After Linberg flew the Atlantic, the BAKER boys built an airplane. Here it is in the BAKER tire swing with Raymond GOFF riding it.*
*courtesty Gordon C. Baker
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Inspiration
After Linberg flew the Atlantic, the BAKER boys built an airplane. Here it is in the BAKER tire swing with Raymond GOFF riding it.*
*courtesty Gordon C. Baker
Hope Hollow
Hope Hollow
Well, surprise, surprise. We were not the first to go on long walks in Hope Hollow!
(Gordon, why did you call it “Minnie Lynn’s Hollow?“)Here is a picture of those who came before us:
Left to right
Annabelle KLINK, Dessie LEWIS, Virginia COLEBANK, Osborne BAKER, Quinter, BAKER
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Well, surprise, surprise. We were not the first to go on long walks in Hope Hollow!
(Gordon, why did you call it “Minnie Lynn’s Hollow?“)Here is a picture of those who came before us:
Left to right
Annabelle KLINK, Dessie LEWIS, Virginia COLEBANK, Osborne BAKER, Quinter, BAKER
Email:trumpcard1@gmail.com
Swimming in the Cheat
Raise your hand if you have been swimming in the Cheat. This had to have happened after the 1st of June because we were never allowed to go barefoot until the ground cracked and that was always after June 1st. We hiked through the back trails and down the “hollow” to arrive at the intersection of Route # 119 and the New Geneva road. At that time, the McClain Sand Company was located there on the Cheat River. We crossed the road and went downstream a little way. And there was a beach just below the sand company. There must have been 10 or 20 kids who went swimming there then. Some were from the countryside and some from the town of Point Marion. We walked on the barges of the sand company. I once fell off the barge when I was 5 or 6 years old and Bob Fowler who much have been 14 or 15 years old (I’m guessing) jumped in and pulled me out so I wouldn’t go under the barge. Thank you, Bob! Once Margy Diehl and somebody else, I forgot who, swam the rivers. This is the point where the Cheat and the Monongahela Rivers come together and it is a long way across where they meet but swim across and back they did.
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LLoyd Colebank
Carol writes:
In the 1946-47 school year, Blosser Hill schools opened. That was the year I was in fifth grade. Miss LEONARD taught, in one building, grades 1-3, Mrs. HESS taught grades 4-6, in the other building. I don't remember the numbers of students in fifth grade, but in sixth grade we only had 6, Jimmy and Viola HUEY, Jack RHODES, Norma Jean SWIFT, myself, and I can't think of the other person. It might have been Steve PLEVEL. Anyway, I get sidetracked. Mr. COLEBANK was the custodian for the buildings, he lived across the road. He would come over, open up, get a bucket of water for recess drinks from the pump on the well outside. I am sure he kept the buildings clean, although I never saw him doing that. In the winter, Jack RHODES and I would help him build the fire in the pot belly stove toward the back center of the building. We would crack the ice in the bucket and prime the pump with the water if there was any. We would fill the bucket and put it near the cupboard where our water cups were kept. We thought we were really being a big help to him. I am not sure, but I think he would wash the blackboards while we were doing this. I do remember Mrs. HESS erasing what she didn't need for the next day, I am assuming so that he would know what portions to wash. Mr. COLEBANK was such a patient, quiet man. He was so nice to everyone. After Mr and Mrs. MUNSON moved into Helen ClLEMMER'S house, he would ride to church with them. This was after Mrs. COLEBANK passed away. My mother would try to have our dinner ready when we got home from church and would have a plate fixed for him. When he returned the plate he always had a treat for us. It was usually a package of butter mints. I loved those mints. Anytime I think of going to school there, and it is often, I think of Mr. COLEBANK and what a nice man he was. It is easy to think about it, as Mother's property abuts the school property. When we sit on the back porch, we face the schools. Mr. COLEBANK'S grandson, John BOHAN, lives in their home now. It is just as well manicured as it was when they lived there. Blosser Hill has many more structures now, than it did when we were growing up, and for the most part everyone takes very good care of their property. Thanks for starting the Clarion, I love reading the new additions. I have spread the word, so I hope lots of people will add their 2 cents.
I am curious as to why the schools reopened? They were supposed to have consolidated all those rural schools. I left in 1945 and didn't know they reopened.
