Area History: Part II: History of Pleasant Gap, Centre County, PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Rick Hughes USGENWEB NOTICE: Printing this file by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. ____________________________________________________________ [Twentieth installment - first printed April 14 and 15, 1936] As may be remembered, the National Guard was mobilized at the outbreak of the Spanish-American war. Some of these men took the oath of service to the federal government and are now counted Spanish-American war veterans, if they are still living. The list of men identified with the summer of 1898 is as follows: George Miller, Kline Grenoble, Jim Stine, Charles Garis, Oliver Hazel and Arthur Riddle. But there was more activity among the civilians. An immense flag was made by the women of the town who gathered at Noll's Hall for that purpose. A picture taken the day the flag was finished shows 40 women standing on the store porch with the flag draped over the banisters of the porch above. By actual measurements, it was 85 by 65 feet in size. It was designed to wave over the entrance to the gap in the mountain above the town. In order to secure it, men cut a path an each side of the cloven mountain through the brush until a large tree was reached, great enough to be capable of sustaining the cable wires that would hold the flag. On the appointed day during the summer, a great celebration was held in the woods near where Miles Bilger now lives. A picnic was held in the daytime and a festival in the evening. A bevy of girls was selected to go up on each side of the mountain to draw the flag to place. Most of these girls have married since, and in giving names, both maiden and married will be written. They were Verda Tate Rimmey, Nellie Griffith Gettig, Mary Twitmire Evey, Virgie Bilger, Bess Wasson Neff, Mame Bell Wasson, Susie Gill Grove, Sallie Johnson Gill, Cora Jodon and Lulu Thomas. The picture of these girls was taken the same day at the home of Jasper Brocks in Horntown. The flag was so large and so exposed to the whirling winds that came down through the gap that it only lasted a few months until it was shredded to pieces and was taken down. Before that it had been twice mended by Miss Alice Grenoble, now Mrs. VonGunden. The pictures of the flag and the ladies who made it are in fairly good state of preservation, somewhat faded, the ones the writer saw, but plain enough to recognize the figures, even though all were 37 years younger. It is probable about this time (1900) that two little boys -- brothers -- became known as the most mischievous boys in the village. Nothing bad about them. Just lively and a bit more boyish than ordinary boys. For instance: Their parents were highly respected God-fearing citizens who tried to bring their offspring up in the way they should be. Every Sunday the boys were sent to Sunday School where their grandfather, a saintly old man, was the superintendent. Among other things, the little boys learned to sing a song in Sunday School, and did it very well indeed. One Sunday after they had spent their usual hour in church, they sat at home on the porch singing their song. A lady came down the road, and paused to admire them, and their really good singing. Then the words attracted her attention. Ah, yes, the words. Wholly original but fitted exactly to the tune, the youngsters shouted them lustily: "Goddam grampa, goddam grampa, goddam grampa, goddam grampa." Living today, they are like their parents, highly respected residents, intelligent, useful in the community and good husbands and fathers; but still too young to hear themselves sung about as "grampa." [Twenty-first installment - first printed April 16, 1936] The story of how one couple, leading citizens of Pleasant Gap, got ahead reads like a romance. Let Mr. X tell it in his own words. "We wanted to get married, but I had no money. A man owed me $7, but I couldn't get it. Well, we had set the day, so I borrowed $7, for we didn't want to put off getting married, and I had the money coming. I had a horse off the farm and I hired a buggy for a dollar. We drove to Milesburg and the Rev. Woodcock married us. I gave him $5. Then we drove home by way of Bald Eagle and Curtin's Gap. That was our wedding trip. "The Mrs. stayed at home with her folks that winter and I worked on a sawmill back of Snow Shoe. Next spring we moved to Pleasant Gap in the little house across the road from Tommie Jodon's. Tommie's house wasn't there then. "Well, I had to go away to get work like the rest of the men did here then. I helped clean out Green Valley. We took between nine and 10 million feet of lumber out that winter, and afterwards I helped clean out Bear Meadows, and then Laurel Run near Marsh Creek. I generally boarded myself too. "Then one winter I worked on a sawmill over at Philipsburg. I'd go down on the train to Port Matilda and walk over. It was seven miles. I carried my grub and boarded myself. I'd get home only every four or six weeks. The Mrs. would have bread baked and other thing ready, and I'd put them in a sack and start off Sunday afternoons. "I worked on the open sawmill at night all that winter. It was 16 below zero part of the time and I froze my hands. They paid me $1.25 a day and I worked 11 hours. I slept in a little shanty near the sawmill." "Did the rest of the men do the same?" he was asked. "No, they boarded at the boarding house, but I wanted to get ahead and I couldn't afford to board. When spring came, I had some money saved, and started to build my house here. No, this house wasn't like it is now at first. We had two rooms downstairs and two rooms up. The roof was different, too. I've made a good many changes in the place. "After I built this house, I started to work with my father. He was a carpenter, too. My brother and I both learned from him. He was very strict with us when we were working. He would not let us talk about anything but our work while we worked. He said it was all right to talk about other things at noon and rest time, but when we worked we had to keep our minds on what we were doing. We built a good many houses here in this town, and just as many in other places." "How many have you built in Pleasant Gap all together?" was our question. "Well, I'd have to count them. Let's see, we'd better start at one end and go through town." So, with Mr. X's help he did just that, and they found by actual count that he, either alone or with his brother, had repaired, made additions to or actually built outright more than half of Pleasant Gap. On First St., which was opened about 10 years ago, there are now eight houses. Five or six of these Mr. X built himself, and he helped with two of the others. Continuing his account, he said: "I help build McAllister Hall and the Mechanical Art Block that burned down and lots of houses there in State College besides. I was working there with my brother when he got word to go to work at Rockview. "He left me to finish the house alone with such help as I could pick up, and I have been at it alone ever since. That was 21 years ago. No, I can't say that I'm really tired nights. I'd just as leave not do so much, but somebody is always wanting something built or fixed over, and when them come to me, I go." The point of the elderly couple's early sacrifices would be wholly lost were it not for the fact that they need sacrifice no longer. Industry and thrift have brought them from a debt of $7 on their wedding day to the full ownership of their comfortable and well furnished home and of three others that they rent besides. Of course, it is evident to most folks in Pleasant Gap that Mr. X is really Mr. K. William Kerstetter, or "Uncle Billy" as he is often called. He is in the best of health in spite of his 73 years. Three years ago last summer he and his wife celebrated their golden wedding. When Mr. Kerstetter built his house, there were no other dwellings between it and the Cross Roads on the same side. His lot is 60 feet front and 300 feet deep and the cost to him was $50. Today, lots on the State Highway nearby are worth seven times as much. Michael Kerstetter, father of W.W and his brother Ammon was reckoned one of the best carpenters to be had. He was especially in demand to build the huge barns that the farmers were raising then for their increased crops. He, too, lived in Pleasant Gap in his later years, in the old house by the dinky track now occupied by Charles Schreffler. [Twenty-second installment - first printed April 17, 1936] Within the decade that saw the advent of the Kerstetters, the Haags and John Mulfinger, seven or eight families settled in Pleasant Gap to remain permanently. They included the Twitmires, the Uhls, the Corls, the Smeltzers, the Brooks, the Showers, the Gettigs, Gideon Wells and the Rimmeys. No doubt others might be found also whose names have been absorbed through marriage. Henry Twitmire and his family came up from the Zion locality and lived for a time in the old Swarm house, until he built himself a new one. It is still occupied by Mrs. Twitmire, with her daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Wade Evey. Mr. Twitmire was a carpenter, his shop having been made into a dwelling house that is rented by the Eveys. After buying the property, Mr. Evey remodeled it and finished the outside with stucco. His work made a handsome appearance, but only a short time elapsed before the house was the center of one of the most alarming events that ever happened in Pleasant Gap. Flying low over the town and performing various stunts, a young aviator was trying to impress a bevy of girls on the street. Once he zoomed so low that it seemed he must hit the store roof, but he rose again, only to return and swoop downward, supposedly trying to land inside the open triangle of the three streets of the town. But he overrated his ability and came down on the top of the newly finished Evey house. Mrs. Evey was on the street when she saw the plane dropping. She knew that her mother had just risen that day from a sick bed, that her husband was upstairs shaving himself. The next moment there was a crash as the plane tore away part of the porch, slithered across the road, snapped off an oak tree, broke through a fence and came to rest, partly in the orchard and partly on the state highway. Almost overcome, not knowing what she would find inside the house, Mrs. Evey rushed through the door as excited Pleasant Gappers ran towards the wreck. They screamed, shouted and converged from every corner in town. Only the bedridden or crippled remained at home. Every minute they expected to see the plane enveloped in flames. One woman, Miss Virgie Bilger, raced through the field carrying a butcher knife to cut loose the entrapped men. Sam Noll Sr., however, was ahead of her and cut off one of the shoes of one man, thus extricating him. The other man was released easily enough and both removed from the plane which, happily, did not take fire. The aviator had hurt only his little finger. His passenger was not injured at all, but, as a lady observed the other day in recalling the event, he was less fortunate later, for he landed in the penitentiary. Mrs. Twitmire was about 80 years old at the time. She has a heart condition, but her room was upstairs at the rear of the house and the shock did not alarm her. It might have been a blast from White Rock, as far as she knew, so she was resting calmly and none the worse for all that had happened. Nor had the razor in Mr. Evey's hand slipped at the psychological moment, He, too, was safe and unhurt. In order to repair the house to its former attractive appearance, the owners had to pay out $300 that they never recovered. The plane, incidentally, was a total loss to both the aviator and the man he had bought it from without having paid for it. But the accident is well remembered in the town. Although it was 10 or more years ago, peoples' eyes brighten to this day when it is mentioned, and they wax enthusiastically voluble over their awful scare. It is easy enough to be funny about it since it is seen in perspective, but it was really an act of Providence that no lives were lost. The aviator had not flown a plane for about a year, nor very much before that., the village was fairly well built up at the place he fell and a number of people were on the street. Indeed, the incident had both the characters and setting requisites to make a front page headline in all the newspapers. Returning to the Twitmire family: there are three daughters living in Pleasant Gap besides Mrs. Mary Evey. Cora was married to William Noll in their own home; Blanche married Abner Noll in a wedding in the Lutheran Church of the town and Jennie became the bride of Harry Hile in the Methodist Church. Two other sisters live out of town. Mrs. Jared Evey, formerly a resident here, moved with the family to State College RD a few years ago, and Mrs. James Corl lives in Chicago. The brother, Harry, lives in Wilmerding. [Twenty-third installment - first printed April 18 and 20, 1936] The Corls came up from Hazleton. Robert Corl Sr., with a number of young men used to walk from that place up to Centre County to cradle wheat. Centre County season is a bit behind