A photograph of Isaac C. Troutman (1875-1960) and Mary Margaret [Hoffman] Troutman, of Lykens Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, taken on the day of their wedding in 1896.
According to family information, this couple first lived with Isaac’s parents until he was able to earn enough money to purchase some land on Short Mountain near Specktown. The land provided enough trees to be sawed into boards to first build a barn and then a house. Later, he raised cows and delivered milk to Gratz and Lykens.
Isaac Troutman was also a trustee of the St. Peter (Hoffman) Church on the Crossroads and was a caretaker of the cemetery. In addition to his carpentry skills, he also delivered calves for which he charged $1.00 per delivery, and was also a butcher in the neighborhood. It is said that he helped build the barn on the Edward Dietrich farm northeast of the Specktown bridge, as well as other barns and farm structures in the area.
Isaac Troutman was also known to be the first, or one of the first to purchase new devices, particularly those involving music. He was the second person in the Lykens Valley (after Morris Shade), to purchase a Victrola, and the first to have a player piano. Clara Troutman, the daughter of Isaac and Mary, was the organist at the Hoffman Church, and had an old piano on which she practiced at home. When Isaac heard about the new player pianos, he secretly made a trip to Harrisburg to purchase one for Clara. After it was delivered, he began to accumulate the paper rolls, and in a short time, he had the largest collection of player piano music of anyone in the valley.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.
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