Third in a series of nine 1904-1905 newspaper articles in which two old-timers are portrayed reminiscing about the Lykens Valley of the past. The two fictional characters, the “old railroader” and the “patriarch,” wander into the offices of the Elizabethville Echo, Elizabethville, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania at different times and tell a concise, folksy history of the valley.
_____________________________________
Local Reminiscences for Home Historians
When the Old Railroader sauntered into the office the other day he brought with him his boon companion, The Patriarch, an interesting man, who seems quite at home with the earlier development and history of this and adjoining valleys. He was not long in unbosoming himself and his story, as we remember it, ran something like this.
“Yes indeedy, the weather ain’t the only thing that changes day to day, nor women for that matter. Why, you needn’t look back as much as a lifetime like mine for evidence. Think of land, for instance, right here at home, – right under our noses there’s patches here and there that I could a’had for less than a song when I was a boy. Now, go and talk with the proprietor, and the price ‘ll be just paralyzing compared to those days.
“Yes indeedy, I remember the time when the whole blamed patch where Lykens stands today was knocked down for $19.90. Back in 1830.s it was, as near as I can tell, and here was close to seventy acres. I know they built the first log house there in 1832 and about the next year they had the first preaching, and a funeral it was at that. Kind of a gloomy starter, it was, but them’s the things that bring the best results. Look at Lykens to day. Seems like something has happened, and a lively, business town, – that’s what it is.
“And all the other changes, – take preaching, now that I was just a-mentioning it. The first preacher I’ve heard tell of coming to Lykens Valley to settle was Rev. Michael . He was a graduate of the University of Leipsie and dropped in here about 1780. You know, most-wise our forefathers were Germans, and I guess it’s insulting nobody to say they all went in for worship.
“Anyhow, in that year they organized a congregation and called it St. John’s, and you know where that is. Preaching was held in private houses up to 1791, and then they built a school house and preached there. Seven years after that they built a frame church, but they were conscientious and did not dedicate it till they had it paid in 1802. This building stood till the Centennial Year and then they built the fine brick church that stands there today.
“Then talk about schools, – why, in 1826 the whole of this section had only three school houses. There were six other schools though, but they held them in private houses. And such school houses! They did well for them days, but you didn’t find any patent-right furniture in ’em like now. No indeedy! They fixed a day and then the men all got together, some cut logs, some hauled them and the rest built the house. They made benches out of slabs and nailed boards against the walls for furniture, and that’s all the contraptions they had, the Rule of Behavior, and that was a hickory gad that some of us older fellows hadn’t been forgetful about to this day.”
___________________________________
From the Elizabethville Echo, 5 January 1905.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.