Gertrude Cooper Burlingame - Oral History Transcript

On December 28, 1981, an oral history session with Gertrude Cooper Burlingame (spouse of Frederick Clifford Burlingame, Sr. was conducted at her home on Bank Street in Smethport, PA by her grandson, Philip Burlingame. Gertrude's daughter, Mary Lou Burlingame, was present for the recording session. During this conversation, Gertrude recounted her significant knowledge of family history. A word of caution, though, some minor details that she recalls are not accurate according to other family history sources. She also talks about her marriage to Fred Burlingame, Sr. and the ceremonial 'horning' that their friends put them through after their wedding. She also talks about much early Smethport history and the hardships of the Great Depression. Gertrude had many personal recollections of Civil War veteran HL Burlingame and her Sunday dinner visits to his home which she also shares.

The audio recording of part one and part two of this 90 minute conversation can be downloaded below. The files are large (42 MB) and it will take a few minutes to download them on a slower (DSL) connection. Just click as noted on the mediafire site and the download will begin.

Oral history conversation - Part One

Oral history conversation - Part Two