| Apparently, my great-grandfather Charles Edward Benjamin (my father's
namesake) was living in a house on Cottage Avenue which cornered with Main
Street during this ordeal. The photographs (I'm assuming taken by a professional
photographer who more than likely returned at a later date to sell images
to the residents as I'm most certain my family was too poor to own a camera)
show three different scenes. The first is a photo of my great-grandfather's
home which shows two men and three women in aprons standing on a small
porch. The second photo is of a view 180-degrees opposite of the first
depicting the school which my grandfather attended in 1886 and which is
today the town's City Hall/Public Library. The only thing missing today
is the bell tower on the roof, but the school bell is now mounted in the
front lawn of the building. The third photo is a look down Main Street
showing the aftermath of the flooding and clearly depicting the debris
spread throughout the community. According to Mrs. Reva Shaw the house
in the photograph is the house which sits beside her home today. Her home
was the former Cramer Coal Company home which still has remnants today
of its existence and was apparently the home that butted against my great-grandfather's
back yard.
It was Karen Troup the town librarian which pointed out to me your website
and I have been attempting to garner further information on my ancestry,
but the only thing I have found thus far were census records from 1880
which listed my great-grandfather and my grandfather (Horace Benjamin who
was only age 1 in 1880).
I intend to further investigate this ancestry, but I have a feeling
that my family was only in this part of Pennsylvania for a short while
and I believe they later moved to Sullivan County, PA as my grandfather's
two wives were both sisters from the Brown family of said county.
I hope this interests you and you are more than welcome to share any
and all information I have discovered with whomever you choose.
Sincerely,
Benny
Charles E. Benjamin |
