Church Hill - Ramsey

Virginia Black History Archives

Church Hill Oral History Project

Transcript of Interview with Mr Aubrey Ramsey, September 1, 1982.

Interview with Mr. Aubrey Ramsey and Mr. Jack Lively at Mr. Jack Lively's home at 4802 Allenshaw Drive. And the date is Setpember 1, 1982. Interviewers are Akida Mensah and Mary Ellen Bushey.

I = Interviewer

N = Narrator

I - We will start with Aubrey. When were you born?

N - February 4th, February 9, 1904.

I - February 4th.

N - February 9, 1904.

I - February 9, 1904. And where were you born?

N - Augusta County.

I - Augusta County.

N - In Virginia.

I - Who were your parents?

N - William Ramsey and Mattie Ramsey.

I - William and Mattie Ramsey.

N - That's right.

I - When did you first come to Church Hill?

N - August 20, 1920.

I - And how old were you at that time?

N - Sixteen.

I - Sixteen. Where did you, at that time, where were you living on Church Hill?

N - 2200 E. Broad Street.

I - And can you tell us what the neighborhood was like at that time?

N - Well it was during the changeover, you know, from the horse drawn vehicles to motorized vehicles and still had milkmen with wagons and there were very few trucks at that time. The fire department, they had the motorized fire trucks. It was quiet, everything was very quiet. Everybody got along, you know, it wasn't a whole lot of money due to the economy. Most everybody was working.

I - Where did you go to school at that time?

N - I didn't go to school in Richmond.

I - Before, where did you attend school?

N - Waynesboro.

I - Now when you got to Richmond, what did you do, once you were there?

N - I used to help my brother-in-law paint houses. We did that for about 4 years.

I - And where were you painting houses?

N - Paint around the neighborhood, downtown, round old markets, storefronts and things like that. And then in 1925 I went into the grocery store business.

I - And what grocery store was that?

N - Barnard's Market.

I - Barnard's?

N - Barnard's, 2503 East Broad Street.

I - And who was the owner?

N - C. W. Barnard.

I - How did he start that store, or was that..?

N - Yes. It was a service groceries. You see at that time, most all the stores gave credit, sevice and made delivery, telephone calls, of course, most people didn't have telephone. I used to go round and take people's orders in the afternoon for the following day.

I - And so you were like a delivery boy?

N - Yes. Delivery and working in the store. We had a thing they called it a Piggly Wiggly.

I - A Piggly Wiggly?

N - That was a chain store.

I - All right. Was that..?

N - You to a turn style and pick up a basket and go round and ...

I - Was that one of the first chain stores in the area, the Piggly Wiggly?

N - There was an A & P store?

I - All right, and around what time were you working in the grocery store?

N - It was in that period from 1925 to 1940. At that time I went back to painting, the store was closed.

I - Why did it close?

N - Well the man passed on, and the widow she couldn't run no business.

I - This was 1940, when it closed?

N - About 1938.

I - Did any other business come in after them, or was the place vacant?

N - I think there was another independent store open there, maybe for a few years. In the meantime, you see, I married and I lived in the neighborhood, that neighborhood.

I - And who did you marry?

N - Married Nellie Jones.

I - Nellie Jones, was she from the same area from Church Hill?

N -Yes.

I - And what year was that?

N - 1940.

I - 1940. OK. And you continued painting houses, once the store closed?

N - Yes until 1941 1 worked with the Government. The Naval Training School I stayed with them for years. When that terminated I went to work for Richmond Army Air Base and Fire Department.

I - When did you start at the fire department?

N - 1941 I think it was. I couldn't remember the dates exactly.

I - And what was, were you a fireman or what was your job?

N - Yes.

I - And what fire department was that?

N - Government. It was the Navy's Fire Department. The Navy Training School. And then went to Richmond Army Air Base. I was dispatcher in the Fire Department.

I - What, when you were around 16 years old, then you moved to Church Hill. Did your family go to a particular church?

N - Well my father he was in Newport News. He was with C&O Railroad. He was stationed in Newport News and my mother had boarder but she went to church occasionally.

I - What church did she go to? Third Presbyterian. And where was that church located?

N - Third Presbyterian. 26th and Broad.

I - 26th and Broad. And was it a fairly large congregation at the time?

N - Yes. A good size.

I - And how about social activities at that time? What kinds of entertainment did you have when you were sixteen? What types of things did you do in the neighborhood?

N - Well we didn't do anything much. Go out to the park at night.

I - And what would you do at the park at night?

N - Just go out there and sit on the benches and talk to the girls out there. That was about all you could do.

I - Did you have dances?

N - Yes there were dances. I use to go to the dance on Saturday nights. That was the only time, I'd go every Saturday night to them.

I - Where were the dances held?

N - They was in a private club on Masonic Lane.

I - And where is Masonic Lane?

N - That's just down a little ways in the County.

I - What other types of things did you do?

N - Not a lot because I use to work ten to twelve hours a day.

