Audrey Mae SpencerSpencer Historical CemeteryHenry Straight / William Spencer Family Cemetery
Vaughn Historical CemeterySpencers of East Greenwich, RI
Life in Anthony (Coventry)
10 January 2004

Heather: Did you have music in your home when you were young?

Audrey: Yes, we had a big organ in the parlor and a big piano in the dining room when we were on the farm. Billy Tarbox, he and Dan were twins. They were not related to us. Billy would play The Last Rose of Summer at our house. Billy was called the Aster King because he gave everyone an aster. If they could bring that aster back, he gave a prize for the best one.

17 January 2004

Heather: In all those cold winters, did you ever ice skate?

Audrey: I remember an ice spot by the kitchen door. Ed (Audrey Mae’s brother, John Edward Spencer) had skates on me. I stood up and fell down. The skates were so big. He put them on my feet and stood me up again. I fell down and got up and took those skates off and never put them on again. I remember Sally, my dog, was there.

25 January 2004

Heather: What do you remember Grandma (MaryJane Vaughn Spencer) doing with her time during the war?

Audrey: She was in the McGregor Relief Corp. The women were always cooking and sewing and selling it to buy something for the soldiers. I was a good little kid. I always stayed out of sight, I guess. Douglas was like that as a child.

14 February 2004

Heather: What was it like when you were a child on the farm?

William J.B. Spencer and Audrey Mae Spencer

Audrey: There was much more snow then. I could walk over the five-foot fence and not sink in as the snow was frozen. I could walk over the fence!!

We would get a snowstorm and I was always sick in bed with the croup. I would lie in bed and look out this nice big window by my bed. I’d keep watching for grass. Mother (MaryJane [née Vaughn] Spencer) would shake out the tablecloth on the snow. I would watch the birds come picking up crumbs that were dropped on the snow.

When I was a child, a sled as wide as the street was hitched to a couple of big horses. This sled swept the road of the snow. We used to have five feet snow storms! The people would be out plowing the road the minute the snow started until the snow stopped. Without plowing the roads, the snow on the road would have frozen and no one could even get out of their yard. Everybody got up and plowed their own driveway and then the road. If they wanted to get anywhere, they had to help plow the road.

The mailman came with horse and wagon. The buggy had a little top to keep you from getting wet or you could open it to get the sun (like a doll carriage-canvas to open it up or fold it over back). The mailman came by every day when I was little. My job was to go to the mailbox and get the mail. I was small and didn’t know enough to read.

I played with little stones by the house. I made a little fence and made a stove with stones. I would stand there and pack the stones and play for hours with the stones. I was always out in the yard, but I never went near the road.

The road was for the mailman and mail wagon.

Clara Tarbox would go by. They went down to the Village (Arctic) every day to get groceries or something.

Mother and I went down to Arctic every week to get groceries. Arctic used to be a nice place. Then a lot of hoodlums hung out in Arctic. You had to look out for yourself in your wagon. Mother would say “You stay right close to me now”.

Mother would go catch a horse, hitch the horse to the wagon and drive to Arctic. That was quite a job to go out in the yard and call “Prince”. Prince would come right away. Prince was afraid of hay loads. We tried to keep him away from hay loads. He was the only horse that was afraid of hay loads. When we got to Arctic, Mother would get out and put reins around the hitching post.

I would hang on to my mother’s clothes. Mother would go into the Bedards store. There was one little aisle or hall where I could see two little old ladies there. Mother always sat there and talked with them for a while. I sat there. I was quiet.

21 February 2004

Heather: Did you have any music lessons when you were on the farm?

Audrey: I took piano lessons until my teacher Lizzy died. She was a nice sweet lady. I had learned one scale but I couldn’t play fast. I felt so bad when she died. I didn’t have any other teacher. We had no way of getting anywhere.

Billy Tarbox always came down and played the organ and piano. He played The Last Rose of Summer.  He sang and played. He grew beautiful dahlias so we called him the Dahlia King. He always had a Sunday each year when he would decorate an iron chair with dahlias that he picked. Every Fall, he would dig them up and give (a bulb) to everybody to plant. The one who brought back the best Dahlia would be the winner. One year he had a doll within the dahlias. I couldn’t wait to see it. I had a plain old doll, the Dahlia Doll was beautiful and fancy and sitting there all summer for the winner to get.

We went to Rocky Hill Chapel and Hannah Barton was the head of the Church. Everyone had a horse and wagon and there was not enough space to park. When I went to Rocky Hill Chapel, my teacher was Hoxsie. She had three or four girls. She taught school and had played the organ. She played the piano in the Sunday school.

28 February 2004

Heather: What was the difference in ages between you and your brother and sister?

