Somebody’s got to do it! (The jobs we did.)

#36 – Somebody’s got to do it! (The jobs we did.)

In our most recent posts, we’ve been looking at ways our “Drum Tree Members” spent their days, or perhaps more likely, their evenings. We looked at the books they read and the newspapers and journals they turned to while keeping abreast of the events of their days. But what did they actually do during the day? How did they get their hands dirty; how did they earn their keep?  

All we really know about Progenitor Philip is that he made a trip by ship across the ocean in 1738. Anything more on him and his work would be just speculation. However, when have I ever turned away from speculation? We know that German immigration increased about the time Philip crossed the ocean. Many of these German immigrants were gunsmiths coming to find work within the community of German gunsmiths of southeastern Pennsylvania, primarily centered in Easton.

Was Philip a gunsmith? Did he come to Pennsylvania on the promise of employment as a gunsmith? Did he, perchance, make the firearm, the Pennsylvania Long Rifle, that his grandson, George, carried off to war; now in the possession of his Great⁷ Grandson, Philip?

In an attempt to learn more about Philip, at least the year when Philip died, a search of eastern Pennsylvania newspapers of the 1730’s to the 1780’s was performed searching for “Philip Drum”. A few “Philip Drum” death notices were found, but none had any apparent relevance to “our” Philip. However, “other” information of interest also turned up. One such piece of information was a notice of land being for sale at the Forks. This notice was placed in the German Newspaper by one Philip Drum in 1750. Forks Township surrounds Easton, PA. Easton sits at the point where the Lehigh River meets the Delaware River, thus acquiring the nickname “The Forks”. Easton was a center for gunsmithing. It seems plausible that our Philip was able to acquire land between 1738 and 1750, perhaps even as part of the agreement to come, and then, twelve years after arrival, decided to sell this property.

There is some information that suggests that Philip’s son, Jacob, married a woman named Catherine Strauss[1] in 1749[2], both appearing to be about 19 years of age. It seems likely that a young couple, now both 20-years-old in 1750, would welcome the opportunity to have their own farm closer to the German communities of the Allentown area. It would then follow that such land was acquired in 1750 or 1751, using the proceeds from the sale of Philip’s Forks land, maybe as a wedding present.

This new property, then, would be the farm that was attacked when Jacob’s son George was, according to Helman, twelve-years-old[3], in 1774 or 1775.

Jacob, therefore, was at least, a farmer.

George, it appears, was, like many of us, many things over his lifetime. Helman tells us he enlisted as a Continental Soldier in 1782[4] in Williams. Williams Township is just south of Easton. Pennsylvania Census searches found a person who is likely “our” George, apparently living in, at least paying taxes in, Williams during the 1780’s. In 1789, he had to pay for four cattle. His occupation, however, was noted as “weaver.” In 1796 he was commissioned as a Captain of the Militia. We believe that it was late in 1796 that he made his way to the Drums Valley for the first time, his family already having arrived perhaps a year earlier with his In-Laws, the Woodrings. Once having arrived in the valley, George became an active community member. He helped the Reformed Congregation in St. Johns establish a constitution and build a building in 1808 and 1809. He is included on a list of road workers, which he also audited, in 1810.[5] The 1810 U.S. census notes his occupation as “farmer”. The following year, 1811, he is appointed Justice of the Peace[6]. When he was about age 57, in 1820, he became an “Inn-Keeper” by building an Inn near the crossroads that became known as Drums. His Inn became the Drums Hotel, a stop on the stagecoach route from Hazleton to Wilkes-Barre. For more about this Inn, see the post: George Builds a Tavern; a Place gets a Name. For more about the Stage Coach, see the post: The Stage Coach.

Now we turn to George’s five sons who lived to adulthood, in order oldest to youngest: Philip, Jacob, George, Abraham, William.

In the 1810 census, George’s son, Philip, is listed as a carpenter. That same year he built the first wool-processing mill in the valley. He placed it near Fritzingertown on the Little Nescopeck Creek[7] making him also, I guess, a Wool Carder. We hope he put his carpentry skills to good use in 1820 to help his father build his Inn. Philip was building again in 1835. That was the year he built his second mill along the Little Nescopeck, a short distance away from the first. Bradsby, in his History of Luzerne County, calls this “the valley’s first woolen-mill”.^[8] To be honest, I’m not sure what the difference is between a “Carding Mill” and a “Woolen Mill”, however.

It appears that brother-George was helping father-George with the Inn in the early 1820’s but settled in Sugarloaf Township in 1824[9] where he worked as a “Carpenter and Cabinet Maker, and also followed lumbering and farming to some extent; he was appointed Justice of the Peace of Sugarloaf in 1826, and held that office up to his death which occurred November 21, 1831”[10], just nine months after his father died from an accidental gunshot wound[11], in February, 1831[12]. Father-George was 69. Son-George had just celebrated his 39^th birthday the month before he died. No word yet found on what caused son-George’s young death.

Father-George’s son William apparently moved to Conyngham (Sugarloaf Township) as well, perhaps at the same time as his brother George. He would have been around 20 years old at the time. A 1991 special edition of the Hazleton Standard-Speaker entitled Pages From the Past reported that William became the first Postmaster of the village of Conyngham in 1826.^[13] However, the Conyngham-Sugarloaf Bicentennial Commission reported in 1976 that Samuel Harmon was the first postmaster of Conyngham, but they did not say when the Post Office was established. They did, however, go on to say that “William Drum kept the office in 1830.”[14] The bottom line then for this discussion; something we could put our stamp of approval on at least; would be that William certainly worked in the Conyngham Post Office for a while and maybe even served there as Postmaster, maybe even established the joint.

