LEVINE:

This is Janet Levine for the National Park Service. It's December 5, 1994, and I'm here with Mary Marques, and in her home in Raynham, Massachusetts. Mrs. Marques came from Portugal when she was seven years old in 1920. I'm delighted to be here. I hope, whatever you can remember will be just wonderful. So we'll start by when you were born, and we'll go from there. What was your birth date, Mrs. Marques?

MARQUES:

Well, it was July 17, 1912.

LEVINE:

And did you, do you, did your mother or your father or your grandparents, did anybody ever tell you anything about your birth? Were there any stories about—

MARQUES:

No.

LEVINE:

When you were born, any particular incidents or anything?

MARQUES:

No.

LEVINE:

Where were you born?

MARQUES:

Villa Franca De Sara.

LEVINE:

Now, is that—

MARQUES:

And that's in Portugal.

LEVINE:

Is that the name of a town?

MARQUES:

Yes.

LEVINE:

And did you live in Villa Franca De Sara until you left for the United States?

MARQUES:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

Okay. When you think of that town, and when you were a little girl there, what do you remember about it?

MARQUES:

Well, I went there in 1965, I wouldn't get lost, because I remember those streets and everything.

LEVINE:

You remember the street. What was the street your house was on?

MARQUES:

It didn't have no number. It's the, you know, old-type streets—if I remember them, yeah. And my grandmother's home, too, yeah.

LEVINE:

Do you remember your grandmother very well from when you were a little girl?

MARQUES:

Oh, yes.

LEVINE:

What was she like? What do you remember doing with her?

MARQUES:

Well, at the time that I left I remember her. She was very sick. She was in bed for a long time. So I used to hang around there a lot.

LEVINE:

What would you talk about with your grandmother? Do you remember?

MARQUES:

No, I didn't, because she was a very sick woman.

LEVINE:

Was she sick as long as you could remember?

MARQUES:

That's what I remember, that she was in bed. My mother used to, my mother and her sisters used to, you know, take care of her.

LEVINE:

Did your grandmother ever tell you stories, or anything like that?

MARQUES:

No, I don't remember that.

LEVINE:

How about your grandfather? Was your grandfather around?

MARQUES:

Yes, I remember. My grandfather used to tell me little stories.

LEVINE:

Oh. Can you remember any of them?

MARQUES:

That I, oh, I don't think I could be, I don't think they could be too good, because he used to tell me the story, and then some of the, the old ladies would ask me to tell them the story, and they would laugh a lot (laughs). So I don't know. I don't remember now. But I know that they used to love to hear me telling them the stories my grandfather used to tell me (laughs).

LEVINE:

Do you remember anything about the stories he told you?

MARQUES:

No, I don't. But I still got a feeling that it must have been a funny story. And then I remember one thing, though. One time a lady from Lisbon came to our town. I must have been about four years old or so. She came to the town and a lady told her that I used to say a nice little story. So she asked me to tell her the story. I said, "No." She says, "Tell me the story, I'll send you a beautiful doll from Lisbon." Of course we used to have raggedy dolls. So I did tell her the story and she got a kick out of it and she did send me a beautiful doll. I always had that doll till I came to America, yeah.

LEVINE:

Now, do you remember that story that you told her?

MARQUES:

No, I don't. But it had to be—it a be—had to be a foolish story if the ladies would laugh so much. That's what I always remember. Oh, yeah.

LEVINE:

Do you remember the doll?

MARQUES:

Huh?

LEVINE:

Do you remember the doll that she gave you?

MARQUES:

Oh, I cried so much. I wanted to bring it to America. I loved that doll. That I've always remembered. I loved that doll. And my mother kept saying, "No, you're not taking it. I'll buy you one in America." I was seven years old. So she gave it to her sister's little girl. Yeah. I always remember that.

LEVINE:

What was your doll's name? Do you remember what you called your doll?

MARQUES:

I don't remember that.

LEVINE:

What kind of a doll was it? What was it made out of?

