A. Taylor: Could you please tell us your full name.
K. Anderson: Kenneth Turner Anderson A. Taylor: And when and where were you born
in Garrard County?K. Anderson: I was born on Buckeye Pike.
A. Taylor: May I ask your birthdate?
K. Anderson: 1-29-40 (January 29, 1940).
A. Taylor: Will you tell us about your family, your parents, grandparents,
brothers, and sisters?K. Anderson: Now, I’ve got mother.
1:00A. Taylor: May I ask her name?K. Anderson: Julia. . .Julia Shearer . . .(he spells it SHEARER), and I have a
stepfather, Lawrence Shearer. And I have one sister, Ophelia Searcy.A. Taylor: What about your grandparents?
K. Anderson: Ah, I don’t have no grandparents living. Uh, no grandparents living.
A. Taylor: Do you remember their names?
K. Anderson: Yeah, I do on my mother’s side.
2:00My granddaddy’s name was James, James Logan. And his wife was named Annie, Annie S.A. Taylor: Would like to just talk about your family and family life?
K. Anderson: Well, what do you want to know about your family life?
A. Taylor: Anything you want to share about you, your sister. . .
K. Anderson: Well, we had a good life, good family, you know, youth life. We
didn’t have nothing much, you know, but we had a good life. We never was hungry; we always had a place to live, and we always had food on our table and 3:00my parents worked hard. My daddy was a, he was a carpenter. He farmed some, but he wasn’t no big farming. He did a lot of carpentering and paint work. You remember him, don’t you Janice (J. Blythe:)?J. Blythe: Yes, I do. I was going to ask you to give us your dad’s name before
he passed away.K. Anderson: Wendell.
J. Blythe: Wendell. Did he have a middle name?
K. Anderson: Shirley, Wendell Shirley.
J. Blythe: And when did he pass away?
K. Anderson: Uh, well, Donna was six months old. Uh, 1962, yeah, ’62.
J. Blythe: So, he did paint and was a carpenter, and some farming?
4:00K. Anderson: Yeah, some farming; he really didn’t care that much for farming. He used to make that money quick. You know, he used to work for your daddy and granddaddy (J. Blythe:) a lot.J. Blythe: And where were you all living when your dad lived?
K. Anderson: We lived on Poor Ridge, uh, well, we lived, when I was nine years
old was when we moved out there where mother lives now. But we lived on Poor Ridge, and we lived on Sugar Creek a while.J. Blythe: And now your mom lives on Richmond Road?
K. Anderson: Yeah, that’s
5:00where I spent the most of my childhood, you know, that I can remember when I was growing up, was on Richmond Road.S. Roberts: Could you please tell us about your childhood in Garrard County, for
example any special memories of holidays?K. Anderson: Uh, well, I kind of liked the 4th of July pretty well. We always
got to go to Lexington to the Douglass Park. But my daddy always seemed to think we needed to reset tobacco on that day before we went. But we would get to go to Douglass Park sometime during that day on the 4th of July. And, I don’t know, we didn’t, I don’t know, wasn’t too much to do, you know. 6:00I had my cousins there next door to me, and I’d play a lot with them. But my sister and I we never did play too much together because she liked inside, and I liked outside. I had a team of dogs I used to work.S. Roberts: You were talking earlier about Douglass Pike, . . .Park. Did you go
with a community organization?K. Anderson: Oh no, no, just with my parents and my sister was all.
S. Roberts: And what did you do at Douglass Park?
K. Anderson: I’d always get to go to swim.
7:00S. Roberts: Did you help your dad any when you were growing up?K. Anderson: Oh yeah, yes, I had to. From the time I was ah, well I raised my
first tobacco crop when I was nine, I think, eight or nine, down on Scotts Fork. And I put. . .I raised the crop when I was down on Poor Ridge. I put the crop in, I raised it through 4-H, and I got the top prize on it, you know, in tobacco… . .,Of course I don’t think it was nobody else had any, but it was awfully pretty crop, and that was on my Uncle Hobert’s place. Do you remember Uncle Hobert (directing the question to J. Blythe:)?J. Blythe: Yes, I do.
