Arlena Ann Dilley (Shrout) Interview Saturday March 13th, 2004
Early Childhood
Arlena was born at home near Harrington Manor of Oakland on October 31, 1924 in Garrett County Maryland. She recalls that Oakland was often referred to as Shantytown. We are not sure why the town was nicknamed this. Her parent's names were Arlie Granville Shrout and Ethel Savilla Shrout. Arlena's Grandmother named her after a female airplane pilot Arlena. She didn't obtain her middle name until Delmar went into the Army in 1944. At this time she gave herself the middle name of Ann. Her future brother-in-law attempted several time to give her a middle name of Sylvia which she abruptly declined. Understand that having the initials of Arlena Sylvia Shrout was not at all desirous from anyone’s standpoint particularly Arlena’s.
The family last name of Shrout has been traced back to the 1700’ when two brothers emigrated from Germany. One was seeking to avoid persecution for his murder of his wife. To this date, it is unknown if this is a true story. Hopefully research into this matter at some future date will shed light upon the actual individual that founded the Shrout family in Garrett County and clarify this part of Arlena’s ancestry.
She recalls that her father and Uncle built one of the most beautiful houses in Shantytown on Oak Street. Oak Street was one of the main streets in that particular section of town. A birth certificate was not issued in 1924. A card was issued that stated, Baby Girl is all that Arlena recalls about a birth certificate. She went several years without a name. Elsie, her sister, and she were nicknamed Snookie and Tootsie for years. Here is Arlena's actual Birth Certificate.
One of her earliest childhood memory was the death of her Father. She was five years old at the time. Arlie passed away of probable heart failure on June 24 (23), 1929. At the time of his passing, the family lived in a small building with a loft with a ladder that they lived in temporarily until he built their permanent home. This house still stands today along with another photo. The house wasn't finished until after the family moved out. She recalls having to carry water to the house from the spring across the road. The night of her father's death, her mother came to her and sent her and her sister Ruth to stay the night with their neighbor Mrs. Cooper. It was the first time she had stayed away from home. The day of his burial, it was extremely hot and Garrett County experienced a severe thunderstorm. To this day, Elsie is terribly afraid of thunderstorms. She is certain that this traumatic event combined with the severe thunderstorm forever affected Elsie. So severely that she often hid under a bed during thunderstorms.
Arlena's father was coal miner (scan photo). Arlena recalls that her mother said that her father was a hard worker. He mined a small personal mine on in the Harrington Manor area which was also known as Patience. As a child, she and her brother Norman often went and sat at the railroad trait and waited for their father to come home. They we so glad to see him. She doesn't recall his face. He died very early at the age of 32. He appeared healthy, but fell victim to arthritis / rheumatism and probably heart failure.
Her brothers and sisters include Ruth, Elsie, Carrie, Mary, Norman, Lucille, Carlton, and Timmy. Here is a family photo. Lucille had a twin brother that passed away soon after their birth. Mary passed away at the age of 11. She recalls that the whole school came to Mary's funeral. She remembers a beautiful pair of black shoes that her mother had purchased for Mary, but Mary was unable to wear because of her poor health condition. She believes that Mary passed away of heart failure also. Catherine Foley was the school teacher at the time. In later years, Catherine would once again become Arlena's teacher after they had moved to the Dilley Farm, 2nd photo, and 3rd photo.
Life growing up was happy times for Arlena, people didn't have much but it didn't seem to bother them. She never recalls going to bed hungry, unlike several of her friends that grew up during the same era recall experiencing. Around the age of 8 around 1933, she and her family moved to a farm with her Grandmother Eliza Shout outside of Oakland. (get picture if one exists). In order to sustain the family, her mother began cleaning homes for people. Her Aunt Alice Cogley offered to take one or two of the children but she refused not wanting to separate her family. She recalls Aunt Carrie, her father's sister, and Uncle Ben that lived in Wilkes-Borough Pennsylvania were better off and often sent boxes of clothes to the family. She is very thankful for their gratitude and this had a profound impact upon Arlena’s charitable manner throughout her life.
