Contemporary History #15 – Connecting

When one writes a blog about one’s family history, one expects that people will connect with you for any number of reasons: You got something wrong. You told me something I didn’t know! Here is my story, are we related? A few spam-folks trying to sell sex-related products or just out-right want to steal my money. I try not to respond to those last two kinds, but I do try to respond to the others. One fellow was certain we were related but, alas, we were not. His story and mine ran parallel in so many ways, except for the way our stories began. Darn. One woman wanted me to know that my sleuthing, which I was SO proud of, was wrong. She had the facts. I had the fiction. Darn. Some just want to say thank you. I like those.

Back in November 2021 I got a letter. The woman who wrote it was hoping I could give her more information about her family. “But I don’t know anything about the Montague’s”, I said to myself. Her name was Barbara Montague. She continued, “I would like to learn more about the Drum Family.” I wanted to respond, “Me too!” Of course, I didn’t. I kept reading. Seems she learned about me when someone sent her a copy of a letter that I published in the local newspaper about George Drum and how Drums, PA got its name. To read more about George and his tavern, and how the village got its name, visit George Builds a Tavern, a Place Gets a Name: Drums. https://drumsofdrumspa.blogspot.com/2018/10/9-george-builds-tavern-place-gets-name.html

“My great, great grandfather was Philip Drum.” she wrote. Philip was George’s son. She continued, “My great grandfather was Nathan S. Drum who married Elizabeth Hess. He had a house in Drums that had a store on the first floor and the family lived on the other side of the first floor and upstairs. My grandfather was Philip Leo Drum and he had three sisters, Carrie, Nora, and Lottie.” She wrote.

This photo is of those three sisters, L-R: Nora, Lottie, and Carrie.

Then Barbara explained that Philip Leo’s daughter, Elizabeth, married John Bassett Moore. My correspondent, Barbara, was their daughter.  Montague is her married name.

The connection with me is Barbara’s great great grandfather Philip. For me, he is one more “great” back but he is the common ancestor.  My line goes Philip, John (the brother of Nathan S.), Nathan A, Elmer, Harry, me.

So, to answer her questions, I pointed her to this blog, gave her some information she probably already knew, and asked her a bunch of questions of my own.  She was very kind to respond, had little to offer about my questions, but gave me some insights into what her “connections” to the family were like. For example, about her grandfather, Philip Leo Drum, she wrote that he was “a gentle soul”.

I was very close to my grandfather as he was my male role model while my dad was in the South Pacific during WW2. He was a gentle soul and had lots of patience with me as he taught me a lot about the outdoors and how to do things.  He also taught me how to drive in our big field and on the back roads of Orangeville. An interesting experience as he was deaf in both ears and couldn’t hear other cars coming. He also loved to write letters and poetry to his family members. 

Deaf! Who knew?

To see a photo of Philip L. Drum and learn a little more about him, go to the post “The Methodists” https://drumsofdrumspa.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-methodists.html

Philip Leo’s father was Nathan S. Drum. So, I asked the obvious, “What did the S stand for?” She did not know. “I’ve only seen his name written as Nathan S. or N.S. Drum.”  Darn. She did, however, have a sign. “We have the last sign (or maybe it’s the only sign) from his store.  We have had a replica made so we could hang it outside our house.”  The store’s sign! That was something I wanted to see!

The thing is, when N.S. was “a well-known merchant” in Drums, his cousins, brothers Josiah and Stephen, also had a store in Drums, on the same road, only a few houses down, all within yelling distance. This is a close up of a map from 1873. We see “N. S. Drum” and five or six houses further we see “J & S Drum Store”. They are not in the same location on the map.

My ASSUMPTION has always been that J & S had a store and N. S. was a partner and/or contributed to the store. When Barbara said she had the store’s sign, I thought it was going to say “J & S Drum Store”.

However, that is not what Barbara was saying. She was clearly saying N. S. had a store “on the first floor and the family lived on the other side of the first floor and upstairs” of N. S. Drum’s house. In fact, as we talked, she mentioned that, as a child, she “played store” in the then empty store side of the house. That could only mean there were two stores. To make matters worse, between the J & S Drum Store and the N. S. Drum home, where Barbara says N. S. Drum had a store, was the Andrews Store and Post Office (three stores almost in a row on the same street?). Did N. S. and J & S work together or were they in competition with each other? Perhaps, J & S went out of business and N. S. opened a new store in his house.

I wish I had met these people. Well, I probably met Lottie when I was a baby. I was born in 1957 and Lottie died in 1959. If I had known, I would have asked. Of course, I bet I met Philip Leo, too. You know how families pass around babies. I could have asked him, too; he died in 1960.

One of Barbara’s letters to me included a fatal sentence, “I would enjoy meeting you sometime.” So, after a few more exchanges in which I wormed in implications that I’d love to visit, foolishly she said, in a December 2023 note, that we should come visit her in the summer. On July 9, 2024, I wrote, “I just realized. It is summer! Days are already getting shorter. Sheesh!” Then I reminded her of the visit suggestion. Of course, as I wrote the note, I was thinking perhaps August or September.  She responds, “I know it is short notice, but would you like to come over either Friday or Saturday?”

FRIDAY OR SATURDAY!!?? WHAT!?

My wife and I chose Saturday, July 13.

When I first saw her home, I almost fell over. We’ve toured Presidential homes that are not half as nice as Barbara’s home! It is beautiful. After we chatted a bit, she took us on a tour of her 200-year-old home. Stunning! After we chatted a bit more, she said she had gifts for me. Carrie’s appointment certificates as Drums Postmaster (two certificates). Nora’s Normal School diplomas (two diplomas). I felt like I was stealing.

I’ll share the Postmaster Certificates with you. The first Postmaster Appointment certificate is shown below. It is dated 1913. I enlarged the “appointment” part. I wonder if she had it hanging in the Post Office. I would have.

The next one is Carrie’s first Postmaster certificate, dated 1895, the year Elmer Drum was born. I like that one the best. It is fancier. It has an eagle.

And just to prove we did visit Barbara, here we are, Barbara and me, standing beneath the N. S. Drum Store sign. On the top left is a close-up of the “new” sign and to the left bottom is the original sign in all its glory. Note that it does not say “J & S Drum Store”. Whether J&S and NS were competitors or not, you can be sure that between those two “cousins” standing below the sign, there is no competition whatsoever.