K. Anderson: That was on his place. And I raised his tobacco with a mule.
8:00J. Blythe: Do you remember how much; I know your Uncle Hobert owned some property. Do you know how much acreage. . . was there in that area of Buckeye?K. Anderson: Well, they owned that place over on Poor Ridge and I know how much
is in that place; it’s 33 acres in that place. But then, he owned a little place on Buckeye Pike, but it couldn’t [have] been more than five or six acres in that. But then he had this little place on Scotts Fork where I raised the tobacco, and it was maybe ten acres in there.J. Blythe: So, we’re talking around 50+ acres?
K. Anderson: Um hum, yeah.
9:00S. Roberts: You mentioned 4-H, could you please tell us about any other activities that you were involved in.K. Anderson: Uh, . . . nothing comes to mind. Ah, I played ball, basketball.
S. Roberts: Was this for a school that you attended?
K. Anderson: Um hum, Mason.
S. Roberts: Did you attend elementary school in Buckeye?
K. Anderson: No, I went to Mason all twelve years.
S. Roberts: And what year did you graduate?
K. Anderson: 1958.
S. Roberts: How long did you play
10:00basketball for Mason?K. Anderson: I played all through high school, four years.
S. Roberts: Did you practice at the school?
K. Anderson: Um hum, yes.
S. Roberts: Could you please tell me about Mason? What was an average day at
school like?K. Anderson: (he chuckles) What was an average school like? . . . . oh, an
average day? Oh, an average day was a good day. An average day, yeah. Uh, I got along good with my teachers. Like I was saying the other day, about the principal, everybody didn’t seem to think that I got along with the principal because I didn’t go to her funeral. But I got along great with her! She was 11:00firm, but she was a good teacher, and I had several friends; I had a lot of friends. And I got along good with all my teachers, that was the main thing.A. Taylor: What teacher were you talking about. . .that she was firm?
K. Anderson: She was the principal, Mrs. Merritt, Mrs. Tommie Merritt. And she
just passed away here two weeks ago at 98 (age 98).S. Roberts: Can you remember any of your other teachers?
K. Anderson: Yeah, I remember ‘em all.
S. Roberts: Do you remember their names?
K. Anderson: Miss Susie Letcher was my first-grade teacher. . . .Uh, um, Mrs.
Williams, no. . .Mrs. Sarah Dabney 12:00was my second and third grade teacher. Uh, Mrs. Williams. . .?J. Blythe: Was that Bell Williams?
K. Anderson: Yes, Bell Williams. Bell Williams was my fourth and fifth grade
teacher. Mr. Clay Palmer, now he was my coach and, let me see, he was the eighth and ninth, yeah, eighth and ninth grade, and Mrs. Cotton, I don’t remember her first name, she was the eleventh and twelfth grade.J. Blythe: I think
13:00it was Dorothy, from some of the photographs I have seen, I think her first name was Dorothy.K. Anderson: I can’t remember that first name. It’s been a few years ago. It was
another teacher in there, too, Mrs. McKinney. Do you remember her (question directed to J. Blythe:)?J. Blythe: No, I’ve seen the name, but I can look that up. . . .
K. Anderson: Uh, I don’t know, . . .she was in there somewhere between Palmer
and Cotton. Seems like she was a library teacher. . .Now I can’t give you the information my wife can because she likes to talk, and she can remember names and everything more than I can. I got a short memory.A. Taylor: This is good.
14:00. . .S. Roberts: So, was Mason a segregated school?