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In the 1946-47 school year, Blosser Hill schools opened. That was the year I was in fifth grade. Miss LEONARD taught, in one building, grades 1-3, Mrs. HESS taught grades 4-6, in the other building. I don't remember the numbers of students in fifth grade, but in sixth grade we only had 6, Jimmy and Viola HUEY, Jack RHODES, Norma Jean SWIFT, myself, and I can't think of the other person. It might have been Steve PLEVEL. Anyway, I get sidetracked. Mr. COLEBANK was the custodian for the buildings, he lived across the road. He would come over, open up, get a bucket of water for recess drinks from the pump on the well outside. I am sure he kept the buildings clean, although I never saw him doing that. In the winter, Jack RHODES and I would help him build the fire in the pot belly stove toward the back center of the building. We would crack the ice in the bucket and prime the pump with the water if there was any. We would fill the bucket and put it near the cupboard where our water cups were kept. We thought we were really being a big help to him. I am not sure, but I think he would wash the blackboards while we were doing this. I do remember Mrs. HESS erasing what she didn't need for the next day, I am assuming so that he would know what portions to wash. Mr. COLEBANK was such a patient, quiet man. He was so nice to everyone. After Mr and Mrs. MUNSON moved into Helen ClLEMMER'S house, he would ride to church with them. This was after Mrs. COLEBANK passed away. My mother would try to have our dinner ready when we got home from church and would have a plate fixed for him. When he returned the plate he always had a treat for us. It was usually a package of butter mints. I loved those mints. Anytime I think of going to school there, and it is often, I think of Mr. COLEBANK and what a nice man he was. It is easy to think about it, as Mother's property abuts the school property. When we sit on the back porch, we face the schools. Mr. COLEBANK'S grandson, John BOHAN, lives in their home now. It is just as well manicured as it was when they lived there. Blosser Hill has many more structures now, than it did when we were growing up, and for the most part everyone takes very good care of their property. Thanks for starting the Clarion, I love reading the new additions. I have spread the word, so I hope lots of people will add their 2 cents.
I am curious as to why the schools reopened? They were supposed to have consolidated all those rural schools. I left in 1945 and didn't know they reopened.
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Marion School
Con’t
How I remember recess! We jumped rope while the boys played marbles. Paul had a drawer full of marbles in his room (lots of commies). One day I went into his room and took several commies. They were pinkish and cream colored, smooth, about the size of cranberries. As we walked to school that morning I displayed them and I was surprised that he knew where I had gotten
them.
I remember the pear tree on the school grounds. In the fall pears covered the ground with honey bees buzzing over them.
In the upper grades, we played soft ball. On friday we sometimes walked to Fallen Timbers to play a game. Helen and Hoffa SULLIVAN were superb players. The could knock the ball out of the park.
Marian COX was my favorite teacher. She made a bulletin board and she taught us about art. Her father drover her each day from New Geneva. Sometimes he was cranky if she kept him waiting.
Kate DAVIS came in 3rd grade. She had a bright smile and talked a lot. Later, when I graduated from high school in Moundsville, WV, she saw Mother in Nilan and suggested that I get a summer job with the Hot Shoppes in Baltimore and Washington D.C., owned by Marriott’s because they welcomed college girls. That too is another story
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How I remember recess! We jumped rope while the boys played marbles. Paul had a drawer full of marbles in his room (lots of commies). One day I went into his room and took several commies. They were pinkish and cream colored, smooth, about the size of cranberries. As we walked to school that morning I displayed them and I was surprised that he knew where I had gotten
them.
I remember the pear tree on the school grounds. In the fall pears covered the ground with honey bees buzzing over them.
In the upper grades, we played soft ball. On friday we sometimes walked to Fallen Timbers to play a game. Helen and Hoffa SULLIVAN were superb players. The could knock the ball out of the park.
Marian COX was my favorite teacher. She made a bulletin board and she taught us about art. Her father drover her each day from New Geneva. Sometimes he was cranky if she kept him waiting.
Kate DAVIS came in 3rd grade. She had a bright smile and talked a lot. Later, when I graduated from high school in Moundsville, WV, she saw Mother in Nilan and suggested that I get a summer job with the Hot Shoppes in Baltimore and Washington D.C., owned by Marriott’s because they welcomed college girls. That too is another story
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Friday, April 18, 2008
My sister Helen writes:
My life changed on March 4, 1931 when my father died on my 7th birthday in Republic, PA.
The next thing I knew Mother had moved the family of six back home to Blosser Hill. Once there, my grandfather, Benjamin Franklin LEWIS and my uncles, Walter, Hugh, and Paul built us a three room house while we lived with our grandparents. That is a story for another day.
Soon after arrival at my grandparents, my uncle Paul, who was in the 8th grade took me to Marion School (Marion School was a one room school where kids from the surrounding few miles when to school) and enrolled me in the 1st grade.
Miss MILLER, the teacher, was combing her long reddish hair at her desk. I remember walking in on the blackish oiled floor. There must have been eight or more rows of students in the school. Paul sat in the last row with my cousin, Lawrence STAMMLER, Raymond GOFF, and Cecil CROW. Another boy, Jack, walked from Nilan because he had been expelled from Nilan for his behavior. However, he seemed as normal as the other boys.
At age eighty-four, I am trying to remember the next years.
Teachers; 1930-31 Miss MILLER
1931-32 Kate DAVIS
1932-33 Art LACKEY
1933-34 Marian COX
1934-35 Marian COX
1935-36 Eunice VAN SICKLE
1937-38 Eunice VAN SICKLE
When Paul and I walked to Marion School each morning, we sometimes stopped at DEBOLT’s store at the bottom of the hill to buy a 10 cent loaf of bread for Grandma. She always gave us 2 cents for penny candy. Mr. Spencer DEBOLT always slid the sliding case for us to make our selection.
Then we proceeded down the State road #119 past the homes of Tom DILS and Del and Ed GANOE. Alice COLEBANK lived across from Marion School. Her brother, Lloyd STEWART, lived across from her. He worked at the Point Marion Post Office.
