It was Maddie’s third visit to Oysterville but the first that was a prolonged (four days and nights) stay. On each of her previous visits, she had been all eyes and ears –looking, looking, looking and asking myriad questions about Oysterville. Between visits she has read my first ghost book and parts of Willard’s Oysterville, Roads to Grandpa’s Village.
This time she came prepared to work on her “Oysterville Project” — an extensive multimedia look at Oysterville through the generations of our Espy family. She had written up her proposed topic for school, it was accepted, and she asked if I would allow her to interview me — both in the “traditional” way and for the video camera. I was thrilled. Imagine being interviewed by the three-times-great-granddaughter of your own great-grandfather!
She began our interviews by saying that she was especially interested in R.H. Espy, founder of Oysterville, and his much-younger wife Julia, as well as their eight children. She had questions prepared — “Did R.H. and Julia absolutely ADORE their children?” and “Is it true that Julia taught them all at home for their early years?” We talked about child-rearing in the 1800s — the differences between then and now — and about the senior Espy’s emphasis on education. Maddie was interested in the hardships Julia faced here in isolated Oysterville and expressed sadness that this great-great-great-grandmother had died so young (49) before all her children were even grown and before most of her grandchildren had been born.
We talked and laughed and lamented. Occasionally one of us would get up and grab a photo from mantle or wall to see exactly who we were discussing. We spent several hours on two separate days on Maddie’s Oysterville Project. I loved every minute! Later, Alex took his kids up to the cemetery and sent me a picture of “Maddie and Julie.” It made me a bit teary and so very pleased, all at the same time. I so hope that Maddie’s interest will continue and that she, in her turn, will answer the questions of future Espy generations!