K. Anderson: Yeah, yeah.
S. Roberts: Could you tell us a little bit about your life during segregation
and then later on during integration?K. Anderson: Well, uh, all my life I haven’t had any problem with anybody during
segregation or after because I’ve always lived on the farm, and we always mixed. And we didn’t, you know, the young people, they come to my house, I went to their house, we slept in the same bed, ate at the same table. There wasn’t no problem. But when you went to town, that’s when the problem come in, you know, when you had to go or sit in the back of the bus. But we didn’t sit in the back of no bus because we had our own bus, you know. But, you know, 15:00when we rode the Greyhound bus, we had to sit in the back and we couldn’t eat, you know, with the white people, we couldn’t eat together. We had to uh, go outside or eat through the window, you know; we had to get our food through the window. That was uh. . . But that was uh, like, you know, when I was at home, I didn’t have that problem. We all ate together, worked together, and ate together and everything else. And then see, I didn’t have the pleasure of going to school. You know, I graduated before they integrated.S. Roberts: Did any of your family members leave Garrard County?
K. Anderson: Yeah, all my uncles, naw, not all of ‘em. My uncles on my mother’s side,
16:00they left, Ulley, Ulley Logan and Clell, they left and went to Ohio. One went to Ohio, and one went to Indiana. They didn’t like farm life. And on my father’s side, my , well all my uncles, they went to Louisville, uh, John, John Anderson.S. Roberts: Do you know why they left?
K. Anderson: I don’t know, they just didn’t like farm life I don’t guess. They
went and started working, you know, uh, in factories. 17:00S. Roberts: After graduating high school, did you or any of your family members obtain higher education?K. Anderson: No.
S. Roberts: Well, I’ve talked about education for a little bit and now I’ll let
Allyse talk a about church.A. Taylor: So, could you just tell us about your involvement, your family, or
just the place of religion in your childhood?K. Anderson: Well, I’ve been in church for sixty-. .., sixty-eight years. I’ve
been a member at the Buckeye church for sixty-eight years.A. Taylor: And what’s the title of the church?
K. Anderson: Pleasant Run Baptist Church.
18:00A. Taylor: Did your parents take you to church?K. Anderson: Yes.
A. Taylor: And how would you describe a typical Sunday at church, just the service?
K. Anderson: Well, . . .seemed like we always had a good time at church. Uh, I
was involved in when I was young, I was the Sunday School Superintendent. And I attended Sunday School regularly then. And in 1989 I was ordained as a deacon. 19:00A. Taylor: What were some of your responsibilities as deacon?K. Anderson: I was the pastor’s helpmate, still am.
A. Taylor: And who is the pastor?
K. Anderson: Who’s the pastor? At that time, the pastor was Rev. David Chenault.
A. Taylor: Can you spell that name?. . .the last name.
K. Anderson: Chenault. Janice (J. Blythe:), that don’t sound right?
J. Blythe: Chenault. . .I couldn’t read my writing.
K. Anderson: He was the pastor there for 38 years.
A. Taylor: Do you remember your baptism?
K. Anderson: Yes.
A. Taylor: Could you describe your baptism, what it was like.
20:00K. Anderson: Uh, I was baptized right there in the rock quarry. In that one as you start down Buckeye Pike, right by Feldman Lumbar Company.. . . And it wasn’t a real warm day when I was baptized. The water was pretty cold. I don’t know, I think Dan was baptized with me. It was about four or five of us that was baptized that day because Ed Jenkins was in that group. I didn’t know that until he passed away.A. Taylor: And what did you wear?
K. Anderson: Oh, I had on a white outfit, pants, and shirt,
21:00 yeah.A. Taylor: And what about church activities that you recall, that brought church
members and the church family member together?K. Anderson: Well, as long as I can remember, we always had a May rally which
come the fourth Sunday in May. And we haven’t had that, we’ve not had one May rally since we got this new pastor. Uh, our main, our annual rally is the fourth Sunday in July, which is coming up this next Sunday. Now that’s a big day for us.A. Taylor: What happens at the rally?
