The Mysterious "Mr. Youse" - Part 2

(or Thriving on Fresh Air and Wood Rats)

My previous post revealed the identity of "Mr. Youse" as Walter L. Hughes, of Trenton, NJ, who moved to Pennsylvania in November 1916 to assist Mulford Foster with farm work and other projects on his Cold Spring Nature Farm.  Walter's main objective was to establish an outdoor school for boys.  Despite all we initially learned about Walter's six-month stay at Cold Spring, some aspects of his life remained a mystery, and additional research and communications with Walter's family were undertaken to try to answer certain questions.  It turns out we may never have any definitive answers, but we can make some inferences based on the records we found and information and insights provided by one of Walter's granddaughters.

Where did Walter Hughes reside while living at Cold Spring?  And were his wife and son with him?

Foster Family Home
at Cold Spring in 1916
(Photo courtesy of Herbert Barr)

Mulford Foster lived with his wife, Fridel, and daughter, Gerda, in the corner house at Cold Spring.  At times during the six months from November 1916 to June 1917, the Fosters had extended house guests, including Fridel's father and stepmother, and Mulford's older brother and his wife.  Would there have been room with them for Walter and his family?  At this time also, according to personal letters, the farmhouse at Cold Spring needed considerable improvements to make it habitable.  Would they have stayed there?

Another possibility is that Walter and his family resided in the nearby Ney farmhouse over Second Mountain, Mulford having purchased Joseph Ney's home and property in October 1916, the month before Walter's arrival.  The Ney property, just over 211 acres, lay in both East Hanover and Union Townships, straddling the Cold Spring Road on the south side of Second Mountain (see map below).  One newspaper article says Walter lived "near Lotell" (aka Cold Spring).  The same article, however, also states:  "Circumstances make it necessary that they be outdoors most of the time, excepting nights..." - which could support the crowded house hypothesis - or simply mean most of their daily work was done outdoors.

A portion of F. W. Beers' 1875 County Atlas of Lebanon, Pennsylvania,
showing the location of Joseph Ney's property (marked "J. D. Nye"),
with information in red added by author

Whether or not Walter Hughes' wife of two years and their year old son ever lived at Cold Spring is unknown. We could find neither mentioned in any newspaper articles as being at Cold Spring except for the snippet about their visit, with Walter, to Cold Spring at the end of summer in 1916, a month or two before Walter moved there.  Yet, the photograph of Walter and his son at the springhouse (see previous post) appears to have been taken in the Fall or Spring, the trees being without leaves, suggesting that his wife and son either lived at Cold Spring or at least visited Walter there.  We can only conjecture about the reasons Walter's wife and son may not have lived with him at Cold Spring.

A Trenton Evening Times article dated January 29, 1917, does reveal that another member of Walter's family, his younger brother Harvey, did indeed live for awhile at Cold Spring.  The article states that Harvey, who was about twelve years old, "had taken up his abode" with Walter and enjoyed living "in the wilds of Pennsylvania," as this excerpt relates:

Foxes are fun to catch, but
wood rats make a fine dinner!

"In letters received by friends of the Hughes boys here [in Trenton, NJ], they relate some experiences.  Outdoor life, they say, is having its effects upon them physically.  Skating and coasting is a pleasure during all of the winter months...and they have learned to follow the snowy trails of the mountains in real mountaineer fashion.

Harvey has gone in for all kinds of trapping, the fox seen in the accompanying picture being an example of one of his catches.  Wood rats are in the section in great numbers and the young trapper has learned the ins and outs of cornering that species.  All kinds of trapping proves profitable, but the catching of rats is doubly profitable for the Hughes boys say they eat them, and they aver a rat dinner surpasses most any other dish and is not excelled by venison."

Why did Walter Hughes leave Cold Spring?  And where did he go?

The most likely answer to the first question was found by Walter's granddaughter on a civil service application from the 1930's, which also held the answer to the second question.  Under past employment was recorded:  July 1911-November 1916, YMCA Central Branch, Trenton, NJ, Boys Work Secretary, annual salary $1080; November 1916-May 1917, Cold Spring Nature Farm, Lotell, PA, Naturalist Assistant, no salary, immediate supervisor M. B. Foster; May 1917-May 1919, Community YMCA, Rock Hill, SC, Community Secretary, annual salary $1800 (followed by succeeding jobs).  It seems that Walter left Cold Spring to accept paid employment, or at least that was a determining factor, especially with a family to support.  That no salary was listed for his position at Cold Spring didn't surprise us, since our research shows that financial constraints came with the life Mulford Foster chose to pursue at Cold Spring.  Mulford was involved with many ventures but none provided a steady income, perhaps one of the main reasons he eventually left Cold Spring, too.

Walter's granddaughter describes him as "a man of deep convictions who [seemed to] change positions as much as a matter of principle as of opportunity."  Dedicated to education and devoted to the public good, Walter spent much of his life working for various YMCAs.  He also engaged in farming.  He finished his career with fifteen years at the Franklin Institute in Boston, first as a chemistry and mathematics teacher and then as a supervisor of admissions and placement.

