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EEG a rT ch Soi oe GS ba: A ee
ee SREB Rl fe Y 3 Ei 7 =
ha 5
JAMES B. OLDE
* NANAOTH - FARDWAR-
0] WILL BE | Or
i
For the Largest
. Binders, Mowers,
Hay Rakes,
Hay Forks,
Kramer Wagons,
Studebaker Wagons.
Harness, Stoves,
BEST QUALITY! LOWEST PRICES!
1895.
tl
RBAL!
and Best Line of
Hay Tedders,
Hay Loaders,
Geiser Engines and
Threshers,
Carriages, Buggies,
and Ranges.’
Don’t fail to see our Store this week.
‘Avoid Those Baggy Knees !
Have your Trousers made at
MILLER’S
The largest stock of Suitings and
Trimmings between Philadelphia and
Pittsburg.
MAURICE MILLER,
204 Franklin St., Johnstown.
‘W. B. DIBERT
in the
I
and Price, go to
“Johnstown’s Leading Tailor.
To getthe best of every-
thing in the General Merchan-
dise line, and big values for your
money, is at
J. D. Miller & Sons’,
ROCKWOOD, PA.
This is the oldest and largest
store in Rockwood, as well as
one of the leading stores of the
county. We will positively not
be undersold, quality and style
of goods considered.
We send Greeting
ito our hundreds of customers
during this, our county’s Cen-
tennial year, and shall try to
merit their patronage in the |
future asin the past. |
J. D. Miller & Sons.
CHAS. F. Cook & Co.,
PLANING
or vehicles of any kind,do you need repair-
at C. H. SUFALI’S Shop, on Patriot St.
POMPEI HOTEL
E. L. COOK, Proprietor.
Johnstown,
Newly refitted and furnished. Everything
first-elass, and service of the best. To my
Somerset county friends I extend a special
invitation to give me a call when in the city.
GW. & H.B.KEMP,
——:0: PROPRIETORS OF THE :0:—
HARNEDSVILLE : NURSERY.
Harnedsville, Pa.,
Are still in the MARKET with the choicest
NURSERY STOCK of all kinds. Why
buy. of traveling “sharks” when you
can get better goods at lower
prices at home? Buy of home
men and get something
suited to our climate.
You will then know what you are getting
for your money and with whom you are
dealing.
I. G- JONES & SON
— DEALERS IN —
ALL KINDS OF
LUMBER, BLINDS,
SASH, MOULDINGS,
. DOORS, and General
BUILDING MATERIALS.
LUMBER
HILL YARD.
Hee MILL
Office WORK
AND MILL - 2
SouTH oF | SOMERSET, SPE-
Town PA. CIALTY
Booksellers
|
and Stationers, |
Berlin, Pa. |
|
THE ONLY
BOOK :*:: STORE
PATRIOT ST7.,
F. B. GRANGER,
Contractor :: and :¢ Builder.
Dealer in all Kinds of Lumber and
Building Materials.
SOMERSET, PA.
SOMERSET LIVERY,
SOMERSET, PA.
3 J C r ‘
IN BERLIN, ISAAC SIMPSON, Proprietor.
y i i the vd Stati - | Horses, Buggies, Carriages and Wagons
Everything in the Book and Station for Hine, TORE Slane and Wagous
ery Line. We solicit your patronage. { in connortion:
7 JAS. B. HOLDERBAUM.
AVOID THOSE BAGGTRNESS | NAVI NA
'
Wnolesaie and Retail Dealers in
) y
3 %
i Send for Catalogue and prices.
TLieads all competiors
Line. For the Best in Quality
DIBERT, Johnstown, Penna.
OWNERS OF
Buggies,
: Wagons
ing of any sort ? You can get.the Best Work
Bed ford Street,
Penn’a.
T good, cool ginger beer and the big gin-
MILILINERY?
Largest and Best Sclected Stock in the
county. Ladies’, Misses’ and Chidren’s
Cloaks and Furnishings ofall kinds. Prices
Low. Customers treated fairly and equally.
MEN'S AND BOYS SUITS sold by sam-
ple. Pries Low and fit guaranteed.
A. SNYDER,
Rockood, Pa.
REMINISCENCES.
BY PROF. JOSEPH J. STUTZMAN, SOMERSET
COUNTY’S FIRST SUPERINTENDENT OF
SCHOOLS.
county came from eastern Pennsyl-
vania. The majority of these were of
German origin, and for the most part
belonged to two different religious de-
nominations. The more numerous body
were the Brethren, familiarly known as
Dunkards, whose principal settlement
was in Brothersvalley, the beautiful re-
gion to which they gave its name.