TO BE CONTINUED
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The next thing I knew Mother had moved the family of six back home to Blosser Hill. Once there, my grandfather, Benjamin Franklin LEWIS and my uncles, Walter, Hugh, and Paul built us a three room house while we lived with our grandparents. That is a story for another day.
Soon after arrival at my grandparents, my uncle Paul, who was in the 8th grade took me to Marion School (Marion School was a one room school where kids from the surrounding few miles when to school) and enrolled me in the 1st grade.
Miss MILLER, the teacher, was combing her long reddish hair at her desk. I remember walking in on the blackish oiled floor. There must have been eight or more rows of students in the school. Paul sat in the last row with my cousin, Lawrence STAMMLER, Raymond GOFF, and Cecil CROW. Another boy, Jack, walked from Nilan because he had been expelled from Nilan for his behavior. However, he seemed as normal as the other boys.
At age eighty-four, I am trying to remember the next years.
Teachers; 1930-31 Miss MILLER
1931-32 Kate DAVIS
1932-33 Art LACKEY
1933-34 Marian COX
1934-35 Marian COX
1935-36 Eunice VAN SICKLE
1937-38 Eunice VAN SICKLE
When Paul and I walked to Marion School each morning, we sometimes stopped at DEBOLT’s store at the bottom of the hill to buy a 10 cent loaf of bread for Grandma. She always gave us 2 cents for penny candy. Mr. Spencer DEBOLT always slid the sliding case for us to make our selection.
Then we proceeded down the State road #119 past the homes of Tom DILS and Del and Ed GANOE. Alice COLEBANK lived across from Marion School. Her brother, Lloyd STEWART, lived across from her. He worked at the Point Marion Post Office.
TO BE CONTINUED
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Route #857
Somebody should write an ode to Route #857. It has to have been an Indian path to begin with and then was surely used by the early settlers to travel to and from the vicinity of Morgantown, WV and southern Fayette Co., PA. Can you picture the horse or horse and buggy going to Gans, or Fairchance, or Smithhfield, Haydentown, White House, or Uniontown along that route? It could be fall with the leaves falling about or winter with snow underfoot. Spring would be even better. Spring is beautiful anywhere but spring in Fayette County is the most beautiful of all. When my sisters and I come back to visit, we usually stay at the Ramada in Morgantown and then drive 857 to our places of childhood memory. We still have a few cousins sprinkled here and there. Route #857 will take you past Cheat Lake. I remember Mother saying, "Oh, it's up there by Cheat Lake," and I had no idea where Cheat Lake was located. (Wonder how Cheat River got it's name? I hope not for what it might suggest!) You could find Fletcher cemetery on that route if you were looking for the last resting place of some of your loved ones of long ago. Now what else is along 857. Please write and tell me.
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Email me:trumpcard1@gmail.com
Marion School about 1927
I'm guessing this was about 1927 but I don't know.
Row #1
Virginia STALNAKER, Clara STAMMLER, Herman STEWART, Velma DILS, Donald CROW, Edith CROW, Virginia COLEBANK
Row #2
Clarence STEWART, Nellie BROWN, Hugh LEWIS, Hilda WRIGHT, Ila DILS, Anna Belle KLINK
Row #3
Paul C. LEWIS, Mary BOARD, Raymond GOFF, Edna STEWART, Cecil CROW, Stanley DILS, James BAKER,
Row #4
William ECKERT, Elizabeth COLEBANK, Arbath BROWN, Osborne BAKER
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PMHS 1928
Row 1 (holding class banner)
Elizabeth Criner, Elizabeth Colebank, Ida Bertilett, Grethel Young, Margaretha Crowe, Jeannette Simpson, Marie Gans, Dessie B. Lewis
Row 2 (across)
Joe Maliska, Thelma Watson, Margaret Costolo, Kathryn Stewart, Fay Rudoph, Marian Beck, Doris Berg, Ella Trans (home room teacher), George Lefevor
Row 3 (across)
Arthur Robbins, John B. Conn, Robert Titus, Harold Hunker, Oscar Coudeau, Melvin Laing, Williard Conn, Enslo Lockard, Joe Periski
(The handwriting on the back of the picture was difficult to read so some of the names may not be quite correct)
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Aunt Annie - Ruth Ann Phillips Jennings
She would come up the hill with her umbrella every so often. I don’t know when she started coming but she was born during the Civil War so she couldn’t have been young. And that is quite a climb up Blosser Hill although it didn’t seem steep when we lived there. She had two reasons to come. Her sister, Sarah PHILLIPS STAMMLER, lived on the hill with her daughter, Maggie Diehl, and her brother-in-law, Ben LEWIS lived a couple of houses farther up the hill. The brother-in-law was my Grandfather. When this picture was taken she was coming to see my Grandparents. She married Henry Clay JENNINGS who was my grandfather’s half brother.
