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Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine Pennsylvania Folklife Society Collection
Fall 1966 Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 16, No. 1 George Peterson III
William Hannan
Victor C. Dieffenbach
Berton E. Beck
Jacob G. Shively
See next page for additional authors
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Recommended Citation Peterson, George III; Hannan, William; Dieffenbach, Victor C.; Beck, Berton E.; Shively, Jacob G.; Breininger, Lester; Krebs, Friedrich; and Yoder, Don, "Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 16, No. 1" (1966). Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine. 26. https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/pafolklifemag/26
This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Pennsylvania Folklife Society Collection at Digital Commons @ Ursinus College. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Ursinus College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Authors George Peterson III, William Hannan, Victor C. Dieffenbach, Berton E. Beck, Jacob G. Shively, Lester Breininger, Friedrich Krebs, and Don Yoder
This book is available at Digital Commons @ Ursinus College: https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/pafolklifemag/26 Indian Readers and Healers by ,""r~tUR· 1 Contributors to This Issue---,
GEORGE PETERSON, Ill, Philadelphia, teaches Eng li sh a t Friends Central School in Philadelphia. As a gradu a te student in the folklore program a t the University of Pennsylva ni a he made the fi eld report, here published, o n the " Indian R eaders" who had set up operation o n the out ski rts of several Eastern Pennsy lv ania cities .
WILLIAM HANNAN, Davenport, Iowa, is working for his Ph.D. in Ameri a n Civilization at the University of Penn sy lva nia. In his a rticle in this iss ue he analyzes the literary portrait of Pennsy lv a ni a Quakerism by the 19th Century nove li st a nd poet, Baya rd T aylor (1825- 1878).
VICTOR C. DIEFFE BACH, Bethel, Pennsy lv ani a, who died last year, was a self-taught famler and business man of Torthwestern Berks County who had a wide knowledge of Pennsylva nia Germa n life a nd lore. The latest in the long se ries o( articles which he wrote for Pennsylvania Folklife is his "R eminiscences of 'Des Dumm Fattel;" Pennsylvania Folklife, Volume XV TO. 4, Summer 1966.
BERTON E. BEC K, ew York C ity, is a na tive of Lycom ing County, Pennsylv a nia, where he grew up among th e tall timber in the latter days of the big lumbering boom in the W est Bra nch Vall ey. The present article from his pen is the las t in his "T aming the Land" se ri es. For the first chapters, see "La nd C learing in L ycoming County, Pennsy lva nia," Pennsy lvania Folklife, Vol. XIV o. I (O ctober 1964); a nd "T aming the La nd," ibid., Vo l. XIV No.3 (Spring 1965).
JACOB G. HIVELY, Millmont, Pennsy lva nia, has been collecting for man y years the lo re of his home community W estern Union County, Pennsy lv ania. H e i one o[ the (ew local students of Pennsy lvania lore from Central Pennsy l vania who have recorded ta les from the older residents of his community. W e are glad to welcome him agai n to our columns.
LESTER BREINJ GER, Robesoni;J , Pennsy lva nia-Les ter Breininger teilchcs il t the Conrad Weiser High School a t Robe onia in Pennsy lva ni a Dutch Berks County. An avid colleClOr of Pennsy lva ni a a ntiques, he has been in terested ill Pellnsy h'a ni a Dutch folk-culture for ma ny years, and for this iss ue has co ntributed a pioneer il rticle o n bee keeping il nd bee lore in Pennsylvil ni a.
DR. FRIE DRIC H KREBS, Speyer, G erma n y, is a mem ber o f the staff o[ the Palatine Stil te Archives a t Speyer. He has co ntributed man y articles on the 18th Century emigra tion (rom the Rhine land, which a re o[ intere t no t o nl y to genealogist but to social hi torians and [olkli[e scholars. AUTUMN 1966, Vol. 16, No.1 EDITOR: Contents Dr. Don Yoder Contributors to This Issue (I nside Front Cover) DEPART 'rEI TAL EDITORS: Dr. Earl F. Robacker, Antiques 2 Indian Readers and Healers b y Prayer Edna Eby Heller, Cookery Olive G. Zehner, Crafts GEORGE PETERSON, III LeRoy Gensler, Design Dr. J. William Frey, Music 8 Bayard Taylor'S Portrait of Pennsylvania Quakerism EDITOR EMERITUS: Dr. Alfred L. Shoemaker WILLIAM HANNAN
15 Gypsy Stories from the Swatara Valley SUBSCRIPTION RATES: VICTOR C. D IEFFE BACH '4.00 a year in the United States and Canada. Elsewhere fifty cents add i tional for postage. Single 20 Stump-Pulling copIes 1.00. BERTON E. BECK
MSS AND PHOTOGRAPH S: 32 Occult Tales from Union County The Editor will be glad to consider JACOB G. SH IVELY MSS and photographs sent with a view to publication. When unsuit 34 Beekeeping and Bee Lore in Pennsylvania able, and if accompanied by return postage, every care will be exer LESTER BREININGER cised toward their return, although no responsibility for their safety is 40 New Materials on the 18th Century Emigration assumed. from the Speyer State Archives FRIEDRICH KREBS PENNSYLVA IA FOLKLIFE, Autumn 1966, Vl)l. 16, No.1, pub 42 The Snake-Bitten Dutchman lished quarterly b y the Pennsyl vania Folklife Society, Inc., Lan 44 Notes and Documents caster, Pennsylvania. Subscriptions A Letter to Germany (1806) and busi ness correspondence: Box Midwestern Diary of J oel Vale Garretson (1863-1864) 1053, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Edi Edited B y DON ODER toria l correspondence: D r. Don Yoder, Bennett Hall Box 19, 111- Questionnaire on H ominy (Inside Back Cover) versity of Pennsylvania, Philadel phia 4, Pennsyl vania. Contents copyrighted. Cover: Illustration t1'Om Healy & Bigelow's Family Medi cal Booklet, "Kickapoo Indian Lite and cenes" Entered as second cl ass matter - an advertisemen t for 19th Century patent at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. medicines of pseudo-Indian fla vor. READINGS BY - MRS. QUINN . . n"'rr fa ils 10 «unll,· 'uck of all kinds. She She lifts ),ou (III' DAILY e\'il influences and b ~ d ';d,' and happ)' m : "nages~ ' a , ' 10 success an" OPEN Ih. srparaled. C:l U S~ nr" ; nd Slart> ),ou on 'h~, is' " 'i.. 10 so<: her IOAM ' to 9PM of s~ rro \\' and .d.,b. misled b), other re-.de~. world. She can and happiness. 0;:01:"" thousands Ihro~ ghoul I :d\'ice on all affa,rs IIf Q inn is not to be Mrs' U ith Gypsies. for she has e I~': .' sound and ,mporlant . rior 10 an)' reade, classe d w will help )'ou by g':.::g be. You will 6nd h.rb~~'; "our friends and She has helped man: I life, " 'hate"er the)d in) Ihe past. A pl~ce '~ "ouSio Ihr•• da),s. ·uu have con~ultc n( She can and Will he p . he and she can e p }.eI no el11b.,r:,,,,,,. . Y A:-:D SUNDAY at : ~ne v isit will ~ ono :"ce yo u. Sat;sfactwn OPF.:--I DAll :-;~ bY APPOINT~IENT is guaranle ed. MRS. CARll R A.M. TO 10 P.M. A. 'NTJ:R'S CROSS ROADS . 'EO l\'I'AI( PA \ . l\'OW lOCAl . ' ROt;TES lO! I\: I. , GlFrED R.EADEJl 451 W. MAIN ST, O~ E St;;I~IIT SHOPPI:--lG CF.:--ITER :--II'AR BRANOn\; IN , , \11:\, ' n"l\1 ,,'II .\II"" ;TO" KUTZTOWN ANn ADVlSO'B, II" IIl1arr II \:\U ~lUt. (;°l· ~:. ; '110'1 Wt:ST ' : IIt:~T[R Phone 683-3428 all affairs Of llfe l . SlUt' ' :11\1 .,.. . rar corners Of the • rODl tb. 0" U :tT II \:\U ' . ' I • ,\ .... Cud •. ~I~) .-hHlw «.l 9.t)t19 , cODle to h eaTth PeOPle BRING THIS and ,\fen and wO"'enex. Of.R.ich all _ Poor . AD FOR Walks f'" -Qce$ and . 0 ...e. Do not ClasSify her SPECIAL SI.OO WiUt other l'eaders'she sUcceed Where others fail. It be ' s READING! elisapp . t . Wildered. om ed Or m SOrrow She can and Will help you. l'here'$ 110 ~stery 80 deep she can't fatholJl, AND ADV o heart so sad she can't Ch,,"_ READ~~L PROBLEMS to hapPin~ ...... e As a reade sh g~ LI FE, SUCH AS- has no eqUal~s . h l' e . , er ad\'jce never IaiJ~ , She Will {dve You true * MARRIAGE adVIce on all affairs Of lite. MRS. SANTEE * LOVE 1£ you are i!! need Or in trOUble Pay AIrs. Carr a Visit. She Will GIFTED READER .AND ADVISOR * BUSINESS take the worry and cares On a2·1 affairs of ljfe, frolQ the far corners of the frOll! aWay * ETC. "'ind. you and giVe you Peace Of c;.arth, people CODle to her. Rich and poor. Men and women of aU races and Walks of life. Do not cJlllSSify her with other readers - She SUcceeds where others fail. If bewi,dcred, d'isnPP<3inted or in SOrt'1)w, she will help YOu. There's no mystery so deep she can't futhom. No heart so sad She can>t change to haPPiness, as a Read,er She has no equal, her advice never fails, she will giVe you true advice on aU atrairs of life. LOVE - MARRIAGE - BUSINESS _ HEALTH If you are in need or in trOUble, pay a visit. She youwill ptakeeace theof Dlind.worry anti care aWQy from you and give ALL READINGS PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL IN HER OWN HOME. 2 S. HUl St. EASTON, PA. Phone: 258-5728 Hours: 9 A.M. to 18:36 P.M.. [In the past several years there has been a wave of "Indian Readers" who have set up advertisi ng signs on the outskirts of several Eastern Pennsy lva nia ci ties, offering to "heal by prayer." The ethnic affiliation of this group of prayer heal ers appears to be Mediterranean, with Roman Catholic reo ligious connections. Since according to Pennsylvania's Penal Code, fortune-telling as such is illegal in the common wealth, but "healing by praye r" is not, this group of practi tioners have obviously fill ed a partial vacuum which exists in the personnel spectrum of American folk medicine-oc cupying a place between the " powwower" (Bmucher) of the Dutch Country and the illegal fortune- teller, but closer in technique to the latter. Differing from the gypsy fortune tellers who were common here a half-century ago, they seem to set up relatively permanent headquarters, and they ad vertise-with lea fl ets a nd with stylized Indian H eads painted on boards outside their houses-appealing to the American public's perennial faith in the healing powers of the Ameri can redma n. This report, done in 1964 by George Peterson of the Graduate Folklore Program of the University of Penn sylvania, represents one contemporary cha pter in the long story of the pseudo-Indian influences on American popular and folk medicine. Other chapters of this story are the "Indian Doctor" books of the 1840's, and the ubiquitous " Medicine Show" of the post-C ivil W ar era, with its "Seneca Snake Oil," the "Secret of the Oswegos," and other "Indian" remedies which arc represen ted in some of our illustrations. - EDITOR.]
"Another limited class of patrons m'e men who visit the advertisers with a view of exposing fmud; but such aH: often discomforted by the ingenuity of the fortune tellers, who through long experience are pl'epared fO T evay emel·gency. Indeed, these disciples of Simon jVfagus become vel) shTewd students of human nature, and learn to judge very quickly the mental capacity of their clients, as well as the pmbable length of their purses." - H . C. Bolton, in Journal of American Folk-Lore, 1895.
1. FORTUNE-TELLING IN PENNSYLVANIA Origina ll y, this report was to be entitled "Fortune- tellers" . This designation, in Pennsy lva nia at least, is no longer used by those who profess an ability to be able to predict what li es ahead. The current term is "Spiritual Advisor a nd Faith H ea ler". Aft er reading over a number ot advertisements by fortune-tellers in a n iss ue of the Journal of AmeTican Folk Lore which appeared in 1895,1 I found that the claims of the fortune-tellers of tha t age are exactl y the same as the state ments made by spiritual advisors and faith hea lers today. The illustra tio ns accompanying this report present a num ber of advertisements culled from four Philadelphia news papers printed primarily for Negroes. The Pennsy lva nia Penal Code of 1939 states, in Public Laws #870 and #872 , ~ that it is illegal to tell future events, to pretend to effect any purpose or give advice or to publish material that gives advice, for gain or lucre; it is illegal to 1 H. C. Bolton, " Fortune Telling in America Today," JournaL of Americall Folk-Lore, VIII (1895), 321. 2 Purdon's Pell!1sy lvania Statutes AIl!1otated (Philadelphia, 1945) ,.p. 58!.
3 pretend to recover o r find materi al things, to stop bad luck, bring good or bad luck, hea lth, injury, su cess, win the affections o f, o r tell where money is hidden for ga in . Such an act is termed a misdemea nor. H co nvicted, a perso n is subject to imprisonment no t exceeding o ne year or a $500 fine or both. Any person is a witne s wh ose fortune has been told. A most interesting test case,:l Commonwealth v. Blair, 92, Pen nsylva n ia u perior Cou rt ]69, 1927, decid ed that the use of re ligio us prayers to h ea l the sick is not it violation of the code. The decision ha nded down upheld the r ight to cha rge money a a religious healer. Fortune- tell ers in the tate of Pennsy lv a nia, a t least, a re well aware of the illegal ity of th ei r trade, and they have been guided by the decision of the test case. Th is paper will examine closely two situations in which I paid money to have m y perso nality and m y problems a n alyzed by persons who advertised as bei ng a ble to do it. Two readings will be compared in order to point up differences in techniques and a bilities of the two readers. As much d e ta il o f each visit will be mentioned a nd compared as this inves tigator beli eves significa nt. T his ma teri al will be based both o n hi no tes, which he wrote down immedia tely after each vis it, and his memory. As the a uthor has never seen this ty pe of study printed before, he is relying, for his for ma t, solely upon his own crea tivity a nd the o rga niza tio nal pattern of similar studies in other fi elds. T yp ical J ndia71 R eade1' A dverlisemenl.
]1. INTERVIEW #1 I. J\lfy Dress: In o rder no t to seem exactly wha t I am, a student, I wore boots, khaki pa nts, two wool shirts, a nd a was ta n colored a nd for wa n t of the a ppropria te term, might wool jacke t. Exce pt for the smooth co nditio n of m y hands, be ca ll ed " motel" style. After h er co nversation ended, the m y c.rew-c ut, and a n educated voice, I resembled a la borer. reader conducted me into another room which might be The reason (or this attempt a t disguise was to find out if the ca ll ed a praye r room. r\ sma ll couch a nd an armchair faced reader's reacti on to me would cha nge because of the nature a table upon which were china sta tues of Christ a nd the of the way I was dressed. As I shall mentio n in the fin al Virgin 1\1 ary, and tinted pictures of Christ with a bleeding section of this paper, this mas king proved quite significa nt. hea n , or else looki ng of[ a t the source of a bright shaft of 2. Time &- L ocation: The significa nce of the time of day li ghl. evera l heavil y Oowered black shawl s with tasse ls is debatable; nevertheless, it does h ave some importance. hangin g from them were dra ped across the radiator. T h e The time was 12:30 P.M . o n a Sunday a fternoo n during the o nl y light ca me (rom th e windo\\'; otherwise, the downstairs Fall. The reader's ho use is located just within the city limits was lairl y thick with shadows. of C. , Pennsy lva nia, o n R o ute X . The road is a ma in artery 6. R eader: Sister A. appeared to be in her 40's or 50's. into C. , and is heavil y traveled. H er childre n, of which she had twO, a boy about 14 years 3. Sign: On the edge of the property, a t right a ngles to the old and a girl about IS years old, were o utside when I en road a nd directl y in front of the house, sta nds a large, white Lered. he was spea king either Portuguese or pan ish over sig n with a Hiawa tha- type Indian head painted on it. Let the telephone, a nd h er skin was of the dark, M editerranea n tering on the sign says, "Sister A.," "Indian R eader a nd Ad type. She was dressed in a d irty, Oowerecl dress which was visor," and " H ealer by Prayer". held together by sa fety pins where several buttons were 4. H ouse: Sister A.'s house is a turn-of-the-ce ntury three miss ing. She wore sa ndals over her bare feet. H er hair was story building which stands by it elf upon a sep arate plot untidy. of ground. The va lue of the property is es timated a t from 7. i nterview: $5,000 to $6,000. The most valua ble asset of the property a. Greeting: The reader asked me wha t 1 wanted when I is the location . Behind the house is a ca rriage barn tha t is ca me to the door. 1 replied tha t I wa nted to have m y for now used to ho use J. 1955 Ford sedan. tune told. She sa id to come in. She sa id tha t she didn't tell 5. i nlaior: The interior o f the house, besides being un fortun es, but that she did give spiritual advice. She then tidy, had a " furnished room" a ppeara nce. Upon entering, wanted to know how I found o ut about her. H er ma nner I was asked to wait in the living room while Sister A. finished was quite interrogatory. I told h er a fri end had informed talking o n the telepho ne. This room was decora ted with me a bout her. I didn't mentio n the sig n in front of her color pho tographs of mov ie stars or models (the faces were house . not familia r) which were enclosed by a fake gold-painted b. Procedure : She asked me if 1 wan ted the three or fiv e fr ame pl aced over the picture on the wall. Two sid e tables do ll ar reading. 1 chose thc three dollar one. Then s he told were cluttered with fi gurines o f the most elaborate Vi cto rian me to make two wi shes: o nc to keep to m yse l f, the other to mode. An especially decora tive one still had affix ed to it a tell her. I told her tha t I was a bachelo r, a nd that I wished " Made in Italy" sticker. The corner sofa upon which I sa t to meet the "right" girl. At this point she sa id that she
~ I bid., p. 682. would tell me o nly wha t she truly "saw" a boUl me, a nd that
4 1 should bc prcparcd to acccpt whatcver shc had to say began to say POSIUVC things about this girl, things that I whcthcr favorablc or unfavorablc. would want to hcar. c. Heading: Pal·t i : Oncc 1 had told hcr my wish, she pro [y last questioll was thi : " H ow ca n 1 gct this powcr that (ceded w charactcrizc mc. I n other \1'01 ds, shc wid llIe what yo u spcak of?" kind ot a pcrso n 1 was. She spokc in a rap id, singsong stylc " You do what 1 tcll yo u. You bc paticnt. You don't whi ch depcnded hcavil y upon assonancc and allitcrati on lor worry. You do what I tell you." its rh ythlll. he kept l epeati ng kcy words and uscd the c. i m jJressiol1: At this point thc read ing concludcd. pronoun "you" as a subject c.o nstantl y. A sample 01 her handed hcr thc threc dolla rs a nd stood up. Shc fo ll owcd dcli vcry might rcad likc this (read it quickly): mc out to the door. I turned and shook hands with her. H er cl as p was vcry weak. As I wa lked o ut onto thc porch, You good Jellow-you good ma1l-You man beell hw ·t shc ca ll ed after me, "I gonna pray [or you". you man do good J01' others, but oth ers don't do good Thc sincerity of hcr manner was heightened by her powcr things Jar you-you been hurt- you beell WOlTY too to co ncentrate upon thc working out of my wish during thc lIwch. Don't worry. You do things Jar others- you want things come right Jar you- you be jJatiellt-you reading and questio n pcriods. She was ve ry surc of herself. don't worry-you get idea-you want I-ight woman. You he never sm iled or jokcd. 1 must adm it tha t I was strongly do good things Jar others, but things 110t work out Jar influenced by her positivc ness a nd ass ura nce. H er singsong you, understand? Now you want l'ight woman to make reading cast a sort of spell during which I became extremely you happy-you want Tight woman-you got Tight idea -you get good woman-you have 1Jatience. introspective a nd thcreby facia ll y more ex pres ivc. By read ing thc ex press io n on m y face, she could gaugc thc effcct of In characteri zing mc, thc reader wid mc wh a t I was likc her advice. Sister A. did no t resort to any aids in rcading; as a perso n, wh at I had suffered, and wha t wou ld ha ppen to she sat besidc me a nd looked into my [ace from timc to time. IlI C. Sh e told mc tha t I did things lor others; that 1 had h ad I did not beli eve that my three doll ars had becn wasted. a lovc affair, had lovcd dccply, but had been hurt beca usc it hadn't \l'orkcd o ut. Shc sa id tha t sometimcs things wel1l Ill. I NTERVIEW #2 wcll [or me, sometimes badly. By analyzing her technique, I . My Dress: Sam e_ 1 concluded th at shc took my wi sh, twisted it, a nd sa id it 2. Time & Location: The second reading occurred during back w me and a t the same time combined it with a general the a fternoon of the sa me day as the first reading. T he read ized account of thc things tha t ha ppen to everybody. H er er's ho use is located on a busy highway, R o ute Y, three miles method seemcd startling a t first because she was telling me west of D ., Pennsy lva nia. things about m yse lf that were based upon her interpretation 3. Sign: The sign is the sa me type; however, it pictures a n ot my sta te by the na turc o[ m y wish. H er insights into m y India n chief in full - fea thered headdress. Thc stylc a nd troubles or m y concerns were not reall y insights at a ll , or co loring is the samc. T he sign says, "Sister B.," "Indian even pre tended visions. Instead, they were generali za tions R eader a nd Advisor". surmised [rom my spoken wish. 4. H ouse: Sister B's house is of much poorer quali ty tha n d. Questioning: PaTt 11 : Once Si ster A. had fini shed her Sister A's. It resembles a riverside cottage, shinglcd with red reading, she told me that it was my turn to ask ques tions. til e. I t is two-story a nd has a front po rch. Such a ho usc My first ques tion was this: " 1 am of a d iffere nt reli gio n tha n might be va lued a t $3500. yo u, I guess. I'm a Quaker, Protestant. Now, how is it that 5. interior: The living room into which 1 was ushered wha t you say about me is true? H ow ca n yo u, being oE a wa s furnished similarl y to Sister A's. In one corner stood a n different reli gion, help me?" identica l ta n " motel-s tyle" sofa. Thc walls were decora ted She answered, "R e ligio n has nothing to do with it. It's the with inspira tional pictures depicting J esus a nd thc Virgin power. You gotta beli eve. T I1ere is the one God." Mar y. The right cornel- of the room had been sectio ned off Then I asked, "H ow do yo u be li eve?" by drapes which enclosed two chairs facing each other which She sa id, " Don't yo u worry. The months seem long when werc placed before a table. Upon thc ta ble werc china yo u worry. Be pa tient. You make cha nges to try for a bet statues representing reli gious fi gures: Christ, the Virgin ter life. There is a change coming, but don't make it. Stick Mary, a nd saints whose visages were unidentifiabl e. Two to what yo u doing." Then she sa id she was going to pray ca ndles stood o n either side of the statuary. Two fi ve-foot for me. ca ndles with their bases secured in Christmas- tree stands I asked the second question. " It seems to me tha t therc were placed o n either side of the table. is a point to which a person ca n go a nd then not go furth er. 6. R eader: The reader was probably not more tha n 21 or For instance, yo u wan t a ca r. You ca n save money a nd buy 22 years old. She was obviously inexperienced, yet she a car, but if yo u like a woman, how can yo u get her?" (The knew the basic techniques. Her hair was very black, a nd reader might wonder whe ther I was beginning to 'bcli eve' at her skin had the sa me olive color as the previo us reader. this point. H er concentra tio n was powerful a nd I couldn't She seemed to be M editerranean . During the reading, the help but be influenced by it. Thus I was compcll ed to re real Sister B. came into the room, saw that we were occupied, fl ect upon m y own situation.) and left. She was richly dressed in a long, flowing robe of T he reader replied, "Call her, see her, talk to hcr, so tha t turquoise blue. T he elderl y reader had the sa mc skin color she havc fun with yo u and not wa nt to go o ut with o thcr fcl ing as thc young girl. lows. You have right idea; yo u find right woman." 7. Interview: I asked, "H ow can I know she likes me if she keeps going