They also became numerous in other
parts of the county. The other was
composed of Mennonites, chieflv of the
Amish branch of that society, who set-
Modations, Rates $1.50 per day. tled in the southern part of the valley
| and on both sides of the National Road ;
E® RIVERSIDE HOTEL, also in Stonycreek and the border town-
W. A. SWAN, Proprietor. ships of Somerset and Cambria in the
north. Nearly all these people were
farmers, and each of these bodies had
its distinctive style of dress. They
had some habits in common, still re-
garded by them as of religious obliga
tion. One of these was the duty of
hospitality, and another, the relief and
solace of members under the bur-
den of grief or calamity. Moreover the
old-timers among them had the praise
of all who knew them, for their strict
integrity in matters of business. The
Lutherans and Reformed composed
the third element of what are still call-
ed the Country Dutch. They co-oper-
ated in building the first churches in
the county, which they used in com-
mon. The English-speaking people of
the farmer class were to be found be-
low the Allegheny and Savage moun-
tains, and on and convenient to the
principal routes of travel across the
county, and predominated in the town-
ships of Addison and Lower Turkey-
foot. English was also more or less
spoken in the villages, but rarely else-
where among people of German de-
scent,—a race that in this country al-
ways adhered too closely to the tradi-
tions of their ancestors.
PURDY BROS,
BARBERS AND ITAIR DRESSERS,
SoMERSET, Pa.
Hot and Cold Baths.
Located opposite Hotel Vannear.
CONFLUENCE HOUSE.
SCOTT STERNER, Proprietor.
Bar attached. Best of accom-
Special attention given at this
leading ConfluencelHotel to the
commercial men. Free bus to
and from all trains.
Some Ancient Somerset
Newspapers.
Several citizens of Somerset have in
their possessipn some very ancient
newspapers. Among them are the
Somerset Whig, People’s Guard, and
Somerset Herald And Whig. Of these
The Whig is the oldest and was estab-
lished and published as early as 1810 or
1812, by John Patton.
The editor of The VEpETTE, while
looking over a copy of the Herald And
Whig dated August 10th, 1853, noted
particularly the advertisements in its
columns, and discovered that among
the numerous advertisements therein
there was only one inserted by a Som-
erset man who is living and in business
in Somerset at the present time. That
man is Isaac Simpson, who is in the liv-
ery and harness business on Patriot
street. The following is almost an
exact fac simile of Mr. Simpson’s ad-
vertsiment in the Herald And Whig:
The Same Old Shop.
THE undersigned would respectfully in-
vite the attention of his friends and the
public generally to his shop, nearly opposite
J. H. Benford’s Hotel, where he is now man-
facturing and will keep constantly on hand
an elegant assortment of articles in his line
of business, made in a workmanlike and du-
rable manner, and superior material, at pri-
ces lower than ordinary, and terms to suit
the times. His stock, consisting of saddles
of all kinds, full Spanish, half Spanish and
County
The homes of the two principal Ger-
man bodies, as I knew them, were per-
fect hives of industry. The clearings
were still made by girdling the trees
and burning the logs and underwood,
so that when the trees came crashing
down, by the time another crop was
wanted there was a fresh job of clear-
ing to do. There was not much wheat
IEE Hood usted wd leh nasser of | Faised, but plenty of rye, a bushel of
every description, plain and ornamented, | which was for years the ordinary wage
horse collars, trunks, valises, ete, will be .
found superior to any other in the borough. | of a farm-laborer, except in harvest-
the Shortest “Hotiee: ive hin i "hue Shot | time. The climate was thought to be
and you will be satisfied. too cold for corn, which was planted
i Binds of produce taken in ex- only for summer use, but it was all
phi x. right for buckwheat and potatoes. Rye
was extensively used by the distillers.
The other staple products of the coun-
ty, besides cattle and horses, were
oats, butter and maple sugar. Oats
found aready market on the National
and other turnpike roads. Butter was
bought up by the local merchants and
other dealers, and hauled to Baltimore
ISAAC SIMPSON.
We are glad to note that this pioneer
advertiser has an “ad” in this issue of
the CENTENNIAL Veperre ; and further-
more, we hope he may live long enough
to give us an advertisement for the
Centennial issue which we intend to
publish in 1995. He ought to contract
for his space now, for it is a good idea
Te ye in wagons, while maple sugar went to
o speak for a good thing in time. : 5
10 spe: g fhingin time. Our Bedford and Westmoreland in ex-
type setters, Albert Sanner and Thomas
Zufall, have already applied for a job
on the edition of Tnr VEpETTE to be
published one hundred years from this
date, and they’re not a bit too early,
either.
change for flour and salt. The women
spun and wove the home-grown flax
and wool, and in many households no
other goods were worn. They also
made the butter and soap, and assisted,
when needed, in much of the out-door
work of the farm.