MARQUES:

Oh, it was—see and—over there they used to make those raggedy dolls. But that one was with a beautiful face. It was real. Its was— 'cause she----it was—she came—that doll's from Portugal—she—it was—she came—that doll came from Lisbon.

LEVINE:

Was the face of the doll made out of porcelain? Like, was it—

MARQUES:

Yes, it was a beautiful doll, yeah. I always remembered, yeah. Because oh, I cried so much. I wanted that doll. But it's funny, it stays in your mind.

LEVINE:

Can you remember playing with the doll and everything?

MARQUES:

I use—my mother used to say, and I still remember when we used to go to church, it right near me—with me. And I'd put it right near me. I remember that. And my mother, she had the most wonderful voice. She was a soprano, and she was always the first to start us singing. And she came over here, and she always said, "I miss Portugal because I miss the singing in church." Yeah.

LEVINE:

What was your mother's name?

MARQUES:

Sapuricupa [ph].

LEVINE:

Whoa. Do you know how to spell that?

MARQUES:

S-A-P-U-R-I—I think it's on the, wait a minute.

LEVINE:

Oh, on the passport, yeah. Okay. Well, I can get it after we, we stop.

MARQUES:

See? It's right there.

LEVINE:

Okay. So—

MARQUES:

Her name was Mary Sapuricupa Volups [ph].

LEVINE:

What was your father's name?

MARQUES:

He was Jokim Al—that would be Jack, Jokim Alvarnet [ph].

LEVINE:

What was your maiden name, then? Your maiden name, before you were married?

MARQUES:

Oh, mine was, it was Mary Augusta [not understood] Alvarnet.

LEVINE:

Alvonet is the, was the last name.

MARQUES:

Yeah, yeah. That's what it was.

LEVINE:

And so tell me more about your mother. She had a beautiful singing voice. Was she a religious woman?

MARQUES:

Yeah, very. And you know what? Her great-granddaughter sings like my mother. I even got the picture. She—she's even taking lessons. My—none of my sisters would sing good, but my sister's little— little granddaughter, she's got the voice like my mother. So she won for the best talent, and I got her picture last week. It was in the paper. Yeah, in Tarton. Yeah.

LEVINE:

Do you remember any religious celebrations in Portugal?

MARQUES:

Well, they had, you know, the certain days that they used to do things, so I don't really remember. But I knew we used to have to go to church every week. And she really sang beautiful. And over here when it was thundering she would sing her prayers. That's why I know she had a beautiful voice. She could bring her voice high. She was a—yeah.

LEVINE:

Did she only sing religious songs? Did she ever sing other kinds of things, too?

MARQUES:

I don't remember her singin' other songs. But she did sing [not understood]. She had that faith of certain prayers she'd always sing. And then, of course, she says she missed—missed the church there, because—

LEVINE:

What was the church like? Do you remember the church?

MARQUES:

Oh, it was made of stone. And, of course—I don't think—I don't think we had seats. I don't remember, but I remember it was—must have been wood that we used to kneel down. It isn't like now. So that I remember. Yeah.

LEVINE:

And did you go to school when you were in Portugal?

MARQUES:

I have just s—s—started school because I was seven years old. I picked up the, the Perchkey [ph] here by—by, you know—my mother had some boarders. And then they'd buy the paper—Perchkey paper. And I did, you know—did start a read. I can write—and read and write. But, no I didn't have school here for—you know, Perchkeys [ph]. And I did.

LEVINE:

What do you remember about the house you lived in when you were in Villa Franca?

MARQUES:

It was nice. The house was nice. Because not like over here, they were all stone. I've got the picture of it, too. It was all stone and it faced, let's see, it faced two streets. It faced two streets. And my mother had one in the front of the road where they—where they now park them—the buses and everything. A small little house that my cousin now had to have been living there. But ours was two houses together and it would come this way and it would face that way. So, in other words, she had it, that. And then they had the sewing machine. And my father had been a shoemaker—cobbler, so he had a Singer sewing machine. And then she had that other room where she used to put things. Then she had a fireplace and had the—on the side the sticks where she used to bake linguiça and things like that then hang them there.

