Interview: Vance-Robinson, Lenora
Item
Identifier
Mss-0282, Tape 89-90
Title
Interview: Vance-Robinson, Lenora
Type
Sound
Format
.mp3
Language
English
Source
Black Heritage in the Upper Piedmont of South Carolina Collection
Rights
Interviews may only be reproduced with permission from Clemson University Libraries Special Collections and Archives. All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the Clemson University Libraries Special Collections and Archives.
Date
1990-07-23, 1990-07-24
Description
Daughter of Mary Louise Vance Martin.
Cassette 1
Side 1
1:02--Mrs. Vance Robinson begins the interview by discussing some of the oldest members of her family. Her maternal great-grandmother was Martha Burt. Martha's parents were Sydney (1824-1889) and Cora Burt. Sydney Burt was the first black businessman in Pendleton, SC. There he operated his own blacksmith shop. Mrs. Vance Robinson goes on to detail some archeological findings at the site (Tony Bennett of Anderson oversaw the dig).
3:57--Speculation is offered as to who may have owned Sydney Burt when he was a slave.
4:50--Her great-grandmother Martha Burt was born in 1852.
7:38--She believes that the original home place of Sydney and Cora Burt may have been constructed in a way in which the blacksmith shop was actually part of the structure.
8:51--Mrs. Vance Robinson is unsure of where Sydney and Cora Burt were buried.
9:42--According to the 1870 census, Sydney and Cora had five children: Elsie, Mandy, Martha, Ellen, and Sydney, Jr.
10:35--According to documents Megginson has seen, Sydney Burt was registered to vote in 1868.
11:24--Her great-grandfather was Augustus T. Vance (1849-1924). His parents were "Dandy" and Priscilla Galliard Vance. They had a daughter named Grace, and two sons named Augustus and C.B., respectively. Cornelia Thompson Alexander (member--Kings Chapel AME) said that Augustus T. Vance was a fine minister, and she was converted under his tutelage. He also did farming work. He was the first minister ordained at Kings Chapel AME Church. Mrs. Vance Robinson names the members of the first Board of Trustees at the church. She also produces a document that states that Augustus T. Vance was married on December 26, 1878 at St. Paul's.
17:21--Mrs. Vance Robinson produces documents that detail Augustus T. Robinson's purchases at Hunter's Store in 1902. She also reads from a Report to the Elder's dated 1902 regarding church statistics.
22:25--Education--Mrs. Vance Robinson begins to recall aspects of the school that is located next door to her house on Vance Street [the name of the school is not given]. The school had already closed by the time she was a little girl. She reads from the deed: land was purchased from Dr. H.C. Miller. Cora Reid was a teacher at this school.
26:49--Anderson County Training School may have been the old Rosenwald School.
27:20--Church/religion--she states that the congregation may have originally started meeting in the home of Simon Robertson. She goes on to give dates and locations of the Kings Chapel AME buildings, along with physical appearances.
31:25--Audio ends.
Cassette 1
Side 2
00:25-31:40--The entirety of this interview takes place as Mrs. Vance Robinson and Megginson look at a family photograph of the Vance family that was taken in 1907. As she identifies various family members depicted, she details aspects of their lives, such as their personalities, hairstyles, clothes, etc. Among them are: Augustus T. Vance, Martha Burt, Thomas Vance, Uncle Emmanuelle, Aunt Rebecca, and Uncle Sydney.
31:45--Audio ends.
Cassette 2
Side 1
00:31--Vance Robinson talks about her mother who, in her opinion, was the backbone of the family.
8:58--She talks about Charles Burgess and Mary Stark Vance. Mary died of the flu in 1919.
11:25--Megginson is interested to know if blacks may be more susceptible to disease. In her opinion blacks may well have been more susceptible, especially in those days, because of diet and poor living conditions. There was no focus on nutrition.
14:11--As a child she cannot recall people ever going to the hospital. Dr. Horton was local black physician who made house calls. She goes on to describe the work of local midwives (specifically Emma Vance--no relation), and medicines that were commonly available.
20:45--Her grandfather [Augustus T. Vance?] was a laborer and lay minister at Kings Chapel AME. He was born in April of 1888 and died in 1968.
23:02--Mrs. Vance Robinson's mother was Mary Louise Vance Martin. Clara Vance Weeks was one of her sisters.
23:33--Mrs. Vance Robinson recalls her stepfather, Lincoln Arthur Martin. He was originally from Oklahoma, but moved to New York at some point where he became an executive with the JC Penney Company. He met her mother there in New York. She had moved there from South Carolina in order to find better employment. Vance Robinson details their courtship (he was 30 years her senior). He was also a white man, who moved in very aristocratic circle socially. There were hardships as a result of the relationship, but he didn't seem to care. They were married on October 14, 1961 in Mount Vernon, NY. The family lived in Berksdale (?) for a time.