Rye whisky was cheap and freely
used by all classes. Whether the vis-
itor was a neighbor or stranger, a saint
or a sinner, the bottle was a pledge of
welcome. In the harvest-field, at the
public sale,—“two dollars in one cent,
Somerset County Centennial.
To all our old friends who have gone
West and will return to help celebrate
our County Centennial we would say
don’t fail to go to Pisel’s for a glass of
ger cake; it will remind you more of
Most of the early settlers of this
|
i
|
great farce was concluded. Those who
had borne tke burden and heat of the
day then mingled with the spectators,
and were fain to regale themselves with
the ginger-cakes and home-brewed beer,
the only refreshments permitted on the
ground, I think, and the great crowd
came surging into the village, where
those who preferred it could get some-
thing stronger. Soon, as if by precon-
certed arrangement, a great ring was
formed, in the center of which two
stalwart figures were seen, both strip-
ped to the buff. It was a common thing
to see men vying with each other in
feats of strength or agility, sometimes
winding up with a knock-down, but at
other times, as in this case, a challenge
had been passed between two parties,
and here they were to fight for the
championship. The delighted crowd
took sides at once, and while the par-
ties dealt sledge-hammer blows that
might have felled an ox, shouted lusti-
ly for their favorites. Miller was the
larger man and should have crushed
his antagonist but had too much li-
quor aboard. Ringler beat him till he
was tired, but the fallen hero vowed he
would fight him again, and he did too.
too had theirjgrievances to settle,which
they at once proceeded to do, but who
they were or what it was about nobody
knows. These parades were abolished
prisonment for debt.
having been steadily reinforced by ac-
cessions from the east, especially after
the close of the revolution, but still
more by a sturdy growth of sons and
daughters, native and to the
born,
not only in race and creed, but in lan-
guage also, which was of itself a great
obstacle to the cordial union
vation of the whole.
Amish had strong settlements in the !
east, where they had their German and
mixed with and
even a dictionary adapted to the use of
those who understood no other lan- |
guage but their own peculiar dialect.
[t was a new Germany on American |
soil, from which we were saved by bus-
iness necessity more than anything
else, as the farming class had not yet
developed a body of business men. The
humorous selections copied in the Mey-
ersdale Commercial are fair specimens |
of the dialect as it is still spoken, but
the orthography isa sight to behold,
an evidence that the progress of the |
public school system has caused the |
neglect of German teaching. In this |
county the Amish continued to uphold
the gospel of ignorance, concluding
that since “a little learning is a dan-
gerous thing,” that little had better be
limited to reading, writing and arithme-
tic in their own tongue. In teaching
reading the German Psalter was used,
a book that children could not under-
stand, and for that reason was not like-
ly todo them any harm. The rest of
the community were more practical in
their views. Those whose education
was in German generally preferred
that their children, especially the girls,
should learn to read German first, but
the general tendency was to neglect it
altogether. The testament was at first
the only reading book, but the English
Reader afterwards took its place. Ow-
ing to the circumstances of the people
the school terms were necessarily short.