RUTH ANN PHILLIPS was born June 1863 in Pa, and died June 29, 1947. She married HENRY CLAY JENNINGS Abt. 1882, son of THOMAS JENNINGS and KATHERINE MURRAY. He was born March 04, 1868 in WV, and died October 18, 1930 in Springhill Twp., Fayette Co., PA. Burial: Brick Church Cemetery along Lake Lynn road Morris Crossroads, PA, also known as L.C. Cemetery
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1930, April 17. Fayette Co., PA, Springhill Twp., page 9a, Dist., 24, ED 26-96,
House #195
EMORY, Alice A., wife, live on farm, f., w., 66 yrs., white, married. 40 at first marriage, b. PA, F b. PA, M b. WV,
House #196
BAKER, William G., head, owns home $4,000, does not live on farm, male, white, 39 yrs., married, 27 yrs. At first marriage, b. PA, F/M b. PA, trucker, general hauling, veteran
BAKER, Ada H. B., wife, female, white 33 yrs., married at 21 yrs., b. PA, F/M b. PA
BAKER, William D., son, male, white, 11 yrs., single, attended school, b. NJ, F/M b. PA
BAKER, James M., son, male, white, 4 yrs., b. PA, F/M b. PA
House #197
WELTNER, George W., head owns home, has radio, lives on farm, male, white, 68 yrs., married at 25 yrs., b. WV, F/M b. WV, farmer
WELTNER, Mary F., wife, 67 yrs., married at 24 yrs., b. PA, F. b. MD, M. b. PA
WELTNER, Cordia M., dau., 36 yrs., single, b. PA, F b. WV, M. b. PA, school bookkeeper
House # 198
DAY, Ray M., head, owns home $3,000, does not live on farm, male, white, 38 yrs., married at 27 yrs., B. PA, F/M b. PA, laborer, road work, veteran
DAY, Leola, wife, 31 yrs, married at 18 yrs., b. PA, F/M b. PA
DAY, Jessie, dau., 9 yrs., b. PA, F/M b .PA
Day, Evelin (sic) J., dau., 3 yrs., b. PA, F/M b. PA
DAY, Minnie E., dau., 2 yrs., b. PA, F/M b. PA
House #199
GUSEMAN, Gale, head, owns home, $4,000, has radio, does not live on farm, male, white, 36 yrs., married at 21 yrs., b. MO, F/M b. WV, laborer, auto garage, veteran
GUSEMAN, Hattie E., wife, 32 yrs., married at 16 yrs., b. WV, F/M b. WV
GUSEMAN, Mary E., dau., 12 yrs., b. WV, F. b. MO, M. b. WV
GUSEMAN, Dorthy H., dau, 10 yrs., b. PA, F. b. MO, M. b. WV
GUSEMAN, James E., son, 8 yrs., b. PA, F. b. MO, M. b. WV
GUSEMAN, Fred , son, 6 yrs., b. PA, F. b. MO, M. b. WV
GUSEMAN, Robert Lee, son, 4 yrs., b. PA, F. b. MO, M. b. WV
GUSEMAN, Marjorie E., dau, 2 yrs., b. PA, F. b. MO, M. b. WV
House #200
DREW, Harry E., head rents, male, white, 29 yrs., married at 19 yrs., b. PA, F. b. PA, M. b. PA, laborer, auto garage
DREW, Laura K., wife, 28 yrs., married at 18 yrs., b. PA, F. b. PA, M. b. PA
DREW, Betty L., dau., 6 yrs., b. PA, F. b. PA, M. b. PA
DREW, Harry Jr., son, 4 yrs., b. PA, F. b. PA, M. b. PA
DREW Dolores, L., dau, 2 yrs., b. PA, F. b. PA, M. b. PA
House #201
LYONS, Guy W., had, rents, radio, male, white, 35 yrs., married at 34 yrs., b. PA, F. b. PA, M. b. WV, US Post office, veteran
LYONS, Evelin J., wife, female, white, 24 yrs., married at 23 yrs., b. PA, F. b. PA, M. b. PA
House #202
SHIBLER, Joseph, had, owns, $5,000, male, white, 78 yrs., married at 28 yrs., b. PA, F. b. PA, M. b. PA, salesman, general store
SHIBLER, Emma C., wife, 75 yrs., married at 25 yrs., b. PA, F. b. PA, M. b. PA
House #203
SHIBLER, Earl L., head, male, white, 47 yrs., married at 21 yrs., b. PA, F. b. PA, M. b. PA, laborer, glass factory
SHIBLER, Lenora M., wife, 45 yrs., married at 19 yrs., b. PA, F/M b. WV
SHIBLER, Dorcas E., dau., 22 yrs., b. PA, F. b. PA, M. b. PA
SHIBLER, Jeane, dau., 19 yrs., b. PA, F. b. PA, M. b. PA
SHIBLER, Rebecca, dau., 17 yrs., b. PA, F. b. PA, M. b. PA
SHIBLER, Robert, son, 14 yrs., b. PA, F. b. PA, M. b. PA
SHIBLER, Earl Jr., son, 10 yrs., b. PA, F. b. PA, M. b. PA
SHIBLER, Billy, son, 3 yrs., b. PA, F. b. PA, M. b. PA
SHIBLER, Joan, dau., 10/12 yrs, b. PA, F. b. PA, M. b. PA
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Point Marion 1945
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In 1945, the Grayhound bus station was in Hunker’s Drug Store. Hunker’s was at the corner of Railroad and Main Streets. The train, seems like it was always the B & O, ran up down Railroad Street and the passenger station was on the other side of the street to the south. The town was at its apex of development. On Main Street, there were a number of stores including Klein’s Dry Goods, Siegel’s shoe store, Frere’s Hardware, a newsstand, Sadler’s Five and Dime and of course, Barney Maple’s theatre and restaurant. The post office was close to the shoe store but it seems like there was something else between them. There were two beer gardens and one state liquor store. One beer garden was DeGardyn’s and I have forgotten the name of the other. I’ve also forgotten how to spell Degardine? The A & P was next to the five and dime. Of course there was a bowling alley. When I was in about the 5th or 6th grade, Boyer’s Ice Cream store came to town. Next to that was the location of Ross’s Grocery. Sometime the Carlier Bakery appeared, I’m not sure exactly when. A little shoe repair shop nestled next to Hunker’s Drug Store. Sprinkled about town, there were other stores. Cupelli’s grocery store was several blocks away and the Rhodes had a grocery on Railroad Street.
