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Form -3 a
Place of origin
Project workeriSfeteiZawiezZ...._
Project editor
Remarks
Collection (or Type)
Date..e.e."5/45)
Form A
Federal Writers' Project
Circumstances of Interview Works Progress Administration
OREGON FOLKLORE STUDIES
Name of worker William C. Haight Date February 13, 1939
Address 1225 S. W. Alder
Subject Itinerate Religion.
Name and address of informant
Rev. W. C. Driver, 2404 N. E. 37 Ave., Portland
Date and time of interview February 10, 1939
Place of interview 2404 N. E. 37 Ave, Portland.
Name and address of person, if any, who put you in touch with informant
Bob Crutchfield, Elks Building, Portland, Oregon.
Name and address of person, if any, accompanying you None
Description of room, house, surroundings, etc.
The living room of a small moderate priced home. The roam contained a
fireplace, three chairs, table, davenport, radio, rug, lamps, piano, and a potted
fern. The walls were covered with pictures of a religious and pastoral text.
The mantel was well filled with vases, pictures and books. Furniture was in good
condition. General good taste in color harmony.
(Use as many additional sheets as necessary, each bearing the proper heading
and the number to which the material refers).
w 13863
Form B Federal Writers' Project
Personal History of Informant Works Progress Administration
OREGON FOLKLORE STUDIES
Name of worker
Address
William C. Haight Date February 13, 1939
1225 S. W. Alder.
Subject
Itinerate Religion
Name and address of informant Rev. W. C. Driver, 2404 N. E. 37th Avenue, Portland,
Oregon.
Information obtained should supply the following facts:
1. Ancestry 6. Occupations and accomplishments with dates
2. Place and date of birth 7. Special skills and interests
3. Family 8. Community and religious activities
4. Places lived in, with dates 9. Description of informant
5. Education, with dates 10. Other points gained in interview
1. English.
2. 1867, February 24th.
3. Wife.
4. Virginia farm, four years 1872-1876.
Missouri farm 17 years. 1876-1893. (Near Versailles).
Colorado for a brief period.
William Jewell College —Missouri.
California and Oregon, 1895.
5. William Jewell College ---presumably between 1893 and 1895. No degree; called
Doctor as a "probable well-earned courtesy."
6. Evangelist.
7. Radio.
S. Evangelistic work on behalf of the Baptist Church.
(Use as many additional sheets as necessary, each bearing the proper heading
and the number to which the material refers).
Rev. W. C. Driver Form B 2.
9. The Rev. Driver is at least six feet tall, with a military bearing.
When he stands up he seems to tower over everything. Looks un-
assailable. (My mental picture was of Washington crossing the
Delaware). He stands with his long sensitive fingers grasping the
lapels of his dark blue suit. His alert blue eyes have a piercing
quality. His face shows few lines, but these are deep. He is a
picture of kindly dignity.
10. The Rev. Driver notes, with pardonable pride, his striking resemblance
to another early pioneer preacher, of the same name, in Oregon territory.
He often refers to this. He has traced from a genalogical standpoint
the possibility of a relationship. As yet he has found none.
Form C Federal Writers/ Project
Text of Interview (Unedited) Works Progress Administration
OREGON FOLKLORE STUDIES
Name of worker William C. Height
Address 1225 S. W. Alder
Date February 13, 1939
Subject Itinerate Religion
Name and address of informant
Rev. W. C. Driver, 2404 N. E. 37th, Portland, Oregon.
Text:
The early days of preaching in Oregon have been filled with pleasant
memories for my devoted wife and myself. In our evangelistic work we had to
travel from house to house, staying wherever we could. These visits in other
homes were most trying. The usual house had about one-half dozen people in
three or four rooms.
When my wife and I would visit with the people they would have to bed
down the children on the floor. Most often my wife and I would have preferred
the floor to the torturous mattresses we have had to sleep on. We were subjected
to every inconvenience humanly imaginable. The food though usually plentiful
ranged from the ghastly to the less horrible. Often I have wondered haw man could
live on the food I have had to eat.