The Mysterious "Mr. Youse" - Part 1

(or How A West Coast Clue Led to An East Coast Photo of Cold Spring)

A number of years ago we came across a few brief mentions in local Lebanon newspapers, from the year 1916, about a "Mr. Youse, of Trenton" visiting, moving to, and working at Cold Spring.  These vague snippets provided very little information about "Mr. Youse" and his activities at Cold Spring.  Searching for a man named Youse in New Jersey censuses, Trenton city directories, and other records, yielded nothing pertinent.  It was as if the man never existed.  Frustrated by the many dead ends, we added "Mr. Youse" to our "To Follow Up" folder and busied ourselves with more productive leads to uncovering the history of Cold Spring.

Details on who "Mr. Youse" was and what he was doing at Cold Spring eluded us - until a woman living in Washington State emailed us a Trenton (NJ) newspaper article, from 1916, headlined "Walter L. Hughes to Live in 'Wilds'."  The "wilds" were identified as Lotell, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, or, in other words, Cold Spring, its post office at the time being named Lotell.  What followed was a description of the projects Mr. Hughes intended to pursue as a partner with Mulford Foster, then owner of the Cold Spring Nature Farm at Cold Spring.

A sudden revelation hit us - aha!  NOT Mr. Youse, but Mr. Hughes!  No wonder we could find nothing about this person!  Knowing his true identity and having the detailed article from the West Coast, our subsequent research quickly revealed much about "Mr. Youse" and his reason for being at Cold Spring.

Walter L. Hughes 
(Trenton Evening Times, NJ,
November 6, 1916)

Walter L. Hughes was born in Trenton, NJ, on November 23, 1889.  He graduated with high honors from Princeton University in 1911 with a degree in Agriculture, having financed his education through various jobs including newspaper carrier, raising chickens, canvassing, and prep school teaching.  He was actively involved with both the YMCA and the Boy Scouts, being employed for several years as assistant secretary then Boys' Work Secretary at the Trenton Central Branch YMCA.  Walter was scoutmaster of the first Boy Scout troop established in Trenton.  He enjoyed the outdoors and being a leader and counselor of boys and young men.  He was an idealist who strongly believed in the value of practical education.

All of this seems to have made Walter Hughes a suitable partner for Mulford Foster, a self-taught naturalist who for many years was also involved with the YMCA and the Boy Scouts, at various locations, giving nature talks and as camp naturalist.  Mulford was caretaker of the Camden (NJ) YMCA's Camp Ayer, at Cold Spring, for a few years, before purchasing the property in January 1916.  He hosted summer camps there for other boys' groups when not in use by the Camden YMCA.

Certainly their shared interests must have brought Walter and Mulford together.  Mulford lectured in the public schools of Trenton during the winter of 1912, likely including the school Walter's younger brother Harvey attended, perhaps how they first met each other.  Possibly Mulford's brother, Hubert, was a catalyst in some way since he was residing in Trenton at the time and a YMCA supporter.  We do know the two men interacted at the Trenton YMCA's 1914 summer camp, Camp Washington, on Marshall's Island in the Delaware River, near Frenchtown, NJ.  Walter was director of the camp and Mulford was camp naturalist.  During July 1916, Walter again was in charge of the Trenton YMCA's summer camp, and the following month was head of the commissary and equipment departments of the Boy Scout summer camp on the same island.  A Lebanon newspaper mentions Mulford spent three weeks in August at Camp Washington; no doubt he was there as camp naturalist.

After the New Jersey scout camp closed that summer, Walter, his wife and young son, visited Cold Spring for an indeterminate length of time.  He resigned his position as Boys' Secretary in October and moved to Cold Spring in early November.  In the "wilds" of Pennsylvania, Walter planned to assist Mulford in a number of projects - developing an extensive chicken and pigeon business, planting a large apple orchard, and bottling spring water - along with general farming.

Walter's primary goal, however, was to establish "an all-year camp or rather out-of-doors school for boys," in which he would be an instructor.  He felt that "to give a lad the opportunity afforded by practical study in the open would tend to make of the youth a perfectly developed man, physically, mentally and spiritually..." (Trenton Evening Times, Nov 6, 1916).  He felt assured that his venture would be highly successful, but things don't always work out as planned.

To what extent Walter and Mulford worked on their intended projects is unknown.  Little news came out of Cold Spring in the winter months.  They planned to clear forty acres of land for the apple orchard to be planted in the spring.  Apparently, they did so, for it was reported that 150 apple trees were planted the first week of May 1917.  Shortly afterwards, Walter visited South Carolina for a few weeks.  Then we could find no further mentions in the Lebanon newspapers of Walter Hughes at Cold Spring.

Our newfound information about "Mr. Youse" had enlightened us, but some mystery still remained in unanswered questions such as:  Why did Walter leave Cold Spring?  Where did he go?  Where did he reside during his six months at Cold Spring?  Were his wife and son living with him?  Neither were ever mentioned except for their visit to Cold Spring at the end of summer in 1916.

