ALEX.: We're testing to see if we're
recording and it looks like we are.
DAVIS: In thirty-three.
ALEX.: Nineteen thirty-three?
DAVIS: Uh huh. And I started out and I
started out over there in a one-car garage building.
ALEX.: Uh huh. Where was it? Over the
street here?
DAVIS: I originally, across the river. My
home is the first house above the bridge on the right. It's the only house on
that side. On the road. Cement wall up there. And we had a garage where we
kept the cars. And I started out in thirty-three in raw fur, and hide business.
ALEX.: Raw fur and hide.
DAVIS: Yeah. Just gotten married. I've
traveled all over these mountains, most of them on foot. Come in in the
evening. ____. Then in 1933, the, uh, the summer of 1933, my father bought
this building over here. Now this was a two-story building over here.
Apartments. And I moved over here and I lived over there then up until '50 or
'51 I built this. Fifty or '51. But I started out in the produce business.
That's what it was called, "____ Produce Company." Bought a carload of feed off
of Gwen Brothers and Company in Huntington on credit and uh . . .
ALEX.: Gwen?
DAVIS: Gwen Brothers.
ALEX.: Yeah. I knew those. I knew them
then. I knew them.
DAVIS: I knew the old man. He was up here
one time. Come up here and went a huntin' for about thirty days. And
stayed at the motel. A fellow by the name of Rogers. But my uncle owned the
store across the river, well, my aunt, my uncle was already dead. I started out
in twenty-nine. I ran the Standard filling station up across the road
there from my uncle after I got out of high school. And, uh, it just went on
from there. I handled bulk stuff. I handled, well, I handled all the raw fur
in this section of the country back there, oh, until I forget what year. Forty,
oh around forty. And uh, then I took on John Deere in '37. I took on Nash in
1941. Then the war, the army, the army called us here and I had a bunch of cars
frozen here during the war that I stored down there in the other showroom over
there. Uh, I worked for the government. I worked at the Federal Prison Camp.
Mill Point.
ALEX.: Uh huh.
DAVIS: During the war. When the war was
over I quit that. I quit then in forty, in the fall of forty-five, and started
back in business in forty-six.
ALEX.: Well, you, what kind, you talk about
this fur business. Let's talk about that for a few minutes. What kind of hide
was brought mostly in here? Muskrat? Mink?
DAVIS: Muskrat, mink, skunk . . .
ALEX.: Possum?
DAVIS: Possum, weasel, fox. An occasional
wildcat. Raccoon.
ALEX.: Raccoon. Yeah.
DAVIS: Yeah, we had somewhat we called
wildcats. Uh, not many of them though. They were always hard to get a hold of.
I mean, they were pretty hard to get. Had a lot of mink. Then I, then I bought,
uh, back in those days I bought a lot of ginseng.
ALEX.: Oh yeah.
DAVIS: I always had enough to have big
buyers to come in and I'd sell out then. I'd usually sell a big bunch right
after the ____ sells in mink. They established the ____.
ALEX.: Where did you sell your furs?
DAVIS: On the large bunches I sold to Clots
in Stanton VA. Then I had a lot of beef
hides in the country. Back in those days, you know, the things are not like
they are now. Uh, cattle back there during that depression got down into three
or four cents a pound, and uh, these farmers, these farmers would butcher the
meat and then they would bring it in and sell it to the stores. And that's
about the kind of meat you bought back at that time. And uh, I've had tons of
hides that I bought right here at the door. But I bought, I bought, my uncle is
a Chevrolet dealer across the street here, and I bought a ton and a half
Chevrolet truck off of him and I would run it about three days a week. I would
load it up with, uh, certain kinds of beef that people always bought. That was
back there during the depression when they was getting these government checks,
C.C. Camps. And I handled a lot of bulk stuff but I was the first person in
Pocahontas County that paid cash for it. Potatoes, eggs, poultry, turkeys. They, uh, all
of the stores would take them in. They'd always take them in to trade. Well, I
didn't have the volume set to trade so I paid cash for them. Eggs, I remember I
used to buy them at ten cents a dozen. But I will say this, I sold, I paid about
as much for poultry today as I could buy at the A & P store. It was years that
I handled all turkeys in Pocahontas County. All of
the farmers back in those days always kept a half of a dozen. Most all of them
had flocks of turkeys. And then they would sell them along about Thanksgiving
and, uh, Christmas.
ALEX.: I noticed up the valley at 28 I
believe there's a building that looks like a pretty good hatchery or turkey or
chicken farm or something at one time. Going towards Green Bank you go up here .
. .
DAVIS: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. There was a lot
of them. That's when I went out of that business. That's when I went out of
the business. Uh, A & P, when A & P moved in here, they were in the feed
business. And we was always battling prices. And uh, they sold, uh, they had
their place down here on Main Street and uh, when they came in and then this the
in here they called Roco. They went in here and furnished the poultry, you see.
ALEX.: Uh huh.
DAVIS: Beef. They'd sell the beef, uh,
they'd sell the beef, and then they'd, they would put up I expect, uh, five
flocks of poultry a summer. ____. That was in a big way and . . .
ALEX.: They guaranteed to buy the
production?
DAVIS: Yeah. They had contracts. I don't
know how it worked. But, uh, that's when I . . . Of course, by that time I was
in other things that was more important to me so I quit that.
ALEX.: They said you worked during the war
for the Federal Bureau of Prisoners.
DAVIS: Yeah. They've always had
sort of a work camp back there on Kennison
Mountain or something. That's where I worked.
ALEX.: You worked back there? They still
have it?
DAVIS: No, that there was closed up. That
was closed up and the buildings have all rotted down or were torn down.