On the way out of town towards the Cheat river bridge, on one side of the street you would pass the Maple’s stately home, the Frank Bowers home, and John McClain home. On the either side next to the filling station is where Dr. Hunger lived. I’ve always wondered why they put a filling station next to his house and whether he protested or not. Dr. Buvinger lived on that side of the street too. And of course there were a lot of other houses, I just didn’t know who lived in them.
In 1945, the Grayhound bus station was in Hunker’s Drug Store. Hunker’s was at the corner of Railroad and Main Streets. The train, seems like it was always the B & O, ran up down Railroad Street and the passenger station was on the other side of the street to the south. The town was at its apex of development. On Main Street, there were a number of stores including Klein’s Dry Goods, Siegel’s shoe store, Frere’s Hardware, a newsstand, Sadler’s Five and Dime and of course, Barney Maple’s theatre and restaurant. The post office was close to the shoe store but it seems like there was something else between them. There were two beer gardens and one state liquor store. One beer garden was DeGardyn’s and I have forgotten the name of the other. I’ve also forgotten how to spell Degardine? The A & P was next to the five and dime. Of course there was a bowling alley. When I was in about the 5th or 6th grade, Boyer’s Ice Cream store came to town. Next to that was the location of Ross’s Grocery. Sometime the Carlier Bakery appeared, I’m not sure exactly when. A little shoe repair shop nestled next to Hunker’s Drug Store. Sprinkled about town, there were other stores. Cupelli’s grocery store was several blocks away and the Rhodes had a grocery on Railroad Street.
On the way out of town towards the Cheat river bridge, on one side of the street you would pass the Maple’s stately home, the Frank Bowers home, and John McClain home. On the either side next to the filling station is where Dr. Hunger lived. I’ve always wondered why they put a filling station next to his house and whether he protested or not. Dr. Buvinger lived on that side of the street too. And of course there were a lot of other houses, I just didn’t know who lived in them.
Maggie Diehl
She was beloved. How else could this excerpt from a letter be explained
“My mind wondered back over the years to those days we lived on Blosser Hill; of how you came and did our milking when we were all sick, and how you used to birth all the babies or so it seemed. Remember ….the political rally we went to…and the story he told about going through the cemetery and came across a tombstone inscribed: “Here lies the body of Mary Ann Brown, When on earth, she weighed 200 pounds, and now in heaven, sweetly she rests on Abraham’s breast,” and some kid had scribbled below it ‘may be sweet for Mary Ann but it’s a heck of a load for Abraham‘… Maggie, I miss you my good friend.”
She was always busy. I never saw her sit down. Sometimes she was washing fruits or vegetables at the kitchen sink and getting ready to cook something tantalizing. Sometimes she was washing in her wash house out back. You had to go out the back door and up a flight of 8 or 10 steps because things are always up in the mountains. It was such a nice addition to her house, I thought, and Aloma and Margy used it as a play house. (But no matter how much I pounded on the door or cried real tears, they would not let me in) Some where along the line, she took her little girl by the hand and went to see Roger Houze. I don’t know what she said but he gave her a job at the glass factory. This at a time when it was almost impossible to find a job of any kind. And she was there for everybody. If you had a problem and you talked it over with Mag, she could usually think of some solution. I know many people must have bushels of memories of Mag. Please share them with the rest of us.
“My mind wondered back over the years to those days we lived on Blosser Hill; of how you came and did our milking when we were all sick, and how you used to birth all the babies or so it seemed. Remember ….the political rally we went to…and the story he told about going through the cemetery and came across a tombstone inscribed: “Here lies the body of Mary Ann Brown, When on earth, she weighed 200 pounds, and now in heaven, sweetly she rests on Abraham’s breast,” and some kid had scribbled below it ‘may be sweet for Mary Ann but it’s a heck of a load for Abraham‘… Maggie, I miss you my good friend.”
She was always busy. I never saw her sit down. Sometimes she was washing fruits or vegetables at the kitchen sink and getting ready to cook something tantalizing. Sometimes she was washing in her wash house out back. You had to go out the back door and up a flight of 8 or 10 steps because things are always up in the mountains. It was such a nice addition to her house, I thought, and Aloma and Margy used it as a play house. (But no matter how much I pounded on the door or cried real tears, they would not let me in) Some where along the line, she took her little girl by the hand and went to see Roger Houze. I don’t know what she said but he gave her a job at the glass factory. This at a time when it was almost impossible to find a job of any kind. And she was there for everybody. If you had a problem and you talked it over with Mag, she could usually think of some solution. I know many people must have bushels of memories of Mag. Please share them with the rest of us.