Audrey: When I was two years, Ed was eight years and Edith was sixteen years. Grandma had an awful time having children. She stayed in bed most of the nine months because she was afraid to lose me like she lost all of the others. When I was born, the doctor gave me a slap on the behind, and Grandma about died because she thought that was awful. The doctor had to slap me because I wasn’t going to breath. Grandma lost babies and had a hard time.

We (Edith, Ed and Audrey) seemed to be stronger. Other babies she lost. When I came along, Grandma was careful. When I was born, I had hair that was very dark. Grandma was very, very happy that I was alive. I was heavy as a baby. I think I was 10 pounds.

Your uncle Robert MacDonald weighed ounces when he was born, but when he grew up to be three hundred pounds. (whereas) I weighed ten pounds at birth but never weighed much more than a hundred pounds when I was an adult. It was just the opposite.

7 March 2004

Heather: Hello, Mother, what are your thoughts today?

 

Audrey: I couldn’t be better. It is sunny outside. The snow is gone. I’m all dressed with pink pants, white top and pink beads. We always have a hot cereal for breakfast.

(When I was a child) we had cornflakes every morning and Grandma (Mary Jane [née Vaughn] Spencer) made johnny cakes.

Being here (at Alpine Nursing Home) I look out my window and see all the action with trash collection, cars parking in the yard. Oh, an orange cat goes through the yard every so often. He has a collar on so someone is taking care of him.

(When I was a child on the farm) we had several cats in the barn, but only one cat in the house. Her name was Edna Meaow. Edith named her Edna because that was the name of a movie star. Aunt Edith was crazy about the movie stars. That’s all we had was the movies. There was no TV.

My cousins in Providence took me to the movies in Providence. There was no talking. There was just music, a woman was playing the piano down in the orchestra pit. My cousin read the printing on the screen to me until others complained so. The Kirby’s were my cousins. Aunt Martha, my mother’s sister, married Harry Kirby. Aunt Martha cooked a turkey dinner every Sunday.

Martha’s brother (brother-in-law) would come on Sunday and eat three meals. He was very heavy and stretched out the end of the couch. When he was younger, he dressed fine and met a woman who was well dressed. They got married and then found out neither one had money. They divorced because they couldn’t afford to live together. Martha knew he was a glutton. He was always dressed up.

I went to the Knotty Oak Church. Martha and Harry went to the city. Grandpa would drive Mother and me with the horse and wagon and then pick us up.  Aunt Rachel, Grandma’s younger sister, would make a meal for them. Aunt Rachel, she was a good cook.

16 March 2004

Heather:The news clipping reported that Mr. Mitchell was a past Grand Chief of the Red Men in Rhode Island. What was that?

Audrey: The Red man in Rhode Island, Grandpa was one. They dressed up like Indians. There were usually five or six men on horses. It was different to be an Indian.

3 April 2004

Heather: The birthday flowers from the Georgia relatives and from the California relatives were so beautiful. Did your mother like flowers?

Audrey: Yes, Grandma (MaryJane [née Vaughn] Spencer) always had flowers. She always had a half-barrel (barrel cut in half) with special flowers planted inside. The half-barrel was on a cut off tree stump (the stand for the half barrel) so grandma would not have to bend over to plant flowers. Also, all along the wall in front of the house were flowers. There (the dirt) was dug out so grandma could plant flowers.

3 April 2004

Heather: Did you help your parents when they worked on the farm?

 

William J.B. Spencer with the horses, carriage, and plow with Audrey Mae Spencer behind the plow

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Audrey: I would follow Grandpa (William J.B. Spencer) along in the furrow (dirt flapped over) after the horse carriage plow. I was so small that I could follow (walk) in the furrow. I could only follow in the furrow at the beginning because after that, the harrow, an iron piece of rake that scrapes the dirt into little pieces (was used). (After the harrow was used) if I stepped on the dirt, I would sink in four to five inches, so I didn’t walk in it.

(There were many steps to prepare the land.) The land was then smoothed (smoothed it over) and then Grandpa would pull along a little feeder and the seeds would bury themselves. Grandpa would go over the rows with a board to flatten out the land. Going over the land a couple more times to sprinkle dirt over the rows as well as the rain and the sunshine in a few weeks, (resulting with) little green things would come up and then long stalks of corn.

I waited and knew when the (ear of) corn would be yellow and I would pull out the biggest (ear of) corn and sneak and hide and eat it (uncooked) because I loved corn. Grandma (MaryJane [née Vaughn] Spencer) wanted me to wait for it (ear of corn) to be bigger, because (by picking it early)I was wasting one-half of it. I loved corn!

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