5 READINGS & ADVICE MRS. REBECCA Helps . i!, all affairs of I'f One VISIt w'lI . I e. Don 't f '1 t I convmce you . lady wh~ 0 see the gifted and she wilr~sel~e~~~~ others, 353() N. BROAD ST. (Opp. F isher's Restaurant) Open 9 to 9 KNOWN FOR GENERATIONS FROM COAST TO COAST SA. 3.0264 (ASK ANY OLD PERSON) Has becom"ll World-famed down through the years for doing what she has promised you. Husbands have returned to wives. Wives have returned to hus.bands. Known nation-wide for her famous sayings. If a tel ephone call and my advice don't help you, then you don't owe me a penny NO MAIL, IIl'iiiiiiiiii_==;;;"~ .. :J PLEASE. JUST TELEPHONE CE.6·9166. Come in person for better re sults. Phone now for appojnt ment. Philadelphia, Pa., CEo 6·9166. If yo u are cross and suffer from an unnatural sick ness phone now before it is too late. DON'T WRITE! MAIL NOT ACCEPTED! If evil thoughts surround you, phone me for advice. One phone call will convince you. She sends her Blessed Psalm to ev SPIRITUAL READER ery stat e in the U.S.A. each week Help in all problems. Open ro r Cuba, races and stocks. When you make your call 8 special daily from 10 to 9, including blessed candle is placed on the Sundays. No appointment allar in your name. Don·t let your life go djm. Why worry? Let necessary. Located in Photo Mabel turn darkness into light. Studio. :t241 N. 13th St., Phila., Pa. 2122 W. COLUMBIA AVE. REV. MABEL PALMER PO. 5·9678
;...... ] KNOWLEDGE ~ ~ IS "POWER" ~ ~ ~ Spiritualist Reader and Advisor ~ ~ To help and advise on all problems of life, such as love, DAILY-WEEKLY business, marriage and health. She can solve any problems Donation. Hours, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, 9-2. ~ CYCLE CHARTS ~ Don't fail to see this gifted women today ~Send Only $1.00 TODAY!~ 2610 W. Lehigh Ave. BA. 9-5210 ..For a quicker reply Include ~ "a sell-addressed air· m a Il~ ~stamped envelope. Sorry, no~ ~M. O. or personal checks. ~ SISTER VEE·CEE SERVICE ~ BEATRICE NAPLES Send for two- and three-way Chrlslm ... ~7728 S. CLYDE CHICAGO 49. ILL.~ Special. Get your name on thJs specia.l list DOW, &end your name a.nd address...... \Vlre $10 for your answer , at nnce. Send all wIreR to 81 'TER B. NAPLES, 12428 Claretta st., Pacoima, CaUl. ~~o~ee!~ ~ptR ~~Y!,~ Health, Peace, Prosperity. SUeceS8, 8end for the POWER OF PRAnR today. fREE !;~I·re~:/I!.W' b~~e~6~~~u~~ ..,nd Name. Age, Add ...... and 10 cent.. to cover expenses. GUIDANCE ROUSE. Dept. 1:11 Box 201, Time. Sq. Station. New York 38 I
/' PSALMS? PIN POINT DECISIONS '" , Copyrighted ADTA Speed Sy.tem , PSALM SELECTOR Female Help Wanted Workl Anywhere-Anytim.-Anyon. Many business a nd advertising Sol.ctl YOUR PSALM In 2 .. Inutes firm now need resident typists. Th. only sy.tem baNd on TIMEI Typists can earn $45-$65 week· COMPLETE-$I .00- NO STRINGS ly with adjustable hours. If you Send Airmail t01 are interested in home typing. \ ADTA STUDIOS .J mail name. address to '-P.O_ lox 654. Soottl. 11, Wa .... BOX 1902, SSS SPRINGFIELD, MO. hand by her left hand thro ughout the interview. vVe sa t IV. ,\ l\CMARY OF FIVE N UCCES F L facing each o ther, knee LO knee. She sa id sh e would tell me .\ TTE CPT TO HAVE .\ READ! G only wha t she saw in m y hand; 1 would have LO accept what I PHILr\DELPHIA was there. One Sunday morning during the Fall, I dressed III a c. R eading: Palt 1: She used the ;ame technique as ister busine>s su it and vi sited four readers in Philadelphia. In A .; however, she ; LOpped continually to CO lllment on the each ca;e I was admitted into the reader's house or apart lines in my hand. She started off by telling me that I was men l. There 1 was LOld that the woman who does the read going LO marry the girl. (The reader will note that my ing lI"a; not a t home, and that no one knew when she would spoken wish was the sallle as in Interview #1. ) Then she return. The 1I"0men who opened the door to admit me were asked, " Was there a death in yo ur famil y?" olive ~ kinn e d and looked as if they were the true readers. " 0," I sa id. Each perso n asked me how 1 h ad found her. I replied that " \>Vell , it is not clear here. But some traged y happen to I had seen the acl\'ertisement in a egro n ewspaper. Then yo u?" two asked me what I wa nted . \'Vhile leaving, one woman " 10, not that 1 ca n think of," I answered. sa id to me, " If there is ;omething you want LO tell me, tell "In your famil y?" 111 C no\\,." " 10," 1 answered. On l\Ionday, 1 visited a fifth who rep eatedl asked if I h ad " \I\' ell , it's not LOO clear. " been LO another read er recently. Evidently the word " vas Her singso ng delivery might run like this: getting around by the 'grapevine' that someone was investi· gating. This woman also LO ld me that the reader \,'as not in. You pel'so n don't have good luck-you do for other Nevertheless, I was ce rtain that she was the real reader. peolJle, but other peojJle don't do [01' you . You under The most probable explanation for such suspicion is that stand? You gOllna get good luck-you g0171W be D.K. I looked too offici a l. Each might have supposed I was a everything g01lna go well for you, you understand? You gO lLna be happy-you good man-you live well-you detective conducting an investigation. None could be con· gOlLna get lucky-you gO llna be D .K.! vinced that 1 wanted a reading [or which I would pay. ] ;ensed that there was something else about my presence that d. Questioning: [>a r l 11 : She gave me th e ;ame oppor· appeared out o l place. Possibly Sunday m orning is an un· wnit)' to a;k question;. I y first one was, " H ow come yo u likel y time lor a reading, el' en though the four advertised can h el p me?" Sunday as a consultation day. She replied, " \Ve have power. 1 am not God, but 1 can . \ nother in teresti ng fact concerns the location o f the help other;. l'I/an y times I ca n't help m yse ll , but I can help read ers . All except one arc located in l)rimarily white others." neighborhoods; nevertheless, the readers were expecting Then j a;ked. " How ca n j get this girl?" N egro clientele. None of the read ers arc legro, but each 01 She ;aid , "Someone has put a curse o n yo u, an el'il cur ·e. the advertise ments appeared in egro n ewspapers. Someone don't want LO ;ee yo u LOgether with this g irl. Do T hree of th e read ers were in their fonies or fifti es, while yo u wi; h to be together with this girl?" t\\'O were in their twenties. In each case there were children " Yes," j replied . Earlier, during the read ing, she had ill the a partment or house, and a Illan was somewhere, labri ca ted a bea utilul ;LO ry of unrequited 10\'e 11'0 111 the loung ing in an undershirt a nd trousers. content olmy wi sh. I had allowed her to shape the plot LO In o ne ho u;e I was taken into the read er's bedroom where ; uit hersell without co ntradicting. N Oli", ; he was taking \"e sat knee to knee befo re a ta ble with sel' era l religious lull advantage ol her creativity. H aving expl a in ed the con statues and two ca ndles upon it. .\nother house on X Ave fli ct to me so that I now undersLOod wha t was wrong, she nue had a la rge neon sign in the window which reacl, lI" ent a lter my mone),. 'he sa id th a t 1 need ed o ne ca ndle to "S piritua l R eader and .\dvisor·'. The front door led into burn in praye r. Did 1 have S IO ? I replied that 1 didn't the reading room which had Persia n rugs upon the fl oor, a hal'e. \V o uld 1 add fiv e dollars LO the fil' e do ll ars 1 was church·type a lmsbox sta nding by the cloor, a nd curtains in holding in m y hand and then pay the remainder during the back draped O\'er a n archway lead ing to the rear of the another trip to D .? 1 ;aid, " No". Then she went through a first fl oor. The atmosphere was very Middle Eastern. seri es o l questions LO d etermine whether I wanted thi> girl. .\fter J ;aid 1 did, she ; aid, "The ten do llars i not lost. Your V. SUMMARY whole future is at stake n ow. Money comes easily. Don' t The " power" which readers claim to h ave ca n only be felt hold back now." \Vhen she saw 1 wasn ' t g iving in , she b y those who " believe". If o ne really believes the read er quickl y got me change and ushered m e out the door. H er ca n help him, then the reader probably can. R eaders ca n final words were, " I pray for you." affect people through a variety of methods, some of which e. i m jJressioll: A reading by this girl provided a unique arc absolutely sham (I refer to R eader #2), if they en able a opportunity LO witness the stratagems being appli ed with person LO change his mental attitude from discouragement out the ex perience so necessa r y in concealing them . This to encouragement, or from fear to tranquility. The only read er did not have the undertone of con cern ister ,\ . had. cli ente le I witn essed visited Sister B. They were two elderly The girl was evidently out for money. i\ t o ne point in ladies, decently dressed , who seemed to be respectable the Questioning, 1 mentioned that I was making only $35 a people. One waited in the front while the other visited with week and supporting m y mother (n ot true) . Th is did not Sister B. in another room. seem LO influence her for she sa id, " Don't worry about It is interesting to note that each of the seven readers I money. Money comes easily." i>Vh en she saw that I did not visited was a woman. Men were always in the background, believe in the power that burning a $ 10 candle would have but they did not take an active part. They seemed more in helping me, she quickly concluded the interview, I did concerned with protecting the readers. It would be in not believe that she was sincere even though she aLlempted teresting to know just how many of these men derive their to seem concerned. livelihood from the money brought in by the reader.
7 Bayard Taylor, Pcnnsy lvania [arlll bo)' wll o bccam e til e {trst pm [ess iOlla I Amcrica n tra vcl writer, /Ji ctured It cl'e in walkillg costulI7 e in his " Views Il [oo t" (18-16).
Bayard Taylor"s Portrait of Pennsylvania Quakerism
1n the yea rs immedi ately foll owing the Civil 'War, a small gro up of northern writers, di gusted with the materiali sm "" BERKS / ..., ..... J\ of society in general and with the corruption of Gra nt's ad ",COUNTY / \1\ MONTGOMERY ministra ti on, vo iced their disillusionmel1l with society in a ,/~ \ COUNTY renewed deEe nse of id a li sm. One of the mOs t important of LANCASTEIC / PHOENIXVILLE -'.. / lhese wrile rs was Baya rd Taylor, who was raised in Kennell COUNTY! CHESTER~""'-l,.,.. I'," (/~ I /"'/ V 'v ~ Square a few miles from Philadelphia. ) COUNTY ) <"l. '-,'. nt....S Taylor vi ewed himse lf as a writer with a definite purpose: I ( ~v ... ,?,Y / • WEST CHESlER .J . ~~. ... " ~,,, lhal of exposing the various evil s in sociely by co nlrasting ~ COATESVILLE • /,.,.- ~~ 's lhem wilh his im agin ed dream world of perfect people in I (y'''' I \ (f" - Map o[ B ({ yard T aylor's /10117 C CO l/llty, CI' es ter Count)', lO a ll yo ne inte rested in 19th Century social history. His Penl1 sylvan ia. . cha racteri za ti ons of lhese va rious lypes was consiSlenl 8 B ayard T aylor's L as t P ortmil (1878), B ayard T aylor ill Xmt/lc1'II Cost llll1c-frO Il1 ({ volu me 0 17 Ilis l ra vels in Scrtll din(f1Iia (7857), Illunity as h e co uld be a nd still be a n o u ts id cr. He was per sona ll y rascinatcd with thcm, whi ch was ro rtunate, indeed , because he saw fit to in cl ude the,e Friends in a majo rity 0 1 his fi cti o n, and each piecc prol'id es some ncw insigh t in to th c socicty of lhese Qua ker cO lllmunities, By WILLIAM H ANNAN Thc most striking, a nd certa inl y the most e mph as i ~e d o l the characteri sti cs whi ch T aylo r a ttributed lo his Friends was their adamant w briety, T cmperate in el'er y res p Cl, a n th rougho u t th c II' ho lc o f his li tcra ry wo rks, and a ca rci" ul accusa ti on o f cnthusiasm wo uld have b e ll as , tro ng a na reading rcvcals stro ng pa ttcrns in this sin glc ma n's I'icll' 0 1 th ema to thcm as it wo uld be lo a mod ern Be ll T e lepho nc thc morc sa li cn t fea turcs o f thcsc va ri ous gro ups, The mo;,t o pera tor; they simpl y ma naged lo re press extremitics 0 1 va lu a bl c da ta a re o bvio usly his numerous skctchcs 01 the fceling, In " Fricnci E li 's Da ughtcr," ror example, ,\ sena th Quakcrs in thc De la\\'a rc Va ll cy, a nd this papcr will bc an i\Iitchc nor had sce n her ra ther ki ss her mother but o ncc in cxamina tio n o f T aylo r's dcscriptio n o f thcse Qua kcrs, her lif e, and tha t was o nl y o n thc occas ion o f thc d ea th o r T aylor was nOl himsc lf a Quakcr, allho ugh hc ca me Irom thcir yo unger cl;llIghter. Thcre \\'a certa in ly a stro ng 10l'e o ld Qua kcr slOck, Kennett Square, hOll'el'er, had a la rge in Friend i\Iitc. henor's ho me; it \\' a JU St that he co uld sec no co mmuni ly 0 1 Friends and thcir influcnce was no ti cea l)l e just ifi ca ti o n in getting d cmo nstra til'e ol'er so me thing \\'hich thro ugho u t thc lO wnship, even in those ra milics which lI'e re was ;drcad ), understood by bo th parties involved, not mcmbcrs of thc Meeting, T aylor himse lf undoubtedl y This na tura l reti cence, in ma n )' instances, tended to bc a relt this influence as a child, ye t he was certainl y aware 01 hindra ncc ra ther tha n a hclp in ge tting thro ugh life in an lhe ract tha t he did nOl bclo ng to thc Quaker community, ulllroubled manner, lor it elimina tcd much of thc com His a li ena lion from t!l a t community m ade him se nsitive to munica ti o n which was necessary lor an understanding a nd where he differed from them as a child a nd where he agreed apprcciation 01 o thcr pcople, ,\ s an illustra tion, H a nnah with them when, as an adult, he traveled in largely non Thurston, in thc nove l that bca rs hcr namc, was vi sibl y Quaker circl es, H c was, thcn, in a n idea l silua tio n lo r o b sha kc n by a pro posal 0 1 ma rriagc o nc cvcning, H cr o ld serving a n y distinguishi,ng characteri slics that these Friends mo tilcr, who would h avc ass umed thc burdcns of thc world might have possessed : he was as close to the Qua ker com- if shc could, no ticcd that her daughtcr was grca tl y ag ita tcd , 9 Quaher Cos /i I1 // e' oj 1;'(' 19th Ce//tll ry. 11l1lstm I ion J1"0 171 Bayard Tay lOT's " Fl ame' B allads" (B oston, 1882). ye t tha t res pectful re;en 'e which was habitua l in this, a; witho u t lear o r qua lifi ca tions, this enjoyment. The beaut) in 111 0 t Qua ker familie;, prevellled h er Irom prying illlo o f the worlel could no t be full y a pprecia ted witho ut mOl ing the n a ture o l the trouble." I into the rea lm o[ ec;ta y. This, however, was the o nly a rea T aylor did no t picLUr his Qua ker characte r a; la cking in which Taylo r a ll o wed a lillie cri tica l cy ni cism to e ntel wa rmth, for there a rc lew mo l' a ppealing fi gures in an ) into his writing. Througho ut the rest 0 1 hi; d ealings with litera ture than old Friend ThursLOn or the " Qua ker his Qua ke r <. haracter;, h e wa; who ll y ;) mpa the ti <.- a lmo;t \Vidoll'." The ir type o [ warmth, hOII'el'er, had to be as reverent- LOII'a rds them anc! the ir idea ls. sumed [rom the concern t," y ; ho wed [o r other people and 1\ ;econd qua lity which \\'a; allributed LO these Quaker; their insight into the na ture 01 socia l re la tionships, lor no was their excepllo na l ability at maintaining the ir ho me;. outward sig n o r invita ti on was el'el g iv e n which wo u ld in The men worked ha rd o n the land and eemed LO produce , dica te the mO;L minima l d egree 01 <. ompas ion. yeal a [te r ye ar, bo unti[ul cro p which were the wo nder 01 It was o bvio us tha t T aylo r did no t lull y sy mpathi Le with the co ulllrys icJ e. Their ba rns were the <.l ea nest, their ; LOn e this p a rticul ar ch aracteli; ti . To him, p art ol the ( harm ill walls the ; traighte t, and the ir pig were the la tte;t in the enjoyiog the wo lid wa; in<.lud ed in the ability to ex pl e s, neighborhood. ' \ II ) thing tha t could be accomplished through continual and earnest work wa; a;;uredl) withill 1 Bayard Taylor, Halluall TIl/li S/Oil, II S/(JI), of AlIlericall L ife (N ew York: n. P. Putnam; J-1uld and Iioughton, 1865), p. 159. reach of the me ti cul o u Qua ker la rmer. \ Vithin the ho m e, 10 some li\'ing 01I his formerly undi linguished farm. The facl that Gilbert Potter had gained a pos ition of respect in the community whose mores ,,'ere mailllained b) the large Quaker element re\ ea ls the eAtent of that element's tolcra tion of human di\'er it), j)1'ovlded that pan 01 thi; di\et it) did not fall within certain \er) ke) arcas, such as the abili t) and propen ity for work. Another temarkable chatactci i;tic o( the Quakct, o( the Delawarc Va lley was their great patience, This was un doubtedly partia ll y culti\'ated at the ; ilent Meeting whcre on a low day- as few as one or two people m igh t be mO\ ed to speak, Out of ;\Ieeting, thC) were wont to sit on a ptOb lem until the proper w lution would suddenl y become cleal to them, ntil this so lutio n made itself manifest there was no co urse of action other than to wail. The Quakers, na nll all y enough, never tried to rush a nyone else into doing somethi ng, for they realized that it it were to be done it wo ul d be done in its own good tim. To urge a decision upon somebody wou ld be tantamount to p leading that he ignore the guidance of the Spirit; ;0 they waitcd patiently through others' inacitv ity and expected others to do the same for them. Some times thi waiting took on co lossal proportion, as was thecase with ~ l ary Potter Barton in Th e Story of Kennett. Mary Potter had married ,\ lfred Barton and sworn to .\ I(red that she wou ld keep their vows a secret un til " Old-man Barton" had d ied, whi ch-at the time seemed it wo ul d be with in a matter of days, ,\ lmost thirty years had passed, however, bcfore the old man fi nall y died, and in the meantime l\[ary had borne a son, an act wh ich, with no known husband, had a decidedly negati ve effect on her reputation. At the funera l o( the old man, she could at last reveal the name of her husband a nd the father o( her now-adul t son, whi ch ca use d q uite a sti r in the commun ity: , T he Qua kers, who formed a majo rity of the popul a tI on, a nd generall y co n tro ll ed publi c se n timent in do mes tic matters, through the purity of their own domes ti c Life, a t once pronounced in favor of Ma ry Barton. The fact of h er haV in g ta ken an oath was a sligh t stumbl II1 g- bl ock to some; but her pa tience, her fortitude, her "h e Old Pennsy lvania Fa1 ' m er'~f1"O m " H om e 8 allads"(1882). submiss ion to what she fe lt to be the Divine Wi ll, a nd the solemn strength whi ch had upborne her o n the las t tryll1 g day, were q ualities wh ich no ne cou ld better a p preciate.3 the situa tion was pretty much the sa me with his wife. Mea ls O f co urse such theatrica l patience was not a n everyday oc we re served ho t a nd on time. The ho use wa spo tless ly cl ea n currence, ye t the a ttitude of Ma ry Barton-and of the from cell ar to attic, it cl eanliness whi ch seemed imposs ible to Qua kers towa rds her- is indica ti ve of the great pa tience outsiders: " eighbors always spoke of her ki tchen with a n whi ch T ay lor a ttributed to the sect. admira tio n wherein there was a sli ght mix LUre of des pa ir. " ~ Bayard T aylor also made much o( th e (amous tru th ful Again, as with the husba nd, this was a ll ilccompli shed ness of the Friends. .\l tho ugh he \\' as, like the o ther de through an adherence to the ethic o f work, the strength o l fe nders 01 id ea lism, wa ryof businessme n, co nvin ced tha t th ey which adherence as to unded the rest of the comm unity a nd were basica ll y co rrupt a nd concerned so lely with making a offered it great source of pride to the Q uakers themselves. profit on every ve nture, his po rtraya l of Q ua kers was tha t 0 1 Everything was co nsidered within easy reach if a person paragons 01 hOll es ty, This, of course, went beyond their were wi lli ng to work hard enough. A man 's a bi lity as a business dea lings into their everyday lives, T here was never worker largely determined his sta nding in the eyes of his a suggesti on o f pre tense o r insince rity in a ny o f their social neighbo rs. There were no redeeming fac tors which co uld rel II 111 11 tro/ioll JUJlI1 " TI,e (Junk er JIIidow" - ill ';-fl oll1(' 8 nllad " (1882). I 'n1. 11 k;lI)ic. 'fIJi, ab iliL) to , p ea k Irank l y, in ' piLe o j all pCllOlnlcd lI'iLho uL q u c,>Lio nillg ; hc kncll' Lh IlLlcl c J :1) 101 " Ilolch uniquc and rc Jre,> h ing Jor Lhe ir lack o j lhcIIl II iLh ad ulL-likc ca in 'SLIlC,'> and '>o l) ri cLY' I n " 1'-1ic nd clupJ itiL) in Lhc illlc:rau io n o j Lh e ch:lraCle ), . I n Lh em , l ilc: UI'" 1) ,l uglllcr," Rich:ll cI Il i l LOl1 «Jlllp,lrcd Lhc adoic,c.cnL pl og l c'»cd i ll an o rd crl y, logica l Ja'> hio n :IIHI Lh c d CLail ,> oj \ "'llaLh lI'iLh Lill' g il h he h,ld k l1OII' n in I'hilad c lphi:l: Lh c >Lor) d CP'IHled II'holl ) o n Lh c naLural w m cqucnccs 0 1 charaClcl which II'C I l: I I ca led to Lh c rca dc r Jrom L1I ' I CI ) . . . ,\ sc llaLh had 0 1 Lhc I'ariou ,> c. haraClcr, in his work ; obs I I 'd , CXC.C pL in llIuch o ldcr 1I'0m c n . Shc had h ad, In ll as I rca d m Ol c I dCLc l mincd LhaL Lh c I)a,> ic IJ o nc,LY 0 1 a, h ' co uld II'clI illlagin , no r omping g irlhood, no 1l1 0,L 0 1 lhc,c c1 w r 12 I hc Quakel' could nOL (OIIl1ll'1I,1I1CC wild abandon in any \\ IllIlIg'>. \ 'irtll c \\·a., IC\\ 13 Theil Jhe was ;, Iill: Ih ey sat awh ile: So it appea l, thaL Cod go\'el ncd ;Jil .,oc. ial relaliOl1s ill the at last Jh e JjJo/(e again, Qua kcI c.ommunit)', 0 1 at least a good numb 'I 0 1 the people "The L ord illcline Ihee 10 tile lighl!" olld "Thou shalt have hill1, j a1l e l" lik cd to think so. J I1 a Ie\\' iIlSLanc.cs, Lh c ., itua liOI1 l)eGII11( ' M y father said. ' cl ied. 111 deed, a lillie :i1)suld, ,I, in lhi., pass,lgc 11 0m " Frie l1d E li \ 't was n ot til e least of sh ocks, D a ughter": 1'0 1' B enjamill was H iclisile, and fat h e)' O rthodox.Q T h o ld man cnjoyed ta lking, but it must I)e in hi, own way a nd at his own good time. Thcy must wait un \ Vhclhcr o r no t a n orthodox Quakcr would cvcr havc 10 1' til the c.Qmm unica tivc spirit ; hou ld move him. \ Vi lli biddcn his d aughler lO ma rry a .Ilicksitc is ,I mO (H que;li o n, the first cup 01 c.o llce th c inspiration ca m c .l ~ but it i; important that th (,Q nflict betwccn th c;e two typcs \ Vh e th er or no t thcl e cx isted a "c.ommunicalive spirit"- a,> of Quakerism sho uld cvcr h avc ari;cn in w ch a grave manner some ;on 0 1 i\J ;111 Friday to the H o ly Spirit- in the minds 0 1 o n a I live occasio n like lhis o ne. The mino r difl ere nc.cs thesc Quakcrs is dubio us. Bu t th c po int is well takcn th:lt in doctrine ,Inc! pranic.e must havc we ighed very hcav il y mu h 01 the ir liNcs wa, govcI n d I)y introspection and in with somc m mbers 01 the ;CC l. spiraLion. Thcy le ll som c divine pre;enc.c in thcir cveryday Ti d in with this lack o r LO leratio n was thl' i:J u lhat life, a nd they \\'cl e not relu tant lo c.a ll upon it to scrvc in Friend o [le n tricd to im l oSC sa n cti o ns on I hose who lI'ere thc m o;t m e nial ca pacities. admill d to th eir i\ I eting. Utmost conl o rmity lI'as d c These, thcn, were th e characteristi cs-i I we a rc LO tru;t manded 01 evcry m ember, and those who oc upied the " high Baya rd T 'lylo r's d e;cription- o l the Quakers in the rural ea t;" were not in the least timid about address ing someone 19th Ce nlury D elawarc Valley. H ow th ey compared with [o r a n yone of a number 0 1. sUPI osed infractio n;. Ot o nly o th r, no n-Quaker c.ollllll unitics is hard to dClermine. But were ma tters 0 1 dre;s rev iewed, but a lso behavior and even certa inl y whcre\'er the Fricnds cx isted in la rgc numbcrs facia l expre;sio n seemed LO be the busine s 0 1 the entire thcy influcnccd the nalUrc 01 the ir cnlire township. lot community rathe r than its individual m embers. The mildeH everyo ne in thc Kc nnett area was Quaker, but thc Quaker sa nction impo ed LOok th e I. orm 0 1. d amning g lanc.es :It the influcncc W,IS ; tro ng ly lelt by a ll. Non-Quakers u;ed plain socia l gatherings which occu rred belore a nd a l. ter each ]\J eet speech in cO I1\'er 'ing with F r iends; they dressed vcry ing. ]I th d "iation were a serio us o ne, it might lI'arrant a simi la rl y; and a large number of non-Quakers allended fri endly a lbe it ;amber re proach from the elders 0 1 the i\ l ect Friellds' i\ Ieeling beca usc thcre \\'as no other ch urc.h in the ing. And in ex trem e cases, o fl enders were read o ut 0 1 the immediate a rea. i\leeti ng a Itogether.l 0 I n o ne o f his essays, Taylor him;cll wrOle, "T oo o lten thc Such ex trem e ;ancli ons wcr rare ly resorted to, 0 1 courM':, prominent re li g ious scct in a LO\\'n determincs Lh c cha ra cter but there wa; a co nsistelll leeli ng that anoma lo us iJ ehavior 01 it society."J:l So Irom a knowledge or th i, single seg within the gro up wou ld not be lOl eraled . Thc grea te;t m ent o f the popula tion, ca r ful and li m ited genera li 7ations o ffenders were undoubed ly the yo uth who wcre tempted to might be made about the scveral predominalllly Quaker di ca rd lhe ir pla in dre;s or who w uld sec little h arm in get communities in the area. Of greater importance, howe\'er, ting LOge th er occasion a ll y lor ,In evening 0 1 lev ity. But the is the fa ct th a t man ) more acccptable gen era liza tions ca n be fa t tha t th ese diver 'ion; were not permilled lI'ithin lhe m ade if one's remarks arc limited strictl y to the Quakcr group, a nd that lra m gre;sio ns were acted upo n by the who le popula tio n. Hayard Taylor's works arc o ne very rich so urcc g ro up, g iv es som e indica tion 0 1 lhcir ;ell -consc io usn ss and for socia l informa ti o n about that lascina ting group. solidarity as a group. Thc d ang rous wanderings o f the ir m emb rs becam e a co n ern for everyo ne connected with the 12 "Friend Eli 's Daughter," p. 245. 