More research was needed.  And we thought perhaps if we could locate a living relative of Walter Hughes, they could provide us with some answers.  We tracked down Walter Hughes' two granddaughters, who live on the East Coast.  Both were interested in and appreciative of the information we had dug up about their grandfather, it being from a time period of which they knew little about his life.  Having aroused their curiosity and wanting to help us with our research, the one granddaughter offered to look through "a sizeable trove" of inherited family photographs and mementos for anything pertaining to Lotell (Cold Spring).  Since their grandfather had only spent six months at Cold Spring, finding anything seemed a long shot.

A week or so later, this photo arrived by email:

"Lotell, Spring House, Walt & Pete"
(words written on back of above photo of the Cold Spring, circa 1916)
Walter Hughes, at left, and his young son Walter Jr.,
nicknamed "Pete" because he was as curious as Peter Rabbit
(Photo courtesy of Judith Hughes)

At first glance this photo may look like "just another picture of the springhouse."  Upon closer examination, however, you see what appears to be an elevated V-shaped wooden conduit for water, running from the springhouse (just to the left of little Pete) and ending just short of the lower left corner of the photo.  This structure appears in only one other photo we have of Cold Spring (shown below).  The Hughes photo shows a different perspective on the structure which could help us determine what its purpose was, as well as the function of the shed below the spring.  That's why every photo and Every Memory Matters.  Each adds a piece to the panoramic jigsaw puzzle of the history of Cold Spring and the Stony Valley.

Cold Spring & a small shed below it, circa early 1920's
(Photo courtesy of Francis Ditzler)  

We've speculated on three possible uses of the shed:  a gravity-fed bottle filling area for the spring water business, housing for a hydraulic ram pump, or housing for an acetylene generator.  We'd like to hear your ideas about the purpose of the wooden structure and the function of the shed.  Post a comment or email us.

As for the unanswered questions about Walter Hughes, I'll share what we learned in my next blog post, The Mysterious "Mr. Youse" - Part 2 (or Thriving on Fresh Air and Wood Rats).

What's On the Menu at Cold Spring?

For years we could only speculate about the culinary delights served to visitors and guests at the Cold Spring Hotel.  Newspapers prior to 1881 give few particulars about the hotel table.  But after the second hotel building was constructed adjacent to the old hotel and other improvements made, many news articles attest to the Cold Spring Hotel’s fine reputation for its cuisine.  Correspondents who dined at the hotel noted:  “excellent cuisine” (1881); “the bill of fare included everything palatable and healthful, and the beauty of it is that the supper was but a specimen of the every-day cuisine of the hotel” (1884); “the table [is] abundantly supplied with a variety of well cooked and well served viands” (1888); “the table is all that any person might wish for” (1888); “the table is bountifully supplied with appetizingly cooked food” (1891); “the cuisine cannot be excelled” (1891); and more.  High praises - but what particular foods and dishes did the patrons actually eat?

According to an 1888 Harrisburg Telegraph article:  "The table will be abundantly supplied with fresh meats and vegetables, daily, from Harrisburg markets, also from the farm connected with the park, which also furnishes fresh milk, cream, butter, eggs, etc."  Circulars from the 1890's advertising the Cold Spring Resort similarly state:  "The Table is supplied with the best of everything in season.  Our own farm, connected with the Park, furnishes fresh milk, cream, eggs, poultry, etc.  The best creamery butter will be constantly supplied for table use."  In the 1880's and 1890's the farm at Cold Spring included a stable, a chicken house, a pig sty, apple and peach orchards, a vineyard, grain fields and vegetable gardens, all of which would have supplied food for the hotel table.  Other food supplies, such as flour and cornmeal from the mill at Lickdale, were reportedly brought by wagon over Second Mountain.  This information reveals some of the staple foodstuffs the hotel cooks had to work with - but what specific dishes did they prepare for visitors and guests? 

We pondered over possible menu items based on the aforementioned information and culinary dishes suggested by menus from the 1880’s and 1890’s from similarly classed hotels in Harrisburg, Lebanon and Reading, some of which were owned and operated at times by the various owners and managers of the Cold Spring Hotel.  Then we came across the following 1892 ad:

Ad stating "Chickens and Waffles will be served"
Reading Times - May 9, 1892

Also we found a Reading Times article describing the annual Fall outing of the Reading Press Club in 1897, a train excursion to various points of interest, including a stop at Cold Spring where the newspapermen and their families enjoyed a dinner of “chickens and waffles and all the desirable concomitants prepared with a lavish hand.”  By its numerous mentions in social news of the time, chickens and waffles was a popular dish served at banquets and large gatherings.  And it was served more than once at the Cold Spring Hotel.