We are all one
Somewhere in your life travels, you surely have heard that all life is connected in some manner. You know about being your brother’s keeper, don’t you. The motto where I went to college was “God hath made of one blood all ye nations of men” (when the world turned to political correctness, they changed the “men“ to“persons“ but I like the original because it is so much more lyrical). And science tells us that the flutter of a butterfly’s wings may cause a hurricane someplace on earth. So as the years have gone by, I have been intrigued by the relationships between and among the people who lived in my childhood world. My maternal grandparents lived a few houses away and their children with their children lived above and below. My father’s sister lived a few houses away and her husband’s sister lived further down the hill. My grandfather’s half brother lived on Route #119 in a dangerous bend of the road and there were many brothers and many sisters who lived nearby. The relationships were often tangled and hopefully, some of the readers will tell us more about relationships. People did take care of each other as best they could in the worst of all economic times.
1930 Census, Springhill Twp., page 1a
1930 Census Springhill Twp., Fayette Co., PA, ED 26-96, p. 1a, April 2, 1930, John A. Lyons, enumerator
House #1
ROSS, Lewis R., head, owns, Value:$1500, radio, male, white, 40 yrs., married at 23, b. PA, F/M b. PA, laborer, odd jobs
ROSS, Wiles? M., wife, female, white, 38 yrs., married at 21, b. WV, F/M b. WV
ROSS, Robert L., son, male, white, 16 yrs., single, attended school, b. PA, F. b. PA, M b. WV
House #2
FRANKENBERRY, John, head, lives on farm, male, white, 70 yrs., single, b. PA, F/M b. PA, farmer
House #3
MACKEY, Robert, head, owns, lives on farm, male, white, 84 yrs., married at 25, b. PA, F/M b. Scotland
MACKEY, Emma C., wife, female, white, 82 yrs., married at 23, b. PA, F/M b. MD, farmer
House #4
TITUS, Garret S., head, owns, lives on farm, male, white, 49 yrs., married at 26, b. in TX, F/M b. PA, glass factory
TITUS, Anna T., wife, female, white, 53 yrs., married at 30, b. PA, F ather b. WV, Mother b. PA
TITUS, Robert L., son, male, white, 20 yrs., single, b. PA, Father b. TX, Mother b. PA, glass factory
TITUS, Mary M., dau, female, white, 12 yrs., attended school, b. PA, Father b. TX, Mother b. PA
House #5
ALLIPSCOMB, Albert, head, rents, male, white, 55 yrs., married at 24, b. WV, F/M b. WV, farmer
ALLIPSCOMB, Clara, wife, female, white, 40 yrs., married at 26, b. WV, F/M b. WV
ALLIPSCOMB, Opal, dau., female, white, 8 yrs., attended school, b. WV, F/M b. WV
ALLIPSCOMB, Floyd, son, male, white, 5 yrs., b. WV, F/M b. WV
House #6
MARTIN, Bud J., head, ents, male, neg., 46 yrs., single, b. VA, F/M b. VA, coal miner
House #7
GROOMS, Ben F., head, owns, radio, lives on farm, male, white, 70 yrs., b. PA, F/M b. PA, farmer
TAYLOR, Naomi A., maid, female, white, 20 yrs., single, b. WV, F/M b. PA
TAYLOR, Edward Lee, son, male, white, 2 yrs., b. WV, F/M b. WV
House #8
SCHROYER, D.M., head, owns, male, white, 74 yrs., married at 30, b. PA, Father b. MD, Mother b. WV
SCHROYER, Hannah M., wife, female, white, 67 yrs., married at 27 yrs., b. WV, Father b. PA, Mother b,. WV
House #9
HUNTER, Glenwood, head, male, white, 30 yrs., married at 22, b. WV, F/M b. WV, coal miner
HUNTER, Mabel M., wife, female, white, 27 yrs., married at 20, b. PA, Father b. PA, Mother b. WV
HUNTER, Doris Ann, dau., female, white, 6 yrs., b. PA, F/M b. PA
House #10
JARVIS, Helen, head, rents, female, white, 42 yrs., b. Russia, F/M b. Poland, speaks Polish at home, naturalized in 1907
JARVIS, John F., son, male, white, 15 yrs., single, attended school, b. OH, Father b. Germany, M. b. Russia
JARVIS, Helen, dau, female, white, 12 yrs., attended school, b. OH, Father b. Germany, M. b. Russia
JARVIS, Sophia, dau., female, white, 10 yrs, attended school, b. WV, Father b. Germany, M. b. Russia
JARVIS, Alex, son, male, white, 8 yrs., attended school, b. WV, Father b., Germany, M. b,. Russia
House #1
ROSS, Lewis R., head, owns, Value:$1500, radio, male, white, 40 yrs., married at 23, b. PA, F/M b. PA, laborer, odd jobs
ROSS, Wiles? M., wife, female, white, 38 yrs., married at 21, b. WV, F/M b. WV
ROSS, Robert L., son, male, white, 16 yrs., single, attended school, b. PA, F. b. PA, M b. WV
