Monday, March 10, 2025

Another Amazing Happenstance or Two or Three

 

Recently, a page I follow on Facebook, Old photos & stories around Bedford County, (Pennsylvania) had a post from one David Amman about an airport project that he was researching.  The airport in question was the Bedford Airport, the town where I was born, as well as my dad and many generations before him.  David was looking for photos of the four airport locations in Bedford.  He had also attached two photos that he had found. One was a newspaper ad about the Bedford Airways Flying School and the other was B & W photo of four small aircraft parked on a a grassy piece of land. This post most definitely piqued my interest because my dad learned to fly at the Bedford airport.  I had always wanted some old photos of the airport but had never gotten around to a serious search.  One of the replies to his post made me remember that I had some of my dad's aviation related things. I dug them out and there were several airport locator maps from the late 1960's to 1970, a manual flight computer and most importantly, his pilot log books. I posted a photo of a random page from his first log book. This caught David's interest and he asked if  I would search for a specific tail number in the log book, NC96309.  This is getting more interesting by the minute. Of course I would look for it! Page after page and nothing, until... Aug 12, 1947.  There it was. A T-craft Ace which he flew for 50 minutes. He practiced stalls and landings on this flight out of Bedford Airport.  Finding the number, I immediately let David know.  David then told me that he is the current owner of that specific aircraft and that it is one of the planes in the photo he posted!  Sure enough there was the same number on the plane in the photo! Now my mind is blown!  What are the chances of this ever happening!  I kept looking thru the logbook and a few days later, dad flew 96309 again for 35 minutes.  There was also another entry in the logbook for a T-craft Ace with a different number, NC96563 that he also flew as a quick 15 minute orientation flight previous to flying in 96309. I believe that that plane is also in David's photo. And here's why.  The Flying School had 4 trainer aircraft and there are 4 planes in the photo.  It's blurry but I feel that the number matches.  Just like that I have a photo of an actual plane that dad flew in 1947.  


NC96309 at Bedford and in the distance at end NC96563



                                                     Bedford Gazette, March 18, 1948


I found this ad in the Bedford Gazette, Aug 14, 1947, pg 9  -- Dad flew mainly the Aeronca Champ while taking lessons


In examining dad's log book, I realized the he did not begin his flying lessons in Bedford, instead the first 10 months or so, he flew out of the Martinsburg, Pa airport about half an hour north of Bedford in Blair county.  The reason for this was that Bedford did not have an active airport at that time, but one was being built and would open in 1947. Dad's very first flight was on June 24, 1946.  He was just a week or so short of his 17th birthday.  He flew in an Aeronca Champion NC83657 for 30 minutes.



Martinsburg Pa airport in 1953

 Being summer, his lessons occurred about 4 days a week always in the same aircraft.  When school started in the fall the lessons slowed down.  April 1947 came along and Dad began flying again, but out of the Bedford Airport this time. According to David, there was also a temporary airfield at Everett, PA that was called Bedford by many that was used while Bedford airport #2 was being built. Dad could have been flying out of there just before the new field opened and called it Bedford in his log book. 




Dad's first cross country flight would happen on June 4, 1947 about the time of his graduation from Bedford High School.  He took off from Bedford in an Aeronca Champ NC2388E (this number becomes important) flew 46 minutes to Utahville in Clearfield Co, Pa then on to Tyrone, Pa 20 minutes away and then 41 minutes back to Bedford.  He continued his lessons through the summer of 1947 and on July 22, he began prepping for his flight tests.  On Aug 12, 1947, dad received his license, coincidentally, the same day he flew David's plane for the first time.  Dad flew several days a week thru the rest of August and was able to now have passengers along.  He gave rides to family and friends. You might wonder how a high school kid paid for his lessons and flight time.  Dad did have various jobs in town, but would also tell us that he would do odd jobs around the airport to help pay for the lessons.  I remember him saying that he did some digging around the runway once and painting an identifier on a roof at the airport.  

