Documenting the American South Logo
Excerpt from Oral History Interview with Thomas R. Ellington, October 10, 1983. Interview C-0122. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) See Entire Interview >>

Jordan loaned an employee fifty dollars when they met during a brief vacation

Ellington and four of his coworkers happened to meet Jordan while vacationing at Virginia Beach. Ellington was impressed that Jordan loaned him fifty dollars and allowed them extra time off work when they returned.

Citing this Excerpt

Oral History Interview with Thomas R. Ellington, October 10, 1983. Interview C-0122. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Full Text of the Excerpt

BEN BULLA:
You say he called you Plumber? Did you do plumbing?
THOMAS R. DOC ELLINGTON:
Oh yeah I used to do plumbing work down there in the mill and the village too. One time the valve stuck on the old straight eight diesel engine and I went down there with Mr. Jordan. Alse Davis was up on top of it. Mr. Jordan said, Davis, how long before you going to have it working? Just a minute, Alse said. He threw that crowbar down without looking to see if anybody was standing there, it bounced up and hit Mr. Jordan on the shin and skinned it a little bit he come by me hopping and said, Come on Plumber, this ain't no place for me, and out the door he went with me following. He was awful good to me, Mr. Jordan was. I could borrow money from him anytime, anywhere. First time, me and five of the boys went to Virginia Beach. Sunday morning we got up, I had all the pocketbooks, and I had all their watches on my wrist. Walked up the beach and there stood Mr. Jordan, Dr. Carrington and Shannonhouse, the yarn salesman. I walked up over there and I says, GOOD MORNING! He turned around and he says, Huh! I thought I left Saxapahaw at Saxapahaw. I said, No, there's five more of them out there somewhere or another. Mr. Jordan, how about loaning me 50. You don't need no 50, he said, you're getting ready to be back to that mill Monday morning to go to work. I said, O. K., if you'll let me have 50, I'll guarantee I'll have all five of them others there at 7:00 o'clock to work. So he let me have the 50. We got back in Saxapahaw at 20 minutes to seven the next morning. I jerked the keys out of the car and went to work. Mr. Jordan came down there and asked what we were doing there dressed up. I told him we had just got back about 15 minutes 'til seven and didn't have time to go home and change. He told us to all get out of there and go home and put on our working clothes and come back.
BEN BULLA:
Who were the other four, five?
THOMAS R. DOC ELLINGTON:
Marion Glosson, Dorsett Johnson, Wayne Woody, myself and