After years of contemplating about the culinary delights served to visitors and guests at the Cold Spring Hotel, imagine our excitement when recently we came across a news story describing the Schuylkill County Bar Association’s annual dinner excursion, to Cold Spring, in July 1888.  Included was the following detailed menu for the “elegant dinner” they enjoyed:

Cold Spring Hotel Dinner Excursion Menu
as printed in the
Harrisburg Telegraph - July 20, 1888

If anyone has additional information on foods served at the Cold Spring Hotel, or a hotel menu, or knows the names of persons who worked in the hotel kitchens or dining rooms (or was employed in any other job at Cold Spring), we'd appreciate hearing from you.  Post a comment or contact us at email.

Waltonians Feed Wild Ducks

The other day I was looking through a stack of old bulletins of the Lebanon County Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America when I dumb-lucked across an interesting historical tidbit having to do with Cold Spring.  The Izaak Walton League is a conservation organization composed of hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts whose motto (from the bulletins) is "Defender of Woods, Water and Wild Life."  In the June 1946 bulletin, Marlan J. Heller, Chairman of the Wildlife Conservation Committee, reported:

"The order recently placed with Terrell’s Aquatic Nurseries for wild duck food was received on Friday, April 26th.  Since the wild celery winter buds and the white water lilies are perishable, they were prepared and planted as soon as possible.  Half of the wild celery winter buds and the water lilies were planted at Camp Strauss in Monroe Valley on Saturday, April 27th, and the balance at Cold Spring’s on Sunday, April 28th.  Since this Aquatic food program is a paid project, we urge all Sportsmen and the general public to refrain from picking or destroying these plants, thus helping to keep these places suitable for Wild Life propagation."

This information about the planting of duck food doubly interested us - because we study Cold Spring and because we live on Lake Strause.  Actually, it triply interested us since some of my husband Jim’s relatives were actively involved with the Izaak Walton League at the time.  (His grandfather, William T. Logan, was the first president of the Lebanon County Chapter when it was formed in February 1939).  In the aforementioned bulletin, under "worthy activities" of the Izaak Walton League is listed:  "Plant Duck Food - Wild Celery, Lilies, etc., in Strauss Dam and Cold Spring Dam."  Unfortunately, we could locate no local newspaper mentions of this project.

Terrell’s Aquatic Nurseries, located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, were operated by Clyde B. Terrell, a nationally recognized authority on waterfowl and their feeding habits and habitats.  Wild celery is an underwater grass eaten by many species of diving ducks. Wood ducks and ring-necked ducks eat the seeds of water lilies.  Submerged portions of aquatic plants also provide habitats for many invertebrates that are eaten by ducks and other wildlife.  On his aquatic farm in Wisconsin, Clyde Terrell grew and gathered wild rice, wild celery, and other foods to be distributed for planting in suitable localities to attract ducks and other migratory waterfowl.  Plants and seeds were shipped throughout the U.S. and Canada.  Some of them ended up being planted at the Cold Spring Dam, possibly by Jim's grandfather and great grandfather.  

1932 Advertisement for Terrell's Aquatic Nurseries

Does anyone remember ever seeing white water lilies on the lake at Cold Spring before the dam was washed away in 1972 by Hurricane Agnes?  None of the old photographs we have show water lilies.  Has anyone encountered wild ducks on the lake or Stony Creek?  If anyone knows of other wildlife projects the Izaak Walton League participated in at Cold Spring, such as stocking fish, which they did in Lake Strause and many other dams and streams in Lebanon County, we'd like to hear from you.  Post a comment or contact us at email.

Rough Road Leads To Mishaps

Brandy’s Facebook post about David Espenshade’s roadster mishap on the S & S rails brought to mind some vehicle mishaps due to the poor condition of the Cold Spring Road.  Many can attest to the rough going on the rocky and rutted dirt road over Second Mountain to Cold Spring.  Even with a four-wheel drive, high clearance vehicle, it can sometimes be tricky to negotiate the up jutting rocks and washed out ditches that have long characterized the Cold Spring Road.  Not to mention the poor traction often encountered with the mud, ice and snow on the shady north side of the mountain.  Vehicles that go down the steep north-facing slope don’t always come back up as easily – some even requiring pushing and/or pulling assistance.

"When I was a youngster of 14, in about 1946, my friends and I would go exploring as far back in the mountains as we could... we conned one of the mothers into driving us over the mountain to Cold Springs: no easy task, because the only access over the mountain was a primitive dirt road at its roughest.  Cars were not too plentiful yet after the big war, and no 4-wheel drives were available.  So we went in one of Henry Ford's 60 H.P. models which, on one occasion, had to be helped up the hill by five or six of us kids."  -- James D. Theurer, Harrisburg, PA      

Cold Spring Road
(Photo courtesy of Jim M. Logan)

The following stories gleaned from various local newspapers illustrate how in the past visitors to Cold Spring found it even more challenging than today to navigate the Cold Spring Road.