Buffalo Valley, and with their own work done they would carry their cradles on their backs and try to earn a few more dollars. They went from farm to farm until the season was over. Five of the crowd could cradle 29 acres in a day. Finally young Corl and a brother stayed in Centre County. They farmed together on the land where Penn State College is now situated. Later, Robert went to Buffalo Run and then came down to the Shugert farm beside the Blue Spring. Two of his four sons settled in Pleasant Gap, the elder, William, building the house that is now the home of his daughter, Mrs. Frank Millward. William Corl lived in it until he died. Robert Corl Jr., is now a resident of the Gap, having built here about 20 years ago. The other sons live in Boalsburg and Chicago respectively. Robert has only one child, a daughter, Miss Hazel Corl. The Smeltzer family came here from Dauphin County, and the name is found near Hummelstown, borne by many of the citizens of that vicinity. George Smeltzer was the first of the family in Centre County. At that time, the name included a Īch' and was spelled something like "Smeltchzer". George's son Albert, who is the father of A.D. Smeltzer and Mrs. T.E. Jodon of Pleasant Gap, lived as a boy between Zion and this place. A story is told of the boy accompanying an aunt from the home to visit someone at Zion. There was a path through the woods from the house to Zion. Albert and his dog walked ahead of the aunt in this path, until suddenly the lady called the boy back to her in an emphatic voice and told him she was on fire. He must hurry to help her put it out. It seems that she was addicted to tobacco, as have many of her sex since, but she smoked a pipe and from that solace came her jeopardy. Albert Smeltzer lived 22 years on the farm known today as the Hoffman place at the extreme end of the Gap. About 30 years ago he moved into the Gap, occupying a house that he had bought from Newton Gill, formerly of Gilltown. Mr. Gill had bought the house, and it is now the residence of Willis Markle. Mr. Smeltzer's son William now lives in Bellefonte and his name will occur later as a director of the White Rock company. Another son, A.D. Smeltzer lives now in a comparatively new brick house on East State St. that he built when he moved with his family from the farm that his son Lee now occupies and works. The other living member of the Smeltzer family is Mrs. T.E. Jodon, and it is with her that Albert Smeltzer spent the last years of his life. Lee and Miss Margaret are the children of A.D. -- better known as "Dal" Smeltzer. Unusually large and imposing, the house that Jasper Brooks built for himself stands on the left as one starts down the Horntown Rd. The Brooks family came from what the Ralstons family preferred to call Mount Joy, and connected themselves with this family by marriage. As did so many men in those days when house building and decoration was a steady trade, Mr. Brooks became a painter and engaged in other forms of construction work. He operated a planing mill here in the Gap and held the position later of Whiskey gauger -- if that be the correct term -- for the government during the days of the distillery. The Brooks name survives in the family of Elwood Brooks, his nephew who was the son of James Brooks, a brother. Another brother William, well up in years, now lives in Centre Hall. They are brothers of Mrs. Twitmire. Elwood too is in the construction business; he builds and plasters. Frank Brooks, the only one of the Orlando Brooks family still living near enough to Pleasant Gap to count it his home, now owns a farm a short distance east of here that was once under Furey control. The Orlando Brooks family came to this section in 1911 from Pitcairn and do not claim any relationship with the Brooks who were earlier settlers. Three other sons of this family are living. Dale and Ray in Bellefonte, the latter being County Treasurer now, but claimed as a Pleasant Gap boy, and another brother in West Virginia. Frank Brooks also holds a political office, being Overseer of the Poor for Spring Township. Ray Brooks was one of the first, if not the first of the home town boys, to go to Penn State College. [Twenty-fourth installment - first printed April 20 and 21, 1936] Herbert Showers was another man who brought his family from the neighborhood of Zion. At the time of his moving here he was employed at the mine banks. This village was a trifle nearer his work and he was anxious to get settled in a home of his own. The one owned by James Kerstetter was for sale. Mr. Showers bought it, and continued to live in it until his tragic death during the winter of 1934. After the mine bank closed, he traveled to the Furnace at Bellefonte to work. His two sons, Ward and George, are both residents of the town with their families. Ward's son, Henry, is the only boy in the two families. The George Showers family consists of three daughters. The Gettig family takes a just pride in its founder, Christian Gettig, who was a colonel in the Revolutionary War. He was granted a tract of land by the new government for his services, the grant covering land near Sunbury where he lived. One of his sons, Frederick, came to Madisonburg. Of Frederick's three sons, Samuel left home going to Washington Furnace where he married, then to Loganton, Brush Valley and to Nittany Valley, where he died before the house he was building in Pleasant Gap for himself was ready for occupancy. This was in 1885. Two of the Gettig brothers have stayed in the Gap, both contributing to the prosperity of the town by erecting homes for themselves. George built and later sold the Andy Tate place. He live now in the oldest house on the Pike, as has been mentioned, and his brother H.C. (commonly known as "Clate") has his establishment of house and meat market next to the place his brother built. Both men engaged in operating a sawmill for eight years in the early part of the century. Only one of the family is left to carry on the name: Carl, George Gettig's son. Like so many of the older families, the children left in the village are either daughters, married with their children born under a different name, or they, if sons, have left the place hoping to better themselves. Samuel Gettig's daughter married John Uhl and lived in the house, now the home of her son Roy Uhl. The house stands next to the old Gettig -- or Ross -- or as it is so much better known today, the Heisey home, and was built by the John Uhls. Mr. Uhl and his cousin, Henry Uhl, owned and operated a cement mill, the ruins of which can be seen across the creek on Jodon's farm below town. After a time, Mr. Uhl sold out his share to his cousin, who continued the business only for a short time. Mr. Uhl was employed at the Fish Hatchery after it was started here. His son, Roy, has been with the Laurback company for 20 years. He was married to Miss Vivian Lutz of Bellefonte 11 years ago. There are no children. The Rimmeys came to Pleasant Gap somewhere in the 1870s. John, the father of the family, had lived in Boalsburg, and after moving settled down on the Valentine farm, which has been occupied by the Henry Hoys for many years and is now the home of the Paul Waites. Mrs. John Rimmey was killed when she was thrown out of an open backed buggy by a frightened horse. The accident occurred at the turn of the road from the Pike into Horntown in the year 1877. A grandson of John Rimmey also met a tragic death by being drowned in a sink hole in the village. This boy was about 12 years old, one of David Rimmey's sons. The fifth generation of Rimmeys is now enrolled in the Pleasant Gap schools. Two of John's sons remained near home. They were David and Charles, living respectively on either side of the Pike schoolhouse for many years and passing away with in the past 10 years. The former worked at the carpenter trade. After his death, his widow was the third ill-fated one in the family to come to her death, at least partly through violence. She was struck by an automobile while crossing the road. The driver was fully exonerated from fault and she apparently was not much injured, but her friends and neighbors felt that the shock hastened her demise. The three children of this family reside in the Gap, both daughters occupying the homestead, with the son, Earl, and his family, five doors up the street. Of the Charlie Rimmey family, all except his second wife, Mrs. Verda Tate Rimmey, live outside the town: two sons in Centre Hall; two in New York State, and the other in Tusseyville. Mrs. Clayton Gettig and William Rimmey, the latter of State College are brother and sister of the two men just recorded. Another man who moved here during this period was William Bell. He was a pattern maker for the iron furnace and lived where his son, Roy Bell, now has his home. The family was active in the Methodist Church and a memorial window has been placed in its front through the legacy and contributions of the children as mentioned under churches in another part of this story. William Bell is one of the men of whom the writer has heard said: "He was a good old man." The Bell name is another that will be extinct in this vicinity in the next generation. Roy Bell, the only Bell here, has no son to succeed him and the daughter married into the Biddle family. [Twenty-fifth installment - first printed April 22, 1936] Following Matthew Riddle as merchants were Larimer Bros., J.G. Stone, Lawrence McIntire and Stine and Company. This list is given by Linn. Mr. Mulfinger recalls that the fire in Stine's store broke out at three in the morning and that only one barrel of salt was saved from the entire stock. Since there was no fire protection, and very few folks who could be aroused at that hour to form a bucket brigade, the building was consumed almost before help could arrive. The town, at the date of Linn's writing, was without a store. Whether the historian discounted such small shops as Henry Eckenroth and Robert Barnes owned is not now known. At any rate, they seem to have been in existence at this time. Robert Barnes kept a saddler's shop in one of the Barnes houses, now owned by Harry Bilger, for a time and also sold cigars and candy. The Eckenroth store has already been mentioned. John Barnes was born about the year 1800. He was tollgate keeper at Pleasant Gap in the year the history of Centre County was written. That was copyrighted in 1880. At that time Mr. Barnes had been tollgate keeper in the County for 50 years. He owned both the houses that are now the property of Harry Bilger. He is remembered as having made a few cigars by hand, rolling them out one at a time and selling them in his store that was part of the tollgate. This reminiscence comes from J.W. Gill one of the oldest residents of the Gap. Mrs. Ammon Kerstetter, his granddaughter, remembers the old gentleman very well. He used to keep his candy in a chest in his store before he had shelves built against the wall. Among the candy were old-fashioned sour balls which were much larger than those of the present day, and flat white cakes of chewing gum. He came from England when he was 18 years of age. It took him six months to cross the ocean. He was a small thin man and lived in what they called the "old house," as distinguished from the one in which Harry Bilger now lives. His sons were George, Howard, Robert and William. The daughters were Mary, Agnes, Tamazine and Jennie. Two of the 10 children died before maturity. His wife outlived him, remaining in her own home, her daughter, Tamazine, who never married and Mrs. Jennie Harrison staying with her. The youngest of the senior Barnes sons, William, lived in Johnstown, and died only last year. Robert occupied the house that his son Frank now lives in. An older brother George also owned it at one time and had a shoe shop on the premises. The shop was later moved back for a summer kitchen and is now used by the present owner as a house kitchen, having been remodeled and attached to it. Robert Barnes who bought it after George had owned it also used the small building as a shop. He was a saddler by trade so the room became a saddler's shop. Robert's children were Frank, John, Roy, two sons who died, and the daughter Clara, now Mrs. Kerstetter. All of them live in Pleasant Gap. Only John has children to continue the name: John Jr., and Joseph, neither of whom are residents here at the present time. John Barnes lives in Horntown, and Roy, who has been a public accountant for many years, returned to the old hometown some time ago and makes his home with him. The Bilgers are another old family, Jonathan Bilger coming here from near Middleburg before the Civil War. He settled on a farm a short distance east of the Gap and there reared a large family. Among the children were John, who became a veterinarian and lived where John Royer now has his home; Miss Virgie and Miss Annie who still occupy their home in Horntown, next to their sister; Mrs. Otto Hile, also living, and William Bilger, father of Harry and Charles, both middle-aged men of the village. Harry, whose name appears several times in this little history, is a contractor and has a thriving business employing several men. His brother, Charlie lives almost at the summit of