Philip probably helped his brother, Abraham, when Abe decided to expand the Inn into a hotel in 1840. Abe also established the Stage Coach Stop Inn out at Sand Spring. One wonders where Abraham got the time to run two hotels since he was also the Luzerne County Sheriff for some period of time. For more information about Abraham (and a photo!), see our earlier post There Were a Lot of Drums in Drums.

When brothers Philip and Abe built the addition onto the Inn in 1840, they also put up a new building across the street to serve as a store. A 1954 newspaper article announcing the opening of the Kermit Reisenweaver Department Store in this building in Drums, provided a list of this building’s previous store owners that included the names George Drum and Elick Drum[15].

There are a number of problems with the information given by this article which I discuss in more depth in the post Inn Across the Way. Relevant to this post, however, is that none of the potential George Drums in the “tree” appear to be available to run a store there in the 1840’s. Plus, there is no one named “Elick” in the family. Most likely, given the over 110 years that had passed from when the building was built and the reporter asked the question, the reporter’s informant got confused over just who did do what when, saying the storekeeper was George when it was actually his son Abraham. Apparently, I am not the only one to get confused by all these Georges!

As for “Elick”, this probably refers to Josiah’s son, Abraham Alexander ^{(Josiah, Abraham, George, Jacob, Philip)}. Born on January 25, 1854, Abraham Alexander appears to have gone through a number of variations of what others called him, or he called himself, over the years. I count seven! His name seems to change each decade. I guess we also need to add “Elick” to that list now, making eight! I think Elick is a corruption of Alex, which is how Abraham Alexander is listed by Helman[16]. He probably answered to “Alex” as a teenager and into his 20’s. It does seem possible to me that the informant said “Alex” and the reporter heard and wrote down “Elick”. However, one has to wonder how good a reporter this one was, not to check out an odd name such as “Elick”, at least the spelling!

Since I’m talking about him, I should add that according to a Wikipedia page about Drums, PA,[17]  Alex became the Drums Postmaster in the 1880’s. The 1890 census does not exist anymore to confirm what he was doing, or calling himself, in 1890. The 1880 U.S. Census lists him as A.A., age 26, with the occupation “Clerk in Store”, most likely J & S Drum Dry Goods, owned by his father Josiah and uncle Stephen. This aligns with the individual referred to as “Elick” in the 1954 article. The 1870 Census, when he was 16, lists him as Alexander (his middle name). The 1860 Census lists him as six-year-old Abraham. He appears in the 1900 Census as Abram and gives the occupation as Salesman in a General Store. His residence, however, has changed. He is now living in Bloomsburg, PA. The 1910 census gives his name as Alexander A. (Yes. Reversed. Why should we be surprised?) with his occupation as Salesman in a Grocery Store.

A.A. died on January 27, 1920 in Bloomsburg, PA, aged 66.  On the stone that marks his grave his name appears simply as A.A. Drum.

I “stole” this picture of his stone from findagrave.com. According to this website, AA rests in the New Rosemont Cemetery, Espy (Columbia County), PA with his wife, Mary Alice Hess Drum, aged 62, and one of their sons, Warren Nevin Drum, aged 43. They had another son named Clyde. He died prior to 1927. Helman just indicates “Deceased” in her book[18]. No information about him is included in findagrave.com. They also had one daughter, Lola, 1892-1971. She married Robert Rabb. She, too, rests in the New Rosemont Cemetery.

This brings us to brother-Jacob. There is little evidence to help us know how George’s son Jacob was employed. Born on February 6, 1791, he also died young, only 38, on July 11, 1830.  A Jacob Drum appears in the 1820 Census who is probably “our” Jacob. If so, of the three persons that census counted in that household, one was “engaged in agriculture”. It would make sense that Jacob was a farmer. The other two household members were his wife, Anna Margaret Balliett Drum Whitebread and his at that time new-born son, Isaac. We do know that Isaac opened a shoemaker’s shop in the Drum’s Hotel in 1842 (one wonders why not in the building just built across the street, but anyway). His shop was located in the part of the hotel building that later became the hotel bar.[19] Perhaps Jacob had also been a cobbler/shoemaker, you know, the son was following in his father’s footsteps, so to speak. Ok, sorry about that.

But it just seems like there should be a good pun in this last bit of information. Maybe something like, the shop went from a place that repaired soles to one that destroyed souls (from a temperance point of view, of course). no? darn. Ok, I’ll stop.

At this point, I think it prudent to say that I’m not even going to try to hit ALL of the Drums in the tree; just the ones closest to the direct line between the first Philip and the present Philip. I’m actually a bit surprised that you are still reading at THIS point, but I know that if I tried to get all the tree members, you’d never make it to the end. It’d take a while.

Besides we still have more to say about the original George’s kids! Remember, there were two hotels that were established by this crowd. As suggested above, after both of the George’s die in 1831, it appears that George, Sr’s son, Abraham; Abraham’s son, George; and Abraham’s sister, Margarett (also known as Ann Margaret, Peggy Ann, Peggy and later, as Aunt Peggy[20]; I’m beginning to think this name thing might be genetic!), operated the hotel through most of the 1840’s and into the 1850’s. In the late 1850’s it appears that Philip’s son John took over the Drum’s Hotel. The assumption is that it was then that Abraham, George, and Margarett built a new inn approximately 3.5 miles northeast of Drums Corner at Sand Spring and called it the Stage Coach Stop Inn.