I - Where was the neighborhood like, were the people friendly..?

N - Oh yeah.

I - Do you remember any particular people in the neighborhood that seemed to be outstanding as far as helping out or being involved in civic activities?

N - No, not especially. We had a lot of, we had lots of businesses around the neighborhood, and most everybody was looking out for their businesses cause the people at St. John's Church were civic minded about the church grounds and the neighborhood.

I - You said there were a lot of businesses around. What types of businesses were in your area?

N - Well we had, what you called confectionaries. A ice cream parlor and plumbing shop, cleaners, and bank and a laundry and a ...

I - And where were these businesses generally located?

N - Right around 26th and Broad was Nolde's Bakery.

I - Which? Melton's?

N - Noldes, N-0-L-D-E.

I - N-0-L-D-E.

N - Yes. They were at 26th and Broad. They hired the most people. They worked around the clock.

I - And how many employees did they have?

N - Oh I suppose they had 300 or so.  -6- - That many?

N - Yes because of the route men, you know they delivered.

I - Where was that bakery located again?

N - 26th and Broad.

I - All right, that's, I'm trying to think, is that where the Goodwill place is now?

N - Yeah, where the Goodwill place is now.

I - Did, were, did you every go to the carnival that came to town?

N - Occasionally.

I - Occasionally. What, what carnival was it?

N - Well one of them was wintered here that was Mark's.

I - Mark's Carnival .

N - Yes and he would always have his first show here before he went on the road.

I - And you said they wintered here. Where would they winter?

N - Out on route 60 in Chesterfield and then there was another call the World of Mirth and they started here.

I - World of Mirth and did you go to both?

N - As a rule I go to maybe one at a time.

I - Did most of the people in your neighborhood go to this?

N - Yeah, I think so, 'cause you see a whole lot of people. There was always a whole lot of people, to me.

I - And who were some of your neighbors, your next door neighbors when you were living on Church Hill?

N - A family by the name of Edwards, Green, and Collins.

I - Do you remember what the, Mr. Edwards, first name was?

N - Yeah there was three or four of them.

I - Do you remember what some of their names were?

N - Yeah, I remember a Joseph, and Robert, John and their father had passed on, I think.

I - And where did they live?

N - Next door.

I - Which?

N - Like going east on 2208 East Broad.

I - 2208 East Broad?

N -Yeah, 2208.

I - Now did they..?

N - And we lived at 2206 at that time and we had a family by the name of Buchanan. Across the street was Mr. Rogers and the Baccilupo.

I - How do you spell Baccilupo?

N - B-A-C-C-I-L-U-P-0. Now he had a grocery store downtown in the market section.

I - What did some of the other neighbors do for a living?

N - Well one of them worked on the railroad and he was Edward and one worked at a used car lot.

I - Who was that?

N - That was Robert.

I - Robert.

N - Yes, and one of them drove a truck which was construction work.

I - And who was that?

N - That was John and then we had a Mr. Buchanan and he worked for C&O Railroad.

I - And what did he do?

I - He was a conductor for the C&O.

N - And the Gallespies were in the upholstering business.

I - What do you remember about the, the tunnel cave in?

N - Well there was a work train, nobody knew how many was on it. It was a, they had those flat cars and where it caved in was on Jefferson Park and they made a shaft, down to the engine and got the engineer out but I don't think they ever knew how many people were on those particular cars.

I - Did you know any one who was involved in that accident?

N - Yeah, I knew Mr. Mosby.

I - Mr. Mosby, and what was he?

N - He worked, he had dealt with the store where I worked.

I - But when he was in the accident was he working for the railroad?

N - Yeah.

I - And what was his..?

N - He was fireman and Mr. Mason was the engineer. I can't remember what date this happened, but I do know they ...

I - Do you remember how old you were when it happened? You were working at the store?

N - I must have been in my late 20's.

I - And were you working at the store at the time?

N - Yes.

I - Would that be around 1925?

N - Yeah, I reckon, was it '25, 1925?

I - And do you remember any other things that happened at that time as a result of the cave in?

N - No I know they blocked up the streets for around three or four days, all around Jefferson Park there was no traffic and they blocked the streetcars. There were no cars until they finally found out it was safe, you know, because they didn't know how much damage had been done.

I - Did anything happen to any of the buildings around as a result?

N - No.

I - Not at that time.

N - There were no building right near the park where the cave in occurred. Most of the building were around 25th and Broad where the tunnel crossed the middle of Church Hill.

I - Are there any other occurrences that you remember that happened on Church Hill while you were living there?

N - No nothing that I can remember. Everything was sort-of at a slow pace.

I - Positive memories of Church Hill, or..?

N - Oh yes. They use to have a parade, the Oakwood parade that started at St. John's Church every Memorial Day.

I - Oakwood Parade.

N - Yeah.

I - And how did it get the name Oakwood?