13 AI H ome and Abroad, p. 495. M e ting, whether they were perso nally involved or nol. The ir discipline was o fl ered without vengea nce, but with ,I B ivliograjJ/z)' diligen ce which indica ted holl' d eep their commilmcnt to the principl s of Qua kerism lI'a s. Bayard T aylo r. AI H ome aJ/d AVl'Oad; A Sh elch -vooh of Fina ll y, Taylor s em ed espec ia ll y impre sed with o utll';1I'( 1 j jfe, SUll er), alld M e ll . T \\'o Series. I n The Jl' orliS of manifesta tio ns o f the Jnward Lighl. ;very dubita l)le a CL ion jJ a)'OId Ta)' lor. Volumc VJ. N ew York : C. 1' . Putnam 's was p erfo rmed because som eone was "so moved." ,\ nd a n y Sons, 189:1. in acLivity lI'as a Ltributed LO the fa ct th a t the Spirit had not ----. B eal/I)' alld III I' B east alld Tales of H ome. In Th e moved him. This was o lte n used as an excuse, it seems, be lJ 'orhs of Bayard Taylor. Volume J, P an 11. N ew York: ca use the re was absolu Le ly no Wily lO arg ue aga inst il. In C . 1' . PUlnam's o ns, 1882. Th e Siory of J e JlIJ eU, lo r xa mple, i\ I anha D eane h ad two H alliloh TIIIII JIOII: A Slor), of /l lllericrm L ife. Ne\\' major conflicLs w ith her fa th er. Fir l, he wanted her lO jo in York: G. 1'. Putnam , J865. the M eeting as a full m mber; but he was a lillie lOO yo ung j olm Godfrey'S F0117ll1es; H ela /ed v)' H lln elf. A and gay to assume the role o f a Qua keress. So she co unlel ed SI OIY of / / IIl(,lium L ife. Ne\\' York: C . P. PUlnam, 1865. his a rg um nts with a plea that lhe spirit did no t so g uide her, j ose/)h alld H is Frielld, A Story of Pe llnJ), lv allia. and there was .iu t nothing ; he co uld do LO rectify the situ:l Ie\\' Yo rk : G. P. Putnam's 'o ns, 190:1. tion. Second, D r. D eil ne had tho ro ughly disa pproved 0 1 h I' Th e P octical lI ' orh, of Ba)lard Taylor. Bo to n : m a tch with yo ung Cilbert Potl 1', bUL he co uld not argut' H o ug hLo n , J\ liffli n and Compa n ) , 1892. with her when sh e sa id , " I I 1II 11 J t I) , fa ther ... Cod ha lh Th e SIOI ), of f{ (,lIlIell. N \\' Yo rk : C . P . Putnam's \'en thee jo ined o ur h ea rts and o ur lives, a nd no m,ln- nOI Sons, 190:1. - sha ll put th m asunder." ll Ro bcn E. Spi ll cr, ('/ III . '_/I aa 1')' His/ory of Ih e Unite d Q "The Quaker Widow, " pp. I GI fT . SllIle.l: H iJIOIY. Third cditio n . New Yo rk: The i\Jac 1013a),ard Taylor, "The SLr ang 1'1 iend ," Tales of /lome, Th (' i\ Jillan Compa n y, 1964. lVorks of Bayard Taylor, Vol. J, Part J I (New York : 1882) , pp. 75 fT . Edmund C1 a ren c' Stedman. Poels of America. BosLOn: Jl The Siory of K ennell , p. 288. IJ o ug hLOn , i\ Ji ff lin, a nd Compan y, 1896. 14 GYPSY STORIES from the Swatara Valley By VICTOR C. DIEFFENBACH (Among thc unpublis hed skctchcs of Victor Dieften bach B UR IE D T R EASUR E (1882- 1965), lalc of Bcthcl, Pen nsy lvania, which hc had Ol very far fr om the little town of A---- , lhere is a \\Tittcn for th c l'enn;ylva n ia Fo lkli fc ociely, wc fin d lhc wonderl ul farm of close to two hundred acres; it is good oil, fo ll ow ing g) psy stories I rom thc days of hi; boyhood a nd and has a ve ry big barn. It had been o wned fo r a hundred yo ung ma nhood in thc watara Va ll cy. \ Vc publi sh thcm a; yca rs o r mo re by o nc family, a nd had been passed o n from lhey arc, prcjudicc a nd a ll , ; in(c thcy rcnc l popular al falher to son. I n lhc limc of the C ivil W'ar it was part of the tiLUd cs of lhc Pcnnsy lv an ia DU lch farm in g classcs in rcla undergro und railway for runa way or fu gitive slaves. Old lion to thc gypsics who ca mpcd a long lheir creeks and in x---- was a mem ber of the Dunkards or Church of the thcir wood lo ts in lhc pas t. \ Ve are illlcresled in receiving Brethren, a nd, si nce they do not believe in, nor participate oth cr rcminiscences of gy psy ca mps a nd gypsy dea lings with in war, so he gave shelter to the poor egroes. They taugh t l'cnn;ylva nia fa rmcrs from a ny of our readcrs.-EDIT OR.] X ---- how to raise suga r-ca ne a nd also how to make mo lasses a nd sugar. H e also had a big gri stmill, lha t is still running today. GYPSI ES AS HORSE-TRADERS T he old man was sick, and fin a ll y his gra ndso n inherited G ypsics, from time immemori al, were, a nd stil l are horse lhe m ill a nd fa rm and cash a nd all. He was a ta ll yo kel, a nd lraders. They have some of the bes t horse fl es h to be fo und as dumb as he was tall, a nd he wo uld have liked to have m uch - da ting back to the Bedo uin's steed of pure Arabi an stock more money_ Not that he needed it- he had plem y of it - pcrha ps to the lime of the Pharaohs. sa lted down . But one day ca me a roving ba nd of gypsies, Thcy arc shrewd , cra fty, a nd ski lled in the arts of necro a nd seeing the big barn a nd the sp ic-a nd-s pa n look of thc mancy, fortune- te ll ing, wa ter-witching, ctc. entire se tup, they drove in . T hey soon sa w wha t the farmer I rcmember the time when they we re in a ca mp at the was most co ncc rned abo ut, viz., money; and no t just money, Swa tara Crcek, near Belhel. "Ve were a bunch o f kids, may be but how to get mo re a nd ma rc of it. They asked to buy a a dozcn o n our bicycles, a nd we rode in there to see lheir ni cc co uple bags of corn, a nd a lew chi ckens, a nd some smo ked horses. t\ n old woma n- a hagga rd o ld cro nc, with lo ng grey meal, a nd the o lel gy psy paid for it with a gold piece. H e hair, a hook nose, and a corn-cob pipe in her mo ulh- ca mc no ted the greed y look in the fa rmer's eye as he slipped the out ol a lent, a nd asked us if we wanted to have her tell our co in in his pocket. fortune. We sa id we did not. She cursed in Pennsy lva nia "Do yo u like tha t kind o f mo ney?" he asked the farmer. Dutch, a nd she went in to the te nt, a nd o ut shc comes a nd " Yes, if I co ul d o n ly get mo re o f it; but the U .S. govern had a lcenage girl by the ha nd. ment has a ll the gold buried a nd we wh o raise the cro ps, we Sh e sa id, " Wann dir eieh [a rrieht wegge mir, dir breiehl ca nno t get any of it. H ow ca n yo u get it?" cieh net [an'iehte wegge iln a. Sie beisst eieh net." (If yo u " Oh, 1 have to dig it out first," sa id the gypsy. are afra id of me, yo u needn' t be afraid of her. She won' t " Yes, but there are no a rmed guards to watch it?" bite yo u.) "Look here," sa id the gypsy, a nd he got a ca nvas bag full T hc girl was her gra nddaughter, a nd shc was as pretty as of gold . and le t the fa rmer feast his eyes o n it. lhe old woma n was ugly. And there we stood likc a bunch of dummies . 0 one of us budged ; fi nally I plucked up what was left of m y spunk a nd I walked up to·her. " Which ha nd do yo u use for wri ting?" shc asked me; I sa id the right o ne. So she took me by my right hand, a nd lookcd at the li nes in m y palm. She sa id , " You will ma rry a lillie, dumpy woma n wilh blue eyes a nd ve ry dark hair, and yo u wil l have sixtee n kids!" Yo u should have hea rd tha t bunch o f my 'pals ra zzing me. Laler, when I met my life partner, she was a girl abo ut fi ve feet ta ll , with pretty blue eyes a nd ha ir so da rk-brown, lhat (rom just a short d ista nce they· seemed lO be black; a nd she didn't miss it very far- we had fo urteen children. How they do it, I ca nno t lell ; but she sa id she wa nted me to give her a doll a r for te ll ing me; sometimes she would get more. " [n the Eng li sh d ia lects o( l'enn5) Ivania which are innuenced OJ Pennsy lva n ia Cerman, " hair" i5 pl u ra l, hence the " Lheys". EDIT OR. The Gyf)sy let the fan ner feast his eyes on the golc'- 15 " (sn 't th a t bea utiful? W o uldn 't yo u like to get a dozen THE MILLER AND THE GYPSY bags lik > this? Or a hundred bags like it- a ll full o C gold?" Old Francis S---- used to own a nd also o pera te the big " I[ow a n r get it?" gasped the fa rmer. old gristmill at Cross Keys, nea r B rnville. One day the "JU St by digging for it- tha t is a ll ; it is here o n yo ur own gypsies ca me. J\ young woman, ta ll a nd lovely, all full of fa rm- a grea t big iron kellle lull o f gold, worth a hundred glillering spa ngl s, ca me inLO his little ofh ce (die Miehl Ih ousa nd dollars; a nd it is a ll yours, for th e diggin g." scitluIJjJ). Before h kn ew th a t she even was th ere, she was " But how willI kno w wh ere LO dig? How ca n I find o ut?" hack of him a nd had bo th her hands in the pockets of his "I will tel l yo u," sa id the gy psy; but first we must do some pa nts. ]n the ri ght hand pocke t she found his pocketbook, thing lO a ppease the evil spirits thal are watching this tr as and sh held it in her ha nd, and in the left hand she had lire. \Ve must bribe them- buy them off. Yo u have ome gra bbed something el e. Old Fra nce was a bachelor, a nd mo ney- read y cash o n h;lI1d ?" he was sca red to bea t a ll hell ; he said he was not sure was h e " H ow much must w g iv e them?" going LO b ro bbed, or ra p d . H e shook himse lf loose a nd " I think they will no t take less than $200," said th e gy psy gave her a big bag of no ur a nd corn LO feed her chickens a nd - " they kn ow th a t th e gold in the kellle is wo rth a lot. " a co uple 'o f bags of som kind of ommercial feed LO fallen "I have tha t much in the hOll se," sa id the fa rmer- 'TII go her hogs. H e aid he was o nl y too glad LO get rid of them. a nd get it." \vhe n h ga ve the mo ney to the gyp y he was tO ld tha t th e SlSS DIE BETZ! nex t week, in th e da rk of the moon, th y wo uld co me again, Yea rs ago a n old man ha I a ve ry o ld ma re and her name rt nd Ih en if the evil spirits and everything was pro pitio us, wa Hes (Hetz in Dutch). She had bee n a wo nderful driving they wo uld show him wh ere LO dig and wo uld al 0 help him. mare in h r time; no w sh was old, worn-o ut- she had the And the fo ll o wing week they came; no w Ihey LO ld the heave. Since he o uld no t use her a nymo re the hired help larmer that they had pil id fo ur of the ev il spirits to stay ha I negle t d to feed her properl y a nd she h adn't been a way; but th ere wa a fifth pirit, a nd he wo uld no t take I s groomed a ll \'Vinter. 0 wh n the gypsy ca me a nd saw th e th a n 500 f r his sha re alone. old has-been he bought her for 10.00. H av i ng had th is "II used LO work in a ba nk," sa id the gypsy, "and he ma re co ntinua ll y fo r some twe nty yea r , ve ry ho tel ma n a nd kno ws th va lu of money." hos tl r knew o [ h r. "And is th a t a ll? " a id the fa rm r. One lay the o ld ma n had a pho ne- a ll from a ma n in a " II yo u ca n give m $500, 1 ca n buy him on'," aid the dista nt town. T his ma n said , " 1 know tha t yo u so ld old gY I ~y ; "'yo u a re still oming o ut a head of th ga m ." Bess; a n I 1 knew her. I know where yo u ca n buy a nice So they had a no ther nice golden nes t egg when th ey I ft. yo ung ma re, xactl y like her, a nd 1 know th at once yo u drive The next w ek it was the sa m o ld ta le, o nl y wo r e. The her, yo u wo uldn't trade her o n a Cadillac." viI spirit took th e 500, sa id th e gypsy, " but no w we mu ·t Old lke as ked him wh ere he was, a nd we n t to see him. H e give '500 LO his wife, o r he will no t I t us dig." a w the ma re- ve ry ni e a nd cl ea n- a fin e tro tter, a nd h e So th fa rmer hadLO go to the ba nk a nd get his mo ney,a nd bough't her (or SI25. 00. The man deli vered her by tru<: k. they paid a no th I' $500 to th gy psy. The nex t trip th y LO ld The next day the 0 1 I ma n put the ha rness on her, a nd was him tha t sin ce it had b en buried so long, they must get a surprised to see th a t a ll the buckl es fitted into the old , well p rmit fro m th Unite I Sta tes Treasury, gua ra nteeing th a t worn holes. th y wo uld l ay t n perce nt tax o n th · entire amo unt o C the Sam thing wh en he hooked her to the buggy. \Vhen h e trea ure, or pay a lu mp sum of $1000.00 . am back to the fa rm he unhitched a nd the mare we nt to The farm r agr ed LO pa y the lu mp sum, but h wa nted th e wa tering tro ugh ; when she had h er fill he went to the LO b rro w some of it from the bank, ilnd g iv e a mo rtgage o n loor o[ the sta ble, but n t where he had been- she went to the fa rm. When the ba nker hard of his nefa ri o us d a is the extra sta bl e a nd whe n he o pened the door she went in to with the gy psies, the dea l was of[. ince he had LO ld them th box- ta ll fo rmerl y occu I ied by old Bes. ] n the a fter a t which ba nk he was going to get the mon y, th y we ll kn ew noon he drove to LOwn , a nd wh n she had gone a mile she o f th dea l fa lling thro ugh; they never a me aga in . H e wa SLOpp ed a nd began LO cough a nd expel a lo t o f gas- like a a poorer but a much wi er man . machine-gun. The old man looked a t her, a nd sa id , "Sis bei CO lt die B elz!" (By God, it's Bes i). Sh had been clipped a nd in stead o f long shaggy hair she BLESSI N G A OlN was smooth a nd almos t colored like a Palomino; her teeth Yea rs ago m y two o ld st sons and the two o ldes t girls a nd had b en "doctored ," a nd she had been given a powder tha t were p dd li ng berries o n th streets of LOu hsburg whe n o blit ra t s al l traces o f th e heaves, as lo ng as she do n' t drink. ,I wh ol ra ft of ca rs Irom way o ut W st came down the ma in H e had to lead her home- she o uld no t pull him o r the Slreet 0 1 th LOwn - ca rs [rom Arizona, N ew M exico, T exa , buggy; a nd he sa id thilt if he was dumb eno ugh to buy h er Idaho, Colorado, and a lew from alifornia- a ll o f th m back witho ut recognizing her, the n he was dumb e no ugh lO load d lull o[ gypsie , and a ll bound [or Boston. Their feed her fo r the re t of her na tural life. G ypsy Qu e n, nin ty y ars of age, was dying, a nd th y were bo und fo r her bedside LO gel h r dying bless ing. That is what a stra pping big wench told me. She said 1 sho uld show h r a coin, so that she could bless it- then I would have good luck a ll of the yea r. I had hal'll 01 such goings on previously, and Out ol the orner 0 1 m y eyes 1 could se two tall stra nge young men, converging n me on a n angle. 1 slipped into my car, back 0 1 th wh I, and roll ed. J ju t had the id ea thai th time she was in the aC t of bl sing my oin, l was in se rious da nger of be ing bereft of the lo ng-green in my hip-pocket. H e had to lea d her home. 16 Gypsy Cam1) all Deer{te/d Pike, Philade/ jJ/i ia area. IU llS tmtioll from MTs.HumphTe'y s " The Automobile T ourist" (P/i i/adel1)/l ia, 1905). THE REO TURKEY-HE start laying. Then yo u feed it to her, and she'll lay aga in ." It was not exactl y red- to tell the truth it was no more red H e spoke the Pennsy lva nia Dutch, a nd Gra nny sa id, "I ch tha n the moon, if it is made o( green cheese; but we alw ays denk du ll egschl verdamml!" (I think yo u're a damned ca ll ed it red . It was buff·colored, a nd striped a li ghter ye l li ar!), but she gave him a doll ar. And he had not lied ; the low and if it ruffled up its (eathers it looked like nobod y's turkey- hen came home, and she laid and raised a nice clutch business. It was a turkey·hen, a nd it was m y grandmother's of her own. pet. It was so old tha t it had not laid a n egg in several years, The o ther three missing ones we also found a t a neighbor's, but it was just like a bell-wether- it would come home to who claimed to have no knowledge of an y strange birds being roost every night; a nd once it sta rted to go o n the way home. with their Hock. a ll the rest would follow. But we never found out what the gy psy had in tha t pow· Dad usually had from eight to a dozen or more o ld hens, der; he wouldn't tell. plus the old gobbler, and fro m fo rty to close to a hundred yo ung stock. When unconfined-on the range- they travel GYPSIE AND WATERMELONS a breast over a fi eld in search of bugs, beetles, a nd grasshop One night while a bunch of us yo ungsters went swimming pers, but once on the homeward march they go in single fil e in the old "Swatty" (Swatara) we saw tha t the gypsies at the like the Indian . And like a flock of sheep, they will (ollow ca mp nea rby had a lot of watermelon rinds lying around; th e same path day in a nd day out. they also had some big melo ns in a tub of water in the tent My mother was a n invalid so she would sit on the porch to cool o ff . One of their kids told us they had got them at and late in the afternoon the red hen would come a·march a farmer's near R ehrersburg; we had hea rd of the old man's ing down the ya rd, cross the porch between the summer big melons, a nd we found out that somebody had stolen a house a nd the dwelling-house and all the re t would follow. lot of them just a few days before. So I rode in a nd told him So she had a fin e opportunity to co unt them, a nd see if any of wh at the boy had told us; he sa id they had not bought were miss ing. And one night there were four of them not any of him. to be seen ; a nd one of the four was the o ld red hen. And "What ca n I do about it?" he aid. I told him tha t I did there the gypsies come on the stage. They were the R ein not think he could do anything about the missing melons; hardts, a nd they came from Lebanon, Pennsy lva nia. One of but th at I had an idea of how to identify the thieves if they them, quite a nice-looking man-said to Granny, "Don't made another foray. worry-tomorrow night she will come again." So I went to town to the horse·doctor and sta ted the case. " I wouldn't miss her so but beca use she is the leader; she He la ughed , then he went and got a tin y bottle a nd a sy ringe is so old, she don't lay anymore-we only keep her to bring a nd gave it to me. H e said I should tell the old farmer to the flock home." load the syringe a nd inse rt it in the lower side of the real ripe "Listen, Granny!" I'll give you this nice new basket and melons and then push down on the plunger. "You better this pack of powder for one doll ar. When she comes home help him," he sa id . "I would, but 1 don't have time. Do not tomorrow night you feed her some of the powder; but be use more than a few drops in each melon. You ca n bring sure to keep some of it till next Spring, shortly before they the g un back later- l have more of them." 17 T he boule had <- roLO n-oi l'" in it, and the DocLOr said it was the ;trongest phys ic obtainable. W e loaded the melons that afternoon, and a few days later the en tire swa mp at the creek looked like a Ch inese laundry. R ope; strings and anything that ould be strung up was full o f clothes LO dry. T he elder berry bushes were hangi ng full of overall s, the gra s was cov ered wi th th e women's undies, and d iapers by th e doze n hung on the fence. You co ul d n't see anyo ne around-onl y once in a while a fell ow would take a snea k back of the witch haze ls. T here was no two-sea ter, no one-sea ter- and Chi c ale co uld hal'e got himse lf hired in short order, had he been around. You should have een that old guy wh en I LOld him of it he laughed till his teeth rattled. And I had a ll the water melons that 1 co uld eat and a lot to take home. But we H e bade th e horse to swim thmugh the 1-ising stream. never found out whether the gypsies surmi ed wh at had ca used their trouble. Maybe they also bl amed it on the moon, or some zodiaca l sign. might be uprooted and they would be hurled from their pre ca rious pos i tion into the raging fl ood, the old gypsy came, THE PHAR 01-1'5 HORSES mounted on his fin e steed. H e spoke gently to the horse and T hese sketches how diver e ways of how the gy p ies sup bade him to swim through the roiling stream to an old wil port[edJ themse lv es. Some o f them did have jobs, the sa me low-tree and he ca me back and had an old man and a child, a other people do; but once the wanderlust took over and brought them safely to land. goodbye job. Just leaving the horse get his breath he repea ted the per The sLOr y used to circulate that when driven to it by hard formance and rescued several more. H e made a third trip lu ck, the gypsy women made use o f woman' oldest pro fes and the peopl e on shore told him to stay and not to try to sion; but as a rule they were just as chaste as others. make another trip. It was ve ry hard for the horse when so Quite a few gy psies were well educa ted and could quote heavil y overl oaded to swim against the current. Latin vefse by the ya rd ; a t least they sa id it was Latin . But the man sa id he could rescue some more and save a stronomy th ey cl aimed to have been [aught by their elder few more li ves. H e made a fourth trip, and on the way back from one generation to the next. And they co uld interpret a log hi t the horse and knocked him over; the ma n swam out d rea ms. Old R einhardt had a drea m-book and he in i ted unhurt, but the nobl e horse and the perso ns he tried to save, that it went back LO the time that J oseph was with Pharaoh perished in the fl ood. in Egy pt. As to their reli gion I am in the dark ; but he had 1 was over in Deturcksvill e several yea rs ago, and there 1 a beli ef in rein ca rnation. When I told him about a dream met an old man wh o corroborated the story that my mother that I had dozens of times then, and n ow may be a hundred LO ld me as a lad. times along imilar lines, he sa id : " It is poss ible that at some In 1922 while 1 was employed as a carpenter at the big distant time you were employed in the stables of a Pharaoh. electric power-plant near Pine Grove I met se veral persons The horses you describe and the way they were bred, wh o knew o f this and poke o f the lives that had been saved groomed, trained, and even harnessed, you must h ave seen by the gy psy and his wonderful horse. something of the kind somewhere or somehow. You've H arry Proudfoot who used to conduct the Brobst H ouse never been in those foreign places?" a t R ehrersburg yea rs ago, was one of the survivors of this I sa id 1 had not. "But yo u still co uld have been," he sa id disaster. Some of his older brothers and sisters los t their -"one never knows for a ce rtainty." lives that day, while he was still too yo ung to go to school. 