In an earlier post I suggested that after Abraham died in 1862, his son, George, took over the operation of the Stage Coach Stop Inn at Sand Springs. This may be the case, but upon further examination of the record, it appears George lived near Drums Corner, close to (actually in or across the street from) the Drums Hotel, not out in the Sand Spring area. That would mean he had a daily commute of 7 – 8 miles round trip! It seems more likely that he ran the hotel in Drums, not the Stage Coach Stop out at Sand Spring. It may be that he did help with the Stage Coach Stop but took over the Drums Hotel operation upon the death of his cousin, John in 1881. Or perhaps it was John who ran the Stage Coach Stop but that makes even less sense as George. Really, it’s all very confusing.

Speaking of confusing, Peggy is another case! It is believed that she, too, was out at the Sand Spring operation for a while. However, based on the very thin record that exists, it seems that Peggy moved in with her niece, Abraham’s daughter, Ellinor (listed in the 1870 and 1880 Censuses as Ellen) Drum Hedian, when Abraham died in 1862. It may have been at this point that she began to be known as “Aunt Peggy”.

Aunt Peggy’s given name was Margarett. There may be as many, if not more, Margaret’s in this line as there are George’s! I didn’t count.

The 1870 Census includes Abraham’s son George, now 42, as head of household, now that Abraham is gone. George’s occupations are listed as “Farmer and Hotel Keeper.” Under him is listed Ann Margrett, age 62, keeps house. under her we find Robert Hedian, 42, a potter from Maryland, followed by Ellen Hedian, 38, “works in hotel”, and George Hedian, 13.  Ellen is Head-of-Household-George’s sister and Robert is her husband. Thirteen-year-old George is their son. Who, however, is 62-year-old Ann Margrett? Might this be Aunt Peggy?

George’s mother was called Molly[21].  She appears in the 1850 Census as (Ready?) Margaret. However, the website Findagrave.com lists her as Magdalena. Molly is usually a nickname for Margaret but it can be used for most female names that starts with the letter “M”.[22] Although I can’t find her in the 1860 Census, Findagrave.com says she died in 1861, aged 60. This then would rule her out as the Ann Margarett who was 62 in 1870. We believe Peggy was born in 1804 and died in 1879. To be 62 in 1870, one would need to have been born in 1808. Still, I think our 62-year-old Ann Margarett is Aunt Peggy, especially given the double “T” at the end of her name as I’ve seen Margarett spelled in other places referring to Peggy. Peggy is difficult to find in the Census records and when we do find her, there is usually some discrepancy. I believe this is yet another.

This, however, leaves us with still another mystery. Who is the “Mrs. Hedian” found on the 1873 map? Census searches for 1870 and 1880 for “Hedian” both turn up three “Hedians”: Robert, Ellen, and George. In that grouping, Ellen (or Ellinor, as she is listed in Helman, page 25) is the only “Mrs.” possible.In 1870, the Hedian's were in George's household. In 1880, they are in a household separate from George.

Did Ellinor own the house? The 1870 census lists her as having $3,000 of Real Estate; Ellen, not Robert. Did they separate or even divorce? As mentioned above, the same family grouping is included in the 1880 Census, implying the family is still living together at that time (or came back together). The 1880 Census lists Robert as a “U.S. Government Clerk” which I think means he worked in the Post Office.

Comparing the 1873 map to the 1880 listing for this area, assuming the census taker went house to house in order along each street, we find George Roth, a blacksmith, listed first. There appears to be a blacksmith at the crossroad on the map. Next we find Hanna Hess on the list and P. Hess on the map. Philip, Hannah’s husband, died September 22, 1879.[23] N.S. Drum is next on both. “S Andrews Store & P.O.” is next on the map and Josiah Andrews or Andreas is next appearing on the list. The map seems to have “houses” indicated without identification next and, if so, matches the list (Sarah Bird and Benjamin Miller). Robert Hedian is next on the list, Mrs. Hedian is on the map. The 1880 Census lists Ellen as “Keeping House”. There are no buildings indicated on the inside of the triangle on the map but the words “Hotel G Drum” are squeezed in there. Next name on the list is George Drum, Hotel Keeper & Farmer. Beside Mrs. Hedian on the map is a “building” marked J&S Drum Store, then S Drum. Stephen Drum is in the 1870 census but does not appear in the 1880 census. After George on the list is Josiah Drum followed by a tailor named Stephen Oberender. The map reveres this order showing Oberender first and then J Drum.

So, it would seem that in 1870 Peggy was living with Ellinor and all were living with George, in Drums, working the Drums Hotel. Ellinor owned her own house into which they moved sometime after 1870.

So, who was watching the operation out at Sand Spring?

It is interesting to note that not only did Abraham’s son George run the hotel, he was also the Drums Postmaster, appointed in 1854. They say that “the mail must go through” and in Drums, it seems that very often this meant “must go through a Drum! Remember, Alex was the Postmaster in the 1880’s. Nathan S. Drum’s daughter, Carrie M., was appointed Postmaster (See note 32 below concerning the title Postmaster vs. Postmistress) in the 1890’s and served in this role until she died in 1941 at the age of 67. [24] Her Assistant Postmaster was her sister, Lottie.[25] Finally, Nathan A.’s son, Elmer Drum, became a Letter Carrier in the 1920’s and continued in this role until he died January 23, 1959, although it appears his route was in Hazleton.[26]

The GWD Mom photocopied.

