Roselie Mable Interview

Upon searching for someone native to the Appalachian culture, I finally met a young woman by the name of Roselie Mable. Roselie was born March 9, 1935, in Pocahontas county, West Virginia. During my interview I asked her a numerous of questions which ranged from your typical "Where are you from?" "When were you born?" "What was your profession?" Etc. But there was one Question and answer that really sparked my interest. During the interview I asked Mrs. Mable "What brought you away from your home town?" And to my surprise opened up an interesting tale. It all started when Roselie was thirteen, her father had a farm on the out skirts of Pocahontas, where they harvested crops for a living. Leroy "Papa" Mable ran a large farm powered by slaves, although they thought of them more as family rather than slaves. Roselie was the only daughter of eight children so her chores consisted of cooking and making sure the workers had plenty of water to drink. Roselie said that she would watch from a far and pick out the strongest of men and watch then work. She said that it wasn't until her 15th birthday that she noticed herself watching the same man day in and day out, as well as sneaking a spoon full more

She remained at the plantation waiting for Thomas to return from Vietnam until Ernest became very ill and passed during the cold months forcing her to move farther west and planting ground in Pulaski county where she has remained since 1967. When asked why she never went back she said that she waited and waited for her Thomas to return her letters and come back from war to be with her, but later found that he was shot and killed during an ambush and never made it home to her. She told me that although she spent many of years looking for him and waiting for his return, their time spent together was well worth any troubles she had endured on the