MEETINGS
Second Thursday of the month (10/13 and 11/10) we’ll meet in the Community Room at Kings Restaurant, Sarver at 7:00. Or come at 6:30 and join some of us for dinner first.
Q AND A
We have a Port-o-john now at the Mill, but when it was a working mill, where was the bathroom? The answer will be found later in this issue of Grist.
DO YOU THINK LIFE HAS CHANGED?
This year, 2005, is nearly over. In 101 years, have there been many changes? There sure have – consider this:
Here are some of the U.S. statistics for 1904: The average life expectancy in our country was 47 years. Only 14% of homes in the U.S. had a bathtub. Only 8% of homes had a telephone. A 3-minute call from Denver to New York City cost $11. There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S. and they could travel on only 144 miles of paved roads. The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph. Four states, Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more populated than California. California had a mere 1.4 million residents and was the 21st most populous state. The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower. The average wage in the U.S. was a whopping 22¢/hour. The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year. A competent accountant could expect to earn $2,000 per year, a dentist $2,500, a veterinarian between $2,500 and $4,000 per year and a mechanical engineer an astounding $5,000 per year.
More than 95% of all births took place at home. Ninety percent of U.S. doctors had no college education! Instead they attended medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by the government as substandard.
Sugar cost 4¢/pound, eggs 14¢/dozen, coffee 15¢ per pound.
Most women only washed their hair once a month and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
Canada passed a law prohibiting poor people from entering the country for any reason.
The leading causes of death in the U.S. were: pneumonia and influenza, tuberculosis, diarrhea, heart disease and stroke.
The American flag had 45 stars; Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska weren’t in the Union yet.
Las Vegas, Nevada – population was 30.
Crossword puzzles, canned beer, iced tea, Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day hadn’t been invented yet.
Two out of 10 U.S. adults couldn’t read or write and only 6% of all Americans had graduated from high school.
Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter in drugstores. Some said that heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mild, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health!
Eighteen percent of households in our country had at least one fulltime servant or domestic.
That year there were only about 230 reported murders in the entire country.
What will it be like in another 100 years?
COLL FAMILY OF SOUTH BUFFALO
Another genealogy inquiry has been made through our web page. This one comes from Vicki Haas and she writes:
I am searching for the family of John and Ann Coll. They lived in South Buffalo Twp. I have found them on 1870 and 1880 census. I have recently discovered there was a John Coll who is listed in the Freeport Journal...he died June 28, 1880. There is a will 1881 VOl 3 page 486 Estate # 3826. I have posted several queries on different sites, trying to find Armstrong County policy and costs as to get copies of these. Can you advise? I have also found a great grandfather (son-in-law to the above Coll's) who died in Pittsburgh, June, 1893. I have a copy of his death record. He died as an inmate of the Little Sisters of the Poor and is buried in Freeport Station. Can you tell me where Freeport Station is?
Please contact Vicki if you can help
IT’S GROWING!
The Massey Harbison Fund, that is – you know, the fund that will help the Historical Society purchase a plaque to place in the location of Massey’s former home on 4th Street. Richard Ned Sweeney made a terrific $75 contribution.
Ned spent the first 17 years of his life in “this special town, with special people.” He goes on to say that spending a lot of years in other places made him realize just how special it was. He continues:
“The people in town would keep you straight when you started to go over the line of conduct. On more than one occasion, the comment was ‘you’re a Sweeny, aren’t you?’ I always said, “Yes.” ‘Well, I know both your parents and I’ll bet you would not like them to know what you are doing, right?’” Ned says he would become a different boy after the episodes and never forgot the lesson.
Another lesson, and a teacher, Margaret Barrett, that he won’t forget: “I was always talking out in class. She would say ‘Ned, let’s be quiet now.’ This went on over a period of weeks. I would comply for a while, but having short-term memory loss, would start again. Well, one day she reached the end of her talking stage and began Plan B. Now, you have to keep this in perspective; when you’re in first grade, everybody is tall to you. But when she came down the aisle toward me with a stern look on her face, she looked like a giant. She grabbed the little talker by the arm and stood him up and smacked him on the face. Loud whack…the class was silent…and I saw various colored lights. It was the best thing to happen to the little talker who NEVER gave a teacher a reason for discipline again.
Ned has documented proof of this. Check out the 1954 Freeportian, on the last page of the seniors’ pictures is this statement next to his mug shot – “One of the few quiet seniors.” Discipline applied at the right time works.
He continues, “When I got home that day, Mom asked, ‘and how did you do in school today?’ I said, I think I’m learning to listen to the teacher better. ‘Oh, that’s nice,’ said Mom. I never told them at home for years what happened at school that day, and I was never mad at the teacher for the correction, but thankful, for it helped shape my way of thinking.”
Ned, great story, and thanks for the contribution!