Dad in 1947





Dad went away to school at Parks Air College in St Louis for a year but managed to get in flight time at Bedford on visits and the summer of 1948. He then transferred to Lock Haven Teachers College, Pa in the fall of 1948.  He flew many hours the summer of 1949 at Bedford and that fall began getting in some flight time at Lock Haven's airport, also home to Piper Aircraft.  One log entry on Sept 24,1949, he said that he and a friend flew from Lock Haven to State College, Pa and flew over the Penn State vs Villanova game at half time in the new Beaver Field that had opened that year.  Penn State 6 - Villanova 24.  At Lock Haven, dad was flying a Piper Vagabond.  Dad flew as often as he could through college until 1952 when he entered the Army for a two year enlistment. His longest cross country trip was July 26 - 30, 1950, when he and a brother flew from Bedford to St Louis. One of those flights during college included my mom, whom he had met in Lock Haven.  She was visiting Bedford with him and on July 26, 1952 she took a 30 minute ride over the Bedford area. She wasn't a fan of flying but did it that day.  When dad returned from the Army, one of the first things he did was to take a check flight at Bedford on July 9, 1954. His log book says he did not do the medical because he was getting married the following month.  

Penn State trip and what he would have seen




                                                          Cross Country trip - Bedford to St Louis

Carole, John's future wife flies



Bedford #2 Cessna runway and offices and Hanger in 1959

Bedford County Press & Everett Press - Aug 6, 1959, pg 9



Bedford Airport #2 aerial view in1958

Dad did not pilot a plane again for 13 years. But in those years, we were able to fly with dad's brothers once in awhile at Bedford.  One of those rides was in summer 1965.  I did find a photo taken from a cockpit where dad's brother Gene was the pilot and the photo was marked as Weidman's Bedford.  Weidman's was a name of the 3rd Bedford airport location.  


Bedford Weidman in 1967













 Weidman's Bedford  - 1965



Dad had three brothers, all of which held their licenses for awhile.  One brother in particular, Gene, flew all his life. Along with his wife, they did air shows and competed in aerobatics.  In late 1967, dad decided to renew his physical and get his license current again.  By this time, he and our family were living in Pottsville, Pa and dad was a professor for Penn State's local campus in Schuylkill county.  His first flight was on Nov 9, 1967 at the local airport, Zerbey, near Pottsville Pa. He flew in a Piper PA-28 140 Cherokee.  


         Dad's return to flying and his manual flight computer for flight planning 




                                                      April 1968 - Zerbey Airport - Piper Cherokee


1967 Zerbey Airport

By March of 1968, he was checked out and began flying around the area.  On April 2, 1968, I had my first airplane ride with Dad. I had five rides in all with dad by Aug of 1970.  There could have been more that he didn't note me in his logbook.  I enjoyed the rides but not enough to want to learn to fly, I guess. Dad always wanted me to solo at 16. I was 15 at the time and had other interests, plus I could not even learn to drive a manual shift car! How in the world would I have been able to handle all that stuff in an airplane! Rudder, Throttle, Instruments and of course, the "Houses get bigger, Houses get smaller" yoke!  Mom was probably relieved, she would worry every time my sisters and I flew with Dad. I was on Dad's last flight which was on Aug 23, 1970.  He had to stop flying due to a medical issue.  A sad ending to something he loved to do. 

 

                                                       My first ride with Dad

                                                                       and his last flight


Side Stories

Now, in getting back to my conversations with David. He sent me many news clippings he had collected for his project. I searched old photos to see what I may have had to share as well. It's hard to believe that there was not one photo of dad with any airplanes during the time he was learning to fly!  In dad's log book, I noticed a signature of the same person on almost every page.  Woodrow Clapper.  Of course, me and my curiosity, searched him at newspapers.com and started finding some of the same clippings that David had sent me.  It turns out that, Woody as he was known by, was one of three former WW2 army  pilots who formed a company, Bedford Airways, and were building a new runway for Bedford just 2 miles north at Cessna, PA and opened a flying school marketed to veterans and their GI Bill benefits.  This airport would be the 2nd of 4  locations of an airport at Bedford.  It was open from 1947 until sometime between 1958 and 1962, when a 3rd location replaced it. However, there is information that says the 2nd location continued operating as a private airport until around 1965-68.    The school appealed to more than veterans tho, as many others, men mostly but there was at least one woman who completed her training there, enrolled. So that all made sense.  This was all around the time that dad was taking his lessons.  

David also shared a link to a page where you can search for aircraft tail numbers. He searched one of the other numbers that he had seen in the log book and came up with a match.  Remember NC2388E that I said was important?  Well, it is another plane that is likely still flying today.  So now we have a photo of a second plane that dad flew back in 1947.  It's last owner is listed as living in Woodbury, PA which is very near Bedford.  Both of these planes were manufactured in 1946.   David bought the T-Craft Ace N96309 in 2019.  