Some of her best childhood memories are about her Grandmother. Her name was Eliza and lived with Arlena her entire life. She is the oldest person that Arlena recalls and had a strong influence upon her life.
Mildred lived on the farm until the time of her death. She attended the Cherry Creek School that was near the Underwood Church.
Church:
She started attending the Underwood Church around the age of 8. She walked to church with her school mates. She recalls that the church had a burn side stove that was fired by the Superintendent and outside toilets. When Mr. and Mrs. Durst were the leaders of the church, she recalls meeting them and their four children at the forks of the road and then proceeding onto church. The church and school were within walking distance of each other.
Arlena recalls a lady by the name of Nevada Nine who she had met early in her life. At one point in time Underwood Church attendance had dwindled to nothing. For five years, Nevada continued to attend church dressed in formal dress attire and always recorded the attendance of 1 (herself) and the offering (sometimes as much as 3 cents). She would typically build a fire, conducted a prayer, and read scripture. During this five year’s Nevada was the only church attendee. This story is always told every year at the Underwood Homecoming as an example of an individual’s dedication to her church and God.
All of Arlena’s pastors have been a significant of her life. These individuals include Reverend Teets, Pastor Michael, and Pastor David. I know that her pastor’s have always relied upon Arlena’s advice whenever presented with difficult dilemma’s that involved working with the congregation. Her first encounter with Reverend Teets occurred, when her 5 year old daughter Glenna severely cut her hand when attempting to cut cheese for herself. Arlena was in the process of telling her daughter Gloria Jean goodbye as she and her husband left. After arriving at Frankie and Rubie’s home to visit, Gloria Jean was immediately informed that her sister had hurt herself. They rushed Arlena and Glena to the Emergency Room. It was there that she first met Reverend Teets. To console Glenna, Reverend Teets offered her a quarter. Arlena laughed when he said it was the first time that she witnessed a preacher giving money away rather than asking for it! She hadn’t realized at this time that he was a pastor and later discovered this fact at a Ladies Aid meeting. Their friendship was soundly footed from this point on. I believe that it was at this point that she started regular attendance at Underwood.
Michael Mudge stays in contact with Arlena and he is currently a pastor in Cumberland. He and his wife have 5 children. One of the more recent pastors at Underwood David Kiasmore, Arlena considers one of her sons. David pastured at Underwood for approximately 7 years. David, Valerie, and 3 children presently reside in Morgantown, WV. David has told Arlena that she is his best friend in Garrett County.
The BACK Seat of Church:
The congregation of the church typically never sits in the front of the Church. Arlena’s took up the back seat in the right corner of the Church years ago and to this day is considered this her favorite sitting spot. The Church recently recognized Arlena’s extensive efforts in assisting with the Helping Hands for over 25 years. The Helping Hands Church Organization performed charity work throughout the community during Arlena’s involvement. She is very proud of the things that Underwood Church has been able to accomplish through the works of this small but significant group.
School:
She started attending a one room school at Harrington and the teacher was Mary Jackson, but she later transferred to Cherry Creek when the family moved to the farm. She recalls that later in life that Mary adopted one of Norman's children Linda. Linda was selected by Mary Jackson after Arlena described Linda as having red hair during a telephone conversation. Sometime later, Catherine Foley transferred from Harrington to Cherry Creek and became Arlena's teacher once again. Arlena felt that Catherine was a great teacher. Arlena was the only student in her class. She recalls that the teacher would call each grade to the front of the classroom starting with 1st and proceed with that particular's grade lesson. During the lesson the other students would do their school work. At the end of her 7th grade at the age of 12, she was required to attend graduation at the old Oakland High School. Being the only student in her class she was absolutely terrified that she, and she alone, had to go on stage in order to obtain her diploma in front of hundred's of people. Her loving Grandmother purchased her a beautiful blue dress and a pair of shoes for the special event. She laid awake the night before anticipating the event. To this day, she is amazed that she was able to walk across the stage.
Walking was a big part of daily life, she remembers walking to Crelin, school, church. This is how a person met people. People were in generally good shape due to the amount of walking that they had to do.
