Winford Q. Neff interviewed by Carol Maureen DeHart and Kenny May

Creator:

Neff, Winford Q. (Winfred Quinten), 1910-2017 and DeHart, Carol Maureen

Scope and content:

Records the reminiscences of Winford Quinten Neff, a resident of Criders, Virginia, for nearly ninety years. Discusses his childhood and family life in Criders, and his education at the Caplinger School. Recalls his various occupations over several years, including work milking cows, debarking trees, and digging graves at the Caplinger Cemetery. Speaks of the chestnut blight which killed millions of chestnut trees on the East Coast in the 1930s. Discusses the advent of the first automobiles in the region and the conditions of the early roads. Briefly discusses community events such as church revivals, land clearing, and slaughtering and dressing livestock. Recalls fur trapping, drying fruits and meats, and canning food. Recollects the hard economic times of the droughts and Great Depression of the 1930s. Includes anecdotes of how he was befriended by a wild bear, and was once accused of being a witch.

Names:

Neff, Winford Q. (Winfred Quinten), 1910-2017
DeHart, Carol Maureen

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