Our Side of the Mountain Roars,
By Louise Rice 1985
Memories from what my folks have told me and what I can recall in my many years living in the area.
Our Dad
grew up on the mountain in the Ward Township area. He was born in Fallbrook the son of Peter & Agnes Douglas Boyd who
came from Scotland (he from Cumberland, she from Uddingston) around 1868 and Peter was naturalized here.
They raised
a family of ten children. Two of them were by Agnes previous marriage to Nicol McNicols who died in 1867, at age 34 years.
Several
of them married and wee farmers on the mountain for years so I have a lot of memories of the many families who lived in the
area.
The Boyd
place was on a crossroad off Lower Mountain Road and the house was across the road from the end of Soper Hill. A road that
comes up from North Union.
Charles
and Ada Decker lived below the Boyd place on Soper Hill. They had three children, Isabelle (Gruver), Lizzie (Chapman), and
Owen Decker.
On the
lower side of the road from the Boyd farmhouse sat a small red house where farm help sometimes lived as well as other families
at times. My folks lived there, Leon Segur, Gene Segur, others whose names escape me at this point.
On beyond
on the road to Gleason from Ward Church & Grange Hall, Clate and Lizzie (Boyd) Hall lived on a farm. They sold out to
a family by the name of Shackleford, think Shackleford sold it to Landry Grantier who moved here from the west. He was brother
to Charley Grantier. They had a family John, Mary, Fred, & Ernie who came here with them. Later Bert came from the west
to join the family.
This side
of Grantiers toward the church lived Henry J. Hill who married Euphemia Boyd. Think this farm was probably Uncle Henry’s
parents at some time. After Henry passed on Aunt Phemie moved back to the homestead and lived with brother Jim. Then Earl
& Gertrude Hill moved back here from Calif and lived on the Hill farm until they moved to Hornbrook in 1958.
On beyond
Earl Hill’s was the Daniel Segur house & beyond it the Eugene Segur house. The Nate & Emma (Comfort) Woodward
place was next then the Ward Schoolhouse. Several places have been built between the Segur & Woodward places within a
span of years.
John Woodward
put up a house where his daughter Leona Jenkins now lives. Murray & Jenny Woodward bought a place on the other side of
the road where Glenn Gray lived. Several summer houses have been built this side.
The schoolhouse
burned and a Reynolds family bought the ground & built a summer home. It burned but was rebuilt and is the home of Mr.
& Mrs. Dale Krise.
Down the
road to the County Bridge were Wilson & Belle (Hager) Hill and Charley & Grace (Segur) Hill farms. The Wilson Hills
family were Charley, Lowell, Hollis& Edna. Charley family was Ada & Arthur.
At the
end of the Lower Mt. Road was the Billy & Emma (Woodward) Johnston home. The Woodward & Johnstons both had big families.
On the
corner still stands the Ward grange hall. It has been closed since 1972 when Ward consolidated with Union Center grange.
Ward M.
E. Church is beyond the grange hall & has been very active through later years. It used to close winters but since 1973
or so it has been open year around. In 1972 a minister came here who was determined to close it and in turn send us into town
to church. We battled the idea & finally won out.
Above
the church was a house owned by Burt Kiff that was sold to Lynn & Carrie (Moore) Kniffin. It burned and Fred & Mabel
(Mason) Machmer bought the ground and built a log house. After Mason & Carol (Higby) Machmer were married they lived in
the log house & Mabel moved to a trailer home nearby. Mason died and Carol later was remarried to Claude Morgan &
they still live there.
Beyond
the Machmer place out in the field was Harmon & Eliza Breese farm. They had two girls Mae & Goldie. Mae married Art
Woodward, Goldie didn’t marry until late in life then married Alfred Warters from Mansfield. Also a son Henry who married
Mae Estabrook (Mildred Madigan is his adopted daughter). Above Breeses around he bend was the Henry Wilcox and Anson Furman
farms. Both big houses. Several homes have been built this side of those places. Dave & Maxine (Merritt) Shedden built
one. Ras & Kathryn (Johnson) Arbogast lived in one. Was another one or tow places but don’t know whose they were.
On the
corner above Machmers is a house Ed Ritter from Troy built and lived there for several years. They moved back to Troy and
sold the place to Sam & Maggie Gering from down around Coatsville. To the left of this place is a road to the Patterson
place where some of their family now live.
The older
Pattersons were Eliza, Ida & Katie, the mother & two daughters. Franks a brother who had lived in the West came back
here, married & raised 2 or 3 children.
Down over
the hill beyond Ritters is the Well & Bertha Teeters place. Well was a blacksmith. They had 2 children Lois, and Lowell
who was a prominent lawyer in Elmira until his death. The Teeter’s place is a well kept place today - don’t know
who now owns it. Lois Teeter never married. Lowell married Ruth Fry a sister to Marie Hallett.
Coming
back up the hill from Teeters is a wall where Glenn Gray once had a house. Above it is the Furman cemetery.
On the
main road again beyond Dave Sheddens is a road to the left where Harry Brown lived. I’m not sure but think Nelson Kniffin
lived below the Brown place. Beyond the Brown place on the main road was the David & Genevieve Reed Kohler place. Around
the bend to the left was the Davie Wilberson house & beyond it the farm of William & Bess Barnes Jenkins, which is
now referred to as the Walcheski place. Walcheski’s bought it from Uncle Will & Aunt Bess.
Following
on past Walcheski’s o the left was the Pollywog schoolhouse and the Chapman place. And on the main road Walter and Deed
Moore farms and the Lamb place. Were other places that I don’t remember as a kid because we didn’t travel the
Upper Mountain Road that much.
Coming
back to Lower Mt. Road from Ward Grange hall was John Smith place where Larry & Mary Lou Dunbar live. Across the road
was a wood colored house where Henry Struble lived. Believe Henry was John brother-in-law.
Next this
side was the Orlo Smith farm. Arthur & Lily Preston lived there at one time then Leon & Nettie Segur bought it. Lived
there for a long time then bought the farm below from C.B. Wilcox and moved there keeping the other farm. T.P. Furman owned
this farm when we were kids. His wife was Hulda & they were Doris Warrens grandparents. The parent of Fred, Earl, &
Gladys (Furman) Landon.
Dick Isaac
lived on this farm & may have bought it, not sure. Lou & Nettie Ingerich also lived there at one time. Almost seems
like Martin Bassett lived there but not sure about it.
