They Call Me Aunt Orlene
In a private woodland setting on a warm August afternoon, Phyllis Stump transformed herself into Orlene Puckett, the legendary local midwife. For nearly two hours, Ms. Stump, a storyteller and actress, held the attention of approximately 15 of us who attended her one-woman play. Under an open tent, to protect us from the bright sun, we laughed and cried as “Aunt Orlene” revealed the story of her life.
She was born Orlene Hawks in 1837 and is believed to have lived to be 102 years old, but not all the records agree. Regarding those discrepancies, Ms. Stump, as Aunt Orlene, explains, “I’ve lived long enough, and you have too, to be mighty skeptical of anything the government tries to tell you, especially if it comes to facts and figures.” About the death of her first child from diphtheria at the age of seven months, she lowered her head, leaned on her walking stick and said this: “I can tell you for sure that the pain of bringing a baby into this world don’t compare to losing a child, even if you know she’s going to heaven.”
Orlene Puckett bore and lost a total of 24 babies. Some were stillborn; others lived a few hours or a number of days. Ironically, at the age of 50 she took up midwifery, traveling by horse, mule, carriage, or on foot all over Carroll, Patrick, and Floyd County to deliver over 1000 healthy babies.
Schooled by her mother, Orlene lived a typical 19th century rural mountain lifestyle. Her family didn’t have much money. They made what they needed and grew what they ate, supplementing their diet with foraged food and herbal medicine. Her life spanned the Civil War and WWI, right up to the late 1930s, when construction of The Blue Ridge Parkway forced her out of her mountaintop cabin. She died weeks after that move.
So believable was Ms. Stump’s performance as Aunt Orlene that when the play was over and Ms. Stump donned her modern-day clothes and spoke in her own voice, I was jarred. Once I was able to make the transition, accepting that Aunt Orlene was a character portrayal, I approached Ms. Stump with two questions. The first was one that many have asked, back in Orlene’s time and still today.
“How is it possible that all of Orlene Puckett’s babies died?” I wanted to know.
Her answer was the same one given by Karen Cecil Smith in her book, Orlean Puckett: the Life of a Mountain Midwife; RH disease, which meant an incompatibility between Orlene’s blood type and her babies.
My next question was one pertaining to the old black bag that Ms. Stump used in her play. It was authentic, Orlene Puckett’s, lent to Ms. Stump by a family member of Orlene’s.
“Can I peek inside?” I asked curiously. She obligingly flicked it open and I peered in. The sateen fabric was frayed and torn. I saw a daisy flower and a soldier’s emblem.
“It’s probably from WWI,” Ms. Stump told me.
My curiosity was not abated, and so days later I called Ms. Stump, using the phone number on the business card she gave me. I told her how convincing her performance had been and how well written the script was.
“How did you come to do this particular play?” I asked.
“We bought a house in 2001 off the Blue Ridge Parkway,” she answered, “a half mile from the Puckett cabin.” She was standing in front of the cabin with her husband one day when she said to him, determinedly, “I’m going to come up here and be Orlene Puckett.”
After taking a year to do research and write the script, Ms. Stump has realized her goal. “They Call Me Aunt Orlene” is a captivating play, one that is likely to become a regional classic.
Post Note: The above appeared in this week’s Floyd Press. Ms. Stump will be performing her one woman play at the Puckett cabin on the Blue Ridge Parkway, milepost 189.9 on September 23rd at 2:00 p.m. Upcoming performances also include: Hollows History Center in Arafat, Virginia, on October 1st at 2:00; and Mount Airy Museum of Regional History on November 19th at 2:00.
September 15th, 2006 10:27 am
Storytelling is becoming a lost art and that is a shame. My husband has secret dreams of becoming a storyteller, in public not just around our house!, and has huge respect for the art.
September 15th, 2006 10:58 am
she and the play sound spellbinding. i wish i lived closer so i could experience it.
September 15th, 2006 11:07 am
fascinating! and what a neat setting to see it in. i would have loved to be there. what a tragedy, also, losing all your children.
September 15th, 2006 11:15 am
Oh colleen, I would have loved to see that too. Very interesting indeed.
September 15th, 2006 11:44 am
The Hollows history center in Ararat is preserving “the Hollow” which is where my and Delane’s grandmother was born and raised. My aunt had sent me an email….I would love to go see the play there.
My mom, who miscarried 3 babies for having a positive blood type like dads (she is O neg) was shocked to learn I was 0 positve. Delane and Melanie are neg.
Years ago it was a big deal….
September 15th, 2006 2:14 pm
I almost want to get in my car and go see this show. I love to hear stories of birth and midwifery.
September 15th, 2006 2:27 pm
I saw this performanace at Levering’s Orchard a few years ago. Wonderful!
September 15th, 2006 3:22 pm
What a wonderful lesson in history.
I think these sorts of plays are so fascinating and keep history alive.
September 15th, 2006 3:55 pm
Very interesting. How is it that obscure people of great importance tend to be given their Ms Stumps? Imagine having the calling to become one of these people. Very strange and wonderful.
September 15th, 2006 4:29 pm
Hi Colleen: That’s a great review and I’m going to copy it and the days of her performances. I will try to make one…probably the Mt Airy one. Thanks.
September 15th, 2006 6:11 pm
If you do go, Ginnie, tell Phyllis I said hello!
September 15th, 2006 7:34 pm
Bless Ms. Stump for bringing Orlene alive again! And thanks for the glimpse into some wonderful theater. That she lives so close to the Puckett cabin makes this truly magical.
September 15th, 2006 7:54 pm
First I thought this quote was good, “I’ve lived long enough, and you have too, to be mighty skeptical of anything the government tries to tell you, especially if it comes to facts and figures.”