Aeronca -AC ---  NC2388E  today



David's Taylorcraft Ace NC96309 today - note the Bedford Airways Logo on the fuselage

T-Craft is actually a short name for Taylorcraft, the plane's manufacturer.  I have one more happenstance here.  Awhile back , I was  researching former residents of my grandfather's address in Lock Haven, PA.  I was amazed to find out that in 1940,William T Piper, owner of Piper Aircraft was living with his son at my grandfathers's address.  Grandad bought the home a few years after this.  I can only imagine some of the aviation conversations that took place in my grandad's living room. Why I bring this up, is because Piper Aircraft was born of  Taylor Brothers Aircraft Corporation. William Piper bought Clarence Taylor's share of the company, of which Piper was an investor, and renamed it Piper Aircraft in November 1937.   Clarence Taylor formed another company, Taylor-Young Airplane Company, which was renamed Taylorcraft in 1939, the maker of David's plane. 

Three of Bedford's Aviation Pioneers
Woody Clapper was a local pilot before WW2 and flew gliders in the war and later after the flying school in Bedford, was an officer in Bedford County's Civil Air Patrol, and also was Bedford's postmaster for 40 years. My curiosity was not yet satisfied tho and being related to ALOT of Bedford county families, I turned to Ancestry.com and searched for Woody's family.  I did find it and was able to connect to Woody in several ways.  1st, we are related to his first wife, Dorothy Calhoun, through our common Border family ancestors, as 7th cousins. 2nd, my daughter in law who has many Bedford connections, is an 8th cousin of Woody through the Brumbaugh and Hoover families. And 3rd, we are related to Woody himself through the Brill, Maurer and Amick families as our 5th cousin.  One of the trees on Ancestry that Woody Clapper is part of  had some additional news clippings attached to him that pertained to the airport and school. I finally had something new to share with David.  I think dad would have liked knowing of his relationship to Woody.  Woody passed away on April 19, 1991 in Bedford at age 78.  



Bedford Gazette reprint, May 1994


One of the other partners who built the 2nd Bedford  Airport was named Jack Henry Pepple.  He too was a glider  pilot in WW2.  His name appears in my Dad's log book on just one page, in August of 1947. Tragically, Pepple, age 26, was killed in an air crash less than a year later on July 16, 1948 over West Virginia in bad weather. At that time, Bedford Airways offered a charter service and it was one of these flights that crashed, piloted by Pepple. Prior to this crash, Bedford Airways  had a very good safety record. 



Everett Press, April 23, 1948 pg 10


The third partner in Bedford Airways, Frank Grazier another WW2 pilot, bought Woody Clapper's share of the business in 1951 and in 1956 combined the Blair county airport with Bedford Airways and operated as Blair-Bedford Airways. 


Bedford Gazette, Nov 13, 1951


That ends this story of my Dad and his flying chapter. I could go into more history of the airports but I will leave that for others to research. Aviation gets into your soul, I believe.  It has always been a part of my life in one way or another beginning with my Dad and his brothers.  Then I met my husband.  His dad was a WW2 nosegunner in a B24.  His brother had his pilot license and was building his own plane.  I had a ride with him in his Luscom once.  Quite the experience compared to flying in a brand new Piper Cherokee with my dad. My husband was an Air Force Veteran where he learned his craft as a mechanic.  Later he worked for McDonnell-Douglas as a factory rep on contract to the Navy.  And lastly retired from USAirways/American Airlines as a Maintenance Foreman  in the Ops Center in Pittsburgh. We also have other pilots and aviation professionals in both of our families.   So as I say, it's in our soul and blood.   As I sit here and write this story, I can hear aircraft approaching Pittsburgh International.  I do not mind the sounds at all.  Some protest the noise, but I look at it as just part of my life.  Our bread and butter I always say and sounds of freedom.   Look up.... 

Special thanks to David Amman for his post! Thanks for reading!