Next place
down was a house where Archie Van Syckle lived. This is where Lisle & Paulina Kendall Watts built their house. Then turning
left onto the Boyd road the first place is the Bill Brown place now owned by John & Leah (Machmer) Osipovitch. Beyond
it was the Fred Schrader farm (Daisy Schraders parents). It was torn down, the barn blew down in a windstorm earlier. Barnum
& Irma Cross Wilcox I believer were the last to live in the house.
On beyond
a short distance was the Ben Goff place. Last known owners were people name of Welch.
Back to
Lower Mt. Road next place down is the former Pat Fennell farm. Tom & Alice Thomas & Sadie & Oliver Davy bought
this farm & moved from Fall Brook there. It was later owned by Tom & Ruth (Ingerich) Davy. Is now owned by Emil Horner.
Next down
the road is the former E.M. Spencer farm. This farm was bought around 1902 or 1903 by Robert & Edith Barnes Boyd where
they lived for 40 or more years. Their oldest son Lawrence (Pork) always helped with the farm work although he did work away
from home some of the time. After he was married my folds raised the roof on the farm house to make more rooms upstairs and
Lawrence & Kathleen Wight Boyd moved to the farm from town & lived in part of the house. Finally the farm was sold
to Gordon Beals. He stayed only a short time & Dad got the farm back.
The cows
were then sold. When Marshall got out of the Service be & Betty bought it. Betty was already living there. They farmed
until Marshall had to quit because he was getting arthritis so bad he could no longer work it.
They sold
out to Bill & Alene and bought the Rozell Keltz house where they moved in Apr. 1956. Were living there when Marshall died
in 1975.
Next in
line below the farm was the John Barnes house. Florence & George Wallace were the last people to own & live there.
Florence’s parents Will & Jess Barnes Phelps owned it before they got it.
Next to
it used to be a wood colored house where my mothers two Aunts lived. These Aunts
were mutes & were also blind.
On the
lot below is where we built out house in 1929. Gene Rice owned it but was formally known as the Horton lot. The Horton house
had burned years & years before.
Just across
the road is the Rice house now owned by Paul & Linda (Packard) Machmer. They bought it is 1983. The house was built by
Wooster Mandeville and I only know of tow people owning it before Machmers. There were Earl & Ruth Schrader, and Eugene
Rice who moved there in 1919. Martin & Sadie Bassett rented it & were living there in 1915.
Turning
to the right just below is what we always called the Sterling Road. Now the S.E. Williams Road. It’s a cross road that
goes through to N. Union. The last place on the N. Union end was the Roswell Gorton farm that was later owned by Mort &
Fannie (Gorton) Williams. The farm is owned by Lawrence & Millie (Crawford) Machmer. Russell & Ethelyn (Morgan) Machmer
put up a house near where the farm house sat. The house & barn were both destroyed by fire. Was thought the barn fire
was set by a neighbor.
At the
top of hill coming down was the former Henry Schrader farm. This was owned by Ford Surine, now owned by Lawrence Machmer.
No buildings left on it.
Next this
way was the Charles Schrader farm. They lived there for years and always hired help that lived in part of the house. I remember
a family of Borgesons, Grace & Clarence Kobbe, Martin & Sadie Bassett and years before Fred Sterling. The barn was
struck by lightning & burned around the 1917 or 1918’s, and later my Dad bought the farm.
John Stalter
bought the house. He was in the Navy. His English wife Sylvia & his sister Blanche lived there for a short time then let
it go back to Dad. It was rented to Wm Campbell (Andy’s folks) and John & Mary Wynne also rented it. Finally no
one lived there & it was torn down by Gene & Lawrence Rice and our house built with the lumber in 1929. Down in the
field below sat the Melville Rockwell farm now owned by S.E. Williams. After Rockwells were gone the place was bought &
sold several times besides being rented.
Doug &
Cindy Packard, Dorothy & David Warren, Niles & Pearl Bassett all bought it - none of them ever lived there long. Then
after these owners Bob Krise & Mort Williams both bought it and finally S.W. and Kate Williams bought it. Frank &
Eileen Boyd rented besides the Cornelius DeBriun family from Holland in 1957.
Back to
the Lower Mt. Road the house at the foot of the hill had lots of comers & goers. Not sure but think Harry Valentine was
an early owner but from then on it was rented to many people. Jay & Regina Wilhelm, Deb Platt family, Oscar & Mary
Barnes, Buster Wilson, Alice & Paul Carnegie, Tom & Alice Thomas, Marshall & Betty Boyd, Florence & Geo Wallace,
Charlie Ketchum, Sadie & Oliver Davy owned it when they lived there. Then was rented to Ted & Anita Clark, Van Jenkins,
Carol & Charlie Finogle & a Mrs. Shaffer lived there.
When Sadie
died Bert Davy fell heir to it & after his death Ralph Davy became the owner of it.
Across
the creek were the Rozell & Maude Brink Keltz house, the Sam Keltz house where Mae & Ford Surine lived now owned by
Van Jenkins and the Joe & Goldie Keltz house.
Marshall
& Betty Boyd bought the Rozell Keltz house from Nancy Keltz & moved there in Apr. 1956. After Marshall's death in
1975, Betty, Barb & Richard lived there together until Apr. 1976 when Barb & Richard bought a trailer and set it on
Betty's lot on Upper Mountain Road.
Betty
sold to Joe & Debbie Coyle then she bought a trailer and set it just above Barb & Richards on the Upper Mt. Road and
moved there in Oct. 1976.
Coyles
only lived in Smit & Betty's house a few years them moved back to town and let the place go back to Betty. House stood
empty for some time until Dan & Denise Walker bought it in Sept. 1983 and moved in.
The Sam
Keltz (Mae's place) was sold to Van & Jan Jenkins some time after Mae died in 1967.
The Joe
& Goldie Keltz place was owned by Dutch (Elwood) and Hazel McDonald Keltz. They didn't live there many years when they
moved to Elmira and sold the place to Bob & Belle (Jenkins) Rice July 19, 1958. Belle left in 1980 & moved to Roaring
Branch. She & Ed Wooster were married Aug. 16, 1980. The place was deeded to Wooster in Mar. 1984 before Belle died in
May 1984.
Dale &
Mary Williams Keltz built a little house on the opposite side of the road in the woods where they have lived since the house
was built.
Next place
down is a house that was built by Theodore Hill many years ago. My folks said it was built of piano boxes. He was in the music
business. Walter & Emma (Spencer) Gardner bought it & lived there for quite awhile. At one time & before Gardners
Irving Fry lived there. Mabel Kohler (Clarence sister) Fred & Doris Shadduck Williams and so did Mae & Henry Breese.
