Filed under: history
This is a total recap of my weekend:
I headed to Mercer County last Friday, my home for the first 18 years of my life. Before I made my way up interstate 79, I stopped in at Kraynick’s Bike Shop to get a new tire and tube for my bike. Outside the shop, I passed a dude wearing a #7 Altlanta Falcons Jersey. I don’t think he got the memo.
It was probably the most jam packed weekend that I’ve had in Mercer in recent memory. When I got to Mercer on Friday afternoon, I stopped by Grandma and Grandpa Thompson’s house, and engaged my Grandfather in a game of chess that ended in a stale mate. He hadn’t played in about 60 years, last as a Chaplain’s assistant in the Army, so that may be a sign I need to polish up my game.
Later that night, I went with my Mom and Grandma Cresswell to The World’s Largest Shoe Store. I was in dire need of new shoes, as it seems after 10 years of size 13, my feet have shrunken to size 12. I got my shoes and we went on our way.
It feels very strange to have to qualify my Grandma by saying “Grandma Cresswell”. Until last year, she was the only Grandma that I knew. I grew up not knowing my father, or his family until last year. So at 24, I started calling two new people Grandma and Grandpa. I also gained 4 uncles with 4 wives, and 6 cousins(4 of which are married) with 5 kids of their own(1 more on the way).It’s just something that doesn’t quite come naturally to me yet.
I spent Friday night at Grandma Cresswell’s and we scoured the classifieds to find the yard sales going on the next day. When I awoke we devoured homemade pancakes, eggs, and sausage and headed to town for some sales. In two hours however, I only found a Queen Record and a tackle box. $1.50 for both.
I dropped off my prize finds at my Grandma’s place, outside of town, and rode back into Mercer for lunch with my newly acquired Grandparents, the Thompson’s. After lunch, I went to a tour of a Mercer graveyard(established in 1805), one which has a unique pyramid shaped Cenotaph in the center of it. The tour was good, with a lot of information on specific people that were buried there, and their relations to the origins of the town. An interesting fact that I learned: Since the Lenape and Iroquois tribes were matriarchal, the white women shared a bond with them, did most of the communication, and were mainly the ones taught farming and information about the area.
After the graveyard tour, I took an Underground Railroad tour, that took us on a walk all around town. Here are a few things that I learned:
* Rattlesnake swap(a swamp outside of town where I used to go fishing) actually used to have a lot of rattlesnakes. Lore tells of hundreds of snakes. In my time spent there, I’ve never seen one. It was recently purchased and may be cultivated for its peat.
* During and before the Civil War, Mercer had a General Store called “Zahniser & Company”. This store sold only goods that were not made by slaves. An easy indication of who was Anti-Slavery, was to watch who went in and out of the store.
* Native Americans were not allowed to join the Union Army in New York State, so many would come to PA to enlist.
After the tour I biked back to my mom’s for stuffed peppers; the first peppers of the year from my Grandma’s garden. FYI regarding peppers, if you pinch the top off of the plant, it will become more bushy and produce more peppers.
After dinner, I rode back into town and met up with my Uncle Denny, proprietor of TLC(Thompson Lawn Care). We loaded up the trailer behind his truck with a canoe and we headed to the Shenango River Lake, which feeds the Shenango Reservoir, for a dusk canoe trip, also referred to as a “night float”. If you’ve never canoed at night, I suggest it. In the country you can see 100 times as many stars as you can in the city, because you don’t have any artificial lights shielding your perception of the sky. We canoed for about an hour and a half, and when it got totally dark on a such clear night, there was enough illumination from the starts and half moon that we navigated the river perfectly. There were an insane amount of fish jumping, and a fireworks show a few miles past the reservoir.
I spent the night at the Thompson homestead for the first time that night, though the bed was short and my feet were hanging off of the edge. I woke up to French Toast Casserole, Bacon and Sausage, and Fresh Fruit.
After breakfast, my Uncle Steve and I headed out on a bike ride to do some cave exploring outside of town. The cave lies on the property of a relative that I have yet to meet. We parked our bikes, crossed an electric fence, and walked across fields and into the woods where we came to the cave along a hillside in the woods.
I would guess that the cave is about 70-80 meters deep. It is home to a bunch of random corn cobs that a raccoon or some other animal has brought from the cornfield, some Miller High Life cans from the 70’s, and chiseled graffiti that dates back to 1857. Premature research through the Mercer Historical Society, shows that some of the graffiti shares common last names to some abolitionists mentioned during that same year, 1857. Could this cave have used for more than a kids hangout like it seemed to be in 1973. My uncle actually knows LUMP.
After the trip to the cave, I parted ways with my uncle, and biked 20 miles to a family reunion in Sheakleyville. My Mother’s father is where I get the last name Cresswell. My Grandma however, was once a Partridge, and her mother was a Sheakley. James Sheakley was once the Governor of Alaska. I’m not sure how he was related to my Great-Grandmother, but he was. Although the reunion happened in Sheakleyville, it had nothing to do with the Sheakleys or that side of the family. It was the Cresswell reunion, a family that seems to own most of the businesses in the town during its current era(or at least has sold most of the properties there).
After putting 26 miles in, I scarfed down the food that everyone else brought, and socialized with the 3 non-immediate family members that I actually know. This being my second family reunion, I have concluded that besides the food, they are a bust. It’s an awkward situation with related strangers, and you end up sitting with and talking to the family members that you already know.
I left and rode back to my Grandma’s. 12 miles in 45 mins. On my way there, something almost happened that I had actually been thinking about on the ride to the reunion. An 8 point buck deer walked out in front of me, while I was going about 20 MPH on my bike. Luckily it took notice at the same time I did, and ran across the road when we were about 10 feet apart. This finished my day at roughly 38 miles, the most I’ve done in one day.
I’m starting to realize that I am related to 1 out of every 10 people in that county. Good thing I don’t live there anymore, as it may take months to realize I may be involved in an incestuous relationship.
The field we walked through to get to the cave. It has remnants of an old barn, or building of some sort.
The Thompsons are decedents of Hosacks, meaning this is probably a relative of mine.
Mail Pouch Barn on Route 19, which I passed on the way to and from the reunion.
