BEAVERTOWN AS I KNEW IT WHEN A BOY
BY ALTON CAMP
(APRIL 10, 1982)
AS ANNOTATED IN PART
BY CLOYD W. WAGNER
January, 1997
Copyright CWW Products, 1997.
Beavertown, as I knew it when a boy, was a typical country town with good churches, stores, a meat market and various types of businesses, a good school system and very good teachers, who were looked up to. I was born in 1902 and grew up and remained in this town, so I was able to live and observe the lifestyle that prevailed at that time. As I look back over this long period of time, my memory recalls many interesting happenings, that today are a thing gone, but not forgotten. Things we ate, clothes we wore, games we played - this, with the people we associated with are history now.
My boyhood friend and buddy, Sam Dreese, lived a few doors from my home. Many a make-believe Indian would bite the dust when we would play fighting the Indians, shooting him with our toy cap pistols. As Sam's father was a farmer, we had access to their barns where we played on rainy days. We had a large swing under roof where we would swing by the hour - or we would go into the barns and play in the straw. On nice days, especially in the spring, we would make marbles out of the clay on the railroad bank, and bake them over a fire. Also, in those days the railroad would store ties along the right of way, here we could sit up on the piles and talk or we could pay hide and seek. It was a playground in itself. In the summer time we would hold shows. These were put on in the evening at a tent which we made out of old carpet. Our mothers and neighbors would come out to see, mostly to gossip among themselves. Many other things we did to pass our summer days were roll hoop, play long ball, and go fishing down to Bobb's Run. Rarely did we ever catch anything. We would also visit all the apple orchards around the town. We knew where all the good early apples grew. Sometimes we would hike two miles to satisfy our appetites. This is all a lingering memory now.
If we were good boys, come Saturday night we would get two pennies to spend so we would go up to Link Freed's confectionery store. It was where the old post office was, on the north corner of Market and Sassafras streets. Here we could buy eight sour balls for a penny and a penny ice cream cone, what a treat! Or we could buy a stick of Zeno chewing gum - it was marked off in eight blocks. This was enough gum for a whole day of chewing. We also could get an all day sucker with a licorice root for a stem, it too, could be chewed very good. There were other bargains, like a small glass full of teaberries, two straps of soft licorice with candy buttons, or six cinnamon drops, a real burny candy to suck. Maybe a candy stick of various flavors would appeal. We each would buy something different and then we'd swap.
All of this, of course, would come to an end when late August or early September arrived. This was the start of school time - our school system was only seven months long. We would meet our new teacher for the year and renew acquaintance with our old school buddies. The first week or so was a little rough on us until we got into the routine of school work. Thus we progressed through the years until completion of our school years.
Now, for a tour around the town, starting at Link Freed's and going west on north side of the street. We come to the general store of Swartz. This was where Davis Drug Store (Bailor's Flowers) is now. Later, Charles Mattern took over the business. Here one could buy all kind of candy, shoes, clothes, yard goods, hardware, food of all types, salt fish in wooden buckets, bacon, lard and eggs, to name a few items. In the center of the store was a large pot bellied stove and spittoons and benches on both sides of the area. In the evening, the older men of the town would hold forth and all the gossip that was uncovered, was hashed over - also, stories of the Civil War, as a number of the veterans of this war were still living and of course politics were discussed. Most of these loafers were Republicans and you didn't belong unless this was your party. Many an evening would I spend listening to their tales. They all spoke in Pennsylvania Dutch, but I could understand this. It was a sad thing when these stores faded out of the picture.
Then traveling up the town we come to Ira Boop Haines' Store. This was a confectionery store and was located where the First National Trust is now. In this store was a good selection of penny candy, ice cream, and the various other items found in this type of store. Here was put in use power to make ice cream - a gasoline engine was used to power the freezers. Later this store was sold to a man by the name of Paul. He sold out to Mel Bobb. Mel improved the quality of the store and added new items. As I grew older, I spent many pleasant evenings loafing here. In the winter time coasting was the big thing. It was a thrill to coast on this hill along side of the store. We would keep the coasting in good condition. We would carry water and pour it on the snow to freeze ice to make the hill slick. When we got cold, we went into the store to get warm. Early evening would find a good crowd on hand to enjoy riding down the hill. Now this is found empty, as the kids of today will not put forth any effort to keep it in good condition.
Going further up the town, we come to the bicycle shop, located where (Vesta and) Rudy Coleman's house is now. Here lived Welly Stetler, who fixed bicycles, soldered tin items, sharpened knives and scissors. Next door was Joe Shirk's Hardware Store (Now Albert Bickhart's Barber Shop). When we kids needed nails we would to to Joe who gave us the best deal. Come Halloween night, we would play pranks on Joe. He would get so angry. He would go out to the front of the store (where a porch was built out over the sidewalk) and would whip the top of the roof with a rawhide whip, thinking the kids were hiding up on the roof.
Going further up the street we come to the bake shop, run by Fred Lerch. It was located where Paul Bobb's store is located now.
Going up the street to where Red Trevitz lives was the tin shop and watch repair which was run by James Moyer. Later it became Moyer's Plumbing Shop.
Crossing the street and going east was Aigler's threshing business, run by James Aigler - place now owned by Shern Aigler.
Now, going east down the street, we come to Percival Herbster's place of business - he made cast cement steps, walks, and did other types of cementing. This was located where Elton Walter now lives.
Next place of business was located where Ruth Norman now lives. It was the home of Dr. E. E. Miller, M. D.
On down the street we come to the town's post office run by Judge Wetzel. Morning found the office crowded with patrons waiting for their mail. Here a lot of gossip and late news was discussed - this place is now owned by Clarence Middleswarth.
Next place down the street was the barber shop run by a man named Walter. Here we got hair cuts for a dime. Later Al Soles bought him out. This place was later converted into an office for Jacob Middleswarth and was also a meeting place for the Borough Council for years. (At this time it was right on the sidewalk, but it has since been moved back and attached to the house on the west side.)
Going down the street and south on Center Street, we come to the confectionary store run by the dean of the storekeepers, Bill Keller. He had a very good line of merchandise - kids all liked his selection of penny candy - he made good ice cream here too. You could buy a penny cone, also two cents worth of shelled peanuts, a sliver of cheese for three cents. He always had a fair group of older men loafing here, as he was a good entertainer (taught school at one time). My dad loafed here and I enjoyed the pleasure of loafing with him. One pleasure I will always remember was an Edison phonograph with the big horn and cylinder records. I feel I'm really lucky, as I now have one of these machines. Playing it brings back memories of my boyhood. All was not too bad in those days. A board walk was all along the east side of Center Street.
Going further south we come to the town's only hotel - this was run by Harrison Faust, a real Pennsylvania Dutch man. He ran a very good and clean hotel. At that time it was customary for the more well to do people to go to the hotel for their funeral dinners. The Fausts had a very good transit trade, also the salesmen would stop over at the hotel while in town. Across Center Street on the west side was the Railroad Station.
Going back up Center Street on the west side was the Millinery Store run by Amanda Specht. Here was found a store with a line of ladies merchandise, latest hats, jewelry, etc. This store was located where Marion Snook lives at this time.
Now we go up to Market Street and turn east, and we come to the General Store run by Ben Rine, later Rine and Ulsh, then they sold out to H. E. Emery. For some reason this store was never real popular - it had a fair trade, but few loafers. Later Emery sold out to Gordon Diffenbacker, who finally failed and the store was sold. The building is now owned by Shirk's Flowers, (The Laundromat). Next door in the small building (now the home of Jerry Wagner) was housed a bakery. This belonged to Fred Lerch, as he moved to a newer establishment.