Glenn & Laura Warren finally bought it then sometime after Glenn died Leslie and Doris Furman bought it in 1927 or 1928
or there about. And now Bob & Ruth Warren Ward are moving in with Doris this Aug. 1985.
Below
Warrens on the same side of the road Danny Keltz built a shacky little house between the road & the creek. Lived there
for quite a few years. Danny was so near blind he couldn't see what he was doing so his house wasn't the greatest but it was
home to him. Jay Wilhelm's sister Maggie lived there with him for a long time.
On below
was the Coon house in the bank where Rices moved to when they came from Fallbrook in 1914. Several families have lived there
since Rices moved from it. To name a few of them, Charley & Josephine Green, Albert Miller family, Summers family, Jesse
& Bess Woodward, & the last owners were Bill & Lillie Sweitzer. Charley Morgan lived there to.
On below
to the left is a house moved on to this road from upper Troy St. Believe it was moved to make room for either Knerr's or Martin
Rockwell's houses to be built.
Enoch
& Grace (Rice) Twist lived there for a long time Dodie was born there. They moved to W. Union St. and Bob & Jean Machmer
McWilliams bought it in May 1949. Evelyn Schanbacher lived there awhile after Grant was killed. This house was owned by Martin
Rockwell. Bob & Hallie Trent McWilliams are still living there. And just below is the house where Bealy Williams lived
for many years. Think the next people to live there was Charley & Lois (Fields) Echman. After they moved out Kenny (Banger)
and Tillie (Pine) Fields moved there. And finally Grace & Twisty bought it form Martin Rockwell and moved back from W.
Union St. in May, 1949.
Back to
the mountain for latest homes. Robt. (Brad) Machmer built a log house on Lawrence Machmer below the Boyd place. Jake &
Ruth Machmer built a log house this side of the Osipovitch summer home (Bill Browns) the summer of 1985.
Many trailer
have been set on the mountain. Some are permanent homes, others summer homes. Irma Machmer Earley and Mabel (Mason) Machmer
both live in a permanent trailer home. Joe & Mae Flinn from Coatsville bought a trailer in 1969 and moved there where
they lived until they both passed on, Mae in Mar. 1980 and Joe in July 1980. Paul Slater and Lu Ann Dunbar Slater now own
it.
Dale and
Joyce Connelly Robbins built a house this side of the Flinn trailer. There are several homes to the right above Mabel Machmers.
Ras & Kathryn Arbogast Johnson owned one until some time in 1985 when they sold & bought the former Fay Rundell house
in town.
Sadie
& Oliver Davy sold the farm to Tom & Ruth in July 1949, and moved to the foot of the hill. Tom & Ruth lived there
until Tom bought property at Minnequa from Violet Rockwell in Mar. 1960 and built a house on it. They moved there Nov. 3,
1962. Tom died July 8, 1981, and Ruth lived there until Nov. 1984. She sold the place to Norman Pierce and moved into Ridalls
apartment on Troy St.
While
Bert Davy didn’t live in the area after he was married he was still an old neighbor. He died Feb. 10, 1980.
Think
Sadie’s father Tom Thomas was about the only person who could swear & make it sound funny. He was Welch and quite
witty. Could make anything sound funny. Her mother was just the opposite a very serious person.
Back to the mountain from the 1910 census that
Marlea found were:
Brown, William and Mary E. (mother)
(beyond Browns) Shrader, Fred, Veronica, they called her Ronie, Guy, Daisy, Lena
Boyd, James, Euphemia, Agnes (my grandmother Boyd)
Goff, Benjamin
Chapman,
Hill, Henry, Mary, Earl - Lived in Earl Hill house
Segurs
(lived in Uncle Leons old house) Preston, Arthur, Lillian, John, Nellie, Ruth, Florence, Clarence, Gladys, Elizabeth
(Bess, Jesse Spencer’s wife) Albert & William
Wynne, John, Bell (mother) Don’t know who they were unless John Wynne’s parents
Decker, Ada - lived on Soper Hill below the Boyd place
Hill, Charles, Grace, Arthur, Ada - lived in Art Hill’s place
Hill, Wilson, Belle, Hollis - lived where Walt & Leatrice lived
Tom died
July 8, 1981 and Ruth stayed there until Nov. 27, when she sold to Norman Pierce and moved to town.
My folks
sold their farm to Gordon Beals, June 10, 1944, and moved to Troy St. Bought the house in town from William A. Bailey, July
21, 1944.
M. K.
Holcomb stone cabin on the mountain “O Kaem Inn” was sold to Robert
Stubbs of Phila. In May 1963.
Schoonover
Trailer park on Upper Mt. Road opened in 1963. Each resident to have a 40 x 75 foot lot. Owned and operated by George &
Margaret Schoonover.
The first
television in town was in Skinny’s Restaurant owned by Walter Zellers, Feb. 1950.
Our town
doctors were Dr. James Parsons who died in Dec. 1937.
Dr. Will
Davison who lived in the house that is Morse & Kleese Funeral Home. Think Dr. Davison built it.
Dr. A.
E. Dann who doctored from 1905 to 1957 with exceptions of 4 yrs. Spent as a Navy doctor. He died Oct. 12, 1962.
Dr. Carl
M. Bradford came to Canton in Feb. 1922. Was a native of Mainsburg. Started to practice medicine in Granville Summit Aug.
1, 1903. He later went to Ricketts, Sullivan Co. as a doctor for the Central Penna. Lumber Co. He also practiced medicine
in Forksville where he came from to Canton. He died in Apr. 1961.
Was a
Dr. Smith here when Ralph Davy was born. Bert and Helen lived on Upper Troy St. in Bill Comforts house where Ed & Molly
Snyder Pullen lived. This was where Ralph was born. Think this was in 1925 or there about.
Dr. James
Costello came here in Sept. 1954 was here only a few years.
Dr. L.
E. Slingerland came here in 1932, worked with Dr. H. L. Stem before opening his own office in town. He retired Jan. 1, 1977.
Was born in Galeton, May 14, 1908.
Dr. Orlo
McCoy came here in or around 1946. Bought Dr. H. L. Stems home & office.
Dr. John
McCallum opened his practice in Canton in 1928, was honored by the Medical Society for 50 years of service June 1976. He died
Apr. 30, 1984.
The older
Dr’s were medical doctors but all the later ones have been Osteopathic with exception of Dr. Good who is an M.D.
Dr. Harold
L. Stem was the 1st and only Osteopathic doctor Canton had for years. He was frowned upon because he gave treatments
but never medications. He practiced here for 32 years. When Slingerland opened his office he gave medicine along with treatments.
