MEETINGS
Spend a relaxing evening at the Mill on June 9 and July 14. Meeting time is 7 p.m. Bring a light jacket if it’s chilly. Come out and see what is happening.
OPEN HOUSE
At the Mill – the fourth Saturday of each month, May through September, from 11 – 3. The Mill may be visited at other times by appointment. Email us to schedule a time.
NEXT NEWSLETTER
The deadline for articles for the next Newsletter is July 20. By the way, we’re experimenting with fonts – do you like this one? Is it easier to read than the one we’ve been using? If you are reading Grist on the Web, you probably won’t see a difference; we welcome your comments.
THE OLD SWIMMING HOLE
Some of you readers may once have been among the young members of the community who used to swim at Mickey’s Mill and used the beach there. The beach is long gone…...well, it was! We previously reported that the flood last September had done no damage to the Mill. While that is true, it did wash up debris including railroad ties that we are in the process of getting moved. And, that beach – it’s baaaack! Thanks to the high waters, the sand has returned. Talk about history repeating itself! We are in urgent need of a volunteer with a high lift to level off the property and remove those railroad ties. Gay Revi continues to work on mickeysmill.org and has added a bulletin board – check out the postings and add your memories. This web site and the one listed above are showing up on search engines such as Google.
EMAILS, EMAILS, EMAILS
The emails continue to arrive through the web page. As promised in the last newsletter, we’ll include some here for your enjoyment, thoughts, comments, and answers to questions.
STANIEK OR STANICK FAMILY
Mrs. Marybeth Corrigall, 4844 Forest Glen Trail, Ravenna, OH 44266 emailed the Historical Society as follows:
To Whom it may Concern: I am searching for family information about my ancestors, surname Staniek/Stanick. Frederick Staniek, born in Bohemia, Austria, in 1828, arrived in Armstrong Co. about 1856. I am trying to locate baptism records for several of his children, and would like to know if the Catholic Church in Freeport has records for the 1850-60’s. Al Bennett was in touch with St. Mary’s but no information was forthcoming. If any of our readers are members there and have the time, we’d appreciate you trying to track down this information for her. She can be reached at ACMBJC@aol.com. Thanks, readers!
OLD DEEDS
Edith Blackburn Smith emailed us about a bunch of old deeds she had to property in Freeport that was called Lot 14. The Blackburn property was in the block now bounded by High Street, Cherry Way, Fourth Street and Fifth Street. She has donated the deeds to us and they were thoroughly checked out by those attending the April meeting. The oldest date we were able to read was 1842 and one was handwritten. We thank her for entrusting these documents to the Society.
YOU OLD BAG, YOU!
Freeport resident, Sue Lowers, was in touch about parts of old flour bags found behind a plastered wall in a house at 225 Second Street. The new owners are in the process of remodeling it and her brother-in-law, Darryl Acre, retrieved and cleaned them up. Sue says he’s real clever! The bags were nailed to the boards behind it and one had these words on it: “Buffalo Milling Co., Roller Flour, FANCY, Patent Freeport, PA.” She emailed us some pictures that we’ve included here. But, best of all Sue and Darryl came to the March meeting and brought these artifacts with her for all to see. They were in amazingly good condition. Next issue will have an article on the Buffalo Milling Co.
SEARCHING FOR FAMILY
Mary Jane Martin emailed requesting any information on these families: Travis, Gahagan, Comiskey/Cummiskey (various spellings), Porter, Olson, Smith. If you can help her, she can be reached at shu@adelphia.com.
MASSEY HARBISON FUNDRAISER
Richard Ned Sweeny, brother of Tom, one of our members, said to Tom not long ago, “Tom, what was the name of that Harbison girl that trekked to Pittsburgh, and they picked all hose thorns out of her feet?” Tom said, “Give me a break, Ned; you were raised in town and I know you know her name was Massey.” Ned came back with “That’s not what the gravestone said!” Ned suggests we get a close up picture of the stone and bet people they could not give her formal name. Ned thinks it would be fair to share the proceeds from these bets with him! Ned, Ned – if only raising money were that easy! Seriously, he is assuming that Massa was her formal name and that those who knew her called her Massey, much as we use nicknames or more familiar names today. Does anyone have some thoughts on her “real” name?
