Born in 1894 at 382 Main Street, Yarmouth Port, Mrs. Doland describes her ancestry dating back to John Howland who was on the Mayflower.  Her father was from Maine and served in the Civil War.  He was a doctor and settled on the Cape after he completed his medical training.  She graduated from high school in 1912.  She attended a four room school house.  She names several teachers from grammar, middle and high school grades.  She describes her childhood and speaks of traveling with her father on his rounds.  He traveled by horse and buggy.  He did minor surgery in the home, there was no hospital at the time.  She recalls her father’s interest in farming, raising livestock, growing corn and having cranberry bogs.  She would go into Hyannis to buy dry goods.  She remembers the fire that burned much of Hyannis.  She describes the Barnstable County fairgrounds in Barnstable, camp meetings in Yarmouth off of Willow Street.  She also recalls minstrel shows put on by the local people, fun at Town meetings, and dances at the local Grange.  She describes seeing gypsies who traveled in colorful wagons and who would be chased out of town.  She also recalls her experiences on holidays especially Christmas.

Notes: The Tales of Cape Cod Oral History Collection is housed at the William Brewster Nickerson Archives in the Wilkens Library at Cape Cod Community College in West Barnstable, Massachusetts. For more information about the collection, please contact the Nickerson Archives, http://www.nickersonarchives.org/.