For several days in May 1926 flames rampantly swept the Blue Mountains between Indiantown and Manada Gaps, destroying valuable timber and other property, hundreds of volunteers fighting the fires.  Although the flames could be seen for miles, and the day before burning leaves and embers from the blazing fires had reached Salem Walmer’s Church at Indiantown Gap (and were contained), two Lancaster men, Harry R. Lippold and John Althouse, went on a day outing to the Lancaster YMCA’s boys’ camp at Cold Spring (the summer camp not yet in session).  The men left their brand new car parked on the south side of Second Mountain, “the remainder of the road being too rough to drive,” and hiked over the mountain to Camp Shand.  They spent an enjoyable afternoon in the outdoors – until they noticed “great clouds of wood smoke darkening the sky” over Second Mountain.  Their first thought was saving the car, so they raced to the top of the mountain.  Too late.  The car was already engulfed in flames, the fire sweeping up the south side of the mountain, forcing Lippold and Althouse to run to safety.  Fortunately, the fire was checked by the hundreds of volunteers and never reached Camp Shand.  The car, however, was totally ruined.  Its burnt frame was found in the center of the fire area.  If only Lippold and Althouse could’ve driven that brand new car over the rough and rocky mountain road to Cold Spring.  (This incident happened the day before Espenshade’s thwarted detour around another forest fire near Stony Valley.)

Another mishap occurred three years earlier, in July 1923, when a group of friends from Palmyra met at St. Joseph’s Spring, north of Indiantown Gap, to attend Sunday services at the campmeeting of the Union Evangelical Church.  Included in the party were:  Mr. and Mrs. John F. Batdorf, Sr.; John and Ella Batdorf, their children Bernice, Marie, Park and Kenneth; Martin Seltzer, his daughter Mary; David and Annie Horst, their children Naomi, Edna, Frank and Harry; Henry and Rebecca Groy, their children Stanley and Dorothy; David and Stella Wolf, and their children Dale and Grace.  In the afternoon the families decided to drive over the nearby mountain (Second Mountain) to visit Cold Spring.  David Wolf, leading the way up the steep and bumpy road, lost control of his car.  The occupants jumped out and then the car rolled backward down the mountain until it overturned and came to a stop.  The men managed to set the car upright and Mr. Wolf made another try for Cold Spring, reaching the top of the mountain but, finding the road descending into Stony Valley even more treacherous, turned around and went back to St. Joseph’s Spring, his passengers and car intact.  

Nowadays it may be difficult to imagine such troubles driving up the south side of Second Mountain when the Stony Valley portion usually proves more problematic.  Consider, however, this description of the Cold Spring Road from a Lebanon Daily News article published in the fall of 1926:  The one public road to Cold Spring “was seldom used until the Lancaster YMCA established a boys’ camp at Cold Spring station [in 1923].”  Officials of the Lancaster YMCA and several residents of Cold Spring Township and the adjoining Union Township “testified to the poor condition of the one road that leads to camp…travelers are subject to accidents because of the bad roads, and that many persons are compelled to desert automobiles or other vehicles, and to complete their journey on foot to get to certain points.”

A Lancaster Sunday News article dated July 31, 1932, described the "Alleged Road To Camp Shand" traveled by visitors to the boys at summer camp:  "Sometimes the way is long and torturous, like the alleged road to Camp Shand way up beyond Lebanon. There is frequently a road which has a bump, but never before have fond visitors to Camp Shand struck a road that consisted entirely of them.  It's an old tradition at Camp Shand that visitors landing in camp can't stop bounding up and down for ten minutes on arrival and this is so usual that the reception committee waits around quietly pretending not to notice anything until the things quiet down."

As previously stated, the Cold Spring Road saw little use before the Lancaster YMCA established their summer camp at Cold Spring.  According to an article that appeared in the Pottsville Daily Republican in June 1916, two men from Pottsville stopped in Pine Grove to ask about the road to Cold Spring.  An old-timer answered:  “[Go] down by Greenpoint and then six miles over the mountain.  Honest though, you don’t intend going in a machine.  I’d like to go over but I’d not go for $100 in a machine.”  Another responded:  “Roads [to Cold Spring?] There ain’t anything but a log road and I’ve only heard of one fellow going over there in good weather by machine.”  A final comment was “the fact that one machine had been there [to Cold Spring] in three years and then the occupants nearly died from fright when told they had to go back the same way they came in.”  The two Pottsville men took the train to Cold Spring.

Road Bridge over Stony Creek (below dam breast, looking west) 
Circa 1916
(Photo courtesy of Diane Racine)

Little is mentioned about the condition of the Cold Spring Road during the hotel era, the majority of visitors then arriving at the Cold Spring resort via the railroad.  Prior to the railroad, according to William Henry Egle (1883), Cold Spring was “difficult of access owing to the badness of the mountain roads.”  The only fatal mishap we found happened the year before the Cold Spring Hotel was destroyed by fire.  On July 25, 1889, while Peter Rupp and his wife, Sarah (Ney), were going over Second Mountain to Cold Spring, Peter was jolted from the seat of their spring wagon and thrown under the wheels, sustaining such severe injuries that he died a few hours later.  He was sixty years old and is buried in Moonshine Cemetery, near Indiantown Gap.  