SOURCES:

David Amman

https://flybedfordpa.com

https://flyaltoona.com

https://www.taylorcraft.com/history.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylorcraft_Aircraft

https://www.piper.com/blog/piper-history/

https://www.airfields-freeman.com/PA/Airfields_PA_SC.htm#bedford1

aerialvisuals.ca

Newspapers.com

Ancestry.com


Please give credit and post a link to my blog if you intend to use any of the information written here. My blog posts are © Ann M Sinton 2025. All rights reserved





Monday, February 10, 2025

Paths

 I've been doing embroidery this last year and have found some really nice patterns to stitch.  My latest project was a labyrinth made solely of french knots.  As I was stitching, I was thinking of the many paths  we encounter in life, just as in a labyrinth. Sometimes you hit a dead end and have to turn around, sometimes it requires a lot of turns to complete the journey.  But with persistence, you arrive at the  destination.  So I guess my thought for the day is 

"keep going, be persistent and you'll attain your goal"










Pattern from :  NOMADembroideryCo



Please give credit and post a link to my blog if you intend to use any of the information written here. My blog posts are © Ann M Sinton 2025. All rights reserved



Saturday, February 1, 2025

912 Mahantongo St - A House History

 

History of 912 Mahantongo St, Pottsville, Pennsylvania – The Former Home of Penn State Schuylkill Campus

 

I started this story because I wanted to know more about the house at 912 Mahantongo St. where myself and my Dad spent much time.  Dad was a professor of Math for Penn State from 1960 to 1978. The campus in Schuylkill county at the time was based at 912 Mahantongo St.  I spent time there as a young child waiting for Dad to take me home from school, mostly in the library.

  At first, I wanted just a photo of the building.  That proved my hardest task, but I did eventually find several and include them here.  During the search for the photos, I found many events mentioning the address of the house through newspaper articles.  The house became more interesting, the more I searched. In going down this particular rabbit hole of the 912 Mahantongo St house history, I have decided to keep going and investigate the interesting histories of both Gen. Henry Pleasants and Adm. Norman Farquhar, who lived at 912, as side stories.

 Here is where I will begin to intersperse information about some of the occupants of 912 Mahantongo St.

According to the book “Penn State Schuylkill – 75 years of transforming lives” by Rosanne Troy Chesakis, 2010, 912 Mahantongo St was built in 1874 by a famous Civil War General Henry Pleasants on a street that would become Pottsville’s own “Millionaires Row”, the place to live for the very prosperous in the 1800’s. 

     

  Pottsville Republican – Nov 9, 1995 – pg 3 




                                         

                                                                 Pottsville Republican – Feb 11, 1994 – pg 19

Henry Pleasants was born in 1833 in Buenos Aires, Argentina to an American John Pleasants and Sylvia Naveis of Argentina.  He lived there until he was 13 years when he came to Philadelphia to attend school and lived with his Quaker uncle Henry Pleasants and family.  Henry became a mining engineer and came to Pottsville in 1857 working for the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co.  He entered the Army in 1861 and became the Captain of Co C of the 48th PA Infantry.

1850 Census Henry Pleasants living with his Uncle’s family in Philadelphia

 


1860 Census Henry Pleasants and first wife, Sarah Bannon, she died the same year – Pottsville, PA South Ward



Henry enlists in the Army in 1861, some say that so he would die and join his wife in eternity.

After the war, sometime between 1865 and 1867, Henry marries Ann Eliza Shaw. Their first child Emma is born in 1867.

1870 Census of General Henry Pleasants living in Pottsville, street unknown but in District 316, South East Ward

 



General Henry Pleasants is most famous for being the creator of the plan to tunnel under the Confederate lines at Petersburg, Virginia during the Civil War.  He used the 48th Pa Volunteer Infantry regiment that was made up of Schuylkill county coal miners to accomplish his plan.  The plan was successful, but Burnside’s Union forces failed to use the advantage created by the explosion.  This became known as the Battle of the Crater, July 29,1864.

Photos below found at - https://longislandwins.com/columns/immigrants-civil-war/a-volcano-in-virginia-the-battle-of-the-crater/

 


Col Pleasants and men placing gunpowder

 

The explosion

                                                                                The crater in 1865

After the Civil War, the former general came back to Pottsville, regained his old job and in 1870 was working as the chief mining engineer for the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co. He planned all of the shafts in the Pottsville area owned by his company and was thought of as a very skillful engineer. The General dies at age 47 on March 26, 1880, leaving a wife and 4 children as seen in the 1880 census.

 

1874 – 912 Mahantongo built by General Pleasants.