schools, newspapers
|
your youth than anything in the world,
except the old homestead itself. Any-
body in the county can tell you where
two dollars in one and the next bidder
a dram,” so rendered by a popular auc-
tioneer of that period,—wherever men
Pisel’s place is, opposite the court- came together for business or pleasure,
house, in First National Bank building. | the bottle was there. It is claimed
We keep everything to refresh man, | that the whisky was not so injurious in |
woman or child. We don’t deal in |its effects as the modern tipple, but to |
cheap truck; our things are first-class | my mind any liquor is good enough, |
and will give you satisfaction. Ice |and the best is a very good thing in- |
cream, cooling drinks of all kinds kept | deed—to let alone. Another article
on ice; cakes, pies, sandwiches and | then manufactured that was worse |
bread, all baked by ourselves. We can than the whisky. In the fall after the |
give you a lunch of hot coffee, bread best of the fruit had been gathered, |
and butter and pie for 15 cents and up | the rest, sound and rotten all together, |
to a square meal for 25 cents. We have | was dumped into the still to make
large parlors up stairs where you can | what was called apple-jack, or rot-gut. |
bring your wife and sit down and eat | Belike it did its deadly work in the |
while resting. Don’t forget the place. |slums of the cities. When 1 be- |
A. E. Pisen. |came a resident of Salisbury, seventy
- - | Years ago, most of the heads of families
Our Reputation in Old Bedford. were drinking men, their regular place
We are in receipt of a kindly invita- | of meeting being at the red tavern,
tion to attend the One Hundredth An- long kept by Henry Fuller. In the re-
niversary of the organization of the | gions round about there were plenty of
county of Somerset, at Somerset, Pa., | the same sort, to say nothing of the
on July 3,4 and 5. There is no place | roughs who used to come in from Mary-
to which we would rather go to spend | land, and generally managed to get
the 4th, and as the “Frosty Sons of up a row. Drunks were common at |
Thunder” up in old Somerset never do every public gathering, but the “ Big
things by halves, we know that if we | Muster ” was what they called a “high
get there we will have a royal time, | old time.” By the laws of the State all
princely entertainment, the best the | able-bodied men under 45 years of age
land affords to eat and drink from roast | were enrolled for military duty, which
turkey to “mountair dew,” and floods | consisted of bne day in each year in
of eloquent oratory for which our Som- company drill, and another in the bat-
erset lawyers and statesmen have al- tallion parade, the absentees, unless
ways been famous.— Bedford Inquirer. they were members of a volunteer com-
pany, being liable to = fine. Those who |
had arms brought them, and were
days to be seen at the Centennial. | placed at the head of their companies,
Some of the crude old implements of | but the array of broomsticks and corn-
our forefathers will be an interesting | stalks was largely in the majority.
feature. It is requested that all per- | They answered the roll-call, then
sons having any of the ancient relics in | marched up and down, burnt powder
their possession bring them to Somer- | and looked very brave. At last they
set. Old-time agricultural implements, |
spinning wheels, flax-brakes, etc., can
be made n very novel feature of the
parade,
was
= -
Many will be the relics of by-gone |
were formed into a great long line of
nearly the length of the field, and as
it
ed their arms to the Brigade Inspector,
he officers came marching along, pass-
| still
i play a trick on him, though the school
would generally withdraw out of po-
| liteness and have a
[ he found himself overloaded the more |
| miss the school. This happened so often
| that “ No school till Monday ” became
lif
| bring it down in such a w ay as to ts
There was no labor-saving machinery,
and but little money, so that the farm-
er’s work and from
early spring till the advent of winter |
the boys were constantly employed, |
while the girls were equally busy ey
doors. It was a common saying that
nobody was considered fit to teach un-
less it was an Irishman or a Iessian.
was never done,
Both these were terms of reproach |
among the ignorant, the one applied to
the English speaking people from
abroad, and the other te German emi-
grants, who have never been numerous
here; but the fact that this saying was
applied to teachers as a class, shows
that they had not succeeded in winning
public respect.
teach-
after
these old-time
repeated
Stories about
ers used to be long
they had passed over to the major-
ity. Sometimes the bottle would be
conveniently hid in a hollow stump
outside of the building, to which
it was necessary to make frequent vis-
its, even if it were only to see if it were
there. If the dominie happened |
to fall asleep from the effect of his po-
tations the big boys would sometimes
good time. Bat if
usual and sensible course was to dis-
a standing joke. The discipline of the
schools was simple and easily enforced.
All the pedagogue had to do was to
march along rod in hand, (as long as
the pupils would submit to the treat-
ment,) yell out “Mind your books,” and
there were
symptoms of disorder,
the measure of several backs at once?
The greatly facilitated
this part of the business: besi
slab benches
saved time, and as the for
was divided
nobody
|
Major Hanna, who caught them on the | soon learned to forecast the weather
fly and returned them in the same way.
The roll was then called a second time |
to see that none had got away, and the
Some others then recollected that they |
some time in the forties, years after im- |
At the beginning of the century the |
settlements had already become strong, |
manor |
We have seen that they differed |
and ele- |
eo |
The Brethren and |
| tion to be here if possible, we note the
| and D. W. Sloan, Esq., of Cumberland ;
| Cyrus
| The Committee on Invitations on the Somerset
— etal,
| from the countenance of the teacher,
and when it boded squalls every one
| was on his good behavior. There were
| but few schools until within the last 40
years in which Grammar and Geogra-
phy were taught. Reading was purely
mechanical, and whoever could pro- 2
nounce the most wordsin the least time
was esteemed the best reader. Arith-
metic was the hobby of the country
schools, and the routine of the school
was often interrupted while teacher
and pupil were pegging away to get the
ans.er to some knotty problem. The
practice among the larger boys was to
copy their work into a book, and very
likely the next season the process would
be reversed by copying from the book
to the slate. There was no Mental
Arithmetic, nor could either teacher or
pupil tell how the answer was got, but
then who ever thought of such a thing
anyhow ? Spelling was another hobby,
but as few understood the pronuncia-
tion taught by the book it must have
been very difficult to learn. Spelling
bees were common and have survived,
but the custom of “barring out the
master” has happily passed away. The
pedagogue might be coming along some
morning near the 25th of December and
| find the house closed against him. Per-
| haps he expected it and took it quietly,
otherwise he might go for an ax and
bang the door, but the best way to set-
tle the matter was to enter into a
treaty, based ou apples and cider,
chestnuts or gingerbread, as the case
| seemed to require. If he broke in there
would be a general scampering, but the
big boys were known to hold the fort as
much as a week at a time. Let us leave
them there, and rejoice that the good
sense of the people has at last abolish-
| ed this nuisance. :
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| “ GETTING THERE WITH BOTH
FEET.”