The town had other businesses - one on the corner of the alley and Center Street going north to the school house - here was found all the newest in stoves. Also on Center Street next door to Bill Keller's store was located the home and drug store of Dr. Strohecker and next door was the buggy shop of John Kearns. Here one could have a buggy made in the latest style - John was a typical Yankee trader, he'd swap you out of your britches, if given a chance. Later his son Max started to build cars. First he built a small roadster, did pretty good with this, but the World War entered into the picture and he gave it up. Later, after the war he started to build a truck, moved to Lewistown and began making fire trucks. He then moved to Danville and the depression forced him to close. Also located on Chestnut Street where Joseph Stacey now lives was the Blacksmith Shop of William Bickel. He also had a buggy shop and he too could build you a good buggy. Bill was also a shrewd trader. My dad worked for the Kearns' and Bill painted their new or restored buggies.
Now we go back up on Market Street where Ivan Hassinger now lives, was located a Blacksmith Shop of Ed and Jerome Beaver. This was just the general line of blacksmithing - very good in their line of work and always busy. Off Main (Market) Street where Saylor's Shirt Factory was located, was found the Bill Specht Furniture Factory. He made a very good line of furniture, Some of it sold around the town and county, a lot was shipped to the coal regions. This furniture was made of locally grown timber. Located on Sassafras Street where the fire house is now, was found the Planing Mill of A. W. Engle. He was a very good business man. He had lumber tracts that he would cut over and ship the timber to the coal mines. Anything in the line of woodwork could be had at his mill. He also had a Burr Stone Mill to grind feed for the farmers. He would grind corn meal too. He also ran a coal yard and supplied coal to the people of the town.
One colorful man to remember was Henry Weaver, a real Dutchman, skilled in various trades. (lived where Jake Glenny now lives.) He is to be remembered more for his homemade ice cream. Every weekend, he made this and sold it out by the quart. He also had a fruit orchard and grew a very select line of fruit. Henry was also a very good mechanic and installed rams for James Kline. Also in the fruit orchard business was Ben Zerbe. He lived where Clark Hassinger lives and his orchards were out around the reservoir. He was well versed in this line of work and grew a lot of his own produced fruit. His orchards had alot of new types growing there, all this was lost, because no one was interested in following through on this. We also had orchards by Bill Bingaman and son Max, Jacob Aigler and Bill (William) Specht, who had a good orchard. Another fruit grower was Bill Howell and Charles and George Dreese who also had an orchard over on Platts Hill. Bill Bickel had a fruit orchard along with all his other projects. My dad worked for him as a painter and in the fall of the year we would buy our apples for the winter, Pipins, Rambos, and Russets and a few Pound apples.
In a short period of time, the tannery owned by the Woods family started to operate. This was a good sized business and employed a fair number of men. Around 1911 Church and Aumiller, from Glen Iron, opened up an ore mine on Snyder Ridge. This was the last of a long line of mines that were in operation at one time. All the mines would ship eight to ten cars of ore a day. This last mine to operate used a large ox to pull out the ore carts. While these men were here they started moving pictures and showed them in the P. O. S. of A Hall. It was filled every Saturday night. Admission was five and ten cents. I saw my first movie here.
The town had a shirt factory owned and run by Bill Dagle, which was located where Paul Bobb's store is now. Later it was moved above the John P. Kearns' Buggy Shop. He closed and moved to Kreamer. Later, at the corner of Chestnut Street and Sassafras Street, George Spaid built a building and started a shirt factory and he employed a nice lot of girls. He later sold out to Aaron Musser who ran it for several years and closed it down. Charles T. Saylor and his sister Ada started up a shirt factory where it remained until just recently they built a new one along side it. This was later run by his son, Charles, Jr..
James Aigler had a threshing outfit and would visit the farms in the area and thresh their grain out in the country where Randall Rearick lives. His grandfather had a cider mill run by water power. We used to walk up to the cider press after school in the evening, just to get a drink of cider. Also in the township across the street from where (Arla and) Guy Ritter lives was a Stave Mill. This employed a fair number of men. This was owned by Jacob Middleswarth and it shut down after the chestnut blight killed off the chestnut trees. Where George Aumiller now lives, the original house is torn down, here lived Rob Beaver who was a cobbler. He would fix your shoes or make you a new pair. Down where David Bingaman lives, Jim Golmer had a produce business. He employed several men to collect the produce and take it to market. After George Spaid sold the shirt factory, he started a grist mill on the lot where Clara Narehood lives. There was a large barn here and he ran the mill till after World War I, then shut it down for lack of business and started in the soft drink business, which also failed.
James Kline, a ram salesman, did quite well for years. He finally went into the lumber business and he was the first to use a truck to haul props to the mines. Later he started the cemetery north of the Borough building, which is a very well kept cemetery. It is now run by Charles Saylor, Jr. ( It is actually now a corporation run by the Saylor Family, Paul Saylor, President.) Another business on Chestnut Street on the land owned by Charles Mattern was a meat market owned by Aaron Musser. As they would only butcher once a week because they could not keep the meat during the summer months, usually Friday was butcher day. During the week you could buy cured meats, home made bologna and smoked ham. Where Mabel Weader lives, there was a feed store which was run by James Snook- he later ran the Roller Mills in Middleburg. Gordon Diffenbacker bought out Harry Emery's store. He was a poor businessman - he was just plain dumb - a fellow went into the store and asked for sweet potato seed - Gordon went through the seed boxes looking for it - never caught on. Also they asked for white lamp black - he said he would order from the salesman - he finally failed and was sold out. Abel Winey had a fruit orchard at the foot of Shade Mountain - sold out and moved to Florida and planted an orange grove.
We were not at loss for doctors. We had Dr. Strohecker who had a drug store on the side. Also we had the service of Dr. E. E. Miller, a very good doctor, a leader in town affairs and an asset to any community. He loved to raise hogs, he always had the largest and heaviest pig at butchering time. There was quite a rivalry on at that time between Doc, Jim Kline, George Spaid and Harrison Thomas. Doc always came out on top. We had three undertakers at that time, Jake Herbster, John Nutmeg Bingaman, and Camp and Bingaman. As for Justice of the Peace we had two. Old Squire Coleman, a stern and very strict man, here you got the limit. Squire Aigler, a well educated man and school teacher, he gave you a fair trial. Later we acquired a third justice. Squire Wetzel would allow you the benefit of the doubt. He too was a school teacher and demanded discipline. He ruled by the whip. We had three different churches at that time. All had good membership as this was a good God abiding town, making for law abiding people and very little crime. We had a good school system - a nice school house (today the Borough building, of course remodeled). It was divided into four rooms. My teachers were in the Primary room taught by Grace Hoffman and Jacob Wetzel - Secondary room taught by Eva McDowell and Ada Hetrick - Intermediary room taught by Roy Beaver and Max Bingaman - and of course high school taught by Elmer Wetzel, a well educated man and liked by all his pupils. He was an asset to the town in many ways, always willing to help to make the town a better place for all.
The constable of the town was Ner Feese, a drover and a peddlar, mostly fish and fruit. He would peddle with a horse and wagon. He was most active in winter time and known all over the countryside. The first bakery in town was run by Mrs. Greenhoe. This was in the house at the intersection of Railroad Street and Center Street. She had outdoor ovens and mostly baked bread. Later Fred Lerch started up a bakery in the store building owned by Paul Bobb. He would peddle his bread with a push cart and ring a bell. He was a very good baker. In 1914 Beavertown became a borough and broke away from the township. This became a court fight when the various citizens of the township fought the issue. It made enemies that lasted a lifetime. The newly elected councilmen put in a water system that is still in operation. (It was until 1995).
For entertainment we had the P. O. S. of A Hall, now torn down. It had a stage which made it possible to put on home talent plays. Farmers institute would be held every winter and last a week. Here we learned all the latest in farming and gardening. Medicine shows would stop off for a week. Box socials were held, chicken and waffle suppers in winter time and in the summer time, we had cake walks and festivals on Saturday night. We also had ponds around the town and when these froze over in winter time, it made for good skating. Most of the younger people from up town would take advantage of this pastime. When it would snow, we kids would shovel it off the ice.