LEVINE:

Linguiça, is that like a pasta?

MARQUES:

No, linguiça is—they sell it here. They make it here. It's a—I'm trying to think. You never saw linguiça?

LEVINE:

I'm not sure. I'm not sure. If you—

MARQUES:

It's like a sausage, but it's all meat.

LEVINE:

Oh.

MARQUES:

It's like they call it—they call it Italian sausage. But the perkt [ph] is all meat. I used to make it here myself, yeah. And then of course they'd tie it and they—they'd smoke it to dry it up, yeah. So she had that. 1965 the house was the same was as when I came. 'Cos I went in there, yeah. So.

LEVINE:

Did you have any—were you too young, or did you have any chores or duties that you had to do around the house?

MARQUES:

No. I was seven years old.

LEVINE:

You were too young.

MARQUES:

I didn't do anything. I used to play with the children (laughs). That's all.

LEVINE:

What, do you remember games that you played?

MARQUES:

I don't know.

LEVINE:

Well, you played with your doll, and -

MARQUES:

Played with dolls. And I remember that the front of our house there—it was a lady and she was like a mother to me. And, of course, she had—we didn't have that—but she had sheep and—so they used to—she had a niece who'd make cheese and then they make (out of the whey) they'd make—they'd call it soro [ph]. It's delicious.

LEVINE:

How do you spell that?

MARQUES:

S-O-R-O. And she used to make that. And it would stay like— something like cream cheese, you know, with a little water to it. Because I used to make it here years ago. I like that. And every day she would call me. I would have to have a little bowl of that soro. She'd give it to my mother. She wanted me to be with her. She was childless. She didn't have no children. So she always—I remember her, her name. I remember how good she was to me.

LEVINE:

What was her name?

MARQUES:

Piardad [ph]. Yeah. I remember her.

LEVINE:

And can you say any more about how she made the soro? How did she do it?

MARQUES:

I know how to do it myself.

LEVINE:

Oh. Could you describe it, how you make it?

MARQUES:

Well, I, I used to make here in—in Grano, I used to buy the rennet tablets and—For two—I think for two quarts of milk, I'd put two rennet tablets. Over there they use some kind of an herb, does that.

LEVINE:

Oh.

MARQUES:

And then—

LEVINE:

Something that they grow right nearby that they can pick—

MARQUES:

In fact, I've got some, yeah. I brought it—I brought it with me from Portugal. Yeah.

LEVINE:

And you grow it here?

MARQUES:

I don't know. I don't think so. But they do, they grow that. They dry it up. And then after it would stay through a little bit of water, and with the spoon just scrape it around till you get the juice, and you put it in your milk, and it makes it thick, you know. And then after you do that, you take it with a spoon into a form. My father used to make them, you know, a form. And you put it in there and keep pressing it down to get the water out of the way [not understood] until it's firm.

LEVINE:

So you push it down, and then do you spill the water out?

MARQUES:

That's right. But that water, to make the soro, I would save it. Then you were saying about, and I'd save that water, and I'd make a nice big cheese, and I'd leave it for about a day or so in the refrigerator. The water would come out, and then after I got the whey, I'd put in on a saucepan, and I'd put it to boil. I would add a little bit of milk to it, and I'd add a little bit of the flour, and a little bit of the pieces of the cheese that came out. And that would make it, a big pot of, like, cheese, soft cheese. And then after that was done when it was, I would put it what they call, in little bowls. I'd add a little bit of sugar, and it was delicious. Because you, you had the whey, a little bit of the whey, with the pieces of cream cheese. It was good. That's the way I used to do it. And she must have done it.

LEVINE:

That's where you learned it.

MARQUES:

About the same way.

LEVINE:

Are there any other things that you still did in this country that you learned in Portugal?

MARQUES:

Oh, yeah. I still like my own cooking. We used to make caldo verde, that's green kale soup.

LEVINE:

Ooh!

MARQUES:

Yeah. And there is another kind of soup, too, but I like this one better that you put in linguiça, and a little piece of pork meat. But my favorite is the caldo verde, and do that often.

LEVINE:

And how do you do that?