Peter Rupp's Gravestone at Moonshine Cemetery
(Photo taken May 2014 by Jim C. Logan)
Inscription reads:
PETER RUPP
Born
March 12, 1829
Died
July 25, 1889
Aged
60 Years 4 Mo. 13
Days

The purpose of Peter and Sarah Rupp’s trip to Cold Spring is unknown.  According to the brief newspaper accounts of the accident, the Rupps then lived at Lickdale in Union Township.  The 1870 and 1880 censuses list Peter Rupp as a farmer residing in East Hanover Township.  Perhaps Peter was a teamster who delivered supplies to Cold Spring.  Recollections of Ellie Miller, once a maid at the Cold Spring Hotel, as told to Joy Shenk Behney many years ago, included stories of teamsters hauling animal feed and other supplies, such as flour and cornmeal from the mill at Lickdale, on the often treacherous road over Second Mountain to Cold Spring.  Hearsay suggests that the Rupp family lived at Cold Spring for a number of years, and some of their children were even born at Cold Spring, although so far we found no evidence to substantiate either statement.  

If anyone knows more about these incidents, we’d like to hear from you.  Additional information is also sought on the Rupp family living at or near Cold Spring or working at Cold Spring.  Readers are invited to share personal and/or other recorded accounts of difficulties and mishaps on the Cold Spring Road.  Please add comments to this post or send information by email.

A Tavern House at Cold Spring over 200 Years Ago?

At the time Jim C. and Jim M. Logan wrote their book Cold Spring Hotel Site: Uncovering its Layers of History in 2005, the earliest known public establishment at Cold Spring was Jacob Wingert’s tavern, which they noted was described in the following 1822 newspaper article:  

“THE MINERAL COLD SPRING.  The undersigned continues to keep the tavern at Cold Spring, 18 miles from Jonestown in Lebanon County, which is now one of the best and improved stands.  The house is 50 feet in width, contains 12 rooms and 1 kitchen, 2 bathhouses, one springhouse and stables.  It has the best food, drink and beds, besides provisions of hay and oats.  Those who wish to spend the summer here are informed that they will be accommodated at the cheapest rate.  The region is healthful, and the water excels any in the State for many complaints, and has been proved beneficial by many people.  The diversity of games, dancing and fishing will give sufficient pleasure in this fresh valley and hills.  Men and women who like to seek this sort of refreshment can be confident of receiving complete satisfaction from this servant of the Public.  Jacob Wingert” -- Der Lebononer Morgenstern and Der Ware Democrat, August 3, 1822, translated from German by Christine Weaver

According to various newspaper articles and other sources, people had been going to Cold Spring to benefit from its waters since before the American Revolution, but little is known about if and what accommodations existed for visitors in those early years.  Fortunately, we recently came across a newspaper advertisement showing the existence of a public establishment that pre-dates Jacob Wingert’s tavern at Cold Spring by nearly twenty years:

The Oracle of Dauphin & Harrisburgh Advertiser – March 28, 1803

Which reads:

Advertisement.  

The public are respectfully informed, that owing to the misfortune of losing all my buildings by fire, on the night of the 27th February last, no accommodations can be had for those who may be disposed to visit the Cold Springs, in West Hanover township, Dauphin county, the ensuing summer, unless the charitably disposed should enable him to reinstate himself, so to serve a generous public.

 Philip Culp.      

March 18th, 1803.

Note that in 1803, Cold Spring was located in Dauphin County, the county of Lebanon not being formed until 1813 (from parts of Dauphin and Lancaster Counties).  Lebanon County reached only as far north as the Blue Mountain until 1821 [see map], when the boundary was extended to the top of Fourth or Stony Mountain.  Cold Spring was then located in East Hanover Township, Lebanon County.  In 1842, when a portion of East Hanover Township was taken to form Union Township, the boundary line between the two townships lay just six feet from the then existing tavern at Cold Spring, meaning part of what we now call the Cold Spring site was in East Hanover Township and part in the newly erected Union Township.  The 80-acre Cold Spring site remained divided between these two townships until 1853, when Cold Spring Township was formed from parts of East Hanover and Union Townships.  A detailed description of these changing county and township boundaries can be found in Egle's 1883 History of Dauphin & Lebanon Counties.

Philip Culp’s newspaper notice doesn’t identify the number or type of structures at Cold Spring before the fire, although it clearly indicates Culp had a public establishment at Cold Spring.  The destruction of “all [his] buildings” compelled him to notify his former patrons that he would not be able to accommodate anyone wishing to visit the springs that summer.  A tavern house would seem likely in order to provide meals and drinks and overnight accommodations, a means by which to profit from visitors to the well-known Cold Spring.  Perhaps, like Jacob Wingert, a bathhouse, a springhouse and/or stables stood on the property. Having no railroad and a poor wagon road at best, most visitors would have gone over the mountain on horseback to visit the spring, certainly necessitating provisions and lodging for horses.    

In the advertisement, Culp also subtly asks for assistance in rebuilding his establishment: “…unless the charitably disposed should enable him to reinstate himself, so to serve a generous public.”  It is not known what form of assistance – financial, material or labor – he sought, whether or not he received help, or if he ever rebuilt his establishment.