ACROSS THE POND
With the wonders of the Internet, we hear from people far and near. John Wastle of Scotland emailed us with a subject line “1920 Census Armstrong County Orphanages.” John says that he is trying to find information on his father who was raised in an orphanage in Pennsylvania. He was also a miner prior to enlisting in the military. He continues, “For the past number of months I’ve been trying to identify the orphanages in your county, and throughout Pennsylvania, searching for the 1920 census sheets for those orphanages. Could you possibly help me on this quest? These are the orphanages I have managed to identify for your county, I’m not sure I have captured them all. Most of these details came from Census publication M1584 Roll 716.
Kittanny Borough Home?/ Armstrong/ -/-4/44/5L21 Unnamed Institute/ Armstrong/ Kittanny/ Jefferson/ 3/27/1 and Dayton School.” He gives a web address where he has found some info as http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb. Com/%7Emjwanc/Dayton.htm Dayton Township. If anyone can help him, he can be contacted at john_wastle @btinternet.com.
THE TRAIN AT THE PARK
Steve Singleton of Sarver emailed inquiring about the history and status of Freeport Community Park and the small train ride that he recalled from his youth. Steve recently returned to the area after having lived away for many years. His profession as a Mechanical Engineer has been centered on the railroad industry. In some way he feels that the little train ride and the climb-on airplane, tank, caboose at the Park helped develop his interest in the railroad at a very young age. Al Bennett was able to answer his questions.
FREEPORT BUSINESS IN 1920s
Tom Ziglinski, 2103 Lerin Lane, Marion, IL 62959 emailed the following:I enjoyed reading the material posted on your Freeport Area Historical Society website. Of particular interest to me was the “Grist for the Mill” newsletter and the descriptions of the many businesses in Freeport long ago. My grandfather, Ben Ziglinski (Boleslaw Zgliczynski) operated a shoe store in Freeport in the 1920s. I was wondering if you had any references that might identify the location of the store. My father showed me the store about 35 years ago, but I have long forgotten which specific street it was on. I would be very grateful if you could identify any references to his store. As an additional item, my aunt, Helen Burski (Girardi), was from Freeport. Although she passed away in the 1990s I am still in contact with her sons who live in New York and Louisiana. I believe my Aunt Helen’s family operated the Girardi Food Shop on Market and Third Street.In a second email he told us that his Uncle Chester Ziglinski was born in 1917 in a house that used to be at the corner of Community Park Road and Freeport Road. That house became a butcher or meat packinghouse after they moved to Natrona. His Aunt Helen and her husband lived on the corner of High and Third Street. In the postcard below, first house on left was where Tom Ziglinski’s Aunt Helen Girardi Burski lived.
EBAY
What, you might wonder, does any mention of Ebay belong in a publication devoted to history? Well…actually, lots. Our friend, Gay Revi, who wrote Fear and Loathing in Freeport: Misadventures with a Mimeograph in the last edition of Grist, does a lot of Internet surfing and plugs in “Freeport, PA” on the Ebay search engine a couple times a week. She has found a lot of treasures there, and has generously bought and given some to the Historical Society. At recent meetings we enjoyed looking at the Freeportian, the first yearbook published by the school, in 1937. Perhaps we can reprint some portions of it in a future edition of Grist. She also found “Early trade tokens from Frank Haines in Freeport Pennsylvania – good for 10 cents in trade.” She included these pictures of the token and we’re including them here. They are not very clear in black and white; hope you can read the writing. Does anyone know of Frank Haines, who he was and what he did?Gay also bid on and purchased a vintage wooden smoking pipe from the Lane Pipe Company in Freeport, Pennsylvania. The pipe came in its original box with its original instructions and paperwork. It is an Italian Briar Pocket Pipe designed to fit in one’s pocket and also so that no juice gets stuck in the bowl or stem. There is a separate compartment, and you can add a filter. The pipe is in excellent condition (we know, because Gay sent it to the Historical Society and it truly was the highlight of the April meeting.) It is in excellent condition, with a nice wood grain. When open it is a short 3 ¾ inches Rod Chapman was present at the meeting and knew all about the pipe. A man named Ronald Lockard, who lived in Laneville, imported these pipes from Italy. Rod didn’t know if the name (“Lane” was stamped on the bottom) was put on by Lockard of if the company did it for him. It reads “Lane Pipe Company, Patent Pending.” Rod said that this all occurred in the early 1950s for about 4 or 5 years. Lockard would sell them throughout Pennsylvania and anywhere else he could market them. He would have labels printed up with the Lane Pipe Company name on them. Rod didn’t know whether or not they were advertised, but many requests came in for him and pipes arrived on a regular basis from Italy.Gay has also purchased many postcards; one of which was mailed in 1909! She will be posting them on a new web site, www.freeportpa.org that she is working on; this site will also link to our site.Here are two pictures of the pipes for your enjoyment. Among other items that Gay has found on Ebay are some bank notes. For some reason she didn’t bid on them – perhaps because they were going for hundreds of dollars! Keep up the good work, Gay.