MARQUES:

Well, you have to wash our kale and I take the center stalk off. And just the leaves, cut them very, very thin. And before I do it— because now I can't have anything fat, I cook a pork chop the day before, cut all the fat off. The following day I'll take off the fat and put it in on the pan that I'm going to make—the kettle where I'm going to make the soup, is the pork chop, a big onion, chopped fine, and then I put in the slices of potatoes that I peeled. And—and then after with my kale— and then about fifteen minutes before it's ready. I like a little bit of rice with it. And then I take off the pork chop, chop it after it's cooked, all up in pieces. And that's my favorite. So, I do the [not understood] about a tablespoon of pure olive oil.

LEVINE:

And what do you call that soup?

MARQUES:

Caldo verde. Green—that's the Lisbon way. That's in Portugal. Because the other way it's got linguiça and everything. St. Michael's do it too, like that. But this is my favorite.

LEVINE:

Well, can you think of any things that your mother told you when you were a little girl about ways she wanted you to behave, or ideas that she wanted you to remember?

MARQUES:

No, I never had—my mother was very old-fashioned and we came over here and she followed the old-fashioned ways.

LEVINE:

How was that? What would she do that was old-fashioned?

MARQUES:

Well, one thing—one thing she did that I didn't like. When I went to school here—in time, all the girls had their hair cut. And she loved my hair. She never let me have it cut. She used to braid it for me, and I have to go—and I didn't like that 'cause I wanted to be like the others. That was the only thing that I remember that she displeased me.

LEVINE:

That was in this country.

MARQUES:

In this country, yeah.

LEVINE:

And how about dress? Do you remember how you dressed in Portugal, and how you dressed when you came here?

MARQUES:

Well—dressed—she would—she'd buy and she, well, you know—the dresses for us from here—over here. It was just that she loved—I only had my hair cut after I was married (laughs). Oh, yeah. She loved my hair, and oh, God, she would braid it for me, and that was it.

LEVINE:

Can you, can you describe yourself, what you were like when you were seven years old when you were coming to this country? Do you remember—

MARQUES:

Well, I find it hard, because over here, now, they have this bilingual teachers. We didn't have nothing like that.

LEVINE:

You were just put into the regular class.

MARQUES:

I was just put into the school. But they asked me (laughs) at night—how I liked it. I says, "I don't know what they're saying. I don't know if they're talking or barking, because I don't know a word they said." You know, I didn't. But I'll tell you, the people here, I always found them wonderful. On our street there were French people, there were American people, and everything. And they always were nice to me. You know? And so I—you know—there was no prejudice or feeling. They liked you, and that was that. That's what I always remember. Very nice. I love America. I went to Portugal and I wouldn't want to live there. This is my home. Yes.

LEVINE:

Well getting back to when you were seven years old and your father had already come?

MARQUES:

Nineteen.

LEVINE:

Here.

MARQUES:

Yes.

LEVINE:

And what year did he come?

MARQUES:

Let's see, I have it. Wait a minute, my—

LEVINE:

Well, it doesn't have to be exact. Just, it was a few years before. Oh, you were four years old, I think you said.

MARQUES:

I think. But I got his—he was going to go back. Let's see, he was going to go back. 1919—I think I'm confused. I've got it in there.

LEVINE:

Well, let's just say, he left for the United States, and he went with your sister?

MARQUES:

Yeah, with my older sister. He came, because she was old enough to work. And he came to live with a nephew, you know. And so—I don't know if [not understood] right here three or four years, and then she got married, and then he—he decided—because that's what I got was he had gone to Fall River to the consul there or so'm. He was planning to go back to Portugal to be me and my mother and [not understood]. And she's the one that talked him out of it.

LEVINE:

Your mother.

MARQUES:

My sister.

LEVINE:

Oh, your sister.

MARQUES:

Yeah. She told him, "Dad, why don't you have mother and my sisters come over instead of you going over there and leaving me here alone with my husband?" And he told her—he said, "Well, if they want to come, I'll send for them." So she had written, I guess, to my mother, and asked her if she'd like to come over here, or else Dad would go there. She says, "If he wants me there, we'll go." So that's why after we came over here.