When the occasion demanded the leaders of the town would stage a parade especially on Memorial Day. The parade was made up of the local veterans of the civil war, a local drum corps, smaller children who would carry a bouquet of flowers to be put on the graves of the dead veterans, a firing squad, and a bugler to blow taps. Later when the flowers were placed on the graves and the grave side ceremony was finished, the speaker for the day would talk to the audience with a stirring speech. In the evening the P. O. S. of A Lodge would hold a festival and cake walk. The older boys and girls would play ring tag to help pass away the time, as all one could do was eat and drink soft drinks or walk in the cake walk.
Holidays that meant the most to us were New Year, Washington's Birthday, Easter, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas. To us kids these breaks in everyday life meant a great deal and taught us a lot. It kept us in line - we never got into trouble and of all the kids I knew not one ever got in trouble with the law. Because of our parents plus the mode of life of the elders of the town, we learned to respect our town and live a life of decency, honesty, and trust. I could write a great deal more about the various people who made up the town, their way of life and how it influenced the town. They all left their mark on the town.
As I grew up and was ready for high school, the shadow of World War I was noticeable and came to being in 1917. Local boys were being called up for service. There were war bond drives. Red Cross had local women make bandages, knit sweaters, and socks. Boy Scouts held paper drives. We all waited for the Philadelphia Daily papers to come in on the morning train to keep us up on the course of the war. Then came the big day - the war was over. A big parade was held - a band was hired and anybody who wanted to marched in it. Mrs. Ner Feese rolled a barrel to Middleburg to pay off a bet she had made with her husband - a lot of people went along - even hired a band. As time went on and the fever of victory wore off, we drifted off to a normal way of life.
One big event in our lives was meeting the train on Saturday and Sunday nights- the 6:30 p.m. train going west. Most every young person in town was at the station to meet the train. This was regular every week as long as the trains ran. Here we met and exchanged words with our friends. Those were happy days. No longer can we hear the shrill screech of the steam whistle, yet it's sound lingers on in memory.
Back in the early 1900's it was the custom to hold funerals in the morning, usually at 10 o'clock. When school was in session, we would have our recess at the same time so all the kids would line up to view the deceased, a hundred or more kids. I remember one undertaker Jake Herbster would stand at the head of the coffin and hold an umbrella over the coffin if the sun shone, and when all was ready, he would remark, "All those wishing to review the remains, please pass by."
By 1910 a number of citizens sold stock and started a light plant. The plant would run from dusk till 10 o'clock except Saturday night it would run till 11 o'clock. At every crossing in town was placed a street light. Finally the borough bought it and ran it both day and night until 1920 when the plant was sold to Middleburg Power Company.
The food we ate was mostly of Pennsylvania Dutch origin. At our house we ate mostly pork meat fresh, salted and smoked and the by-products like pon hause, pudding, sausage, etc. Then we had certain items like vegetables cooked with pork, sauerkraut, bean soup and corn, baked beans and bacon, dandelion and bacon, etc. When new cabbage leaves were large enough they were eaten. First the heavy ribs in the leaves were cut out, then they were rolled up and cut into half inch wide strips and cooked with ham and potatoes. Dried corn, another savory eating, was made by cutting off the kernels on sweet corn. Next they were put on frames and covered with fly netting to dry in the sun. String beans were dried the same way. We also had lots of good baked food - shoo-fly pies, crumb pies, applebutter tarts to mention a few. Thanksgiving and Christmas we enjoyed our best food. As mom would go all out for these two days, and I imagine I can smell the baking and cooking. Memories come alive at these times. It was all made from scratch, real flavors too. Cooking was a real art - no cookbooks either. One dessert we always had was suet pudding with lemon sauce. This was a real treat at Christmas time. How I wish I had some today.
Quoit pitching was a big challenge. Back of where Randall Hassinger lives now in Strawberry Alley was where the big event took place. Here would gather the older men on summer evenings and test their skill. Saturday night was the big night. As many as a hundred men would gather both young and old to watch. If the quoit was close to the peg, they would use a broom splint to measure. Some of the more hot tempered men would get mad and go home if it didn't go their respective way. Even in winter they the braver ones would shovel snow and have their game.
We had quite a few colorful men living in town, one such was Ed Freed, a civil war veteran. He did not want anyone to push a wheelbarrow over his walk, he went out and stopped Bill Bickel. He tossed his wheelbarrow out in the gutter. Or if kids rode or pulled their express wagons over the walk, he put them off. He even tried to push Charles Aigler off his walk because he had small horseshoes on the heels of his shoes. He finally had a number of kids arrested for going over his walk with their wagons and brought them before Squire Aigler. He tossed the suit out and gave him a lecture on the right people have to use the walk.
We also had Albert Engle, an eccentric type of a man. During the hard times in the late 1880's he kept his employees busy when all others had shut down their operations. Then when times got better he closed down. He planted a field of berries and when ready to harvest, he never picked a berry. He also hated festivities that came out on New Year. He would stay in the house the entire day. He was also a great hunter, especially birds and foxes and would give up a days work to hunt. He also owned a planing mill and kept several men on the payroll. He finally closed the mill down even though he had plenty of work.
Another fellow was Elmer Fall, a retarded boy who lived to get quite old. When a boy and going to school he played hookey and hid out in the flour chest so they would say to him in Dutch, "Elmer in the mail kist." One time a merrygo-round came to town and his dad put him in one of the coaches for a ride and told him, "Now, Elmer, hope dist." He never liked to hear these remarks and would get out of humor. When he grew up he hated the smell of Limburger cheese and various fellows would put some near him or in his pockets. He would also get a large stick or club and try to clobber the ones he suspected of doing this to him. These are just a few of his ways or methods of life. He had a saying, "We have lots of people in this world and a lot are not necessary."
Two others that come to mind were Dote Wetzel and Toaster Dreese. They lived across the street from each other. In the morning they would walk home from the post office together, start an argument and get mad at each other. Each would sit on his own front steps and not talk for the rest of the day, just like two little kids. Tom Kohler ran a small confectionery store and the kids would stop in on their way to school to buy candy. Tom would sit in the middle of the store on a captain's chair. The kids would look at the candy and tap the case with their penny. Tom would stay sitting and ask the kid what he wanted and how much he had to spend. If just a penny, he'd say, "Just wait a little while till someone else comes in."
John Kearns who ran the Eureka Auto Company sold mostly tires in late years. When out of a certain size tire, he would tell the buyer he was getting more in - he had another car load on the way - he got the car load on an automobile load. Les Specht, retired railroad employee, who only looked after his own grounds, never worked - left that to his wife - he was quite a promoter of various things. He was a big factor in getting the town's light plant. He also tried to get the iron ore mining started again. He got in contact with Mark Hanna, a big steel man from Cleveland, Ohio, but finally failed to get him interested. He believed in progress and helped wherever he could. George Spaid, a promoter and proud citizen, was for years a horse shoe nail salesman. He quit and started Spaid shirt factory, made a go of it - sold out to Butch Musser and started a feed mill. It ran till after World War I and shut down for lack of business. Then he went into the soft drink business. It too, failed.
James Kline, a ram builder and salesman, did quite well for years - finally went into the lumber business. He was the first man to use a truck to haul his props to the mines. Later he started the cemetery, north of the borough building. It was a well kept cemetery - run now by Charles T. Saylor, Jr. John Patch Walker was crippled when a boy and walked lame. He was a school teacher for years, a fair teacher but failed to keep up with the times. Many a person here about can say, "I went to school with Patch."
There are many other citizens that were colorful and interesting who made the town a lively place to live in. All are gone now but in our memory lingers their respective lifestyle, just a milestone in life. Perhaps I should mention Mark Joe Musser, an epileptic boy whom I went to school with. My first year there Joe was six years older than I. At first they held him back but then they left him move along with us because most of the teachers could not read his writing. He wrote up side down. They left him go to school till he reached the age of 21. He had a very good memory and later was employed by Charles T. Saylor to button shirts. He lived with his grandpa.