House #2
FRANKENBERRY, John, head, lives on farm, male, white, 70 yrs., single, b. PA, F/M b. PA, farmer
House #3
MACKEY, Robert, head, owns, lives on farm, male, white, 84 yrs., married at 25, b. PA, F/M b. Scotland
MACKEY, Emma C., wife, female, white, 82 yrs., married at 23, b. PA, F/M b. MD, farmer
House #4
TITUS, Garret S., head, owns, lives on farm, male, white, 49 yrs., married at 26, b. in TX, F/M b. PA, glass factory
TITUS, Anna T., wife, female, white, 53 yrs., married at 30, b. PA, F ather b. WV, Mother b. PA
TITUS, Robert L., son, male, white, 20 yrs., single, b. PA, Father b. TX, Mother b. PA, glass factory
TITUS, Mary M., dau, female, white, 12 yrs., attended school, b. PA, Father b. TX, Mother b. PA
House #5
ALLIPSCOMB, Albert, head, rents, male, white, 55 yrs., married at 24, b. WV, F/M b. WV, farmer
ALLIPSCOMB, Clara, wife, female, white, 40 yrs., married at 26, b. WV, F/M b. WV
ALLIPSCOMB, Opal, dau., female, white, 8 yrs., attended school, b. WV, F/M b. WV
ALLIPSCOMB, Floyd, son, male, white, 5 yrs., b. WV, F/M b. WV
House #6
MARTIN, Bud J., head, ents, male, neg., 46 yrs., single, b. VA, F/M b. VA, coal miner
House #7
GROOMS, Ben F., head, owns, radio, lives on farm, male, white, 70 yrs., b. PA, F/M b. PA, farmer
TAYLOR, Naomi A., maid, female, white, 20 yrs., single, b. WV, F/M b. PA
TAYLOR, Edward Lee, son, male, white, 2 yrs., b. WV, F/M b. WV
House #8
SCHROYER, D.M., head, owns, male, white, 74 yrs., married at 30, b. PA, Father b. MD, Mother b. WV
SCHROYER, Hannah M., wife, female, white, 67 yrs., married at 27 yrs., b. WV, Father b. PA, Mother b,. WV
House #9
HUNTER, Glenwood, head, male, white, 30 yrs., married at 22, b. WV, F/M b. WV, coal miner
HUNTER, Mabel M., wife, female, white, 27 yrs., married at 20, b. PA, Father b. PA, Mother b. WV
HUNTER, Doris Ann, dau., female, white, 6 yrs., b. PA, F/M b. PA
House #10
JARVIS, Helen, head, rents, female, white, 42 yrs., b. Russia, F/M b. Poland, speaks Polish at home, naturalized in 1907
JARVIS, John F., son, male, white, 15 yrs., single, attended school, b. OH, Father b. Germany, M. b. Russia
JARVIS, Helen, dau, female, white, 12 yrs., attended school, b. OH, Father b. Germany, M. b. Russia
JARVIS, Sophia, dau., female, white, 10 yrs, attended school, b. WV, Father b. Germany, M. b. Russia
JARVIS, Alex, son, male, white, 8 yrs., attended school, b. WV, Father b., Germany, M. b,. Russia
School buses & stuff
This from my cousin:
Finley Burchinal came to school when I was there too - not sure if he delivered those Pennsylvania map cover pencil tablets or not - but I would sure love to have one of those. Why didn't I keep one when I had one? I loved looking at the map "to see where I was." I think he was in charge of truancy when I was seeing him there. I have loved telling people who grew up in other states that I grew up in Pennsylvania and we had free tablets and pencils. It put me up a notch higher than some of those who didn't get anything at all in the way of supplies. Some of them had to write on brown paper lunch bags - every note they took that day in school went home on the inside and outside of their lunch bag. We can be proud of our school. Tillie and I had to walk too. Every year the school board would have a meeting about busses and other stuff. We lived exactly one mile from Point Marion. So the decision each year would be voted whether we could right or not. One year they voted we had to live more than 1 mile to ride it. Next year it was voted that if we lived a mile or less we could ride. Wouldn't you think that they could have made a change so we could ride since we lived that far. Not that it wasn't good for us - but the roads were really dangerous and Tillie and I walked side by side - not one behind the other. When Jean Swift (Ham Swift's daughter) started walking with us - because we were older than she was, we made her walk on the outside of us and so she was sometimes walking in the ditch. But we still thought that was safer than her walking on the road with us. That may explain why she is not in touch with us today. haha We really enjoyed having someone younger than us who we could boss around...since we were the youngest of the family of Lewises, Barnes and Porters. I get to laughing about it every so often but then I rationalize that we may have saved that kid's life.