LEVINE:

Do you remember—do you have any idea why your father came to this country to begin with?

MARQUES:

Well, he came to this country because out in Portugal, and in New York, too, they don't make a lot of money. He used to make, like I say, shoes, but that wasn't a lot of money.

LEVINE:

That's what he did in Portugal.

MARQUES:

Yeah. He had learned a trade from his—from his brother. Because he had been—his mother died when he was eight years old. He was not from our town. He was from Nispedeta [ph]. And his godmother raised him 'til he was fourteen then she told him to go live with his brother. That was in Villa Franca. That's why he went there. But then people coming over here—they were living better so he came with my oldest sister over here. Then we—

LEVINE:

And the reason your oldest sister came was that she was of working age.

MARQUES:

Yes, that's why.

LEVINE:

And he felt that she could do better over here.

MARQUES:

Yeah, yeah. So they were—he went with her—lived with my father's nephew. And he was lucky because he got a job in Mount Hope, and he always worked. And then afterwards when I came over I—they had to come on the deck two days before we arrived. And I had been all this sick—throwing up. The boat was terrible.

LEVINE:

Before we talk about the boat trip, let's just talk about your leaving. Do you remember your mother getting ready to leave and what she packed and what you took with you?

MARQUES:

I don't think she could have brought much. But one thing is Portugal is warm so naturally I think she only brought a sweater. And I caught cold on that deck, because we had to go up on the deck in March, and it was cold. And (stammers) being checked out. So when I arrived in New York, I was full of fever and they had to operate on this left ear.

LEVINE:

So when you left your town of Villa Franca de Sara, did you, where did you go to catch the ship?

MARQUES:

We had to go to Porto. We were supposed to come by Lisbon but we didn't. They changed 'em. So we had to go to a—a—a—city and it's so rough there. It's not like Lisbon. The waters are very, very rough.

LEVINE:

Do you remember that trip? Do you remember leaving your town?

MARQUES:

Oh, yeah.

LEVINE:

What was that like? How did you feel about leaving?

MARQUES:

Oh, I got—everybody was crying and saying goodbye. That I remember. My aunts and uncles and my grandfather and, oh, yeah, I remember that.

LEVINE:

And how did you leave town? What kind of transportation was there?

MARQUES:

I think we must have gone by train. There were no buses there.

LEVINE:

Yeah. And was this the first time you had left your little town?

MARQUES:

I believe so. I believe so, yeah.

LEVINE:

So what was it like going to this seaport?

MARQUES:

Huh?

LEVINE:

When you say it was Porto, the name of the seaport where you left from?

MARQUES:

Porto. It's written in here.

LEVINE:

Do you remember Porto?

MARQUES:

Oh, sure.

LEVINE:

What do you remember about that?

MARQUES:

See, that was where we left.

LEVINE:

Do you remember anything about that?

MARQUES:

Well, I remember the ship that we came over—they—the steps going up to the boat, they were made of strong rope.

LEVINE:

Oh.

MARQUES:

You know? And of course I was seven years old—my mother had walked up on there, but a sailor had cut me by the waist and he carried me up—up those stairs, and I was looking at the wall and choppy waters in the bottom. That I remember. And then the boat was towed. My mother and I, we had been always in bed. We never got out of bed. We had been very sick, throwing up. Only my two sisters were up and around.

LEVINE:

What were your sisters' names?

MARQUES:

One of them is Lucia, it's Lucy. And, well, right now—she died already, but her name was Lucia, it's Lucy. And my other sister's was Mary Jo. She's still living.

LEVINE:

And were you in steerage? Were you in the sort of a dormitory kind of accommodations, down?

MARQUES:

It's like bunks, right on the top.

LEVINE:

Were you in a little cabin or were you in a big space with a lot of people?

MARQUES:

Oh, a big space. Everything was, hey. In 1920, it isn't like now, it's all bunks, you know. That's the way it was. It was a bad ship.

LEVINE:

And then when you—and that—the name of the ship was the Niagara.