                                                              Pottsville Republican – Aug 6, 1994

 

 


                                                                  Atchison Daily – Mar 26, 1880 – pg 1

                                                            Gen. Henry Pleasants Obituary


                                                                     1880 Census of 912 Mahantongo St

                                 Pleasants family – wife and 4 children and 2 servants living there after Henry’s death

                                                                        

  


                                                           The Peninsula Times Tribune – May 29, 1926 – pg 1

Annie Shaw Pleasants Carpenter passes away in Palo Alto, California as the widow of Dr John Thomas Carpenter , her 2nd husband. John T Carpenter died in 1899 in Pottsville. He was also listed on Henry Pleasants’ will as one of two property appraisers for the estate.

 

                                                                   Pottsville Republican – Feb 26, 2000 – pgs 1,2

                                                        General Pleasants connection to another early Pottsville family


Gen. Henry Pleasants mentioned above was married to an Annie E whose second husband was a Carpenter.

 You might think that this is the end of the Pleasants family story, but Henry and Annie had a son John. He has an interesting  story as well.  John was born in 1872 in Pottsville and did live at 912.  I do not know when John’s mother married John Carpenter, but by 1890, John Pleasants, age 18, and his brother James, age 15, were living at 212 Mahantongo St. alone.  The youngest Pleasants child, Hiram, was born in 1877 would have been age 13, but it is not known what happened to him. 


                                                           Eleventh census of Schuylkill County, PA – 1890

John may have received his education in Baltimore at Johns Hopkins University.  In the 1891 yearbook for the school, a John Pleasants is shown as a member of the Phi Kappa Psi Alumni Association. 

    

     

 

                                                             Lexington Herald Leader – Jan 14, 1898 – pg 6

  John was working in Philadelphia when he received the position in Boston in 1898.  By 1910, he is shown living in Baltimore and working as a church organist.  The Shaws were a Kentucky family.


                                                                             1910 Census – Baltimore

By 1914, John seems to have settled in Pittsburgh as the organist/choirmaster at St Peter’s Episcopal Church and also offered musical lessons as shown in this ad in the Pittsburgh  Post Gazette.


                                                                               Nov 29, 1914 – pg 10

 

                                        

                                                        Pittsburgh Post Gazette – Oct 1, 1916 – pg 52

                                                        Here John is shown with the St Peter’s Choir


 St Peter’s Episcopal in Pittsburgh also has an interesting chapter.  Built in 1851, the church originally stood at Grant and Diamond Sts.  About 1900, the church and grounds were bought by Henry Clay Frick. The building was dismantled brick by brick and moved to a new location at Forbes and Craft Aves.  The building was donated back to the congregation and that is where John Pleasants would have worked.  It was sadly demolished in 1989.

 Apparently, John enlisted during World War 1, as this article tells of his return.  I have found no evidence of this yet.


                                                                Pittsburgh Press – Jan 28, 1919 – pg 12

 I cannot find John in the 1920 census, but he does show up in 1930, living in Roselle, New Jersey and working as a musician for a church.


                            1930 Census

 

Daughter of Civil War General Henry Pleasants and John’s sister


                                                             Pottsville Republican – Jun 13, 1944 – pg 10

I could not find John in either the 1940 or 1950 censuses.  But he did come back to Pittsburgh and was living at 5105 Fifth Ave, Oakland/Shadyside area of Pittsburgh at the time of his death in 1954. He came home to Pottsville one last time to be buried in Baber Cemetery.

                                                         Pennsylvania Death Certificate

 

                                                            The Pittsburgh Press – Apr 7, 1954 – pg 30

 His address in his obituary and on his death certificate led me to look up it up and this is what I found.

5105 Fifth Ave Pittsburgh is the former Willis McCook mansion built in 1906-07. McCook was a lawyer for Henry Clay Frick and chairman of the Carnegie Steel Co.  This mansion is located on Pittsburgh’s “Millionaire’s Row”. The McCook’s gave up the home in the 1940’s due to high maintenance costs and back taxes.   At the time John lived there it had been divided up into apartments, along with the smaller mansion next to it. The proximity of the home to Carnegie Mellon University, made it a convenient place for many students to live in the 1960’s.   Among those students are some names that may be familiar. Shirley Jones, Andy Warhol, George Peppard and Albert Brooks all lived here when they were students at CMU.  After a disastrous fire in 2004, the mansion was saved and restored and served as a luxury hotel, Mansions on Fifth, since 2011. Nice article on this home’s history here - https://mansionsonfifth.com/history-mansions-on-fifth.php?fbclid=IwY2xjawIIiktleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHfmCzemK3HwHHIpLLC67fXxlZfVuoKZsma28uW14fzOkWJ_pe0A-Aopsdg_aem_qUprXVgqr1wfojbUS-whOQ