I am eighty years old now and I often think where did all the time go to. It is a long time to look back and think could all this have happened to me. I consider myself lucky to have lived in an era to see the horse and buggy give way to the automobile, the steam train to the diesel, the coming of the airplane, the oil lamps to the electric lights, electric refrigeration plus all the other new modes of life, three wars and life unsettled, hard times with inflation that makes it difficult to keep up, lots of business failing and banks foreclosing on homes and farms and as of now no let up. I went through a number of hard times, some short lived like 1920. The big one started in 1929 and lasted till World War II started. One in 1951 and 1952 and now this one - a real rough one as inflation is running wild and future is bleak. During the big depression in the thirties, work was hard to come by. Those who could go to the mountains and pick huckleberries could earn a few dollars, and every few weeks the mountain would burn because someone set it on fire. This burned out the underbrush to allow the huckleberry bushes to grow for a better batch of berries. They were also hired to help put out the fire and paid for their work.
Another old timer with lots of fire was Simon Specht, a civil war veteran who lost an arm in the war. The rebels shot down our flag and he climbed up the flag to replace it when he was shot. Later he went hunting with Squire Wetzel and Squire shot at a rabbit and some of the shot came close to Sim. He shot back and hit Squire in the back. He stated, "When the rebels shot at him he always shot back." If he got provoked at his daughter or his wife, he would pen them in the smokehouse. He loved to pitch quoit, but if he lost he would get mad and go home. He went hunting over on George Dreese's ridge and shot one of his tame turkeys. He plucked it and took it home and stated, "It was a wild turkey."
In my second year to school - it had just started. We came to school one morning and someone said, "John Kern shot himself!" so like kids we started up the alley to where David Kuhns now lives. He had shot himself in the pig pen with a small rifle. His head lay out the door, bullet hole in the forehead. I'll never forget that scene. He was an excellent teacher, but could not let drinking alone. The school directors had warned him he would lose his job if he kept on drinking. It finally came to that point. He was told Friday night and Monday morning he took his life. While we were at the scene we met old Johnny Bingaman and he said to us kids, "Now you can see what drinking will do!" I never forgot this.
Decoration Day, as we called it when I was a boy was always celebrated on the 30th of May - it was a very serious celebration. The parade was large led by local musicians playing fife and drum. Then came the remaining civil war veterans who turned out to honor their friends who had passed away. One such day I can still recall brought out veterans Jacob Wetzel, Squire William Coleman, Ed Freed, Ammon Bowersox, Al Carpenter, Simon Specht, William Dreese, and one I only know as Mr. Wagner. They followed the drum corp carrying the flag riding proudly to the stiring tunes. Then came the P. O. S. of A Lodge with a large turn out followed by all the children old enough to march, each carrying a bouquet of flowers - all the old time varieties of flowers, like whip-per-will, snowball, peonies, dogwood, laurel etc. These bouquets were placed on the graves of the deceased veterans, each laid there by their living friends (veterans). Then a salute was fired and the speaker of the day would make a stirring speech touching on the deeds these men had performed, or on some early historical hero or the greatness of what he or she did for "his country" - all this is gone now. I've seen a big change over my years. No longer any respect for these great men other than to mark their grave with a small flag. Most people today put their own pleasure in the forefront and forget the great deeds these deceased veterans had done to make it possible for them to celebrate. Time erases all great and precious deeds. No longer can we call ourselves Americans with the respect these older folks held dear. We only live today to own a car and gad about. No respect for the past that made it possible to live the way of life we do today. We are also losing out with the younger generation - they are not interested in working or helping in on a civic idea. Television has captured their minds - they just want to watch and be entertained. We used to have a baseball team with all local talent. This is no longer possible, it is too hard a type of work. Where are we going from here is anyone's guess. It is really sad to sit by and watch traditions fade away. Today most of the kids go to school only for the short program, fail their test and are allowed to graduate from high school with a blank paper - no diploma.
Winter time was the time to store ice for the summer use. Most everyone had an ice house. All business places needed one for keeping the perishable food, and the confectionary stores needed the ice to make ice cream. When the ice would reach ten inches in thickness, they would start to harvest the ice. It was saved in blocks about two feet long and eighteen inches in width It was hauled to town with horses and sled and stored in the ice house using sawdust to cover it, so it would not melt. It usually took a month before all the ice houses were filled. This ice lasted all summer. Fall of the year was chestnut time. The forests were full of chestnut trees and after a frost or two, they would start to drop. If a storm came up and when it was over, it was easy to go out and pick up a twenty-five pound bag full of nuts. Dad and I usually would gather about two bushels for the winter. They were good eating raw, roasted, or cooked. Around 1920 the European chestnut blight killed off these trees. They were excellent food for wild game and an all around timber for all use.
In 1912 the Democrats won the election for president so the local democrats had cause to celebrate. They bought a big oxen and roasted it and served a free lunch in the P. O. S. of A. Lodge hall for anyone who wished to partake. It was a big day for them. During the summer months a group of us boys and girls would get together and hold a corn roast or marshmallow toast. This was held up at Klinger's Spring. On our way to the spring were corn fields so we would stop off and pick some corn. We built a fire and sat around and roast the corn. We would sing and talk over the happenings of the time. Early summer the sign painter would make his appearance. He would paint signs for anyone who wanted them. He would paint the name of the store on the windows and sometimes he would paint a landscape picture. He would usually stay about a month then move on. They would stop at the light plant. They were colorful old fellows and pretty good artists.
About 1917 a company came to town from New York City and leased land from William Bickel and hired local men to dig a large pit about 30 x 30 feet wide, 4 - 5 feet deep. They stated they were prospecting for gold. Later they announced from the stages in New York City shows, "Gold found in Snyder County." Nothing came from this. The lease ran out and the pit was filled in, possibly a wild cat stock sale. Later Ner Feese started to prospect. He would send his samples of ore to various places to have it tested. The report came back - small signs of gold. He had a spring on his farm and he had the water analyzed and was told it was Lithia water. He walled up the spring and put on a door. He used to bring home a wagon load of bottled water every few days.
When we were pupils in third and fourth grade in school, in winter when we had lots of snow a group of us kids would pool our needed items and make snow ice cream. The farm girls would bring the milk and we in town would furnish the flavor and sugar - we would mix the milk and sugar and flavor with the snow. To us this was a real treat! Charles Aigler was a very colorful man when he was a young man. He helped his father run his threshing machine. One Sunday evening his dad said to him that he would need his help the next day. He replied, "That's the hell you see, I promised James I. Aigler." Later he had a berry patch and fruit orchard. He hired a dozen of local men, women and kids to pick his berries. Each day after the berries were picked he would pay his help. He was a very good business man and made good.
There was always a contest in the early spring to see who could dig his garden first and plant it. Ed Freed on the south side of Market Street usually would win out. In those days everybody put out a garden and would brag how many potatoes they had raised, and who had the first tomatoes. There was pride in their endeavor and they were not afraid to express it. In 1917 war was on the horizons and life started to change. We began to do with less things as the armed services took over. An era greater than anyone had ever known was passing by. We changed from a life we made ourselves to one dictated by the government. I was in my last year of high school. The threat of going to the service hung over us all - fellows dropped out of school. Our class when graduating only numbered six. As I write these lines the girls are all still living, but the other two boys have gone to their rewards. It sure would be a treat to spend a day back in that school as it was and just sit back and relax. Time has passed us by and left us many memories, some pleasant, others not so, but life is fickle at best. Take the good with the bad so with this I will bring this writing to a close.