MARQUES:

Yeah. It was the only time we ever saw that name that came over here, yeah.

LEVINE:

And when did you go up on deck during this trip, during the voyage?

MARQUES:

We had to get out of bed. We had gone two days before we arrived in—in—in America. We had to go on deck. And I had a light sweater and it was cold. But everybody was all in line and when we arrived in—in—in New York, of course, none of them knew how to talk English. And then we were examined, and they didn't say anything [not understood] back in my clothes. That's what my sister tells me—back in my clothes, but they didn't know what the heck. And then afterwards they came and picked me up, took me away. My mother and my sister didn't know where I had gone, yeah.

LEVINE:

When you had to go on deck two days before the boat landed, why did everybody have to go up on deck?

MARQUES:

Because everybody had to go on deck, and they were there checking them off, you know. They were checking them off, was on the deck. END OF SIDE ONE BEGINNING OF SIDE TWO

LEVINE:

And that's where you caught the cold.

MARQUES:

Sure.

LEVINE:

And then do you remember coming into the New York Harbor and seeing the Statue of Liberty?

MARQUES:

( pauses) I—I don't remember that. All I remember is walking up there and everybody was on the sides. And then being examined and nobody knew what was what. And then I remember that they came and took me away. They threw a sheet over me. And we went through a place, I could feel the drops coming. So I don't know if they have from Ellis Island, something underground going into the hospital.

LEVINE:

Yes, they have a tunnel. It's not underground, but it's a covered walkway.

MARQUES:

That's where they took me.

LEVINE:

That's where you went. Yeah, because I remember that they had thrown the sheet and I could feel the drops, you know, falling. And then I was in the hospital, yeah.

LEVINE:

And what do you remember about the hospital?

MARQUES:

Well, I remember this. When they operated on me I don't think they gave me ether because there was this big, bright light and there was full of nurses. Each one—they were holding my arms, they were holding my legs, and then a doctor was working on my ear. And I remember screaming, screaming. I pass—I must have passed out. That I remember. And when I came to, I was in the ward of the children, yeah. And I was there five weeks because I was full of fever, yeah.

LEVINE:

Do you remember what it was? I mean, did you have mastoids in your ear? Or what, do you know what the operation was?

MARQUES:

I don't know what operation. But a few years ago—I forgot all about it. A few years ago I had—one time I caught cold. I got fluid in my head, and I couldn't hear. So I had gone to a specialist, and he had lupped [ph]. And he told me—he gave me something. He told me to go the following week. And then he told me, you know, "I should operate on you." But he says, "You had trouble years ago in this ear." And I remembered. I says, "I was seven years old." And he says, "And they operated. I don't want to touch it," he said. So then he showed me what to do to see if it burst. I did it, and in about an hour-and-a-half I made the, he says, "I won't have to operate if you do this," and it happened, yeah. So, I guess he knew that he didn't want to touch it, yeah.

LEVINE:

What happened with your sisters and your mother while you were in the hospital there?

MARQUES:

They were in the—in the Ellis Islands. They would have to, you know—towards night everybody used to run. Italian people, Portuguese people all running to grab a blanket. This is what they tell me. Because everybody was out for themselves. So—and then they were, you know, disgusted. They couldn't talk to anybody, you know. They didn't have no interpreters or nothing.

LEVINE:

Did someone tell them?

MARQUES:

My father—my father—the five weeks I was there, used to go from Taunton, and he didn't know the English language—used to go from Taunton and go to New York there to see my mother and the—my sisters and then he would go over to the hospital. I never saw my mother and my sisters while I was in the hospital. It was—

LEVINE:

But you saw your father.

MARQUES:

It was only my father. And the first time my father went there I had my eyes closed and he was trying to find me. He had on the, you know, those white gowns that they had. And he went all around, and he says, "It's got to be her." He was saying to himself. So he got there, and I'll never forget his eyes, and he was saying, (Portuguese). I open up my eyes, I look at this man with white clothes on and everything. And then he said, "I'm your father." Yeah.

LEVINE:

How did you feel?

