Neighbors

Census Reports

I generally do some genealogical work when my business is slow in the winter months. For kicks, I downloaded the most current census report available for Frackville. It is from 1930 and even though we didn’t live there at the time, I wanted to see who lived on Second Street. Some of those listed were my neighbors when I was growing up. There were the Whery, Hosler, O’Connel, Jones, Anthony and Davis families. All of them were there while I was growing up.

Here’s a few examples of what you can see in the census report from 1930.

• Whery, Daniel (54) and Genny (48). Mr. Whery was a coal stripper in the mines. Their daughter, Maude (27) was single and worked at the Post Office (she worked there until she retired). Another daughter Bertha (17) was the mother of a good friend, Joe Moyer.
• Jones, John (35) and Hannah (35). Mr. Jones was an auto mechanic. He worked at Bowe’s Ford Garage on the corner of Oak & Second St. He walked home every day for lunch.
• Davis, Albert (35) and Pamela (35). Mr. Davis was a veteran of WW-I and a carpenter at the railroad. Their daughter Beatrice was a good friend and classmate.
• Hostler, Charles (54) and Anna. Mr. Hostler was an insurance agent. He was in his
  late seventies or early eighties when I did some chores for him for about a year because he was unable to do much due to an illness.
• O’Connell, John (34) and Florence (37). John was a motor operator in the mines. He had died before I knew him but we spent a lot of time with Mrs. O’Connell.
• Anthony, George (45) and Rose (38). They owned the local grocery store across the street. I worked for their sons, Tommy and George.
• Semrod, Louis (54) and Ada (52). Mr. Semrod was a stableman in the coal mines. He died before I knew him. Mr’s Semrod’s living room was where neighbor’s gathered to quilt. The frame took up the whole living room.

You can also see the value of their property, typically around $4,500 and if they owned or rented. Other columns described where they, their parents, and children were born, military service, and so on. Any how, you get the idea. These were things I never new about most of them, or don’t recall, that is except for Mr. Jones, I did know a lot about him.

Memories about neighbors that I knew well follow. Some were not listed in the 1930 census.

Shadel

Harry Sr. was a very hard worker. I don’t know what he did for a living before he built the store on the Frackville-Ashland road in Fountain Springs. I went down with Harry Jr, who was a very good friend of mine but not a "hard" worker and he would never volunteer to help. We drove down to the store while it was still under construction so it was probably the summer 1955. Harry had this beautiful red 1949 Ford convertible that I loved to ride in. We drove down and visited the store and talked to his father. He was still framing it up. I think we must have brought something down for his father but we didn’t do anything else to help. We explored around behind the store for a bit and then took off.

When we were elementary-school age, Mr. Shadel used to sit on the front porch on hot summer nights. Kids from all over the block would gather and listen to his stories. He would light up his pipe, take a few puffs and start the tale. I can’t remember any details except we were mesmerized. Some were scary for sure. Remember, this was before TV so maybe that’s why they seemed so engrossing.

Mrs. Shadel worked in the store all day and then did all of the homemaker chores as well. Ann, their oldest daughter, did help quite a bit but I think it took a toll on Mrs. Shadel. I have never seen anyone work harder than her.

She had this really neat coal stove in her kitchen. I remember her ironing and she didn’t use an electric iron. She used those old irons that had to be heated externally on the stove. She had several of them and used one while others were being heated. When the iron cooled off she would put that one on the stove and grab a hot one. I think she had three irons. Anyhow, can you imagine standing next to a hot stove in the summer to do your ironing?

Whery

The Whery’s lived in the other side of the duplex I grew up in. Their back yard was full of trees. When I was about 6 or 7, Mrs. Whery saw me in the back yard and she said "Catch" as she threw an apple to me from one of their trees. Stuck in the side was a dime. When I saw it I looked at her and she winked. That’s all there was to it. Nothing more was said.

The Whery home also had an outhouse in the back yard and Dan used that instead of indoor plumbing. I believe they were farmers and some things are ingrained. You could purchase live chickens and Dan was out in the back of his yard one day and we were playing in our yard. He had a live chicken and proceeded to cut the head off. The chicken ran around a circle several times before it died. That was scary to us but he just went about his business and took it back to the house.

Dan walked with a cane but way into his latter years he would take a walk up the mountain. I remember Coach Bobiak telling us of the legend of Dan Whery going into the woods with nothing more than his cane and a bag and returning with a raccoon he killed. I do not know if that was dinner or what but his skill at this was well know in the neighborhood.

Old Dan was sitting on the porch one day talking to me. He said "Did you see the hot air balloon that went over today?" I said, "No." He smiled and said "Neither did I" as he laughed. Life’s simple pleasures and they stick with you.

Giba

Mickey and Rose Giba lived in the duplex just to the south with their only child, Billy. Mickey was an avid photographer and over the years he took many of the pictures I came to be very fond of them. My parents never had a camera and if it wasn’t for Mickey Giba and my grandmother there would not be much to document those early years.

I don’t remember too much about Rose. She was a stay-at-home mom like most and other than sitting on the front porch in evenings I didn’t see much of her. Every time I came back to Frackville I would always stop at their place to catch up on things. Billy had moved to Texas and I know they were very lonely and I enjoyed talking with them for a short time.

Jones

I spent quite a bit of time at the Jones’ house. Mrs. Jones made a treat for us out of saltine crackers spread with butter and then sprinkled with sugar. I still enjoy a few once and a while. I was sure to stop by and visit with her when I was in town. I still have some from time to time and always think of her.

Anthony

Neighborhood grocery store. See "Jobs" for more information.

O’Connel

Mrs. O’Connell used to invite neighborhood kids over for some fun things to do. One of our favorites was going up in her attic and looking through all of the boxes and trunks of clothes she kept up there. We would dress up in different outfits and act out characters. Her husband had died some time earlier and nobody was living with her. I seen to recall a daughter named Mary Jane but don’t remember seeing her.

Davis

Beatrice, was a friend and classmate. We actually right next door when we first moved there. We used to joke about her being my first girlfriend. See "Friends" for more information.