1 do not knoll' o f the date when it happened, but accord THE GYPSY A D THE FLOOD ing to my mother's account, it must have occurred almost My mother used LO tell of the til11 e long ago when the bi g 100 yea rs ago. The old man who told me of it in Deturcks dam northeast o f Pine Grove broke and flooded the Swa tara vill e must have passed on, because he was some eighty yea rs Vall ey and the surrounding area. It was what is now ca ll ed old then, and that was in 1951. Deer Lake and was only built up o f logs and brush and din piled up. M y mother, if living, wo uld have been III years THE GYPSY AND THE PREACHER old on April 10th. At the ti me o f the fl ood she was sti II Lately an old res ident o f Pine Grove told me th at he re going to school at Suedberg, a small town in the path of the membered of hi s parelll telling of this disaster in his younge r fl ood, but did not a ttend school that day beca use of the heavy da ys. H e a Iso remem bered o f the gypsy rescu i ng persons rain ; the schoolhouse was swept away and a number o f pupils that had been marooned in trees. H e sa id that a man-a were d rowned . loca l Methodist preacher-stood on a big stump on dry A band of roving gy psies were enca mped cl ose to th e d am ground and shouted in a loud voice-"calling on God Al but on higher ground sin ce they did not like the proximity mighty, on J es us and all the ange ls in the H oly Kingdom to of the dam nea rby. T he gypsies had some fin e horses and help the poor peo] Ie and keep them from drowning!" The one es peciall y good one-a stallion of Arabi an stock. gy psy LOld the preacher LO "shut up, and do something." When the fl ood was at its worst, and dozens o f perso ns Bys tanders sa id , "H e is the man of God- h e is do ing his were hanging in the tree-LOps, never knowing when the tree bes t-calling on the Lord for his help." "I-Ie a in 't doing a damned thing, but making a lot of noise, " • Tales invo ll in" the li se of this chemi ca l for practi ca l jokes are plellliflli in Ea~ t ern and Ce nt ra l Penn ylva ni a. Will readers a id th e gy psy. Riding up LO the stump, he sa id, " Why don't send thei r vers ions to lIs?- EDIT OR . yo u go and get yo ur horse and do as I am do ing?" 18 "My hor e is not as big and strong as yours is," aid the describe- but OT hard to identify once you've heard it man. " He couldn't stand it, to swim in that fl ood and carry the cry of a horse in fear and/ or panic. an ex tra load on his back-he would drown a nd probably also There was a band of gypsies camped at the watara Creek, be the ca u e of my own death." no more than a half mile away from the farm , and everal of "Then yo u'd better shut up, as I already told yo u- yo u them were there, mingled in the crowd. As soon a I heard don't have the g uts to give yo ur help lO the poor drowning that scream, I aid, "That is a horse's ca ll for help-there's a folks. Yo u a re the mouthpiece of God, they tell me-you horse left in there and he mu t be got out!" got a big mo uth and yo u're ma king a lot of noise with it, a nd 'A nd as sure as there's a God-you're right, son-let's get that is a li that yo u are doing." him!" The speaker was one of the gyp ies. The man who lO ld me th e above slO ry of the big flood sa id Johnnie denied there wa a hor e in the stable, but I knew th a t from tha t time on that preacher did not have as big a that he, being not quite up to par when everything else was crowd of followers as before. O.K. and now being scared, could not be depended on. 1 told it to the gypsy the while we got ready to ~ nt e r the stable. THE BU RNI IG BARN The fire up to then had mostly been confined to the upper Gypsies, as a rule, were expert horsemen ; not only in their part of the structure-the mows of hay and grain. In the dexterity as showing the best traits in their ha ndling of horses basemen t or ground-floor of the building where the li vestock but they were well schooled in the ancestry of the world's is always housed, there hardly was a ny fire, but it was full of best horsefl es h for centuries back lO the times of the Ph araohs. smoke. We both plunged our handkerchiefs in the big water There are those who claim tha t the name "gypsy" deri ved ing trough a nd ti ed them over our noses a nd mouths; then from "Egypti an," since more pure-blooded gypsies are of a we went in. dusky hue, hence the change from Egyptian to Gypsy. Be Several men tried to prevent us from entering- aid we that as it may, they have a love for horses, they had them, be were risk ing our li ves to do so. The gypsy pushed one man fore the advent of the motor-ca r, a nd they loved their horses away so that he a lmost fell over; he (the gypsy) said, There's lOO; a nd not onl y theirs but any ma n's horse, and would not a horse in there and I a nd this boy (I was about 14 at the hes itate to give succor to a ny equine in trouble. time) will get him out-he's worth more than a dozen s.o.b.'s Well do I remember a Sunday afternoon in the long-ago like yo u! " days, when I was having an afternoon siesta, a nd somebody In the rear of the stable was a big brute of a horse; op ho ll ered: FIRE. W e co uld see the smoke and I could easil y posite him, on the o ther side of his feed-rack, fire was falling identify it as the old Krause farm about a mile south of down into the h ay-hole where the hay is thrown down into Freys to\l·n. In a matter of seconds I was on my trusty bike the feed-e ntry. The horse was fear-crazed-plunging; but and headed for the fire. It was the big Swiss barn o n the old the gypsy, by some inner a nd to me seemingly unknown Krause farm-it \I'as a mass of fl ames, ca used by a bolt of hypnotic power, petted and ca lmed the horse; but I could lightning. The farm was tenanted by H a rry filler, a son not loosen the chains where he was fastened to the feed in-l aw of old Krause. trough. The chain was slipped through a hole in the plank, All the family had left for the day in the morning or fore blOught out over the front plank and slipped through a ring noon to visit some friends quite a dista nce away-all but in the chain a nd then put through the hole in the plank for Johnnie, a half-w it dependent of the family. There was a a second time (this had been done to shorten the chain) and crowd of folk gathered, neighbors a nd some from nearby we could not get eno ugh slack between the mad plunges of towns. ' '''hen they asked the boy about any livestock being the horse, to loosen it. in the barn, he re plied tha t all the ca ttle and the horses were "J esus!" sa id the gypsy-"what can we do?" out in the fi eld; so nobody worried a bout them . W e stood around a nd watched the progress of the fire; most of the crops "This," I said, as I took off my hickory-striped jumper had alread y been stored in the barn- i.e., forage crops, fodder (blouse) and put it over the trembling horse's head. " Hold and grain-all being turned into flame and smoke. him ," I said, and he took hold of both sleeves, while I CUt Suddenly we were startled by an awful, unearthly scream the heavy leather halter loose with my pocket-knife. Then coming out of the burning barn. It was a so und hard to he led the horse out a nd told the ma n who came to take over that he should put the horse in the fi eld and be sure to secure the horse. "Don't let him loose here or he'll go back in." Then he jumped into the wa tering-trough to extinguish l{i s now fl aming trousers-legs. Some young fell ow came over and offered us a drink from a pint bottle-we were coughing and spitting. T he raw, fi ery liquor was nea rly as bad as the smoke, but it helped. The barn had almost been consumed until the Millers came home; this was before we had any telephone, although Miller was later the pres ident of the Bethel and Mt. Aetna Telephone Company, a nd was locally known in the Pennsyl vania Dutch dialect as "der T ellyfone Miller". When some of the assembled crowd told H arry of wha t we had done in saving that horse, h e ca me over and personally thanked us; he sa id, "Th at horse is worth money, a nd it is not only the dollar-and-cents value of the horse that is of little value to me-what appeals to me is that you knew what to do, and were brave enough to do it. Here, take this as a token of my appreciation." And he gave the gypsy a nd me Then he led the horse out of the Durning barn. each a greenback with a picture of Old Abe on it. 19 STUMP-PULLING By BERT ON E. BECK The removal of the stumps o n the fa rm rs' ti ll able land ta tcd . By rc-adjusting the chain, the stump co uld be lo tated was the las t act in the episode ol taming their fi eld , mak in the opposite direction. \vith some digging and cho pping ing them rea ll y ara ble. Jt was impracti ca l a nd a ll but im a t the roots, the slump was eventua ll y removed. poss ible to removc SlUmps before N alUrc had done her work These two dev iccs lI'orkcd only on ; ma ll ; lLImps olless th an o f des troying thc ma ny small rOOtS, lor they had iI mos t a [oat in diameter. T o remOI'e largc roots near thc w riacc tenacio us hold on th e ea rth. This was the ITason fo r waiting a nd also to ro ll large stones o ut o f the ground, ;elcral kind; twel1l y yea rs or more befo re a ttempting the pulling ol thc 0 1. roo t o r stonc hooks were deviscd. They werc oltcn made larger hemlock stumps. The roo ts of the white pines were by the local blacksmith, tho ugh some wcrc madc in lactories. more res ista nt to decay, and for them it II'a; adl'isable to wait Picturc No.2 shows a hook th at resembles thc letter "J " lor an el'en lo nger period. a nd is owned by Bcrt i\ fase of Tioga County. Tha t SlUmps we re a real problem to the carl l' farmers o [ Picture No.3, taken a t thc La ndis Va ll C) Farm Muse um, Am eri ca is proven by th e la rge number o l pa tcl1ls fo r some is of a plow with th e wooden moldboard, a nd hanging on kind ol a root or sma ll SlUmp-extracto r, o r fo r huge machinc; tI(e wa ll a rc two chain s wi th a ring a nd a hook at either end. that wou ld pull the large pine SlUmp;. From 17 90, whe n the I was told a t the musc um that thcse cha ins were pa rt of a United Sta tes Pa tent Offi ce was esta blished, to 1890, close to stump-pulling ma c. hine, but it is my o pinio n they wcre roO t three hundred pa tents were gra nted for such extractors o r a nd stone hoob. SCI'cral pcr;ons from J ackson Town; hip for slUmping machine;. A study o [ these pa tcnts ; hows th a t have told me thcy hal'c secn ; imilar chains a nd hooks fast the pa.te n tecs were fro m near! y every sta te in the Unio n ex cned togethcr b) a short chain a nd ca ll ed a " pa ir of hooks." ce pt tlrc tree less Great Pl ains sta te . They sa id the ad l'a ntagc o [ thc pa ir ol'er the singlc hook was But lo ng before pa te nts we re thought olla r ; tumping ma tha t the pa ir was less likely to slip a ll: a big stone. chines, Yankec ingenuity had dev ised several simplc aid, ,\ no ther type o l root or ;tone hook, frcquentl y used in th a t we re either homemade o r made by the local bl acksmith. J ackson Township and the sO llthcrn part o [ Tioga County, One of these was ca ll ed the ma ll et and consisted o l a ;ecti o n ol a log a bout two feet in diameter a nd [o ur to six feet in length, with a hole a bout four to six in che square a nd a bout six in ches deep mortised in the ce nter o l the log. Into this hole a lever a bo ut ix or eight lee t lo ng was filled, the whole resembling a la rgc mallet. (See picture No. I.) To pull a sma ll tum p, the mall et IVas placed bes idc the stump with the lel' er upright. On the oppos ite side ol thc stump, a roo t was ex poscd a nd a ho le dug under th e root; a cha in was a ttachcd to thc root, pas ing up ol'cr the stump and fas tened to thc base o[ the upright lever. \vith the tcam pulling o n a chain attachcd to the top o l thc lel'er, thc ma ll e t -rolled , thus lifting th e stump. Another a pplia nce " 'as ca ll ed a twister and consistcd of a long pole as a lever, with one end lastened by a chain e ncircling the stump in such a ma n ncr that with the team pulling o n the opposite end of the lever, the stump was ro- 2. STONE HOOK OX FARM OF BERT MA E, TIOGA COUNTY. 3. STONE HOOf':' AND CHAIl,:, [J IND IS VALLEY M USEUM. 20 1. STUMP-PULLER OF THE /lONIE-M IJU E V/llUETl' Lycoming County, PCllllsylvania getting a chain around a big stone to pull' it out with a team. I ii, com panion volunteered, " If we had Dad ' old tone hook here, it would be a grea t hel p." 0 off they wen t for the stone hook. The old hook had been left exposed to the weather a nd the end of the tongue was weakened by decay. With the first pull by the team, the end of the tongue was broken. Using an axe, th ey cut the tongue in front of where the double tree was fastened and then used the hook without a tongue. l\Iany o l the patents were li sted as extractors and they were a ll hand-operated. The most simple of these was patent consisted of a long pole similar to a wagon tongue, onl y #23 1243, granted J anuary 19, 1880, to J ohn Sherril of J asper, longer a nd heavier, with the sma ll end fitted into the ce nter Tennessee, a nd co nsisted o [ a curve d lever, with a wh eel as ring of the neck yo ke when used with ho rses. At the rear the fulcrum , and a mova ble hook to grasp the stump. The of the tongue were two ha ndles extended backward. Mid hook resem bled the hook of a can thook. (See pictu re o. 5.) wa y between the ha ndles a nd the doubletree o n which the Pi clUre '0. (j is of a heavy ra tchet-geared hand-o perated horses did the pulling, two hooks were bolted, o ne on either stump-pulling machine owned by R alph Nienheiser o[ side of the tongue. The ba r of the hook, in tead o f having a L ycoming County. l\ I r. Nienheiser told me that he a nd his hole in it for a chain link, was a bo ut a foot longer, with fa ther, using a n ex tra long lever, had pull ed some quite la rge about six in ches of the bar bent forward at a rounded angle. stumps, but tha t the machine was a " man-killer." T o remove In this bent part of the bar were three holes by \vhi ch it was the la rge pine SlUmps on their farm, they later bought a bolted to the tongue. The bars of the hooks were bent a SlUmping machine powered by horses . This ratchet-geared little so th e two hooks fl ared outward and were abo ut a foot machine has been used a t different times by neighbors to a part. (See picture o. 4.) pull old a pple trees, move buildings, and to straighten barns I am indebted to Quintillis H artsock of Liberty, Tioga tha t thro ugh neglect were out of alignment. County, for th is account of the last time he helped to use Richard English o f L ycoming County showed me a sma ll such a hook. I r. H a rtsock is now in his nineties, a nd this tool he had bought and used to pull small stumps in cl ean incident took pl ace ma ny years ago. ing out old fence rows. H e sa id he sometimes " [ooled" the H e a nd another man were working to remove some large little gadget by using the tractor to pull on the lever. stones (rom the public road a nd were hav ing trouble in When the fi elds had been cleared for twenty or more years and the smaller stumps des troyed, the (a rmers were able to work around the big stumps, for their farm ing equipme nt was quite primitive. It usuall y consisted of moldboard VIEW plows, sp ike-toothed harrows, one-horse corn cultiva tors, sma ll mowing mach ines, hay rakes, grain cradles, a nd scy thes. Coming o n the market were better plows, harrows with teeth of curved spring steel, a nd a two-wheeled corn cultiva tor tha t worked the two sid es of the row each time across the fi eld . The newer mowi ng machines had longer cutterbars, and the side-delivery hay rake and a hay loader had been de veloped. There were better grain drills for sowing the grain, and th e se H-binder had been perfected to cut the r ipened gra in a nd ti e it into sheaves, thus relieving the farmer of the hard labor of cutting his grain with the cradle. To ma ke effi cient use of this new fa rm machinery, tho e remaining large stumps had to be destroyed, thus concluding the last act in the long episode of converting the virgin (o res t int? a ra ble la nd. I do not know how many - large stumps mIght have been on an acre, but Stanley Livermore, TOP VIEW . of L ycoming County, told me he once had pulled eighty-five 4. TWO-HORSE STONE-P ULLER. Pll1e stum ps o n a two-acre fi eld. The average of forty-two 21 6. j ATENTEf) R. ! } TC/l / ~ T-(;E / }R. /m STUMP-PULLER. 5. II ONE-1 1' /l CE!, STUMP-PULLER. a nd ollc-hall sllImps an acrc cefns quilc high , but il wou ld dcpcnd somcwhal on lhc lapsc ol timc bClII'cell lhc land clearing and lhc sllImp-pulling. f\n idea ol lhc sitc ol pinc and hemlock sLUmps whcn \'irgin loresls wcrc CUl may bc had from lhc following picLUres. P iclure No.7 shows lhc roO lS of o nc largc and sc vcral ncwly-pul led pinc SlUmps lhat wcrc p ullcd o n thc farm 01 Olivcr Brcwcr aboul 1920 . A fcw ycars beforc his dealh, i\ l r. Brcwcr lCIll mc thc picturc so I could h avc this copy made. !\fl'. Brcwcr i, shown pcrch d high on thc roots of thc largcst stump with a big rOO l cxtcndiilg a bovc him. To o nc wilh a lurid imagina tion , thc sighl o f a fi cld full of pullcd SLUmps mighl be a suitablc subjcct [o r a nightmarc. PiCl urc, TO. 8, 9, and I 0 o f stumps in lhc woods wcrc ta kc n in August, 1962. Pi clurc 10. 8 is o f a pinc stump in thc woods of Stan Icy Livcrmorc, whcrc it has bccn a stump for about scvcnty·five ycars. Burned in numcrous forcst fires a nd ravagcd by limc. it slill is a big Slump mcasuring fourtecn [CC l in circumfcr cncc. llow much bigger il was whcn thc trcc was cut is a n y o nc', g ucs . Picturcs No.9 a nd 10 arc 0 1 tIVO h emlock stumps in the woods ol /\ lI a n T aylor, cut about 1940. incc that timc thc , tumps havc not d ecaycd \'cry much as thc bark is , till in· tact. Thesc lWO SlUmps arc cach thrcc f et and thrcc inchcs in diamctcr, a nd yca rs ago thcy would h avc been co nsi d ercd about avcragc in sizc. 1 havc bcen told lhat occasionall y hcmlock stumps a rc six fcct in diamcter, and 1 would no t disputc the sta tcm cnt. The machincs for removing largc stumps wcrc li slcd in the patcnt records as "stumping machincs" a nd thcy rangcd fro m wcirdlooking contra plions to thosc o f simplc but cffl ci c nt d esign. J\ l ost o f thclll wcrc powcrcd by horses, though a fcw wcrc opcr 22 The u/Jrtghl lIlachille. 1 did not find an illll'>tra tion o[ rcmO\c th c ca rth lrom thc roots on that , id c; thcn thc "lUmp thi machinc in thc list o[ pate nt , blll 1 did a>ee n ain that wa, lowcrcd to th c ground and thc othcr sidc rai cd and thc in 1866 a pa tcnt had becn gran tcd for a tri pod wi th a ropc lOO tS cleancd. running ovcr fo ur diflcrc n t pulle), LO gcncratc powcr. The lorcc of thc upright machinc wa s dcpendcnt o n the La ter so meonc rcccivcd a pa tcnt for a recta ngu lar woodcn sizc 01 thc pulleys, thc , haft, a nd the rccl. 1 havc not bccn frame lying on thc ground a nd dcri\ ing its po\\'cr from thc ablc to Ica rn lI·hat thi, lifting fo rce \\,a, in pound, or tons, u e 01 tackl c bl ocks. It is poss ible th is patcn tec ~ub,t i t u t c d but it mU>L h;l\ c bcc n vcry grcat fo r thcre \\'ere lIIan y c~· th c recta ngul ar (ramc for thc tripod and suspendcd the cccd ingl) la rgc pinc , lU m ps rcmovcd by this mach in c. '1 he La ckl c bl ocks from the a pex. lorcc excrtcd by the Ic\ er machine as described abovc i, dc· Pi cturc No. I I is of a model of the upright mach inc which tcrm incd by a n cnginccri ng formula LO cqual ~c vc n t ec lI and uses thc principle of fo rcc deri ved from tackl c blocks. i\f) o nc·third LOll> , and 1 \\'ould aswmc thc forcc ol thc upright model is no t perfcct, for I do no t havc suffi cient mcchanica l mach i ne was thc samc. I know bo th wc rc vcry powcrful and ability LO ma kc a re plica accura tc in evcry detail. Howcvcr, both rcmoved many big SlUmps. I imaginc the in itial COst I hopc thc picturc will cna bl c thc reader LO vi suali zc and 01 thc Icvcr mach inc was co nsidcrabl y ma rc tha n that of thc understand thc wo rking principles o E thc machine. upr ight machine, and this may havc becn th c rcason thcre I remembcr secing a n upright mach inc in a fi eld but ncvcr wcrc ma rc 01 thc lattcr machincs in thc township. sa w onc in o peratio n. Thc little I know o E thcm 1 have rcad In 1900, Cogan H o u ~e T ownship had thrce Icvcr SlUmping or havc bec n told by people wh o had helped in thcir usc. 1 machincs, owned by J cremiah ,\ lexandcr, Mi chael Mitstifcr, know therc was a tripod made of heavy timbers with a set of a nd Ira Persun. Therc wcrc scvcn tripod o r upright mao tackl e blocks suspendcd (rom thc a pex o E thc tripod . Thrce chines,own ed by Charl es Mcssncr, Georgc Whittig, Ghristi an pulleys wcrc in each block, with a chain ra ther tha n a ropc Duco tey, R obcrt Ca ldwell , Bud Baumga rtncr, a nd Rudolph running thro ugh thc pulleys. Two o f thc legs of thc tripod Christ. These machincs pullcd a lo t of big stumps no t o nly rested o n a long skid, a nd the othcr leg restcd on a short skid . on their owners' farms bu t on thcir ncighbors' farms as wcll. \Vith a tcam hitched to the lo ng skid a nd a singlc horse Thcrc may have bec n othcr stumping machincs in thc hitched LO thc short skid, the machine could be moved about LO wn ship, but at prcsc nt 1 do not know of them. the field . In this manner it was draggcd as tride the stump Th e machine usill g lhe screw or jack. Pa tent #302467 was to bc pulled . granted June 6, 1884, to Georgc Chamberl ain o ( Olca n, N ew A large root of thc tump was cxposcd, a hole dug under York, fo r the SlUmping machinc herea(tcr dcscribed . I am it, and a chain pl aced around th c roo t. This chain can· indebted to Frallk Fl a ugh of J ersey Shore, Pennsy lv ani a, (or nected with a hook on thc lower bl ock 01 thc tackl c bl ock the inlormation about the use of this machine. Mr. Fl augh se t. Between two Icgs 01 the tripod, in a horizontal pos itio n, wrote me: was a shaft with a reel a t o ne cnd. On this reel a ropc was " My fa ther in Crawford County, Pcnnsy lv a nia, hircd a wound; a nd when a horsc pullcd o n thc ro pc, the rcel and neighbor with his stumping machinc to pull a lot of pinc shaft turned, winding o n thc shalt the chain coming from stumps. This machine, in thc (orm of a large jack, was the ta ckl e blocks, thus lifting thc stump from thc ground. made of heavy timbers a nd se t up over the stump. Thc frame was a tc trapod, with a pla tform of heavy bcams \tVith this machine was a se t of hand LOo ls likc thosc with placed on top of thc (our legs . A stcel rod, poss ibl y four the lever machinc to rcmovc thc ca rth from the roots. In to six inches thick a nd six to cight feet long, was squarc pulling a la rgc stump, o nc sid c was raised high enough LO threaded the entire length. This rod cxtcndcd clown through a hole in thc LOp platform a nd cnded in a na t· tened piece with a holc in it to cngagc a chain a round a root of the stump. A largc nut was placed on the LOp end of the threaded rod, and by turning this nut, the rod was raised and thc stump lifted . The wrench for turning the nut was madc [rom thc bole of a small trce that had a natural curvc in it. At the thick cnd was an iron re· ceptacl e to fi t ovcr the nu l. T he curved bole all owed thc sma ll cnd to hang down within a few feet o[ the ground, and herc a horsc was hitched to travel in a circlc a ro un th e jack." The capstan. The capstan is very old a nd ca nnot bc pat ented, bu t an apparatus using the capstan as a sourcc of power can be patcntc . Joh n H . Lloyd of Flcmington, ew Jersey, received ate n t #228088 on August 6, 1880. His de vice made use of a capstan sct on a sled and fastened to an a nchor stum p. T he barrel of the capstan had an ;]rm to which a horse was hitchcd. Whe n the horse walked in a circlc around the ca pstan, the cable coming fro m thc stump to be ul led was wou nd around thc barreL Mrs. W ill iam Cockburn of c Yo rk City rccently told me she ha been reared on a fa rm in Washington and that her fa ther used a capstan machine not only to pull stumps but to move his hou e to a new location. Halbert Powers Gillette in A Handbook on Clearing Land, published about 1916 to help prepare cut over land for agriculture during the first World War, cites the use of the lever stumping machine and the capstan stumping ma 11. MODEL OF UPRlGHT STUMP-PULLER. chine using wire cables for all the connections. 