One of her first memories is of the Carnival that would come to town. She vividly recalls the Ferris Wheel and was her favorite ride. She and her brothers had never seen anything like the Carnival.
During her childhood and adolescence, farming and coal mining with predominant jobs held by the working man in Garrett County.
Meeting Delmar (born April 15, 1919)
She met Delmar, born April 15th, 1919, while he was living with his Grandmother Eva Elle Lohr (Delmar, Ruby, and Okareda). Here is a photo of his Grandfather Ellett H Dilley. He went to live with them in Rosedale around the age of 9. When his Uncle Charlie passed away, Delmar and his mother moved back to the Dilley Farm. Delmar had a very close relationship with his Grandmother up until the time of her passing. Arlena met Delmar at the bus stop while Arlena was waiting on the school bus and Delmar waited for a ride to his job. At this time he worked for a surveyor. The surveyor’s name was Mr. Sincell. Her first date with Delmar was when he and his family picked her up to go to church. His mother and father went to the Underwood Church regularly. His mother was the oldest attending member at the time of her death. Her name is on one of the stained glass windows that in the church. After quitting high school after her third year, she and Delmar were married December 23, 1939 at the Red House Church with A.K. Jones persiding as the preacher. She was 15 years old at the time. I asked if her mother-in-law, having the profession as a school teacher, minded that she quit school early. Arlena said that she did not seem to have any problem with it since Arlena and Delmar had mutually decided it was time to get married. At this time, Delmar was working for the state road. She recalls that it was a very cold wedding day. She recalls a day before the wedding when she went to purchase her wedding dress. She, Delmar, Rubie, and Norman drove to Uniontown, Pa in Delmar's 37 Plymouth (find a link to this car) that had a rumble seat. She purchased a beautiful black skirt and pink top at Princess Shop. To her dismay, Delmar's mother had a fit. "You are not wearing anything that is Black to your wedding" she said. Fortunately, Delmar's mother had just purchased a blue dress for their daughter Rubie's Graduation. Having a good head on her shoulders, she had Arlena and Rubie switch dresses. Both Arlena and Rubie wore the same size of clothing. Everyone was happy! She felt that Delmar's mother and father were very good to her. It is interesting that Rubie and Norman were dating at this time.
Family Meals:
The typical meal growing up consisted of beans and potatoes and potatoes and beans states Arlena. You ate anything that was in season. The occasional Watermelon around the 4th of July was a true treat. She recalls making ice cream and since they had milk cows on the family farm she recalls having it often. A lot of work went into storing food for the winter. This included, cleaning, canning, and storage of the food for the winter months. She recalls the food bins in the cellar that held potatoes and apples or anything else that would store over the long Garrett County winter months.
World War II:
Listening to the radio was the means for obtaining information at the time. Her family would use the car battery to power the radio since their home did not have electricity at the time. The general public was not well informed about the outbreak of the war in Europe. Therefore, it is understanding that it came as a complete surprise when Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941 and the United States entered the war. Gloria Jean was born October 14, 1941 at the family farm. Gloria Jean was the 48th baby delivered by a former Army Doctor Vince. At this time, Delmar constructed a 3 room house in Rosedale, currently owned and added onto by Aleta and Terry. They had an outside toilet and carried water from the spring owned by Nola Reinheart. They had wonderful neighbors in Rosedale. Although at that time, the community was not as populated as it is today. Delmar was often asked to help dig graves for community members that had passed away. Arlena remembers that the Moon family specifically asked for Delmar's help on several occasions. The Moon family was good friends of Delmar's parents. These were happy times she recalls.