On November 7, 1913, George W. Drum 
^{(George, George, Jacob, Philip)} died. Born in 1832, he had lived his entire life in Conyngham. He was a Saddler/Harness Maker through, at least, the 1850’s.  He was elected as Justice of the Peace of Sugarloaf in 1860 and continued in that role for the next 53 years except for the four years when he served in the Pennsylvania Legislature. He was a member of the Pennsylvania State Legislature Lower House from 1879-1882. He was the only Democrat to have been elected from Luzerne County in 1878. [27]  We have two images of G. W. Drum. One my mom found and photocopied (probably a copyright issue, she didn't say where she got it from) and one I "stole" from the Pennsylvania Legislature's web page (probably another copyright issue). They both appear to be from around the time he served Pennsylvania.

As GWD appears on the
PA Legislature's web page.

Nathan S.^{(Philip+2ndWife, George, Jacob, Philip)} was in the Dry Goods business in the 1870’s, helping his brother and cousins, so Nathan was known in the area as a merchant, but clearly he was involved in the community and in politics as well. Two newspapers covered the fact that he had been chosen to attend the state Democratic Convention of 1887; the Carbon Advocate of Lehigh, PA[28] and the Lancaster Intelligencer[29] of Lancaster, PA.

Nathan did his civic duty as well. The Freeland Tribute published a report on July 24, 1890 saying the “Merchant Nathan Drum” had been selected for Jury Duty for September 5, 1890[31].

At age 75, on May 20, 1912, Justice of the Peace Nathan S. Drum witnessed the transfer of ¾ acre of land from Jacob Santee to Charles Embling. It appears he held this office at least from 1912 to 1914.

Justice of the Peace, Merchant, Citizen, Nathan S. Drum died May 3, 1915.

Nathan’s son, Philip's Grandson, Philip Leo Drum, was also involved in political leadership. Philip L. became a lawyer, living in Kingston, near Wilkes-Barre, and served in the Pennsylvania legislature Lower House 1901-1902.[30] as a Republican.

According to the Legislature's website, Philip L. was employed as follows:

teacher, Upper Lehigh school district (2 years); teacher, Carlisle Indian School (1894); teacher, Bloomsburg State Normal School (1895-1896); lawyer; elected as a Republican to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 1901 term; not a candidate for reelection to the House (1902); appointed, oil inspector, Luzerne County (1905-1909); solicitor, Nescopeck borough (1905-1906); unsuccessful campaign, controller, Luzerne County (1911); member, board of viewers, Luzerne County (25 years); died, April 28, 1960 in Kingston, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.

Philip’s son, John, was born in 1825, the second of 12 children born to Philip and his second wife. In addition to running a hotel (someplace), he was listed in the 1870 Census as being a Farmer. The 1880 census lists him as “Hotel Keeper” but also has a category for “status” and offers a few options. For John, the option labeled “maimed, crippled, bedridden, or other” is checked. On November 21, 1881, John Drum died. He was 56 years old.

John’s son, Nathan A. was a coal miner most of his life. When not digging coal, he was a carpenter and a blacksmith. For more on Nathan, see the post: The Miners. 

I never learned why
we have this toy,
but I’m betting Elmer
had something
to do with it.

Nathan’s son, Elmer, was a farmer and, as stated above, a Mail Carrier (we used to call them, “Mail Men” when I was little). 

According to the 1920 U.S. Census, Elmer was a “Blacksmith Helper in Mines” after he came home from fighting the war to end all wars.  It was sometime in the 1920’s that he began carrying the mail. Although I’m guessing one can keep fairly busy delivering the mail, Elmer also had his farm which, I’m sure helped him “make ends meet.”

Thanks to my mom, we get a glimpse of Ella and Elmer’s farm as it was in 1949 through a memoir Mom wrote in 2010:

I guess it was late November when Harry took me to meet his parents, Elmer and Ella Drum. I knew his father because I’d seen him at Church but for some reason had not connected him with Ella, Harry’s mother. When I did on that visit, I realized she was the same woman who sat on the bus all the time talking about this person and that person, seemed like she talked about just about everyone in the valley, and all sorts of scandal and gossip. Well I didn’t like that but I couldn’t tell that to Harry!

Then I met Grandma Mary (Elmer’s mother) and had a very nice conversation with her. Seems Ella had nasty things to say about her too a lot but that was something else I wasn’t telling Harry! Then it was out to see the farm, 2 BIG pigs, 2 cows, and a pen of chickens. I looked and “admired” and said things like, “Oh yes,” and “Oh my” and “my goodness!”

Then I saw the bee hives. I didn’t like them at all. To me they were murderous! Harry just laughed.

For more on Elmer when he was fighting the war to end all wars, see the post: WW1. The War to end all Wars.

Elmer’s son, my dad, Harry Nathan Drum, spent most of his life as a Shipping Clerk in Wagner Brothers Hardware Store, Hazleton, PA. He spent the last few years of his life driving city bus in the Hazleton area. Here is a photo of him, hard at work at Wagner’s!

