Interview with Patricia Wetherington Brockinton, September 4, 2003
Scope and Contents
Oral history interview with Patricia "Pat" Wetherington Brockinton, September 4, 2003. Fargo (Ga.), Dayton Turpentine Camp site. Fieldworker: Laurie Sommers. Audio file digitized from cassette tape. Part of the South Georgia Folklife Project at Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections. Topics include Turpentine and Turpentine industry and trade.
Dates
- September 4, 2003
Creator
- Sommers, Laurie Kay, 1955- (Interviewer, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Series 8: PRJ-1010 Sounds of South Georgia
Box 19
Folder 70: VHS-1010.06 The McIntosh County Shouters may not be copied
Biographical Note
Born in 1935 in rural Clinch County, Pat Brockinton still lives on the site of Dayton Turpentine Camp outside Fargo which she and her first husband, Robert Wetherington, took over from her father-in-law in 1955. The property has its original commissary, woods rider's home, and turpentine quarters, disintegrating reminders of the business which the Wetherington's closed in 1975. Although this project did not emphasize the experiences of turpentine owners and operators, Brockinton's story provides an interesting perspective on the role of a wife in a family turpentine operation. In addition to the traditional woman's role of child rearing, cooking, and keeping house, Pat worked in a variety of ways in the Wetherington turpentine operation. Much of this revolved around the commissary, which she would open for the hands when they needed something, and in care of the workers. The latter included driving them to doctors' appointments, fixing plates of food dispensed at Christmas and New Year's, and providing medical care and advice. In the medical arena she was perhaps atypical: Pat had skill in both traditional medicine and through a nurse's aid certificate. She also assisted her husband in the yearly wintertime burn, and, for three years, in driving the truck to deliver barrels of gum to the Langdale still in Valdosta. Pat's first husband died in 1992. She married Ray Brockinton in 1996.
Extent
1.50 Gigabytes (1 electronic record(s) and derivatives. 1 audio file (wav, mp3) 557,380,808 bytes. 01:45:19. 4 PDF documents (19 scans, jp2). 1.50 GB (1,612,556,785 bytes).) : Made available in DSpace on 2022-05-09T14:44:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 dat-1002-010_brockinton.mp3: 151673850 bytes, checksum: 964207a0ea06a72611d6d73f02c78421 (MD5) transcript.pdf: 5145692 bytes, checksum: af6cdb701e9b0fd200fc00f862c12518 (MD5) ADS-1002-05_Redacted.pdf: 688407 bytes, checksum: 5226c8cc1f3021729868f7d94814a000 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2003-09-04
Language
From the Collection: English
Tape Log and Artist Data Sheet
id: DAT-1002.10
item_title: Interview with Patricia Brockinton
call_number: PRJ-1002
informant_name: Patricia Wetherington Brockinton
fieldworker: Laurie Kay Sommers
recording_engineer: Laurie Kay Sommers
date: 04-Sep-03
recording_location: Woodpecker Route, Fargo
content_summary: Interview with Brockinton about life in Dayton Turpentine Camp, running the commissary with her late husband Robert Wetherington, running the business, role of a woman.
notes: Interview to get more information on life of women in turpentine camps. Pat's late husband and his family, the Wetheringtons, employed Stick Nelson, also interviewed for Faces of Piney Woods Project. Father was R.G. Kaney, mother was Emma Godwin Kaney.;
technical_summary: Good.
genre: personal experience narrative, naval stores, turpentine, natural medicine, food, occupational folklife, calendar customs
places: Fargo, Valdosta, Dayton Camp
people: Patricia Wetherington Brockinton, Robert Wetherington
groups: African American, European American
keywords: quarters, commissary, tally board, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving
Occupation: housewife, mother, beekeeping, turpentine bus.
id_number: ADS-1002-05
last_name: Brockington
first_name: Patricia
middle_name: Wetherington
nickname:
group_org_name:
Call number: PRJ-1002
address:
artist_city: Fargo
state: GA
zip: 31631
artist_county: Echols
home_phone:
business_phone:
fax:
email:
birthdate: 08/18/35
birthplace: Rural Clinch Co. (born at home)
ethnicity_1: Irish
ethnicity_2:
religion: Fargo Evangelistic Church
genre: "Turpentine, personal experience narrative, occupational folklife, naval stories"
occupation: "housewife, mother, beekeeping, turpentine bus."
education: "grade 12, Clinch Co. HS"
date_of_contact: 09/04/03
contact_made_by: Laurie K. Sommers
notes: "Interview to get more information on life of women in turpentine camps. Pat's late husband and his family, the Wetheringtons, employed Stick Nelson, also interviewed for Faces of Piney Woods Project. Father was R.G. Kaney. Emma Godwin Kaney. 4 children, 1 died. Youngest 3 surviving. Robert C. Wetherington, born 1930, married 1952, died Dec. 17, 1992. 5 children: Kathy, Patricia, Suzie, Judy, Charles (Robert Charles Jr.)"
keywords: "Dayton Turpentine Camp, commissary"
Processing Information
PRJ1014-063, DAT-1002.10, ADS-1002-05
Source
- Brockinton, Patricia Wetherington, 1935-2012 (Interviewee, Person)
- Photograph: Pat Brockinton
- Oral history interview with Patricia "Pat" Wetherington Brockinton, September 4, 2003 [MP3 Audio]
- Transcript: Oral history interview with Patricia "Pat" Wetherington Brockinton, September 4, 2003 [PDF]
- Artist Data Sheet: Oral history interview with Patricia "Pat" Wetherington Brockinton, September 4, 2003 [PDF]
- Interview with Patricia Wetherington Brockinton by Laurie Sommers, Electronic records. Audio and Transcript. (Bag)
Repository Details
Part of the Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections Repository
Valdosta State University Archives, Odum Library
1500 N. Patterson St.
Valdosta GA 30601 United States
7063728116
229-259-5055 (Fax)
archives@valdosta.edu