Delmar had taken Arlena to his mother's on Monday, December 8th to do laundry and that is when they heard on the radio for the first time that War had been declared by President Roosevelt. It was at this time that the shipyards in Baltimore began aggressively building ships that would support the war effort. Delmar's brother, Glenroot and sister Ruby has already moved to Baltimore to obtain factory jobs, and he decided to do likewise. Ruby’s took a job at a bookbinder company. Her brother Norman went to Baltimore with she and Delmar. They and Norman moved into a first floor apartment on Fulton Avenue in Baltimore. Delmar left the state job that was paying 35 cents an hour for a better paying job at the shipyard. A lot of local Oakland residents moved temporarily to Baltimore to support the war effort. Both Delmar and Norman eventually became welders at the Maryland Dry-docks after passing the test. Delmar transferred wherever the job took him. The family lived in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia. The company that he was employed by was building power stations throughout the region. They lived in Bel Aire, Ohio at the time of Eugene's birth on December 10, 1943.
The family was staying in a small community named Dilley's Bottom. The community was between Proctor and Martinsville. She and Delmar stayed in contact with several good friends that they had made while he was building power stations. Opal and Richard Clure was a couple that would come and stay with the family several summers thereafter. She recalls a time when she and Aleta stayed with Opal several years later while Terry was in the hospital in Morgantown, WV. These were very good friends.
Delmar was informed that he was drafted day after Eugene was born, December 11, 1943. People told Arlena that Delmar would not have to go and could get a deferral since he had 3 children at the time, WRONG!. They had to return to Oakland and Delmar was shipped to Baltimore where he passed his physical with an A-1 rating. She recalls that Delmar was asked by the recruiter his branch of choice, Delmar chose the Navy. The recruiter promptly told him that he was in the Army now. He always wondered if he had asked for the Army would the recruiter have assigned him to the Navy? I guess we will never know. It’s the simple things that determine our fate sometimes. Delmar decided to do his duty and not attempt a deferral. His basic training took place at Fort McCellean Alabama. In August, when Eugene was 6 months old, she and Oakareda went to the train station. She recalls that the train windows were blacked out and as the train pulled away she and Okareda pursued the train down the tracks through their mutual flood of tears. It could have been the last time that she saw Delmar. Fortunately for everyone, Delmar was allowed to return home for 1 night before he boarded a ship in Baltimore Harbor bound for Great Britain. He could have been on one of the ships that he had helped to build in 1941! This brings a new meaning to "relying upon one's own hands".
It was at the same time that a polio epidemic spread throughout Garrett County. It was a fearful time for Arlena about her children's well being. A daughter of their neighbor, Doug Schaffer, did contract polio. One time before traveling to Alabama to visit Delmar, she consulted a local doctor in order to determine the risk of 3 children contracting polio. He assured her that it was perfectly fine to travel, since medical science did not know the cause of polio. Therefore, she, her 3 children, and her sister Ruth that has recently lost her husband, traveled with a 4 year old, 2 year old, and 6 month old baby. This was her first experience on a train. They stayed in Alabama for 1 week at a house Delmar had rented. Upon their return to the train station in Oakland, she discovered from Delmar's parents that the Schaffer daughter had contracted polio. During the war years, the family lived in their 3 room house presently a part of Donnie and Aleta’s home.
Delmar's experience (Nan has this written down)
Delmar's Distinguished Service Cross, first, second, third
Delmar's Honorable Discharge front and back
Delmar was inducted into the Army on May 12th, 1944, he reported to duty at Fort George Mead, MD. He was awarded an Expert Marksman badge and was assigned a Squad Leader’s position. Action ensued in France, Belgium, Germany. He guarded diplomats in Austria well into the winter of 1945. Delmar was wounded in 1944. He was in the 3rd Division, 15th Infantry. His serial number 33888019. When Delmar returned from Europe, the bus dropped him off at Red House on Route 50. It was an extremely cold night and the cab that Delmar called never arrived. He had to hitch hike into Oakland along with his duffle bag.