As the
old doctors passed on Dr. McCallum & McCoy were Canton’s only medical doctors and they were pretty much replaced
by Osteopathic men because they were both getting old.
Only mortician
I ever remember was Collins & Stull, Will Collins & Frank Stull. They were located in the same store that Morse &
Segur are in today. After Stull died Collins and Stanley Morse then became partners.
Morses moved here from Leroy in 1939. It was then Collins & Morse while Stanley was still in Leroy he organized &
maintained the first ambulance service for the area.
Morse
bought the business from Collins & worked alone until Dean went in with him in 1948. David graduated from Mortuary School
I n1974. Dean moved to Fla. And David went into the business.
David
served his apprenticeship with his Dad before going into the business for himself. Dean sold the furniture business to David,
and Gene Segur, July 1974. Dave was active in the store as well as helping in the funeral home.
In July
1979, Morse and Kleese Funeral Home merged and is located in the former Dr. Davison home on Center St. The Ralph Kleese’s
moved into the Dr. W. T. Davison house in 1953 from Williamsport where he owned and operated his funeral business. They moved
to their present ranch home in June 1978. The land was formerly owned by Canton’s famous midgets Casper and Queen Mabs Weis. Fire destroyed their spacious home & they sold the land to Tom & Dorothy (Coon) Jones
in Aug. 1975.
Crawford
Lumber Co. was a going business for many years. They bought timber and sawed it into lumber. Don’t remember the father’s
name, the boys were Charley and Byron. After many years fire destroyed Crawford’s Mill. Not sure if it was before or
after the Holmes boys bought it. The Holmes boys mother was By Crawford’s daughter.
Coon’s
also had a lumber yard. Believe this came down through Giles Coon. He had a son Howard that drove around town with a horse
delivering orders. Jim Coon worked at the Mill, was related but not sure how. Think Jim & Elizabeth Coon Campbell’s
father was a brother to Howard. His name was Claude - he was killed by logs rolling on to him when he was only 32 years old.
Jim & Elizabeth were just small children. Coons Mill was on Troy St. where S. E. Williams was located.
Think
Jim Coon finally sold out to Cases from Troy and they ran a business several years. They had a fire that destroyed their building
in 1946 was after that sometime when S. E. Williams bought it out. It was a $150,000 fire.
Don’t
know how I got wandered down into town - just didn’t stop when I got to Troy St. I guess.
There
were two small houses between Troy St. bridge and Nettie Stears house & then Hop Toad Alley or McIntosh Alley, Lane whatever,
went down through from Troy St. They always considered the railroad crossing down through there a dangerous crossing. It went
down through to Center St.
Was a
Jewish family named Landy that lived in one of those houses. He was a junk dealer if I remember correctly. Aunt Maude Stalter
was a good friend of theirs. She lived in part of a house just across the railroad in the alley. Those long old freights just
made her rooms jingle because the house was real close to the track. Pork always
traveled that alley to go to the Mill Station.
Mom never
liked him to go that because it was hard to see either way until you were on the track. I really don’t remember of Dad
taking the milk although he must have sometimes.
Have no
idea when Dad started taking milk to Sheffield. For years it was separated & the cream was sold.
Mom made
butter for some years and churning was a big job especially if the cream wasn’t the right temperature to start with.
It could take hours to get butter if it was to cool or to warm. They used to bring the cream can up from the cellar or out
of the cellarway and set it by the heating stove the night before to get warmed up.
No matter
whether they used a churn with a dash or a barrel churn it was an arm breaking job. Never blamed old Duke for hiding when
he know they were going to put him on the treadmill to churn.
Sheffield
had a man name of W. D. Crocker who came around inspecting - had his nose in everything even the outhouse. No one like him,
Sadie & Pork hated him with a purple passion. Made them dig a big hole up home one time boarded over the top to put garbage
in & it caused quite a stir. At that time we all thought it was ridiculous having to tote things out there all the time.
Pigs always got everything eatable & we didn’t ever have many tin cans back in them thar days. Anyway eventually
the Crocker hole was filled in before the boards rotted and someone fell in the thing.
The country
Blue Grass singer Bill Monroe, always reminds me of Old Crocker. Don’t like him either!
Canton’s
old brick grade school was taken down in the Fall of 1959. The first to 6th grade were housed in the former High
School and Jr. High & High School were moved to the new High School that was built in 1954.
Canton’s
first High School was built in 1870 or there about. It cost $9,000. The first graduating class received their diplomas in
1873. A class numbering three pupils Dr. J. W. Parsons and Julie & Mary Spaulding.
The yellow
brick high school was built in 1916 and was permanently closed in 1954 when the new high school was built & the yellow
structure became the elementary school.
The Canton
& Leroy Farmers telephone Co. was formed in 1903. First telephone exchange was in the rear of Bill Most Drug store, at
that time it was the J. O. Whitman Drug Store. It moved from there over Baldwin Hardware then owned by Newell & McConnell.
In 1924 closed the old switchboard that had served the area for generations & installed a modern system of selective ringing.
Then in 1959 they cut over to the dial system. Ed Flannery was president of the Co. for many years.
The dialing
equipment was located in former Farmers National Bank corner of Main & Center Sts. Until the new telephone office was
built on the opposite corner of Main & Center Sts.
The Stanley
Home Products Co. held open house here in Oct. 1960. Canford Manufacturing Co. is a subsidiary of Stanley & this plant
later known as Canford.
Gleckner
Harness Co. made harnessed here from 1879 but by 1949 orders had almost reached the vanishing point. Dad, Tom Davy & Pork
all worked at Gleckners in their earlier years. They were still making collars there in 1960 for buggy & work horses.
The water tower was taken down from the factory in Sept. 1961 after the plant had converted to gas for heat & electric
for power.
The Gleckners
were W. W. Gleckner the father and sons Byron, William, and Bob. Bill was Donald & Elwins father.
The Belmar
Manufacturing Co. made 10 to 12 million hangers a year. Cherry, beech, an maple were used as the lumber, the hangers were
either varnished, waxed or enameled. They made nearly 50 styles of coat, dress & trouser hangers.
The Co.
was formed in 1895 by Lewis Marble who gave it the name of Belmar by scrambling the letters in his last name. 110 people were
employed there in 1951. The plant was located at the end of Washington St. Mr. Marble died Nov. 1944. Mr. & Mrs. Marble
who was Flora Lewis of Canton were responsible for the Canton Community Nursing Service. Mrs. Marble gave her home on Union
St. to be used as headquarters for the Canton Heath Center. The house is now owned by Bill McNett & he made it into four
apartments.