Finley Burchinal came to school when I was there too - not sure if he delivered those Pennsylvania map cover pencil tablets or not - but I would sure love to have one of those. Why didn't I keep one when I had one? I loved looking at the map "to see where I was." I think he was in charge of truancy when I was seeing him there. I have loved telling people who grew up in other states that I grew up in Pennsylvania and we had free tablets and pencils. It put me up a notch higher than some of those who didn't get anything at all in the way of supplies. Some of them had to write on brown paper lunch bags - every note they took that day in school went home on the inside and outside of their lunch bag. We can be proud of our school. Tillie and I had to walk too. Every year the school board would have a meeting about busses and other stuff. We lived exactly one mile from Point Marion. So the decision each year would be voted whether we could right or not. One year they voted we had to live more than 1 mile to ride it. Next year it was voted that if we lived a mile or less we could ride. Wouldn't you think that they could have made a change so we could ride since we lived that far. Not that it wasn't good for us - but the roads were really dangerous and Tillie and I walked side by side - not one behind the other. When Jean Swift (Ham Swift's daughter) started walking with us - because we were older than she was, we made her walk on the outside of us and so she was sometimes walking in the ditch. But we still thought that was safer than her walking on the road with us. That may explain why she is not in touch with us today. haha We really enjoyed having someone younger than us who we could boss around...since we were the youngest of the family of Lewises, Barnes and Porters. I get to laughing about it every so often but then I rationalize that we may have saved that kid's life.
Nilan
Nilan is not Blosser Hill. But Nilan is relevant. I know very little about Nilan. I wish somebody from Nilan would write and tell me more about Nilan. I will tell you what I know about Nilan. It is on the other side of the mountain. But to get to Nilan, we had to go downhill so we must have been starting from almost the top of the mountain. The road to Nilan was cobble stoned. That was different. (you know, of course, that I am old and gray, and these are just my memories of long ago, and undoubtedly they are colored by age and sentiment, but that’s o.k., isn’t, it?) The road up Blosser Hill was first just dirt and ruts, and later the WPA came along and worked, leaving the road covered in black gravel. Some of the roads around were covered with Red Dog but cobblestones were new to me. We passed a house made of beige field stone owned by the Stronsky’s. That’s all I know about the Stronsky’s. Nilan was (and is) located along the shore of the Cheat River. In those years ago of which I am remembering, you would see a number of people who had set up shop to blow glass. This is great glass blowing country because it has some of the finest sand for glass making and that is another whole story. I just remember watching these men blow glass from a long tube…….Years later, I went to Italy and watched some of the most renowned glass blowers in the world but it was not as wondrous as that first time of watching them in Nilan.
The Goff's
My cousin e-mailed about her friendship with the Goff's. My sister in response replied the following:
I remember Mrs Goff, Josephine, in her neat spring house in her galoshes when we went over to get milk. The farm was lovely, I thought. Loved to climb the fences, sled ride in winter, roll in the long grasses in the summer time, and walking across the log in the farm pond which Harold fell into once upon a time. Harold said he and Herbert went over in the cow field to smoke when they were about 10 and when they came back Uncle Walter asked them if they had seen a fire because he had seem smoke over there. Cool, huh? And I remember watching from our bedroom windows when their house burned down.
Personally, I carried a lifelong grudge because my siblings did not wake me up to watch the house burning down. I slept through the whole thing.
I too, remember Mrs. Goff. I didn't know until I was old and gray that she had given my family milk to help Mother try to get us kids raised. She never said an unkind word that I know of. I remember John Goff as being tall, slim, dressed in brown. He would occasionally appear to fix a fence to keep the cows from getting out but otherwise he was a remote brown figure in the distance. He was never Mr. Goff or John - it was always JohnGoff as if that were one word.
I remember Mrs Goff, Josephine, in her neat spring house in her galoshes when we went over to get milk. The farm was lovely, I thought. Loved to climb the fences, sled ride in winter, roll in the long grasses in the summer time, and walking across the log in the farm pond which Harold fell into once upon a time. Harold said he and Herbert went over in the cow field to smoke when they were about 10 and when they came back Uncle Walter asked them if they had seen a fire because he had seem smoke over there. Cool, huh? And I remember watching from our bedroom windows when their house burned down.
Personally, I carried a lifelong grudge because my siblings did not wake me up to watch the house burning down. I slept through the whole thing.
I too, remember Mrs. Goff. I didn't know until I was old and gray that she had given my family milk to help Mother try to get us kids raised. She never said an unkind word that I know of. I remember John Goff as being tall, slim, dressed in brown. He would occasionally appear to fix a fence to keep the cows from getting out but otherwise he was a remote brown figure in the distance. He was never Mr. Goff or John - it was always JohnGoff as if that were one word.
Murial’s cabin
She lived at the bottom of the hill in a cabin behind her parents home. She wore a lot of make up and she dyed her hair red! As a child I sensed disapproval from the adults for such behavior but it didn’t matter. It was so nice to go to her cabin. She was so pleasant and gentle with the raggedy neighbor kids. There were rag rugs on the floor and quilts on her “day bed.” She had a hot plate and shelves and I can‘t remember what else. Did she have a fireplace? I’m not sure but my memory puts one in one end of the cabin. She made hot chocolate for us and, I think, let us roast marshmallows in her fireplace. We read the funnies from the newspaper. I still want a cabin just like hers
Barnes-Lewis Clarion
Hello friends and relatives.
Let us continue the saga of Blosser Hill. Blosser Hill is that wonderful place of our childhood. If you are from the vicinity of Blosser Hill, just north of Point Marion, in Fayette Co., PA, then I want to hear from you.
Let us continue the saga of Blosser Hill. Blosser Hill is that wonderful place of our childhood. If you are from the vicinity of Blosser Hill, just north of Point Marion, in Fayette Co., PA, then I want to hear from you.
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