82-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 18, 1995
Gavel Bang Marks
End Of Era
LORETTA GOLDEN
Cambria Co. Correspondent
EBENSBURG (Cambria Co.)
The final banging of the gavel
at the 1995 Cambria County Fair
4-H Livestock Auction marked
the end of an era in Cambria
County.
Chester Davis, 79-year-old vet
eran auctioneer, received a stand
ing ovation from fair-goers when
it was announced that he had
called his last 4-H auction.
Davis had been a fixture at the
fair for the past 53 years. During
this time, he had managed and
called the auction, on a volunteer
basis, selling thousands of dollars
worth of livestock raised by
4-H’crs of the area. Davis, a for
mer 4-H member himself, showed
steers at the fair as a youth. In
1932, at the age of 16, he was the
top individual livestock judge.
That same year Davis, along with
two other judges, represented
Pennsylvania in national competi
tion in Chicago.
Besides performing the auc
tioneering duties at the fair, Davis
has made a career of his salesman
ship ability. He has spent more
than 60 years in the auction busi
ness. At the beginning of his
career he primarily dealt with auto
auctions, travelling each week to
Buffalo, N.Y. Other places to
Chester and Minnie with their new St. Bernard puppy,
“Sam.”
which he travelled or. a fairly reg
ular basis were Philadelphia, Pitts
burgh, Cleveland, Lancaster,
Maryland, and occasionally to
Louisville, Kentucky.
Davis estimates that he
travelled as many as 60,000 miles
per year. He was a licensed pilot
and when the weather permitted,
flying was his transportation of
choice. Many limes he took off
and landed in farmers’ fields.
Other limes he would take the
train, but if his family went with
him, they travelled by molorhome.
Chester was bom and raised on
a farm between Ebensburg and
Colver in Cambria County.
Orphaned at age 5, he was raised
by an uncle and helped out on the
uncle’s farm. It was here that
Davis practiced his auctioneering
“singing” skills. In the early
19305, Davis learned his trade
from John Bloom, area auctioneer,
at the horse sales. Davis would
then go home and practice his
famous “singing” inside of a silo
because of the “echo” effect
that it had. He also practiced “yell
ing” while riding his pony on the
farm so that he could tell what his
voice sounded like “on the move.”
As a young man, Chester per
formed the auctioneering honors
at area grange socials with cus
tomers bidding on cakes, pies, and
Granddaughter Tammy Ebert (left) and her children, Jackie, Jessie (front), and
Jeff, or Hawley, (Poconos area) with'Minnie and Chester. The family is quite proud of
Chester and his accomplishments. Tammy affectionately told her grandfather that
she passed an auction last week and she Just had to go In to check out the auction
eer. She told Chester that the auctioneer “sang,” but added "not as good as you
pappy!”
box lunches made by the young
women members. It was at the
Grange that Chester met his wife
Minnie. During 58 years of mar
riage, Chester and Minnie reared
two children: Nancy, of Lancaster,
and Benny, of Ebensburg, who is
also an auctioneer. They are also
blessed with five grandchildren
and six great-grandchildren.
In 1948, Davis built a small
auction bam along Route 22, out
side of Ebensburg. Over the years
he constructed additions to the
original structure as needed, and
conducted a thriving business
there for approximately 40 years.
When asked how he became so
well known in this part of the
country, Davis explained that
because Route 22 is a major artery
across the state, thousands of cars
passed by his auction bam each
day. His sales were frequented by
travelers who heard his auction
eering. “song” on the highway
over the loudspeakers. Travelers
would stop at the auction for an
hour or two, if for nothing else, a
place to stretch their legs and get a
quick bite to eat. Minnie operated
a concession stand there and
would sell quite a bit of food and
homemade pastries each week.
The auction bam was primarily
a place for merchandise sales.
Each sale was well attended
approximately 500 persons came
each week. These •numbers
attested to Davis’ notoriety as i.
premier auctioneer in the state. He
sold anything from dressed chick
ens and crates of local produce, to
new furniture direct from a factory
in Tennessee, clothing, antiques,
and items from estates.
Thanksgiving Day was his
“biggest” day of the year because
of the upcoming Christmas sea
son. This was the time of year that
toys and candy were in great
demand. He wistfully remembers
that in the beginning and for a
number of years afterward, the
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items brought to auction were
good quality American-made
items.
Over the years he has sold tons
of candy and feels that translated
into dollars it would be close to
$1,000,000 worth. Buyers were
individuals as well as those from
large and small “mom and pop”
grocery stores.
The auction bam also served
another purpose. It provided an
outlet for people to bring
unwanted or unneeded items and
make a few dollars. Reflecting on
his 60 years in the business, Davis
says that prices at auctions today
are typically higher than they have
been at any time in history.
Immediately after the war,
Davis remembers that the grand
champion steer at the fair brought
a price of $0.50 per pound. In
more- recent years he has auc
tioned grand champions for any
where from $3.50 to $B.OO per
pound. This pricing is somewhat
dependent on current trends and
also the Chicago livestock market.
Reminiscing a bit, Davis men
tioned that he handled the estate
auction for Grace Kelly’s father’s
house in the Philadelphia area
many years ago. This was proba
bly his most “famous” consignor.
He and Minnie don’t recall too
much about that sale except that
Minnie remembers that she was
impressed because the house itself
had white carpeting throughout.
Speaking of local farm and
equipment sales, Chester can’t
recall how many of these he ban
died but knows that there were
quite a few. It is estimated that at
one time or another, Davis han
dled the sales of machinery, live
stock, or land at approximately SO
percent of the farms in Cambria
County.
At the beginning of the tractor
era in farming, he recalls auction
ing quite a bit of equipment which
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was dependent on horses. Because
Cambria County is a potato farm
ing area, Davis has more recently
handled a lot of potato equipment.
His advice to farmers who are
readying equipment for sale is
“don’t paint your farm equipment
unless it is done professionally.”
His reasoning for this is that when
not done properly, it looks as
- though the farmer is hying to hide
cracks or flaws in the machinery.
This may make potential buyers
shy away from it and not bring as
good a price as the farmer hoped
for.
Chester and Minnie are enjoy
ing their tithe together. Minnie
admits that she thoroughly enjoys
not having any schedule. They
merely do as they wish. This
includes taking day trips, doing
yard work, spending time with
family and their new St. Bernard
puppy, “Sam,” and helping out
with a few farm chores at Benny’s
farm.
This past week Chester was the
honored guest at the local Exten
sion Office Annual Dinner and
meeting. He was presented with a
plaque in appreciation for his
more than 50 years as a “Friend of
4-H." Chester was deeply touched
that so many friends and family
turned out to honor him, including
a granddaughter from Florida and
*a graddaughter and ’great
grandchildren from the eastern
part of Pennsylvania.
Retirement for Chester Davis is
not retirement from everything.
He says that he’ll still do an occa
sional sale here and there but the
livestock auction at the fair will
now be handled by his son Benny
and partner Wayne Templeton.
With a twinkle in his eye, he adds
that he’ll probably be there to lend
them a hand and he’s looking for
ward to it! >