This poster hangs on a wall at Drumyngham.
  I helped create it. 
The Tswana words are the four B’s
spelled out and the clover is
the Botswana 4-B emblem.
I do not believe 4-B exists any more.
It began with Botswana's
independence in 1966 and
seems to have ended around 2006.

I’m next. 

My career has been as an Extension/4-H Youth Development Educator. My career has taken me to every state in the United States (except Colorado. I’ve got to get to Colorado!) and a number of countries that don’t call themselves The United States of America, the longest visit being 18 months in Botswana as a National 4-B Advisor. I’ve served in county, state, or national 4-H rolls in Massachusetts (once) Maine (twice), as the National Coordinator of the USDA/USAF Youth Collaboration Project, and as a member of the staff at National 4-H Council (three times), most recently, 2002 – 2015, as the National Coordinator of 4-H Afterschool, of 4-H SET (Science, Engineering, and Technology; known today as 4-H SCIENCE), and as the 4-H Science Grants Manager.

Of all of us, however, I think perhaps that only one of us actually got it right: Milton Drum^{(Jacob, Philip+1stWife, George, Jacob, Philip)}. Milton was born 1841. He died on July 4, 1908. He is listed as a Farm Laborer in the 1860 census. In both the 1870 and 1880 censuses he appears as a Carpenter. There is no 1890 census information so we jump to 1900 where we find him as a Bottler.

A BOTTLER!?

And we have one of his bottles! The first time I saw it I wondered if he made some kind of medicine and sold it in those bottles, his name is on it, after all. The title “Bottler”, however, implies, for me at least, that he bottled other peoples’ potions even if it DOES have his name on it.

Either way, it seems to me that Milton got it right. Here is his bottle with his name on it! As long as that bottle exists, so too will MILTON DRUM! 

I was talking to an antique‑dealer friend of mine who is especially interested in glass bottles. I showed him our bottle.  “Oh, you have a Milton Drum!,” he said as if that was what one called the object I was holding. “A nice one, too! They are fairly common locally, so not highly valuable, but still very collectible; very nice to have. I’m guessing its worth isn’t why you have it, however. Probably has more value for you than we could ever set, given the name.”

True.

Now why didn’t I think of putting my name on something collectible? Wait. There’s still time…

Speaking of time, it's time for a new post! We've looked at what we read, and what we did to make ends meet, now we take a look at the clothes we wore, hairstyles, beards, etc. Join us again on January 14, 2020 for post #37: The Way We Wore. 

---

[1] https://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=Search&includedb=&lang=en&ti=&surname=Drum&stype=Exact&given=jacob&bplace=&byear=1730&brange=2&dplace=&dyear=1774&drange=2&mplace=&myear=&mrange=0&father=&mother=&spouse=&skipdb=&period=All&submit.x=Search accessed 6/6/2018

[2] Butler Township History, Butler Township website, http://www.butlertownship.org/about-us/history/Print.html accessed 6/14/2016

[3] Helman, Laura M., History and Genealogy of the Drum Family (Allentown, PA: Berkemeyer, Keck & Co., 1927), p 3

[4] Helman, p. 3

[5] Bradsby, Chapter XXI (continued): Sugarloaf Township.

[6] Butler Township History

[7] Butler Township History

[8] Bradsby, H.C., ed, History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: S.B. Nelson & Co., 1893). Chapter XXI (continued): Butler Township. http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/luzerne/1893hist/ accessed 6/7/2016

[9] “Conyngham’s Grand Old Man Dead, Honorable George W. Drum is no more – was the town’s oldest native citizen” Valley Vigilant, November 14, 1913. P 23

[10] “Conyngham’s Grand Old Man…”, p 23

[11] “Conyngham’s Grand Old Man…”, p 23

[12] Helman, p. 3

[13] “Red Letter Days”, Pages From the Past Special Edition, Hazleton Standard-Speaker, Friday, September 6, 1991, p A4 and “Conyngham Named after Revolutionary War Hero”, p A10.

[14] Bigelow, Mrs. John L. and Mrs. E. B. Mulligan, Jr., Eds., Let Freedom Ring (Conyngham-Sugarloaf Bicentennial Commission, 1976, Limited Edition) p 14

[15] “Valley to get Dept. Store”, The Plain Speaker, Hazleton, PA, October 7, 1954, p. 15

[16] Helman, p. 26

[17] Drums, PA, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Drums,_Pennsylvania&oldid=726559076 accessed 9/20/2016.

[18] Helman, p 26

[19] Munsell on Butler Township, 1880, History of Freeland, PA, https://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/ct0u/munsell_butler.html accessed 8/11/2016

[20] Helman, p 3.

[21] Helman, p 25

[22] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_(name) accessed 9/182019

[23] According to findagrave.com.

[24] If you are a diligent reader of these posts, you may be asking what happened to Postmaster Brighthaupt? We learn in the post Inn Across the Way that Charles Brighthaupt, whose story begins in the post in 1913, was a “former Drums Postmaster”. I do not know when he served in this capacity. I assume it was in the late 1880’s and/or early 1890’s, after AA relinquished the post and before Carrie picked up those reigns. 

[25] Drums, PA, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Drums,_Pennsylvania&oldid=726559076 accessed 9/20/2016.

[26] For a bit more on Letter-Carrier-Elmer, and a pic, see the Post: Nice!