N - Well because it was pertaining to the War Days and a lot of Civil War soldiers buried in Oakwood Cemetery. And this parade would start at 24 and Broad at St. John's Church.

I - And who was in the parade?

N - Cadets, military cadets and the National Guard.

I - The cadets were from, where were the cadets from?

N - Oh they were from John Marshall High School and they would have the police. And another about a weeks difference the, would have another parade. They call that the Hollywood Parade.

I - I see, and the Hollywood was named after the Hollywood Cemetery?

N -Yes, but I never knew much about it because I never went to that parade.

I - So, anything else?

N - Well that was about the most action we ever had.

I - Sounds like it was a quiet neighborhood.

N - It was.

I - Thank you.

N - Do you remember who the physicians were in your neighborhood at the time when you were living there?

N -Yeah, we had a Doctor Parker, he was, and Doctor Boisseau.

I - All right, now Dr. Parker, where was he located?

N - 23rd and Broad.

N - Dr. Boisseau was his associate and katy-cornered across from him was Dr. Hord.

I - Dr., and how do you spell that?

N - H-0-R-D.

I - H-0-R-D.

N - Ben Hord and then the next at 24th and Broad, Dr. Fletcher. See these were all M.D.'s.

I - Did they have their offices within their homes?

N -Yes.

I - All right.

N - And then on 26th and Broad there were two dentists, Dr. Harry Leery and Dr. Jame Leery and then Dr. Leech, he was a dentist.

I - Where was Dr. Leech located?

N - He was in the 2600 block of Broad Street, and then at the corner at 27th and Broad.

I - 27th and Broad.

N - And at 27th and Broad was Dr. Lilly and Dr. Gay was at 28th and Broad.

I - What type of doctor was Dr. Lilly?

N - He was a medical doctor. And then you had Dr. Massie at 28th and Broad and Dr. Williamson and Dr. Curds.

I - And where was Dr. Williamson?

N - Dr. Williams was on 29th and Broad Streets.

I - Williamson.

N - And Dr. Foltz was at 34th and Broad.

I - How do you spell Foltz?

N - F-0-L-T-Z. And Dr. Ferris they called him the "sugar pill" doctor and Dr. Hennandas.

I - Getting back to spelling again, how do you spell Dr. Ferris?

N - F-E-R-R-I-S.

I - F-E-R-R-I-S. All right. Who was the other doctor?

N - Dr. Hennandas. H-E-N-N-A-N-D-A-S. He was at 31st. Dr. Riski was in the 3200 Block of Broad Street and Dr. Roman Garcin was at 27th and Dr. James was at 25th and Marshall.

I - Seems like a lot of doctors for one area. Did they take care of other people besides your neighborhood?

N - Oh, yeah, they had house calls then, you know.

I - Where was the hospital located in Richmond?

N - The hospital that I can remember most was The Memorial Hospital at 12th and Broad which is there now.

I - And is that where most people went? In Church Hill?

N - And then they built the Medical College in later years.

I - Now you were talking about all these doctors on Church Hill, around what period of time was that?

N - Well they were there when I moved there and they remained, never moving any- where else. They just died off.

I - So when you moved there around 1920 or something like that, there were a lot of doctors at that time?

N - Yeah. There was a trend then that when you got a little something you would re-settle uptown.

I - Were there any mid-wives in your area?

N - I don't remember round here, except that when my first daughter, Mabel was born we had one but we finally had to take my daughter to the hospital.

I - Was this a lady from the neighborhood? Do you remember what her name was?

N - Her name was Hardwicke.

I - Hardwicke?

N - Yes that was the only one that I ever knew.

I - You were talking about besides doctors there were also funeral homes on Church Hill.

N - Yeah there was Billups, Charles Billups at 25th and Marshall.

I - And when do you think that was started?

N - I think around the turn of the century.

I - Around 1900?

N - Possibly before that. And Woody's was started shortly after.

I - Woody's?

N - Yeah, Woody's Funeral Home, 25th and Jefferson Avenue.

I - And how do you spell Woody's? W-0-0-D-Y'S. All right, and when was that started?

N - I think around 19 hundred and 10. The reason I know is a man came from up home and went to work for them and they had just gone into business. Right where the Noldes Building which we just finished talking about, that where he worked. That was before they expanded, took in that corner, see Noldes was in the middle of the block and I think Nolde was in business before Mr. Woody. And Mr. Woody was in politics during Mayor Bright's administration. Mayor Bright was Mayor of Richmond and he was a doctor. And Mr. Woody was what you called assistant mayor because he took over the mayor place.

N - And when would that have been?

I - Around 1930.

I - Around 1390.

N - Yes. There was also a political club at Mosby and Venable and we call that Fort Mosby. It was all Democrat politics. Republicans were virtually unheard of then. They held rallies and people came from all over to make speeches.

I - Were there any famous politicians who went to Venable and Mosby?

N - No, local, you know like gubernatorial candidates, candidates for mayor. We had a City Council and a Board of Aldermen at that time. [End of Transcript.]

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