Edited interview with Mary Marshall (MM), daughter of Hiram Polk.
Conducted by Joe Manning (JM), on January 16, 2008. Transcribed by Jennifer Suh and edited by Manning.
JM: What did you think when you saw the photograph?
MM: I couldn't see my father in it at all.
JM: You mean you weren't sure it looked like him?
MM: I never saw a picture of him when he was young. And
he wore glasses when I remember him.
JM:
Was it surprising to you that he was working in the fish factory.
MM: That's what all the young people did then.
JM: But your father was only nine at the time.
MM: Well, that's just mindboggling. I really don't know that much about my father growing up. He
was an orphan. Both his parents died in some kind of epidemic. He had an older brother that relatives took in, but my father
was put in an orphanage in Perry (Maine).
JM:
How old would he have been when that happened?
MM:
I honestly don't know. He just said he was there until he was 16, and then he ran away. I don't know when he worked in the
factory. I know that he worked in gardens at the orphanage, because he talked about picking potatoes, but he never mentioned
anything about a fish factory.
JM:
Do you know what his parents' names were?
MM:
I don't remember. I think I was named after my grandmother. My name is Mary Janette.
JM: This should be interesting to you. A year before the photograph was taken, in 1910, the US Census
listed him as living in Knox, Maine. He's 8 years old and living with his mother and father, Hiram and Jenny. And he has a
brother named William, who is two years older. So when he was photographed in 1911, he may have still been living with his
parents.
MM: Really? My grandmother's
name was Jenny.
JM: I also have
the 1880 Census, which shows his father, 6 years old at the time, living in Eastport. His parents were named William and Mary
Polk. In the 1930 census, your father is living in Queens, New York. He's married to Lillian.
MM: You say he was in New York then?
JM: Yes.
MM:
I was born in 1927.
JM: You're
in the 1930 census, too. It says, Mary Polk, three years old.
MM: At that time, he was a janitor in the building. I remember my parents telling me that.
JM: How did he wind up in Queens, New York?
MM: I don't know. I was born in Vinalhaven (Maine). As far
as I know, he was still a fisherman then. We moved to New York for some reason. The only thing I can remember about New York
at that age was that my little brother, Hiram Jr, was born there.
JM: You're right. He was one year old in 1930. Interestingly enough, in 1930, your father's occupation
is listed as building superintendent.
MM:
Well, he was a superintendent at an apartment building.
JM: I have his marriage record. He was married to Lillian on April 28, 1925, in Vinalhaven. Somebody
named Woodsworth posted a website that lists some of your family history.
MM: I don't know anyone named Woodsworth.
JM: This is very interesting information. I am looking at it right now. You told me that your father
was an orphan. According to this, Hiram Polk was born on August 19, 1874, in Eastport, Maine, and he died November 30, 1913,
in Rockland, Maine. So your grandfather died in 1913. He was buried in Eastport.
MM: So Hiram was my grandfather's name, too.
JM: Yes. He married Jeanette Houston.
MM: So that's where my name comes from.
JM: She was born August 12, 1875, in Scotland.
MM: Right. I knew that one of my grandparents was from Scotland.
JM: She died September 14, 1914. So your father became an orphan in 1914, three years after the
picture was taken. That's all the information that this family history shows about your family. It goes backward rather than
forward. It also says that your grandfather married Mary Trott.
MM: So he was married twice then?
JM: Yes. He married Mary in 1895, and then he married Jeanette. When did you leave New York?
MM: I don't remember when, but we moved to Pownal (Maine),
and then we moved to Portland (Maine).
JM:
What did your father do there?
MM:
As far as I know, he went to work at a shoe factory in Freeport (five miles from Pownal). My mother worked there, too.
JM: Did you know what his job at the factory was?
MM: Machinist.
JM: And your mother's job?
MM:
I don't know.
JM: How long did
you stay in Pownal?
MM: I don't
remember. My brother Emery was born in Eastport, and my sister Miriam was born in Pownal. When my brother Hiram was about
four years old, he died in a fire.
JM:
What happened?
MM: They were burning
the blueberry fields across from the farmhouse we lived in. My aunt was taking care of us, and Daddy was out there helping
the people burn the land. Apparently, my brother decided he wanted Daddy, and he went looking for him. And by the time they
found him, it was too late. Now whether he was burned or just overcome by smoke, I don't know.