I missed many interesting happenings in this grand old town which came a long way from Indian trails to paved highways - a town to be proud of. I must add some more items to the history of the time. The only crime I remember committed here was by two colored men. They were riding in a box car with a white bum. They took his shoes and overcoat and threw him out of the moving train through town. They were picked up by the police and brought back to town and turned over to the constable, Ner Feese. He met them at the station - he had a revolver strapped on and the Negros were handcuffed. Ner took them on the 3:30 p.m. train east to Middleburg to jail. Later they escaped jail in the coldest part of the winter and froze their feet - they were later picked up and served their time in jail.
Iron ore mining started here abouts around 1800 but never amounted to much until 1845. When the Hon Ner Middleswarth became interested and formed a company in 1845 and built a furnace at Paxtonville, then they started to open up mines in the ridges south of town. It brought in miners from other areas. These were slope mines and followed the ore veins. It was hauled out of the mines down to Paxtonville where it was melted down into pig iron and this was hauled to Selinsgrove and loaded into canal boats and shipped to the mills. A fair number of men were employed and mining reached its peak when the railroads came into being around 1879. Then eight to ten cars were shipped daily - these cars were of twenty ton capacity. This continued until they opened up the mines in Michigan and they were unable to compete so they were closed. The last mine to produce in this area was back in 1912 and 1913. This mine was run by Church and Aumiller and was located on Chestnut Ridge, south of Carl Herbster's farm.
Another big business was opened up when Budd, a lumber contractor, lumbered off the Shade Mountain. He employed a large group of men to cut down these trees and haul them into his mill. They were taken to the railroad and loaded into cars and the logs were shipped to the coal mines. It is a shame this lumber was not kept here and made into furniture. It would have created a big business that could still be in operation, but greed prevailed and it was soon exhausted. When I was twelve years old, I started to work in the shirt factory for Butch Musser. It was illegal to hire anyone under fourteen years old and you had to have a work permit. I buttoned shirts for a quarter of a cent a dozen in the mornings before school and evenings after school. Later when I got a permit to work, I got to operate a machine and make cuffs. This way I could earn my own clothes and have a little spending money. You never got rich in those days, regular sweat shops. Men worked for fifty cents a day and lots of times it was barter. Now fifty cents is equal to one penny in those days.
In 1915 the town organized a fire company. They bought an old hose cart and they stored it at Jerome Beaver's old blacksmith shop. The fire alarm was the tolling of the church bell. The town was lucky - no fires. In early spring when the weather warmed up enough to be comfortable, the first umbrella men would arrive. He'd go door to door and ask, "Any umbrellas to fix." The same fellows would return each year, also the peddlar with his pack on his back would have all types of notions, cloth, towels, buttons, etc. Also at this time would arrive his counter part the peddler who sold clothing and the tin salesman who would have all types of tin items, Pans, buckets, cookie cutters. This peddlar only came a few times, in fact all of these tradesmen have long since faded from the scene. Also the organ grinder would make his rounds with a monkey or a dancing bear as an attraction. Each year during the winter months the German band would arrive for a few days, usually about five men. They would play on the street corners and take up a collection. They were colorful men and real good musicians. Also the rag man would put in his appearance driving a horse and wagon bringing rags, rubber and old iron. He gave us kids a few pennies for our iron and rubber items. When the town became a borough, these people put in our water system that still is in use today. (It was up to 1995.)
John Kearns and Welly Stetler had a swapping deal on the go. Johnny swapped Welly some meat on comb honey. Welly complained about the meat that it was all bones. So Johnny said, 'When you buy land you buy stones, when you buy shingles you buy knots, and when you buy honey you buy combs, and when you buy meat you buy bones." So a few days later Johnny saw Welly and was out of humor and started to complain about his deal on the honey - it was of poor quality. So Welly started to repeat, "When you buy land you buy stones and when you buy shingles you buy knots." Johnny was beat so all he could say was "Yes! Yes!". There was another swapping deal between Kristal Gross and Ed and Jerome Beaver. When they would get together to settle up for the year, Kristal always had more on the books than the Beavers had received so they decided to get even. So every time Kristal would drive past their shop they would go in and mark in the book one horse shoeing. Old Al Carpenter, a very forgetful man, lived on the farm where Charles Bobb lives now, rode a horse to town, tied him to the hitching rail and later walked home. He also went to town for a gallon of coal oil but he took a lantern instead of his oil can. He ran a produce business for awhile. He hired a number of local women to clean the poultry. One day he was seen hunting around where they were working. They asked him what he was looking for. He said, "his glasses." They told him he didn't need to hunt - he had them on his forehead. Ammon Musser and a man named Aurand from Beaver Springs started a mail order business. They sold ten yards of silk for ten cents. They did a big business till the federal government shut them down for mail fraud. The silk they sold was silk floss.
During the early 1900's the railroad was a busy place. Every half hour a freight went, one was on the siding waiting for the other to pass. The gondola cars usually had a bunch of bums riding in them. Many a bum came to our house for a handout. Mom always would give them something to eat. Two men were killed here in town on the railroad. One was a hired man at the hotel, a bit retarded, his name was Ramer was run over by a shifting train. This happened when a salesman dropped a dime in a spitoon and told him he could have it if he got it out and as he crossed the tracks he was hit by the train. The other one was a young fellow named Troxell was hopping cars, fell off and was run over and killed by a train. Another fellow quite colorful was Carl Rine, a bit retarded and a well built boy. He was the son of Ben Rine who had the store. He got most anything he wanted. He had a very good sled and would tell us kids we could go for a ride so we took him at his word. We would take a run and go belly bumper. He'd run after and jump on top, and as he was overweight, it was a trying ride for us. He only got me once. Later he had a spat with his dad and went to Reading. There he worked on the railroad and his last day working, as he had quit his job, he was run over by a shifting train and killed. Abe Wiand was an old bachelor and lived by himself over on Platts Hill. He drove a team of oxen. In the winter time he would haul ties for the railroad with his sled and oxen. He always set his table with an extra plate and when eating. He'd make believe he had company and talk to these mythical people. He also would send to Sears Roebuck for a girl. He thought the models were the girls for sale. What a colorful old man!
When I was a very little boy, my neighbor was an elderly couple by the name of Abner Aigler. Whenever she made something special to eat, she would have me come over to eat. One dish she made I still recall was funnel cakes. I loved these. They were real Pennsylvania Dutch style cooking. All her cooking was of this style. Mr. Aigler was a large man with a long white beard. When he was younger he killed a deer with his pocket knife. As he was standing behind a tree when the deer came along, he got it around the neck and cut its throat. He had the head to show for his efforts. The first person buried in the old cemetery was William Engle in 1851. On December 7, 1983, Sam Specht, one of my boyhood buddies, especially during our later years in school, died at the age of 82. He was the last of my real good buddies.
We also had the Grand Union Tea man make his rounds every few months. He sold Grand Union Tea products and gave you coupons with the amount of your order. You could redeem them for dishes, granite ware, etc. These were called premiums. My Mom would get nice dishes and glassware. This store came to your door. Sears Roebuck catalog would come in the spring and fall and what a treat to go through it! The toys were always the first thing to look at and wish you had some The first toy I remember getting was a red top - one toy was all one would get.
Lots of good old names have disappeared from the town such as Wetzel, Beaver, Dreese, Fall, Feese, Engle, Kearns, Kerns, Specht, Smith, Miller, and Gross. They were all good honest named families, but none are left. Other names have come into town, but they are not the type of people who helped build the town to the model it is, worthy of its place in society.
FAMOUS SAYINGS BY VARIOUS PEOPLE FROM TOWN
Billy Hartley: "Says I, Says I!"
Russell Kauffman, Sr (Storekeeper): "Nice day today - you think it will rain?"
Albert Engle: When out of humor would shout "Fang!"
Mike Saylor: "A nice day if it don't rain."
George Doebler: "As for you I don't know, but for me, no!"
Aaron Jake Snyder : "Mind you!"
Noah Bingaman : "Gix!"
Buck Zechman: "He was one brick shy of a load." (meaning he was retarded)
Squire Wetzel - When things were not going just right he would say, "Hot! "Hot!"