Mr. Marble
owned the apple orchards and cold storage plant at Minnequa. This was in co-operation with the Gov’t in an effort to
solve cold storage problems through experiments.
In Nov.
of 1942 a fire was noticed in the Krotzer & Perry bowling alleys in the old opera house. Suddenly there was a terrific
explosion and the side of the First National Bank collapsed. Mrs. Kenneth Farmer (Beatie Mayer) and Mrs. Gordon Lloyd who
were running past the building were caught in a shower of bricks and mortar. They were on their way home from a bridge party.
Mrs. Farmer was picked up dead and Mrs. Lloyd had both legs broken.
The Bank,
Post Office, Pool Room, were destroyed. Taylor Insurance Co. and C. Arthur Bullock law offices were housed on the second floor.
The third floor was an assembly hall that was widely used. First alarm was about 12:30 A.M. and they thought would have been
confined to the bowling alleys had it not been for the explosion. Bank owned the old theater building and the store across
the alley that had recently been vacated by Rod Stulls grocery store. John Keltz was fire chief at the time.
The Lewis
Opera House was constructed in 1884, many famous actresses & actors had appeared there through the years. The Opera House
was built by Mrs. Marble’s mother. C. Arthur Bullock was boro secretary & he lost not only his own law library but
all the boro records for the past 40 years.
Crockett Lodge a famous place was built in 1870 by Frank Mayo a prominent actor. The
lodge was named for Davy Crockett whose stage portrayal was Mr. Mayo’s greatest performance. The Booths, Barrets, Rankins,
Barrymores & Davenports were familiar visitors. Peter Herdic & Judge Maynard of Williamsport were in a measure responsible
for Crockett Lodge being built & for scores of people who went to Minnequa Springs to drink the healing waters.
The estate
had been vacant for many years and was finally sold to Zell Thomas in 1943 or 1944 and was torn down.
Canton’s
railroad station was torn down in 1964. Had been no train service since July 1956 but there was hopes as long as the station
remained that train service might be resumed some day. Used to be eight passenger trains each day until Henry Ford made it
possible for each family to own a car. The first train over the Pennsy line or Northern Central Railroad tracks was in Aug.
1854.
The Swayze
Folding Box Co. was founded in 1896 at Columbia Cross Roads by Alden Swayze II. The Co. was run by 3 generations of the family
until about 1959 it was sold to Blum Brothers from Valley Stream, NY. A new building was put up East of town and the business
moved there in 1966 or 1967. This was a 60,000 square foot building. The resident manager was Alex Kolis.
On a Saturday
night Jan. 24, 1970, the Canton Acme burned. It took a whole building block, the Acme Markets, 6 apartments on the second
floor. The roof from the former McKenzie Pharmacy on first floor and apartments above and Brann’s Meat Market adjoining
it and two more upper stories owned by Canton Hall Association of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows were burned. The IOOF
and Rebekah lodges both used the second & third floors. Five families were left homeless by the fire, the large Acme Market
& the potential Western Auto Store which had moved equipment into the former Canton Pharmacy. Brann’s Meat Market
and two lodges were destroyed by fire & water.
Canton
has never built the town up since, the Acme put up a new store on E. Main St. at the edge of town, and Troy Bank was built
in town where the Acme was located. The A & P store that was on Main St. for years moved to a new building built on Springbrook
Drive. It has changed hands several times - the A & P Co. closed it. IGA Co. rented it with Bob & Dolly Wheeler as
managers but in due time it was again closed. Then Holiday Market moved in for a few years and it failed. Was bought by Chico
Dietrich & others and doing a thriving business. In 1985 an addition was added to make a bigger & better store with
many added attractions.
Another
fire was Colonel Wood’s Second Hand Store on Sullivan St. burned Aug. 29, 1977, was rebuilt and opened Dec. 1978.
The Acme
fire hurt the town the most of any fire because it took so many stores that were never replaced. The mini park never took
the place of the missing stores.
The old
railroad underpass on West Union St. was dismantled by the Boro in the spring of 1985. This was another Canton landmark. We
used to think we shouldn’t be under it when a train was going over it. Guess we were taught this idea.
The oil
well on the river came about in 1923 when they came in there to drill for oil at Chase’s Mill. They didn’t find
oil & don’t remember how deep they drilled but a flowing well was a result of it anyway. Was the best kind of water
& only ran to waste for many, many years. Always seemed to bad that it couldn’t have been put to some good use.
Landon’s
Cedar Ledge Service on Route 14 one mile south of Canton celebrated 25 yrs. of business in May 1981. It started as a little
store & gas station around 1935 or maybe a bit before by Frank Landon’s grandfather Frank A. Landon. Was later owned
& operated by Frank’s father Clifford Landon & he sold it to Frank & Joyce Morgan Landon in the spring of
1956 and he went to Fla. It has kept enlarging until it has quite a spread with everything from groceries, gas & fruit
trees to clothing most anything one would want.
Chico
Deitrick became a part time employee while he was going to high school and Williamsport Community College and in 1976 accepted
the position of General Manager. They open at 6:30 in the morning & close 11 PM seven days a week. The first store space
was 16 ft. square and in 1981 was 6,500 square feet.
In the
Spring of 1972 the tire business was separated from the sales area and Landon Tire was opened with Jack Lee manager. Landon
Tire is now owned by Jack Lee.
Preston’s
Feed Mill closed its business of sale and manufacture of feeds in 1972 after 61 yrs of business. The Mill was constructed
for railroad shipments and they felt to convert to truck shipments would be too costly. The Agnes flood washed out & undermined
so much track it couldn’t be used so the railroad was closed & tracks taken up.
Agnes
done a lot of damage through the whole area. Four bridges in the Boro was damaged. The Clinton St. bridge was completely destroyed.
Lower end of Lycoming St. was badly flooded & washed. A sluice gave way on the former Lyle Burlingame place and flooded
out trees, flowers and bushes as well as filling cellars with water on Lycoming St.
Grover
also took a beating as the water from the mountains rushed in from all sides. Grover Farms suffered heavy damages. A lot of
the lush farm land between Canton & Towanda and many fields of corn was destroyed by flood waters.
Delmont
Express who had offices in Southport Elmira had severe flood damage. A brick building was completely gone, their dock was
smashed by raging waters. Three of their tractor-trailers were on their sides & one crushed against a building. The office
was under water and many items missing.
Canton
Industrial Plants were spared. The Intermediate School had water 2 inches above the stage in the Theaterette. The High School
had 3 to 4 ft. of water in the boiler room. But all in all Canton was lucky compared to many surrounding places.