23 12. MODEL OF T Ui\IP-PULLlNG A PPA R AT US IN OPER ATIOl\ : The lever machine. I was una ble to find a facsimile of lhis machine amo ng those pa tel1led a nd do nOl know if I mi sed il o r if it ever was pa tel1led . The rods a nd chains in lhis machine were made of sleel o ne inch a nd a qua n er thick a nd a ll the steel was sa id lO be Swedish teel: I was to ld th at the people of weden had it simila r machine for pulling stumps. The principle of the machine may have been so o ld it could nOl be palented, or lhere may have been a fo reign pate nt. T he use of the lever machine required a n a ncho r slump, a nd since the overa ll length of the rods a nd chains would de lerm ine the working a rea of the machine, a ce ntra ll y 10- ca led stum p was se lected as the a nchor slump, with the lever a ttached to it by a heavy cha in . T he chain filled around the slump loosely lO give some free movement to the lever. The lever, sa wed fro m the bo le of a white oak lree, was thirty feet lo ng a nd eleve n by fo urleen inches squa re at the big end, bUl la pered to fiv e by six in che square a t th e sma ll end. Fo ur feet from the big e nd wa the fulcrum po int, where o n the back o f the lever a ring was altached by which lhe cha in fasle ned the lever to the a nchor stump. On th e fro nt ide o f the lever were six lake- up links, wilh lhree links o n e ither sid e o f the fulcrum point. The t\\'o engaged the link o f the first rod, thus making a n extended ce nler links were paced eighleen inches apart, each o ne conneCl io n from the lever to the cha in around the root of being nine in ches fro m the fulcrum point. The o thel ta ke lhe stump. up links were a ll spaced lwelve inches a pa rt. Using the two T o give the machine ve rtica l a well as hori zo ntal force, ce lller links gave the greales t leverage, a nd using the links lhe rods were elevated a t the Slump by pass ing them over the farthes t from the fulcrum po il1l gave the least lev rage. lOp of a n A frame of wood, se t directly in front o f the stump. f\ cha in a bo ut twenly feet lo ng, made of large links a nd T he top o f this A frame was covered by a steel pla te with a ca ll d the la ke·up chain , was a u ached to a la ke- up link o n steel pin a n inch in diameter a nd a co uple of inche long lhe lever by a la ke-up hook wh ich was reall y a devi ce ending ex tend ing upwa rd. Over lhis sleel pla te was p laced a sa ddle, in l WO hooks. f\ recla ng ula r p iece of steel ended in a hook having a hole in it to fit over the extended pin. On each to engage a ta ke- up link o n the lever; the o pposite e nd of sid e of the saddle was a short rod ending in a hook, o ne rod lhis recla ngu lar piece o ( sleel had a sho rt rod a bo ut lWO (ee l to engage the link o ( th e lo ng connecting rod, a nd the other long co nnecled to it by a swivel jo int. This sho rt rod ended hook to ma ke the connectio n to the cha in around the root. in it hook to engage a link of the la ke- up chain . There were On a large stump the bes t resu lts were o bta in ed by ex lW O o f lhese la ke-up hooks used alternalely as the lever posing a root, d igging a hole under it to place a chain, and moved forwa rd a nd backwa rd . T hese hooks were very heavy, connecting lhis chain lO the saddle. A small stump tha t was a nd it ma n was n eded to change them as the lever reached no t too badly decayed might be removed by encircling the lhe end o( ils progress forwa rd or backward. This ma n had Slump with a chain a ttached LO the saddle. But of len thi lhe most da ngero us job o f a ll the men in the crew. was no t successful, a nd then a roOt wo u ld have to be exposed T o complele the conneclio n (rom the ta ke- up chain to and the cha in a ttached to it. lhe cha in a round a root o f the Slump to be pu ll ed, there was On the small end o f the lever where the team was hitched, it seri e of sleel rod s, va rying in length (rom four to sixteen lhere was a wheel lO keep the lever from rubbing on the feel. Each rod ended in a hook, with a n eye and a n eight ground as the lever was dragged (orwa rd a nd backward. in ch link al the o pposile end. The hook e ngaged the las t Vllith the machine there was a n assortme nt of ha nd tools link in the ta ke- up chain, a nd the hook o f the second rod such as a n axe, shovels, grubbing- hoes, picks, a nd a number 24 ,\bout 1890, Michael Mitstifer so ld his farm in J ack on Township and purchased the place adjoining my father's. Mr. Mit tifer brought to hi ne,,' farm a lever stump-pulling machine, and a couple of years later my father hired i\l il i 3. PART OF T UMP-PULLER: stifer with hi machine LO pull the stumps in a ten-acre field where there ",a a lot of hemlock, a lesser number of chest EE TEXT FOR DESCRiPTION. nut, and four or five big pine tumps. The crew consisted of l\ Iitstifer, one of his sons, another man, my father, and my brother. 1 too "helped," but I ",as only eight or nine years old; I may have been like the pro· verbial "fifth wheel" on the wagon, more or less in the wa)'. Nevertheless, the event i sti ll fresh in my memory. The morning the work was LO begin, we Becks arrived in the field and found the machine had been hauled there the day before. The hand tools were in a neat p il e, and the rods and chains were placed beside the lever. The re t of the help a rrived about the sa me time we did, and Mitstifer LOok charge of the work. r\ ce ntrally located anchor stump was selected, and the lever was dragged into place by the team and fa stened to the anchor stump with a heavy chain. The long take-up chain and a number of the rods were dragged to where they were needed. To accustom th e horses to working on the lever, it was decided to pull a co uple of the smaller stumps before starting on the big pine stumps. T he take·up chai n was attached by a take· up hook to take-up link No. 10 on the lever, and stretched out o n th e gro und towards the stump to be pulled. The rods co nnected the take-up chain to a chain around the stump. (See picture o 12.) A ll was now ready a nd the horses pulled the lever forward so that the second take- up hook engaged take- up link No.5 and reached to the third link in the take-up chain . A fter this the short hitches of take-up links 10. 7 and No. 8 were used. The removal of the small stumps was without incident, so it was decided to try o ne of the p ine stumps. \V h il e part of the crew worked on the small er stumps, two men were digging a ro und the pine stump to find a root a nd dig a hole under it so as to pass a chain aro und the root. The long A-frame " 'as se t up in front of the tump, the saddle placed over it, a nd the rods and chains co nnected of crowbars. Some o f the crowbars were made o f li ght stee l from the root to th e take-up links on the lever. Two turns about three quarters of a n inch thick a nd ending in a wide of the lever, using the lo ng hitches of links N o.5 a nd 10. 10, chisel-shaped blade. A couple of these light crowbars h ad LOok up a ll the slack in the rods, and after this the short the end sha ped like a spoon and were called spoons. These hitches were used . The object of using the long A-frame spoons were useful in digging holes under the roots, but a ll in stead of the sho n er one was to give a greater lift to the these ha nd tools were used in digging the earth from the stump. roo ts oE the pulled stumps. In se tting up, the A-frame had been placed too nea rly per· Picture o. 13 shows the working parts oE a model of pendicul ar a nd was soon leaning so far forward tha t it fe ll the lever machine, a nd picture No. 12 is oE the model as to the ground. R eset, the frame lea ned more towards the se mbled and in working order. None of the parts oE the stump, a nd everything was working as it should . model is made to sca le as to length of 'pan s or thickness of T he rods were stretched taut a nd if a link moved a frac materi als, and mos t of these metal parts are made o E copper tion of an inch, it gave a so und not unlike the " ping" oE a wire. piano wire. Being of a curious nature, I wanted to 11 ear Following are the names of the parts shown in picture more of those musica l notes so I ge ntly ta pped the rods with o. 13. a sho ve l. In no uncertain terms I was to ld to keep away, for 1-3 thirty foot lever if a nything sho uld break I stood a good chance of getting 2 fulcrum point of the lever hurt. I then noticed the me n were all standing away, espe 4 chain around the anchor stum p cia ll y trom directl y back of the stump. \Vhenever one of 5,6, 7, 8, 9, 1O take- up links those musica l notes so unded, they usuall y took a step or two II two take·up hooks backwa rd. 12 take- up chain By now the going was reall y tough. The horses train ed in 13 two connecting rods their coll ars but pa ti ently obeyed m y fa ther's softly spoken 14 chain to place around a root commands. This was where the horses needed a steady 15 saddle to fit over the A frame driver, no ye lling or cracking of a whip. M y father coaxed 16 two A-frames, a short and a longer one the team a long, moving, it seemed, only inches a t a time. 25 \ Vilh llll' CO IH in li Oll '>, , low and ; tead), prcss urc o n th c Ic\'cr. :d>O lIt lI'>in g th eir tee th to crimp til e ca p but Il e\'er sa \\' an y lhe l.lke-lip hoo l... finall ), wa s mo\'cd fa l e no ll gh lorwanl LO ont' do it that \\'a y. To Ia ., te ll til e fme and ca p to th e d yna 1<:,lc h th e ncxt link in th e ta kc- up chain. The horscs were Illite, the p:lper th at \\'a , loldcd ()\ er tile end 01 the ., tick W 26 Sawmill w01'kmen fr01 I1 the Allegheny iU ountains, The pictw'e, fTOm Cumbel"land County, Pennsylvama, dates fTOm the tum of the century and comes to us thTOugh the courtesy of k I TS. R uth Baer of New Kingstown, Pennsylvania. D yn amite was not in com mon usc a t tha t time, but it was were to go to the store a nd get some dynam ite, ca ps, a nd fuse. being used in the lumber woods to b las t rocks a nd stumps M y bro ther a nd I drove away, a nd when we a rrived at th e in road building. One o f the men in the crew po inted out b lacksmith shop, the smith carried the broken p arts to his how much easier the work wo uld be if they h ad a fe w sti cks fo rge to weld them . The smith was a la rge ma n, a n d I 01 d ynamite to explod e under the b ig stumps before using tho ught h e must be awfull y old, fo r he h ad a long beard. It the pulling m achine. H e said it would loosen the stump and was a hot, sultry morning and this, with the heat o [ the forge ma ke the digging o f the ground from the roots much easier. a nd the h eavy h ammer h e used in pounding the h eated ]\I y fa ther wa nted to know who would d o the d yn amiting, parts, ca used the sweat to gather o n his b row a nd run in a nd he sa id he was n o t afraid as he had helped some in its ri vulets down in to his beard. usc in the lumber woods. \vhile the smith was doing his work, m y bro ther went to T h e next stump they se lected was even la rger tha n the the n earby store fo r the d ynamite, which was p acked in a box first on e a nd was d estined to g ive mo re tro uble. T he rods with some sawdust. M y brother h a ndled the box with g reat a nd cha ins were set up as before, a nd the lever worked to care, ho lding it o n his la p all the way h ome, thinking i t stretch the rods very tight. Frequently o ne o f those musica l wo uld get less ja rring tha t way than if it were on the floor o f notes sounded as a link moved ever so little. T he horses the wagon. 'Vhen we arrived h ome, the fe llow who was to we re working slowl y, steady o n the lever, a nd doing a ll they use the dyn amite sa id it would no t h ave exploded unless h it co uld but with no apparent success. with a blow equa l to six ty p o unds and that ca ps explod ed As the afternoon work was about over, it was d ecided to o nly wh en heated. I never tried to verify h is sta tements. leave the rods stretched ti gh t until morning, ho ping we ' '''hile we were gone, the men h ad used a crowba r to m ake might h ave the sa me su ccess with this stump as with the pre a ho le under the stump, a nd a t o nce the work o f loading the ceding o ne. But by morning there \\'as' no eviden ce o f the ch arge was started. T wo sticks o f d yn amite were pushed stump's loosening, a nd the work was resu med. ' '''ith the down the ho le, a nd the third o ne h ad the fuse a nd ca p a t third turn o f the lever, tbe horses seemed to be thwa rted tached; then it too wa put in p lace a nd m o ist earth p acked in their efforts. T he m an ha nd ling th e take- up hooks aro und the [ use. pleaded, " Only a quarter inch more." Urged on by m y They were now read y to blo w the ch arge, a nd everyon e re fa ther, the team leaned in to their coll ars to move the lever tired to a sa fe place. T he o pera to r lit the fu se a nd he LO O the few feet it wo uld require LO make up tha t quarter inch sought sa fe ty. It LOok a few minutes fo r the fu se to burn a t the take- up cha in. But the stra in was too much, a nd the down to the cap, when the explosion came. The stump re take-up hook broke, leaving the A-frame a nd rod s to fa ll ceived a good sha king. with a loud cla tter. The rods a nd chains were again connected a nd soon the fy fa ther h ad his light springwagon in the fi eld a nd he stump was being pulled [rom the gro und. Digging the had us boys hitch the team LO the wagon. H e placed the ground from this stump was much easier tha n it h ad been broken parts in the box o f the wagon and directed us to ta ke on the first o ne, a nd the d ynamite had proved its usefulness. them to the blacksmith a mile or so awa y LO have them After that, d yn amite was used o n a ny stump thought likely welded together. In the meantime, the men were discuss ing to give trouble wh e ther it was h emlock, chestnut, o r pine. the m erits o f using some d yn amite, so m y fa ther sa id we As I recall, it took two weeks to pull all the stumps in tha t 27 one fi eld. one [rom Williamsport. Getting rid of pulled stumps was quite a task. Some rarm Stan ley Livermore and Luther Berkheiser, two of the ers used pine SLUmps to make stump fences, and fift y yea rs local me n, decided it would be easy to pull th e roll er out ago there were many such fences in the township. Today the with Stanley's lever stumping machine. stump fences are practica ll y all gone, but I know o[ several Luther approached the foreman a nd said, " If 1 just had my more or less abandoned [arms wh ere such fences till remain. horses here, lI'e co uld soon get that roller back where you 'When pine stumps were not used [or fenci ng, they had no want it." use at a ll so were placed in great pile and burned. A burn ing pile ol the e stumps made a very hot fire with great clouds of black smoke bi ll owing high in the air. To get rid of my father's four or fiv e pine stumps, the long roots were cut off, a nd the stumps, one at a time, were rolled onto the stump boat a nd hauled to the edge o[ the field ; th ere they were used to build the on ly few rods of pine stump fence on the farm. Though this was close to seventy yea rs ago; there are still a few pieces of the old stumps rema ining. The other stumps in the fi eld were placed in piles anc! burned; it was o ft en necessa ry to repil e a nd burn them several times before they were entirely consumed. Mitstifer's stump-pulling machine was used several times to pull stumps in other fields, but after 1900 my father be ca me u ed to d ynamite, and then he depended on it e ntirely for stump remova l. By this time he had the stumps removed from the fi elds he was actively [arming, and fi elds with stumps in them were pas LUred longer, so the stumps were more fully decayed before he removed them. After the tumps in the township were removed from the farm land, the stumping machines were use less and obsolete. I do not know what became of th e upright machines but pre sume the meta l parts were so ld for scrap iron a nd the wooden frames a ll owed to decay. However, I have been able to re con truct the story o f the demise of the three lever machine. The machine owned by Ira Persun beca me the property o[ his so n Carl; pa rt o f it was sold to a house- moving concern a nd the rest sold [or scra p iron. After the death of Mr. l\Iitstifer, his m achine was purchased by Stanley Livermore who used it to pull a lot of pine stumps on his farm . Most of this machine has been sold as scra p, but there still remain the long lever and a few of the steel rods. l\Ir. Livermore has the only remaining bl acksmith shop in the township, and he sa id he kept a few of the rods for he occasionall y finds use for some of that good stee l. l\Ir. Alexander's machine was bought by R alph ' ienheise r who used it to pull the pine SLUmps on his [arm. It wa s there about 1937 that a lever machine was las t used to pull a pine stump in the township. During the second ''\forld vVar, this machine was sold [or scrap iron, thus e nding the careers of the three lever machines. During its period of usefulness, th e Livermore machine had moved a co uple o l houses and was once used to pull from a stream and to set upright the large steam boiler [or a port a ble sawmill that was lying on its side. The boiler was being moved ov r the public road when it broke through a wooden bridge a nd turned over on its side in the water. The story of the last use o f this machine ends with a bit of humor. vVh en the macadam road [rom ' !\I hite Pine to Steam Vall ey was built, many local men were employ d on the project. Once the brakes on a steam roller ceased to [unction a nd the roll er ran backwards off the road into a wet swa mpy place. They tried to pull the roller o ut with a tractor but had no success. The forema n became excited and "sputtered" a round about having to get a big tractor equipped with a winch to 15-16-17. GRAIN CRADLE, GRAIN BINDER, AND pull the roll er out o[ the mud and back onto the road. H e COMBINE. Progress in Agricultural T echnology made was sure it would cOS t at the least twenty-fiv e dollars to bring Stump-Pulling a N ecessity for the Farm er. 28 made by the lI'agon-maker . ual ly the farmers made their own boats from two sections of a small tree, with the front ends cut at an angle to give it a turned-up nose; several cross pieces connected the runners on which wa placed a plank floor. The boat re embled a sled and was sometimes called a land sled or stone boat. It was too lightly constructed to hold the big heavy stumps, so a pecially heavy boat wa built as a SlUmp boat. I once "helped" my lather build a stump boat. Iy job lI'a to " fetch and carry" both co ld water from the well for drinking and any tOo ls we might not have at hand, as well as to hand my father the different tools as he needed them. For runners we had tll'O sections of a hardwood tree about BECK FARMSTEAD, PHOTOGRAPHED 1963. ten feet long a nd eight inches thick, anC\ cross pieces five or A fan11 cleared from virgin timbej- in the 1870's. six feet long a nd that many inches in diameter. Both end of the runners were cut a t an angle, giving the runners a lUrned-up nose at both ends. This was so the boat could The loreman replied , " Heck, no team o[ horses can move be pu ll ed either forward or backward. tha t. " The top ides of the runners had an inch or more h ewed Luther asked, " l[ we pu ll it ou t, do we get the twenty-fi\'e?" smooth to make a flat resting place for the cross pieces which The foreman agreed a nd the two set off, returning soon "'ith the team a nd a wagon loaded with the lever and some rods a nd chains o f th e stump-pulling machine_ Settin g up th e machine, the two farmers soon had the rol ler back on the road and co ll ected their rewa rd. The removal o[ those large stumps fr om the arable land in Cogan H ouse Township a ll owed the farm ers o[ that day to take lull adva ntage o[ the nell' (arm equipment. True, their nell' machinery did no t reli eve a ll the backaches nor elimina te a ll phys ica l labor, but it did a ll ow them to in crease their acreage under cultivatio n. But by the end o( the third decade of the 20th Century, tha t " nell''' machinery was rendered obsolete by greatly improved mach inery and 18. ST UMP BOAT-a dmg 01" boat used method . on land to tmnsport stumlJs. H owever, when th e las t o[ the big stum ps was gone, the farmers felt they had really tamed the la nd they had " 'ith so much labor wrested (rom the forest. (Pi cture TO. 15, No. were hewed fl at on the under sides . The cross pieces were 16, a nd No. 17 showing the grain cradle of the eighteen hun held in place by dowels or "tree nail s" or "trunnels" as they dred s, the g rain binder o ( ea rl y nineteen hundred a nd the were known in colo nial days. modern self-propelled combine o[ today.) The fl at surfaces o( the runners were ca re[ully measured a nd marked where one a nd one-half inch holes were to be OF STUJ'vIPS AND STUMP FE TCES bored with th e hand auger about one a nd one-half o r two Disposing of stumps, whe ther they had been blasted o ut feet apart. The cross pieces were also marked a nd one a nd or pulled out by machine, was quite a task and invo lved a one-half in ch holes bored in ead1 end. To keep the dowels lot of ha rd work. Except as a fence, the stum ps had no use which passed through the runners a nd cross pieces (rom at all a nd had to be burned [or no t all species of stumps were pulling thro ugh the runners, the holes on the under side of suitable [or [ence material. The stumps a nd roots of white the runners " 'ere made recta ngular instead of round; and pine were decay-resistant, a nd they made a fence tha t wou ld with chisel a nd ma ll et, a half inch of the wood on either side last [or a lo ng time with little o r no repairs; but h em lock of the round hole was cut to a de pth oE about (our inches. and some o th ers were prone to ea rl y decay a nd would not T he dowel was made with a "head" to fit the enlarged hole make a lo ng- las ting fence. Such stum ps had to be destroyed. and a heavy hammer was used to drive the dowel in ti ght. The equipment for moving the SlUmps, whether for burn The dowel ex tended through the cross piece a n inch or ing or fencing, co nsisted o( a (ew simple tools such as a cou so, a nd the end was spli t with chisel a nd m allet so tha t a ple of log chains, a n a.xe, a crowbar, a cross-cut saw, a co uple wedge could be driven in when the cross piece was put in o[ levers, a nd a SlUmp boat. The log cha in s were twe lve to place. This held the cross piece securely to the runner. Be twenty feet lo ng, made of ma terial three-eighths to one-ha H twee n the runners a t both ends was a roller or chain as a inch thick, with a hoo k a t each end. One of the hooks wa draft bar. The last thing to do was to cut the ends of the large and circul a r, while the o ther o ne was small with par dowels flu h with the runners a nd cross pieces. (See picture a ll el sid es; both hooks _were connected to the chain by lo ng No. 18.) links. ' <\lith the neces a ry equipment at hand, the farmer began ' <\Ie bster says tha t a stone boa t is a fl at-bottomed boat [or the work o( piling the tumps. Not all farmers had pine ha uling stones. Such a fl a t-bottomed stone boa t was made stumps on their ground to make stump fences; and some, of pla nks with the front end turned up, a nd the planks h eld even though they had plenty of pine stumps, preferred no t together by cross pieces. Very few fa rmers had the mechan to use them (o r a fence but burned them. Stumps of the ical ability to make such a boat, and they were generally quickl y decaying species such as hemlock were always burned . 