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Black Heritage in the Upper Piedmont of South Carolina

WilliamsM Cassette 1 Side 1

Media

Part of Interview: Williams, Maxie

Title

WilliamsM Cassette 1 Side 1

Source

Maxie Williams Interview

Date

1989-11-27

Description

Cassette 1

Side 1

00:20--Biographical Information

1:35--In regards to older relatives, Mrs. Williams first talks about her grandma Emily, whose house was always filled with the aroma of cakes, jelly, and turnover pies. Her maternal grandparents died before she was born. Her aunt Georgia Singleton was a local midwife in Oconee County (she attended both white and black patients). Her uncle Stafford Grant lived to the age of 100.

5:38--Her parents sharecropped over the years for the Whitfield, Shelly, and [inaudible] families.

7:50--Mrs. Williams had seven brothers and four sisters.

9:33--Slavery--her grandparents passed down stories; at this point she cannot recall specifics [she remembers several stories later in the interview].

12:00--Williams briefly recalls playing both in her neighborhood and in "the country," and fishing trips that her relatives would occasionally go on.

14:40--Mrs. Williams shows Goodwin a few of her photographs; the women in her family were known for their work as midwives.

16:25--She begins to discuss her grandfather Miles Brewer. The Craig/Craft(?) family [farm overseers] are also recalled.

19:05--Most of her family is buried at Shiloh Baptist in Townsville, SC, though her mother is buried at Oak Grove Cemetery.

19:50--She recalls fiery preaching and exciting services at the church she attended. Families from rural areas traveled to church by wagon. She learned the bible before she learned her ABC's.

22:05--Williams recalls the death of her mother.

23:09--She learned how to cook and quilt from her mother. She shows the interviewer a few examples of the "butterfly" quilt pattern; she explains a few steps in the process of producing this design. She also has old plates passed down from her grandmother.

27:48--She and her husband raised the children of one of her sisters as their own following the divorce of that sibling.

29:20--Church--her family was always associated with the Baptist denomination. She can recall Reverend Glenn ministering to her church when she was a youth.

31:24--Audio ends.

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.