K. Anderson: We have a visiting church comes in the afternoon and we have lunch,
a big lunch, just about anything you want. 22:00A. Taylor: What kind of food?K. Anderson: Home cooked food, you know, good food. Every member brings, you
know, so many dishes and the church furnishes the meat most time. We have a lot of garden stuff, and we just have mostly, a lot of good food.A. Taylor: Do you remember any other church activities, events, plays, other gatherings?
K. Anderson: Uh, we have, uh, Family Day in October and that’s another day about
like rally, 23:00but it’s just more of your families come and just get together and eat. And we usually have afternoon service. And that’s another thing Janice (J. Blythe:) that we haven’t had since Rev. Brown’s been the pastor. He moved his anniversary in that spot.A. Taylor: You said family day, so what are some family names that attended or
still attend that church?K. Anderson: Overstreets, Andersons, Logans, Warrens, uh,. . ..yeah West, um, .
. .that’s about 24:00it, isn’t it. Now our church is kind of a family church, it’s just about everybody there is related some way or another.J. Blythe: We forgot Jenkins?
K. Anderson: Jenkins, yes (another family name). Well, see the Jenkins they
moved away on us. . . . . .Tell you another, oh, they live over yonder at Nicholasville, uh, Burtons, . . .not Burtons, . . . Taylor, no Smith, Lula V. Smith. They 25:00would always come to the family day.A. Taylor: Since we’ve talked about church activities, what about community
activities in Lancaster that brought people in the community together? Holidays or. . .?K. Anderson: Uh, well, I can only kindly speak for myself. We have an annual
Labor Day picnic here every year. And it has been as high as 125 that came. Different families have picnics out at Logan-Hubble Park . 26:00. . It’s kind of a family day. I think David ‘em had something out there last week. They had Ison Reunion, that’s what that was.A. Taylor: Any other events?
K. Anderson: None that I can think of right off hand. I tell you, my mind is
real short. Uh, let’s see. I can’t think of nothing else.A. Taylor: What about the Depression? What can you tell us about the Depression?
K. Anderson: I can’t tell you nothing about the Depression. The only thing I can
tell you about the Depression is that they rationed sugar. 27:00And I drank coffee all my life ever since I was big enough to hold a cup. And I remember that my mother told me that she couldn’t give me no sugar in my coffee, you know, because there was a shortage of it. And I told her to give me my coffee anyway. And that’s about all I can remember on the Depression. You want to make me older than I am.A. Taylor: Do you remember your parents talking about it or did things change
that you can remember?K. Anderson: Not no lot, no.
J. Blythe: Did you all raise gardens and grow your own food?
K. Anderson: As long as I can remember. As long as I can remember.
J. Blythe: Did you raise beef cattle, chickens, hogs.
28:00 .?K. Anderson: We raised chickens and hogs. We didn’t have no cattle when I was at
home. But we always had chickens and hogs. And we always had our meat hogs, had our own eggs, and killed our own chickens. . . .Could you do that now (question directed to S. Roberts:)?S. Roberts: No, but my Uncle Danny has plenty of chickens and when I am home me
makes me collect the eggs.K. Anderson: We used to . . .I’ve seen my mother go out many a times, grab a
chicken and wring its neck off and pick ‘em, and we’d have it for breakfast. And I doubt that I could do that now. I doubt that I could eat a fresh chicken now, you know, from the smell of ‘em. 29:00Now you all used to have fresh chickens (comment to J. Blythe:). I remember when you all used to raise chickens and you all used to have that large chicken house right up above the house.J. Blythe: Yes, I remember. . .I remember the flavor. . .great.
A. Taylor: Have any of your family members been involved in the military?
K. Anderson: Uh, the only one was my great grandfather. And I can’t remember
him, but I remember that about four years ago they gave him a new tombstone.A. Taylor: Do you know what branch?