MARQUES:

Oh, I never forgot his voice. He says, "I'm your father. He says, "And your mother and sisters, can't come and see you. But I'll come every week." And so that's who I saw till I come back here. Yep.

LEVINE:

How did you feel about being with your father having, really not even knowing him?

MARQUES:

Oh, I felt so good. Oh, I felt so good. Gosh! I knew I had a father here, but I didn't remember much about him. And oh, sure I felt good, yeah. So, I always was close to him.

LEVINE:

What kind of a man was he?

MARQUES:

He was a—If everybody was like him they'd be in heaven. He was always a caring man, always till the end. He'd do anything for me. He was very kind to my mother and my sisters, and especially me. Because my mother used to tell him, "She looks a lot like you." So that's—that's what I think. But he was—he was always good to me, good, good. My mother was good, but she was not better than him. Yeah.

LEVINE:

What was your mother's personality like?

MARQUES:

Well, she was a—she was a good homemaker. And a very strong woman. And my father was very good. I always gave him a [not understood]. She would know how to run her life. She was an extravagant and she was—she knew very well what to do, yeah. If she could save a dollar, she'd do it. And whatever she could do, she wouldn't buy, yeah. That I remember.

LEVINE:

And do you remember anything else about the hospital and the way you were treated when you were at Ellis Island?

MARQUES:

Well, they were very good to me. And then I think it was the kitchen was next to the ward and there was an older woman there. Of course, I didn't know the language. When I was able to walk around, she'd call me and she'd give me fruit and things like that. That I remember, that for a few days, I'd been walking around, and she'd call me, have me go in there. Oh, yeah.

LEVINE:

Do you remember the fruit that she gave you?

MARQUES:

I think it was oranges and—and things like that. And then they used to give toys. But near me there was another—I think it was a little boy. They were Italian people. And they used to give toys to everybody. But the following day those toys were over there (laughs). They boy didn't come in. That I remember, that I had played with that toy. But, I mean, that day it wasn't there, it was on—on the other bed because this—that I remember. Because they did. And hospital's nice. I've always—I've always loved America here. It just went to [not understood], but no. A lot of people like to come over here a few years and go back. My father never went back. My mother went once with my sister—my older sister, but no. And my other sister—did my? Oh! No, 'cept [ph] one that was born here. I had one sister born the following year. But my other two sisters they did get—one of them went in 1965 at the time I did. And the other one went about three years after. They went and visit. But they—they never wanted to live there either.

LEVINE:

What about your mother? Was she happy in this country? Did she want to go back and live in Portugal, or—

MARQUES:

Oh, yeah. She was happy here. She had her children here and she—and she you know, and she used to write to her sister. I got to meet one of her sisters 'cause I even took her picture in the front of the house where we lived, yeah. She had—my mother had two sisters here in America, two.

LEVINE:

Oh. Was it the attitude of your mother and father that you and your sisters should become American, or did they want you to hold onto some of the Portuguese ways, would you say?

MARQUES:

Well, I'll say the truth. My mother had all—well, my—my two sisters married Portuguese people and the one that was born here married (stammers) elsewhere from Lisbon. You know, they call it Portugal, section. And she had always wished that we would marry Portuguese people. My husband, too, was—was Portuguese. And he had come in 1920, but, of course, I was seven years old and he was fifteen (laughs). And—

LEVINE:

You didn't come in the same ship?

MARQUES:

No. He came to Providence. Yeah. I didn't know them. And, anyway, I was seven years old and he was fifteen years old when he came. And he came in 1922.

LEVINE:

Oh, I see.

MARQUES:

To—to his father, yeah.

LEVINE:

Now, is Joe Fresta your mother's sister's son?

MARQUES:

Joe Fresta's grandmother was sisters with my grandmother.

LEVINE:

I see.

MARQUES:

In other words his mother, Joe Fresta's mother was first cousin to my mother.

LEVINE:

And did you know him when you first came over here? Did you know him?

MARQUES:

I knew him there.

LEVINE:

Oh, you knew him in Portugal.

