Roundtable strikes again, answers reader’s questions
While we were telling the story of Fiddle’s over the past month, responses to questions that we posed in earlier columns have been coming in. Once again, we congratulate the Reader Roundtable for doing a great job of answering a wide variety of reader questions. Westland Cemetery
In a previous column, Tom Simms of Lorain, Ohio, asked us, “Where can I get information on who is buried in Westland Cemetery in Centerville, Pennsylvania?”
We spoke with Mary Beth Graf, president of the California Historical Society, who told us that the historical society has a large amount of information about the Westland Cemetery. Included in the collection is a record of the graves in the Westland Cemetery, with the exception of those located in the Quaker section of the cemetery. (The Quakers did not believe in marking graves with tombstones, which they looked upon as unjustifiable ornamentation). The cemetery documents at the California Historical Society are copies of the originals and were provided by the Westland Cemetery Association through its president, Floyd Gillis.
I also spoke with Floyd, who is an outstanding source of information on matters involving the local history of the Centerville area. Floyd assured me that he would be happy to help anyone seeking information about the Westland Cemetery as well as several other cemeteries in the vicinity.
Persons seeking more information about Westland Cemetery (or other Centerville area cemeteries) may contact Floyd Gillis at 235 Ridge Road, Brownsville, Pa. (724-785-7936) or may inquire at the California Historical Society (724-938-3250), which is located in the Gallagher House, 429 Wood Street, California, Pa. The historical society has also assembled an impressive genealogy collection on the second floor of Gallagher House. The building is staffed between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. For more information, visit the society’s web site at: http://www.geocities.com/mdonald318/californiahs.html
Patrol car photo
One mystery that was discussed in a previous column has been partially solved. In the spring, we published a photograph of an early-twentieth century open patrol car with the letters “DPW” painted on its door. The old Brownsville Hospital was in the background of the photo.
Brownsville police office Thomas Wardman had brought the photo to me, explaining that it had been dropped off at the Flatiron Building. It had been shown to everyone at the borough building, and no one there had been able to identify the vehicle or any of the occupants. We asked readers if anyone recognized any of the car’s five occupants or could provide more information about the photo.
A partial answer to this query comes from Almeda Griffiths McCully of Washington, Pa. She wrote, “I missed your column when the picture came out, and I recently was telling my friend Jody Kubis Sobansky about a picture that I gave to our son in St. Augustine, Fla. Jody said she remembered seeing that photograph in your column and looked for the article.
“Now that I have seen the picture, I can tell you that the mustachioed policeman sitting in the back of the vehicle is my grandfather, Alvin C. Patterson, who was chief of police in Brownsville for some years. He was my mother’s father, and they lived on Third Avenue. He died before I was born.
“I was told that he was a railroad detective at one time. Ironically, my son works for CSX in Florida and is a railroad policeman. I gave him the photograph, and he had it framed. I do not know the identity of the other men in the photograph.”
Thanks, Almeda, for solving one part of this puzzle!
Student strike
David and Dolores Zihar of Dunedin, Fla., had read in a Brownsville Time Capsule article about a threatened student strike at Brownsville High School in 1957, and they wondered about an actual strike they remember happening in the following year. The Zihars wrote, “Do you have any information on the strike by Brownsville High School students in 1958 at the old school on High Street? The ceiling fell in one of the stairwells during the change of classes, and a student named Lynn Nelson was injured. After that, the senior students went on strike. I remember that TV crews from Pittsburgh came to the scene.”
We have heard from none other than the alleged victim of the ceiling collapse. Lynn Nelson Brittingham, who now lives in Annapolis, Md., heard that her name had been mentioned in this column and wrote to fill me in on the “rest of the story.”
“The ceiling tiles did not fall on me,” Lynn explained. “They landed on Irma Peters (Class of ’59), who was a neighbor of mine and lived on Rush Run Road. Irma was not injured seriously, and I do not remember that she missed any school over the accident. There was a short-lived strike, but all was normal the next day.”
With pieces of the ceiling having fallen on students on two separate occasions in the late 1950s, each time causing students to threaten to go on strike, I find it surprising that the old Brownsville High School on High Street continued to be used for nearly 10 more years! It was finally replaced in 1967 by the present Brownsville Area High School in Luzerne township.
Drazenovich and Duff
A Florida reader asked us, “Do you know any way I can find out what happened to Chuck Drazenovich or John Duff, a couple of friends who lived in West Brownsville in the 1940’s?”
Shortly after that column appeared, the Herald-Standard published a story featuring the late Chuck Drazenovich for being honored as one of the greatest 75 players in Washington Redskins history. We informed our Florida correspondent that unfortunately, the former Brownsville High School football star had passed away in February 1992 at age 65.
As for John Duff, Jean Lacey of West Brownsville informs us that John is alive and well at 33101 Redwood Boulevard, Avon Lake, Ohio 44012-1325.
Greer photo discovered
We thought we had printed our last word about Brownsville poet W. H. H. Greer, but to our surprise, a local woman has discovered a vintage photograph of the mysterious muse. Greer family members in Iowa with whom we had been in contact had no photograph of him, so they are elated at the discovery.
Mrs. Nancy Bane of Old National Pike West, Brownsville is a descendant of Greer, whose full name was William Henry Harrison Greer. Nancy located his photograph in a family album, lent it to me so that I could copy it, and I e-mailed the photograph to W. H. H. Greer’s descendants in Iowa. Thanks to information provided by Nancy and other members of our Reader Roundtable, the Greer descendants now know much more about Mr. Greer than they did before we featured his poetry in an article this past summer.
Brashear feedback
Drifter Smith of Flagstaff, Ariz. wrote to us about the series of articles about John A. Brashear, whose star may have lost some of its luster in Brownsville with the passage of time.
“Brashear may be somewhat forgotten in Brownsville,” Drifter told us, “but here in Flagstaff, Ari., he is remembered at Lowell Observatory. I was there last year, and I saw among the other displays an instrument that Brashear had built. It was used to discover the ‘red shift,’ which later led to Hubble’s discovery that the universe is expanding.”
And how important was that discovery?
“That discovery eventually led to the recognition of the immensity of time and space, which certainly ranks as one of the most significant scientific discoveries of the entire 20th century,” declared Drifter, affirming that the influence of John A. Brashear continues to be felt in this modern world.
Another reader, Bill Patterson of Wesleyville, Pa., can remember the day that the historical plaque was erected in front of the birthplace of John A. Brashear on Market Street. Bill was present at the ceremony.
“I recall watching Governor Martin dedicate the plaque that is in front of the Brashear House,” wrote Bill. “I don’t recall what he said at the ceremony, but he also dedicated two other plaques that day, one for the Knox House and, I believe, the other at the former site of the James G. Blaine house in West Brownsville.”
We appreciate the helpful feedback from our Reader Roundtable. Next week, we will present some new challenges to our stellar panel of local history experts.
Glenn Tunney may be contacted at 724-785-3201, glenatun@hhs.net or 6068 National Pike East, Grindstone, PA 15442. Comments about these weekly articles may be sent to Mark O’Keefe (Managing Editor – Day), 8 – 18 East Church Street, Uniontown, Pa. or e-mailed to mo’keefe@heraldstandard.com . All past articles are on the Web at http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~glenntunneycolumn/