| Great Interest Taken in the Cen-
tennial by Outsiders.
Not only are the residents of Somer-
set county taking great interest in the
coming Centennial, but outsiders are
putting their shoulders to the wheel also.
Of the latter class who have sent very
encouraging letters to the committee
on invitations, expressing a determina-
following :
T
Judge Edward Stake, of
tagerstown; Hon. Wm. McKegg, Hon.
- F. Richmond, Hon. Lloyd Lowndes
1
I
i
Hon. A. V. Barker, of Ebensburg ; Hon.
Gordon, of Clearfield; Ton.
Lucien W. Doty, of Greensburg,
Mayor Boyd, of Johnstown, is also en-
thusiastic. He has sent the following
letter to the committe:
MAYOR'S OFIPICE, !
JOHNSTOWN, PENN’A, June 17. §
County Centennial, Somerset, Pea.
GENTLEMEN—Your kind.favor of the 15th
inst, inviting the citizens of Johnstown to
participate in your grand celebration, has
been received. In behalf of the citizens of
Johnstown 1 wish to thank you for the
honor conferred. Somerset being my na-
tive county, I will use every effort in extend=-
ing the invitation to our citizens and en-
deavor to have as many as possible join us
in the celebration in such manner as shall
place it on record as the greatest event in
the history of the county. It will give me
great pleasure to meet you all at stated
time. Respectively,
James K. Boyn, Mayor.
Among other prominent men who are
greatly interested and will be here if
possible, are: Judge Longenecker, of
Bedford ; Hon. J. D. Hicks, of Altoona ; |
Hon. Chauncey F. Black, of York ; Hon.
George I. Bear, of Reading; Cyrus El-
der, Esq., of Johnstown. Some of these
distinguished gentlemen will favor us
with speeches.
— Ln
*“Shoo! Fly, Don’t Bother Me.”
The knowing ones do not always
know it all, and right here we wish to
say a few words for the benefit of a
few human insects that have in a round-
about way been trying to throw cold
water on the CENTENNIAL VEDETTE.
Every community has a few profession-
al busybodies, and of course Somerset
is no exception to the rule. However,
we are glad to say that Somerset has a
smaller number of these pests than
most towns have. But there are a few
here, a very few, that always judge
everybody else according to them-
selves, and as soon as they learned that
a man from another town was at the
helm of this paper they had all sorts ot
dire predictions to make. Some of these
insects lost no time in telling the busi-
ness men of the town that the stranger
would likely collect a lot of money in
advance, that his special edition would
not make its appearance, ete., ete. Our
readers are invited to scan our adver-
tising columns closely and judge for
themselves as to what the efforts of the
busybodies amounted to. The stranger
has robbed no man, neither has he de-
frauded any man. He went quietly
about his business, treated everybody
fairly and honorably, did not ask for a
cent of money in advance, thinks he
will be well satisfied with the outcome
of his venture, will pay all his bills A
promptly, just as he always has done,
thanks the busybodies for the great
amount of valuable free advertising
they have given Tue Veprrre and ex.
pects to leave here with the best of
feeling for Somerset and its unusually
large number of good people. Why a
few pessimists should have raised ob-
jections fo a man from another part of
the county taking charge of the Souve-
nir edition is more than we can und:r-
stand. Somerset has all along been
trying to make it thoroughly under-
stood that this is a county centennial
and that the people of all parts of the
county are alike interested. If that is
the case, which of course it is, what
grounds did the busybodies have for
opposing a man from the borough of
Salisbury who came here to help to
boom the Centennial and do all in his
power to make it a success? The edi-
tor of this paper is a resident and tax-
payer of one of the oldest, wealthiest
and most prominent communities of
this county, and he does not propose to
t
a back seat in the County’s affairs
orap on that