So that ends the story of the Pleasants family’s connection….except for one thing.  Whenever, I begin looking into someone like General Henry Pleasants, I also look at their ancestry.  First thing, I look at my tree to see if the surname is there.  Surprise, sometimes it is, and in this case I had one person named Pleasants in my tree.  She was Frances Pleasants, of Philadelphia, and was an ancestor of one of my husband’s DNA matches who has Wilkes Barre roots.  Now, Frances is not a blood relation to my husband but married a man who is.  A very distant cousin that I had to go way way back to see the common ancestor.  But, I wonder if Frances is related to Henry?  Sure enough they were and are a close 2nd cousin to each other, sharing the same Pleasants great grandparents.    So this and the Pittsburgh connection made this an interesting side story to investigate.

 

So back to 912 Mahantongo St.

 

By 1886 the building was a Boarding House owned by the Hawley sisters, Amanda & Rebecca

                                                         Pottsville Republican – Jan 28, 1886 – pf 4


                                                         Pottsville Republican – Jul 17, 1888 – lot sold


A death at 912 Mahantongo St

                                                           Pottsville Republican – Feb 7, 1891 – pg 4

 

The 1890 census is not available to know what happened to Mrs Annie Pleasants.

1900 Census of 400 Mahantongo St – Hawley sisters are the residents – the sisters ran a boarding house here also

 

  

Pottsville Republican – Aug 10, 1901 - Death of the Hawley sisters brother  

   
                                                                        

                                             Pottsville Republican – Sep 20, 1902 - Death of Rebecca Hawley

                         

                                                                                                Pottsville Republican Jan 5, 1931 – Death of Amanda Hawley



 

1902- Admiral Norman H Farquhar retires from the US Navy and begins living at 912 Mahantongo St. Possibly with his brother Guy.  He would die in 1907 and his brother, Guy and family, are shown to live at 912 in 1910. 

 

Pottsville Republican – Jan 27, 1996 – pg 22 from an article about some of Pottsville’s historical figures and where they lived.

                                                                 The Miners Journal – Oct 14, 1899 – pg 1


1910 Census of 912 Mahantongo St – Farquhar family are the residents – Guy Farquhar is the brother of Admiral Norman H Farquhar also of Pottsville.

 


 Admiral Norman H Farquhar had a very illustrious career in the US Navy.  While he was born in Pottsville, once he was in the Navy he did not spend much time there. When he died, he had a winter residence in Washington DC and a summer residence in Jamestown, Rhode Island where died.  He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

                                                             Norman Farquhar about 1865

 

                              Pottsville Republican – Mar 4, 1899 – pg 1                                                


                                                                     Pottsville Republican – Jul5, 1899 – pg 1

Article written by Walter S Farquhar, the Admiral’s nephew, a long time writer and sports editor for the Pottsville Republican

 

Guy Farquhar, was a prominent attorney and President of the Schuylkill Trust Co. Norman S Farquhar is the Admiral’s son.

  
                                The Miner’s Journal – Sep 9, 1909 – pg 4

 

 In 1915, 912 Mahantongo sold by the Frances E Farquhar estate To Mrs A.C. Milliken – Frances was Guy Farquhar’s wife, Guy passed away in 1914.

                                                                   Pottsville Republican – Apr 7, 1915 – pg 1

 

                   1920 Census of 912 Mahantongo St – Milliken family after Mrs Milliken's husband passes.

 


                            Pottsville Republican – Sep 10, 1931 – pg 6 -  Mrs Cullum is a daughter of Mrs Milliken


      


                 Pottsville Republican – Aug 30, 1937 – pg 6 - Mollie Cullum is granddaughter of Mrs Milliken   

                                         

The Milliken family originally lived in a mansion built on Greenwood Hill in the early 1800’s. Later owned by the Leader Nursing Home.  In 1918, the mansion was used as a hospital during the Spanish flu epidemic. Sometime before the 1920’s they left the home. Later a hospital was built on a Milliken property on Mauch Chunk St. and named the A.C.Milliken Hospital.  The name transferred to a new hospital built on East Norwegian St and later named the Good Samaritan Hospital which is still operating today under the Lehigh Valley Health System. 

A.C. Milliken was the husband of Alice Milliken, who as a widow, lived at 912 Mahantongo St. He came to Pottsville in 1890 as the general manager of the Pottsville Iron & Steel Co.  He died in 1905.                                  


