Personal Interview conducted on Feb 14, 2002 by JoAnn Goble Horn at the home of Ailene Alred
"Manchie" was born on Dec 30, 1902 at Van Lear, Johnson Co. Kentucky to Tom Robinson and Arminta Goble. She married June 24, 1919 at her home in Hager Hill, Johnson Co. Kentucky to Benjamin Franklin Goble.
Manchie attended grades 1 - 4 at the one room school at the mouth of Butcher Hollow in Van Lear, Ky. She was 7 years old when she started school. She recalls her childhood sweetheart Elzie Banks. When they moved to Hager Hill she attended school there. She doesn't remember exactly how long she went there.
She was the oldest daughter and she remembers when she was 4 years old her mother would stand her up in a chair to wash dishes, by the time she was 10 years old she was helping to take care of boarders. Her Mother ran a boarding house.
She remembers when she was 9 or 10 years old her Aunt Teelie came to visit with her 3 daughters Rosie, Gracie and Pearl. Her mother asked her to take the sink bucket out to gravel some potatoes to cook with the beans for supper. When her mother saw the whole bucket full she said, "What in the world did you do that for" She said she thought that her Aunt Teelie liked potatoes. She would like to relive these times over again.
She remembers Jane Gillam who was the third wife of Commodore Goble. She only had one dress and would go behind the cook stove and take her dress off to wash and put it back on wet. She had one son Tennison by Commodore.
Benjamin's occupation was a coal miner. He was a second cousin to Manchie. His father was Christopher Columbus Goble, brother to Manchie mother's father Commodore Goble. She recalls that Commodore also had a sister named Harriet.
Her brother had worked one day in the coalmines at Van Lear and took a notion to run around a while with one of his friends Lee Dollarhide. He told his mother he was going to ramble around for awhile and "if anything happens to me you go and draw out my day's work and buy my baby brother "Tommy" a pair of shoes", so the next day after he told her that they came across East Point down Goble Branch coming to West Van Lear they sat down by train tracks and fell asleep. A train came by and hit Curtis and knocked him over the railroad and killed him, it did not kill Lee. He was 18 years old when he was killed. My mother drawed out his day's pay and bought my baby brother a pair of shoes just like he had told her to do.
Manchie met her husband on the 18th day of Dec. 1918 at the wake of her brother Curtis Robinson at Mr. Goble's (future father-in-law Christopher C. Goble's) home. They lived in a farmhouse with a double fireplace with rooms on each side. Because of the heat on the side where her brother's corpse lay it caused him to swell and burst. Her mother did not get over there to see him before this happened. They lived at Van Lear. She nearly lost her mind. She would go to the grave nearly every day. He was buried on the Franklin cemetery. Mom and Dad bought land so they could be over there where he was buried.
The day she will never forget was June 24, 1919 it was the day she was married. She never had any pictures but she can just picture herself. Her mother had made her wedding dress and she wore ribbons in her long blond hair. Her dress was white with blue ribbons and a big bow in back. Leota Musick and two of the Franklin girls were there. She guesses there was 15 or 20 there. She was married in her bedroom where she slept for years.
She lived 12 years in their old house at Hagerhill that was sold to American Standard. Then lived 12 years in their new house, which her son Buddy now lives in. She now lives in Paintsville with her daughter Ailene.
She was happy to meet Beatrice Goble Evans because she knew her brother Abe (Son) Goble when she lived at Van Lear, KY.
It was a great honor to talk to Manchie she has such a good memory and is a very nice woman. Her health seems very well and hopes to see her 100th birthday in December.
Manchie Goble, aged 102, died May 19, 2005 in Paintsville, Kentucky.
If you have questions about the interview or would like to ask JoAnn questions about the interview contact her at: joannhorn@suddenlink.net
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