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By WALTER AVERY
Jermyn Historical Society
Last month, I told how I went up into my attic, jammed with who knows what, looking for the Indian outfit my father made out of deerskin, trimmed with bead work and horse hair when he was in the Boy Scouts Order of the Arrow in the 1920's. I searched through several old boxes, discovering many treasures of historic value.
One box was overflowing with newspaper clippings that my grandmother saved, which included my great-grandmother Mary Gardner Mumford Staple's obituary of January 12,1906; and grandpa's brother’s, Capt. Charles Battenberg, who fought in the Civil War, dated December 26, 1904. Some obituaries of prominent people had no dates: Mr. Burdick, Jermyn's long time photographer and Rev. W.R. West, former pastor of Jermyn's Primitive Methodist Church.
There were clippings with three differing accounts of John Jermyn's death in 1902 from The Scranton Truth (May 29,1902), The Carbondale Leader (May 29), and The Scranton Tribune (May 30). Another clipping was the account of the "stylish wedding" of Miss Bell Gardner and Albert J. Baker. Not only does it describe in great detail the wedding; but lists all the guests and what they gave as gifts — a sugar spoon, celery holder, cherry rocker, etc.
The oldest dated article was from The Jermyn Press, July 8,1898, headed "Rushbrook Lodge No 850 I.O.O.F. Celebrates Its Silver Anniversary." It tells of all the Odd Fellows Grand Officers arriving on the 12:30 D&H train, and the big parade with bands and floats that began at their hall at the corner of Main St. and Rushbrook (which burned down in 1903). The parade ended at Odd Fellows Park, where refreshments were served by different churches, followed by singing and speeches.
A clipping from the Jermyn Press in 1923 printed a poem written by former editor Thomas Boundy, upon his visit back to Jermyn, titled "Who I Saw at Christmas." I will quote the first of his fifteen verses: "Jack Solomon and Mickey O'Neal/Dod M'Cluskey and Billy Veal/Frank Welsh and Daddy Scutt/Rat Smallacombe and Tom Utt."
A few of the clippings I found were duplicates of ones we already had, but as they were from The Jermyn Press, they often had more information. For example, Mark Coons found the account of John Mumford's livery stable across from the Miller Casket Co. fire on July 4,1925 in The Scranton Times. We now have the much longer one by local eye witnesses from the Press.
All total, I added about 90 pages to our Historical Society's archives with what I found in my attic. I wonder how many treasurers like these, are covered with dust in other attics. Look around and see if you have history waiting to be found in your home. If you find some, don't throw out that old "junk,” but instead donate it to your local historical society.
By WALTER AVERY
Jermyn Historical Society
Last month, I told how I went up into my attic, jammed with who knows what, looking for the Indian outfit my father made out of deerskin, trimmed with bead work and horse hair when he was in the Boy Scouts Order of the Arrow in the 1920's. I searched through several old boxes, discovering many treasures of historic value.
One box was overflowing with newspaper clippings that my grandmother saved, which included my great-grandmother Mary Gardner Mumford Staple's obituary of January 12,1906; and grandpa's brother’s, Capt. Charles Battenberg, who fought in the Civil War, dated December 26, 1904. Some obituaries of prominent people had no dates: Mr. Burdick, Jermyn's long time photographer and Rev. W.R. West, former pastor of Jermyn's Primitive Methodist Church.
There were clippings with three differing accounts of John Jermyn's death in 1902 from The Scranton Truth (May 29,1902), The Carbondale Leader (May 29), and The Scranton Tribune (May 30). Another clipping was the account of the "stylish wedding" of Miss Bell Gardner and Albert J. Baker. Not only does it describe in great detail the wedding; but lists all the guests and what they gave as gifts — a sugar spoon, celery holder, cherry rocker, etc.
The oldest dated article was from The Jermyn Press, July 8,1898, headed "Rushbrook Lodge No 850 I.O.O.F. Celebrates Its Silver Anniversary." It tells of all the Odd Fellows Grand Officers arriving on the 12:30 D&H train, and the big parade with bands and floats that began at their hall at the corner of Main St. and Rushbrook (which burned down in 1903). The parade ended at Odd Fellows Park, where refreshments were served by different churches, followed by singing and speeches.
A clipping from the Jermyn Press in 1923 printed a poem written by former editor Thomas Boundy, upon his visit back to Jermyn, titled "Who I Saw at Christmas." I will quote the first of his fifteen verses: "Jack Solomon and Mickey O'Neal/Dod M'Cluskey and Billy Veal/Frank Welsh and Daddy Scutt/Rat Smallacombe and Tom Utt."
A few of the clippings I found were duplicates of ones we already had, but as they were from The Jermyn Press, they often had more information. For example, Mark Coons found the account of John Mumford's livery stable across from the Miller Casket Co. fire on July 4,1925 in The Scranton Times. We now have the much longer one by local eye witnesses from the Press.
All total, I added about 90 pages to our Historical Society's archives with what I found in my attic. I wonder how many treasurers like these, are covered with dust in other attics. Look around and see if you have history waiting to be found in your home. If you find some, don't throw out that old "junk,” but instead donate it to your local historical society.