[27] He is listed in the 1850 census as a “saddler” and it is noted in a tribute to him published by the Valley Vigilant that he “learned the saddler’s trade which he followed twenty years. In 1860 he was elected Justice of the Peace of Sugarloaf…” See: “Conyngham’s Grand Old Man Dead, Honorable George W. Drum is no more – was the town’s oldest native citizen” Valley Vigilant, November 14, 1913. P 23

[28] Carbon Advocate, Lehigh, PA, August 6, 1887

[29] Lancaster Intelligencer, Lancaster, PA, August 4, 1887

[30] Helman, pp 12-13

[31] Jury Duty, Freeland Tribute, Freeland, PA, July 24, 1890
[32] According to Nora Drum in Drum, Nora, Miss; Mrs. R. S. Small, and Mrs. Millard Shelhamer, Drums Methodist Church and Valley Notes (Drums, PA: St. Paul’s Methodist Church, 1953) ,Carrie and Lottie both used the title "Postmistress". However, according to the United States Postal Service, the title was always officially "Postmaster": “Over the course of its history, the United States Postal Service has employed women as postmasters – from a single woman at the birth of our country in 1775 until today, when more women than men head United States Post Offices. Although sometimes popularly referred to as “postmistresses,” their official title always has been ‘postmaster.’ ” https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/women-postmasters.pdf 

Ditches and Stitches: Technically Speaking

#35 – Ditches and Stitches: Technically Speaking

In our most recent posts, we have been looking at how the Drum Family Tree members spent their days. We began with how they spent their free time, you know, the books that they read, then the newspaper clippings that they clipped out of their newspapers. We also looked at one of these articles in a rather “in-depth” way.

Now we turn to how they got through their day to get to the free time. Sometimes they needed information to help them get through the day and books and newspapers weren’t enough. They needed information sources that didn’t just tell them stories ABOUT what happened, they needed to know how to MAKE stuff happen; how to DO stuff!

What they needed were some good Almanacs and Technical Guides.

Page 76 of Concrete on the Farm begins:

The economy of farm drainage is well known. Wet lands are not only unsightly but unprofitable…. The simplest remedy is a drainage ditch. The best possible material for the drainage ditch is concrete…

It goes on to tell how to use this concrete to solve the problem.

On Page 77 they show a picture of what they are talking about. 

However, what if you wanted a round tank instead of a long trench?

Page 9. To calculate for anything circular there is one rule to remember: the area of a circle is found by multiplying the diameter by the diameter, then multiplying the result by 3 1/7 and dividing by 4.

Well, who doesn’t know that!? Like we had to be told, or something.

This is the back of the guide showing
the logo and who handed it out.
Since it is the back,
the hole and string are in
the upper right corner of this photo.

Concrete on the Farm is a handy “how to” guide that was published in 1919 by The Atlas Portland Cement Company. As we can see from the back cover, it apparently was distributed in the Hazleton Area by Jere. Woodward & Co. of Hazleton, PA. Up in the upper left-hand corner (upper right, in this photo since this is a photo of the back, not the front, of the booklet) is a drilled hole and laced through that hole is a loop of string making it handy to hang up in the barn or work shed for easy reference.

I don’t know if the Atlas Portland Cement Company did that or if Elmer Drum did it. Most likely, the company drilled the hole and Elmer laced the string. I guess it would be a handy guide to have hanging around, if you did a lot of cement work on your farm. It tells you stuff like the correct mixture of “aggregate” and cement for your various projects; how to pour a concrete floor; the advantages of a circular concrete tank over a square one; types of, and how to construct, concrete sidewalks; not to mention how to calculate for anything circular and how to make a concrete ditch. You name it, they “cover” it; they just “pour out” the hard facts, you might say.

By the way, they do define “aggregate” (even show pictures!)

They also provide information on the various forms of cement that exist, including “Portland”. They don’t forget telling a bit about its history, either. Of course, they further suggest that Atlas Portland Cement is the best brand of the Portland Cements to be had. After all, it’s “The Standard by which all other makes are measured”!

If you haven’t figured it out yet, this post is about the HARD facts of life! In the following photo we see more of those hard facts, or, rather, the guides they are in. You would have found these publications on most farms in earlier years. Right off we see our friend, Concrete on the Farm (this time from the front). Clockwise to its right is a guide from 1904 entitled The Business Hen. No, this is not a book about a chicken running a business. This title means, if you are going to go to all the trouble of raising chickens, you might as well make it a business and get some money out of those chickens! Below the “Hen” is an agricultural almanac from 1925. Sitting at “6 o’clock” is another agricultural almanac, this one from 1923. Finally, on the left side of the picture is a third agricultural almanac, this one from 1953.

It took me a while (too long, actually) to realize the significance of these almanacs. The year 1923 was the year my father was born. His sister, my Aunt Clara, was born in 1925. Either Elmer or Ella or both preserved these two almanacs probably because they were from the years their children were born. I’m sorry to say that if the same theory applies to the third almanac, from 1953, in the collection, I’m not yet quite settled on what the connection may be. Perhaps there isn’t any. However, 1953 is the year my dad began building Drumyngham. Perhaps that was significance enough, but I probably would have kept the one from the year the house was COMPLETED.

Almanacs did play a role in the everyday life of the farmer. Today we have sophisticated weather prediction services and state university Cooperative Extension agricultural specialists we rely upon to help us determine proper planting times (after last frost), growing season length (quantity of rain), harvest times, methods (contour plowing, tilling, etc), and so forth. Farmers of earlier times got their information from the almanac.

