BRJWinter23Web - Flipbook - Page 33
The cellar under the house was cool. The floor was dirt. Shelves
were suspended from the ceiling and enclosed with mesh wire.
On the shelves my grandmother stored her home canned fruits
and vegetables of which there was a plentiful supply for the winter. On the dirt floor or in bins, my grandfather stored apples, potatoes, cabbage, pumpkins and green tomatoes wrapped in
newspaper.
An uncle and aunt, Aaron and Mary Cregar, had a farm on the
outskirts of town. There was a spring house on the premises in
which butter, eggs and other perishables were stored. In the big
barn was an open well which was dangerous to little boys. I was
forbidden to enter the building alone.
At home in Pottersville I had a rope swing, a hammock and a
store bought swing which seated four; two on each seat facing
each other.
Days usually died at sundown as my grandparents were up before the crack of dawn. There were no paved street, sidewalks, or
street lights in town. When it rained, mud was everywhere. Without the moon and stars it was dark and scary.
On Sundays, all work stopped except for the necessary chores.
Church services were conducted in the evening as well as in the
morning. I usually accompanied my grandmother to the evening
service and immediately fell asleep with my head resting in her
lap. The church bell, echoing throughout the town, summoned
the worshipers as they walked in darkness except on moonlit and
starlit nights. Total darkness, except for a jeweled sky and the cadence of the night animals and the insects, was the setting for our
walk which was an adventure in the beauty of sight and sound.
Grandpa heated our house by burning wood in the kitchen
range and in the living room stove. My chores at age seven were
to keep a bucket of corn cobs from the lower mill as kindling for
use on occasions when the kitchen fire died overnight and help
grandma drive flies out of the house with paper flails made from
heavy paper flour bags cut into strips and tied together on a stick
at one end. The back door would be opened and starting in the
living room we would shoo flies with our flails toward and out
Black River General Store
Bernie Davis
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Chef/Owner
908.439.2484
5 Fairmount Road East, Pottersville, NJ 07979
Mon. - Fri. 7:30 am - 3:30 pm, Sat. 7:30 am - 3 pm
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Henry Sovereign (far right) and the employees of Excel Manufacturing
and foundry c. 1900. (Dorothy Metzler Collection)
BRJ 2023
33