Eugene Specht, son of Simon Specht -"Phew! I smell a turtle way over in Ken Kern Swamp.
Randall Dreese - "Where there is fire there is smoke."
One summer day a group of fellows were loafing in front of Walker's store. Ner Feese walked by on the opposite side of the street so Bill Norman hollered over to Ner, "Hello Nero" Ner disliked, in fact , he detested that name. He came across the street and stood in front of Bill and said to him, "You! You! You come from owl's glory and buzzard's misery. If you were worth two cents I'd give it to you!" It sure took the wind out of Bill's sails. Ner Feese's wife had a parrot and she taught it to say Nero. So one day Ner was leaving the house to go down town the parrot said, "Hello Nero." He warned his wife to get rid of it or he'd wring its neck.
Hon Hassinger was loafing in Walker's store and Joe Musser was there too. Joe was retarded and the fellows were teasing him so he got provoked and took it out on Hon. Joe said, "Your farm is so poor the crows carry their lunch along when they fly over." It disturbed Hon, to no end so he said to Joe, "I just wonder who has it in for me."
Ner Feese was in Middleburg talking to G. Alfred Schoch and his (Ner's) son George came along. So when Ner got home he said to his wife, "Della what do you think, George the son of bitch called me Nero when I was talking to a gentleman in Middleburg."
Horace Freed carried the mail using a push cart and every morning he would go over to the hotel and help himself to the coffee. George Doebler was running the hotel at that time. As Horace drank out of the spout, George said, "I'll put a stop to this." So he put Epsom Salts in the coffee. Horace would be going up the hill and feel he had to go to the toilet. The Epsom Salts were working and quite a few times he failed to make the toilet in time. He stopped eating various foods, but to no avail. He'd drink more coffee and it was the same thing all over again.
Mary Bingaman, an elderly lady who Iived alone, was too stingy to eat right. She had very little education. Mrs. Murry Dreese baked her a pie and sent it up to her. It had a paper plate. She started to eat the pie and said to Marlin Ettinger, "Bessie Dreese was a nice but she baked a terrible tough pie crust." Marlin looked over and he said, "Mary you are eating the pie plate." She raised her grand daughter and one day Ruth was out in the rain so Mary calls to her, "Ruthie come in out of the wet rain!" One time she was going to punish her and said, "I will whippy you with a corn cobbie!"
Years ago when Albert Engle and Frank Beaver were young men, they went to church together. The services were in progress and Frank started in and was just inside the door when Albert opened the door and shouted out real loud, "Good evening."
When Roundy Walker and his brother Alvin came to town, they lived with their grandparents. Patch Walker was living at home. He slept in an old fashioned rope bed so Roundy and Alvin loosened the ropes and when Patch went to bed, he would always set on the rail and roll into bed. Well he did this and the loosened ropes gave way and Patch went down in the pocket. The chamber pot was under the bed and his weight broke the pot and Patch hollered for help.
Millard Kern lived on the farm where Jim Etzler now lives. He'd come to town every evening but was afraid to go home. So the young fellows would station themselves over where Lou Ritter lives and when Millard would come along they would scare him. The poor old fellow would start to run. They could hear when he crossed the wooden bridge. He continued to run until he got home, but the next night he was back.
Saturday night was a good time to lay down a sawdust trail. It was put down in the night when most people were asleep so the evidence was there when they went to Sunday school. It was built between the home of some widow or old maid and a widower or bachelor so they would think they were keeping company with each other. Roundy Walker, Rudy Coleman and I built one between Patch Walker, who lived where Larue Thoman now lives and Lizzie Diffenbacher who lived next door. We built the trail and then strewed a bit of sawdust on the sidewalk to where Ticky Norman lived to make it appear he was in on it. So when Ticky came to work the next morning, Patch was out sweeping the sawdust off the walk. Ticky said to Patch, "Don't blame me, I didn't have anything to do with it." Patch said to him, "Shut your mouth and go to Hell!'
When John Wood got married he lived at the hotel and in the evening there were always a number of loafers around. John would entertain them. He went on to say he felt so good that he could go into the ring and box a few rounds. Old Mush Heimbach was loafing and he remarked, "He wouldn't get into the ring and box because he'd get knocked up." He meant knocked out.
During Halloween a number of girls Nellie Beaver, Hilda Feese, Emma Kline, etc. strung a rope across the sidewalk to where Ruth Norman lives. Old Joe Middlesworth was on his way home from the store carrying a coal oil can. It was a glass jug type with wire mesh around it. It was dark so he couldn't see the rope, fell break ing the coal oil can. Sally Miller lived there and she heard the racket so she came out and helped old Joe up. All he had left was the wire mesh. Well Sally lit into the girls and gave them the devil but the girls were scared and had already left.
One year on Halloween several of us fellows took, Ner Feese's buggy out of the barn and took it down Sassafras street to where John Wetzel lived and lifted it across the fence into the yard. Next morning Ner was leading his horse around town, all harnessed up hunting the buggy. He remarked, "If I'd of just listened to Della (his wife), I'd be victorious. She wanted me to watch." It was late in the day when he found the buggy.
Joe Shirk, the local hardware merchant, also ran a type of taxi service with his horse and buggy. He would meet all the passenger trains and anyone that got off that he didn't know he'd ask if they wanted to be driven some place. One lady got of and Joe went up to her and said, "Lady, do you want me to ride you out of town?"
Another old fellow, Ike Beaver, a carpenter by trade was told by his wife one Friday evening when he went up town to bring along home some sugar as she wanted to bake some currant pies. He came home without the sugar so Saturday morning she went to the store and got the sugar. While baking she decided to teach him a lesson so she baked a currant pie without any sugar. She told their hired boy not to eat any of that pie as it was really sour. So when Ike was finished eating his meal, he picked up the currant pie and cut a good sized piece, and when he took his first bite, he realized what was going on. He remarked later to the hired boy, "I'd of eaten it if it would have killed me."
Automobiles came into town around 1913. Dr. Miller, William Snyder, and Charles Mattern were the first to own Model-T Fords. Ammon Bowersox bought one about a year later. He fixed one end of his barn for a garage and one day he drove it into the garage and forgot how to stop. He hollered, "Whoa! Whoa!" But no luck the car was no horse so it went out the end of the garage. He decided he had enough car so he sold it. Les Specht had the first car in town. That was a Stanley Steamer runabout. They all wore long dusters and goggles in those days to go driving. To combat the dust, the ladies had long coats, glasses, and a scarf tied around their head.
Another local businessman was James Moyer who followed the farming trade. He quit and moved to town and lived where Red Trawitz lives now. He started in the tining and plumbing business and also fixed watches and clocks. He built up a good business as he was a marvelous mechanic.
The belling of Ike Fall's marriage was about 1914. Ike Fall, an old widower, married Alice Jones, a girl in her early twenties. Her mother was married to Ed Bailey. Ike and Alice were at Ed's the evening of the belling. The older fellows like Jim Fulmer, Hen Kern, etc. got together with the help of other fellows and prepared for the belling. They built a bull fiddle which was a large wooden box strung full of wires and with large cross strips at each end to make a bow. This was rosined and drew across the top of the open box. It made a loud rasping noise. They also had circle saws on iron bars. These they hit with hammers, dish pans, cowbells or anything that made noise. The bellers collected around the Bailey home and started the noise making. It lasted for about a half an hour. When Ike and Ed came to the door, Alice remained upstairs where several of the fellows crawled up on the porch roof and opened the windows and talked to Alice. This they did to make Ike jealous. He finally discovered the fellows and they made a hasty retreat. This way they kept him on his toes while Ed was giving out the treat which was candy sticks for the younger crowd and whiskey for the men. Finally Ike started home with his bride and some of the older fellows followed after and they would talk to Alice. Ike finally had all he could take so he pulled out a pistol and shot. They all got scared and ran. Toaster Dreese hollered, "Run fellows run! The old fool will shoot you!"
