An Oral Family History By Melissa Kennedy Whitehead

Voice of Cora Hollowell Kennedy talking to Mary Jane Kennedy in 1969

“There were apple trees and cherry trees…”Check your volume

Cora

The Hollowell’s Peanut Farm

“There were twelve fruit trees.”

Maggie (Margaret Stanton) {1846-1893}

“She called him

Billy.”

Margaret about 1856

Billy (William Riddick Hollowell) {1858-1890}

“Yes, Maggie there’s four more fruit trees.”

Margaret (Cora’s mother)• “Oh, good”, Mother says, “I’ll fill all the jars with goodies!”

Margaret and Cora Hollowell

• “I used to be in Mothers’ way quite a lot!”

“I’m afraid you’ll fall out of the chair if I tell you!”

“Bless your heart, you help me out…”

Grandma is 89 years old.

“Father wasn’t with us anymore”

“Mother bought a house in the village of Winfall, North Carolina so she wouldn’t be lonely.”

Source: Documenting the American South

Lots of Relatives

Aunt Kate

Not shown are older sisters Martha E., Barsheba & Mary E. Hollowell; all orphaned in 1866.

Aunt Louisa

William Riddick

Father went round to the neighbors.”

Mr. and Mrs. Ward (1924)

“There were neighbors on this side and on that.”

“There was a whole row of neighbors!”

Source: Documenting the American South

“I went to bed on the colt’s back”

Source: Documenting the American South

Newbolt-White Home

Perquimans County Website

William R., Louise & Kate were raised in the home of Dempsey White in the 1870’s

“Billy, he hasn’t been taught yet manners!”

“Mother passed away and Father passed away.”

Source: Vikki Highfield Hollowell Family Website

Cora lost her father in 1890 and her mother in 1892.

She was orphanedat the age of 9

“I had no more birthdays.”

Too old for birthdays

“If Mary said so than (father would say) it was so!”

“Mary was born and raised in this house.”

“Oh, Mary took good care of me.”

“She called me darling!”

Source: Documenting the American South

“Oh, yes. The Quakers saved my life!”

1840 Rachel (Hollowell) Wood (listed above) is Cora’s Great Aunt

1896 Cora is received into membership when she is 13 years old.

“Mother even dreamt about the Quakers.”

Source: Documenting the American South

Illustration Source:

Cora attended Belvedere Academy and Guilford College

Cora Hollowell

“They put things in there to amuse me!”

Sources: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina History & Fiction Digital Library

Cora as a young girl

• “Does thee want to go to church today? Yes, maam I do.”

Guilford College (abt.1880-1900)

Cora

Cora’s Guilford College Class

Cora as a student

“Mother insisted on

them feeding me

simply!”

Guilford College

Cora as a young woman

“I learned how to bake a chicken

and how to bake a ham…”

“Father likes that…”

The End

Cora’s Voice developed by Melissa Kennedy Whitehead

Grandma and me (1955)

Sourced Illustrations

• Slide #1 North Carolina Historic Map

• Slide #10 Ashville, N.C.

• Slide #13 The Census Taker

• Slide #14 Newbolt-White House

• Slide #19 In the City Park

• Slide # 21 She leaned her head…

• Slide # 23 Interior of a girls’ room…

Some of these illustrations are the property of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They may be used freely by individuals for research,

teaching and personal use as long as this statement of availability is included in the text.

Website Sources for Illustrations used in “Cora’s Voice” Part 1 of “Out of Dismal Swamp”1. The

North Caroli

na History and Fictio

n Digita

l Librar

y

2. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,

all rights reservedCopyright / Usage Statement

Joyner LibraryEast Carolina

UniversityEast Fifth

StreetGreenville, NC 27858-4353 USA

3. N.C.Coastal Websites

Perquimans & Pasquotank Counties

Albemarle Region

Cora’s Map to the PastWhat did these people mean to Cora?

Would you like to come along with me to find out?

Previews of “Return to Dismal Swamp” Part Two

A Treasure Map to Cora’s Past

Winfall

Great Dismal SwampA North

Carolina County Website Pirate

My Dad’s 1923

Pirate drawing

of his mother’s return to N.C. to find her roots.

Maggie Stanton (a Pirate’s resemblance?)

My father would not have told us we

were descendent from a pirate!

(uncanny resemblance!)

“Quakers and Slaves and Pirates and Orphans and Poor Houses and …”

A Journey to Uncover the Past

In 1860 a Slave Owner

In 1880 Keeper of a Poorhouse

What was life like for a young orphan girl?

Cora can be found in the Guilford County,N.C. Census of 1900 as a servant girl.

Cora’s Grandfather

Stanton

Born and raised on Cora’s Farm who

was Mary? Had she been a family

slave?