MARQUES:

Yeah. He's about my age. His birthday's in May, and mine's in July.

LEVINE:

I see. And then you knew each other in Portugal, and then when you came here were you living near—

MARQUES:

Well, he came a lot later. I was here more years and he came a lot later. And then, of course, we lived near each other. I used to live on Dayton Narrow and Corner Baker Road, and then they came and they were living on Baker Road.

LEVINE:

Is this in Raynham?

MARQUES:

No, that's in Taunton.

LEVINE:

In Taunton.

MARQUES:

Yeah, Joe Fresta's in Taunton. And I had lived in that house—what they call it—right in the front—your driveway—you walk, you come by Baker Road right into our yard, yeah.

LEVINE:

Now, do you remember the day that you were dismissed from the hospital on Ellis Island, and what happened?

MARQUES:

Well, that day my mother was disgusted. She had been talking with my sisters. She says, "You'll have to borrow money so that we can go back to America and," because they'd have to leave a deposit, and he says, "We can't stay here all this while, because one of us can get sick, too, we'll land in the hospital." She says, "I'm going to be telling your father," and she told him. Tell him to borrow money and to take us out of here. And that was the day, too, I remember a nurse was bringing me on the corridor—there's people on the boat sides. When I saw my mother and my sisters. Was I happy? Yeah, I remember that. And then, of course—

LEVINE:

Do you remember anything your mother said, or, do you remember your sisters or—

MARQUES:

No, I don't. All I know is they hugged me (laughs) and that was it as far as I know. And then, of course, we came—my father had gone and we came in a ferry and then afterwards we came to Taunton.

LEVINE:

And you came by train, did you, to Taunton?

MARQUES:

I imagine so. Yeah, because years ago there was no other way.

LEVINE:

Do you remember any things that you saw or heard, or any things about the new country that struck you as different and of interest? (a telephone rings) Wait, let me pause here for the (break in tape)

MARQUES:

Taunton here, I mean, to Taunton.

LEVINE:

We're resuming now after the phone call. We were talking about when you came to Taunton, and then you stayed in Taunton.

MARQUES:

Oh, yeah.

LEVINE:

And then you—

MARQUES:

Till I got married.

LEVINE:

And how did you meet your husband?

MARQUES:

I was seventeen years old. We don't have to go through—Yea I was seventeen years old. I got married eighteen, yeah.

LEVINE:

And what was your husband's name?

MARQUES:

Joe—Joseph Marques.

LEVINE:

And do you think the fact that you started out in Portugal and you came to this country as a little girl and you lived here the rest of your life, do you think that made a difference in the kind of person you are or you were, the fact that you had already . . .

MARQUES:

Oh, yeah, I wasn't better than living there. If I had been there I would have been just working in the fields like everybody else— everything—no. America is the best for me.

LEVINE:

And what do you feel most proud of that you've done in your life?

MARQUES:

Well, I'm proud of my family.

LEVINE:

How many children did you have?

MARQUES:

I had three. I had others, but they died. So I had three children. And I—my husband's family was wonderful. It was wonderful people. I'm still very close. I love America and I love his people. I met his people in the old country, I love them. So that's—my husband's died quite a few years.

LEVINE:

And your children's' names? What are their names?

MARQUES:

Oh, it's George Marques, he already died. George Marques, Alice Marques and Beatrice. Right now she's Beatrice Holden, yeah.

LEVINE:

And you have grandchildren?

MARQUES:

Oh, yes. I was a great-grandmother about two weeks ago.

LEVINE:

Oh, that's wonderful. Okay. Is there anything else you can think of that you might want to say before we close?

MARQUES:

that I love America. Okay? I was raised here and I love America. I love Portugal, but this is my home and my children love it here.

LEVINE:

Well, I want to thank you so much for a wonderful interview. You've been really delightful. It's been a pleasure talking with you.

MARQUES:

Yeah. And I got to tell her that we're all through, because—

LEVINE:

Okay. We're signing off now, and I've been talking with Mary Marques, and I'm in Raynham, Massachusetts. EI-576/MARQUES - 29 -