The Miners Journal – Dec 13, 1905 – pg1                                               



                                                                 Pottsville Republican – Jun 11, 1926 – pg 10

  

                                 Milliken Estate sells 912 Mahantongo to Charles Dietz to be used as a funeral home

                                                             Pottsville Republican – Aug 1, 1942 – pg 2

 

                                                                             Dietz Funeral Home


                                                              Pottsville Republican – Aug 3, 1942 – pg 6


The Penn State Chapter

                                            Dietz Funeral Home purchased to be leased to Penn State University


                                                       Pottsville Republican – Jul 22, 1948 – pg 1

 

                                                                   Lot next to 912 Mahantongo St bought


                                                               Pottsville Republican - Jul 30, 1948 – pg 10

                                                                     

                                                                    Tax exemption for 912 Mahantongo St


                                                                Pottsville Republican - Aug 28, 1948 – pg 12


                                                                Improvements made to 912 Mahantongo St


                                                                Pottsville Republican - Sep 30, 1948 – pg 17

 

                                                                             PSU - 912 Mahantongo St 


                                                         Pottsville Republican - Sep 28, 1956 – pg 24

 

                                                                                    Penn State Librarian


                                                             Pottsville Republican – Oct 25, 1960 – pg 5

My Dad, John F Heacock, was a math professor at Penn State Schuylkill from 1960- 1978.  His office was in 912 Mahantongo St.  I attended elementary school at the St John’s Parish school which was located across the street and up the 10th St hill.  I would very often wait for him to finish office hours or classes in the library at 912 Mahantongo St.  Miss Devendorf would allow me to help her in the library while I waited. Library would have been on first floor to left of front door as looking at building, It extended to the back of the building. Very fond memories of this time.

 

                                                                 John Heacock new teacher at Penn State


                                                                        Pottsville Republican – Sep 2, 1960


                                             Penn State plans move to Rest Haven in Schuylkill Haven, PA


                                                         Pottsville Republican - Apr 20, 1962 – pg 8


Pottsville Republican - Jan 19, 1966 – pgs 1 & 2

Two great happenings in Pottsville. A green light to start renovations on Rest Haven property to become Penn State Schuylkill.   The planetarium benefited not just Pottsville High School, but other schools in the area.  I was fortunate to be able to have field trips there getting exposure to Astronomy and star gazing.

 




 

                           New Penn State campus to be ready for fall classes

 

                                       Pottsville Republican – Feb 26, 1966 – pg 1

                      

                                               912 Mahantongo St for sale again after Penn State makes move

                                                               Pottsville Republican – Jan 10, 1967 – pg 23

 

                                                                     912 Mahantongo St sold to John Tropp


                                                                Pottsville Republican - Mar 2, 1968 – pg 12


                           10 years later, 912 Mahantongo St suffered a fire and the building was eventually torn down.


                                                              Pottsville Republican – Sep 5, 1978 -pg 27

 

 

Some other articles and photos

 


                                                                       Evening Herald – Nov 9, 1995


 
Pottsville Republican – Aug 6, 1994

                                                                 Pottsville Republican – Aug 6, 1994






PSU The Call – Apr 18, 1974

 

     


Pottsville Republican – Nov 9, 1995 – pgs 1,3 - Plans to build a new library at Penn State Schuylkill


 

 I did this story mostly for myself, to preserve the history of some of my personal memories. But I hope that it was as interesting to you as it turned out to be for me.  912 has a rich history of war heroes, boarding house proprietors, a funeral director, a musician, teachers and students. From millionaire homes to a college campus.  For me, I truly believe that the beginnings of my love of reading and history are right here in 912.  

 UPDATE Feb 25, 2025:  Sadly, after I wrote this story, Penn State announced the Schuylkill Campus is on a list of 12 branch campuses that may be closed permanently due to financial reasons and decreasing enrollment.  The chosen campuses will not close before the end of the 2027 academic year giving 2 year program students the ability to graduate in 2027.  A final decision is expected by May 9, 2025. 

https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/penn-state-university-closing-branch-satellite-campuses-pennsylvania/

https://www.wtae.com/article/penn-state-satellite-campuses-closing/63920618

 

 Please give credit and post a link to my blog if you intend to use any of the information written here. My blog posts are © Ann M Sinton 2025. All rights reserved

 

 

 

 

 

 


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