Category: Central Pennsylvania

The Circus

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

Tuesday, June 1, 1911:

Of all the months, my favorite is

The radiant glorious month of June.

How many are the joys it brings,

And also tells that the year is noon.

Every cloud has a silver lining. Ruth and I went to the circus, accompanied by Miss R. O. You see my darling sister sometimes changes her mind for the better. I though the circus was great even if you did blow 60 cents.

Article in June 1, 1911 issue of the Milton Evening Standard.

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

Yeah! I’m glad that Grandma was able to go to the circus after all. R.O. refers to Rachel Oakes—a friend of Grandma and her sister.

The circus came to Milton on the train. There then was a parade as the entertainers, the animals, and their equipment went through town to the fairground (where the actual circus was held).

Recent photo of railroad tracks and an old railroad station building. A hundred years ago today, the circus train probably sat on a siding here--and the parade would have begun in this area.

The parade apparently was awesome and the focus of the front page story in the June 1, 1911 edition of the Milton Evening Standard.

Somewhat surprisingly there don’t seem to be photos of the actual circus in either the June 1 or June 2 issue of the paper. I suppose the paper “went to bed” too early for photos on June 1—though I’m not sure why there were none on June 2. Maybe newspaper photographers weren’t allowed under the big tent to help encourage people to buy tickets and attend the circus rather than just viewing it vicariously by reading the newspaper.

It sounds like Grandma enjoyed the circus—though she doesn’t seem ecstatic about it since she mentions blowing 60 cents. She seems to doing some sort of cost-benefit analysis in her head—and almost wishing that she still had the 60 cents.

Sixty cents  in 1911 dollars would be about $17 in 2011. A dollar today is worth about 1/28th what it was worth a hundred years ago. In other words, there has been an average annual inflation rate of 3.4% per year over the past hundred years.

The Circus is Coming! But May Not Go :(

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

Wednesday, May 31, 1911: Was so very disappointed this evening. Ruth said she was not going to the circus which is to be held this month at the Milton fairground, and I intended to go if she would go.

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

Ad in May 27, 1911 issue of Milton Evening Standard

Memorial Day: Watsontown Cemetery

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

Tuesday, May 30, 1911: Carrie and I went over to the Watsontown cemetery this afternoon. Am rather tired and sleepy.

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

Grandma and her friend Carrie may have gone to the cemetery to put flowers on the graves of deceased relatives for Memorial Day–or maybe there was a Memorial Day ceremony held there.

Grandma’s paternal grandparents are buried in the Watsontown cemetery. Her grandfather had died before she was born, but Grandma would have remembered her grandmother, Charlotte Muffly, who died in 1905 at the age of 78.

I wonder what Grandma’s memories are of her grandmother—Had she been close to her grandmother? . . . or not? Had her grandmother been in ill health for years prior to her death? . . . Or had she died suddenly?

Watsontown Cemetery is on very high hill that overlooks the town of Watsontown. Grandma and Carrie would have had a bird’s eye view of the entire town. They would have been able to look over downtown Watsontown to the West Branch of the Susquehanna River and the looming mountains beyond. Now, just as they did a hundred years ago, the sound of trains rumbling through town periodically breaks the silence.

The cemetery is dominated by a memorial to Civil War veterans.  According to the engraving on the base of the monument the memorial was built in 1902—so it would have been less than 10 years old when Grandma and Carrie visited the cemetery. The memorial probably was built with funds raised by aging GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) veterans who didn’t want the war to be forgotten after they passed on.

Riverside Park

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

Saturday, May 27, 1911: Went to Watsontown this morning, and up to McEwensville this afternoon. Oh the countless errands I have to perform keeps me rather busy. Ruth went to Riverside park.

Source of old Riverside Park postcards: Milton Historical Society

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

A hundred years ago today, it sounds as if Grandma’s sister Ruth had all the fun—and Grandma had all of the work. I wonder if Ruth got home in time to help milk the cows—or if Grandma had to do it by herself.

Riverside Park

When Grandma was young, Riverside Park was the center of the summer social scene.

A trolley ran between Watsontown and Milton. According to Robert Swope, Jr.”

The line passed through a popular recreational park called Riverside Park just south of Watsontown. The park had amusements, swimming, boating and romantic scenery.

 Robert Swope, Jr. in Watsontown, McEwensville, and Delaware Township: A Real Photo Postcard History

The park was only open during the summer months—and probably had just opened for the season. An article in the Watsontown Star and Record from three years later describes the park opening.

Watsontown Star and Record, May 15, 1914 (Source: Montgomery House Library)

Riverside Park was located near the current location of Fort Boone Campsites.