The Acme
Market opened on E. Main St. in Mar. 1971 with a 3 day opening on the 4th, 5th, & 6th.
Ronnie Mix, manager, Lynn May assistant manager, Glen Crimbring produce manager, & Harold Billmeyer, meat manager.
Another
landmark was Mike Brann’s grocery that stood on the corner of Troy and Union Sts. It was built 1857 occupied by Mike
for many years. Was bought by Olen Smith and remodeled in 1941 and he ran a Red & White store there for many years. Olen
& his wife Anne also bought Mike’s yellow brick house on Troy St. The house I am sure was built by Mike Brann.
The Old
Table Factory as we always called it located at the foot of Clinton St. housed a number of different factories. Stood on the
site of the old Gleason Tannery which rolled its last hide about 1900. The building of wooden structure was moved here to
house the Canton Couch Co. in 1905. Couch Co. lasted about 3 yrs. Then turned to manufacturing of dumb waiters. Dining room
tables were next made. Think Bill Stalter was doing carving on table legs there at that time.
Then in
1915 the Minnequa Furniture Co. was formed and the brick building added. Entire dining room suites were then made. They were
still making them when I went to work there somewhere around 1916. This business failed about the close of the first world
war. Phonograph cabinets were the next venture & both Nancy Keltz and I worked on those. It was the Independent Cabinet
Co. & it finally failed. Nancy & I then went to the Belmar sorting hangers for $1.57 a day. I worked Fri & Sat
forenoon & quit but Nancy worked there for years.
The building
was then occupied by a small machine shop & a silk mill. Owners of the silk mill tore down the wooden structure &
improved the brick part. About 1942 a branch of Sinclair
Collins Valve Co. moved in the building after it had been vacant for some time. Your Dad worked for Collins Valve while they
were there.
Then Weldons
established a branch of their factory here, they made pajamas & think mens shirts. Was vacated by Weldons & in a few
years was extensively damaged inside & out. Wiring & other installations were stripped & most of the windows stoned
out - one side of the building 334 broken window panes were stoned out.
The Swayze
bought it in 1953 to use for storage.
The former
G.L.F. now Agway was opened in Mar. of 1955, at Cedar Ledge. Kenneth Pierce was manager. The first structure was destroyed
by fire in May of 1954. This plant was built where shipments could be received by railroad so it also lost out when the Pennsy
Line was taken up.
Some early
history of Canton in a 1910 paper written by Mrs. Emeline Leavitt gives some interesting items. There was a public library
here 80 yrs. Ago & this was published in our paper in 1948. Before the railroad was built stage coaches ran from Williamsport
to Elmira and from Canton Corners to Towanda. Upholstered coaches, sleek horses, four on the route to Williamsport & Elmira
with relay station at Canton Corners.
Lake Nephawin
was discovered by this ladies great grandfather whose name was Gillett. He lived in a double house where the Daniel Innes
house sets across the creek. He was hunting cattle & came to this sheet of water and for many years it was known as Gillett
pond in honor of him.
First
doctor was Dr. Hazelton. The first tailor Enoch Sellard. First house was built by Henry Prosser in 1796, on Sullivan St. First
tent show was 65 yrs. Ago, Vanamberg’s Menagerie and Circus. Tents were pitched where Crawford Mill are.
A great
day when the train went through Canton. People turned out in masse & after it had passed through, the crowd went to the
Disciple church which was decorated with flags and flowers and had speeches, singing and gave thanks. This lady who wrote
this was born in Canton.
So much
for early Canton.
Found
this little item in a 1945 book that reads we are very proud & happy to announce that Marlea Rice has been chosen by her
classmates and the faculty, as the outstanding citizen of our school. This is not hard to understand; all through her 12 yrs
in the Canton schools she has played an active part in school life. As anyone can see she has all the qualities of a good
citizen, dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism. In March Marlea take an American History examination in competition
for a $100 War Bond presented by the D.A.R. We wish her the best of luck in this and anything she may undertake in the future.
Oscar
M. Ayres was a well known business man of Canton. Was salesman for International farm machinery for 24 yrs. Was salesman in
Troy & Canton 5 yrs. Then bought the business in Canton, located on Sullivan St. between Brad. Co. Garage and the old
Keystone building. He was Mark Ayres father, grandfather of Don & Lanier. He retired in 1945.
Sam Jewell
was another businessman who sold coal and ice. He was located just beyond the overpass on W. Union St. Dido delivered ice
for him and so did Lysle Watts. Probably they delivered coal that I don’t remember.
Don Thomas
came here in 1945 from Hallstead to work with the Independent Sentinel. He was associated with the office as Associate Editor
and general supervisor of the mechanical dept. Had 3 children Roger 7, David 5, and Karen 3. Don died in 1976. Was Pres. Of
the Canton Publishing Co. and managing editor of the Canton Independent Sentinel since 1945.
The Valvair
Corporation had been in operation for 2 ½ years in the old Independent building on W. Union St. when on July 21, the workers
were notified the plant would cease operation on Aug. 1. The Pres. John E. Collins issued no cause or reason for its closing.
At the time of its closing they employed 20 men. If I remember right your Dad was one of them. The business was originally
started here in 1943 as an additional plant of Sinclair Collins Valve Co. of Akron, Ohio.
The Ben
Franklin store opened its doors on Fri. morning June 28, 1946. Thomas S. Jones was the owner. One big feature mentioned was
the air conditioning system which assured temperature 10 to 12 degrees cooler in the store than on the street.
The history
of Rockwell’s Mill goes back to 1852 when the white mill was built on the site of a former mill by Elias Rockwell. Water
was the sole source of power until 1854. Following the completion of the Northern Central Railroad a steam engine was installed.
This engine was in operation until about 1943. The mill passed out of the Rockwell for some years until in 1876, it came into
the hands of Martin L. Rockwell, grandfather of the present manager. In 1884 his son, Homer Rockwell assumed management of
the enterprise. Remodeling & installation of new wheat & buckwheat milling machinery was undertaken in 1893.
In this
early period before scientific agriculture, the automobile, the commercial bakery, toast & cereal for breakfast cows freshened
in the spring, were dried off in the fall. Hens, for the most part, layed in the spring & summer.
The mill
was a service station for the horse, supplied family flour for the housewives’ baking, and buckwheat flour for the morning
pancakes.
A new
phase & another step took place in 1911 after Martin L. Rockwell joined his father, Homer Rockwell, thus it became H.
Rockwell and Son.
A new
elevator & storehouse were built in at the present location in 1914. About 1920 Rockwells began mixing their first rations
on a clean floor with a shovel. I remember my Dad going down there & having them mix feed for him. Did it in the feed
house by Twists then.