Then I thought this one —> “I can tell you for sure that the pain of bringing a baby into this world don’t compare to losing a child, even if you know she’s going to heaven,” was even better, and in fact, it is brilliantly true.
Then I went on to read she lost all her babies and then a midwife at 50! I was soooo soooo very touched by the story of this woman.
Bravo to Aunt Orlene and for bravo to Phyllis Stump for giving her life.
This was one beautiful entry Col!
September 15th, 2006 8:13 pm
Oh, one more comment to Karen who said, “Storytelling is becoming a lost art and that is a shame. My husband has secret dreams of becoming a storyteller, in public not just around our house!, and has huge respect for the art.”
I’d like to say that I 100% agree that it is a shame.
Have you or your husband heard CLARISSA PINKOLA ESTES tell a story? OHHHH, is she ever inspirational!
And then there’s another woman who wrote “Storycatchers” – Christina Baldwin. She’s another story teller who in fact has begun a personal writing movement for people to tell their stories.
It’s time we as a people begin to see the value in stories. I think your husband should follow his heart. He is needed.
I hope you don’t mind that I put my 2 cents in…it’s just that I think this lost art has to be brought back for the sake of our children … and theirs.
(thanks for listening)
September 15th, 2006 10:03 pm
Colleen, this sounds like a wonderful play. Thanks for sharing. here tonight from Micheles, but as you know I often stop by
September 16th, 2006 5:58 am
It sounds like a fascinating play about an amazing woman…a legand, it seems…! I wish there was a tape of this Colleen…I’d love to see it….I cannot imagine what lossing 24 babies must be like….And that she then devoted her life to helping other people birth their babies…Amazing Woman!
September 16th, 2006 9:00 am
Thanks, Colleen, for the heads up. Thanks to Kathy for her helpful info. I shall pass it all along to my hubby. Truth be told, his brother is a musician in the Seattle area and I think my hubby sometimes suffers from the “what if’s” of making life decisions!
September 17th, 2006 6:38 am
how brilliant. would love to see that.
i have a great aunt who is now slightly loopy and in her 90’s. she sends me fabulous letters and last year sent one telling me how she had ‘really enjoyed performing midwifery on a bike in london during the war’
the mind boggles 🙂
September 17th, 2006 8:02 am
What an interesting bit of live theatre. Glad she took it upon herself to bring a life back to life.
September 18th, 2006 3:20 pm
What cool women…both of them! if I lived down there, I’d catch the play for sure!
September 20th, 2006 7:37 pm
What a fascinating post, Colleen. And Ms. Stump sounds like a fascinating person, taking on the persona of Aunt Orlean.
We have a lady on the island who also portrays a character from years ago, wearing period clothes and using the accent of that era. These one-woman shows are wonderful and a great way to share history.
December 30th, 2007 8:06 am
I’m not sure if I like you using my Great aunt’s name! I am a PUCKETT and we have our family reunion first sunday in July, we meet at the spot above where the cabin sits! We are the true Pucketts……and you are not!!
January 19th, 2008 9:52 pm
Dear Phyllis.
Please send me your e mail address so that I can write to you.
Love,
Don
August 25th, 2008 8:37 am
Are you the Phyllis Stump who used to teach English at East Davidson High School?
September 19th, 2008 8:59 pm
I saw the Aunt Orlene Puckett play in 2007 and 2008 at the Puckett Cabin on
the Blue Ridge Pkwy. Mrs. Stump does a marvelous job and
you feel as if you’re actually in the time period of
Aunt Orlene’s life! I think Mrs. Stump is to be commended for doing this and, though, she receives small pay from the Park Service for doing this – she then gives it to a charity fund! I
had hoped to go to all the plays this year but, due to
sickness and other family
committments – I only got to
go to the one in July 08! Here’s hoping that I’ll get to
go next yr. – 2009!
Thank you Mrs. Stump for this
great service – it is well
worth anyone’s time to go see
Mrs. Stump playing Aunt Orlene! I hope Mrs. Stump’s
health will hold up to where she can continue doing this –
Thank you Mrs. Stump – Aunt Orlene! My Great-Great Grandmother, too, was a midwife and delivered babies in Patrick Co., Va. – I just wonder if she and Aunt Orlene
Puckett ever knew one another!
May God Bless You Always
Phyllis Stump (Aunt Orlene)!
October 7th, 2008 7:52 pm
I would like to get any information available about Aunt Orlean Puckett. She was my grandmother’s Aunt, and my grandmother was named for her, Arlean Cordelia Hawks Thomas.I would like any dates for the play, as I live 3-4 hours away and would need to plan a trip. Thank you.
October 11th, 2008 5:03 pm
i wonder that my name is orlene.where from is orlene.
June 23rd, 2009 11:26 pm
terri,
she is just trying to tell the history of orleana puckett.i am interested in the history of the mountain.orleana puckett delivered the babies of eliza page balsley on the mountain.eliza died on the mountain and is buried on the mountain,very near the humpback rocks visitors center.i am proud to be a part of the mountain history.so don,t put down what phyllis stump is doing.
October 29th, 2010 11:56 pm
I bought the book in Floyd loved it. Just reaturned from Lincoln Theather in Marion Va from seeing Mrs.
Stump. It was great.
September 6th, 2022 4:57 pm
I am trying very hard to find Phyllis Stump. Can anyone help me find her? I’m a writer and I want to extend her research and her writings. Please help.
Thank you so much!
September 6th, 2022 6:17 pm
This is an old post. I don’t know how to locate her. Google her name. Her book comes up and a listing on a Carroll County tourism site.