Letter Revives Memories Of 1936 St. Patrick’s Day Flood
LINDA WILLIAMS
Bedford Co. Correspondent
My in-laws, John and Pearl
Williams, both died in 1991.
And, while I think of them
often, I especially remember
them on St. Patrick's Day and
re-read the letter my mother-in
law wrote regarding the 1936
Johnstown flood.
BEDFORD (Bedford Co.)
Most people think of the Johns
town flood as that occurring on
May 31, 1889. To be certain, its
devastation has never been
equaled and the news it produced
in the 19th century was equaled
only by the assassination of Abra
ham Lincoln.
Many people still living re
member the St. Patrick’s Day
flood of 1936. It was the year my
parents were seniors in high
school. My father often talked
about how he got in trouble as he
drove a carload of anxious youth
from town to town looking at
flood damage. They skipped
school to do H!
Johnstown, however, was not
one of the cities he visited. Resi
dents of this city feared the wor
st...a repeat of the 1889 destruc
tion.
My husband was a two-year
old toddler and his brother, a
baby, on that fateful day.
Over the years, my mother-in
law’s deep brown eyes would
often cloud with tears as she re
membered the fear she had expe
rienced as she pushed her two
little guys out the back door of
their Johnstown home and up the
hill to safety.
A month later, on Sunday,
April 19, Pearl, my mother-in
law, sat down at her kitchen table
to write a letter to her sister,
Betty, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Her return address on the let
terhead read simply, “Flood
City”.
Betty was pregnant with her
first child and Pearl began the
letter with misgivings over not
being able to purchase some
promised silk to make a robe for
the upcoming hospital stay. She
did however say she was sending
a “teddy”, a souvenir of the flood
from Fosters’ Store and was
going to send her own silk nightie
and jacket to wear for the occa
sion.
Continuing with family gossip,
Pearl is pleased to share that
brother, Andy, is buying a car for
$lO a week, a 1934 Oldsmobile
sedan. The purchasing price was
a bargain, in 1936, for $5OO.
It’s an ill wind that blows no
one good and Pearl confirms this
as she says that due to the flood,
the Depression is over in Johns
town.
Schenkemeyers, my father-in
law’s (Ned’s) place of employ
ment, had more work then they
could handle, consequently, the
workmen were getting time and a
half for overtime and Sundays.
They wanted “Ned” to work
on Easter but, tired of mud and
cleanup, he preferred the compa
ny of his family.
“I have had my hands full
cleaning up after the flood dirt,”
Pearl continued. Both of the chil
dren had been sick and one can
only imagine the long days of
working in the stench of flood
waters. It was a smell my in-laws
never forgot.
“I am so thankful for the little
Hungarian girl in our neighbor
hood who helped me clean,”
Pearl related. “She worked like a
trooper and I am all cleaned up
Lancaster F<u^mg
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Letters are not valuable just because they are old. But families treasure finds such as
this one because it is rich in family history. In this case, the letter details the experi
ence of surviving the Johnstown Flood of 1936.
except the attic and spare bed
room upstairs. And, was I glad
for those spaces as we moved ev
erything we could up there the
day of the flood.”
“I think I shall never forget it,
it was an awful experience....”
“I was washing clothes. We
had such terrible rains for two
days and nights and so much
snow on the ground all winter
that still lay on the hills and the
ground still frozen would not
take any more water.”
“Why the water just poured
down them thar’ hills!”
“I was half done with the
clothes, when the people next
door called to see if I had water
in mv cellar. I didn’t. But I look
ed out onto the street as our cel
lar is level with the street and we
have a door that leads to the side
walk. I heard people saying the
river was high and over its banks
in some low places but I didn’t
think anything of it until around
one o’clock.
“Dick Thiel, one of the sons of
the old lady we rent from,
dropped by and said he thought
we were going to have high water
like they had in 1906.
“Our cellar is immense and is
divided into four rooms. Dick
had stored some boxes of books
in the smallest room and he
wanted to move them to the attic.
The rain continued to pour down
and inch under the cellar door.
Once this task was completed,
Dick and Pearl began lifting
things to higher ground as the
water was quickly filling the cel
lar. They moved Ned’s motor
saw and tools and emptied the
washer and pulled it over to the
.steps. They grabbed baskets of
clothes and work clothes and car
ried them to the upstairs bed
rooms.
