Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Fritz Buri
Conducted by Dr. David M. Graybeal at Radford, Virginia, 1966
Recorded on audiotape by Dr. William S. Graybeal
Transcribed from CD by Mr. Daniel Y. Graybeal
research, I asked Dr. William Graybeal, my uncle, about a man whom I had
seen in a family Christmas photograph, dated from the late 1950s or
1960s, and who had been identified in its caption as a Swiss visitor.
One thing led to another, at which point Bill copied for me two CDs made
from the tapes on which an interview with this visitor, Dr. Buri, was
conducted, in 1966, by Dr. David Graybeal, my uncle.
It was this same Dr. David Graybeal who, on learning that I
possessed CD copies, asked me if I could burn him a copy.
As the
The act of
Also, a
When I
first saw the Christmas photograph with Dr. Buri present, I thought it
must have been some genealogical connection.
To illustrate, a
Invocation
Participants:
Dr. David M. Graybeal (DMG) -- Interviewer, U.S. religious scholar
Mr. Henry C. Graybeal (HCG) -- Education administrator (retired)
Dr. Fritz Buri (FB) -- Swiss religious scholar, on sabbatical in U.S.
Mrs. Buri (MSB) -- His wife
Mrs. L. Clare Graybeal (LCG) -- Occasional interviewer
Mrs. June M. Graybeal (JMG) -- Occasional commentator
Dr. William S. Graybeal (WSG) -- Recorder, occasional commentator
Dr. H. Charlton Graybeal (Doc) -- Occasional commentator
Mr. Roland C. Houghton, Jr. (RCH) -- Occasional commentator
Contents:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
The Interview
1.
DMG:
HCG:
DMG:
HCG:
school, the length of the school [year] was about three months,
each winter, and he went to school long before I did.
I would say
that three or four months a year was all he had, for six or eight
years.
DMG:
HCG:
Mm-hmm.
DMG:
HCG:
DMG:
HCG:
Hed
begin on the front, first page, and the top, first word, and just
walk up and down the aisle, pronouncing words all the way down
that page.
DMG:
Can you remember what was on the first page of Websters blue-back
spelling book?
HCG:
Oh, it began with A and B and CA, and BA, and just two-letter
syllables.
then on over to four, five, and six, and going on up, to twosyllable and three-syllable words.
words.
So, what you call a speller is not just a dictionary, but its a
book on how to learn to spell.
HCG:
DMG:
Aesops fables?
HCG:
Yeah.
DMG:
HCG:
An honest man is
Several quotations of
How old were the children who came to this school that he taught?
HCG:
DMG:
HCG:
See, he had an
Hed teach one of them in the fall of the year, and then one in
the spring.
He enjoyed reading
HCG:
No.
DMG:
HCG:
DMG:
In Damascus?
HCG:
Oh, no.
DMG:
Yeah.
HCG:
No.
Anything
DMG:
HCG:
February.
He had just
Yeah.
HCG:
So, he got to school in Virginia, and taught there, not far from
Damascus.
DMG:
HCG:
DMG:
HCG:
Yeah.
Western North Carolina Conference for many, many years, and held
his revivals in the summertime, when he was not teaching school.
DMG:
HCG:
DMG:
HCG:
By correspondence, yeah.
DMG:
HCG:
Well, the preacher, in that day and time, was supposed to hold a
revival in his churches.
services and the whole membership of the church would get very
2.
HCG:
He had to preach
Then, hed go
He
FB:
DMG:
Yes.
FB:
HCG:
Theyd usually
And, what was the main aim and result of these revival actions?
HCG:
FB:
HCG:
Oh, yes.
FB:
New members?
HCG:
He had baptisms.
Yes.
Yeah.
and immersion.
DMG:
HCG:
Yeah.
DMG:
Uh-huh.
DMG:
[Resuming] On horseback?
HCG:
Yeah.
preachers.
He
HCG:
Francis Asbury, very much like it, in those old days, back in my
country.
DMG:
HCG:
DMG:
Nineteen hundred?
HCG:
DMG:
Uh-huh.
HCG:
You see, I was eleven years old in 1900, and I remember it, that
year.
somewhere.
HCG:
Oh, he had to farm a hundred acres, and we had several horses and
machineries, plows, and things of that sort.
DMG:
HCG:
Oh, yeah, we had the farm; we lived on the farm, and had our own
farm crops and everything, yeah.
chickens.
DMG:
Everything.
What would be the largest number of cattle that he ever had at one
time, do you think?
HCG:
Well, milk cows and calves and all, I expect he had forty head, at
one time.
that.
DMG:
How much money would he make from teaching school for a year?
I just dont remember what his salary was, but it couldnt have
been high.
month.