When I went to school and Shrove Tuesday would arrive it was the custom to pen the teachers out of their room. They usually had to get one of the directors to open the grammar school. The boys were bigger and older and wouldn't open. We in the lower grades enjoyed it because we didn't have school either because the teacher couldn't ring the bell. So we had a long hour for dinner. This practice is a thing of the past.
Frank Kline had a barber shop along side of where Davis drug store is located. Wade Bowersox was getting a shave when a salesman came in to get a shave. Wade made believe Frank's razor was dull and pulled his beard and would holler Ouch! Finally the salesman got up and left. Frank said to Meade, "You owe me an extra dime because you scared him away!".
Ner Feese had a horse he called Dan. He kept him in a barn that stood at the foot where Kauffman's store is now. One morning when I was going out the alley to work in Saylor's shirt factory, Ner was in the barn taking care of Dan. The horse kicked him and he remarked, "Now! Now Dan! Nice Dan you son of a bitch. If I had a baseball bat, I'd kill you." He came outside and got a board and hit Dan a few times swearing all the time.
Web Klose, a carpenter by trade, lived in the house which is now the Methodist parsonage. He was spending an evening visiting Jacob Middlesworth and so was Roundy Walker. Jacob had just gotten a player piano. So Roundy went over to the piano and started it up. He ran his fingers over the keyboard as though he was doing the playing. Web watched it and remarked to Jacob, "That young fellow will go some place-just listen how well he can play."
John Mush Heimbach, a laborer was hired by John Wetzel to trim a shade tree so he sat on the end of the limb and sawed it off at the tree trunk. He fell down and broke his leg.
Murray Dreese lived in the country over by Dreese's bridge and seldom came to town. So one Saturday evening he went into Bowersox's store and remarked, "I don't come to town often, but when I do the money must fly. Give me a tree cent cigar."
When I was a boy around the holiday season, Bill Keller would get in his Christmas candy. He got one kind called ala cuma, a candy similar to sea foam. It had almond in it and it came in a bucket. He would cut out five cents worth or a pound. His was the only store to handle it. After he left town, you no longer could get a lot of these early goodies. Also at Easter time you could buy pure maple sugar which came in ten pound blocks. The storekeeper would cut off the desired amount you wanted. This too is hard to obtain Easter at our house was not complete without it.
Christmas 1982 was no longer all the preparations we used to go through. My wife decorated the windows with lanterns and put up several strings of lights around the porch. She baked several types of cookies, some pies, and of course we will have the turkey Gene and his wife plus our dog (Cricket) will be with us. I received gifts of fruit from our neighbors the Houtz's, also the same from Rudy Bartholomew from Sunbury, a nice selection from one of the classes of the United Church of Christ, and from my niece and her daughter, a very nice lot of gifts. It is really touching to be remembered like that! It is not an exciting day as it was in days gone by. Today it's a day only to recall memories.
As for sports we had a very good baseball team in 1915 and 1916. The team had on its roster, as catcher Roy Beaver, pitchers-Roundy Walker and Barner Rine, first base-Alvin Walker, second base-Herb Coover, short stop-Dorie Saylor, third base-Ed Freed, left field-Ned Middlesworth, center field-Bounce Dreese, right field- Hen Kern. The diamond was located on the land now owned by Jack Kauffman, Goss, and Wagner.
Ninety-one Klingler lived south of town where a man by the name of Snook now lives. He invented the car coupler and applied for a patent. He had Attorney Baker from Beaver Springs represent him, but he took advantage of Ninety-one Klingler and sold him out to the Jennings who also claimed this invention. Ninety-one got a few dollars out of it Why I don't know, but he thought he was rich and rolled up a ten dollar bill and lit his cigar. Frank Klingler, Ninety-one's son, never got married and worked as a laborer. On the side he sold patented medicine which was made up and bottled by Dr. Wagner of Beaver Springs. It was called Balm of Life. Frank liked to be called Doctor Klingler. He would go around the coutryside about twice a year peddling this medicine.
A young hired hand who worked on the Jake Snyder farm went across the fields to see his girlfriend. On his way he had to go through a buckwheat field which was in full bloom. It was a bright moon lit night and as he was walking through the field, he looked back and saw his shadow following him. He started to run. The faster he ran the faster the shadow followed. Finally he came to the bars and stumbled and fell. He then said, "Du dibil, du huscht mich?"
Ner Feese was waiting for his mail in the old post office run by Judge Wetzel, postmaster. He was looking at the Philadelphia paper called the North American. It had an article about Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. When he came to the word, he spelled it out loud and pronounced it "Puny-x-to-wennie," and kept on reading never realizing his mistake.
Back in the 1880's when the Central Hotel was run by Dr. Conrad, it was a collecting place for some rather loud, tough men. The traveling salesman would stop over and spend the night. One such night a Jew salesman stopped and was never seen again. One local man that worked there at the hotel said that he had heard a noise outside his door. He peeped out and saw two fellows dragging a man by his feet down the hall. One of these men also worked at the hotel as handy man. He was a real tough fellow. In fact a Civil War veteran and after this affair the Jew was never seen again. This Civil War veteran closed up his draw well where he lived and it was rumored that he threw him down the well. They had killed him, the Jew, for his money and his cases of merchandise. When I was old enough to understand, my dad told me about it. As a boy the outline of the well was still visible after that. They always carried their drinking water from the A. W. Engle Planing Mill. I often saw his widow carry home a bucket of water.
On the lot at the corner of Chestnut street and Sassafras street, there was located a tannery, which had outside vats. A young boy was playing along side of the vats and a gander attacked the boy. He started to back away and fell into the vat and drowned.
The Pennsylvania railroad employed five men as track workers. One was George Herbster, the track foreman; Monas Gilbert, laborer; Pharis Richenbach, another laborer; and I don't recall the other two. These men kept the track in repair from the overhead bridge midway between town and Beaver Springs and to the east at the crossing over from Stahl's Quarry. They traveled over this route on a hand car. It was propelled by pumping the handle up and down.There were no weeds along the right of way. The ballast was laid at the edge of the track in a straight line. Various gangs competed against each other all along the S. P. I. right of way for prizes for the one who had the best kept track. Every two weeks the pay train would come through and the employees would wait at the station for it. It would stop and the men would line up and go up to the paymaster for their pay. They always had two guards standing around.
Favorite Poem
Do not covet learning's prize
Climb her height and take it.
In ourselves, our fortune lies,
Life is what we make it.
Poems I Learned When I Went To High School
Lives of great men, reached and kept
were not attained by sudden flight.
But they, while their companions slept
were toiling upward in the night.
Life is real, Life is earnest,
Life is but an empty dream.
We too, can make our lives sublime
and departing leave behind us,
Footprints on the sands of time.
Go not like the quarry slave at night
lashed to his dungeon, but like one,
who wraps the drapery of his couch
about him and lays down to pleasant dream.
"To a louse" by Bobby Burns
If we could see ourselves as eithers see us
it would from many, a blunder flees and foolish notion.
When I was about eight years old, my neighbor, Clint Zerbe and family would go on the mountain in the summer time to pick huckleberries. We would leave around 4:30 a. m. and get on the top of the mountain around 6:00 a.m. The brush was wet with dew so we were soaking wet till we located a patch to pick. I had a twelve quart box plus a two quart kettle. I would manage to have everything full till it was time to leave for home, which was around 4:00 p.m. We would sell our berries to Mel Bobb and receive six cents per quart. We started to pick in early July and picked till the middle of August. We sure earned our money.
Another business that flourished was on Chestnut street where Sam Specht lives. Here was a two story building that at one time was the first school house in town.