Post War Years:
Upon Delmar's return from Europe, he had the opportunity to return to welding for his former employer, but Delmar had traveled enough and looked for employment in the Garrett County area. One day while he was driving along Route 219, he saw an old drill machine, a particular type that had 2x4's that operated in a back and forth motion. Being truly fascinated with the piece of machinery, the owner took an interest in Delmar and immediately hired him. He eventually purchased the drill machine from the owner for $200. Very soon thereafter, he and Arlena has saved money from the monthly Army allotment of $125 and along with a $2,000 Veteran's loan that Delmar had secured from the Army, they were able to purchase a more modern Drilling Machine. This new Drilling Machine was nicknamed the Sputter (see if I can locate an example off of the Internet or if Arlena has a photo). Jess Skipper and Delmar entered a partnership that lasted 2 years until Delmar determined the he was actually doing all of the work. Delmar continued drilling wells until his retirement in 1985.
Children Names:
Gloria Jean was born on the Dilley Farm and named after the movie star actress Gloria Jean Schoonover, Ronnie was born on the Fraley Farm and was named after Delmar. She had originally named Ronnie, Ronald Allen, however, Delmar didn’t care for the middle name and she changed it to Ronald Delmar. Arlena name Ronnie after a very kind and good boy that she had met in Bible School. Arlena recently visited the Shrout Farm and told the current owners that were would be 17 steps going upstairs. She was correct because she recalls that she and Norman often played on the stairs as children. She recalls that her grandmother and Lucille’s twin brother passing away in the home. She vividly recalls the day that her twin brother died when she was age 10. She was so sad. During those days, situations were often left unexplained. She felt like she didn’t have a friend in the world but rejoiced at the fact that she had a new baby sister Lucille. When her brother Carlton was born, she and her sisters took care of him and played with him as though he was a baby doll. Her mother had the up-most trust with her daughters. Arlena is amazed how little Carlton survived the attention. She recalls that her uncle gave Carlton the nickname of Cottontop since he has such blonde/white hair. Eugene was named simply because Arlena really liked he name. Like Ronnie, Eugene was given part of Delmar’s middle name, Charles, however unlike Ronnie, Charles is Eugene’s actual first name. The family started using Eugene in lieu of Charles and it has remained his primary name ever since. Aleta was born 6 years after Eugene, she was name after a Princess in the Prince Valiant Sunday Comic Strip Series. Aleta was 3 months old before she was named and the family had to do so after the State of Maryland Department of Statistics issued 3 notices. When Glenna was born in 1952, Her name was the combination of Glenroot Dilley, Delmar’s brother, and Ruth Shrout, Arlena’s eldest sister. In addition to these facts, Ruth’s stepson was dating a girl name Glenna Ruth that the family adored. Thus Glenna Ruth was the name given to the last child of Arlena. It was a common practice to name children in honor of favored relatives. Thus this is how the name Loriann Dilley Knotts was derived for one of Arlena’s closest grandchildren. Arlena often said that if the Naylor’s (a family that owned most of Oakland) could use their last name as children’s middle names, so could the Dilley family. Here are photos of Southern High School that all of her children attended. Photo a and b.
Friends:
One of Arlena's best friends was Marion Friend. They were the best of friends for 38 years. They remained so until Marion's death in 1988. She met Marion at the local Ladies Aide. She had so much in common with Marion. She had 5 children and likewise Arlena had 5 friends. Earl her husband liked to stay home and Delmar liked to stay home. The list goes on and on... Both Earl and Delmar let the two have their space and time together. They fully trusted the two together. Marion and Arlena hit it off from the start. Their weekend day together was always Saturday when they would go various places shopping including, Cumberland, Morgantown, and even Uniontown. Arlena always did the driving since Marion never felt comfortable doing so. When asked, Marion said that she would rather ride with Arlena than her own husband Earl. It would take severe weather to keep these two friends from hitting the road. After Marion's death, one of Marion's children authored a poem (see if I can get a copy) about the pair's Saturday outings. Marion baby sat her grandchildren during the week and looked forward to these outings as her "day away from it all". Reverend Teets told Arlena that if a person had one good friend like Marion in their life, they were truly lucky. Indeed, Arlena feel truly blessed to have had such a friend as Marion. One of Arlena’s biggest disappointments in life was when she discovered that a photo that she and Marion had taken together a month before Marion's death had failed to develop. (attach the photo of Marion at Arlena's home, the one Robbie's mother had taken).
