Feb 19, 2005 9 min read

By Glenn Tunney For the Herald-Standard

Readers continue to pepper us with local history questions in hopes that our Reader Roundtable will work its magic and uncover the elusive answers. Today we present a dozen questions covering a wide variety of topics, all submitted for the consideration of the Roundtable.

For Edwin Brand of Sheridan Avenue, Brownsville, spading the garden in springtime is like prospecting for gold. Over the years, Edwin has discovered some interesting treasures in his back yard. He called me recently to ask about three of them.

“Years ago,” Edwin told me, “I dug up a flat metal object, about 6 inches long, that bears the words ‘Mardorff Printing Company, Brownsville Pa.’ It is similar to a ruler, has a hole in one end, and is wider on one end than the other. Another message on it indicates that it was patented on March 31, 1921. I wonder if any of your readers know anything about the Mardorff Printing Company.”

During his annual digging, Edwin has found himself brushing fresh soil from old bottles that he has unearthed. Two of those bottles bear the names of former local dairies.

“The first is a pint bottle,” Edwin said, “with the words ‘Nick Camino, Pure Milk, South Brownsville, one pint liquid’ on it. The other bottle says ‘Woodfill Brothers’ and ‘Low Hill Dairy’ on it, and on the bottom of the bottle is a picture of a three-leaf clover with the words ‘bestov [sic] clover’ inside the shape of the clover. I am interested in knowing more about either of those dairies or about the bottles themselves.”

The next inquiry to be brought before the Roundtable came from Mary Dalson Wenick of Belle Vernon, who explained, “I was born at a Lying-In Home [a maternity hospital] on Front Street, as was my sister, Katherine Dalson Sally. A woman doctor named Dr. Matta delivered us. I have always been curious about her, and I wonder if anyone knows anything about Dr. Matta or her hospital in Brownsville. Perhaps she was actually a midwife and delivered babies. I think, although I am not sure, that she may have been John Matta’s mother.”

Another question for the Roundtable comes from a researcher who is looking into the life of an African-American artist from Brownsville’s past. Kim Malinowski, a researcher for West Virginia University Press, has contacted me regarding a watercolorist named Harry Freeman, who lived at 358 High St. in Brownsville nearly a century ago. Kim wrote, “I am researching Harry Freeman for the African American National Biography with Harvard University and the W.E.B. DuBois Institute. The encyclopedia, when completed, will contain over 10,000 names and biographies.”

Kim provided some background information about this early-twentieth century Brownsville artist.

“Harry Freeman was born in 1872,” Kim explained, “and married Anna Cahill in 1900. They had two children, Odeal and Nadine. Harry was noted as a watercolor painter in Morgantown’s Daily New Dominion in May 1900. At the time [at age 28], he was a headwaiter, but he later became a chef and baker. He was a baker in Brownsville for 15 years.

“Harry died in 1934. According to his obituary in the Brownsville Telegraph, he had a legion of friends in the community and was one of Brownsville’s most prominent residents. He is important in history because he served the residents of Brownsville for years and because of his art, even though as of yet it has not been rediscovered. He lived the American dream. He started small but eventually ran his own business, owned his own home, and raised his children.” Kim hopes to hear from readers who may have information about Harry Freeman or his work.

Our occasional mention in this column of J. Percy Hart’s classic 1904 book, “History and Directory of the Three Towns,” prompted an inquiry from Brownsville native Russ Moorhouse of Stevensville, Md. Russ is curious about a public fountain that is described and illustrated in that book.

“Hart mentions a fountain that was erected in Bridgeport,” Russ e-mailed. “Briefly scanning the article, I didn’t see the location where it was installed. On the 1902 Birds Eye View (a panoramic map) of Brownsville, there is a tower or monument located near the junction of Second and Joiner streets. I have always been curious about what that was, and now I wonder if it signified the fountain. I wonder if any of your readers know what that tower or monument on the map is.”

In his book, J. Percy Hart provided a lengthy description of an 11-foot high, 2,100-pound metal fountain that was dedicated in Bridgeport (South Brownsville) on Nov. 9, 1897. According to Hart, the impressive fountain stood “at the head of Bridge Street where it intersects High Street,” the same spot where the 1914 Inter-county bridge intersects High Street today. The multilayered $595 public fountain furnished a drinking basin for horses, one for man, and two smaller basins nearer the ground for smaller animals.