Our current research has yielded very little about Philip Culp.  A “Phillip Culp” appears in the 1810 census living in East Hanover, Dauphin County.  Unfortunately, the early censuses contained only minimal information on the people and households recorded.   All the 1810 census reveals is that Phillip Culp was head of a household which consisted of:  one male, 45 years or older; one male, 16-25; one female, 16-25; and one female, 10-15.  A “Philap Coulp” is listed on the Return of Taxables for the East End of Hanover for 1751.  And a “Philip Colp” is listed on the East End of Hanover Assessment for 1756, on which it is noted that he, among many others, had “fled” from the Indian attacks, his home abandoned at the time the assessment was made.  We cannot be sure if any of these are the individual who had the believed tavern house at Cold Spring.  If it was either person listed on the records from the 1750’s, he would have been around 70 years old (at least) in 1803 when the fire destroyed the buildings at Cold Spring.  Not impossible, but a more likely explanation may be that a son or grandson, also named Philip, entertained the public at Cold Spring in 1803.

Since Cold Spring was situated in Lancaster County prior to the county of Dauphin being formed in 1785, more research needs done in the early records and history of Lancaster County in the hope of finding more about Cold Spring in the mid-to-late 1700’s.  More research needs done on Philip Culp, too.

Feel free to leave comments, ask questions, share information and photos on the subject of Cold Spring.  Contact us at email.

Black History Month: The Philomathean Quartette at Cold Spring

Music played a part in creating the ambiance of a pleasure resort at Cold Spring.  Local bands often accompanied excursion parties, entertaining them on the train ride and furnishing music for dancing and enjoyment while at Cold Spring.  Bands and orchestras were hired for special events, such as informal hops and elegant dances, holidays and celebrations, and visits by dignitaries.  Sometimes talented guests would provide evening musical entertainment, both instrumental and vocal, in the hotel parlor.  At times the Cold Spring Resort even had its own in-house entertainment.

During the summer of 1884, visitors to Cold Spring were pleasurably entertained by the musical renditions of the Philomathean Quartette, whose members resided at the resort throughout the warm summer months.  A newspaper article at the end of the summer reported:  “The Philomathean Quartette…made a great hit at Cold Springs by rendering some of their choice selections” (The State Journal, August 30, 1884).  The Philomathean Quartette consisted of Daniel Bratton, Edward Cunningham, John H. Murray, and Augustus “Stoney” Stewart, all members of the African-American Philomathean Club of Harrisburg.

The Philomathean Club of Harrisburg:  A “Local Item” in the December 15, 1883 issue of The State Journal, an African-American newspaper published in Harrisburg, notes:  “The Philomatheans are becoming quite popular.”  Yet little information could be found on this club.  It was probably like other Philomathean organizations of the time.  Philomathean means “lover of learning,” and Philomathean clubs or societies were usually organized to promote mutual improvement through the study of literature, music and the arts.  In the 1880’s through the 1920’s, it seems the aim of these organizations was to keep abreast with current topics, especially the problems of the day, as well as to enjoy the social aspects of club life.  They offered a varied program of literary readings, musical programs, presentations of civic importance, travelogues, and outings to theater presentations and concerts.  (Most of the modern Philomathean groups seem to be literary and debate societies associated with colleges and schools.)  Two other members of the Harrisburg club were mentioned in The State Journal, Doc Abel and Taylor Howard.  It is unknown whether both men and women belonged to this organization.

While at Cold Spring that summer, the four musicians of the Philomathean Quartette were probably employed in other positions as well.  A Harrisburg Telegraph article (July 31, 1888) relates how the guests at Cold Spring were entertained “by enjoyable music by the little orchestra of waiters, interspersed with amusing plantation songs and dances.”  Several articles from the 1880’s show having a house band made up of talented members of the kitchen staff was not uncommon in the better hotels, including the Lochiel Hotel and the United States Hotel in Harrisburg.  It may be the reason the Philomathean Quartette came to Cold Spring.  John Murray was head waiter at the Lochiel Hotel, which was owned by George W. Hunter, who also was one of the co-owners of the Cold Spring Hotel during the 1880’s.  Some of Murray’s relatives, as well as Augustus Stewart’s, also were employed at the Lochiel Hotel.  So perhaps all four men were employed as waiters while at Cold Spring, or worked in some of the other positions necessary for running a popular summer resort.

Information gleaned from newspaper articles and other sources reveals the following about the four members of the Philomathean Quartette around the time of their employment at Cold Spring:

Augustus Stewart was 22 years old and married Mollie Robinson during the year following his summer at Cold Spring.  He was employed as a stable hand for several years (his father was a hostler and coachman, a position Augustus would eventually hold for nearly 20 years).  Little was found about Augustus around 1884; however, both he and his wife were active in many African-American civic, fraternal and social organizations in the early 1900’s.  They were included among the more prominent men and women of Harrisburg.