Work Outside the Home:
After all of the children were raised, Arlena followed in the footsteps of her mother and began cleaning summer cabins with her friend Wynetta at Harrington Manor. Subsequent she worked with Ester Holler for two years for the State Park cleaning 21 cabins every Saturday. This was hard work and although she was offered the job a third year she declined. It was at this time, Arlena became acquainted with a teacher named Carolyn Miller from the Oak Street Kindergarten. Carolyn called her one Sunday frantically needing help after one of her staff and assistant had unexpectedly quit. Arlena politely told Carolyn that she had never prepared food in such large quantities and had only done so for her family. Carolyn, knowing Arlena’s hard work ethic and dedication, justifiably expressed her utmost confidence in Arlena’s abilities and convinced her to join the cooking staff at Oak Street. So Arlena and a manager were hired. Arlena later noted that the manger didn’t know how to boil water without burning it because she has always worked for Social Services. Arlena only agreed to try the job for 2 weeks. Eighteen years later, she retired. She worked at Oak Street for 7 years and when the Principal Wayne Johnson transferred to Broad Ford Elementary he took the entire cooking staff with him. She remained at Broad Ford for the last eight years of her career. She became best of friends with Virginia Lewis. One of the teachers that she had befriended continues to come and stay with Arlena when she returns to Oakland area. Cooking was hard but good work, states Arlena. The pay was good when she started at the hourly rate of $1.50 and finished with an hourly rate of $6.50 with benefits. She was glad that she worked. The small retirement that she receives she is truly thankful for. She would be unable to sustain herself on the monthly Social Security that she receives. As verification of Arlena’s value to her employer, she was always provided with 40 hours of work. Through repeated cutbacks and several layoffs, Arlena always remained employed. Even when Arlena was stricken with throat cancer, her employer, allowed her sister Carrie to fill in for her position for 6 weeks while Arlena recovered from her throat surgery without any questions asked. She cherishes both her boss and principal throughout her career. She recalls Mr. Watson frequenting her work area and talking with the staff. Miller’s Meat Market provided the majority of food supplies and Arlena and the other staff established the menu week’s in advance. Eventually the State of Maryland established standards for school nutrition throughout Maryland and took away some of the flexibility that the staff had in menu creation. Arlena said that the food that they prepared was good. Almost everything, they prepared was hand made. Her co-worker Betty always worried about new rules in place dictating that all leftovers were to be thrown away. Of course with the quality food, the staff could not force themselves to destroy such good food. Mr. Johnson, their supervisor, told the staff not to worry about taking the leftover’s home, since he also partook in this benefit of their employment and would end up sitting in jail cells with his staff in the event that they ever got in trouble.
Hobbies
Gardening – “need to write some things here and get photos”
One of Arlena’s favorite pass times is reading and watching classic movies. She recalls watching Gone with the Wind 15 times. She recalls that Delmar refused to watch this 6 hour movie after seeing it for the 10th time. She highly recommends watching Scarlet, it too like its predecessor, is a true classic. She is amazed at the uproar that Clark Gable’s famous quote from this movie created within the movie industry and media compared to the language and violence of commercial television today.
Arlena’s Character:
Arlena states that she is proud of the fact that she wasn’t rough and rowdy and didn’t partake in the often destructive conduct and actions of her peers that were around her. She did make mistakes like the rest of us but always conducted herself in a manner that she felt her children would always be proud of. Good morals were the centerpiece and guiding conscience of her life. She related a story that once, a sometimes overbearing friend, insisted that she pick her up some bags of topsoil from local Amish Farmers, the manner in which she told Arlena to do so, upset her that she decided that she wasn’t going to pickup the topsoil and tell the friend that the were sold out of topsoil. On the way to the farm, she passed a sign that read “The Lord Knows Your Thoughts”. After this, she decided it best to pickup the topsoil. She never recalls seeing the sign thereafter; she took the message personally. She vividly recalls learning these from Grandmother Shrout and her parents and through lessons told to her from The Bible. This is the legacy that she hopes will inspire her descendants of future generations.
