Author: Sheryl

Cousins from up the Creek Came to Visit

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today: 

Wednesday, June 10, 1914: Had company this afternoon. They were my cousins from up the creek.

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This picture of Warrior Run Creek was taken from the bridge in McEwensville.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Hmm. . . I have no idea who these cousins were. Warrior Run Creek flows through the Muffly farm. Going upstream from the farm, it flows through McEwensville, through the Warrior Run High School property, and then up into the Muncy Hills where it originates. (Downstream it flows into the West Branch of the Susquehanna River south of Watsontown).

I don’t know of any aunts or uncles (who would have been the parents of the cousins) who lived near the creek.   But, Grandma’s mother had 7 siblings and her father had 10. I have no idea where some of them lived.

It seems odd that Grandma refers to these cousins by where they lived along the creek. Warrior Run Creek is too small to be navigable, so the cousins would have come via a road. If I were describing where the cousins lived I think that I would have listed the town  (or perhaps a landmark like a church) that they lived near.

Sewing and Chatting. . . and Hopefully Feeling Better

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today: 

Tuesday, June 9, 1914:  Besse came out today to spend part of the week and get her sewing done.

Left to right: Helena (seated), Besse, Jimmie, Ruth (circa 1912)
Left to right: Helena (seated), Besse, Jimmie, Ruth (circa 1912)

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

The few words in a diary entry sometimes don’t even  begin to convey the full story. This time I (and many of you) can fill in a few of the gaps. . .

Grandma’s married sister Besse recently lost a baby. The three-day-old infant died on May 23. This was her second newborn to die. She also lost a baby in 1912.

There’s no place like home. It can be a wonderful place to spend a few days sewing and regrouping.

 

High and Low Tempertures in US Cities, June 8, 1914

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today: 

Monday, June 8, 1914:  Guess most any kind of a person would imagine what I did today. If I could have kept cool, I would have called that something accomplished, but that was out of the question.

Temperatures in selected US cities, June 8, 1914 (Source: Washington Post, June 9, 1914)
Temperatures in selected US cities, June 8, 1914 (Source: Washington Post, June 9, 1914)

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Grandma-

Whew, it sounds hot. Hope you didn’t have to help with any work out in the fields.

Did you try fanning yourself with a hand fan? . . . or sitting in the shade with a glass of lemonade?

—

According the June 9, 1914 issue of the Washington Post, the high on June 8 was 92 in Pittsburgh and 94 in Philadelphia—so it probably was also in the low 90s in central Pennsylvania.

Former Pastor Preached Sermon

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today: 

Sunday, June 7, 1914:  Our former pastor was back to preach this morning. Went for a walk this afternoon.

Photo Source: The Monday Heretic
Photo Source: The Monday Heretic

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Grandma attended the Baptist Church in McEwensville. The church hadn’t had a minister since early January—so it must have been a real treat to have a visit from the former pastor.

On January 4, 1914 Grandma wrote:

Our minister is going to leave soon. He preached his farewell sermon today. I am so sorry to see him go. There were some misty eyes in church this afternoon.

And, on March 29, 1914, she wrote:

Went to Sunday school this afternoon. Attended church, which isn’t very often since we don’t have a regular preacher as yet. . .

And, in the weeks since then she only mentioned going to Sunday School, so the church probably still did not have a new minister.

The McEwensville Baptist Church is long gone. It probably shuttered its doors sometime during the 1920s. A hundred years ago there were many more small churches in rural hamlets than there are now. Many struggled financial and found it difficult to keep a minister because they were unable to pay very much.

Went to Town

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today: 

Friday, June 5, 1914:  Went to Watsontown this morning.

Recent photo of the view Grandma would have had as she walked into Watsontown. (Well, the isn't exactly the same because 100 years ago there would have been a bustling railroad station where the vacant lot with the yellow truck is in the photo.
Recent photo of the view Grandma would have had as she walked into Watsontown. (Well, the isn’t exactly the same because 100 years ago there would have been a bustling railroad station on the right.)

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Hmm. . . Why did Grandma go to the nearby town of Watsontown? . . . Did she go shopping? . . . Run an errand for her mother or father?

1914 Bridal Veils

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today: 

Thursday, June 4, 1914: Ditto

1914-05-48 b

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Oh dear. . . another slow day. . . The previous day Grandma wrote, “Nothing doing.”

While Grandma was doing nothing, maybe she flipped through Ladies Home Journal and pored over the pictures of bridal veils—and selected her favorite veil, while dreaming that she’d someday have a storybook wedding. . . .Or maybe the pictures depressed her and made her worry that she’d never get married.

The New Bridal Veils

As old as the wedding ceremony itself is the custom of wearing the bridal veil. Of course the bridal veil need not be an expensive article, for, unless there is rare old lace in the possession of the brides’ family, it would be perfectly charming and dainty made of fine tulle or of sheer net. Fine lace may edge the veil, or form or trim the cap or head covering, but this is not essential for the beauty of the veil.1914-05-48 c

Trimming the veil with orange blossoms is likewise a custom of long standing. Still there is no reason why other white flowers or strings of pearl beads cannot be substituted should one’s fancy so dictate.

1914-05-48 d

1914-05-48 a

If you enjoyed these pictures and would like to see some more bridal veils from the same issue of Ladies Home Journal, go to Fashion a Hundred Years Ago. It is the companion site to this blog, and I posted several additional pictures there.