Nittany Mountain on the state road and runs a sawmill in connection with a lumbering business. He rents a number of overnight cabins near his residence to tourists. The father, William, who was spoken of in other parts of this writing, as well as his sons, followed the river. He was a rafter, and rode the timbers as they were lashed together, from Renovo to Marietta below Harrisburg. He returned to Pleasant Gap later to farm below town. [Twenty-sixth installment - first printed April 23, 1936] Before leaving the last century, we must not forget one of the best organizations that Pleasant Gap ever had. That was the band. Pictures of it may be seen in many of the homes of the Gap -- pictures with "Pleasant Gap Cornet Band" printed in large letters on the drum. Organized on October 10, 1879, its founder was William Bilger. He had been a member of the Zion band and for some reason withdrew from it, then conceived the idea that his own town could have a band as good as any. So the organization was made and Lot Struble was appointed leader. The original members, as agreed on by some of the men who belonged to it, were as follows: William Bilger, Lot Struble, W.H. Noll, Ed Mease, Tom Harrison, James Houser, William Corl, Abner Noll, John Mulfinger, John Harrison, James Harrison, Luther Schreckengast, John Shuey, Charlie Stine, William Stewart, Harry Haag and a man named Womer. The first meetings were held in Horntown schoolhouse. They practiced there and later went over to the schoolhouse on the Pike because it was more convenient. The men elected officers every year, which included president, vice-president, secretary-treasurer and property man. The first president was William Bilger and there does not seem to have been any other, the band members continuing to give him that honor as long as he lived. William Rightmire of Lewistown was the first teacher. He was with them eight or 10 years. They met once a week for practice, except in the fall when the teacher would be with them two or three weeks. Then they met every night until they felt that their execution was good enough to space practices farther apart. In the account of Gottlieb Haag, something was said about his building a band hall. This was the upper floor known as Noll's hall. Mr. Mulfinger, to whose diary so many matters have been referred, says that Mr. Haag had first thought of building a third floor on top of the hotel that he owned, and allowing the band to use it. Mr. Haag had come from Germany, with all the German traditions of public music in his breast and he felt that the music band should have a proper home. His idea of topping the hotel was not feasible, so the two-story building was constructed and the band played at its dedication, the big bass drum being let down into the hall tied on a rope from above until a permanent way was finished. Again comes the account of this extraordinary Fourth of July dedication. Undoubtedly it was the liveliest day that Pleasant Gap has known in all its 100 years since folks settled along the old Harrisonville road. Liquor flowed freely. Men had fights and were laid up with their wounds afterwards. One gentleman declares there had never been such a time in Pleasant Gap before, nor such a time since. Not a man in town who was there at the time does not grin at the mention of that day. It was not long before Lot Struble was succeeded as band master by William Noll. Mr. Noll held the position a number of years and then it fell to William Florey. During this time the fame of the organization had spread from Williamsport to Huntington to Altoona and other points between. [Twenty-seventh installment - first printed April 24 and 25, 1936] One reason for the popularity of the band is laid to the uniforms as well as the quality of music. The uniforms had been a sober blue when the band was first accoutered, but these were soon discarded for something that was more pretentious. Imagine, if you can, a man dressed like this! A pair of dark blue trousers, with a light blue stripe running down the side, a dark blue coat buttoned up to the neck with three rows of silver buttons down the front as far as the waist line where he was encircled by a white kid belt. The sleeves were finished with light blue cuffs and silver buttons. Below the belt was more coat in cutaway style, with two long tails behind, each one decorated with a row of silver buttons. Upon his head was a large black felt hat turned up at the side with a huge silver eagle as ornament and beginning at the front of the broad brim was a long black ostrich plume. It passed over the top of the crown, across the brim in the back and hung gracefully down between the man's shoulders. Then there was the drum major. He is described as having worn blue trousers, a red flannel coat and a hat shaped something like a stovepipe, one foot high surrounded by a red tassel. In his hand he carried the traditional long rod, or whatever it is that a drum major carries, that he twirled around and round, then threw up 20 or 30 feet in the air and caught as it came down. The band numbered 30 or more men. When this gallant company, attired as just described, marched through a town, it must have been a never-to-be-forgotten sight. So, with coat tails swinging, feathers a-flutter, silver horns projecting from their puffed and bewhiskered faces under the lady-like hats, they marched through cheering crowds on street and highway, piloted by the colorful drum major. There is no doubt whatsoever that they knew they giving the spectators the worth of their money, even if the music itself had been mediocre. But the Pleasant Gap band played excellent music. Their teachers were among the best. One especially mentioned was a man named Joe Fehrer who had been a bandmaster during the Civil War and wrote his own music, as well as being so familiar with everything else that he conducted without the score. One time the band, along with 20 more bands, was parading in Lewisburg under his direction when he disappeared. The Gap men were quite capable of going on without a leader for a time and they did. At last Mr. Fehrer, who had quenched his thirst that day with something stronger than tea, was found to be with another band in the parade, and quite oblivious to the fact that he wasn't where he belonged. Another anecdote that helped make band history in Pleasant Gap occurred when there was a fireman's convention in Williamsport, or it may have been a Fourth of July celebration. Whatever it was, the band went down and stayed two nights. They arrived on the third and went to the Crawford house for rooms, several men being put into one room. That afternoon the leader disappeared again and somebody told the Pleasant Gap men that he had been seen with a crowd of fellows making the rounds of refreshment bars, and if they wanted him to do any work the next day, they had better get him. So the delegation set forth in search of the convivial party and finally found them. They induced him to return to the hotel by saying that "Will Noll wanted him at once on important business." When he was safely inside the room they locked him in along with his roommates. The most of his inspiration, the bandmaster had said, came from early morning walks. It was then that he composed his music, rising about 4 a.m. to do it. This morning was no exception. His sleep-sodden companions were roused at peep of day by the sound of their leader's bugle calls. In the room and out the window, he tooted every reveille that he knew over again and again, and at last, about 5 a.m., exclaimed: "My God, boys, get up and get some enthusiasm this morning." The last teacher was a German. He moved here and lived in the old Fozzy property on Horntown road. The band met twice a week for practice. Monday and Friday evenings were sacred to their art. Some of the wives were not so happy over the number of nights their men had to be away from home, it is whispered, and added to that was the fatigue that followed a day's outing with possible loss of work by the men. But that is a chapter not to be related in detail. The band often went in parades of the Undine Fire Company of Bellefonte during the political campaigns. They went, besides the places already mentioned, to Philipsburg, Hublersburg, Tyrone, Lock Haven and many other places. It the distance was far, they traveled on the train; if near, they went in the band wagon. This wagon had been built especially for the band. The woodwork was done by Henry Twitmire and the ironing by William Bilger. It was painted red, with yellow wheels and was kept in the Bilger barn on the farm where Lee Smeltzer now lives. Sometimes it was drawn by six gray horses, Harry Bilger often being the driver. [Twenty-eighth installment - first printed April 27, 1936] When the Hancock-Garfield political campaign was running, the band was greatly in demand. It marched impartially in both Democratic and Republican parades, so long as there was money available from the county chairmen of either party to pay them. On one occasion, the story goes, when Johnny Stine was driving the horses from Bellefonte, the beasts did not answer his demands as he thought they should and Johnny, who had partaken of several bracers to assist him in holding the six reins, decided to set it right. He jumped down from the driver's seat, ran to the front team, did something that was equivalent to whispering in the horses' ears and started back to his place. The horse were traveling at a lively gait, and when John leaped on the hub, in lieu of a step, it turned and he went down under the wagon. Two long weeks he lay unconscious between life and death, but he finally recovered and took his place as before. Among the men who were added to the original number were Ammon Kerstetter, William Florey, Harry Hile, Anthony DeArmitt, Sam Meyers, James Corl, Herbert Showers, Charlie Rimmey, Al Martz, Jesse Hartsock, Harry Hartsock, Irvin Gettig, John Noll, Boyd Noll, John Schreffler, Harry Twitmire, Johnny D. Miller, Rush Barnes, Irvin Harrison, Ambrose Stockman, Harry Gansel, Ed McKinley, William Bilger II and William Hoover. It was Ed McKinley who fell victim to the drum major one day on Linn street, Bellefonte. The band was parading through that street, with the major twirling his stick, throwing it up as usual and catching it, when the stick hit a maple tree and diverted from its course, came down to hit Ed in the mouth. He was badly cut and the band had one less member for a time. At the beginning there had been a charge of $5 for initiation and 30 cents per month for dues. Later these were abolished and the band depended entirely on engagements, festivals and oyster suppers for their funds. At home they usually played for nothing. At a distance, it depended on the number of hours engaged, as well as the distance. One of the men remembers that they were given $50 for a day and an evening at Centre Hall. Compared with the price asked by the band in the past few years, their pay was small. They bought the uniforms and instruments out of the common fund. After the dressy uniforms described at length became shabby, the band outfitted themselves in a third uniform, which was a sober gray with a cap such as messengers wear. Pictures of them in this uniform are among the collections of different members. Interest in the organization waned when some of the most important members left town, generally to work. The men played together afterwards, but there did not seem to be any regular rehearsals after 1902. Mr. Kerstetter, who was the leader after William Florey, got the men together from time to time, the last that they played having been on Armistice Day, 1918. When news came that the war had actually been stopped, the members who were in town, gathered together and went in the afternoon to Rockview to play, and later the same afternoon to State College, then to Bellefonte in the evening. A delightful tintype of the founder William Bilger, is owned by his son, Harry. This picture shows the gentleman in all his glory of silver button, cornet, and feathered hat. Some of the instruments of the band are still in around the town. Mr. Bilger owns two that belonged to his father. Two that belonged to Herbert Showers are in possession of his two sons, Ward and George, respectively. Not only did the band make good music, but it formed a strong social organization among its members. It is remembered with pleasure and respect, and with regret that its days are past. Most of the members have gone from the Gap. Some have made their homes elsewhere, but a greater number have taken a longer journey. Of the men yet living, David Keller is in Bellefonte; Harry Twitmire in Wilmerding; Harry Hartsock and James Corl in Chicago; the rest are here. They are H.V. Hile, W.H. Noll, William Florey, Abner Noll, John Mulfinger and Ammon Kerstetter. Sic tansit gloria mundi. [Twenty-ninth installment - first printed April 28, 1936] Another one of the families that came to this section at the time Pleasant Gap was settled was the Shuey family. John Shuey moved up from Lancaster County in 1840. At first he lived against the mountain, as so many other settlers did, but near the village of Lemont. In 1865 he settled on a far now owned