For those who believe in the zodiac and horoscopes, the almanac will help you know what constellations are in force at given times (for example there is a rule that says you should not make sauerkraut at the time of Aquarius). From the 1923 almanac we learn that a total eclipse of the sun was going to occur on September 10, however, it would only be seen as a partial eclipse in the United States. The 1925 almanac suggests that rubbing thread with dry soap will make stitching through heavy cotton easier. The 1953 almanac say that the louder the katy-dids and crickets call in August, the bigger the blizzards will be in December. It says this was born out in 1951, so be forewarned!

Quiet Augusts, that’s what we want. Quiet Augusts.

These almanacs were also a source of entertainment. Both the 1923 and the 1925 almanacs relate humorous stories that I refuse to retell because they are racist (which suggests how times have changed). However, here is one from the 1953 almanac we can chuckle about. It is a story about a farmer whose farm was so close to the Pennsylvania/New York border, he wasn’t sure which state his farm was actually in. So, he invited officials from both states to do surveys and finally settle the matter. After much consideration they finally determined his farm was in Pennsylvania. “Good, he replied. “I never could stand those tough New York winters!”

I believe the earliest of these guides and almanacs that are in the collection is George Drum’s 1885 The Handy Housekeeper.[1] It appears to be a collection of articles that appeared in a magazine called Our Country Cousin, one of the publications produced by Wilmer Atkinson, publisher/founder of the Farm Journal.

This photo of Atkinson was another one of the many clippings found in the "Hat Box" Collection, probably added by Jacob Santee. This collection has been noted in a number of previous posts, most recently in Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

This little book covers quite a bit of information useful to someone running a household on a farm. The table of contents starts with “Antidotes for Poison” and ends with “Wash Day”. “Dairy Work”, “Good Manners”, “Health Tips” and “School Lunches” are among the many topics in-between. There’s even one chapter entitled “Taking Care of Things”! I’ll have to read that one.

The front cover is missing. On what appears to be the inside front-cover page, lightly written in pencil, up against the right edge of the page, appears the following:

1886

Geo Drum

Drums

Luzerne

County

PA

That’s how we know it belonged to George Drum. The question is, however, which George Drum? By my estimation, we have three candidates. Abraham’s son, George (born 1827. Died 1890); George Jr’s son George W. (born 1832. Died 1913); and John’s son George B. McC. (born 1865. Died 1931). 

My guess is that it was John’s son, George B. McC., who was the George who once owned this book. Abraham’s son was involved with the Stagecoach Stop out at Sand Spring (on the present Route 309) and George W. was living in Conyngham. John’s son was the proprietor of the Drums Hotel by 1886, John having died in 1881. John’s George was living closer to Nathan and Elmer - all living in Fritzingertown - than the other two Georges, so it makes sense that we might have John’s son’s papers (at least this book) in our collection.

Just two more almanacs to look at, Lum and Abner’s Adventures in Hollywood and 1938 Family Almanac and The Farmer’s Almanac 2000. That second one was obviously added to the collection by me. Had I been as smart as my Grandfather, I’d have saved the almanac for 1995, the year my son was born. This one is second best, however. It’s the almanac for the last year of the 20^th Century. Seemed worth keeping.

Lum and Abner’s is a different thing again. I wasn’t sure what this was at first. However, paging through it, it appears to be an almanac just as any other almanac might be. It just uses the theme of Lum and Abner, a popular radio show from the 1930’s into the 1950’s, to put the information and it’s stories (the entertainment aspect) across. I’m guessing Elmer, Ella and the two children would gather around the radio in the evenings to listen to, and laugh over, the antics of Lum and Abner.

In addition to almanacs, technical information was gotten from journals and a few newspapers as well. In the next photo we see some of these that were saved. Most of these were marked with the reason it was saved.

Number 1 is the December 19, 1888 edition of The Weekly Sun. This one was a “two-for”! Across the top is written “to keep cider sweet” and “cholera cure”. Those seem like good reasons to keep something.

Number 2 was saved on March 25, 1893. This edition of Rural New Yorker was saved because it had information on how “to reclaim waste land” on page 205.

Number 3 is the oldest of this group. Called the American Agriculturist, published in December 1874, the info it was saved for was about concrete walls with the note “a neat little trick” added as well.

Number 4 is the November 25, 1890 edition of The Word. Across the top, in pencil, is written “Making hens lay in winter” which, frankly, sounds sort of mean. Just saying.

Number 5 is the youngest of this group. It is the October 16, 1926 edition of the Rural New Yorker saved for the information it includes on “Grape Juice to make”.

Number 6 is a Rural New Yorker from May 7, 1892. It is marked “Bring youth to an old meadow” which, I thought, until I read it, was about establishing a youth camp. (kidding)

Number 7 - “Elderberry Wine” was the reason this July 20, 1901 edition of the American Agriculturist was saved. Even though they didn’t know it at the time, that one probably turned out to be a great “keeper” given what happened in 1920 (Prohibition).

At first glance, the book The Complete Home Handyman’s Guide[2], shown in the next photo, would seem to be offering the same information as George Drum’s edition of The Handy Housekeeper. But no, it does not. The “Home Handyman’s Guide” offers, according to the cover page, “Helpful suggestions for making repairs and improvements in and around the house”. Handy Housekeeper is talking about housekeeping, not house repairing. So instead of pickles, poison, and wash day hints, Home Handyman is covering topics such as plumbing, heating, working with metal, and handyman hints. It was published in 1948.