DMG:
HCG:
DMG:
HCG:
DMG:
HCG:
DMG:
HCG:
Yeah.
He had, usually,
four or five churches, and theyd pay him, I think, forty or fifty
dollars a church, something like that.
DMG:
HCG:
DMG:
HCG:
Uh-huh.
HCG:
And, horses.
Yeah,
Mm-hmm.
HCG:
You see, my father was the County Commissioner for eight years,
and three men are told the same thing as supervisors here.
ran the business of Ashe County.
They
HCG:
Oh, yes, they were paid, and got their dole for travel.
DMG:
HCG:
DMG:
HCG:
Yeah.
DMG:
Now, youve named four things that he, four jobs that he had:
supervisor, teacher, preacher, and farmer.
HCG:
3.
HCG:
Uh-huh.
HCG:
[Laughter.]
DMG:
HCG:
Yeah.
10
[More laughter.]
DMG:
HCG:
Mm-hmm.
HCG:
with them at the noon hour, played ball just the same as anyone.
JMG:
HCG:
[Continuing] And batted the balls, and run, even though he was a
large man.
LCG:
Dad, tell him about the croquet game in the front yard.
HCG:
afternoon [sic], Uncle Elihu called him to the fence and said,
David, youre just ruining this community, playing croquet here
on Sunday, letting your children play.
mud.
JMG:
Now, tell about the time when he took the saw and sawed the knobs
off the top of the high posts of the bed for them to play croquet
with.
[Spirited laughter.]
HCG:
11
DMG:
Doc:
HCG:
DMG:
FB:
HCG:
Round-cat?
And, some
man would come into the community [from] somewhere -- [from] where
he never had one of his own; he had to go somewhere else -- to a
boarding school.
He was an
Yeah.
HCG:
Just
HCG:
DMG:
HCG:
Yeah, very.
JMG:
I dont know.
DMG:
12
HCG:
He wasnt long-winded.
He did use a
Yeah.
HCG:
DMG:
Yeah.
The man planted the garden in, what was it, Isaiah?
No,
He planted a
vineyard, and put the people in charge of the vineyard, you know.
They treat it poorly.
that passage?
Where is it?
Doc:
Right?
HCG:
DMG:
HCG:
He was the
HCG:
JMG:
He said that
so many of his sermons were based on farmers and farm life, cattle
and plows, weather and all those things.
DMG:
HCG:
DMG:
HCG:
He had
his chapel service every day, and that sort of thing, with his
schooling.
DMG:
13
HCG:
[Loud laughter.]
DMG:
How many other young men in your community were going to college?
HCG:
Not any.
They went
Roarke to go up to school.
Uncle
[At any
Mm-hmm.
How much money did you have, when you went to college?
HCG:
A hundred dollars.
Tell them about taking Greek, or something, for a whole year and
one semester.
prerequisite?
HCG:
Classes
14
Like, I took
and I caught up with the class, and came up, into the freshman
class, with Greek.
4.
DMG:
Where did you teach school, before you went to Emory and Henry?
HCG:
Whered I teach?
DMG:
Yes.
HCG:
Elementary School.
DMG:
How many years had you gone to school, before you taught?
HCG:
Same as
DMG:
HCG:
DMG:
HCG:
Yeah.
DMG:
15
HCG:
No, no.
Not a thing.
Did you tell me one time that your father once operated a mill,
too?
HCG:
A man wanted
A saw mill?
HCG:
DMG:
HCG:
Water power.
DMG:
Water power.
HCG:
Circular saw.
DMG:
Uh-huh.
HCG:
I knew about it
Did you saw the lumber for your own house, then?
HCG:
They even went up and got the soapstone for the fireplaces, up in
the mountains there.
HCG:
16
Tom McCoy
Some of them
HCG:
Its
WSG:
We went there this summer and saw that; its still right there.
DMG:
HCG:
Doc:
HCG:
everything, the salt and shape, so that your chimney would draw,
you know.
That was the day you ate the thirteen apple dumplings, too, wasnt
it?
[Laughter.]
DMG:
HCG:
Two days.
DMG:
HCG:
DMG:
HCG:
pull, too, Ill tell you; that was heavy, for a team.
in the hill, much, they had turns.
DMG:
HCG:
Muddy, if it rained.
17
Coming up
LCG:
Tell him to tell them about taking the produce, your apples, over
to Bristol, from the farm, to sell.
HCG:
Oh, yes, every fall, we had a lot of apples and chestnuts, butter
and eggs, some eggs and things of that sort, on the farm.
beans.
And,
Law and
Load up
JMG:
DMG:
HCG:
FB:
DMG:
FB:
HCG:
FB:
About?