by the state, the house being located next to the one now occupied by the chaplain on the east. His sons, Henry and Daniel, counted this village their home, Henry having owned a home in the village, living and dying in it. Another son, William, lives in State College; Harvey in Lemont, and two sons went west. The Henry Shuey home here is still owned by his son Oliver, of Hublersburg. Daniel's children include Roland of Renovo, John and Benner of Axemann and William of Pleasant Gap. One of his daughters and her family, Mrs. Reeder Jodon, make their home with her father a short distance below town. The other two daughters live in nearby towns. [The] name Shuey is well known in the neighborhood, and William, who resides her, has three young sons who will carry it on. The real growth of Pleasant Gap began in 1905 with its lime industry. There was naturally universal rejoicing when it was known that a company had been formed to promote work at home. Several years before this, the Noll brothers had bought land from a man named Casselbury who, in turn, had obtained it from E.L. Humes. This was in 1898. They also purchased from Mrs. Anna Riddle a field of 35 acres lying west of the town which included an old lime kiln. These two tracts lay together. Remembering the crude lime burning, it seemed a possibility that they might have enough limestone beneath their fields to pay for operating a kiln. They employed Merrill and Elmer Gill to dig prospect holes in the field and the two men worked the greater part of the summer. They dug holes three or four feet deep, 20 feet apart, in two rows across the field where the quarry is now located, and brought out small pieces of stone to be analyzed. The test showed that an excellent grade of limestone lay near the surface. The owners of the field thereupon set about searching for interested prominent men who might join them in forming a stock company. One of the first employees to break ground was George Showers. Two more men who worked for the company from its beginning were his brother, Ward, and his father, Herbert Showers. William Irvin, father of Frank Irvin, was another. So were Earl Eckenroth and William Hoover. The first thing to be done was to level ground for railroad tracks. Almost as soon was the excavation for the boiler house, the building of the blacksmith shop and the erection of a temporary office on the hill. The ground had to be stripped for the quarry itself and foundations made for the kilns. This was only part of what lay before the workmen. It was necessary to build their own track for the spur of railroad that would join the L & T branch running between Bellefonte and Lemont, in order to ship products by rail. Many of the men remember that other limestone plants were none too pleased at the new rival and believe that was why it was hard to find a company who would contract to make the railroad. Finally, it was done by the Ayer Shoemaker Construction Company. This company employed foreigners to do most of the labor and housed them here in hastily constructed shanties that were torn down when the work was finished. In the erection of the plant, however, and since, in its employment, the management has hired local men in preference to employing those from out of town. [Thirtieth installment - first printed April 29, 1936] The first superintendent of the lime plant was Steve Finnegan. He has been followed by a number of others, the list as given being as follows: Ralph Noll, Harry Applebee, Blaine Mabus, Charles Stearns, Wilbur Saxion, Mr. Benton and the present man, Claire Hazel. Mr. Hazel has been an employee of the company for many years and well deserves the promotion, having actually risen from the ranks. William Hoover was the first blacksmith and built the first fireplace. Mr. Hoover deserves more than a passing word. He came from Stone Valley a number of years before White Rock opened, and conducted a blacksmith shop at the upper end of Horntown Rd. before he went to work for White Rock. He married one of the Harrison girls -- Ruth Harrison -- of the same Harrisons who founded Harrisonville and was one of the active workers of the Methodist Church. He was superintendent of the Sunday School for 20 years and at the same time taught a class for women who later honored him by calling themselves the Hoover class. His son left town and live in some distant place, if he does still live. His daughter married Elmer Musser and they now occupy the old homestead with a daughter. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hoover passed away within the last 10 years. One at a time, the kilns were finished and put into use until by the next spring six were in operation. So successful was the new business that in 1912 it was necessary to enlarge the plant. An increase of $500,000 was voted, making the total capital stock $600,000. Twelve more kilns were added to the six, thus making 18 now in use. Three years after this, a bond issue was floated of $175,000 for 20 years. These bonds were retired last December and the mortgage satisfied. A second bond issue has been authorized to be dated April 1, 1935, at six percent. About 10 years ago, a hydrating and pulverizing plant was added to the project. New quarries had been opened at the other side of the village before the additional kilns were built and a railroad track built across the space between them and the kilns. The company's holdings have been increased by the purchase of more land, from time to time, until now White Rock owns practically three miles from one end to another, except for one farm known as the Charlie Eckenroth place which is the property on the American Lime Company. The boundaries of White Rock's land are set at the Shugert farm on the ease and the Joseph Tressler farm on the west. The later purchases include farms that once belonged to Valentines, Michael Spicher, John Herman and Andrew Swartz. In addition to this, the company has bought houses in the village until they now have enough to accommodate almost a score of families. These houses are rented only to employees of White Rock. When the works opened, wages were generally low. Mention has already been made of the rate of pay to men who worked at the mine banks. So this enterprise paid the prevailing wage, as low in some cases, as 75 cents per day. With the increase of the wages throughout the country, the company kept pace. During the World War, men often drew $100 for a two weeks' pay. It is understood, of course, that that was not given to every man. Those who load cars by contract, in other words, do piece work, received the highest pay. Nittany Furnace, or Valentines, as it is mostly called, was one of White Rock's first customers. This furnace is reported to have consumed 100 tons of stone per day in smelting, and that the new plant furnished a part. Steel mills at Pittsburgh were also buyers of stone from the beginning, using it for their open hearth furnaces. [Thirty-first installment - first printed April 30, 1936] Where everything was at first done by hand, the plant has continued to install modern improvements as they were put on the market. Safety devices pass inspection and accidents have been reduced to a minimum. Practically all that occur happen in the stone quarries, and against such there can be no insurance. Even at that, the industry has taken the toll of few lives. One of these was Abner Gill, who was injured in the quarry and died soon afterwards. He was the brother of the man who dug the holes before the quarries opened. There are no mines in the White Rock Quarries at the present time. The work has always been above the ground. The faces, as men call the excavations, are in some cases one-quarter of a mile long and 100 feet deep. In two of the quarries, numbers one and two, a lower level has been opened. Good kiln stone can be recognized by a workman by its color and its texture. The stone is 70 feet at Pleasant Gap and to a point two and one-half miles from east of the plant. Lime is only a small part of the product. By actual count 44 products are manufactured and offered for sale by the company. At present there are 160 employees. This number will increase, possibly to 250, when highway stone and agricultural lime are demanded in the spring. The present board of directors is: W.F. Reynolds, W.H. Noll, A. Fauble, W.C. Smeltzer, Roy Wilkinson, John G. Love, Hugh M. Quigley and Ray C. Noll. The officers are: F.W. Reynolds, president; A. Fauble, vice- president; Ray C. Noll, secretary-treasurer and general manager. Assistant secretary is Blain Mabus. The first board included as directors: N.H. Swayne II, T.A. Shoemaker, T.L. Eyre, John Blanchard, Dr. George Harris, George Meek, John Shugert, W.F. Reynolds and W.H. Noll. Mr. Swayne was first president; Mr. Meek, secretary. The capital stock was $100,000. White Rock management has always run its plant on the open shop basis. They deem that this enables them to fill more emergency orders and to run the plant continuously, obviating labor troubles. There has never been a strike in all the 30 years since it opened, and the nearest thing to a labor crisis came last year when an attempt was made to organize a union similar to that of one of the Bellefonte companies. The attempt was deferred until a more auspicious time, and the plant functioned without interruption. There were no complaints about the wages paid or the hours worked. The main issue appeared to be that the company did not pay on time. This has been due to the unsettled business conditions of the past few years, for which the management is in no way responsible, and those who know the situation under which business has labored during this depression, say that the company deserves high credit for not closing down as so many others have done. At this writing all 18 kilns are running, and the management predicts that, from a sales standpoint, it will be the biggest in their history. The payrolls now average $13,000 per month, and at times, when the season is exceptionally heavy, they reach as high as $25,000 per month. Since the opening of this industry the population of the village has tripled. However, it would hardly be fair to give it all the credit for this, as shortly after the 12 extra kilns were added, Rockview institution drew many more residents this way, and the building of the fish hatchery about the same time contributed to its prosperity. White Rock deserves the pioneer's palm, and moreover it is a home concern, situated on Spring Township land, every foot of it, in spite of a belief that the writer recently encountered to the effect that the buildings of the plant were in Benner Township and therefore, a Benner taxable. Its stockholders are Centre County men and live within a few miles of the plant. Its management and employees are also local men. In certain cases, and due for most part to a shortage of houses in the Gap, the workers live out of town. It is since these three opportunities for the workers have come to Pleasant Gap that it has grown from what was little more than a country crossroads to its present stage of comfort, convenience and a modicum of culture. The turn of the century's vast extension of civilization has not left this town behind other communities of its class, as might have been the case, had its natural resources not been developed. Although never a borough, the people have their own electric street lights, fire company and water company, short accounts of which will be written later. [Thirty-second installment - first printed May 1, 1936] Another industry that flourished here for a time was the knitting mill. It was a branch of the Millheim Knitting Company and employed 25 or 26 workmen. The company rented the building the Haag had put up for a gristmill and occupied it from 1915 to 1920. It was owned by Noll Brothers at the time, and after the company left town the building was utilized, as has been mentioned before, as a high school. So little is to be learned about this knitting project that it does not seem to have meant much to the life of the town. It must have seemed a far cry, however, to the older women, from the days they remembered when they knitted socks themselves and carried them to Bellefonte in baskets for sale at 60 cents per pair, as some are said to have done; a far cry from those times to these when the machine-knitted one were turned out by the hundred in less time than they could do one pair by hand. The oldest store in town, as well as the largest one, is that of Noll Brothers. It has already been mentioned that they occupy the building Haag put up primarily for a band hall. Crownover and Son were the first tenants but they stayed only for six months. The Noll men had been school teachers, but found that teaching was less profitable then than it is today even, and undertook the mercantile business. They rented the building for something like five years, then bought it outright. Last November saw their fifty-third anniversary as merchants. It also marked the anniversary of a telephone in Pleasant Gap, the new store being equipped with one, and the only one in the village for a long time. In 1904 the firm enlarged their floor space, both upstairs and down, and increased the