29 To make the big slUmps lighter and less cumbersome so that ago, very little farming has been done or those stump fences they would make a more com pact pile, the long roots were wou ld have been des troyed long ago. cut off. A slUd y o f pictures No. 22 and o. 23 shows the enormous \Vhen the lever machine was used LO pull the stumps, they size of some of th e root. \IVh at trees those old pines must were all lying on their sid es and some of the trimming of the have bee n! A short distance from this stump, several roots roots might be done at this time, or it co uld be done after ar close to three feet in circumference, making th e roots the lUmp was loaded on the boat. The boat was pl aced about a foot in diameter. beside the root mass, a chain fas tened LO a root high on the When one looks at the root side of a pulled stump, the SLUmp; and with the tea m pulling on the chain, the stump root mass prese llls the appearance of a fl at platform on was tipped over LO re t upright on the boal. Any remaining which the tree res ted. In order for the tree to withstand long root could now be cut off before hauling the SLUmp to th e force of heavy winds, this platform of roots had to be the stump pile. \Vith the boat close to the pile of stumps, imbedded deep in the ground, with the roots spreading it long hain was a ttached LO a root, the chain coming up laterall y lor a distance equal to the length of the tree's over the stump and across the pile so that the SLUmp co uld branches. No ev id ence ca n be seen of the small feeder roots be tipped off LO rest again t the other sLUmp . For this pur IVhich had decayed before the stump was pulled. pose the extra chain was often need d. Sm a ll stumps and A stump fence on land that was not pas tured was soon roots that h ad been cut off were pl aced in the stump pile to overgrolVn with various weeds, briers, and tree seedlings. fill in the holes between the stumps, for the more compact The common bl ack ras pberry seemed to take over at once the stump pile, the beller the roots and stumps would burn. and within a few yea rs was a favorite berrying place for the \,Vh erever white pine was found on land that was cl ea red farm children. Small trees of use less species such as wild for farming, there seemed to be stump fences. I have heard cherry, so ft maple and others got started, and the black and read of them from !f aine LO Minnesota, so uth to Vir raspberry bushes gave way to the hardier' blackberry, but ginia, and in some parts of Canada. The tump fence quite they LOa succ umbed in time to the growing trees. well fulfilled the requirements of a farm fence, for it was The growth of trees made good nes ting pl aces for the horse-high, bull -stout, though not always hog- tight. But small er sp ecies of birds and afforded cover where robins when made of decay-resistant pine stumps, it made a fence often built their nests among the roots of the stumps. H ere that lasted a long time with little or no repairs. too the wi ly woodchuck dug his burrows where they cou ld I do not kn ow when or where the idea of the stump fence not be disturbed by the farm er's plow. A big root made a origin ated, but its use was quite universal where pine stumps des irable perch where the " chuck" co uld take a siesta in the were abundant. About the turn of the ce ntury, tump sunshine, making a hasty retreat to the safety of his burrow fences were a part of the rural sce ne and there must have at the fi rst hi n t of danger. been thousa nds of miles of those fences throughout the CO Ull Often a farm boy carrying an old muzzle-loading riA e try. In Cogan House Township, stump fences were as.com made his way slowl y along the fence, looking for a slee ping mon as were SLOne walls used as fences in J ackson Township woodchuck. When one is spied, a great decision must be and the so uthern part of Tioga County. (Picture No. 19, made. hould he try to get closer, or should he fire at once' stone wa ll in Tioga County.) The decision is made, and with the report of th e gun the The equipment for building a stump fence was the same woodchuck is gone. nd now another bi g question. Did a for placing th e stumps in grea t piles . A ca refull y built the shot miss the "chuck" or was it wounded? If wounded, stInup fence had all the roots on one side, with the fence did it survive or perish ? One never knew, for if a wood making a straight line across the fi eld . The line for the fence chuck was seen there a week later, was it the one he had shot was marked on the ground, and the first stump hauled to at or was it another one? pl ace and tipped off the boat. The next stump was hauled up, and here some judgment and experience was needed LO say how close the boat had LO be to the first stump; it was necessary to go far enough, but not LOO far, for the root mass of the second stump to li e tightly against the root of the preceding stump. The fence of white pine stumps had its place in the econ omy of its day, for farmers often sa id their only real profit came lrom making use of something tha t would otherwise be wasted. Modern farm equipment and methods of farming h ave spelled the doom of stone walls and stump fences, and time has erased them from the rural scene. But in Cogan H ouse Township, if one gets off the hard surfaced roads, stump fences or what remains of them ca n be found in isolated places. I have pretty well explored the abandoned farms in the township, looking for SlUmp fen ces or what remains of them, and the following pictures are of the bes t specimens I could find . (See pictures No. 20 and No.2 !.) These are on the larm belonging to Mrs. William Persun of Trout Run, Ly 19. STONE WALL PHOTOGRAPHED 1 TI com ing County. Mr. Persun and his father pulled the OGA COUNTY. The northern tiel" of Pennsylvania stumps with a lever stumping machine and built the fences counties, along the New York borde1', has many about 1900. Since Mr. Persun's death about twenty years stone fences of this type. 30 The lence roll' with the rank growth of vege tation II·as tion o t the lew trees on the farm land, for those earl y farmers olte n an eyesore to a fastidious farmer, a nd cventua ll y a had no othe! recourse. The n umber of trees destroyed was fire wa s started that spread the entire length of the fence. infinites imal compared to the waste a nd destructi o n of the Then ca me the II·ork of cleaning up the fence roll'. T he lumbermen during the 19th Century. brush wa s cut a nd the partia ll y burncd stumps were piled Farmers during the J 800's had a h ard strugglc to eke out together to be burned. 'Nhen the fi eld was plowed, th e a li ving a nd olten had to " make do" with wha t th ey had at fence row was also, though it often took a co uple o l ploll'ings hand. The SlUmp fence seT\' d its purpose well, a nd in its to th o roughl y cl ea r away a ll the unwa nted grow th. J( a humble way added a touch of beauty to the la ndsca pe. new icnce wa s needed, it lI·ould most likely be made of \Vithin m y storehouse of memories is the picture of a stump barbed wire; this, to the fa rmer's point of vie\\', made a fence o n the brow of a hill, silhouetted aga inst a background nea ter appearance as weeds a nd briers co uld now be mo\\'ed. of sky and the distant mountain. £\ story that amused us [arm boys lI·as 01 the yo ung lad)' I have alwa ys felt the earl y pioneer farmcrs had a clcar who was urba n bred, hav ing lived all her life in the city of visio n of lI·ha t they wanted Irom life, a nd this vision was Williamsport, but was vi siting on a farm. H ere she found what susta ined them in the viciss itudes thcy encountered . man y things of interest, es pecially a stump fence. Sh e R . H . Grenville must have had those people in mind when wanted to know how a ll th ose stumps had gotten into tha t he wrote the fo ll owing so nne t, a fitting tribute to th e li ves straight row. H er escort told her tha t one time they h ad of a ll pioneer farmers. had a big wind storm th at blew those stumps out of the H omesteader ground, placing them right whcre his D ad wanted a fence. Th e country never took him to its heaTt. The one-room school tha t 1 a ttended in m y yo uth was Having some iron devil in his bones, built on lanel donated by the Persun famil y, and the fi elds R ese ntfu.l of the jJlow-shares l·iving smart, around the building were full o f pine stumps. One fa ll the It broke his hearl with droulh, his back with stones. stumps in the fi eld were being pulled with a Icver stumping Patient he was, and gen tle. Like the sun H is going dow11 was 11ever in defea t. machinc, a nd whi le the mcn were working near th e school Ea ch lime he l"OSe again to sow the dUll building, J am afra id we boys h ad o ur minds more on what Fields with faith and couTage, corn and wheal. was going o n out ide tha n on o ur lessons. And ill the end, I thin Ii, he tamed the land The next fa ll whe n \\' e retUJ ned to schoo l, th ere wa s a Into a lii17d of chivalrous surrende r. It n ever yielded to his living hand; stump fence on tll'O sid es of the school ),a rd. This lence But see, UjJ011 his grave th e grass is tender, proved a barrier to keep the la rm a nimals from o ur school And every sjJri11gtim e on the western slope ya rd but wa s no hindra nce to those of us who wa nted to pi a)' The wild orchanl flo wers like his hotJe . ba ll in th e fi eld a t the noontime recess. R . H . Grenville The remova l ol the large slLlmps Irom the larm land wa, Saturday Even ing Post Volume 228, Number 45 the last " baltle" in th e war ol des tructi on that had lasted i\Iay 5, 1956 . Used w ith fo r two cen turies, waged by the early se ttlers aga in st their permission of Saturday enem y the trees. 1 have no a po logies to oller for th e destrll c- Evening Post. 31 OCCULT TALES from Union County By JACOB C. SHIVELY \ Vcst o f i\fifTinburg, in Unio n County, Pcnmylvd nia, the coll cctcd ta les over thc )cars. Thc pr scnt ,>e lecti on deal> Buffa lo Va ll c), narrows into wha t is known locall y as the lI' ith occult fo lk-bcli c ls. For earli er a rticles in this seri e , "Tigh t End." .\ cross thc mo unta in s, thro ugh " ff a iry J ohn 's ::.cc J aco b Shively'S "T a lcs o f Old Pas tor Fries," Tile Pennsyl Ho ll ow," no w a sta tc pa rk . li cs CClllrc Co un t)', a nd so uth van ia D u tch man, Vo l. III No. 13 (Dccember I. 195 1), page wa rd lies thc Dutch-s peaking co unty o f Sn yd er. JL is rrom 6; also "Betz H e ilm a n, \ Vitch," The Pen nsylvania D utch this U nio n Count)' a rea tha t J acob hi vel y, o f i\Iillmo n t, 11a 5 lIlall, Vo l. V No.7 (N ovcmber, 1953), pagc 9.-EDITOR. In the pas t every ncighborhood had it "charactcrs," as b 'er)thing wClll good until I got to the cdgc o l th c woods. persons who a rc a bit unusua l a rc sometimcs rc lcrred to. Then J bcgan to hca r a roaring so und and the nearer J gO t .\ mo ng those in o ur ncighbo rhood was J. E. Ca th erma n, who to the tree thc loudcr it roared . I tell lO U 1 \l' a::. ::.cared, but passcd on scvera l yca rs ago a t a n ad va nccd agc. "Jimm ),," 1 " 'antcd this pO\l'e r morc tha n a n ) thing c/;e, ;0 1 lorccd as he was known to cver y o nc' in the vicinit)" was a skill ed l11 yse ll to keep going. Whcn 1 fo und the tree I gO t ou t m y ca rpcm er, bl acksmith a nd ha ndy ma n. I n additio n, hc was lI'a tch a nd the fell' minutes until midnight secmcd lik e ho urs. a very e nterta ining storytcll cr. Scvcra l o f his stori es a bout ' Vh e n thc hands ::. tood a t twelv c ocl ock 1 gra bbcd th e limb Bell H e ilma n , rc putcd witch, werc included in m )' ske tch a nd as soon as 1 to uched it thc awful es t fecling II'c nt which a ppearcd in thc o ld Pennsylvania D utch llla n. thro ugh m c but 1 did not let go. 1 mad e a cut in the name hortly be forc his d eath, a t the a nnua l Ca therma n ra mil y o[ thc Fa thcr, a nd a nother in th c name o E the So n, a nd off reunio n, he told this o ne, which 1 coIllmitted to writing the amc the limb. ,\ t o ncc th c str,trl gc (eeling lelt mc and the sa me evening, so tha t 1 ca n g iv c it a lmos t in his own word::.. woods gO l so quiet yo u co uld hea r a Ica( (a ll. I rea li zc d tha t 1 had ta il ed , so 1 threw thc limb d own a nd sta rted homc, a TO ATTAl 1 0 CULT POWER disa ppo inted bo),. Much as I wa nted tha t pO\l'er 1 ne\'e 1' "" ' hen I was a ),o ung le ll oll', li vin g o n thc fa rm across gO t up cno ugh couragc a (ter tha t to ma ke a no thcr tr)' a t it. the creek from l\ I illmont, thcre was a n olel ma n in the nc igh N oll' tha t's the truth; yo u may believe it or no t. " borhood- doggeel if 1 ca n remembcr his name now, a nd 1 knew him so good-an yhow, he a lways ca rried a ro ugh, POOK IN T H E RED BRIDGE crooked ca ne when h e wa lk d abo ut. ,\ nd no m a tter how Thc fo ll owing is a no ther o ( "Jimmie's" storics. 1 madc a fi erce th e dog might be tha t caIll C o ut a t him, he just po intcd rccording o [ it abo ut twe h'c yea rs ago. H c o ncc told it a t his ca nc a t him a nd he pinched his tail bctween his leg, and a mccting o( the Millmo nt P.O. S. o l .\ . a nd a gues t from mad e (or the neares t hiding placc. N e ll' Yo rk was so impressed by it tha t he set it to \·crse. " One day I picked up enough spunk to as k him how hc gO t " \ Vh cn I was a yo ung (elloll' wc used to run iJ arcioot, a nd the power to do this. H e sa id hc could tell mc holl' to gct wc went tha t way a lmost cvcry night to i\ Iil lmo nt. One this powcr, no t only ovcr d ogs and other an ima ls, but a lso night J wa itcd a t thc store until la tc but thc o thcr bo),s ovcr huma n bcings. 1 told him this 1 wa illed to know. H c dicln ' t come, so 1 d ecid cd I wo uld h ave to go homc a lone. said tha t I must find a certa in kind o ( tree, and J ca n' t re T ha t Ill cant cross ing thc o ld rcd bridge, and it had the name membcr thc name of tha t e ithcr, but it was not a big trcc of spooking. a nd had very croo kcd limbs. I knell' wherc somc o ( them " \ Vh en I got to the b ridgc I was a lra id to cross a nd wcnt gre w, up in ole! Billy Ca therma n's woods. I hould find onc on thc o thcr sid e o r thc road and leancd agai nst a pos t lor in d aylight, hc said, that wo uld be easy to locate at night, a while. I can go up a nd sleep in Bowersox's barn , thinks a ne! trim up a limb that wou ld bc just thc r ight si7 c ro r a 1, but thcn m y pa re nts will miss m c a nd can 't find mc. canc. Then on thc thirteenth or thc month I must go to " Fina ll y, thinks J, a spook nevcr did hurt a n ) bod )', a nd this trcc preci sel), a t thc stroke of midnight, and cut of[ this } ' 11 takc a hance. \ Vh cn 1 gOt to thc bridgc L hcard a loud limb. I must do it with three cuts, no morc, no less; ,!l Id noisc likc some thing brea thing harel. like this, (hc imita tes cach must bc m ad e in onc o l thc Highcr Namcs'" thc sound). l\ I y ha ir stood up [::'0 tha t] th C) i nearl ) knocked " 1 co uld ha rdl y wa it for thc night ol thc thirtec nth to thc hat off o ( Ill y hcad, but J grabbed thc h a t a nd startcd comc, a nd whcn it did comc I was rcady with lll y pockct across. oon m y ba re Icct struck some thing wa rm a nd so (t, knifc wc ll sha rpcncd, m y la ntcrn and kcywindcr watch. } and down 1 we nt. Thcrc hc has me! 1 thought, but} startcd in plenty 0 1 timc to rcach thc trcc beforc midnight. jumpcd up a nd started ;. ga in . I was no m orc tha n started until I ran into somc thin clsc and down wc nt again. ,. Spcciali sts inl'ennsy lvania Dutch occ ult lore ~ cco mp a n y th eir J charms and rituals by invoking th e "Three Highest Names," i.e., the trinitarian formul a, "In the name of thc Father, the Son , :lnd i' The \\' ord " ha ir" is pltll al ill th e folkspeech o( those palts of the Holy Ghosl."-EDITOR. I' enm) lIani.1 infill clHCd Il ) l' enns,,1 \'ania Ge rman.-EDIT OR. 32 _-7 CLINTON COUNTY ...... / • - • MILTON LOGANTON / - / ...... / LIVONIA- ~ CENTRE-- - COUNTY / / flair/, Johns • MIFFLINBURG Maj) of the " T ight / HARTLETON. ~-...... __NOR1l1UMBERIAN E11d" i11 Uni017 vV0000ARD LAUREcrON ./ EW 8ERLiN-~ County, Pennsylvania / ~--~~----~ - Loca le of the Sh ively / WEIKERT c reek _./ KRATz!=RVILLE ;) Tales. • pen (1 __ - SUNBURY Tha t way it went until I co u ld see a little light a t the LOp One night he ca me home loaded as usual a nd when he saw of the bridge and I knew I was almost out. I made o ne the "spook" he asked him what he wal1led. Instead o f answer more jump and landed on something a nd it let out a bawl in g it started toward him a nd old Pete made a bee line for a nd I bawled too; beli eve me, I bawled. But then it was his ca bin, which he reached just in time LO slam and bolt the light enough that I made out wha t it was. It was one of our door. Next morning h e found the impril1ls of two ha nds neighbor's ca lves. His cattle had bedded down in the cov burned into the outer side of the door. H e concluded that ered bridge for the night." his enco unter had bee n with th e "old boy" himse lf. (This old covered bridge, built in 1857, is still in use and remains well prese rved. It is the last covered bridge over 10 GRAPES FOR THE WITCH Penns Creek. ) The beli ef tha t giving or lending an ything to a witch REPAYI IG A W ITCH would g ive them special powers over the giver was wide Several years ago I was spending the evening with a spread ; but 1 have never heard of its being carried so far neighbor, when a n elderl y lad y, Mrs. J ohn Pontius, dropped as in the following in sta nce: i\ I r. R. F. Boop, of G len Iro n, in. After a while I succeeded in turning the conversation to Pennsy lva nia, told me tha t, before the H eilmans moved to ghosts and witches. Mrs. Pontius said that perhaps she the i\l illmont area they had lived on the so uth side of Penns should not tell this for we would likely laugh a t her, but on Creek, a bove Glen Iron. His father owned a large tract of ass uring her tha t we would not she told the following: la nd adjoining the lot on wh i h their cabin stood, on whi ch W'hen h er fa ther's yo ungest brother was a baby h e took wild fo x grapes grew in abundance. Each a utumn the H eil sick and nothing seemed to h elp. Each night a feather ma ns picked bushels of them, from which they made wi ne. would float about the bedroom, accompa ni ed by a buzzing His fa ther could not have been induced to lend them a ny· so und, and each time it appeared the ch ild became worse. thing a nd fin a ll y decided that a ll owing them to pick the H er father was then a yo ung married man and he suggested " 'ild gra pes from his land a mounted LO about the sa me thing; th at th e next time the feather appeared his mother should so he had his hired man de troy a ll of the vines, a nd saw to it each season thereafter th at no new ones were a ll owed to lock the door and be sure to leave the key in the lock. Then grow up. she should catch the feather a nd burn it over the ca ndle name. This she did a nd the baby soon recovered, but Betz H eilma n, who was their next neighbor, went a bo ut with a COR LORE bandaged a rm for a long time. Say in g and superstition about corn: Gra ndfather used LO he sa id tha t their truck patch was close to the H e ilman say, " If yo u ever raise a crop from corn p la nted in June, never tell the boys." ca bin but they were careful not to give her even an onion for fear it would give her a 'hold" on them. On th e old ba rn below \"' hite Springs, where I spent m y boyhood days, we se ldom raised a good crop of corn, wh i1 e SPOOK OR DEVIL? our next neighbor, i 1'. Marti n Bingaman, ra ised a good On the subject of ghosts she had th is one: Old Pete c., crop, yea r after yea r. Father asked him one day what was who was their next neighbor to th e east, was much given LO the secret of his succes. H e sa id, "It's sim ple. \ l\I hen I th e bottle a nd boasted tha t th e nex t time he sa w the "spook" shell Ill y seed corn I am always careful to keep the cobs clean which was often seen in the locality, he was going LO ask it a nd dry ul1lil the corn ma tures; that's all there's to it." The wha t it wa nted . sta tement a. pparel1ll y was made in all seriousness. 33 Swarming Bees - from Langs lroth. So work th ' HOll ey llee8, Crell tllres, that by a rule in ::\ ature, teach The art of orner to a peopled kingdom.-ShabpKuf(. Movable Comb Hive, with full glass arrangement-fTOIn LangstTOth. Victorian Beekeeper, from LangstTOth's book (1868). 34 Beekeeping and Bee Lore • In Pennsylvania The ho neybee, Apis mellifica, was brought to this coun By LESTER BREININGER try by the colonists. There we re no native honeybees in America, so whe n people hunt wild honey they a re m er ely a fter the product of esca pees. T his spon will be described later in the a rticle. T he G erma ns, great beekeepers for centuries, quickly m ad e Pennsylva ni a the land o f the bee. As early as 1771 , A 29,26 1 pounds of beeswax was ex ported from Philadelphia.1 Because sugar was sucli a precious commodity, a great ma ny se ttlers were ske ppists. Their bees a nd equipme nt PRACTICAL TREATISE were quite importa nt to them. In the estate inve ntory 2 o f John D eTurck (a n a ncestor o f the author) of Oley, ON TIIB Berks County, dated M a rch 12, 178 1 we find: 4 hi ves with bee £ I S 10 HIVE AND HONEY-BEE, 21 beehi ves S 16 beeswa x £ S BY At the sa le of Anthony H effn er (another ancestor of the author) which was held in March o f 1849, a hi ve with L. L. LANGSTROTH; bees bro ug ht S 1.35, a nother . 1.05, and a bee-baske t S·26.3 SO importa nt were the bees to our forebears that ela bo ra te customs evolved concerning the succession of bee AN INTRODUCTION, BY REV. ROBERT BAIRD, D. D. keepers. According to the o ld Pennsy lvania Germans, "Won en eama mon stm'b ed, 111I1 S ebber die eama ricka." That is to say, ""Vhe n a beekee per dies someone must inform the bees." Another version is, "Wann en leicht fatt geet, 111US 111i,' die ea111(J l'icha." 4 " Ricking" the bees was ge n erall y accomplished by having the eldes t son move the beehi ve sli g htly to the right. This would le t the bees know tha t the o ld beekeeper had passed on and the new ge n era tio n would continue to te nd them. It was believed tha t failure to do this wo uld ca use the bees to leave or produce lillIe honey. ]n some fa milies the bees, considered part of the fa rm fa mily, were informed o f other person al matters including births a nd marriages. Until the turn of the present century som e fa milies in northern Berks draped black m a teria l over the beehives during the bee man 's ------fune ral. This wo uld prevent the hives' inhabitants from THIRD EDITION. swarming a nd the fa mily could continue to gather this RHVlSBD, AND tLLU8TBAT!:1> WITH SEVENTY-SEVEN RNOB.AVll'fG6, precio us harvesLJ The bee becam e the symbol of thrift a nd industry in the young keystone sta te. A weekly newspa per called Th e PHILADELPHIA : J U. S. Palent Office R eport, I R53, p. 75. J. B. LIP PIN COT T & CO. 2 Original docllm ent in autho r's co ll ecti on, Robesonia, Penn 1868. sy lva ni a. ~ Fa mil y pa pers cited in Wayne HeA'ner, H eD 11 er Family His / 01,)' (n.p. , 1956) . 