These homes we visited in were primitive in conveniences. Most of the
people had a well quite a distance from the house, where they obtained water.
These wells often were most unsanitary. The distance of the wells from the houses
(Use as many additional sheets as necessary, each bearing the heading given
above).
Rev. W. Driver Form C 2
VAS probably responsible for the usual amount of filth that we found. Sanitation
and domestic science were unheard of in those days. Most everything VAA accomplish-
ed in as simple and direct a manner as possible.
Obtaining a bath was perhaps one of the hardest things to do. We usually
had little privacy in these homes. Our room, when not utilized for sleeping was
used, in many oases, for other things during the day. This added to the precarious
task of bathing. It VAS a great task to bring the water from the well, find space
on the stove to take the (shill off the water, and then find a tub large enough
to bathe in. Thervbarring the people from the room was the problem. Either my
wife, or myself, would take refuge in the tub -stile the other stood guard at the
door to bar the family from entering. Many, many times we were embarrassed by
interruptions ---although there was little attention paid to such interruptions.
To survive these ordeals of inconvenience a sense of humor was a necessity.
Interesting in comparison to modern methods was the handling of dairy
products. They would milk the cow, bring the milk in and separate the cream from
the milk. The milk and cream were handled with little thought of sanitation. The
products would be put in a pail and set (loan by a gate near the road until the
mailman would pick it up.
A modern mother mould be horror-stricken if she thought her child mould
have to drink unsanitary milk. Then, milk was milk and sanitation was skimming
the dirt off the top.
Transportation presented a difficult problem. Particularly so during
bad weather. Many, many times the mud was hub -deep on the wagon wheels, necessi-
tating the driver and quite often the passengers get out and help the horses lift
the wagon out of the mire.
The ohurch was usually several miles from the homes we had to stay in.
Rev. W. C. Driver Form C
34,
This VAS bad because the people we were staying with would have to get up much
earlier in order to get us to church. They were kind and agreeable, though,
most of the time.
Later we were rewarded for our sacrifice by an appointment as pastor
in one of the railway oars operating in Oregon.
These oars were given thrilling (sic) namest
Evangel (Poetic and thrilling).
Emmanuel (God With Us).
Message of Peace.
Glad Tidings.
Good Will.
Grace (An all steel car. Commemorating the memory of a girl, that died.
Her family were extremely wealthy ---to perpetuate her memory they presented the
Baptist Church with this lovely car).
The name of our ear was Good Will. It WAS fitted out so we could seat
about 100 people in it. The opposite end from the church part, was fitted up as
our living quarters. This car was most convenient in living arrangements.
These oars aided us in performing a valuable service to the isolated
people of Oregon.
In the southern part of the state there were children as old as 20 that
had never heard a Christian service. They would walk miles to hear the preacher
in the railway car. The novelty of the car probably attraoted them as much as the
religious side. Children generally, were delighted with the idea of going to
church in a railway oar.
My wife and I lived in this oar for 12 years. Here we developed the habit
of eating only two meals a day, which is still our routine. We have breakfast at
nine in the morning and our other meal at 4r30. (Personal observations It seems
incredible —his wife looks like an inverted washtub, and he definitely is not
enemic).
Form D
Extra Comment
Federal Writers' Project
Works Progress Administration
OREGON FOLKLORE STUDIES
Name of worker William C. Haight
Address 1225 S. Art_AaJAIL_
Subject Itinerate Religion
Name and address of informant Rev. W. C. Driver
2404 N. E. 37th, Portland, Oregon.
,Date February 13, 1939
Comment:
Rev. Driver's most striking quality is his dignity. His dignity has a
gracious rather than arrogant air.
'Whatever success he has had in his calling he generously crowns
Mrs. Driver with the art of being an invaluable aide de camp.
Her devotion to her husband is pronounced.
Rev. Driver has a peculiar pride in his ancestry.
(Use as many additional sheets as necessary, each bearing the heading given
above).