stock of goods. They have drawn on their own families as assistants, and often employed other young men and women around town as drivers and clerks. The third generation of the family in the business is represented now by one of the grandsons, Terry, who is employed there since his graduation from Bellefonte High School last spring. Forty years ago John Griffith built the store room which is now the home of the Clover Farm store. His parents came to America from Wales when they were 12 years old and after marriage settled at the Forge, where John was born. He learned to blacksmith, serving his apprenticeship at Pine Grove and later in Pleasant Gap with a man named Cramer in Horntown. After this, he went to Ohio and there enlisted in the Union army. When he returned to Pleasant Gap he built a shop on the lot where the store now stands. The ruins of the foundation may still be seen nearby. The shop was divided, one part for woodworking, the other for blacksmithing. After a time, when woodwork grew slack, he put groceries in that part of the shop and kept store there. When he moved into the new and present building the old one was torn down. He kept the post office in this new store until he resigned the position, his son Harry acting as clerk in the office. This store and Henry Eckenroth's were the only places that ever housed the post office in the lower part of town. After he sold the stock of his store in 1911 to C.K. Stitzer, the latter occupied this building until he erected his own at the Cross Roads. Later three different men kept a grocery store, with possibly a few more necessities, in the old Griffith building for a time. They were Roy Bell, Boyd Williams and J.M. Mong. Mr. Mong's tenure covered five years, including 1926. After his lease expired, the building was remodeled into a dwelling and the Mowery family occupied it. They were there about a year, leaving in December. The next March 1 Harry Griffith opened the Clover Farm store, the first one of the chain stores to be run in Pleasant Gap. John Griffith himself was still living. The old gentleman was 91 when he passed away two years ago. He was one of the early Methodists who remembered and told the writer a great many things concerning the history of Pleasant Gap Methodism and other incidents of the village. His son has built up a large trade in his present occupation. Starting from scratch, his customers have increased until he now employs two clerks and has a constantly growing business. [Thirty-third installment - first printed May 2, 1936] Harvey J. Markel, who had moved up from Hublersburg about 1898, bought the milk route that had been served by Foster Jodon, now of Centre Hall. Originally the route had been served by D.M. Kline. Mr. Markle continued to deliver milk through Pleasant Gap from that time until he sold it to his sons, Ward and Carl, in 1926. They began to operate under the name of Markle Bros., and it is so called yet, although the elder brother, Ward, is the sole proprietor, and has been since 1927. When the route was turned over to the brothers, they had customers for 100 quarts of milk per day. Now they deliver seven times as much, an average of 700 quarts per day. Their trucks have customers in Centre Hall, Milesburg, Bellefonte, Coleville and Axemann, as well as Pleasant Gap. It includes three routes. Harry Corman's route was bought in 1928. They have three truck, one of which is new, this spring. The first two years after Markle Bros. took over their father's business, their headquarters remained at the farmhouse. In 1928 they bought a large lot on the state highway and began to erect a modern dairy. This lot, which would have cost $50 or $75 in 1900, was valued at $550. It is 65 by 165 feet and has on the lower side a public driveway 27 feet wide. It was part of the transaction that Markle should have this open way, which gave egress to Bilger Row, as it is usually called. Up to this date the residents of the Row had no other outlet by road except the alley parallel to the Pike and lying behind the Keller and Barnes homes up to Jodon's barn, which barn, by the way, was only built about ten years ago. Since the Markle Dairy was built and the road on down Bilger Row, properly called Bilger avenue, opened, the same road has been extended across the field and joined to the Horntown road near the schoolhouse. It would be interesting and simplifying as well, if the locations of the old streets of Harrisonville were computed and the streets of modern Pleasant Gap named accordingly. To return to the Markle Dairy, however, which has been finished during all these peregrinations about the old town. After it was completed, a pasteurizing plant was installed, and all milk sold went through this process. Since 1933 machines have been added to make ice cream, cottage cheese, buttermilk, and before long, if not by the time this is published, a churn will have been added, all electrically driven. The laboratory is in part of the building, and all tests are made by the proprietor himself, who passed an examination at State College to qualify himself for the work. During the first two or three years the sewage disposal was no small problem of the dairy. This has now been eliminated by leasing a spot of land on the Shuey property that contains an old sink hole. The waste has been piped to it and made sanitary at a cost of $1500. Mr. Markle asserts that the value of his machinery alone in the dairy is $15,000, and that his entire establishment is worth $30,000. Every year he had added some improvement. Last summer it was a small office at the side under the same roof and a line of groceries placed in the sales room. In November he added an automatic bottle filler and capper. He employs four assistants, including the bookkeeper, now Miss Gladys Sampsel. All loading and unloading is done in the building under sanitary fly-proof conditions. The three apartments on the second floor are seldom vacant. One of these is occupied by himself and the other two have had the same tenants, the Foss family and the Gosnells, for some time. At any time during working hours the entire plant is open and welcome to public inspection. As one of the younger businessmen of this growing community, Ward Markle is always on the lookout for new and better ways to improve his service to his patrons and the general public. [Thirty-fourth installment - first printed May 4, 1936] Another store that flourished for a short time about 10 years ago opposite the dairy and before the dairy was built was a small one owned by William Klinger. The family lived in the former store of Henry Eckenroth which had been transformed into a dwelling. Below this Mr. Klinger built a small shop that supplied necessities to the nearby neighbors and goodies to the school children on the school plot above. He kept this until he died, a matter of perhaps three years more of less, and afterward his wife continued it for a short time. Then it was abandoned and the little shop eventually moved behind the house and was used as a summer kitchen. Mrs. Klinger continues to own the property, although she is now Mrs. Paul Waite. At this writing they have rented the small home and moved into one of the White Rock farm houses where Mr. Waite has charge of White Rock's horses and mules at the large barn just east of town, occupied 12 or more years by Henry Hoy. Harvey Markle, who sold out his milk business as has been discussed at some length, did not long content himself with merely farming but started a small station where he makes concrete blocks. This little enterprise engages his time and that of one of his sons. He has erected several houses on his own plan of lots out of the blocks, and finds a sale for more that are made in his plant a few rods east of the Pike on the road that for want of a better name is generally called Sheep St., although it is also known as East State St. What is usually called "The Lower End" began to develop about 20 years ago. Across from the old tavern on the site of Stitzer's store, stood the tavern barn and a well. Below the tavern was the Ammerman house and Johnny D. Miller's log house. Before Johnny D's time this had been rented for two years by Joseph Baird, who moved down from State College. Joseph's son, William, is now an elderly man living in his own home that was built by Harold Zimmerman's father in 1913. Farther back than the Baird family, the history of the log house has not been unearthed, but William Baird says it was an old place when they lived in it. Across the road were the Rapp home and Mr. Rapp's blacksmith shop, as well as the Orlando Brooks place. This latter dates back to the Swaneys. It seems that Michael Swaney had built a house near the location of Frank Keller's barn, long before the barn was there, of course, and moved from the cabin into it. This house was taken down and such timber as was available was used in the construction of the house below the Cross Roads which was the home of the Sidney Miller family. Mrs. Miller was a daughter of John Swaney, and her daughter, Mrs. Martha Miller Noll, remembers John Swaney very well indeed. Mrs. Noll has the original deed of Michael Swaney's purchase from the state at one-half cent per acre and a number of articles that are valuable antiques belonging to the family. She likewise remembers a number of charming anecdotes about her grandfather, one of which is worth repeating because it shows that while the old gentleman was hasty and a bit crude in manner, he had withal a native chivalry. One day an organ grinder with his organ, a monkey and a woman came along and stopped in front of Swaney's to perform. Something the woman did displeased the man and he struck her. Mr. Swaney immediately jumped up and kicked the man. The story ought to end there, but, unfortunately for Mr. Swaney, it did not. He missed the man and kicked the organ. This was considerably harder than manflesh would have been and his accolade was a bump. [Thirty-fifth installment - first printed May 5, 1936] The farm house now owned by Frank Keller was the first to be built on the road to State College. That was 57 years ago. It was 35 years afterwards that H.E. Zimmerman put up the red brick house now owned by the Bairds and made into apartments. Gilbert Noll's home was built by his father James Noll, about 20 years ago. The other houses that are occupied and for the most part owned by the Smeltzers, Simpsons, Zimmermans, Barrs and Mussers are on the north side. The Warren Woods' house is on the south side.. These have all been built in the past 12 years of less. The remaining one owned by Tommie Williams was built more that 30 years ago. Mr. Williams was a native of Lemont and came down here to settle after his marriage to one of Joseph Tressler's daughters, whose father had built the early farm house and lived in it. Another of the Tressler daughters is Mrs. William Ross. [Thirty-sixth installment - first printed May 6, 1936] No more desirable location for a business house is to be found in Pleasant Gap than at the Cross Roads. The southwest corner was bought in 1917 by C.K. Stitzer who had been in the Gap since 1911. Mr. Stitzer had conducted a general store in the John Griffith building between those dates and felt that his patronage now justified him in extending his business into a property of his own. He says that he paid $300 for the corner location and $200 for the one next to it on which he built his home. Before coming to Pleasant Gap, Mr. Stitzer had clerked for his uncle, Lyman Emerick, who kept store at Scotia. He was there two years and married during that time to Miss Bessie Williams. Their first home in Pleasant Gap was the John Griffith house where they lived for two years. From that, they moved into the Harvey Barnard house, now owned and occupied by the Magargel, Sr., and then into their own red brick house, and have been in both store and dwelling ever since. A year or so before the Stitzer store opened on the corner, two brothers, Louis and Hyman Steinberg, came from out beyond Clearfield and built a one-story room in which they kept a general store. This building joins the Stitzer store. They did not remain in business long, but during their stay the peaceful citizens of the Gap were thunderstruck one morning to hear that the Steinbergs had been held up and robbed. Anyone who knows a small town can realize the horror with which the story was retold and the possible embellishments that were added as it passed from mouth to ear. By and by the true facts came out, which were something like this: Rockview institution was being established at the time, by reason of which the more timid claimed to live in fear of their lives from such desperate characters as might escape and enter the village. Everybody was more or less on the alert for highway robbers. So, when Jim Park, who was a new officer at the pen, strolled into Steinbergs and drew out his gun to show the loafers, Hyman immediately knew that he was being held up and raised his hands with a howl. It was several minutes before Mr. Park realized that he was the supposed gunman and could have had his loot of the store. [Thirty-seventh installment - first printed May 7, 1936] The Steinberg store is