One fall morning I went squirrel hunting with Fritz Felty over-on Limstone ridge. It was a crisp frosty morning. We walked up the north side of the ridge. About two thirds of the way up, I stepped off the road to where lay a good size rotting log and put my one foot on the log. After a little while I heard something make a noise in the leaves along side of my foot which was in the leaves. I finally looked down and saw a yellow tail threshing about. I thought snakes right away so I jumped back and saw I had been standing on a copperhead snake. She was too stiff from the cold to coil. I shot her and beat a hasty retreat. It took the joy out of hunting for the rest of the day.
One Sunday afternoon Sam Dreese and his brother, Randall, and myself went for a hike out to the old ore mine. Close by was a spring where a large old saw dust pile was left there by the saw mill that was located there. While there Billy Dreese came over to us and he remarked, "Boys that is a poor place to play. It is a good place for copperhead snakes." Randall was walking around on the pile and said, "Look at that hole. There is some kind of a belt in there. It goes around." Bill looked and said, "Get back! That is a bunch of snakes!" So he cut a good size pole and fished the belt out. It comprised eleven copperhead snakes entwined and he killed them all. As it was in the fall of the year, they were getting ready to hibernate for the winter. Another snake story has it that Jim Wetzel was clearing new ground out on the ridge south of town to plant an orchard. He was trying to get out an old tree stump and came across some copperhead snakes lying about. He got a stick and started to kill and he kept on killing for awhile. Wherever he looked was a snake coiled up so he got afraid and came home. He stopped off at the store and told of his exeperience. The fellows didn't believe him so they walked out to check. They counted the dead ones and found he had killed sixty-three snakes when he had left.
Mary Bingarnan would say to you in the summer time when it was real hot, "Oh! It is so near!", meaning the humidity was high. Another Pennsylvania Dutch saying is, "I was just sushing around.", meaning to go from place to place. Also when something is all used up they would say, "It is all!", in fact you hear this today yet.
When the Bicentennial was in 1976, the ladies club gave prizes for the best decorated house. My house was selected by the judges as the best over all. I received a beautiful pewter plate.
After I graduated from high school, I started to work for Charles Saylor in his shirt factory. I was paid $16.00 a week to button hole, fix belts, some machines and other general work. This was good money as it was depression time (1920) and lots of people were out of work. I continued to work until June 1920, when I got a job at Burnham for the Standard Steel Works. I only worked three months and quit as it was too dangerous where I worked. I left here and worked for my dad painting until October when I went to work in the silk mill as a weaver. After two years weaving, I was given a chance to learn loom fixing. I worked at this trade till 1925. I quit and then went to work for the Eagle Silk Mill in Shamokin. I didn't like night shift so I left and went to Danville to help start a new mill. I stayed there till late November and then I went to Selinsgrove to work for B. Edmund David the following June ,1926. I got a job as loom fixer and foreman to start a new mill in McClure I worked here till I took sick in December, 1929. I was to become the superintendent of the mill on the first of 1930, but this was denied me as I never could go back into industry. So after two years of getting back on my feet, I started to garden. I raised flowers and started a rock garden in order to get the rare plants to make gardening interesting. I gathered all kinds of our native wild flower seeds and exchanged them all over the world with botanical gardens. Here in the states I exchanged seeds and plants. At one time I was exchanging letters with sixty some different people. I belonged to several round robins. I also wrote articles for several garden magazines. This put me in contact with some good sources of seed and plants. One such lady was from Canada I exchanged letters and seeds, plants, and later she helped me to collect a nice lot of Canadian coins. She also sent me a nice lot of antiques, mostly dishes. Later I started to grow roses and at one time I had eighteen hundred bushes from the rare old ones to the latest hybrids. I started to breed roses and had some good seedlings. Several were, under test with Jackson and Perkins and Star Roses. I had to give this up when my wife got hit with a car. I continued to breed plants and I had some outstanding hybrids in Azaleas and Holly. I continued to exchange seed with Rex Pearce, a famous seed house. He also had rare plants. I used to sow over three hundred varities of seed every year. I also planted many types of rare and unusual plants. Some are still growing around the yard yet.
When a boy the month of March was important in our lives. First it meant the end of school, and it also meant we could go out and hunt dandelion. This was a great treat to eat because it was something green. We had no access to green groceries in the stores. The dandelion was prepared and eaten with potatoes and bacon, a treat even today. We also would go out to the ridges and collect our native black birch. We would scrape the bark and chew it. Around the end of March, Ruben Aigler and I would make our annual trip out to Folk's garden. It was located back of where John Knepp lived, now owned by Sam Herman. Here you would find pink and blue scilla and grape hycianth. These were left from when the Folk family lived here. There were shrubs and flowering trees growing here also.
Perhaps I should tell about apple butter cooking. This was done every fall by many families. Fall was the time you had a good selection of apples and the cider presses were in operation. Most people would wash their apples before they would schnitz (cut up) them. They would invite neighbors in the night before to help schnitz the apples. The next morning bright and early the cider was put in copper kettles and fire started. The cider was cooked down till it resembled syrup. Then the shnitz was put in and cooked and stirred. This continued until it started to thicken. Then the sugar was added until it had the right taste and later when it was ready to take off the fire, the spice was added, cinnamon and cloves. It was ladled into jars and crocks. The crocks were covered with heavy paper and tied shut. It would keep a long time this way. We at our home would cook ten to twelve gallons every year. This practice is fast passing out of existence. It is easier to buy so called apple butter in the stores, a poor substitute for the real thing.
Every spring and fall my mom would cook home made soap.The big iron kettle was set up outside and filled half full of water. A fire was built under the kettle. When the water was brought to a boil, she added all the fat rinds saved from the last time cooking plus the fryings. She would add a can of caustic soda to eat up the rinds and cook these items for several hours. She left the fire die out and cool the soap mixture. When it had set, she would cut it out and save the soft material, clean the kettle, and put in a bit of water. Then she put in the soap and some banner lye and recook it several times till it would get real white.Then it was cooled and cut out in usuable pieces and stored on the attic to harden.This was the soap supply for the year. It was used to wash clothes, dishes, etc The residue left in the bottom of the kettle was soft soap used to wash clothes or scrub the floors.
In the early 1900 era Christmas ornaments were of a style and make that were made to last. One such was called a scrib, which was made of cardboard and had a Christmas picture pasted on it, like a Christmas tree, Santa Claus, angels and trimmed with tinsel along the edge. These were used to fill in the open spaces between the limbs of the trees. Other ornaments were heavy glass blown balls in various colors, fruits and vegetables made of cloth and colored. Lots of strings of small balls in eight and ten foot lengths and beaded ornaments in various shapes, which were in color were also used. I have one silver ball, quite large, that has been in our family since the late 1890's. Also lots of tinsel in silver and gold were draped over the tree after all the ornaments were in place. Under the tree we had all types of figures like sheep, deer, horses, cows, etc., a wind up train and moss was laid to represent grass. This yard was surrounded by a picket fence which was handmade. The pickets were whittled out with a pocketknife.
It was the custom to toll the church bell when someone died. We used to count the number of times the bell tolled to see who had died. At the deceased house, they would place a wreath-black for an adult and white for a child to let everyone know that someone had died in this house. My morn was the daughter of Adam Walter, who was a farmer and owned a large farm along the Middlecreek, north of Paxtonville. She married my dad in 1884. They went to housekeeping in town. Later they built their own home on Sassafras street, where Jack Thoman lives. I was born here in 1902, the youngest of four children. Mom was born June 14, 1866 and dad was born April 9, 1863. Grandpa Camp, I don't remember him as he passed away before I was born. (I learned a lot about him from Lester Specht). He came to America from Germany and landed at the port of Philadelphia. He settled in Kutztown and later he moved to Penns Creek and opened a general store in partnership with another man. They extended too much credit so he had to close the store. He then came to Beavertown and followed his trade, a cabinet maker. He married Margaret Weirick and they had six children together. Dad being the youngest settled in town and lived his lifetime here. He was a painter and paper hanger and followed the undertaking business for awhile. He quit when the motor hearse came into being.
THE END