In 1929
large mixers were installed for handling cold molasses directly from a 10,000 gal. storage tank and put into use.
They held
an opening of the new addition down to the lower mill Feb. 27 & 28, 1948.
Something
we all remember is the morning of Jan. 6, 1957, when Beatie (Rockwell) Crandall house burned. She lost her life, was 38 yrs.
old, her son Gary Douglas 5, and Lynne Paulette 3, were also found dead. Her husband who was working in Elmira was told of
the tragedy upon arrival home about 10 a.m. by Frank Carrozza. As he was hurrying toward his home after being located &
told he was wanted home immediately, he was met by Carrozza who was assistant fire chief and an old school friend. He collapsed
& carried into to home of his sister-in-law Mrs. Robt White who lives on Lycoming St. He later regained possession of
himself & went to the scene of the tragedy. Was thought the fire started near a heat register in a pipe leading from a
coal furnace.
Many years
ago Leo Lovejoy lost two children in a house fire. They lived on Minnequa Ave. across the street from Floyd Taylor. Don’t
remember if the house was repaired or rebuilt, however, there’s one there.
Charley
Watts was town cop “Chief of Police” in town from 1914 to 1939. He was sort of a peaceable fellow and yet keep
the town in tow. He often just grabbed a trouble maker by the scuff of the neck and marched him into the cooler for overnight
or so. He was quite a big man. He was Perry Watts father. Think people respected him and at the same time feared him.
Today
Charley would have a much harder time keeping the town in line. Today a cop fears the people he’s dealing with.
E.W. Johnson
bought the Belmar & moved here June 15, 1945. Came here from Linesville, PA with two other men were in the deal. C.B.
Oas, of Girard, PA and C.K. Ruland of Conneaut, Ohio. They were all lumbermen and members of a corporation manufacturing wood
products with experience in the coat hanger field.
Johnson
was the first owner of the Belmar after Marbles death in 1944. Has been bought & sold a time or two since. The last owners
being the Drevenak’s or Drevco Products, Inc. They came to Canton in Sept. 1979. 30 people were hired, the plant used
local lumber to assemble panels for making furniture. They went bankrupt and moved out in the summer of 1985.
After
41 yrs. of owning & operating his own farm machinery business Joe Wynne retired in 1971. He opened his business in 1930
with his brother Dan. Two years later he acquired full ownership of the business. Wynne’s garage is located 5 miles
southwest of Canton at Gleason. When he first started he did car & truck repair, then in 1940’s branched out to
farm machinery (repair work and selling parts). In 1929 he attended Sweeney’s Automotive School in Cleveland & the
following year opened his business. Wynne’s Garage is one of the oldest inspection stations in the state.
Said when
he started selling tractors 30 horsepower was considered fast & how they asking 100 & 120 horsepower. The first gas
he bought it was 10 cent a gal. Plus 2 cent tax. When he retired in 1971, he was paying 21 cents plus 11 cents tax. Today
it is selling for $1.20 more or less. 14 yrs. has made quite a difference.
His son
Jerome now has the business.
The Dutch
family came here in Mar. of 1957. Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius De Bruin and five of their children came here through the sponsorship
of the Bethany class of the Disciple church.
They were
forced to leave their home in Holland because of floods. They were due to arrive in New York, on Mar. 21, but the Dutch liner
on which they had started their journey collided with an Ita tanker and the passengers were forced to return to Europe. They
re-embarked on the SS Zuider Kruis of the Holland American lines and docked in New York Mar. 27, when Rev. Donald Gardner
met them in Towanda at the Lehigh Valley Railroad station.
The church
had a home all prepared and ready for their arrival. This was the former home of the Melville Rockwell family, then owned
by Robert Krise. This was probably 1 ½ miles out of town & rather inconvenient because they had no car. They probably
lived there 2 or so years then moved to town.
Then there
was the time Peter Keltz got all excited over finding a small amount of uranium in the rock down the road. Think he got more
excited than anyone else over it. They were great people to get all stirred up over something that didn’t amount to
much of anything. However, when the federal government deeded 130,000 acres they owned on Armenia to the State of Pennsylvania,
they retained 100% of all mineral rights also of all fissionable materials. So the uranium prospectors had a very limited
area to use their Geiger counters before crossing government lines.
A short
distance further up the mountain road in the area known as “Spencer’s Glen” once owned by Henry Spencer.
Who Henry Spencer was I don’t know because my Dad bought that farm from Edgar Spencer. Henry may have been Ed’s
father. Anyway years ago it was prospected for gold, traces of it were found, but not it paying quantities. Was in 1955 when
Pete found this rock with the yellow streaks appearing in it. Similar rock formations was said to underlie much of the adjacent
land that forms Armenia mountain.
Am afraid
Dutch will be dead long before he reaps anything from his mineral rights down the road. Ha, maybe it will build up as the
years go by, who knows?
The last
train ride on the Penna. Railroad was in 1956, when people from Troy & Canton rode to Roaring Branch for a breakfast party.
Remember well the days of the passenger trains as well as the many freight trains that both ways daily. Don’t remember
who worked in the passenger station. Charley Grantier work in the freight station for years. We weren’t around those
places when we were kids. We could always hear the train whistles blowing from crossings, the two at Cedar Ledge, for Troy
St. and Minnequa crossing. We always heard the train, and the factory whistles & knew which whistle belonged to which
factory. Think the men in the field depended on factory whistles for the time a lot.
Great
were the days in late fall when we had to pick up cider apples. Had to be sorted a bit so there wasn’t to many wormy
ones that got in the bags. But anyway we’d be half frozen and those darned boys would get to pecking those old “apta
cooshes” at us. They’d sting like crazy if they connected & the same thing when we picked up the old “tatie
tates.” Guess we grew up always dodging some kind of flying objects, even bread or pancakes. They’d come flying
through the air like a Frisbee. This came right from Dad’s family. Uncle Jim was always flippin things at the table
to.
1955...The
Old Half-Way house at Leolyn had an interesting story. Never knew who owned it before this William D. Shearen bought it and
restored it. He was an advertising executive of Corning and New York City. Few nails were used in the original construction,
and they were homemade. Article said there were many places especially in the attic where the wooden pegs used on random width
floor boards could be seen. The house was made of bricks made on the grounds and replaced a log house dating from 1768 that
had been destroyed by fire.
It got
its name Half Way House because it was a resting place for stage coach passengers traveling between Williamsport and Elmira.