John H. Murray was 29 years old, married (to Sarah Matilda Thompson in 1881), and may have had a child.  He was head waiter at the Lochiel Hotel, a member of  the African-American Young Republicans Club (its first president when organized in 1878), an officer of the Brotherly Love Lodge, No. 896, Grand United Order of Odd Fellows, and a member of the Excelsior Cornet Band.

Records suggest Edward Cunningham was about 28 years old and married.  He was “a teacher of stringed instruments” and, as a member of the Hod Carriers’Association, was most likely employed as a hod carrier.  A hod carrier is “a laborer employed in carrying supplies to bricklayers, stonemasons, cement finishers, or plasterers on the job” (Merriam-Webster.com).  He is simply listed as a laborer in the Harrisburg city directories from 1884 to 1897.  Edward was a member of the Olympic (Baseball) Club of Harrisburg and a member of the Brotherly Love Lodge, No. 896, Grand United Order of Odd Fellows.

Daniel Bratton (or Brotton; it’s spelled both ways in the newspapers) remains a mystery.  Nothing could be found on him other than he was referred to as “Prof. Bratton,” and he was the leader of the Philomathean Glee Club when it was first organized by the Philomathean Club in early 1884.  He could not be located in the 1880 census or any available city directory.

It is hoped new sources will be found that will shed more light on the Philomathean Club of Harrisburg and the Philomathean Quartette.

Ad showing a local orchestra to accompany an excursion
 to Cold Spring sponsored by a local band
Lebanon Daily News (Lebanon, PA) - September 15, 1883

Feel free to leave comments, ask questions, share information and photos on the subject of Cold Spring.  Contact us at email.

Visitors to Cold Spring Index

During the nearly fifty year period that a large hotel stood on the site (1850-1900), thousands of people visited Cold Spring as guests at the hotel, for short and extended stays, as day-trippers, there for pleasure and business, and as passersby, like hunters stopping for a cold drink of spring water or a quick meal.  Cold Spring reportedly attracted visitors from nearby towns and cities like Harrisburg, Lebanon, Pottsville and Reading, and more distant places like Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York City, and even farther away.  These visitors were composed of: wealthy and socially prominent people, as well as those of less substantial means; the young and the old; individuals, couples, families and groups.  They arrived by train, carriage, wagon, horse, foot, and bicycle.  They came to Cold Spring for many reasons, for rest and relaxation, for business meetings and social events, to benefit from the spring waters, and to enjoy the many pleasurable activities and amusements available to visitors.

We always thought how wonderful, how interesting and informative it would be, if a Cold Spring hotel register would be found.  Unfortunately, no known registers exist, the latest possibly burned in the September 1900 fire that destroyed the hotel buildings.  It is possible – and we hope so – that a hotel register one day may be discovered hidden away in a dusty attic of a family member of one of the hotel proprietors.

Since the likelihood of such a discovery is slight, we decided to peruse the numerous Cold Spring-related newspaper articles and other research we’ve accumulated over the past twenty years or so, in order to compile a list of a good many of the people who visited the Cold Spring Hotel and Summer Resort site from 1850 through the end of the year 1900.  We decided to tackle this project to learn more about the people who visited Cold Spring, and for the fun of enabling others to find out if any of their relatives might have visited Cold Spring.

Check out the Visitors to Cold Spring Index  and let us know if you’re related to anyone listed!

Update notices for the index will be posted on Twitter, Facebook and this blog.

Feel free to leave comments, ask questions, share information and photos on the subject of Cold Spring.  Contact us at email.

One Thing: Cold Spring

One thing my husband Jim and I have in common is a passion for learning everything possible about the history of Cold Spring.  In the past twenty or so years, we’ve done a lot of research, individually (before we were married) and together, and have come to realize that exploring the history of Cold Spring is likely to be a lifelong ambition.  We’ve found that the more we learn, the more questions we have; and the search for answers, although sometimes tedious and frustrating, is mostly enjoyable.  Researching the history of Cold Spring is like a treasure hunt for the many pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle.  We also have fun sharing the interesting stories and historical facts we’ve uncovered with others who want to know more about Cold Spring.  So when my daughter Brandy asked me if I would like to help with the Stony Valley Heritage blog, my reply was yes.
 

My blog entries will be about one thing:  Cold Spring.

We are greatly appreciative of the many people who over the years have shared with us their knowledge, photos, memories and other items relating to Cold Spring, thus adding much to our research and more to share with you.  Tell us what you’d like to know about Cold Spring at email.

Click here for a brief history of Cold Spring.  A more detailed history can be found in the book Cold Spring Hotel Site: Uncovering its Layers of History (2005), co-written by Jim C. Logan and Jim M. Logan.  Copies are available at the online store.  Copies can be borrowed or read at the public libraries in Annville, Lebanon, Fredericksburg, Myerstown, Palmyra, Tower City, and the State Library in Harrisburg; as well as these historical societies:  Berks County, Dauphin-Middle Paxton, Lancaster County, Lebanon County, Pinegrove, and Schuylkill County.