K. Anderson: I just know it was the Army.
J. Blythe: Was that Mason.. .Logan?
K. Anderson: Yeah, Mason Logan. I went to Nicholasville, over to Camp Nelson
30:00and got that stone. And I don’t know why they couldn’t. .. . . ., but I had to go over to Camp Nelson and get it and set it. That was my great-grandfather. I never did know him.J. Blythe: Mr. Anderson, what are some of the important values and beliefs that
your parents taught you and promoted throughout your life?K. Anderson: Honesty. And that’s what I’ve tried to install in my children. I’ve
always tried to be honest during my life. Do what you say you are going to do. And I believe that that honesty will go about as far as anything will go with you. 31:00J. Blythe: We’ve been doing quite a bit of research in the county and have you any knowledge of some of the areas known as Point Leavell, Hackley, Lowell?K. Anderson: Yeah . . .
J. Blythe: Have you heard of Spaineytown?
K. Anderson: No. . . Now Lowell is out there right down below mother’s. Uh,
right there where you turn to go to Flatwoods.J. Blythe: Right where Mr. Jack Buford used to live?
K. Anderson: Yes, right where Mr. Jack Buford lived.
J. Blythe: Have you heard of any name called John’s Bottom?
K. Anderson: No.
32:00. .J. Blythe: How about, uh, let me move to another part of the county. Have you
heard anything about the Coomer School?K. Anderson: Yeah, down here to Bryantsville. Of course, it’s not exactly
Bryantsville. You turn off right there at . . ..uh, where the. . . you know there’s a store right there on the corner, where the traffic was rerouted to when they were working on the new bridge. 33:00. . .. right there . . .. highway 152, it might be 152, but not 52.J. Blythe: Have you lived any place other than Garrard County?
K. Anderson: No, well I.. .I lived two months in Danville when we first married,
but other than that, it’s been Garrard County all the way. I haven’t moved no whole lot of times.J. Blythe: I know you’ve been involved in a lot of different kinds of work at
the Anderson Farm here, would you share of your experience in farming and some of your other work?K. Anderson: Well, I started farming at a very early age. I started milking cows
when I was sixteen. 34:00I milked cows out on Danny Tribble’s farm out on 52, that’s when I first got my car, and I didn’t have no money. So, I started milking cows. I milked 13 cows by hand. And that was my first milking job. And then when I first married. Of course, I just had five cows there. And I raised tobacco, uh, when I , you know, was milking those 13 cows, and I raised a little bit of tobacco. I had something like an acre. 35:00And then I moved on Arthur Dunn’s place, that was in 1963. And I raised a lot of tobacco there; I had some big tobacco crops there. And I lived there for eleven years. And then after that, is when I moved here, I think in 1974.J. Blythe: And how many acres do you have here in the Anderson Farm?
K. Anderson: 108 acres in this one,. . . . yes, 108 acres.
J. Blythe: I know you mentioned Mr. Arthur Dunn, can you remember any other
black farmers 36:00in the county over the years?K. Anderson: Richard Smith. . .in Davistown. And Arthur, Jr., you know he was a
farmer. James Burdette was a farmer. . .J. Blythe: James Burdette was my daddy!
K. Anderson: Dave Logan, S. D. Lear.. .
J. Blythe: He would be in Flatwoods.
K. Anderson: Yeah, in Flatwoods. . .uh, let’s see, it’s a black farmer out in
37:00Cartersville, now. But I don’t know the man. He works up there through the Extension Office. His wife works in there, too, I think. I’ve met him a time or two, but I don’t know him. Uh, the Jenkins, of course, but they wouldn’t count, they were in . . .Scott County.J. Blythe: Yes, in Scott County, they were big organic farmers.
K. Anderson: And that boy, Ed, Jr. (Jenkins), he’s farming in Lincoln County
now. . . .He’s my first cousin 38:00or second cousin, and I can’t even think of his name.J. Blythe: Was Thomas Peters, Billie Peters any of those folks involved in farming?