4 Pennsy lva ni a Fo lklife Socie ty I"iics. Readers will remem ber Whillier's poem, ''Tell ing th e Bees." The editor of th e Cambridge Edition of Whittier'S wo rks acids th e no te: "A remarkable cll stom, brought from th e Old Country, formerl y prevailed in th e rural districlS of ;-\ew England. On the death of a member of th e famil y, th e bees were at once informed of th e eve nt, and th eir hi ves dressed in mourning. This ce re Title page of the R ev. L. L. Langstroth's classic Book moni al was 5upposed to prevent lh e swarms from leaving their on Beekeeping. B ecause of his discovery of the "bee hi ves and seeking a new home" ( Til e COlll jJ/el e Poetical W orks ,pace" in 1851 and its great influence on the a~vance of J oh n C"eellleaf Jf'hittier [Ros ton : Houghton Mimin Com, pany, I R94], p. 59)· ment of apiculture, he is now known as the fath er bf ;; From co- worker a t Pennsy lva nia Dutch Folk Fes ti va l, Kutz 1merican beekeeping. town . 35 Novice's H oney Extractor, A . I . R oot Co . lWedina, Ohio, mounted on an old cream sepa· N ovice's H oney Extractor, A. I. R oot Co ., M edina, Ohio. rator base, was bough t secondhand by the latt H oney is thrown from the decapped cells by:cen trifugal force. Samuel Berge )· of Shartlesville in 1894. H ive was publi shed in Lancaster, circa 1804, at the Sign o f a di plo ma.8 Ex tractors h 36 Stmw Skeps-old fashioned beehives made of coiled ry e-stmw bound together' with strips of white oak. The aoell, atop the skep at n ght, would enable the beekeepel' to harvest sw-tJ lus honey with- out la llmg the bees by btl1"nlng sulfur as had been the usual pmetiee. glass-sided boxes. and these could be removed without dis whether they abound with la rge trees; if so, I make a small comforting the co lony. fire, o n some flat stones, in a conveni ent place. On the "Vith the invention of the ho ney extractor, a nd the co m fire J put some wax: close by the fire, o n another Slo ne, mon use of the movable- frame hi ve, beekeeping made great 1 drop honey in distinct drops, which I surro und with headway. From 1875 until World "Val' I bees were com small quantities of vermilio n, laid on the stone; a nd then mo n o n [arms as a part o f home support a nd there was I retire carefull y to watch whe ther a ny bees appear. If a keell interes t in their behavior. This was the "golden age there are any in that neighborhood, I rest assured that of beekeeping." Ih e smell of the burnt wax will unavoidably attract them. The beehive o f today shows li llie improvement over the They will soon find out the ho ney, for they are fond hi ves used by the la te Sa muel Berger of Shartlesville when of preying on that which is not their own; and, in thei r he started beekeeping in 189 1. H is metal ex tractor is shown approach, they will necessarily tinge themselves with some in a n illustratio n accompanying our article. particles of vermilio n, which will adhere lo ng to their A non-beekeeper could still get ho ney if he weill bee bodies. I next fix my co mpass, to find out their co urse; hunting. This somewha t hazardous ve llture has been en which they keep invariably straig ht, when they are re gaged in by numero us individuals over the years a nd still turning home loaded. By the assista nce of my watch, I gives excitemen t to old timers today. While the methods observe how long those are returning which are marked are as va riable as the hunters, the account printed in with vermilion. T hus possessed of the course, a nd, in some A Dictional)1 of Arts and Scie11ces (Philadel phia, 1798) measure, of the distance, which J can easil y guess at, I is, a t the very least, quite deli ghtful. follow the first, a nd seldom fail of coming to the tree " . .. J prepare for a week's jaunt in the woods, not where those republics are lodged. 1 then mark it; a nd to hunt either the deer or the bears, as my neighbours thus, with patience, J have found o ut sometimes II swarms do, but to ca tch the more harmless bees. I ca nnot boast in a season; and it is inconceivable what a quantity of thill this chase is so noble or so famous amo ng men : honey these trees wi ll sometimes aflord. It entirely depends but I find it less fa tiguing, a nd full as profitable; a nd the upon the size of the ho ll ow, as the bees never rest nor las t consideration is the o nly o ne that moves me. I take swa rm till it is replenished ; for, like me n, it is o nl y the with me my dog, as a compa nio n, for he is useless as to wa nt of room that induces them to quit the ma ternal hi ve . this game; my gun, for no man oug ht to en ter the woods Next I proceed to some of the nearest settlements, where without o ne; my blanket, some provisions, so me wax , ver I procure proper assista nce to cut dowll the trees, get milion, honey, and a sma ll pocket compass. With these a ll my prey secured, and then return home with my prize. implements I proceed to such woods as are at a co nsider T his busill ess generally takes up a week of my time every able distance from any settl emen ts. I ca refully examine fa ll , and to me it is a week of solitary ease and relaxation." 37 I • ~ Box-Hive showing movable bmod-frames below and alass-sided boxes above for storage of sllrjJlus honey. Box-Hives circa 1860. Th ese provided glass-sided boxes fa)" storage of su)"plus honey. Note bee-smoker of 189 . REE LORE FROi\f PENNSYLVAN fA ince bees played an imponalll ro ll ill farm economy mallY beliefs and sayings are in ex isten ce about them. Some of the o nes co ll ected I)y the a u t hor are presented below1ti " .\ swarm of bees in M ay ls wonh a load of hay. A swa rm of bees in June .J; wonh a sih'er spoon. But a swa rm in July hn't wonh a fly." Th e A/frill/it ll/oll/ltly, 1865, ca ll s thi s a ll o ld adage, as doe; the Quarterly R eview o f 1813. \ Vhen bees swa rm, banging 0 11 po ts a nd pa ns wi ll cause the bees to settle. Inside of a small B ox-H ive measurillg 141/J" high. If they ha ng 0 11 a d ead limb t hey will produce little Althouah it was evidently a model, bees lived ill o r no hOll ey. Some say a meml)er o f the family will die. it at one till1e. Jf yo u go away o n Ascensio n Day the bees will not swarm during that year; b u t if yo u a rc a homebod y, thrust a knife into a loaf o f bread that has bee ll turned upside The reader may hal'e obser ve d tha t while the honeybees 'down, a nd the bees will no t lea l' e your pro perty. will work nea rly el'ery Hower they nel'er visit the nectari es T o Sil\'e chasi ll g a nd ba ng ing, ; hake it tree o n Palm o f the red clover. The reason for this is found in the fo l· SUlld ay alld whe ll the bees SW ;II"I11 they will settle o n lowing bit of fo lklore: "Bees we kno w are co nte nted o nly the tree. whe n they a re busil y at work. So when the Lord com· Catching a swarm o f bees is a sigll o f good luck. ma nded , ' H o ll o r the Sabbilth day a nd keep it H o ly,' the If yo n rub the iw,ide of a hi" e with m illt they wi ll no t bees se lll a de lega ti o ll to obta in a repriel'e. After some lea ve thei r new ho me. discuss io n the bees were a ll owed to ga ther nectar 0 11 the Rut if a ny member o f your famil y i; add icted to swear sel'en th day. The bees agreed that to bind the con tract ing, bees wi ll not work a nd wil l sting readily. they wo uld 1I 0t work red clo,·er." \'Vhe ll the sumac b looms the bees are angry and will Sill ce some beekee pers get SLUn g a lo t a nd a ll get tung sti ng regardless. occasio ll a ll y, these remedies are suggeste<:l: " paste o f ho me Bees wi ll work wi th redou l)lcd e nergy just be fore a made soa p, a tobacco quid , milk of ce la lldille, j u ice of a rain. red ·beet leaf, lIusa lted butter, and ear wax." 11 10 The lore publ is hcd hcrc is fmlll th c I' ellnsy llania fo lkl ife 11 Re l11 cdics ga th ercd froll' li,itors to I'cnll sy ll ania Dut ch Societ y Fi Ics. Folk Fcs ti l 38 Beekeeper (auth01) jJrejJa1'ing to work a modem day beehive, The smo/le1', used 10 calm the bees, bUJ'ns punk, sumac bobs, or btLTlap, The auth01' prefen J"Otten willow wood, The past gell eril tion ra reI y sewed o n a bu ttOll wi thou t first running the thread over a pi ece of beeswax , Other uses for this ap iaria ll product are to rub drawer runners, to smooth a nd cl eil n an iro n, 10 keep pins from rusting, to ca use na ils to pe ne trate wood beller wilhout splilling lhe board, alld wax illg furnilure. Remember lhe riddle, Il'as waxl lIl1 wa l ails glenna? 6 , ('IIII){/ wax. (" What 'Wilxes' a nd a lways gelS sma ll er in I he proces,? Beeswax.") R EC IPE FOR HO lEY COOK1ES .\ lradilio na l hOll ey cooki e recipe from Il onhern Berks CO Ull lY cO ll cl ude, lh is anicle: I pi III warm hOll e)' 2 eggs bUller si/e o f a n egg 2 leasp. soda wilh I lblsp. vinegar 3!h ClIpS fl o ur (or to thicken) Bake for 12, 15 minutes at 350° . REC IPE FOR lEAD \vhell the womenfolk cilrried the midday trea t to their famil y ill the fi eld" they o ften had il demijohn co nta ini ng melheglin (mead), fermellled ho ney,wine. Accordi ng to several informa llls whose families pracliced lhis, il was ra, lher common ilS late as the IS80's. However, the autho r has yel to get il complete tr:ldilio nal recipe. A composite recipe fo ll ows. To some Il ew ho ney, stra in ed , add spring waler, lhree pans wa ler a nd o ll e piln honey. PUl a n egg ill tO lhi;. Bo il the liquor lill the egg swims. Strain, po ur in tO a cask. For every 15 ga ll o ns add two ounces M odel B ox-Hive m easuring 7/1 x 7/1 by 14 y,j /l high. o f ginger il lld o ne o f cinllamo n, cloves a nd mace, a ll bruised The auth01' is of the opinion that this is an un a nd li ed up ill il sack. Accelera te the fermentation wilh usual sjJecimen and seeks information concer.ll yeast. ,,,' hell . worked suffi cie ntly, bung up. ] Il six weeks ing it. it sho uld be drawn o f[ inlO botlles. 39 New Materials on the 18TH CENTURY EMIGRATION from The Speyer State Archives By FRIEDRICH KREBS Dr. Friedrich Krebs, of the Speyer State Archives, Speyer, 2. In the year 17 38 Johann Gerhard Dinges, h ereditary Germany, who has furnished us with many articles in the lessee of the Daimbacher H of property (i.e., Daimbacherhof past dealing with the genealogy a nd social .history of the near Morsfeld in the District of Kirchheimbolanden), which emigrant generatio ns o[ the 18th Century, here presents belonged to the University of H eidelberg, surrendered h is some new materials which he has unearthed in the Speyer 2/6 share of the Hof property to his son J ohann Philipp Archive . They appeared in Germany in the article Dinges a nd to his so n-in-law Johann Nickel H erbst. Accord "Amerika a uswanderer des 18. J ahrhunderts a us den Akten ing to the contents of the documents Joha nn Gerhard D inges des taatsarchivs Speyer," in Pfiilzische Fa milien - und Wap died March 5, 1743. In 1748 (Johann) Philipp Dinges, as tJ enkunde (Ludwigshafen/ Rh.), XIII. J ahrgang (1964), Ba nd co-tenant at Daimbach, so ught [or permission to sell or to 5, Heft 4, 125-127, in the section of the journal ed ited by ali enate his 1/6 share in the H of property, in order to be Dr. Fritz Braun and entitled" ifitteilungen wr W ander able to go to the ew Land (A meri ca). Permiss io n was ungsgesch ichte der Pfii lzer." Pennsylvania Folklife is happy granted by the University of H eidelberg. Johann Philipp to make this article, as translated by the editor, available to Dinges is sa id to have left April 15, 1749. W e find him as America n readers. It presents much valuable social history "Filipp Dinges" among the passengers of the Ship "Edin about a selected number of emigrants of the 1.8th Century, burgh," which landed at Philadelphia in 1749. The taking and is particularly good for the new light it sheds on the of the oath took place o n September 15, 1749, in Philadel relation that the emigrants had to the tenant-farm system phia ( trassburger-Hinke, Pennsylvania German Pioneers, in the Rhinela nd after the Thirty Years' W ar. For Dr. List 132 C). Source: Staatsarchiv Speyer, A kt Universitiit Krebs' earlier articles on the 18th Century em igration, see H eidelbag N?". 7. Harold Lancour, A Bibliography of Ship Passenger Lists, 3. In the year 17 39 the M ennonite Nicolaus Oehlen 1538-1825: B eing a Guide to Published Lists of Early Immi berger (Ellenberger) at Gonnheim, who wanted to go to the grants to North America, Third Edition, R evised and En New Land (America), sold, with the a pproval of the U niver larged by Richard J. Wolfe (New York : The e," York sity of H eidelberg to whom the property belonged, the Public Libra ry, 1963),Nos. 17 . 132. 139-14 1,1 50-152, 156, 159,162- Fasseichergi.iltgut at Gonnheim, to Jacob Stutzmann. H e 163, 167-172, 174-178, 181-182. M any of these lists appeared was a n inhabita nt at Gonnheim and former tenant (H of in Pennsylvania Folklife or its predecessor, The Pennsyl mann) on the W eilacherhof and may be identical with the vania Dutchman.-EDITOR. " iclaus Ellenberger" who landed at Philadelphia in 17 39 1. In the year 1727 Johann Jacob Stutzmann, journeyman ta il or, left Gonnheim for America. H e was born J a nuary I, 1706, on the W eilacher Hof, near Hardenberg, son of the tena nt-farmer (Hofmann) on the Weilacher Hof, Johann Jacob Stutzmann (Stotzmann) and his first wife, R egina Elisabetha (Entry in Luthera n Church Register of Kallstadt, according to certified transcript in Akt Kurpfalz Nr. 1064). Joha nn Jacob Stutzmann la nded at the port of Philadelphia in 1727 as passenger on the Sh ip "Adventure" and took h is oath on O ctober 2, 1727. H is property in Gonnheim, ad ministered [or him under care of a guardia n, was in 1773 surrendered to the relatives on security. The accou nts in the documents are contradictory as to whe ther he was already married at the time of his departure or no t. To be sure, ac cording to an attestation of Michael Krobiel (Krebiel) in E isenberg, dated December 10, 1768, but available only in transcript form, his brother Heinrich Krebiel is said to h ave written him from the N ew Land (America) tha t their brother-in-law Stu tzmann, married to a sister of the Krebiels Gonnheim in the R hine-Palatinate, 1941. From tile in America, had d ied witho ut issue. His wife was also dead. roofed villages such as Gonnheim, set in the midst of Since th is a ttestation exists only in transcript, its contents vineyards, came farmers and craftsmen who populated are not fully concl usive. Source: Staatsarchiv Speyer, A kt Pennsylvania's Dutch Country. Courtesy Heimatstelle Kurpfalz Nr. 1064 . Pfalz 40 Tile 111 iillC/illO! near Dan77stadt ill the R hi11c-Palatinate, 1965. Fro111 such faT1l1s, lenanled by one 01' m01'e families, came many of the 18th Century Palatine emigTa11 Is to Pel17lsy/vania and othCl" British colon ies. FTO"I71. this particular "H of," tile Huguenot emign: family of Shuey (louis) came to Pennsylvania in 1732. Courtesy Dr. Friedrich Krebs on the Sh ip " R obert and Ali ce." T he taking of the oath of November 24, I nO, died November 28, 17 30. the passe ngers took place on September 3, 17 39 (Strassburger T he List 21 A of Se ptember 18, 17 32, names also the name Hinke, Pennsylvania German Pioneers, List 71 A and C). of the wife of Daniel Juy (Jouy) "Maria Schwe" and likewise 4. In the yea r 1748 Daniel j ouis (Schui, j ue), who h ad the names of the children "Lodawi ck Schwe" and " Mar returned [rom America, sold, as lessee, 1/4 of the Munch garetta Schwe," both under 16 years of age. From these property (Munchhof) at Dannstadt, belonging to the Uni references it is evident that this was unequivocally the emi versity of H eidelberg, to Theobald K oob of W eisenheim am grant Daniel J ouy (Jouis). T h e pronunciation of the name Sand, for 3350 or 3325 fl orins. According to the conten ts of {s, corres ponding to the French origin of the family, also the documents he had "alread y sixteen years ago, with wife French, as indeed Daniel wrote his name "Schui" in the and children, betaken himse lf to the New Land," and had d0cuments. Source: Staatsarchiv Speyer, Universitat H eidel there taken up residence. H e must therefore have emigrated berg Akt Nr. 14; R eformed Church R egister of Dannstadt . about 1732. His father Daniel j ouy, tenant of the Univel' 5. T hrough decree of the Zweibrucken government of sitatshof (Miinchhof) at Dannstadt, had died on August 22, May 7, 1767, the property of j ohann M ichael Decker, who 173 7, and was buried on August 24, 1737, at Dannstadt. had gone to America 15 years previously, was co nfiscated . T his Daniel j ouy was in turn the son of David j ouy o f H e was son of H einTich Decker, a member of th e community "Grissy (Grich y) near Metz" (i.e., Grigy, southeast of Metz), of Hirstein (today in the District of St. Wendel). T he re who is designated in the church register as a refugee. After mainder of his credit, a sum of 347 fl orins, was to be con the death of his father the share of Daniel J ouis in the fi sca ted according to a fu rther decree of the government Munch property at Dannstadt was ad ministered through a dated J une 6, 1767. T his sum was to be raised for the gov guard ian. W e find the name of the emigrant badly distorted ernmen t by the two brothers of the emigrant, who h ad and scarcely recognizabl e as "Daniel Schwe" among the pas taken over house and properties. Michael Decker was sick sengers of the Ship "J ohnson" on September 18, 17 32, in on arriva l in Philadelphia on the Ship "Edinburgh"; h e Philadel phia. In the oath list of the passengers of the same took the oath on Se p tember 14, 17 53 (Strass burger-Hinke, ship, dated September 19, 1732 (List 21 B), the name is Lists 199 B and C). written " Daniel Schew," in an additional oath list of Septem 6. T h rough a further decree of the Zweibri.i cken govern ber 19, 17 32, as "Daniel Schuhl" (S trassburger-Hinke, Penn ment dated November 29, 1768, the property of Wendel sy lvania German Pioneers, Lists 21 A, B, and C). Decker of Hirstein was confiscated for the Treasury, a sum Daniel j uy had married, at Dannstadt on O ctober 16, 17 25, of 12 fl orins, 3 batzen and 12 pfe nnig. H e had gone secretly Maria Nl artha Schilling, who came from Dannstadt. Three with his fa mily out of the country, without manumission, children were born to this marriage, all born on the and had, according to report, gone to the N ew L and. Munchhof at Dannstadt and baptized in Dannstadt: (I) W endel Decker arrived in Philadelphia on the Ship "Mi Ludwig H eimich, born ' October 15, 17 26; (2) A nna Mar nerva"; he took the oath on December 12, 1768 (S trass garetha, born February 15, 1729; and (3) J ohannes, born burger-Hinke, List No. 27 1 C). 41 The SNAI(E-BITTEN DUTCHMAN /-- Nineteenth Century Newspapers, Almanacs al/d Jokebooks fJok e friendly fun at the Pennsylvania German and his consemative ways. Note in this illustration the Dutch Schmnk (right), the tea pot shelf (left), and the " bamdo01· tl·ousers" on the Dutchman himself. 42 The foll owing sketch, from a Pennsy lva nia sc rapbook vests, J ake grabbed one of the garments, and hurried to the da ting from the 1850's, is a good example of the common old man Peter, who still managed to keep on his pins, al " Dutchman" joke of the 19th Century, which one finds in though he was quaking and trembling like an aspen leaf newspaper, almanac, and joke-book. The Pennsylvan ia in a June gale of wind. Dutchma n with his broken English, his conse rva ti ve ways, " 0 , mine gott! Come, come quick, Yacob. H e bite me and his rural stubbornness, was the subject of la ughter for all to pieces-here up mine leg." his fellow-Americans, along with the o ther early Ameri can Old Jake was not particularly sensitive to fear, but few stereotypes of the Yankee peddler, the Tegro, the Irish people, yo ung or old, are dead to alarm when a " pizenous" emigrant. We are making a study of these stereotypes as reptile is about. Gathering up the stiff dry stalks of a stal they relate to the Pennsylvania scene. ' '''ill readers with wart weed, old Jake told the bo s to stand steady, a nd h e other examples of this genre of America n humor please wo uld at least stun the snake by a rap or two, if he did not notify the Editor? W e are also interested in 19th Century ki II her SLO ne dead ; a nd the old man Peter, less loth to have scrapbooks which contain this sort of material.-EDITOR. legs broken than to be bitten LO death by a sna ke, des igna ted the spot to strike, a nd old J ake let him have it. The first Some years ago, near the town of R eading, Berks County, blow broke the weed and knocked old Sweighoffer off his Pennsylvania, there I iv ed a cosy old falmer, named Sweig pegs a nd in to a hay·cock-cobim. hoffer- of G erman descent, a nd accent too, as his speech will " Oh!" roared old Peter, "you broke mine leg a nd de indicate. Old man Sweighoffer had once served as a mem shnake's gone!" ber in the legisla ture, and was therefore " no fool;" and as h e " Vere? vere?" cried old Jake, moving briskly about, a nd had also long commanded a volunteer corps of rustic militia, sca nning very narrowly the ground he stood upon . he should hardly be supposed inclined to cowardice. His "Never mind him, Yacob; help me up. I'll go home." son Pe ter was his only so n, a strapping lad of seventeen; and "Put on yo ur vhest, den ; here it is; " said the old crout upon old Peter a nd yo ung Pe ter devolved the principal cares cater, gathering up his boss and trying to get the garment and toil s of the old gentleman's fa rm, now a nd then ass isted upon his lumpy back. The moment old Peter made this by the old lady and her two bouncing daughters-for it is effort, he grew livid in the face-his hair stood on end, "like ve ry common in that State to see the women and girls a t the quills upon the frightful porcupine," as Mrs. Partington work in the fields-and upon extra occasions by some hired observes- he shivered- he shook- his teeth chattered-and hands. his knees knocked a staccato accompa niment. ' '''ell , one warm day in haying time, old Peter a nd young " Oh, Yacob, carry me home! I'm dead as nits!" Peter were hard a t it in the meadow, when the old m an "Va t! Ish nodder shna ke in yo ur troushers?" drops his scythe and bawls out- " o-a- loo k, I 'm swelt all up! Mine vhest won't go on " 0 , mine Gott, Peter!" m y back. 0 , 0 , mine Gott!" "What's de matter, fader! " answers the so n, straightening "Dunder a nd blixen !" cried old Jake, as he took the same up and looking a t his sire. co nclusion, and with might and main the old man, sca red "Oh, mine Gott, Peter!" agai n cried the old fell ow. in to a most wonderful feat of physical activity a nd strength, "Donder," echoes you ng Peter, hurrying up to the old lugged a nd carried the boss some quarter or half a mile to man. the house. " 0 mine Gott, der shnake bite mine leg!" Young Peter had sh inned it home a t the earliest stage of If any thing in particular was capable of fr ighte ning the dire proceedings, and so alarmed the gi rl s that they were young Peter, it was snakes; for he had once nearly crippled in high state when they saw the approach of the good old himself for life by trampling upon a crooked stick, which dad and his assistant. cramped his a nkle, and so horrified the young man that he Old man Peter was carried in, and began to die as na tural liked to have fa ll en through himself. as life, when in comes the old lad y, in a great bustle, a nd At the word snake, yo ung Pe ter fell back, nimbly as a wa nted to know what was going on. Old Peter, in the last wire-drawer, and bawled out in turn gasp of agony a nd weakness, opened his eyes a nd feebly "Where is der sh nake?" po inted LO his leg. The old woman ripped up the panta· "Up my trowsis, Peter- O, mine Gott!" loons, a nd o ut fell a small thistl e top, a nd at the same time " 0 mine Gott!" echoed Peter, junior, " kill him, fader, considerable of a scratch was made visible. kill him." "Call dis a shnake! Bah !" says the old woman. "No·a, no-a, he kill me, Peter; come- come quick- get off " 0 , but I'm pizhened to death. Molly! See, I'm a ll m y trowsis!" pizhen- mine