FROM JACOB SHOOP’S WEATHER BOOK
1848-1870
Link, Gary, ed., “Weather Book 1848-1870, The Diary of Jacob Shoop,” 1989 Masters Thesis, IUP
On the 4 day of May their was a considerable snow storm but clerd up…we had hevy rain in the afternoon of the 6d of May 1861 cam & cool but groing it was tremendious Stormy & hevy rain…on the 7 May was the stormiest day I Ever saw a man could not Stand on his feet on the Street…their was hard frost on the 8th & 9 of May 1861 it frose many thing in the contry…on the 24 of May 1861 their was one Hundred Soldors landed here they were bound for Camp Wilkins at Pittsburgh there was ten skifs of them they com from Warren & McCain Co Pa all dressed in blue uniforms the made a fine Show all the people in this town was on the river bank to see them start out chers was given them when the departed from our landing
On the Night of 24 of May 1861 their was the hardest thunder & lightning I ever saw & worm…Gibsons Soap factory was burnt down on the night of May 25 1861 at 1 oclock…we had tremendis thunder lightning & the hevest rain & wind on the Night of 26 May 1861 from 11 to 1 oclock…there was frost on 30 May at Butler County that froze ice thick as glass.
Editor’s note: Spelling, punctuation and grammar are as written by Jacob Shoop.
ROAST GOOSE FROM 1870’S
Kill a fat goose and dres it. Wash it well in a dishpan of hot soapy water. Rinse in a milk pail of cold water. Dry it thoroly and hang it up in the woodshed overnight. Next morning early, mash a kettle of potatoes with cream and butter and a chopped onion or two and lots of salt and pepper. Stuff the potatoes into the goose and sew it shut. Rub the skin over with salt and pepper and sage, and put it in a not too hot over. Dip the grease up every hour or so and save.
This recipe was printed as you see it in a recent issue of the Dayton area Historical Society newsletter. Anyone want to try it? Sounds like a nasty thing to do to potatoes!
BATHROOM IN THE MILL
Did you know the answer? On the first floor of the mill in the back left corner there is a door. To use the bathroom, workers would lift up the door and go down a few steps to a wooden catwalk that was over the race. There were a couple boards strategically placed and this constituted the facility. The catwalk is still there. Sort of makes the Port-o-john seem luxurious, doesn’t it!
GHOST GRASS CUTTER
The grass has been nicely cut again – we aren’t sure who did it, but of course we suspect it was Paul Dudek – at work again. Thanks Paul…or whoever was our angel.
MISCELLANEOUS
Do any of our readers have any bottles that came from the Guggenheim Distillery? We’d love to see one if you do.
During the French and Indian war there was a large conflict in the Kittanning area. The very first war medals in this country were made for the colonial participants. Does anyone have one to show us what it looks like?
WILD ANIMAL HIDES PROVIDED CLOTHES FOR EARLY SETTLERS
By Vernon Ross
The dress of the pioneer in Western Pennsylvania was as picturesque as that of his western brother of a somewhat later period in American history.
The early settlers’ clothes usually were made from skins of wild animals that he shot in the woods, or from hides of domestic animals raised on his own farm.
Cloth was of poor quality and seldom used. Later, wool carded and spun at home was made into yarn. This homespun was used to make certain articles of clothing and such home furnishings as bed coverings. In some localities, flack was used to make linen clothing.
The hunting shirt, which men wore, was a loose frock, open in the front, and with more than a foot of overlapping across the chest. The shirt generally had a cape, which was fringed with a piece of raveled cloth of contrasting color.
The hunting frock always was belted to form a pouch in which a number of items needed by a hunter or woodsman could be carried. The coat was made of deerskin, coarse linen or linsey. It often was worn with leggings of leather.
Deerskin breeches or trousers were very comfortable when dry, but when wet, the breeches were cold and would stiffen up like boards.
Hats or caps were made of fur. Each man was his own hatter, and some of the headpieces were very crude.
A few years after settlements were established, hat makers came into this territory and opened little shops in which they fashioned woolen hats.
This is another of the many articles written by the late Vernon Ross for the Valley News Dispatch and was printed in that paper in November, 1956.
DINNER IN DECEMBER
Here are the details:
Menu: Choice of Stuffed Pork Chop or Stuffed Chicken Breast, along with mashed potatoes, baby carrots, salad, cake, rolls, and beverage
Date – Friday, December 9, 2005
Time – 6:00
Cost - $10 per person
Place – Social Hall of Freeport United Methodist Church, 4th Street, Freeport
Entertainment – Rod Chapman will speak on Pennsylvania Canals and the canal in Freeport in particular. He is extremely knowledgeable and you’ll find his presentation very interesting.
Reservations, including payment, must be made by November 30. Please contact the society to make a reservation; indicate the number attending and choice of entree.