HCG:
HCG:
You see, I left for school, for college, when I was twenty-one,
and it was before that time.
twenty, I guess.
JMG:
DMG:
Uh-huh.
JMG:
18
WSG:
JMG:
DMG:
[Laughter.]
LCG:
[More laughter.]
JMG:
Doc:
JMG:
LCG:
HCG:
LCG:
And, how many miles was that, from your house to Bristol?
HCG:
LCG:
HCG:
DMG:
HCG:
DMG:
Excuse me; I was just going to ask if youd carried feed for the
horses, or if youd get it at night.
HCG:
LCG:
RCH:
Somebody was standing by one day, saying youre not going to make
it?
Then,
you said you were going to have to try it anyway, and you took it
on through?
HCG:
Yeah.
LCG:
Who was the man at Emory who took such a personal interest in you,
when you were so ill?
19
HCG:
I dont know that anyone took to any man, any one person.
Bess
HCG:
LCG:
High Pockets?
HCG:
He asked if I knew
So, he asked me
JMG:
Well, that was when Bess Wampler thought you were dying.
LCG:
gotten cold.
JMG:
Well, she ran all the way up the railroad to get the doctor.
LCG:
5.
LCG:
Oh, he got the washing tub and just filled it with hot water and
bathed me for a time, until the circulation started again.
I was cold to the waist.
Yeah,
20
JMG:
DMG:
HCG:
Measles.
Anxious to
JMG:
I think he ought to talk about where his room was, in the old
college building, and what their facilities were: lights, water,
and so on.
HCG:
Well, they had the spigot out in front of the main college
building.
DMG:
HCG:
Yeah, 1909.
DMG:
Yeah, okay.
HCG:
The only water we had in the building was this spigot out in the
front.
HCG:
JMG:
WSG:
JMG:
WSG:
HCG:
DMG:
Well, let me ask the Buris some questions now, about a period not
as long ago as this.
Switzerland?
21
6.
MSB:
When she
arrived at school, she first had to go to the oven and sit on the
oven, to get her frozen shoes and stockings thawed.
DMG:
Ooh, boy.
MSB:
Yes.
[Giggles.]
since she always hoed, she had a box of honey with her, and a bowl
of her own beans, peas, and bread.
she had.
FB:
together to school.
MSB:
DMG:
FB:
FB:
All year.
[Discussion.]
DMG:
Nine months?
FB:
At least.
DMG:
FB:
At seven.
DMG:
22
FB:
At seven.
DMG:
FB:
Noon?
Ja.
to six.
DMG:
FB:
Even math...oh!
[Laughter.]
FB:
MSB:
[Loud laughter.]
FB:
WSG:
MSB:
Always helping.
DMG:
FB:
DMG:
FB:
DMG:
FB:
Seventy Juchart?
MSB:
Acres.
FB:
DMG:
Seventy acres?
23
Potatoes.
FB:
Ja.
farm.
HCG:
FB:
HCG:
FB:
HCG:
DMG:
FB:
DMG:
And electricity?
FB:
Ja.
DMG:
Now, what year was that, when you first had electricity, would you
I just wanted...
And, electricity.
think?
FB:
DMG:
Ja.
Probably.
Ja.
DMG:
When a farmer would bring his wheat to the mill to be ground, what
kind of terms did he pay for the flour?
Ja.
Ja.
Ja ja.
DMG:
He paid, in money.
FB:
Ja ja.
Ja ja.
Now, did your father employ men to help him with the mill and with
the farm?
24
FB:
Ja.
Ja.
DMG:
FB:
One or two.
DMG:
FB:
On the farm, that was dependent on...not the whole year the same.
In harvest, there were more, but in wintertime, fewer.
Usually,
FB:
DMG:
A tank?
FB:
In a milk shop, and all farms brought it in a milk shop, and there
was cheese fabrication.
MSB:
FB:
Gruyres?
FB:
DMG:
FB:
7.
FB:
Near Bern.
HCG:
You
sold your flour, while we just ground for the farmers around that
came and brought it in.
FB:
25
HCG:
Did both?
FB:
Ja.
HCG:
We had a little toll box, and wed take a toll out of the wheat
and pour it in our box.
DMG:
Would you
The toll
When you were a young man, did you help on the farm and in the
mill?
FB:
Were sophisticated.
FB:
Ja ja.
MSB:
As a baby?
FB:
He will be a minister.
DMG:
FB:
[Laughter.]
DMG:
MSB:
His grandfather said, when he was five years old, Fritz is a very
tired boy.
He would be a minister.
HCG:
MSB:
FB:
HCG:
26
DMG:
Then, when you finished your high school, where did you go to the
university?