vhest-O dear, mine vhes t not come over m ~n e But Peter the yo unger's cowardice overcame his fili al affec body!" tion, while his fear le nt strength to his leg , a nd he started "H aw h aw, haw!" roared the old woman, "Va t a fool ! like a scared locomotive to call the old burly Dutchma n, who Yo u got Peter's vhest on-haw, haw, haw!" was in a dista nt part of the fi eld, to give his father a lift with "Bosh!" roars old Peter, shaking off death's icy fetters a t the snake. one surge, and jumping up. " Bosh, Yacob, va t a n old fool Old J ake, the farmer's assista nt, came bounding a lo ng as yo u musht be, to say I vash schnakebite? Go ' bout yo ur soon as he heard the ·news, a nd pass ing alo ng the fence bishness, gals. Peter, bring me some beer. " whereon Peter and his boy had hung their " Iinsey woolsey" The old woman saved Peter's life. 43 I NOTES A LETTER 'J 0 GERl'd,\ NY (1806) and M ein Il clr Ein Bric l von c in CIll Ic lOlmillcn Pr digcl Nahmcll S F. Lorch aus \Vilga n swi cscn bc i Zwc ibrLi ckcn vom 5 t (,11 Jun) 180 1, iSl un ' Endcs unlcischrie bcncn d en I t (' 11 Jun) 180() Itl DOCUMENTS I I iindcn gckomcn ; ill d cmsc l bcn werdcn Nachr iclllcn \ 1- la ngl von in r gcwi ssc n M arie /-i era ll collrt, dic an c incn Edited by DON YODER Jeall B ertolel vcrhciralhcl war, und luglcich gcbelcn dic ,\ nlwort dara ul an Sic IU addrcssircn ; wir m achcn l hncn hiclrJmil also bckal1l, wa s wi r davon wi ssc n . Thc lWO d ocumc nl whi h wc ha vc sc lcclcd lor publica Es bcfind cl ~ i c h in unsc rn I-Eindcn cinc altc fra n/i>s[ isJchc lion in lhi, i ' uc d ca l Wilh wha l o nc may ca ll lhc "widcr Bib I, dic im ach la, d es j ean B ert olet gcl undcn wordcn , world" 01 lhc Pc nnsy lvania Farm cr in lhc 19lh CcnlLlry. in d crselbcn find n wir aufgcLeichncl This wO lld ps)cho logi a ll in cludcd mu c. h morc lhan his Abrallam B e rto lel gcbohre n d cn 111 o" D eccm bcr 1712 farm and homc sun o undings on lhc loca l s c nc. 1 n lhc 18lh Maria B e rto let gcbohrc n den 121011 Jul y 17 15 and carl l' 19lh CcnlLlrics lhcrc was a d windling o ri nlalio n Johallll B ellole t gcbohrcn dcn 28 l0" Sc ptcm bcr 17 17 LOlI'ard ElIIopc and lhc rOO l of o nc' fa mil y lhcrc; in lhc Est/l e I B e l/o le t gcbohren d n 121011 ,\ug uSl 17 20 lalcr 19lh Ccnlury a lm O, l cvcry Pcnnsy lvanian had a partia l Swalllle lJ ertolet gcbohrcn d cn 17 tc" D~ cc mb c r 17 24 . oricnlalio n LOwa ld lhc \ Vc,l- hc h ad Ic lalivcs wh o had [ IJ Abraham B e rt ole t war vcrheirathcl lU e incm De movcd lO Ohio, India na, j o wa , Ka nsas, o r o lher arcas in TlIrc/{[ ;J be idc sind gcslorbcn un so auch ihrc Kindcr, 44 den, a n John Keim, Kaufmann in R eading im taat Pen The relative[ ] who are till living remember that they fre silvanien[.] "Vir bitten Sie keinen andern Schreiben und quently heard from their parents, how the) received letters Nachrichten von unserer Famili e Glauben beizumessen, als from their friend [relatives, i.e., Freundschaft] in Germany, die von unse rer H and kommen; indem sich immer Leute also that these were an wered, particularly by Geol'g de finden die durch B trug suchen Voneile zu gewinnen. Balll1evtll who ",a married to Esther Beltolet, but none of Wir empfe[h]len ie aile dem chutL des ;\llerhochsten these letters can be found anymore. und verbleiben For the rest, as to the particular of the urviving grand Ihre getreue Freuncle ch ildren of Jeal! Bertolet and Marie H erallcourt , they are John Keirn, verheirathet zu einer Tochter des all in a nourishing state of pro perity and maintain the name GeOTg deBannev[ill] in R eading wohnhaft of honest inhabitants of this country. 'Ve will rejoice to H annes B ertolet ein Sohn des J ohan Bertolet 111 hear the same of our relatives in Germany, and are prepared Oley wohnh[aft] to give them al l more detailed reports concerning o ur fami l), 1m Nahmen cler HinterI assenen cles Johll Bertolet when it is requested. Their leller will certainly come safely An den H [errn] Professer into our hands, if they are addres ed to J ohn Keirn , mer Fab el' in Zweibrucken chant, in R eading in the tate of Pennsylvania. \ Ve ask you Donnersberger Departement to put no faith in any other writings or reports about our in Franckreich fam il ) than those that come from our hand, si nce there are Die er H err wird gebeten die hierin enthaltene achrichten always people who seek to win advantage by deceit. dem H [errn] Prediger LOTch in \Vilganswiesen und dem ' Ve commend yo u a ll to the protectio n of the Alm ighty Schullehrer H [errn] Cll11mann in Fmnckweiler bei Landau a nd remain bekant zu machen. Your true fri ends, J ohn K eim, ma rri ed to a daughter of Geol'g TRANSLATION deBallnevill, resident in R eading. Dea r Sir: H a1lnes B ertolet, a so n of J oh1l B ertolet, resi A letter from a R eformed preacher named F. Lorch from dent in Oley. Wilga rtsw iesen near Zweibri.icken dated 5 June J 80 I reached In the name of the survivors of J ohn Bertolet. us the undersigned on J June 1806. In it information is re To: Professor Faber in Zweibri.i cken, quested about a certain IVfarie H emncourt who was married Donnersberg Department, in France. to a Jean BeTtolet, a nd a t the same time an answer to it was This gentleman is requested to ma ke known the herein co n ordered, to be addressed to yo u . vVe therefore acq uaint yo u tained information to Preacher Lorch in ''''ilgan sw ie en a nd herewith with what we know. the sc hoolm aster Mr. Cullmann in Franckweiler nea r There is in our hands a n old French Bible, which was Landau. found in the estate of Jean B el·tolet. In it we find recorded: II A bmham B ertolet, born II December 1712. MaTia B eTtolet, born 12 July 171 5. T he second document which we present is a travel diary, Johann BeTtolet, born 28 September 1717. written by a York County Quaker named J oel Vale Garret EstheT B ertolet, born 12 August 1720. son (1833-1912). It has been co pied from the original which Susanne Bertolet, born 17 December 1724. is in the possess io n of his gra nd o n, Donald F. G arretso n of [I] A bmham B ertolet was married to a De Turck; both are Aspers, Adams County, Pennsylvania. dead and their ch ildren a re dead too, exce pt a daughter, who In the winter of 1863-1864 Joel Garretson made a trip to is married to a Hann es de Turck; but many of their grand Illinois, India na, Ohio, a nd ' '''est Virginia, to visit the children are still a li ve. Quaker co usin ry a nd old friends who had moved to those [2] Johann Bertolet was married to Catharine Bailie; both a reas from York and Adams Counties, Pennsy lva nia. It was are dead . Of their children a son, Hann es B eTtolet, is still a difficult trip, due to the terrific below-zero cold whose living, who is married and has ch ildren, and six girls who effects the diarist reports in detail. But the Midwestern are unmarried . Friends were "soti a ble" and the visitor from back home in [3] Marie B el·tolet was married to StejJhan B ern et. Both Pennsylvania was welcomed everywhere. a re dead, a nd there are still fiv e of their children living, be This leller is interes ting as a document from Quaker sid es gra ndchildren. Pennsy lv an ia. Its uninhibited spelling, some of which re [4] Esther B ertolet was married to Georg deBannevili . vea ls common Central Pennsy lv a nia speech habits (d. Both are dead and there a re still six of their children living, "owen ed " for "owned"); its occasional dry Qua kerl y humor bes id es gra ndchildren . (d. the co mments o n the \"'est Virginia Legisla ture); its in [5] Susanne was married to Jacob Frey. Bo th are dead terest in im p roved farming methods; its comments on the a nd there a re still three children living besides grand- personal i ty as well as the genealogy of the mid western children . co usins-all add to our knowledge of the cultural outlook of ' '''e can further inform you, that according to the sta te the rural Pennsy lv a ni a Qua ker of the 19th Century. ment of the oldes t inhabitants in Oley, there was a nother in The dia rist moved to M enallen Township, Adams County, habitant by the name of Bertolet, namely old Jean B ertolet, Pennsy lv a nia, in 1865, where he was one of the pioneers in who died there with his wife man y yea rs ago, with his above esta blishing Adams County's now na tionall y famous a pple mentio ned children a nd grandchildren . industry. Old Jean Benolet often told his children that he had li ved Again, the Editor wi ll appreciate hearing fro m readers in Europe on a farm owned by th e J esuits, nea r Candel, not who own copies of similar midwestern travel diaries, or far from La ndau, that his children had been baptized in the lellers written by Pennsy lva nia ns who h ad migra ted, a nd R eformed Church in tliat place, and that he left three siste rs who wrote of their new homes west of the Allegheny in Germany, of whom one was married . Mountains. 45 NEW YORK MICHIGAN ----- PENNSYLVANIA Mat) of J oel Garretson's Winte)' Itineral'y on his visit to Quake)' kinfolk and acquaintances in the Midwes t, 1863-1864. MIDWESTERN DIARY OF JOEL VALE GARRETSON Themometer I supose to be 20 deg below zero. The Hogs are Decembel- 1863-February 1864 all frozen to death. 1 will go back to the farm house. Got supper here at 8 o'clock road cleared; got on Bagage ca r, 12th Mo. 30th 1863: Arrived in Bloomington from Ben rode 8 miles to Mat[t]oon; lo[d]ged in Barr Room at the jaminville Themome[ter] at zero.-Names of Friends at Exeter Hotel in the town of Ma t[t]oon. Benjaminville: John R . Benjamin, Abner Moore, H enry 1st Mo. 2d 1864: tayed at this Station until near II Bedell , Edward Bedell (dead), Joseph Moyet, R. H amilton, o'clock, then started for Terre H aute. It was bitter cold Enos ea l. Dimentions of Meeting House: 26 x 32 building here[;] the Themometer refused to note the degree. There with 2 acres enclosed with [-- ].- Price of land at Benjamin was a man wife and child froze n to death nea r this place. ville: open prairie 6 dol & 10 dol & 15 dol per Acre- Rodegas Such weath[er] [I] never want to see again. M y Ears are both quarter L exin 17 dol per Acre with House frame Weather frozen.-As noted above, left Mat[t]oon II o'clock arrived at board with peach and Apple orchard fenced on the. side. Terre H augth at 2 o'clock, then at 3 o'clock started for Ajoin[in]g John Be[n]jamins property.- Seen in Blooming Indi[a] napolis at 7 o'clock th en waited til 9 o'clock then run ton a durham cow slawterd weighed 1764 Ibs. J. Karr Mclea n ra pidly up to Pendelton Stat[i]on, then in company with Two Co. Aliso a slawterd steer who weighed 2528 Ibs., Fatend Sold[i]ers for A. Cooks w[h]ere 1 arived about 12 o'clock, by J. H . Cherry Mclean Co. It apeard more fat than beef. aroused them out of Bed [,] then directl y went to Bed (or I Price of grain in Bloomington: W [inter] Wheat, 1.00. had not unbooted for 4 days. Sp[ring] Whea t, 75 & 85 . O [a] ts , 60. Corn, 60. But[te]r, 1st Mo. 3d 1864: Went [with] A. Cook and S. Cook to 15 & 20. Eggs 20 & 25. Beef: $4 & 6. Pork: 4 & 6. Hides : Meeting w[h]ich was largely attended. This is Fall Creek 7 cts. Chicken: 1.50 per doz. Price of horses here: $80 Meeting. Andrew Moore, an ould Acquaintance of my 120. Shoes: $ 1.00 per pair. H ay: 12 & 15 per ton. Coal: parents spoke a few words of Advice. It [is] snowing here $5 & $7 per ton. Wood a cord : $6. Apples: 40 cts .- Left today. The fri ends were very sotiable kind to me at meet Bloomington at 5 o'clock P.M. Arrived a t Pana ten o'clock ing[;] ate [?] a t some Ne[i] ghbours of Asahel Cooks. & concluded to layover until morning. 1st Mo . .fth 186-1: It is still snowing. Visiting E. Cook and 12th M o. 31st 1863: Pana: it has snowed all day a nd fa[mi]ly and Maria Cocayne and husband w[h]o is a Wagon drifted the snow verry much. I have been delayed here fiv e Maker by trader,] both mem[ber]s of Soc[ie]ty. Members hours. Started for Terrie H augte a t 2 o'clock[;] got safely of Fa ll Creek Meeting: Charles Swayne, Thomas Cocaine, to Shelbyvill. When 15 miles beyond that Stati[o]n stal[l]ed Lewi s Thomas, \Vilson Swane, Amos Garretson, Joel Gar in a snow drift about 5 o'clock [in the] Evening. The En retson, Caelip Williams, Richard Luken, All en Lukens, gine ceast to work and the Engineer and fireman were nearl y Abel Lewi s, William Cramton, Thomas Davis, Benjamin frozen to death and I spent such [a] night as [1] never wish Cocane, 1\1arias husband, Si las Williams, Sarahs husband, to see aga[i]n. Washington Davis, 1\1ary Garretsons hu band. Visited Eli[z] 1st JVlo . 1st 1864: It was a long drea ry night. The Super abed! Cook ancl fam[i]l y today[;] found them well. T here [in]tendant of the R . Road is with us and the con [d]ucter was [a] Sotial Part of yo ung persons- 30 yo ung men and T. R . Cody. We have co[n]cluded to go to farm houses. 1 girls- who spent the Evening verry pleasantly. with 23 others went [to] one and got breakfast. T he[re] 1st Mo. 5th 186·/ : Today visited J oel Garretson and aliso are nea[r] 60 passengers. There is no tell in g when we will his father Amos and founcl them pleasant, soc[i] able people. get a way. It is the coldest day I ever .experien[ce]d. T he - Prices of produce in Fall Creek eltelment: w[h]eat SJ.l5 46 presanL price. Corn: 80 & 1.00. Oa ts: 75 & 80. Pork 6 & 7. The above amoun t of Butter was made [rom an average of Beef: 3 & 5. H ay: ton, 15.00. [Additional prices of stock 5 cows through the Year. They were not grain [edd in urn· a nd produce, I V2 pages, not copied.] mer pastured in the fensed up wood. In Winter turned o ut 1st Mo. 6th 1864: Today visited Silas Williams in com· to the corn stalk .- Returned from J ohn Bares thi a fter pany with A. Cook a nd fam [i]ly, Joel Garretsons fam[i]ly. noon to Peter . I find Peter in a good way of making a Allso traveled in sleds-the s[l]eighing was Exlent. The living. His wife is a oti able a nd apears to be a hard work· Themometer at 25 below zero. ing peI:son. H er Maiden Tame was arrah hull. They 1st Mo. 7th 1864: Still cold 20 deg[ree]s below zero. At· have o ne child[;] they ca ll him William. tend preparitive meeting Fall Creek- near 30 members 1st Mo. 16th 186-1: Clear and cold. tarted for railroad attend. Went to Thomas Coca nes for dinner. There are sta tion ti [pl acnoe, Peter [a le] in company the distance 6mile . about 65 Fam[i]lys belongin to this Meeting. At II o'clock took the cars [or Bodkins tation w[h]ere I 1st Mo. 8th 1864: At Benjamin Cocanes. The Themom· arrived at One o'clock, then walked 6 miles to John Morise . eter a t zero. Visiting M. Davis a nd Edward Roberts today. I found Eliza Ann a Small lim Woman, the mother of seven T[h]is Roberts has been a vegitarian for a number of years children. Their names are as follows: Thomas J effer o n 22, and all so his wife. Left Penington Station at ten o'clock athan V[ale] 19, Abraham L. 16, Sarah Elizabeth 12, John and arived at Union a t I o'clock in the morning. Laid over Edward 10, Richard W as hington 7, l'vi ary Ann 3. They live till seven o'clock. in [a] Midling Large frame ho use without any stove But 1st Mo. 9th 1864: Started for Dayton at 7 o'clock. Arived having a large fire place they can heat their room comf[or]t· at II A.M. Then started directly for Springfield w[h]ere I [ab]le. Eliza Ann Vale was born the 17th of the 10th Mo. arived at 2 o'clock P .M., and found J ohn Vales without any 1819. difficulty. 1st Mo. 17t h 1864: Cloudy and threa t[e]ning rain. I am 1st Mo. 10th 1864: Firstday: started [or Uncle Val[e]s now in Shelby County Torth of Clark 40 lvliles, Sid ney is where I ariv ed sa[ely and found them all Midling well. the County Seat. The country gently rolling and land o[ a 1st Mo. 11th 1864: Moderated-the themometer above good quality timber mostly beach a nd hikry. Average price zero. Visiting A. Thomas and fam[i]ly. ames of A. Thomas of land 15 dollars per acre. The buildings mostly log and children: (1) Lewis, 32, married Sarah [--], (2) Martha, 29, barns are not on half the farms.-l went with J. Morris to a dead, (3) Rachel, 27, married Jacob Grist, (4) athan, 27, neighbour's named ''''illiam Smith who was with his family dead, (5) Isaac, 22, dead, (6) Eliza Ann, 21 , married Francis very sotiable and inteli genl. He has a farm of 250 acres of Donaman (?), (7) James A. , 18, (8) Allice, 15, (9) Hannah land that could be Bought at $20 per acre with a log barn Elizabeth, 13, (10), Rebecca J ane, 9. Visited Lewis Thomas a nd frame house a nd other out Buildings. today. He was mar[r]ied same year and month that I was in 1st Mo. 18th 1864: Went with J. Morris to a Methodist 1856. They have 4 children. ames of L. Thomas Meeting he being a member but not a very consistent one. children: George Washington, 6, Abraham, 5, Charles Eliza Ann his wife does not take part with him. There are Arther, 3, John Brough, 3 months. many Sevent[h] day Baptists here. The[y] keep the seventh 1st Mo. 12th 1864: Good Sleig[h]ing but not so cold[;] day for Sabeth. And work on first day. When we were going themometer 12 degrees above zero.-Prices of Springfield to Methodist Meeting we past by a steam Saw Mill in full market [omittedJ.-Visited Willin[g] Greist and fam[i]ly operation and people hauling logs on first day to it. They round them Interesting People. Abraham Thomas was in have a so n Thomas who is a hard working a nd promising company with me. Returned in the ev[e] ning to Uncle N. young man. The people are not verry Energetic and live Vales[;] he has a graveyard on his property where his con· in a very slipshod way.-A working shift[in]g [thrifty?] man nexions are buried.- R ebeca Roller was buried there. Died could do well here. The soil is a sandy loam. Corn wheat 11th Mo. 2 1859. Sick 40 days with Typhoyde feever. a nd potat[o]es grow in abundance. Apples grow fine here 1st Mo. 13th 1864: Weather has moderated and pleasant. to[o]. This county, She[l]by, has been 20 years but three In visiting the graveyard saw the graves of R ebeca Roller fourths of it .is woods yet.-Augla[i]ze County is agoining died 11 Mo. 2 1859 Aged 47 years. AlIso graves of Martha [adjoining] this cover[e]d with timber such as sugar and Thomas aged 22 and Isaac Thomas near 22. blue(?) Ash.-The milk sickness prev[ai]ls here to some ex· 1st Mo. 15th 1864: To Day visited the fam[i]ly of David tent. The man that owened the farm where J. Moris lives Roller and found him and [am[i]ly verry interresting. Eliza died with it. The people tell me there is no danger if they 28 years, Moeriah 27 , athan 25 in the Army, R ebeca 21 , keep the stolk [stock] in. David 19, Syveinus 13, Samuel Dead aged 2 months, H arrison 1st Mo. 18th 1864: Snowing this morning. Staid at the Franklin 8. The above are the names of Rebeca Vales house of J. Morris in the afternoon went to Montra the post children.-Isaac . Smith Maried to Mariah Roller. town. It is a small place with one tore a nd a grogshop. 1st Mo. 14th 1864: Went with D avid Roller to Petter Vales 1st Mon th 19th 1864: Started [or the railroad station and found them all well and Petter and wife seemed glad Ca re yv illes on the Dayton and Toledo railroad. The snow to see us. In the afternoon 1 went to John Bairs. Jane Bare is 12 inches deep a nd drifted . J. Morris borou[gh]t us part eemed overjoyed to see me. of the wa y some 4 miles[;] we then wa lked 2 to the Station. 1st Mo. 15th 1864: Snowing this morning. But the weather His Son is in company with me to Clark County. The cars is changing and warmer. H ere at John Bail'S it seemes more are behind time orne 5 hours. The[re] is nothing to eat like Home than any place I H ave been. Bair and his hold here so 1 we nt to a farm house to get some a pples but they 157 acres of land that he Bought at 22 V2 dollars per acre. had none. 1 then got some dinner there. At seven o'clock His land is now valued at 75 dollars per acre w[h]ich he tells [in the] Evening the train came long 2 hours behind time. they hold cl ear of all Encumberances.-John Baires M a r· Thomas l'vlorris and 1 Amediately got on the cars. at 7 ke[t]ing: Butter 680V2 Ibs. va lued ,' 14 1. 58, Averaged 2 1 u s. o'clock. Arived a t Tipacnoe our station walked from there per lb. Produced in the· year of 1863. The Whole of Market· 7 miles to Pe ter Vales and called him up near midnight. ing that John Bares sold [or the year of 1863 was $ 195. 15 cts. 'liV e were tired a mediately retired to bed. 47 151 i\1 o. 20lh 186-1: Weather moderate but good sleig[h] in g. Griffith , Jacob l\l cl\ Iillen, J oel W alker, George .J. Evans. Went with I . Vale to David Rollers and his fam[i]ley all 1st Mo. 2911, 186·/: \ Varm a nd pleasat'tl. 'Vent with Cousin well glad to see me. In the afternoon wen t with D . Roller Eli to .J esse Pcterm ans. ,\nn Peterman is the mothel of to Jacob Gar ts he having married our cousin R achel H enry L. 12, Elisha V[alc] ]0, Mary l'vl arg[a]ret 9, Ruth TllOmas. They have been married 6 yea rs. They have one ,\ma nd 48 Questionnaire on Hominy Homin) lI'as onc ol the Jndian (. rn dishes II'hich madc its trans(cr (rom .\ m rican I ndian cultul es lO the pioneer tables ol carly ,\ mcrica. It lI'as once caten gencrall y, North a \\'cll as 'outh, a long with "roasting ears," mush and other (01 11 plodu(ls, but lOda) it sccms to bc mo t popular in thc 'outh, II'helc a, "grits," it is a (avoritc brcakfast d i h ven in public re ta urallls. \ Vc arc il1lerested in its usc, preparation, and hislOry in Pe nnsylva nia. \\'c sha ll appreciate hearing from our readers who ca n answer the fo ll owing questions about hominy culture : i. i f hominy was made in your home traditionally, de- scribe its /H e/Jamtion. 2. IVas there JIlore than one type of hominy made? 3. Wh ell and how was hominy eaten ill your family? -I . TVe)'e there other names w h ich your family or neigh bors used for or illstead of the word" h0171 iny"? 5. H ow was hominy stored before using? 6. T o your knowledge, did any jJarticular g roup or clas of jJ eojJle use hominy more than others? 7. Do )'OU recall any stories, jests, 01' tales l'elatillg to hominy or its use? 8. A re the) e any songs or rhymes re lating to hominy? \ Ve sha ll be g lad lO hear from any of o ur read ers from H ominy-iVlill or H ominy-Bloc!< used to crack a n y part o f the coulllry who havc knowledge of the use o f Indian conI for the early American stajJle dish, homin y in Pe nnsy lva nia in the past. \ Ve houle! a ppreciate hominy. Th e illustration is fTOm tewart Pearce's a lso hea ri ng from persons re presen ti ng the Pe n nsyl vania Annals of Luzerne County (Philadel/Jhia, 1860). sc ttlem c nts in Ohio, J ndiana, 101l'a, Ontario, or e lsewhere. The author W1'O te that "males and females alike Direct yo ur a n swe~ to: We1'e compelled 10 arind at these homely mills," and one L uzerlle County pioneer told him, "1 Dr. D on Yoder have heClJ'd them pounding nigh t and day ill all Benne tt H a ll B ox 19 directions in Wilkesbane." U niversity of P e nnsy lvania Philad elp hia, P e nnsylva nia 19104 SNYDER'S HOMINY HOMINY CHICKEN EN HOMINY PREPARED FROM CORN - WAT ER - SALT I Cilld\I':I'I(blluler, aboLlt3 Ibs.J 1/4cut1fOl salt lwomllk ()fOIl,," 2rlo 303 r.onshomtny NET WEIGHT 1 LB. hour CUI IIC the dHcl!et1, sormk e WIIIl soU OIKI oepper olld dreo{le In IIIJUl'. Brown tile clIICW! 111 fotondoftlJ removing duc.ken. Size of Can . . . No . 303 stir tNO tDi)lespoons or flOut Gnd one-noJ{ teospoon soU Into tile 101. Add the milk olld tile liQUid MUlled Irom the Net Weight . . . I lb. Ilo~Jny Cook UIlhl ttllcieneci, sllrnllQ COIlslOnlly. Pul the tDml1Y InlD 0 shallow alsseroJe. Amlnoe the cbldten on Cupfuls ... . Approx . 2 too. I)l'ts!mg It into Ute hommy, Pour thf ~0Y)' over the dllcken. C PACKED IN USA BY SERVE AS A DINNER VEGETAB L E SNYDER PACKING Co. OR AS A BREAKFAST CEREA L. HOMINY DEL T A, P A . H o?niny is still made cO lltm ercia!l), by a few Pellllsy lva nia [[1'IIIS, as for instance, the Snyder Packing Com/)(lII )' uf D elta, un tI[e M aryland border in 1' 01'1< Count)'.