now vacant, but it has been used as a garage for a number of years, having been occupied by Sommers and Jodon, Charles DeArmitt, Charles Houser and others. Beyond it lies the small garage with apartment above that is owned now by the John Strunks. It was built by Samuel Poorman, and father along is the Pleasant Gap Tea Room now run by Mr. and Mrs. Harry Stover. It too was built about twenty years ago by a German named Fred Dunzik. This man was an artist. He decorated the interior walls with frescos, and painted on ordinary boards a huge landscape depicting the Swiss mountains. This was built above the front entrance to simulate another story on the house, and from the sign, he named his place Switzerland. Since then it has passed through a number of hands, generally of folks from outside the town, one exception being that of W.D. Herman who once had been its proprietor. To return to the artist. He did other work around the neighborhood and a story is told of him that is vouched for as truth. It seems that he had been employed to paint a house up town and early one morning the folks residing in the house were awakened by a peculiar noise downstairs on their front porch. They rose and went quietly to a point where they could see what was going on. Lo and behold, it was the painter, barefooted, dancing on the balls of his feet over their porch. At first they thought he had gone crazy. Then, by and by they saw that the footprints in the wet paint formed an unusual design. So they went back to bed without letting him know that they had seen him and when the porch was dry, its floor was the most beautifully stippled of any in town. Mr. Dunzik and his family where here about two years. Recently, in a newspaper, was a notice that his son who was born here had been awarded a scholarship in an art school. It has been estimated that the Lower End grew up in less than two years. Other houses, of course, have been added to it, but during the estimated time, a sizable center was created. All or most of it out of the Leathers Brothers' speculations. It was in 1914 that Leathers Brothers put the section known as the Keller addition on record. It contained about twenty acres and was called the Keller plan because [it was] bought from Harvey Keller. It lies on the west side of the highway. Kellers had sold off a few lots on the street before the Leathers Brothers bought it. But, roughly speaking, the plan includes what lies between the cross roads and the Gettig meat market back as far as the White Rock field, and also a portion of land lying back of lots farther up the street about Ammon Kerstetters. Provision was made for a street to extend parallel to the highway at the rear of all these lots that face the highway. It would join White Rock in a short curve out beyond the Duck property. This back street, as yet unopened, would be intersected by streets at right angles to it and the highway. The one intersecting at the Gettig meat market is named Keller street on the plan. Another one already named is the one on which VonGunden, Mong and Harry Hoy bought and built. It is curiously enough called Main street and the plan follows the street as used, even to the curve before going on up the hill towards the White Rock plant. The suggestion was made some time ago by a man interested in the village that the streets be named by some commission or club with authority to do it, and that these names be applied continually to facilitate address and delivery. The idea seems to be an excellent one, if some agreement could be made on it. The term "Main street" as it has been given is surely a misnomer. As an example of the increased value of the land in the Gap, these prices are noted. One hundred dollars was the lowest price asked for a lot in this plan which was put on record in 1914. Three hundred was the largest, and it was asked for the most valuable one in town, namely, at the intersection of Bellefonte and State cross roads with those of Lewistown, or better, the north and south roads that intersect the east and west ones. Fifty years before Gideon Wells had bought a lot almost on the corner for fifty dollars. In 1915 Lloyd Sampsel paid $150 for the lot his house stands on and three years later the one beside it cost him $200. In 1926 the Markle Brothers plot of ground on the Pike but far enough from the Cross Roads fold for five hundred and fifty dollars and it would be out of the question now to buy anything on the state road for less that three hundred, if, indeed, any is left that could be purchased for so little. [Thirty-eighth installment - first printed May 8, 1936] One of the curios displayed in the White Rock office several years ago was a human skull that had been dug up by the employees. The story of the skull is as gruesome as the thing itself. It was told the writer by one of the men who was present when it was found and goes something like this: About 75 years ago a man named Ammerman whose people were said to have once inhabited the house below the Cross Roads now owned by John Tate, was employed on the Shugert farm. Nothing seems to have been remembered of him save that he was unmarried. One day while he was plowing, he suddenly left his team standing in a furrow, took the reins he had been using and went to an old apple tree in the Shugert orchard and hanged himself. He is supposed to have become deranged, but for what cause we can only conjecture. He was found there and buried in a field he owned himself near a great red oak tree, popular belief forbidding that he be lain in a cemetery. This grave was on a line between White Rock land (as afterwards purchased), and the Steele farm. In the course of time, while the workmen were stripping red clay from the rock below it, they came upon the grave. There was nothing left of the body except the skull and some of the larger bones. The men put these latter into a powder box and reinterred them. The skull was saved for the time being, but where it is now the narrator could not say. The apple tree that had borne the corpse was standing for many years afterwards and finally was cut down by John Sampsel who lived on this particular farm 44 years. Mr. And Mrs. Sampsel have just moved from the place where they spent all their married life and are now installed in the Brooks house below the Cross Roads. This it will be remembered was the old Sidney Miller home, which has been described in this record before. [Thirty-ninth installment - first printed May 9, 1936] John Sampsel's father Henry moved from Snyder's county to Axemann. He was a miller and worked at the Humes mill there. He moved from Axemann to the stone house where Fetzers live, a part of the Shugert farm, and when John was married, he moved over to the house by the Blue Spring. Apropos the Blue Spring, which was mentioned earlier in the narrative, it is the belief of some folks that the spring is dry, or was filled up when the railroad was built. That is a mistake, Mr. Sampsel says. According to him, the spring is low in the summer, as a matter of course, but at the present time, it is full to overflowing and spreads out over the field. Mr. Sampsel's present home will bring him to the stores oftener than he has been visiting them. He has never been a man to loaf around public places, and thinks that four times a year would cover all the times he has ever spent evenings in a circle around the grocer's stove. This is a bit different from the man who went to the store every night, and whose wife undertook to cure him of the habit by following him. The story says that she became tired of seeing her spouse start every night up the Horntown road to the store to be gone all evening, so one night after he had seated himself comfortably in his accustomed place, with the other men, she came in too, and sat down beside him. Replying to his astonishment, she said that this store must be a good place to be, since he was there so much, so she had decided to join the company. Nor did she leave until he went with her. Just exactly what took place after they reached home, has not been told, and as the man and the woman are both dead, it never will be, but the tale is vouched for as truth, and also its result: that the man spent no more evenings at the store. This story does not concern the Sampsel's, however. With the elderly couple now living in the village, there are two families of the same name. The other one, Lloyd Sampsels, have lived here since 1915 when he bought a lot on East State street and built his house. Besides his regular employment, Lloyd, who is the son of the older man, does considerable repair work on motors in his private garage. Of the younger generation, the boys are Eugene, son of Lloyd, and two more are Ward and Joe, sons of John Sampsel. All three unmarried and at home. The Meyers family is another one that has been in the village a number of years, but counted themselves of Pleasant Gap long before, having lived on the farm a mile below here about thirty years. Grandfather Thomas Meyers came from Germany as a young man and settled in Buffalo Run Valley. One of his sons, Henry, went west; the other one named John, married and came to the farm below Pleasant Gap that is now owned by Frank Brooks, about 45 or 46 years ago. Most of the children were born there, and the daughter, Frances, who was one of them is still there, being married to Mr. Brooks. Eleven years ago the Meyers family left the farm and moved to Pleasant Gap well up the road towards the mountain -- living, as it was locally said, "Up the Mountain road." Three sons are unmarried and make their home with their parents. Harry, Victor and Joseph. Another brother, James, now lives at Runville, and the fifth, Hunter, is a resident of Pleasant Gap. He has two sons, Don and Ray, and two daughters, both married. [Fortieth installment - first printed May 11, 1936] One of the newest places to be built is literally Bachelor's Hall and is owned, occupied and was built by J.M. "Doc" Stover who lives in it alone. It combines a workshop, garage and apartment, the last named being on the second floor and the first two on the ground. The Stover family lived in McBride's Gap a great many years ago, and when the mother died in 1912 "Doc" came to the village and lived here two years. He left here and was gone for something like ten years, living with a brother beyond Clearfield and then came back to start up again in the carpenter business, working by himself and also with a brother who lives at Boalsburg. During this time he has built a dozen or more houses in the Gap and others outside of town. He erected the stone house on East State street occupied by the Simpson family in 1924. This was the first one to be put up on that street for some time, and actually only the fifth residence. It was the initial of a spurt of building along that highway that has paused now until more lots are sold. During this time, Mr. Stover has made his home with Mrs. Rachel Noll, a distant relative, who has been mentioned before quite frequently in these records, as a cheerful mine of information to the writer. A year ago he began to build the structure mentioned, and last fall he moved into it. It is completely equipped electrically, and much more convenient than most women's homes. He has been requested many many times to rent it, but so far has refused, preferring to live in it himself. The Mussers are another family that came from the other side of the mountain. As far back as M.P. Musser can remember, his folks were on the homestead near Penn Hall. Mr. Musser, who holds township office as register of voters, says his father's name was David and his grandfather was Philip Musser. The homestead which was so long in the family is now the property of a man named Baer who bought it from M.P.'s brothers. Another one of his brothers is Cornelius Musser who built a bungalow some eight or nine years ago down on West State street and was killed with his wife and daughter, Mrs. Frank Keller, in a frightful automobile accident while enroute to Texas. It will be remembered as long as people live, this tragedy which was the worst ever known in the town, and the funeral in the Lutheran church where three caskets were carried to the front for the single service. Mr. And Mrs. Cornelius Musser were elderly and had retired from active labor to the new home beside that of the Kellers. The latter now occupy the bungalow. M.P. Musser lives on a farm below Pleasant Gap on the road to Zion for twelve years. His wife died in 1914 and the next year he moved into the house he now occupies, his daughter, Mrs. Frank Irvin, and family being with him for fourteen years. He was employed at White Rock for eight years, up to the time when work grew slack. He would rather farm that do other work, but with his wife gone, it is out of the question. Mr. Musser's son, Elmer and family, live in the Hoover home, and have been there several years. Mrs. Musser having inherited the place from her father, William Hoover, whose name has been seen in this account before. [Forty-first installment - first printed May 12, 1936] It was the men from the Gap who began work on the Fish Hatchery in 1904. The land had been bought by the state from Sinie Hoy and he