The booklet in the photo with the Handyman’s Guide is everything you’d ever want to know about Solder. At least, it’s everything I’d ever want to know about it, anyway; actually, MORE than I’d ever want to know! Soldering is what you do when you want to connect two wires together. I’m sure this was one of my dad’s resources. It was published in 1961.

I, too, made contributions to the “Do It Yourself” Technical guides in the collection. In 1971, I added The Pleasures of Cigar Smoking. I found it to be an interesting read. After all, you don’t want to be seen as someone just blowing smoke, do you?

Ok, I apologize for that, but I did, at least, WRITE one!

Air Force and 4-H: Working Together for the Future, written in 2002, explains how 4‑H programs can be established on Air Force installations through a collaborative effort between youth serving Air Force agencies and the county 4-H office. I discuss this program a tad more in an earlier post entitled Some of us Never Went to War.

However, getting back to the contributions of “the tree”, here is another of my dad’s guides. This one is about Jig Saws and Band Saws. It was published by Sears, Roebuck and Co. in 1950. That was a good year! The year 1950 was also the year Mom and Dad were married. That fact probably has nothing to do with the booklet on saws, but it certainly has something to do with the next picture.

This is my mom’s sewing bucket. It was much better organized when she was working with it. The bucket was purchased by my dad for my mom while they were traveling through New England on their Honeymoon.

By the way, in case you are wondering, that egg-shaped thing in the bucket is a “sock egg”, at least that’s what Mom called it. Apparently, if you have a hole in your sock, pushing this thing into the sock makes mending the hole easier. At least that’s what Mom said.

Why am I showing Mom’s sewing bucket? So far, we’ve been focused on guides that are highly relevant to farming or technical skills such as carpentry or pouring concrete. I thought, therefore, that I’d change the subject to show that skills such as sewing and cooking were also covered. So, I used my mom’s sewing bucket to do that. In an earlier time, we might have just said, “And now something for the Ladies!” However, we are living in a more enlightened time now. Men sew and cook too, you know.

I know I do! I admit I could do a better job at cleaning the house, however. Say, I wonder if George’s booklet might offer some suggestions…

So, what is the ultimate “do it yourself” book? Why the COOKBOOK of COURSE!

Truth be told, the top two booklets in the above photo are the only two included in this photo that were “Drum Tree” contributions: The Enterprising Housekeeper (1900) and The Cookie Book (1941). 

Most of the “cookbooks” I’ve seen saved by this family seem to be collections of recipes that were hand-written on single sheets of paper or were on pages torn from newspapers/magazines, sometimes glued onto notebook paper, and saved in an envelope or folder. For example, here is one from my Grandmother’s (Bertha Shearer) collection that my mom glued into a notebook. In her note below the recipe she points out that it is “written in Mom’s handwrtting.”

The rest of the booklets in the collection-of-cookbooks photo above came into the collection via my wife’s “tree”. First up of those is a book that really knows its (corn) starch, Delightful Cooking (1925). The pink one is Sour Cream: The Gourmet Touch to Everyday Cooking, produced by the American Dairy Association about 1950. The Betty Crocker Bisquick Cook Book is seen next (1956). On the bottom row we see Meat Recipes: 103 Prize winning recipes with the compliments of the National Live Stock and Meat Board. It was distributed by the Eastern States Exposition in 1926. Next to that is What’s New in Cookery from the Mirro Test Kitchen. That is also from 1926. Last, we find a 1905 edition of Hood’s Pickles and Preserves etcetera.

That’s not to say that there were no cook BOOKS in the Drum collection, just that only the ones of a more recent publication year survived. Here are two examples. The Good Housekeeping Cook Book of 1941 (with notes written by my mom on numerous pages throughout thrown in at no extra charge) and A Taste of the Valley, a compilation of church members’ favorite recipes published by St. John Don Bosco Church, Conyngham, PA in 1989.

A Taste of the Valley was produced by a church committee of 13 members. One of those members was Dorothy Staudenmeier. Dorothy was a very close friend of my mom’s and this was obviously a gift. On the inside cover page Dorothy wrote, “Dear Eleanor, Enjoy the cookbook and know we have hope your recipes for health and happiness are many. Sincerely, Dorothy

Our last “guide” comes to us again from the "Hat Box" collection. I know that I am showing it with a sewing machine from 1950 but it is really all about hand-stitching. It was published in April, 1913. This article from The Farmer’s Wife shows the reader how to make a “Blanket Stitch or Flat Buttonhole Stitch”, the “Chain” stitch, a “Herringbone or Catch” stitch, the “French Knot” (not to be confused with the “Ron’s Knot” which is what I end up with when I try to sew), the “Cross” stitch, the “Outline or Stem” stitch, and the “Satin” stitch.  If you really know your stitches, you can pick out the ones I mentioned from the diagram seen in the picture that follows.

I guess that runs this thread out about as far as it will go. Join us again on December 10, 2019 when we will be looking at more of the ways our ancestors occupied their time, that is, their occupations, in Somebody’s got to do it! (The jobs we did.).

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[1] Our Country Cousin (ed), The Handy Housekeeper (Phila. & Chi: Farm Journal, 1885)

[2] Cobb, Hubbard (ed.), The Complete Home Handyman’s Guide (NY: Wm. H. Wise and Co., Inc., 1948)