When the water had reached
the motor on the washing ma
chine, she and Dick began to lug
it upstairs. It was so heavy that
Pearl, who weighed no more then
120, almost let it fall on Dick.
Outside, the street was a like a
river. A couple of boats drifted by
in the rain.
By mid-aftemoon, Pearl was
concerned enough to call her
family, who lived nearby. But the
line was dead the telephone office
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was already flooded. Pearl wor- vour a pot of freshly made Hun
ried about her husband who had garian goulash. They also drank
no way of contacting her. Finally, a quart of liquor and a half gallon
at 5 o’clock he arrived home. of wine which Pearl is certain
Ned brought along a friend, Al. braced them for the night’s work
Dick had stayed and the three ahead.
men sat at the kitchen table, al
ready knee deep in water, to de-
‘Great Find’ Demonstrates
Collectibility Of Old Literature
LOU ANN GOOD
Food And Family
Features Editor
DUNGANNON (Perry Co.)
Old letters, catalogs, sale bills,
printed advertisements garner
high interest not only among col
lectors of old literature but also
individuals who have a personal
connection to select items.
An example of this happened
recently. Hassinger and Courtney
Auctioneers were preparing the
contents of an old hardware store
for auction. Hidden in a cache of
paper goods stored in the rafters
above the third story building,
they found a 20-page catalog
from Standard Novelty Works,
the largest and best-known chil
dren’s sled manufacturer in the
country during the early 1900 s.
The catalog advertised Lighten
ing Guider sleds, which are high
ly prized today.
The auctioneers knew the
value such printed pieces have to
descendants of the business and
to those affiliated in some way to
the former business.
The auctioneers contacted
Jimmy Rosen who owns the for
mer sled factory building in Dun
cannon. He was interested. Rosen
attended the Feb. 15 Auction and
purchased the old catalog for
$450.
This catalog will be prominent
ly placed in the museum he oper
ates in the former sled factory.
Printed on the front of the
.*
They carried rugs, all the
clothes, drawers, radio, living
Printed on the front of the 20-page catalog advertising
Lightening Guider Sleds are the words: “Without a thor
ough knowledge of your goods, you are not a success.”
Hassinger and Courtney Auctioneers believe their imple
mentation of statement was especially beneficial to them
when they discovered the catalog among a cache of
paper goods stored in the rafters of an hardware store
built in 1890. Hassinger contacted Jimmy Rosen who
owns the former sled factory building in Duncannon.
Rosen purchased the piece for $450.
20-page catalog advertising ed the item for his museum dis-
Lightening Guider Sleds are the play, and the piece might have
words: “Without a thorough been discarded,
knowledge of your goods, you are Rosen, who operates an an
not a success.” tique and craft store in addition
Hassinger and Courtney Auc- to the museum in the former sled
tioneers believe their implemen- factory, is delighted with his pur
tation of this statement was espe- chase.
dally beneficial to them. If they He said, “This is a great find,
would not have recognized both It’s the oldest known piece of
the sentimental and monetary Lightening Guider literature that
value of the piece and contacted is known, and illustrates many of
Rosen, he would not have attain- the companies earliest products.”
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 15, 2003-B2
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room chairs, cushions from the
couch, and dishes to the second
floor. Propping the beds on
chairs, they piled dressers on top
of that and the davenport on top
of that. Even the heavy Kelvina
tor refrigerator was lifted on top
of the kitchen table. The motor
got wet, but the insulation re
mained intact.
There was 53 inches of water
in the house.
Putting her two little ones in a
baby buggy, Ned escorted Pearl
up the hill to the neighbors
known as “The Valleys.” In a
four room house, four families
bedded down for the night. The
children slept in the living room,
but none of the adults could
sleep.
“I could hear people calling for
help, the noise of houses breaking
and porches being swept away.
The Poplar Street Bridge which
is just below our house was wash
ed away.”
Toward dawn, Pearl was
awakened by her husband who
came bustling into the room with
a flashlight declaring everyone
should go down to the alley light
to see the huge river as we may
never see another flood.
“I certainly hope not,” Pearl
wrote.
“It was horrible, only the roofs
stuck out at some places.”
Pearl had taken all of her food
from the refrigerator to the Val
leys and was happy to share it for
(Turn to Page B 28)
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