31:45--Audio ends.
Cassette 2
Side 2
Blank
Cassette 1
Side 1
1:02--Mrs. Vance Robinson begins the interview by discussing some of the oldest members of her family. Her maternal great-grandmother was Martha Burt. Martha's parents were Sydney (1824-1889) and Cora Burt. Sydney Burt was the first black businessman in Pendleton, SC. There he operated his own blacksmith shop. Mrs. Vance Robinson goes on to detail some archeological findings at the site (Tony Bennett of Anderson oversaw the dig).
3:57--Speculation is offered as to who may have owned Sydney Burt when he was a slave.
4:50--Her great-grandmother Martha Burt was born in 1852.
7:38--She believes that the original home place of Sydney and Cora Burt may have been constructed in a way in which the blacksmith shop was actually part of the structure.
8:51--Mrs. Vance Robinson is unsure of where Sydney and Cora Burt were buried.
9:42--According to the 1870 census, Sydney and Cora had five children: Elsie, Mandy, Martha, Ellen, and Sydney, Jr.
10:35--According to documents Megginson has seen, Sydney Burt was registered to vote in 1868.
11:24--Her great-grandfather was Augustus T. Vance (1849-1924). His parents were "Dandy" and Priscilla Galliard Vance. They had a daughter named Grace, and two sons named Augustus and C.B., respectively. Cornelia Thompson Alexander (member--Kings Chapel AME) said that Augustus T. Vance was a fine minister, and she was converted under his tutelage. He also did farming work. He was the first minister ordained at Kings Chapel AME Church. Mrs. Vance Robinson names the members of the first Board of Trustees at the church. She also produces a document that states that Augustus T. Vance was married on December 26, 1878 at St. Paul's.
17:21--Mrs. Vance Robinson produces documents that detail Augustus T. Robinson's purchases at Hunter's Store in 1902. She also reads from a Report to the Elder's dated 1902 regarding church statistics.
22:25--Education--Mrs. Vance Robinson begins to recall aspects of the school that is located next door to her house on Vance Street [the name of the school is not given]. The school had already closed by the time she was a little girl. She reads from the deed: land was purchased from Dr. H.C. Miller. Cora Reid was a teacher at this school.
26:49--Anderson County Training School may have been the old Rosenwald School.
27:20--Church/religion--she states that the congregation may have originally started meeting in the home of Simon Robertson. She goes on to give dates and locations of the Kings Chapel AME buildings, along with physical appearances.
31:25--Audio ends.
Cassette 1
Side 2
00:25-31:40--The entirety of this interview takes place as Mrs. Vance Robinson and Megginson look at a family photograph of the Vance family that was taken in 1907. As she identifies various family members depicted, she details aspects of their lives, such as their personalities, hairstyles, clothes, etc. Among them are: Augustus T. Vance, Martha Burt, Thomas Vance, Uncle Emmanuelle, Aunt Rebecca, and Uncle Sydney.
31:45--Audio ends.
Cassette 2
Side 1
00:31--Vance Robinson talks about her mother who, in her opinion, was the backbone of the family.
8:58--She talks about Charles Burgess and Mary Stark Vance. Mary died of the flu in 1919.
11:25--Megginson is interested to know if blacks may be more susceptible to disease. In her opinion blacks may well have been more susceptible, especially in those days, because of diet and poor living conditions. There was no focus on nutrition.
14:11--As a child she cannot recall people ever going to the hospital. Dr. Horton was local black physician who made house calls. She goes on to describe the work of local midwives (specifically Emma Vance--no relation), and medicines that were commonly available.
20:45--Her grandfather [Augustus T. Vance?] was a laborer and lay minister at Kings Chapel AME. He was born in April of 1888 and died in 1968.
23:02--Mrs. Vance Robinson's mother was Mary Louise Vance Martin. Clara Vance Weeks was one of her sisters.
23:33--Mrs. Vance Robinson recalls her stepfather, Lincoln Arthur Martin. He was originally from Oklahoma, but moved to New York at some point where he became an executive with the JC Penney Company. He met her mother there in New York. She had moved there from South Carolina in order to find better employment. Vance Robinson details their courtship (he was 30 years her senior). He was also a white man, who moved in very aristocratic circle socially. There were hardships as a result of the relationship, but he didn't seem to care. They were married on October 14, 1961 in Mount Vernon, NY. The family lived in Berksdale (?) for a time.
31:45--Audio ends.
Cassette 2
Side 2
Blank
Subject
African Americans -- History. -- South Carolina -- Anderson County
Interviewer
Megginson, W. J.
Interviewee
Vance-Robinson, Lenora
Spatial Coverage
Pendleton, Anderson County, South Carolina, United States, 34.64916, -82.78135, SC, 7172313, [34.64916, -82.78135] [id:7172313]
Publisher
Clemson University Libraries Special Collections and Archives Repository
