The interior of the house, with its deep win-
dows, its rooms of generous proportions, its
graceful balustrade and high mantels above Vul-
can heaters, is much as it is to-day. A few slight
alterations were made in the latter part of Mr.
Mitchell's ministry, and in the interval between
Mr. Pickard and the present pastor, a bath room
was added through the generosity of Mrs. James
Boyd, while electric lights took the place of tal-
low dips and coal oil lamps.
Miss Lizzie, without whose remarkable mem-
ory many of the details of these sketches would
have been impossible, gives an amusing account
of the first reception given by the congregation
in the manse. It was in honor of the young bride
of Mr. Downey, who had come to us a bachelor
and had furnished a few rooms. The ladies of
the church presented him with a new carpet for
the dining room.
"Fearing it might be spoiled," said Miss
Lizzie, "I loaned some of my sheets to spread
over the floor. It was well I did, for they
were ruined. I don't remember all we had to eat,
45
but Cousin Margaret (now of Lochiel) and I
brought gelatine and I had the pleasure of scrap-
ing a large plateful of it from those sheets, be-
sides crushed grapes, chicken salad and sticky
cake icing. How did the bride look? She was a
pretty girl in a black silk frock with a ruffled,
sleeveless jacket of white muslin over it; very
young and pleasant but a little shrinking at first,
as she didn't know a single creature." A trying
ordeal, that, for any bride, much more for this
one of a country minister facing that merry, jost-
ling throng above the soiled sheets.
There was another reception given to the bride
of Mr. Williamson, but times had changed; this
evening there were no spread sheets, yet the
carpet escaped. It might have been a tragedy:
that night bricks fell in the old chimney and the
coal gas, noticed at the reception, nearly killed
the young couple before morning.
It was during the Williamson regime, in Au-
gust, 1894, that a fire broke out in the manse.
Damage to the house was repaired, but the
church suffered an irreparable loss in its old
records, which were burned in the attic.
When Kev. Luther Davis became pastor in
1885, he at first boarded with a Mrs. Shryock who
had rented the manse. In a few years this ar-
rangement ceased, and then the congregation for
the first time partly furnished the old house and
Miss Eliza Reed became his housekeeper. It
fitted up two rooms upstairs, the library, dining
room and kitchen, while Mrs. James Boyd, ever
generous, furnished the parlor herself. Mr.
46
Pickard, who was unmarried, lived in the manse
with his mother through the years of his pas-
torate.
During the years while Mr. West was supply-
^ ing the pulpit the manse was rented each sum-
mer by Mr. Samuel Fleming, of Harrisburg, and
he and his wife took an active part in the work of
the church.
The old manse will run down as every house
will through the years ; minor improvements and
refurnishing have been made for nearly every
pastor, including the present occupant, for
whom, among other things, hard wood floors are
now being laid on the first story; but the old
building is as firm and far more comfortable
to-day than in its youth, and is, we hope, a last-
ing memorial to an era when builders were con-
scientious, materials dependable and architec-
tural lines simple and dignified.
il
Page 15
Presented as published in 1913. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
The interior of the house, with its deep windows, its rooms of generous proportions, its graceful balustrade and high mantels above Vulcan heaters, is much as it is to-day. A few slight alterations were made in the latter part of Mr. Mitchell's ministry, and in the interval between Mr. Pickard and the present pastor, a bath room was added through the generosity of Mrs. James Boyd, while electric lights took the place of tallow dips and coal oil lamps.
Miss Lizzie, without whose remarkable memory many of the details of these sketches would have been impossible, gives an amusing account of the first reception given by the congregation in the manse. It was in honor of the young bride of Mr. Downey, who had come to us a bachelor and had furnished a few rooms. The ladies of the church presented him with a new carpet for the dining room.
"Fearing it might be spoiled," said Miss Lizzie, "I loaned some of my sheets to spread over the floor. It was well I did, for they were ruined. I don't remember all we had to eat,
but Cousin Margaret (now of Lochiel) and I brought gelatine and I had the pleasure of scraping a large plateful of it from those sheets, besides crushed grapes, chicken salad and sticky cake icing. How did the bride look? She was a pretty girl in a black silk frock with a ruffled, sleeveless jacket of white muslin over it; very young and pleasant but a little shrinking at first, as she didn't know a single creature." A trying ordeal, that, for any bride, much more for this one of a country minister facing that merry, jostling throng above the soiled sheets.
There was another reception given to the bride of Mr. Williamson, but times had changed; this evening there were no spread sheets, yet the carpet escaped. It might have been a tragedy: that night bricks fell in the old chimney and the coal gas, noticed at the reception, nearly killed the young couple before morning.
It was during the Williamson regime, in August, 1894, that a fire broke out in the manse. Damage to the house was repaired, but the church suffered an irreparable loss in its old records, which were burned in the attic.
When Kev. Luther Davis became pastor in 1885, he at first boarded with a Mrs. Shryock who had rented the manse. In a few years this arrangement ceased, and then the congregation for the first time partly furnished the old house and Miss Eliza Reed became his housekeeper. It fitted up two rooms upstairs, the library, dining room and kitchen, while Mrs. James Boyd, ever generous, furnished the parlor herself. Mr.
Pickard, who was unmarried, lived in the manse with his mother through the years of his pastorate.
During the years while Mr. West was supply- ^ ing the pulpit the manse was rented each summer by Mr. Samuel Fleming, of Harrisburg, and he and his wife took an active part in the work of the church.
The old manse will run down as every house will through the years ; minor improvements and refurnishing have been made for nearly every pastor, including the present occupant, for whom, among other things, hard wood floors are now being laid on the first story; but the old building is as firm and far more comfortable to-day than in its youth, and is, we hope, a lasting memorial to an era when builders were conscientious, materials dependable and architectural lines simple and dignified.