There is a drawing of the 1897 fountain in Hart’s book. I have examined an early (c.1910) post card that shows a decorative fountain, which appears to be identical to the 1897 fountain, but it is in a different Bridgeport location. The lone difference between the fountains in the two pictures is a 5-ft. 4-in. bronzed statue of the goddess Hebe, which stood atop the 1897 fountain but is missing from the fountain depicted on the c. 1910 post card.

It is possible that the Bridgeport fountain was moved sometime after its 1897 dedication. The fountain on the post card is shown positioned on the wedge-shaped lot at the foot of High Street hill at its intersection with Second Street, opposite the present-day municipal building.

In either case, it is certain that the Bridgeport fountain was located near the foot of High Street hill, many blocks from the intersection of Second and Joiner streets. That leaves Russ Moorhouse’s original question unanswered: What is the tower-like structure that is clearly shown on the 1902 panoramic map near the intersection of Second and Joiner Streets? It isn’t the Bridgeport fountain. We invite reader input to solve this mystery.

Our next inquiry deals with an item that appeared in my Brownsville Time Capsule article of Sunday, Feb. 6. The item described a vicious attack by a pack of dogs on Miss Gertrude Cottle, 21, of Lynn Station, who was walking to work up Coal Hill near Taylor Mine. According to the February 1945 newspaper account, Miss Cottle was saved from possible death by the arrival of William Yoder, National Pike East, who beat off the dogs with the crank from his car. The victim was badly bitten and was hospitalized.

“I remember the incident well,” Conway Keibler wrote to me, “and have often wondered about the outcome. It was announced by teachers at the high school as a warning of sorts. Did Miss Cottle survive? Does anyone know of her whereabouts?”

I do not know the answer to either of those questions, Conway, but perhaps one of our readers can supply the information you seek.

Question number eight deals with a search for the owner of a 60-year-old U. S. savings bond. I received an e-mail from John W. Maurer, a member of the Advisory Commission to the Governor’s Office of Veteran’s Affairs in Columbus, Ohio. An acquaintance of John’s discovered, among his deceased mother’s possessions, some memorabilia that he felt might be of interest locally. As a result, John is hoping to learn more about an organization that was affiliated with the Brownsville Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 377.

“My acquaintance’s mother had some memorabilia from the Ladies’ Auxiliary of Post 377, Brownsville, Pennsylvania, known as the Brownsville Cootiette Club #129, who perhaps met at the Riverview Hotel,” John explained. “There is a $25 U. S. Savings bond in their name, issued in December of 1944, and what appears to be an original copy of the club charter, issued in November of 1943. Probably the bond and the Charter, in a frame, would be a good addition to the history museum of Brownsville.”

Readers, are any of you familiar with Brownsville Cootiette Club #129? If so, I invite you to contact me.

Finally, here are some brief queries that have been submitted by our readers recently. Brownsville native Don Laughery of Catonsville, Md., e-mailed, “I was wondering if anyone knows the year in which the water supply for Brownsville was fluoridated? I was born in Brownsville in 1929, and judging from my history of dental problems, it must have been a good while after that.”

West Brownsville native J.P. “Rocky” McAndrews inquired from Needles, Calif.: “I would like to know if anyone remembers the minstrel shows that were performed in Crawford’s Field (Hiller) behind the honor roll, across from Patsy’s Tavern. This was before World War II. They sold some sort of cure-all medicine, and I think they played and sang from a flatbed truck.”

South Brownsville native Richard Wells of Mount Morris, Mich., e-mailed: “I grew up on Gray’s Lane in Brownsville. I was wondering if the street was named after Elisha Gray, the inventor of the telephone about whom you wrote a series of articles.”

And finally, Barry Townsend of Wilmington, Del., is looking for a yearbook. “I am trying to obtain a 1965 Uniontown High School yearbook,” Barry told me. “Your help would be appreciated.”

There you have it readers, an even dozen questions to provide some late winter food for thought for our Roundtable to digest. I am always curious to see what answers that estimable group, of which all of our readers are automatically members, will dig up. If past performance is any indicator, the folks who have sought assistance will be rewarded for having faith in the collective wisdom of the Reader Roundtable.

Glenn Tunney may be contacted at 724-785-3201 or 6068 National Pike East, Grindstone, PA 15442. Comments about these weekly articles may be sent to editor Mark O’Keefe, 8-18 E. Church St., Uniontown, PA or e-mailed to begin mo’keefe@heraldstandard.com mo’keefe@heraldstandard.com end

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