The Harry
Davenport family owned it about 1922 and restored it for use as a tea room for a while. After his wife died he moved to Hollywood
and the old house became a target of boys with sling shots & stones. Mr. Shearer who I’m sure was a Scotchman but
anyway prior to buying the place, engaged in the historical research and learned the famous Quaker, Jeremiah Wilkenson, had
stopped at the wayside Inn. It was definitely known that John Bartram, Phila. botanist traveled this way & probably rested
in the tavern while following the trail through the valley first blazed by Conrad Weiser.
And there was Major J. Sherman Donaldson who invented a Heart
Surgery instrument. This instrument was used in Lorene Landon’s and Mrs. Paul Fattaruso’s surgery. The instrument
was perfected in 1952. Lorene’s operation for aortic stenosis was the first operation after the instrument was perfected.
Mrs. Fattarusso’s case, the mitral valve had become calcified after rheumatic fever. Before the operation both women
were semi-invalid with short life expectancy. Prior to 1952, Lorene’s surgery would have been fatal.
The Major
witnessed Lorene’s operation with hundreds of others, not knowing she was from Canton, so near his boyhood home of Roaring
Branch.
Describing
his instrument said the first one perfected entered the heart from the bottom or side & the surgeon had to feel his way
blindly to the valve, but later improvements and use of a “pocket” of peri-cardial tissue attached to the aorta
made it possible to go through that artery into the top of the heart.
Major
Donaldson said he had been wounded in both World Wars & was a combat flier in WWI. He said a famous Dr. named Charles
Bailey of Phila. Had persuaded him years before to use his inventive genius to devise instruments for heart operations. After
many experiments, the first instrument, made by hand, had been perfected and used for the first time in the spring of 1952.
Dr. Sherman
Donaldson was one of a team of four surgeons with Dr. Julian Johnson, head surgeon of heart surgery at the University of Penna.
Hospital, in Phila. Who performed heart surgery on Ronnie Morgan when he was 4 yrs. Old. This was in 1968.
Dr. Donaldson
said there was a hole the size of a nickel that required a patch the size of a quarter on the little lads heart.
I hop
from mountain to town & back like a Jack Rabbit but write things when or where I find them. Be that as it is another item
is when the County Bridge collapsed on May 28, 1971. It collapsed about 6 p.m. when one of Jones & Brague’s coal
trucks driven by Mike Bassett started to cross. Wasn’t replaced until 1976, when a new concrete bridge was built over
the Tioga river with a much better approach.
Then the
Chase bridge was closed May 22, 1981 because of dangerous conditions due to the loss of one eye-bar, floor beam overloading
& excessive corrosion. It was built in 1894 and still stands after weathering many a storm. A tribute to workmanship when
workers took pride in their work. Stones were skidded in by teams of horses for the foundation & the teams were changed
at noon time.
It was
closed for 2 yrs. & was facing abandonment and finally financial aid from the county along with aid from Liquid Tax Fuels
were obtained by Ward Twp. Supervisors Don Dorsey & Keith Watts and work was begun to restore it. Is now open with a 3
ton weight limit.
The Ward
schoolhouse burned Dec. 1, 1955. At that time it had been made into a hunting cabin by the owner who was Herbert Reynolds
of Hanover, Pa. Had been a party of hunters there but had all gone home except Mr. & Mrs. Reynolds and one of the men.
The fire wakened them about 11 p.m. The men got out through the door but Mrs. Reynolds badly burned on the face, arms, back,
ankles, & feet was forced to jump from a window. The Reynolds had owned the schoolhouse for 7 yrs. They had made it into
a cabin that could sleep 23 people. The loss was estimated at $7000, besides the men each lost over $200 plus guns & equipment
as well as their clothing.
Think
Reynolds rebuilt a smaller house & lived there for awhile. Dale Krise bought it around 1972 & added on making it into
a home for his family.
Think
Myrtle (Gruver) Wynne was the last teacher to teach there before it was closed. Don’t remember and likely never knew
who the teachers were there back years ago. Do remember about Minnie Hapalowitz because she fell over the falls this side
of Segurs. People were rather amazed that she wasn’t killed. She was awhile getting over it & just seems to me she
stayed with Aunt Phemie while she recuperated. Theres no one to argue with me over it at this late date but think I’m
right. She was from New York City & she & Aunt Phemie were real good friends. Being right & proper Aunt Phemie
called her Miss Kapalowitz. Didn’t call people Hey You, back in those days.
Guess
I was never inside that schoolhouse. They used to call it the Segur school. Back years ago there were lots of country schools
and churches. Every community had a school house and a near by church. Now many of the rural churches are gone and all of
the schools.
Beech
Flats had a church that was Methodist. Pond Hill, a school, & Methodist church that stood in between Jim Best & what
is now Robt. Bests. Alba & Leroy both had two churches and a school as did many other communities.
Think
they always held church in the afternoon on the mountain because we’d go to Aunt Phemie’s for dinner then go to
church and come home.
Charley
Smith, C.L. as they called him was the Amen gentleman of the church. Generally sat up front and always saying AMEN - took
no joking or fooling from anyone. Was a very serious old boy - always called on for prayers. Lived out where Clarence Kohler
lived or where Don Dorsey now lives except Dorsey’s is pretty much a new house.
Only remember
of two men wearing a beard up there Wilson Hill, Art’s grandfather, and Old John Smith as we called him. A few men wore
mustaches, Nate Woodward, Billy Johnston, Harmon Breese, Uncle Clate Hill and guess Uncles Hen Hill did. Mr. Hill as Aunt Phemie called him or sometimes The Mr.
The Mr.
And Aunt Phemie weren’t exactly kids when they were married. She was 42, and he was around 66. As I recall they were
very quiet about being married for a long time - of course she never was very free with information.
At one
time they thought Uncle Jim might get married - went with Myria Landon for a long time but something finally went haywire
with their friendship. He sort of played the field after that, went with Lois Teeter quite a lot. Seems like he buzzed Goldie
Breese a bit to. J.A. was like the Pattersons - always dropped in for dinner up home on the way home from town.
He wore
a wide band ring and whether they gave it to Dad or how it came about but Mom wore the ring. Had to have a piece taken out.
At this point I have no idea where the ring is unless Dad has it.
The Santa
Clauses on the mountain of yesteryear would put the newer models to shame. They were jolly Old Boys with a bit of fun &
frolic. Today he comes dragging in plops into a chair where he can hold kids on his lap. Nobody can hear what he is saying
to them. When that ends he manages to pass out the gifts with a helper & some runners, then with a dull ho, ho, ho he
exits. Harmon Breese and Uncle Jim were good Santa’s, both had a sense of humor.