was one of the employees who prepared the ground for use. The men cleared off the brush, cleaned out the old mill race, which had fed Martin Mease's grist mill, and laid pipes to it. They laid more pipes from a spring, which is under the stone house now occupied by the Fetzer family, and so diverted the water to nursery ponds. Ground was broken and the hatchery started. During that first year, there were only half a dozen men employed regularly. They included Roy Bell, Harry Griffith, Charles Cupp and Rush Barnes. The oldest one there now in point of service is Robert Corl. John Weaver, Andy Tate and Guy Moyer are mentioned as among the others who have been with the state the longest. In the beginning the men worked 10 hours per day and were paid $1.50. They mixed the concrete for the ponds by hand, and after the fish had been put into the ponds, their regular work was to feed them and clean the ponds. Such extra time as they had was utilized in enlarging the ponds. Some of these ponds had only eight-inch walls in the beginning and the workers often fell into them. The first one built were those at the left of the hatchery as one enters the grounds, and the four large ones below the spring. The state furnished only two pairs of high-topped boots in the beginning for all the employees. Now it furnishes a pair for each man employed and also a slicker. Nathan Buller lived in the hatchery house, but the first superintendent was John Creveling from the Allentown hatchery. He was succeeded by Nathan Buller, then by Howard Buller, then by H.I. Griffith. Next came William Haas, and six years ago the present superintendent, G.D. Sorenson came from the hatchery at Corry. Under Mr. Sorenson's direction the place has been enlarged and improved until the deputy fish commissioner himself, Ross Buller, is authority for the statement that the Pleasant Gap hatchery -- he calls it a fish farm -- is the largest trout raising establishment in the east. The project on Spring Creek has been added to it and accounts have appeared in the columns of the papers so often that it is not necessary to repeat the description of its present status. Sufficient it is to state that now 23 of the large force of workmen are residents of Pleasant Gap. More buildings have been erected, modern machinery has displaced the old hand labor, the employees' pay has been increased and all this has been accomplished and is continued in upkeep entirely by the moneys received from fishing licenses. There is no other tax laid on anyone aside from what the sportsman himself pays for the privilege of fishing in Pennsylvania's streams. This industry, while not fostered by Pleasant Gap, is one from which the village derives considerable profit, not only from the wages paid out to men employed, but from tourists and fishermen who spend money on food and paraphernalia. Moreover the hatchery attracts many people as visitors to the grounds and buildings, which yield up valuable information. Two men who have been employed here and have been promoted to superintending other hatcheries are Clayton Reish, now of Allentown, and Guy Wells, of Reynoldsdale. [Forty-second installment - first printed May 13, 1936] In the beginning many people appear to have drunk from the clear mountain stream that flowed down what is now the Pike. Early in the 80's there were at least four wells here. One was dug at the Green Tree Tavern, about when the Stitzer block now stands. Another was at the lower end of the Florey place, now occupied by the Strunks. Mrs. Armstrong, on the Ward Showers location, had another one, and the Gettles, later the Riddles, had dug one across the road on the vacant lot now owned by H.J. Crumlish between the Pike and the Horntown road. Later a few more were made, but folks, for the most part, used cisterns. Nearly every house had its cistern, the water of which was collected from the roof during rain, and piped down into the cistern which was, of course, walled up like a well. Many of these cisterns are now used as cesspools. The wells went dry sometimes, as did the cisterns in the summer. Then the people had to haul water. One place they obtained it was from the spring below town, owned by the Ross family, while another place was the mountain where there were a number of springs. The folks utilized dry weather to clean their wells and cisterns. After the twentieth century came in, with its various improvements in the village, it was reported that a company from Bellefonte was considering the likelihood of furnishing Pleasant Gap with water. This stirred up some of the native sons of the town to consider doing it themselves. After some agitation over the subject, the Pleasant Gap Water Co. was incorporated in 1910. It was a public spirited gamble of course. The men brave enough to undertake to buy shares in the new company were William Bilger, John Herman, Herbert Showers, T.E. Jodon, William Smeltzer, Harry Bilger and four Nolls; Abner, John, Ralph and William, the latter better known as "Bill" Noll. These men took the bulk of the shares to be sold and a few individuals risked $100 each to buy one share, or $200 to buy two, as the case might be. One hundred shares were floated and the ultimate success of the company can be judged by the fact that there has never been a share sold since the company was formed. There simply are none for sale. Only death has made a transfer, as legatees have inherited Herbert Shower's, John Herman's, William Bilger's and R.W. Noll's shares of stock. There was naturally a good bit of objection to the new way of getting water. Many people felt it was a useless extravagance and would not even permit the company to put a tap in the line along their property. So, while the more up-to-date folks had running water, some still drew what they needed out of a cistern by means of a pump or a bucket at the end of a pole. This, however, did not long continue. In a few months the company had many more applications for water to be turned on and as time went on practically every house in the village took its quota, paying $12 per year if a bath was installed, and $6 if there was no hot water system. No meter is attached, and seldom indeed is it necessary to warn the users against being careful of the amount used. The supply, except in the driest summer, is unlimited. Another advantage possessed by the water system is its covered reservoir. In this sealed receptacle comes the flow of pure water from mountain springs. Many more springs having been so directed during the years as the population of the town increased. The water is famed for its excellence and purity. So far as the writer has been able to learn there has never been any illness in town that was even remotely connected with its water supply. All the water pipes are laid on the east side of the Pike and the question is often asked, "Why?" The answer is that when the work was done there was a stream flowing on the west side of the road. This same stream was mentioned before. A deep ditch separated the highway from the houses built on the west side of the road, and over this ditch were bridges from highway to house, each man having his own bridge over the moat to his castle. These bridges, by the way, were there at Halloween every year to provide hilarious fun for the youth of the village. Unless a man watched all night he scarcely dared to hope that he would have any way of getting over the water the next morning without jumping. The source of this nuisance, as it flowed, was somewhere back of the upper end of town in a spring. It now meanders through a meadow behind the Grove and so under White Rock road, where it is led into a pipe that carries it to the other side of the highway, and so on down into a sinkhole in a vacant space between Horntown road and the Pike. When the sidewalks were made from concrete about 10 years ago on the west side of the highway the ditch was filled up, and now only a heavy rain brings down water between the pavement and street in small quantities, compared with what was so long the accepted annoyance. More that 200 dwelling in the Gap are today furnished with running water, most of them including a bath. The first president of the company was William Bilger. Since his death, his son, Harry, holds the office. The collector is T.E. Jodon, which position he has held since the organization of the company, save for a year when he lived on the farm below town. The secretary-treasurer is William H. Noll. [Forty-third installment - first printed May 14, 1936] Following the Water company, which really paved the way for it, came the Pleasant Gap Fire company. It was organized in 1914. Members of this association give credit for its inception to Levi Miller who was a Civil War veteran, married to John Swaney's daughter and who lived for many years in town. The membership numbered about thirty men at first. They built the Fireman's Hall, usually called the Fire House or the Hose House, soon after the company was organized. Not only did the firemen themselves solicit money for this, but the townspeople assisted nobly by contributing, by attending festivals and patronizing the play that was staged that winter by home talent to procure fund. "Daughters of the Desert" was the title of the play. Speaking of home talent plays, that is another method of raising money here which has always been successful. There is more than a little talent among the people along such lines and the plays are always well patronized and generally better performed than are the same things in other towns of the same background. This particular one for the benefit of the new Hose House was more than usually successful. The cast took it to a few other towns, enjoying the social part connected therewith as well as the financial. The same method of financing has been used by other organizations, including one of the Sunday School classes of the church and has met with general approval. It was in connection with the fire company and its festival that a fantastic parade made its appearance as an advertisement for the evening's festival. It is quite impossible to enumerate all the ludicrous ideas represented, but the one most frequently remembered is that of the dancing couple. This ingenious device originating the fertile brain of W.W. Kerstetter, who was interested very deeply in the new organization. Being a mechanic of more than ordinary ability, he set about making something unique. It resulted in two figures on a platform that sat on the wagon -- motors had not yet displaced the horse at that date -- connected in some way with the wheel of the vehicle. When the wheel turned, the platform turned too, and the man and woman with it. Later the same ensemble was taken to Bellefonte when something was going on there, and Pleasant Gap sent a float to the parade there. [Forty-fourth installment - first printed May 15, 1936] So the new fire company erected a two story building on land donated by the Noll Brothers about the year 1915, and there it stands today, doing double duty, too, for on election day it is used as a voting place. The second floor has been a meeting place of the Pleasant Gap Sportsmen, also, and the Boy Scouts have been allowed to use it as well. The Fire company has always been more than generous in regard to the building; through their courtesy more than one festival has been hastily moved from outside quarters in the Grove to the shelter of the fire house when rain or storm threatened. The Civic Club has used it for rummage sales and for a time the town library was housed in it. Many of the pledges were "worked out" by men who had a flair for handling tools, while the rest came in opportunely and the building was soon paid for. The first fire truck was a four wheeled hand hose cart bought second hand from the Undine Fire Co., of Bellefonte. Its picture appears on the neat booklet that contains the constitution and by-laws of the company. This primitive truck was taken to all the fires in Pleasant Gap by the men who ran in its shafts and used until about 1925 when the company bought another fire engine from Lock Haven. This is motor driven, of modern construction with chemicals replacing water for small inside fires. The old truck became the property of White Rock Co. It is from White Rock that fire alarms are given by whistle after a regular series of signals had been worked out. The value of the fire company to the town has been demonstrated more than once in the years since it was organized. With two or three exceptions, such as the Noll Garage when Henry Noll's airplanes and motors were destroyed, and the Jodon barn a mile below town, and the Confer house that burned down, in spite of the village company and help from Bellefonte, all other blazes have been brought under control. It is the custom of the company to hold a festival every summer and it is safe to say that not one family in town fails to donate to this, always bearing in mind that it is never known how soon the firemen may be needed at their own home. Article 14 of the constitution sets the initiation fee at one dollar. There are supposed to be annual dues also, but the payment of these is honored more in the breach than in the observance, because most of