see. Yeah.

SIGRIST:

Was it easier for him than for you? Did he pick it up faster?

EVANS:

Yeah, I think he did.

SIGRIST:

What was really different about America? What was different in America than it had been in Wales?

EVANS:

Well, I don't think it's any better, you know it, yeah.

SIGRIST:

How long, did your husband always do farm work?

EVANS:

Yeah. Yo see he died when he was 55.

SIGRIST:

I see. He worked very hard.

EVANS:

Yeah, yeah. And he was sick and he wouldn't go to the hospital or nothing. I couldn't do nothing with him. But he had large heart and there was no hope for him, you know it. But he was good, you know it. I had him at home, he died home. Yeah.

SIGRIST:

How many children did you have?

EVANS:

I had nine. And I lost one boy.

SIGRIST:

You had nine children. I see. Can you name everyone's names? All of your children's names?

EVANS:

Yeah. Can you help me name the children or you can't? [ This is directed toward her daughter, Kathleen. ] It's, ah, Elizabeth, Richard, John, and Wilbur, and that boy died, Stanley, died, and then I had Russell, and Bobbie, and then I had her [ Kathleen ], and Jane. And Elizabeth [ first daughter repeated], and she lost her husband seven years ago. She lives in Richfield, yeah.

SIGRIST:

You had a household full!

EVANS:

Yeah, oh yeah.

SIGRIST:

Is that typical for Welsh people to have big families?

EVANS:

Oh they have, but not anymore.

SIGRIST:

Can you say the Lord's Prayer in Welsh for me? Can you recite the Lord's Prayer in Welsh for me on tape?

EVANS:

Yeah, yeah. [Evans recites the Lord's Prayer in Welsh.]

SIGRIST:

Did you ever want your children to learn Welsh? Did you ever encourage your children to learn the Welsh language?

EVANS:

No, I couldn't. We talk, they went to Winfield school and they would talk English. And one day, they said to their father, "Why don't you," --we talk Welsh, you know it. "Why don't you talk English," they said, "so we can know what you're talking?" So we talk English all in the house. But you never can forget it.

SIGRIST:

Tell me about the first time you went back to Wales. What was that like for you?

EVANS:

Well, it was, you know everything was about the same. I stayed with my sister, you know it. She died, it'll be two years now, yeah.

SIGRIST:

How old were you when you went back the first time?

EVANS:

Gee, I don't know what I would be. I was working though. I was working in the restaurant. Yeah, because I had to go out of work, you see. And, so I don't know how old I, oh, 50.

SIGRIST:

You were 50 when you went back for the first time?

EVANS:

Yeah, yeah, 50 years old. I can remember now. Yeah.

SIGRIST:

Had Wales changed from how you remembered it?

EVANS:

Well, I didn't think it was changed much. I went to the stores, and things like that. You know, I couldn't see too much change, yeah.

SIGRIST:

What about the house that your sister lived in? Was it more modern than the house you grew up in?

EVANS:

Oh yeah, they had bathroom, and everything now. In my time, they didn't have nothing, you know it. Yeah.

SIGRIST:

How long did you stay the first time?

EVANS:

What did I stay? Wait just a minute. I went with another woman, she was in Masonic Home. And she went back, I went with her, you see, in the Masonic Home. so I stayed, it must be, I don't know, I stayed two months.

SIGRIST:

Oh, a long time.

EVANS:

Oh yeah.

SIGRIST:

Were you anxious to get back to America after that?

EVANS:

Well, yeah. And I came home all alone. And I was in New York for five hours and didn't know anybody. Oh, I was scared to death!

SIGRIST:

Did you go over by boat the first time?

EVANS:

Yeah, I went twice with a boat. yeah. And then after that, when there was plane, I went plane.

SIGRIST:

Did you get seasick on those visits like you had gotten seasick when you came to America?

EVANS:

No, I didn't get, I got sick the first time, you know it.

SIGRIST:

But the other times were pleasant?

EVANS:

Yeah, yeah.

SIGRIST:

Let me ask you, are you glad that you, or that your husband decided to come to this country?

EVANS:

Well, I would never come myself. I got to get used to it.

SIGRIST:

How do you think your life would have been different if you had stayed in Wales?

EVANS:

Well, a lot different, you know it. We seem to get more things in America, you know it, than is in the old country, you know it.

SIGRIST:

It's an easier life.

EVANS:

Yeah, yeah.

SIGRIST:

Well, Mrs. Evans, I want to thank you very much for letting me come out here and ask you a few questions about coming from Wales. I appreciate the time. Thank you. This is Paul Sigrist, signing off for the National Park Service with Annie Evans. END OF INTERVIEW