Jacob H. Douma
Interview with
Jacob H. Douma
Childhood
Would you tell me a little bit about your childhood and education in Hanford, California?
A:
All right. Let me think a moment. I'll first start by saying my parents were married--they
were from
they were married in Holland. Three days later, they sailed for the
United States. They went to the Immigration Office in New York and, checking through
there, the Immigration officer asked my father how he pronounced his name, and he said,
"Douma [pronounced Dow-ma]. The Immigration Officer told him, "No, in English,
it's Douma [pronounced Due-ma]. So I've been Douma [Due-ma] ever since, but it
should be Douma [Dow-ma].
Then my mother and father took a long train ride all the way across the United States,
arrived in Fresno, California, where they were met by an uncle of mine, who proceeded
them by about a year. My father got a job milking cows on a farm, and in about a year
and a couple of months I was born on May 30, 1912. Then about a year
that, my
father got a job in the
oilfields, working to raise hogs, chickens, and vegetables
for food for the Shell Oil Company field workers.
He bought a buggy and two horses, packed up my mother and myself and our belongings,
and headed for the
which are about miles from where we were living
near
We started early one day and got to the Kings River at about dark, and my
father decided, "Well, we'd better stop here."
So he built a big bonfire. The coyotes were howling, and my mother got scared. The
next day, we got over to Coalinga, and my father worked at that job for a couple of years.
Then, after saving some money, we came back to Hanford where my father bought 40
acres of land and started out with a little dairy farm.
Well, we'll skip some time. My father gave me a milk bucket for my eighth birthday, and
I had to get up at 5:00 o'clock in the morning to help him milk the cows. He had about
16 cows, and I milked the cows with him before catching a bus and going to school.
Went to Hanford High School. One of my jobs during the summer was to irrigate alfalfa
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