They had beautiful buildings out there. We built this road across from
Mill Point down here to Richwood.
ALEX.: With Federal Prison Labor?
DAVIS: Yeah.
ALEX.: It's a good highway.
DAVIS: Yeah. It's a good highway. We built
it so far. Now the state came from Richwood this way, possibly half way.
ALEX.: Uh huh.
DAVIS: And we joined them over there about
half way.
ALEX.: Yeah. How many prisoners did they
have in that area?
DAVIS: We had two hundred seventy.
ALEX.: Two hundred seventy. When would you
say they closed that up? When did they start it?
DAVIS: Oh, that was started there in, oh, I'd
say the late thirties.
ALEX.: Uh huh.
DAVIS: It was closed down here, uh, I don't
know if it was in the sixties or not. I just lost track of it.
ALEX.: Yeah. But you think maybe in the
sixties.
DAVIS: I think it was there. I think it was
in the early sixties.
ALEX.: Yeah. Well, and then you operated the
John Deere dealership.
DAVIS: From 1937 until '71.
ALEX: John Deere's been a good growth
company over the years. Very successful tractors and implements.
DAVIS: It's the leading manufacturer as farmin' goes.
ALEX.: Yeah.
DAVIS: My son works for them. He started out
here with me ever since he was just a kid. And, he's a lawyer. But he's the
director, he's the director of Industrial Relations. Worldwide.
ALEX.: Is that right?
DAVIS: He'll be in here in a couple of weeks
on his vacation. He's going to try to come in before July 1. This is the year
they have their contract. All of these manufacturers will be contracted this
year.
ALEX.: Labor contracts?
DAVIS: Yeah.
ALEX.: Yeah. Well, what about the American
Motors?
DAVIS: Well, I started with them in
forty-one. I started with them in forty-one and I sold my last cars that I had
in stock before the war. During the war ____. Then in forty-six I went back
and I stayed with Claud several times, but . . . Top grade automobile. I've
seen a lot of hardships in terms of parent company but they made a find
automobile. That's one of the finest cars I was ever in. I think it was more
service for a dollar than any other. I think one of the greatest automobiles
that was ever made even including now was the old Nash Ambassador. That was one
of the finest motors that has ever been manufactured for any automobile. We
sold a lot of those Ambassadors. That motor there in 1940, in 1937. They had a
twin ignition six. And those cars at that time had seven main bearing crankshaft
in it.
ALEX.: Is that right?
DAVIS: Yeah. It's the only American car
that ever had a seven main bearing crankshaft in it. I think the only other
company at that time was Rolls Royce that had them. They had a main bearing
between each connector. It's a big motor. It sure is a big motor. When Nash
closed out on this V-8, we used a number of motors. We used a Packard motor,
and, uh, when the V-8's and I think Nash Kelvinator sold the rights to that
motor to Diamond-T. They put it in their trucks for a number of years. They
did a terrific job. I think maybe they're out of business now, but, uh, I saw a
truck the other day, uh, let's see. Diamond Reo(Rio)*, I believe. Now they might
have gone, they may have merged. Now I don't know, but I didn't know
it. I just happened to see a truck on the road some place and I thought, well
heck, they must be in business. And, uh, they used it for years. But they have
always had, they've always had their giants. It's a truckload of stones.
ALEX.: It sure is.
DAVIS: Got General Motors, Ford, but, uh, I
sold a lot of cars. Sold a lot of cars. I didn't sell as many when I quit as I
should have been. But you run out of gas after so many years.
ALEX: Yeah. Gas got tough. Seventy-one was
about the last easy year for gas. I think it was seventy-one.
DAVIS: Well, uh, the rest of the
businesses around was just about ____. Well, I think I was twenty-four or
twenty-five years when in business. I didn't have a penny. I wouldn't do it
over.
ALEX.: Aw, you don't know now. You might
have done it with just as much vigor yet.
DAVIS: I wouldn't do it over.
ALEX.: But you've, how old were you when you
started buying those hides over there?
DAVIS: I was, uh . . .
ALEX.: You must have been out of high school
three or four years by then, huh?
DAVIS: Aw, let me see. Nine, I was about
twenty-nine, or a little younger.
ALEX.: Native of
Pocahontas County?
DAVIS: Well, I've lived here ever since I
was twelve years old. I'm a native of Pendleton
County.
ALEX: Well, since you're twelve.
DAVIS: I was born in Franklin.
ALEX.: Well, your full name is Layman . . .
DAVIS: James Layman.
ALEX.: James Layman
DAVIS.
DAVIS: Yeah.
ALEX.: Yeah. When were you born?
DAVIS: January 7, 1908.
ALEX.: Nineteen eight. January 7. Well, you
certainly made a big contribution over here in your business. You probably
had some ups and downs.
DAVIS: Oh, I had lots of ups and downs. My
biggest trouble in business all the time, I gave too much stuff away.
I never collected bills. I don't know. That's one of the hardest things I ever
had to do. The only time I went out here and worked on my collections would be
when I pressure put on me by the companies.
ALEX.: Yeah.
DAVIS: I just wasn't a very good collector.
ALEX.: Yeah. That's a business you've got
to be tough in.
DAVIS: Yeah.
ALEX.: You've really got to be tough.
DAVIS: I never was. I don't have a hell of
a lot of money, but . . .
ALEX.: You're able to live.
DAVIS: I'm able to live.
ALEX.: Most of the time be your own boss.
DAVIS: My wife's been working here for seven
years.
ALEX.: What's she doing?
DAVIS: She's a social worker down at Denmar.
ALEX.: Is that right? I want to get down
there and talk to some people at Denmar and do it right away, too, for this
project.