K. Anderson: Yes, Billie Peters. Well, Thomas is not what you really call a
farmer, yeah, he’s run cattle. But Thomas has never been a tobacco raiser. He’s been a cattle farmer.J. Blythe: So, what can you remember about the nature of the work, the kind of
crops and animals that were raised by these people?K. Anderson: Well, I seemed like most of ‘em always, you know, raised big crops
and good crops. Now Arthur Dunn was kind of a cow man. 39:00He could really, stressed having good cattle. He used to milk, but after he quit milking, he went to beef cattle. And he always had some good top cattle.J. Blythe: Now what are some of the things that you are doing now on your farm?
K. Anderson: Well, all I do now is to cut my hay and bail it and raise my
cattle. I have beef cattle now.J. Blythe: Any particular breed of cattle?
K. Anderson: Black. . .black-hided. That black Angus beef, burgers.
40:00J. Blythe: Do you have any particular hobbies that you enjoy doing?K. Anderson: Well, I’m not a going person much. But I really really enjoy going
to Tennessee, to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. . . .I’d rather go. . . (end of part 1 tape).Beginning of part 2 J. Blythe: What was the name of the place in Gatlinburg, the
performance that you all saw ?K. Anderson: Uh, Dixie Stampede.
J. Blythe: Dixie Stampede. Do you ever do any fishing down there, rainbow trout?
K. Anderson: No.. . .We went to Dollywood, too. That’s the first time we’ve been
to Dollywood. We rode the train.. .J. Blythe: Is it a big place?
K. Anderson: Yes.
41:00J. Blythe: Well, I know that just thinking a bit about family history, uh, I remember some of the work that family members did certainly with farming, but what other kinds of work have family members done, in carpentry, and so forth?K. Anderson: Well, like I said, my dad was a carpenter. I’ve worked public work myself.
J. Blythe: Tell us a little bit about that.
K. Anderson: I’ve worked for McShouster (??) for 24 years. . .
J. Blythe: Is that in Danville?
K. Anderson: Yeah. Uh, and I worked .. .
J. Blythe: What did they manufacture?
K. Anderson: Vacuum cleaners. . . .Yeah. And I worked at the packing house in
Danville, too, Griffin Packing Plant. 42:00Uh, I wasn’t there but about a year. But I worked some long hours there. I had to be at work at 3:00 in the morning there . Yeah, so I worked some long hours. And that was when I was farming on Arthur Dunn’s place. My first job was , I worked at the hospital, that’s when we married, worked at the hospital , at Ephraim McDowell, in the X-ray Department. . . .A. Taylor: What
43:00are some things that your family owned that you would consider of value?K. Anderson:. . .That my family owned?
A. Taylor: Or did own, that you would consider of value?
K. Anderson: Well, my mother’s and them’s place, their home, you know, property.
J. Blythe: Of course you have the farm.
K. Anderson: Yeah. And my son owns the home place, my mother and them’s home
place. You see mother did own that, but they 44:00sold it to him, and he owns that, Malone (his son).J. Blythe: Now where is that?
K. Anderson: It’s on Poor Ridge. Do you remember where Aunt Elveree used to live?
J. Blythe: Vaguely, it’s been such a long time. And so, Malone owns that. How
much acreage is there?K. Anderson: It’s 33 acres. That how I knew how much Uncle Hobert and them owned.
J. Blythe: Any other things that you think of as value, not just property, but
anything else?K. Anderson: No, nothing I can think of. We’re poor people. . .
S. Roberts: Based off your life experiences,
45:00what advice would you have to give to younger generations and to future generations?K. Anderson: Uh, the main thing was to be honest. That is the first thing. The
second thing is always try to keep a job. If you keep a job, you can get through this, this life.S. Roberts: Anything else?
K. Anderson: That’s the main two things I can tell you.
S. Roberts: Is there anything else you would like to add about your life in
Garrard County?K. Anderson: No. I, evidently, I’ve liked it because I have never left, for 70
years. Um.. .S. Roberts: Well, Mr. Anderson we just want to thank you for your time and willingness
46:00by giving us this interview. It will help us with our project.K. Anderson: I hope so.. . ..
A. Taylor: Thank you.
47:00