FB:
To Basel.
DMG:
To Basel?
FB:
Ja.
We are quite
We have no such...
MSB:
No tests and...
FB:
A first examination.
We would
meet, at minimum, for two years, and then you make your first
examination.
In between
MSB:
DMG:
A tanner?
MSB:
A tanner, yes.
DMG:
Yes.
27
MSB:
DMG:
Yes?
MSB:
He only made leather for mountain shoes and for military shoes,
very thick leather.
DMG:
Uh-huh.
MSB:
His
grandfather and father had also been, at the same time, farmers.
He, with his brother together, had a little bit developed, and so
he was only a tanner.
8.
DMG:
MSB:
DMG:
Beef cattle?
MSB:
Our cattle are not heavy enough for the kind of leather
he makes.
DMG:
MSB:
He had three.
MSB:
One, our
where they had half the cattle, and it was only used for this
purpose.
All those
My
28
We were very
privileged to have sold it, because it was already very bad with
his industry.
development.
DMG:
Mm-hmm.
MSB:
They had this tannery twenty, no, fifty years, and they sold it.
And, now, all is destroyed, and all is away.
blocks, oh! for blocks.
from Bern!
And, someone
MSB:
Uh-huh.
MSB:
DMG:
examinations?
[Dr. Buri fumbles.]
MSB:
[Spirited laughter.]
FB:
Nineteen thirty.
engagement.
We had to finish.
MSB:
We were students.
FB:
We were students.
29
DMG:
MSB:
Three.
DMG:
Twenty-three?
FB:
Twenty-three.
DMG:
Yes.
FB:
Ja,
He knows.
[More laughter.]
9.
FB:
[Laughter.]
FB:
MSB:
No, in 31.
father died.
FB:
Ja.
MSB:
Then,
So, I
depression here.
FB:
Ja.
[Laughter.]
FB:
I remember a noise.
30
the university.
Nazi terror.
In summertime, in 1928...
MSB:
Nine.
FB:
Nine, and I was in Marburg, there was the time Bismarck, no,
Hindenburg.
The
I had a
Soon
He said, as
they had exercised always, and how the men about had coats.
FB:
officers.
DMG:
DMG:
FB:
Ja, yes.
31
DMG:
Ah, yes.
FB:
Ja ja.
Ja ja.
FB:
Three years.
MSB:
FB:
DMG:
And, then, you went to the place on the shore of the lake?
But, now, this was on the lake where, on the other shore, where we
were, at [La Chaux de Fonds?]?
FB:
Ja.
DMG:
FB:
HCG:
Neuchtel?
DMG:
Neuchtel.
FB:
Neu-chattel.
DMG:
FB:
10.
DMG:
Noy-chattel?
[Laughter.]
FB:
MSB:
[Laughter.]
FB:
Help me!
32
HCG:
Have you changed your beliefs since you wrote the book?
WSG:
Well put.
FB:
Well put.
Well put.
It
MSB:
FB:
MSB:
MSB:
HCG:
DMG:
Albert Schweitzer.
HCG:
Schweitzer, yeah.
MSB:
HCG:
DMG:
FB:
In Basel.
HCG:
In Bern.
33
FB:
Ja.
Ja.
Ja.
DMG:
FB:
Werner.
DMG:
Werner.
FB:
JMG:
[Gentle laughter.]
HCG:
[Loud laughter.]
MSB:
family.
[The recording begins to deteriorate, popping and skipping, and with the
voice of Mrs. Buri diminished in relative volume.]
DMG:
HCG:
...Schweitzer...
Benediction
34
Gary Graybeal, Paul Phipps, and others, one of the earliest is given as
having come from a village near Burgdorf, called Hchstetten.
Moreover,
Mrs. Buris people are from near Langenthal, a town fourteen miles north
of Burgdorf and about the same size.
between these.
Then,
as early as the 1730s or, more probably, as late as the 1760s, some left
Germany for America.
35
For
own great-grandparent had passed down, can then pass on the same to his
or her great-grandchildren.
As the
In this
These
36
Thus, he marks a
thought to be Peters great-grandfather, and head of my great-greatgrandparent-sphere, may have been of the last generation to have been
both born and buried in Switzerland.
We have long since intermarried and are swept up in the rapid flux
37
argued, may those whose forebears rode this trough have the opportunity
to reflect on their ancestry.
Thus, in that light, perhaps the Buris were, indeed, angels
unawares, as my grandmother, June, remarked on the tape.
In different
interview, Paul Phipps found probable ships of our immigration, and the
Mennonites have built an extensive online, genealogical database that
includes a great deal of information on the Krehbiels.
Recovery and
38