Sound recordings of Walter & Emma Drury

1946, 1949

At Christmas in 1949 Leonard Drury used his wire recorder to interview his father and mother who were at Leonard and Beatrice’s home. Most of the following recordings are from that date though it appears some recordings (the “Table talk recording” and the books of the bible recitation at least) were made in 1946 at Walter Drury’s home during the Christmas season also.

1. Leonard explaining the wire recorder to his parents as he is setting up and discusses the churches he had visited as a DS… Warren Pennsylvania (Where J. D. Abbott followed him as pastor).

http://www.drurywriting.com/family/walterdrurySOUND/intro.mp3 .

2. Walter & Emma expressing thanks for the Christmas dinner at Leonard & Beatrice Drury’s. Emma is apparently 73 years old and Walter will be 77 in the coming January 27.

http://www.drurywriting.com/family/walterdrurySOUND/intro2.mp3 .

3. Walter Drury tells of his emigration to the USA in 1907, his work at Ellsworth Pa mine, renting a mine house, buying furniture with cash, the new stove; Moving to Manifold mine; (a close call when they missed the big disaster at the Mariana mine; Moving to Meadowlands where he became the assistant mine foreman for three years, then in 1916 where he became the foreman at the Elizabeth, PA Patterson(?) mine for about 25 years when he retired in 1940, nine years before the recording.  

http://www.drurywriting.com/family/walterdrurySOUND/1907emigration.mp3 .

4. Emma tells of her conversion at the Methodist church revival the first time she attended in Meadowlands and her assimilation into the life of the church. How they joined the Epworth League under Janie Bradford and started “tithing.”

http://www.drurywriting.com/family/walterdrurySOUND/emmaconversion.mp3 .

5. Walter tells how (after retirement) he helped build the Elizabeth, Pennsylvania Pilgrim Holiness church (he worked for Beatrice’s father, Andrew Anderson who was the church’s builder. Walter tells how he tried to get his wife “vexed” after she got saved but she was changed… finally how he was saved himself at Bentleyville camp where he agreed to go one week even though “there was too much holiness there.”

http://www.drurywriting.com/family/walterdrurySOUND/walterconversion.mp3 .

6. Walter sings a song “I shall see Him face to face” then launches into a testimony (which he often did in church where any of “the people” could offer up a song as a testimony.” (Probably part of the 1946 recording)

http://www.drurywriting.com/family/walterdrurySOUND/waltersongtestimony.mp3 .

7. Walter tells how John Drury, his own father an Episcopalian died in 1897 in England, ten years before Walter and Emma emigrated to America. 

http://www.drurywriting.com/family/walterdrurySOUND/johndrurydeath.mp3 .

8. Walter was memorizing the books of the Bible for the first time in 1946 for the first time; Leonard entices him into trying to recite them, which he fumbles amidst lots of laughter .

http://www.drurywriting.com/family/walterdrurySOUND/booksofbible.mp3 .

9. “Table talk” (mostly Leonard and his mother) which might be an earlier recording(?)and this was recorded during supper and Leonard remarks “good supper mother” so it was not the Christmas dinner above in 1949. —the reel-to-real copy of this original recording was dated “1946” and this was the first recording on the tape so it is likely this was made in 1946 when Keith Drury was five months old. They discuss church services, the practice of “the people” volunteering to sing songs. Though there is a “click” after this in the original recording it is likely Leonard got him to sing the song (#6 above) right after this.

http://www.drurywriting.com/family/walterdrurySOUND/tabletalk.mp3 .