Running Errands

When I was growing up on a farm, after I got my driver’s license,  I remember clearly how farm machinery broke with maddening frequency—and how I’d be sent on errands to buy the needed parts. In Grandma’s day, farm machinery wouldn’t have been nearly as mechanized, but maybe repairs still needed to be purchased—or maybe the errands were totally unrelated to machinery repairs. . .

An Errand and a Male Visitor (to See Her Sister)

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

Thursday, May 25, 1911: Went to Watsontown on an errand this morning. I had to walk though. Besse came out this evening. (Jim) Ruthie’s was here also tonight.

Recent photo of the view Grandma would have had as she walked into Watsontown. (Well, it isn't exactly the same because 100 years ago there would have been a bustling railroad station in the foreground.)

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

This entry suggests that Grandma did not always walk when she went to Watsontown. I’d previously assumed that she generally walked since it was only a mile and a half or so from the Muffly farm to Watsontown. But maybe she often got a ride—either in a carriage or wagon, or possibly on a Susquehanna, Bloomsburg and Berwick (S. B. &  B.) train that went by her house. (There was a flag stop at a nearby feed mill.)

Grandma seems to be feeling a little sorry for herself—She not only had to walk to Watsontown; but a beau came to see her sister Ruth.Grandma probably wished that she also had a boyfriend. Jim probably refers to James B. Oakes. On March 26 Grandma had written:

 . . . I’m making this entry in her room, because I can’t have the light. Ruthie has the honorable James B. Oakes down in the sitting room, but she had to go after him or he wouldn’t have been here. Papa is down there also, so nothing won’t happen . . .

Even if Ruth originally had to chase James B. Oakes back in March—it sounds as if he was interested enough to have become Ruthie’s Jim over the next several months.

The Location of the Old McEwensville Baptist Church

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

Monday, May 22, 1911: Never have I felt less inclined to write in this diary than I do tonight.

The old McEwensville Baptist Church probably was located somewhere on the lot that currently contains this yard and white house.

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

Since Grandma didn’t have much to say a hundred years ago today, I’m going to partially resolve one of the mysteries that I’ve been grappling with.  Many of these mysteries are about minor things (and I keep telling myself they don’t really matter in the bigger scheme of things)—yet it’s always fun to resolve one of them.

The mystery that I’ve resolved (with Uncle Carl’s help) is the location of the old Baptist Church in McEwensville.

I think that Grandma attended the Baptist Church (see February 5 entry), but since the building was torn down many years ago I wasn’t even sure where in McEwensville the church had been located.

The Baptist Church is located near the top of the map on the lefthand side.

Uncle Carl recently loaned me a copy of an 1858 map of McEwensville that had the Baptist Church on it. The church was located on the east side of Main Street a little to the north of where the old road from Watsontown entered town. We assume that the building location on the map probably was the same in 1911.

I’ve updated the map on the Setting page to reflect the correct location.

An aside—It’s really cool how the old map lists all of the property owner’s names. Also, note how in the mid-1800s the very small streamlet that runs along the west side of the northern part of McEwensville had been dammed to provide water for a saw mill.

No Dentist (Again), So Onward to the Bijou Dream Theater

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

Saturday, May 13, 1911: I went to Milton this afternoon to get my teeth filled, but it happened to be a wild goose chase, for he wasn’t there. I walked around town until I was tired, then went into Bijou Dream. I’m so very tired now. Oh, dear.

Advertising Ruler from Bijou Dream Theater (Source: Milton Historical Society)

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

Grandma’s not having much luck getting her tooth filled. This is the second time that she went to Milton to see the dentist, but he wasn’t there (see the May 6 entry); and she’s been complaining on and off about a toothache since mid-April (see April 11, April 15, and April 18 entries). I can’t imagine this kind of delay in treating a toothache today—I guess some things are definitely better now.

But at least Grandma got to go to the movies at the Bijou Dream two Saturday’s in a row.  The  previous week when she tried unsuccessfully to go to the dentist was also a Saturday—and that time she also ended up going to the Bijou Dream. Now that I think about it, I wonder if the fact that she kept trying to go to the dentist on a Saturday was at least part of the reason that she had difficulty finding him in his office.

Photo of Bijou Dream Theater in book called Milton 1909 that was published by the Milton Evening Standard (Source: Milton Historical Society).

George Venios has the photo of the Bijou Dream Theater in his book, Milton Chronicles and Legends. His caption says:

 The entrance to the Bijou Dream Theater, which was located on Broadway at the same site as the Capitol. It was a converted livery stable. On hot summer days, the unmistakable smell of the stable would return.