the men feel that they give their service free to the public at a minute's notice and should not be expected to pay for it, besides. In fact, one pessimistically inclined member adds that they often go out to work for folks putting out their fires and saving their furniture, and then they get abused afterwards. While that may be true under the stress of excitement, it is certain that everybody depends on the fire company and feels safer with such a band in place. W.W. Kerstetter was the first president; F.D. Millward the first secretary. The officers at present are John Deibler, president; Harry Bilger, vice-president; Edgar Sommers, secretary, and Archie Norris, chief. The regular meetings are held the first Friday of every month. A ADAMS _____, 17, 62 ALABRAN _____, 49 ALEXANDER _____, 57 ALLISON _____, 57 AMMERMAN _____, 11, 12, 38, 40 ANDER Malcolm, 13 APPLEBEE Harry, 34 ARMSTRONG _____, 11, 43 Harry, 51 B BAER _____, 42 BAIRD _____, 7, 13, 39, 53 Joseph, 38 L.E., 14 William, 7, 38 BALLIOT Francis, 56 BARLETT _____, 57 J.R., 56 BARNARD Harvey, 24, 39 BARNES _____, 7, 19, 37, 57 Frank, 48 Howard, 21 John, 12, 19, 30 Robert, 11, 21, 29, 30 Rush, 32, 42 BARR _____, 39, 49 BATES _____, 6, 11 BATHGATE _____, 55 BAUMGARDNER Mary, 11 Bell Ida, 16 R.P., 16 Roy, 6, 7, 12, 29, 37, 42 William, 24, 29 BENFORD Forrest, 14, 15 Benner _____, 7, 64 Philip, 2 BENTON _____, 34 BIDDLE _____, 29 BILGER Harry, 12, 18, 19, 29, 30, 32, 43, 45, 57 James, 19 John, 4 Jonathan, 30, 52 Miles, 24 Nelson, 65 Virgie, 25, 27 William, 24, 30, 31, 32, 33, 43, 44, 51 BLAIR William, 11 BLAKENEY _____, 13, 15 BLANCHARD John, 4, 35 BOGGS Andrew, 2 BOND William, 62 BOONE Myra, 15 BOTDORF _____, 17 BREON _____, 15 Harry, 6, 8, 15, 55 BROCKS Jasper, 25 BRODERICK _____, 59 BROOKS _____, 26, 41 Edward, 52 Elwood, 28 Frank, 8, 28, 41 James, 28 Jasper, 28, 50 Orlando, 28, 38, 52 Ray, 28 Samuel, 15 William, 24 BROWN _____, 19 Clayton, 64 BULLER Howard, 43 Nathan, 43 BURNSIDE Thomas, 4 C CABLE George, 21 CAMPBELL John, 22 CARR _____, 10 CASSELBURY _____, 33 CHILCOAT _____, 17 CLARK William A., 11 COLBURN _____, 12 COLDRON _____, 18 Roy, 48 CONFER _____, 45 CONNELLY _____, 1, 3, 21 Hugh, 6 CORL _____, 26 Anna, 49 Hazel, 27 James, 15, 27, 32, 33 Robert, 27, 42 William, 24, 27, 30, 49 CORMAN Alpha, 12 George, 21 COURTNEY _____, 19 COX _____, 12, 54 CRAMER _____, 36 CRAWFORD _____, 32 CREVELING John, 43 CRISSMAN Harry, 65 CROTZER _____, 6 CROWNOVER _____, 36 CRUMLISH _____, 49, 50, 59 H.J., 43, 49, 58 CRUST William, 48 CUPP Charles, 42 CURTIN Roland, 2 D DALE C.G., 18, 54, 58 C.G., 54 Christian, 53, 54 Christopher, 18 Clem, 15 Johann Heinrich, 53 John Henry, 53 William, 54, 57 DAVIS Alice, 15 DeARMITT Anthony, 32 Charles, 39 DeBRASKY _____, 60 DEIBLER _____, 49 George, 12 John, 14, 45 DEITZEL Samuel, 15 DERSHEN _____, 17 DIXON _____, 49 DUBLER _____, 49 DUCK _____, 40 DUNKLEBARGER Grant, 61 Mary, 61 Walter, 61 DUNLAP Alexander, 1, 3 DUNLOP Daniel, 6 James, 2 John, 2 DUNZIK Fred, 39 DURKEE _____, 17 E ECKENROTH _____, 12, 57 Charles, 35 Earl, 34 Henry, 12, 21, 29, 36, 38 Jeremiah, 18 Jerry, 12 Lloyd, 24 ECKLE Willard, 51 EMERICK _____, 57 Lyman, 39 ENGLER _____, 17 ETONECYPHER _____, 19 EVEY _____, 26, 49 Jared, 27 Mary, 27 Mary Twitmire, 25 Wade, 14, 26 EYRE T.L., 35 F FAUBLE A., 35 FEHRER Joe, 31 FETTEROFF Blanche, 8, 11 FETZER _____, 8, 41, 42 FINNEGAN Steve, 34 FISHBURN _____, 12 FISHER _____, 57 FLOREY _____, 7, 8, 9, 12, 43, 63 Abram, 9 Joe, 11 R.E., 9 Rea, 51 William, 9, 12, 20, 31, 32, 33 FOSS _____, 37, 65 FOZZY _____, 32 FRANCIS John, 48 FROMM _____, 17 FUREY _____, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 22, 28 John, 3, 12, 16 William, 15 FURST _____, 19 G GALBRAITH _____, 16 GANSEL Harry, 32 GARBRICK Harry, 56 Peter, 56 GARDNER _____, 49 M.F., 62 GARIS Charles, 24 GARMAN _____, 17 GARNER Harry, 51 GETTIG _____, 26, 40, 65 Christian, 28 Clayton, 29 George, 6, 29, 54 Irvin, 32 Nellie Griffith, 25 Samuel, 24, 29 GETTLE _____, 7, 12 Elijah, 7, 11 GETTLES _____, 43 GILL _____, 7, 61 Abner, 35 Elmer, 34 J.W., 9, 20, 30, 61 Jacob, 8, 9 Merrill, 61 Newton, 28 Sallie Johnson, 25 GILLILAND Leslie, 14 GINGHER _____, 49, 63 Paul, 63 GLASSER William, 48 GLENN _____, 15 GOSNELL _____, 37 GRAHAM _____, 17 GRAMLEY _____, 14 GREEN Joseph, 2 GREGG Andrew, 2, 3, 4 John Irvin, 4 GRENOBLE Alice, 21, 25 Kline, 24 William, 21, 56 GRETHERS Etta, 11 GRIFFITH _____, 11, 37, 61 H.I., 43 Harry, 37, 42 Hector, 48 John, 21, 24, 36, 37, 39, 57 GROVE Belle Barnhart, 15 Susie Gill, 25 GUTHWALT _____, 15 GUTZY _____, 19 H HAAG _____, 22, 23, 26, 36 Gottlieb, 22, 24, 31 Harry, 31 HAAS William, 43 HAGG Gottlieb, 3 HAINES Joseph, 51, 52 Reuben, 1 HALL _____, 49 HAMILTON _____, 7, 8, 10, 13 James, 3, 16, 64 HARBISON James, 13 HARRIS George, 35 James, 2, 3 HARRISON _____, 7, 11 Irvin, 32 James, 11, 31 Jennie, 30 John, 12, 15, 31 Ruth, 34 Thomas, 10, 11, 21 Tom, 30 HARTSOCK Harry, 32, 33 Jesse, 32 HAZEL Claire, 34 Oliver, 24 HEISEY _____, 29 H.P., 55 HERMAN _____, 49, 62 Elsie, 15 John, 24, 35, 43, 49, 51, 58 W.D., 40, 48, 49, 58 HERRON J.W., 48 HICOCK _____, 22 HILE _____, 7, 11 Adam, 24, 52 Donald, 51, 52 H.V., 33, 52 Harry, 27, 32 Otto, 30, 52 Ward, 51 HOCKENBERRY John, 52 HOCKENBURG _____, 19 HOCKENBURY John, 48 HOFFMAN _____, 28 HOHMAN George, 48 HOLUBEC John, 10 HOMAN Sarah, 54 HOOVER _____, 65 William, 21, 32, 34, 42 HORNE David, 11 Elias, 11 HORNER _____, 7, 8 Bill, 20 Eli, 9 George, 9 John, 9 Samuel, 9 HOSTERMAN _____, 15 HOUSER Abram, 48 Charles, 39, 64 Edward, 64 Jacob, 64 James, 30, 51, 64 John, 9 Melvin, 51 Reuben, 64 HOWELL _____, 1 HOY _____, 49, 62 Harry, 40, 62 Harvey, 62 Henry, 29, 38, 62 John, 62 Sinie, 42, 54 Theodore, 57 W.F., 62 HUGHES _____, 17 HUGHES Rick, 5 HUMES _____, 22, 41 E.L., 33 HUNTER William, 15 HUSTON Charles, 3, 4 I IRVIN Frank, 7, 11, 34, 42 James, 4 Samuel, 51 William, 34 ISHLER _____, 54 Harry, 12, 48 John, 48 William, 48 J JACKSON Andrew, 4 JACOBS _____, 57 JODON _____, 7, 29, 37, 39, 45, 50 Cora, 25 Foster, 37, 51 Jane Smith, 51 Rebecca Iddings, 51 Reeder, 33, 61 T.E., 10, 11, 18, 22, 27, 28, 43, 44, 51, 61 Tommie, 25 JOHNSON Daniel, 50 Forest, 50 K KAUFFMAN _____, 46 KAUFMAN _____, 8 KEENE Arabella, 49 KELLER _____, 8, 37, 42, 50, 55 Dave, 48 David, 13, 15, 33, 55 Ephraim, 54, 55 Frank, 38, 39, 42, 54, 55, 57 Harvey, 40, 54, 55 M.M., 8, 17, 18, 50, 55, 56 Margaret, 56 Martin, 55 KELLER'S David, 55 KELLY _____, 49 Harry, 50 KEPLER _____, 17 KERSAVAGE _____, 49 KERSTETTER _____, 17, 24, 26, 30, 33 Ammon, 30, 32, 33, 40, 48, 60 Guy, 51 Harold, 51 James, 28, 49 K. William, 26 Michael, 26 W.W., 17, 45, 61 KETALOW _____, 15 KILE H.V., 11 KLINE _____, 11, 49 D.M., 37 John, 15, 52 Manna, 55 Klinger William, 12, 38 KNAUFF _____, 49 KNEPP Burton, 50 KNOFFSINGER Henry, 61 William, 9, 61 KNOFSINGER _____, 8 KOON George, 21 KOTALOW _____, 13 KRISE Catherine, 16 Jonathan, 8, 9, 16 Perry, 7, 11 L LAMB William, 2 LAMBERT _____, 17 LARIMER _____, 6, 7, 12, 18, 22, 29, 48, 55 Charles, 13, 15 Harvey, 7, 18 Hugh, 7 J.G., 21 LAURBACK _____, 29 LEATHERS _____, 40, 50, 54, 55, 62 LEE _____, 49, 57 John, 53 Lego Paul, 59 LEIDY _____, 17 LEITZELL _____, 57 LESHER _____, 19 LEWIS _____, 3 LEX Mary, 9 LINCOLN _____, 21 LINDQUIST Theodore, 58 LINN _____, 8, 15, 19, 21, 29, 51, 61 John Blair, 3 LOEB _____, 55 LONBARGER _____, 7, 8, 9 George, 3 Wash, 9 LONBERGER Curt, 65 LONSBURY Luther, 48 LOVE John G., 35 LOWREY John G., 3 LUTZ Vivian, 29 LYON John, 3 M MABUS Blain, 35 Blaine, 34 MACARGEL _____, 62 MAGARGEL _____, 15, 39, 49, 62, 63 George, 4, 17, 53 Myrtle, 5 MARKEL Harvey J., 37 Peter, 11 MARKLE _____, 13, 37, 40, 50, 60 Blair, 51 H.J., 10, 12 Harvey, 38 Harvey J., 50 Ward, 38 Willis, 28, 50, 57 MARTZ Al, 32 MAYO Katherine, 62 McAWEE _____, 49 McCLANAHAN Harvey, 13 McCLANNAHAN Henry, 15 McGINLEY Frost, 15 McILNAY _____, 17 McINTIRE Lawrence, 23, 29 McKEAN Lewis, 13 McKECHNIE _____, 17 McKINLEY Ed, 32, 33 McLELLAN _____, 13 McPHERSON Mac, 48 MEASE _____, 7, 8, 10, 13, 55 Ed, 30 Harvey, 15 Martin, 8, 42, 53, 54 MEEK George, 35 MELROY _____, 17, 60, 65 R.S., 10, 59 METZGER _____, 17 MEYERS Sam, 32 Thomas, 41 MILES Richard, 2 Samuel, 2, 3 MILLER Abe, 21 Frank, 15 George, 24 Henry, 21 Jacob, 21 Johnnie D., 15 Johnny D., 12, 32, 38 Levi, 21, 44, 45 Sidney, 19, 38, 41 MILLWARD _____, 49 F.D., 45, 48, 49 Frank, 27 MITCHELL J. Thomas, 1 John, 4 MONG _____, 40 J.M., 37 John, 53 Luther, 51 MOORE _____, 13 MORELAND James, 13, 15 MORRISON _____, 22 MOWERY _____, 37 MOYER Guy, 42 MULBARGER _____, 49 MULFINGER _____, 21, 23, 24, 29, 31, 46, 57, 65 Fred, 51 John, 22, 23, 26, 30, 33, 64, 65 MUSSER _____, 39, 55 Cornelius, 42, 55 Elmer, 34 M.P., 42 Philip, 42 MUSSERS _____, 42 MYERS Victor, 51 N NAB Charles, 13 NEFF Bess Wasson, 25 NOLL _____, 6, 7, 10, 13, 14, 22, 33, 36, 45, 60 Abner, 14, 15, 21, 27, 30, 33, 60 Bill, 65 Boyd, 32 Ethel, 15 George, 10, 11 Gilbert, 10, 39 H.T., 60, 63 Henry, 12, 24, 45, 49 Jack, 13 James, 15, 39 John, 12, 13, 32 John George, 10, 11 Madeline, 23 Martha Miller, 38 R.W., 8, 43, 55, 58 Rachel, 8, 10, 42, 55 Ralph, 34, 48 Ray C., 35 Sam, 27 Samuel, 8, 14, 15 W.H., 21, 30, 33, 35, 65 W.M., 23 Will, 32 William, 11, 12, 15, 23, 27, 31 William H., 44 NORRIS Archie, 45 P PARK _____, 12 Jim, 39 PATTON John, 2 Miles, 2 PENNINGTON Henry, 21 Robert, 19 PEPYS Samuel, 24 PETRIKIN Henry, 4 William, 2 PHILLIPS Reginald, 48 PIPER _____, 17 POORMAN _____, 13 John, 11 Samuel, 39, 63 POTTER James, 1, 2 William W., 4 POWNELL Eloise, Q QUIGLEY Hugh M., 35 R RALSTONS _____, 28 RAPP _____, 12, 38 Jacob, 18 RAY _____, 50 RAYMOND _____, 9 REAM _____, 57 REDDING _____, 17 REISH Clayton, 43 REYNOLDS Fred, 48 W.F., 35 RICE Blair, 61 RIDDLE _____, 7, 13, 21, 22, 43, 55 Anna, 33 Arthur, 24 Matthew, 21, 22, 29 William, 3, 7, 11, 13 RIGHTMIRE William, 31 RIMMEY _____, 26, 29, 49 Charles, 29, 32 David, 29 Earl, 48, 49, 50, 51, 60 John, 29 Verda, 7 Verda Tate, 11, 25, 29 William, 29 RIPKA John, 12 RISHELL _____, 17 RITTER James, 14 ROSS _____, 6, 7, 13, 29, 43, 53 Belle, 7 Joseph, 7, 21 Lillie, 15 William, 7, 39 ROSSMAN David, 21 ROTHROCK _____, 7 ROYER John, 30 RUNKLE Nick, 20 S SALTER _____, 17 SAMPSEL Gladys, 37 John, 41 Lee, 61 Lloyd, 40, 41 SARVIS _____, 17 SAXION _____, 23 Wilbur, 34 SCHRECKENGAST Luther, 31 SCHREFFLER Charles, 12, 26, 60 John, 13, 15, 32 M.W., 60 Margaret Swartz, 8 SHELLEY _____, 51, 57 SHENEBARGER Margaret, 55 SHOEMAKER Ayer, 34 T.A., 35 SHOWER Herbert, 43 SHOWERS _____, 26, 28 George, 21, 28, 34, 48 Harry, 24 Herbert, 24, 28, 32, 33, 34, 43, 46 John, 19 Ward, 43, 48 SHUEY _____, 37 Henry, 33 John, 31, 33 William, 12 SHUGERT _____, 27, 35, 40, 41, 55 John, 35 SHUMAN _____, 14 SIMPSON _____, 39, 42 C.A., 55 SMELTZER _____, 26, 27, 28, 39, 55, 57 A.D., 8, 18, 27, 28, 50, 55, 63 Albert, 18, 24, 28 George, 27 Lee, 32 Margaret, 15 W.C., 35 William, 43 Smith Freddy, 23 Hannah, 64 James, 2 SOMMERS _____, 39 Edgar, 45, 51, 61 SORENSON G.D., 43 SOWER _____, 17 SPICHER _____, 20, 60 Boyd, 20 Charles, 6 Michael, 35 STEARNS Charles, 34 STEELE _____, 6, 7, 41 Martha, 6 STEIN Abe, 10 STEINBERG _____, 39, 61 Hyman, 39 STEWART _____, 17, 49 Robert T., 3 William, 31 STINE _____, 23, 29 Abe, 13 Charlie, 31 Dave, 23 J.G., 23 Jim, 24 John, 32 STITZER _____, 38, 39, 43, 59 C.K., 23, 37, 39, 50, 60 STOCKMAN Ambrose, 32 STONE J.G., 29 STONER Sallie, 16 STONES J.G., 21 STOTZER G.K., 59 STOVER Harry, 39, 60 J.M., 55 J.M., 42 William, 15 STRUBLE Lot, 30, 31 STRUNK _____, 43, 49 John, 39, 63 SUNDAY _____, 10, 13 SWANEY _____, 7, 13, 38, 55 John, 3, 6, 7, 11, 38, 44, 54 Martha, 11 Mary, 11 Michael, 6, 11, 13, 38 SWARM _____, 12, 26 Emma Jodon, 12 John, 12 SWARTZ _____, 7, 13, 17 Andrew, 18, 35 Andy, 17 Blain, 18 George, 8 Henry, 8, 9 SWATRZ Andrew, 24 Henry, 8 SWAYNE N.H., 35 SWEENEY Michael, 11 SWEENY _____, 6 SWINEY _____, 6 T TATE _____, 7 Andy, 28, 42 Hugh Beatty, 8, 11 James, 51 John, 12, 40 John R., 7, 11, 16 Potter, 11, 21 Rachel, 10 Scott, 11, 21 TAYLOR Tom, 11 THOMAS Lulu, 25 THOMPSON John, 4, 13, 15 Squire, 12 TOLAN _____, 49 TOMLINSON _____, 19 TRAVERSE _____, 5 TRAVIS Patrick, 5 TREASTER _____, 5, 7 Roscoe, 14 TRESSLER Grace, 21, 62 Joseph, 35, 39, 55 Olie, 51, 52 TROSTLE _____, 19 TWAIN Arthur, 65 TWITMIRE _____, 26, 27, 28 Harry, 32, 33 Henry, 24, 26, 32 J. Jennie, 14 Jennie, 15 Mary, 14 U UHL _____, 26 Henry, 29 John, 24, 29 Roy, 29 V VALENTINE _____, 22, 29, 35 VonGUNDEN _____, 25, 40, 56 George, 56 W WADDLE _____, 7, 13 WAGNER J.W., 18 WAITE Paul, 12, 29, 38, 62 Pearl, 9 Samuel, 49 WALKER _____, 16 George, 20 Jonathan, 3 Miles, 16 WALTZ Calvin, 21 WARD L., 52 WARNE _____, 9 Harold, 48 WASSON Mame Bell, 25 R.U., 14, 15, 16 WATKINS _____, 15 WEAVER _____, 7 Frank, 19, 58 Fred, 48 John, 42 Michael, 16 WEEDS Jim, 20 WEISTER _____, 48 WEIXELL _____, 63 WELLS _____, 58 Gideon, 26, 40 Guy, 43 Howard, 48, 54 WESTERVELT _____, 22 WHEELER Roy, 48 WHITE _____, 17 Emmanuel, 18 WILKINSON Roy, 35 WILLIAMS _____, 17 Bessie, 39, 50 Boyd, 37 Edna, 50 J.O., 50 Joseph, 13, 15 Shuman, 14 Tommie, 39 WILSON S.L., 14 WION Harold, 14 Philip, 14, 15 WOLFE Ed, 23, 48 WOMER _____, 31 WOOD _____, 49 WOODCOCK _____, 25 WOODS Warren, 39 Y YEARICK _____, 62 YODER David, 48 YOUNG _____, 17 Z ZELEZNICH _____, 49 ZETTLE _____, 53 ZIEGLER _____, 21 Josiah, 17 ZIMMERMAN _____, 7, 11, 20, 39, 49 H.E., 39 Harold, 38 Homer, 51, 52