CAPTAIN JOHN CRAIG and MEMORIAL DAY, 2005
On May 30, 2005, Charles G. Edwards, of Ohio, historian and publicity chairman of the Cincinnati Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution and great, great, great, great grandnephew of Captain John Craig, spoke at services in Freeport. Mr. Edwards was instrumental in the efforts to get a tombstone for Captain Craig placed at the cemetery and with the efforts of the Freeport Area Historical Society a stone was also placed at the site of the blockhouse on grounds of the VFW on 5th Street. Freeport Monument Works and Bob Ranieri, who also had his workers put both stones in place, generously donated the blockhouse stone and engraving. Mr. Edwards shared much information about his uncle during a short address.Captain John Craig was born April 27, 1753. He enlisted May 16, 1775, in First Battalion, Westmoreland Co. Provincials as a Private. In January, 1776, he became a 2nd Lieutenant and a 1st Lieutenant in July of that year. Among his military assignments was participating in the battles of Trenton and Princeton. This included crossing the Delaware with General George Washington, Commander.In 1792 a blockhouse, called Craig’s Fort or Craig’s Blockhouse, was erected on the Allegheny River about 120 rods above the mouth of Buffalo Creek at what is now Freeport. It was located on what was later known as Water Street below Fifth Street. Captain Craig commanded 40 men whose business it was to watch the Indians from the Red Bank Creek to the Kiskiminetas River. He once decided to test the courage of his men who were definitely not seasoned soldiers. He raised an alarm that they were under attack. The men were so frightened that they abandoned the fort. Captain Craig himself never acknowledged having killed an Indian.On one occasion he sent a group of men to scout the area of Armstrong County as far north as Redbank Creek to look for signs of Indians. They reported having found none. Later a member of that party made a deathbed confession to Craig that an Indian had been taking prisoner during that mission. They obtained what information they could, then tied the Indian to a tree and each of the men shot him so that all would share equally in the death and none would tell the tale. Craig questioned others from the party who acknowledged capturing the Indian but stated that John Harbison had tomahawked the Indian while he was conversing with an interpreter. They all agreed to keep the story quiet for Harbison’s sake, who, because of his wife’s capture and the deaths of two of his children at the hands of Indians, had reason to hate them.In the early 1800s Craig owned two distilleries and later owned a mill. He is
listed as one of the earliest Justices of the Peace in Armstrong County and was a member of the Presbyterian Church.Captain Craig was a remarkably active man for most of his life. He died at the age of 96 on March 3, 1850, at his home near Freeport.
These are only the highlights of Mr. Edward’s address – a copy of the entire address will be kept by FAHS.
Following the ceremonies at the blockhouse stone and at the cemetery, Mr. Edwards presented Certificates of Appreciation to the 78th, Company F, PVI, Freeport Area Historical Society, Rodney Chapman, two girl scout troops, and also Bob Ranieri. Bob was also presented a Freedom Metal for his work in donating the blockhouse stone and for installing both stones.