The SNYDER COUNTY POST History Page

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125 Years Ago - 1885
    The best time to gather apples and grapes is in the dark of the moon -- when the owner is in bed.
     Martin Snyder, Esq. of Kan-sas, formerly of Selinsgrove, who will be married to Miss Nettie Wagenseller, is entitled to the premium of the Middle-burg Post one year free of charge. He took out the first marriage license in Snyder County under the new marriage law.
     The Match Company at Beavertown have hitherto only made the splints for matches, but they have now received the machinery to complete them, and in a day or two, we can use matches made in our own county. The company now employs a dozen young girls to make boxes.

100 Years Ago - 1910
    On Saturday, Henry Walter found a turtle on the Jerome Dreese farm bearing the inscription "P.E.H. 1882". The inscription was cut on by Snyder County Sheriff P.E. Hackenberg at the age of 15 years -- 28 years ago.
    Wm. Wise, an employee of the Middlecreek Electric Co. was found dead in his home on Sunday. It is thought he turned on the gas to the stove to fry eggs but forgot to light it, eventually being smothered to death by the escaping fumes. The deceased is 25 years old and is survived by a wife and two children.

50 Years Ago - 1960
    Carl R. Hummel, proprietor of the Hummel Store at Globe Mills, has recently renovated the store building and is having a Grand Opening on Friday and Saturday of this week. The store has all modern equipment and is now a self service store.

35 Years Ago - 1975
     Emergency assistance is available to needy persons in Snyder County. It is limited to those persons whose need is a direct result of the flood and the persons resources (income) has been lost, delayed or otherwise inaccessible because of the flood.
    Jacob Speece of Middleburg recorded a total five day rainfall of 12.2 inches on our county.

From the Archives of
The
Middleburg Post

Landis Texaco Station At The Crossroads at Mt. Pleasant Mills

The original Landis Texaco Station that sits at the intersection of Rt. 104 and 35 was erected in 1931 by Lester Landis. Lester’s father, John Landis, was one of the area’s first residents to own an automobile; therefore, a gas station was needed in this part of Snyder County.

   Lester and his wife, Melva, also ran a farm next door. It was always a popular stopping place for those traveling to buy gas, oil and kerosene. It also carried a few grocery items including Hershey’s ice-cream, milk, bread, cheese and bologna strips that sold for five cents each.
    Due to local robberies in that time, Lester was forced to sleep in the gas station many evenings to protect his business. They also had their share of local “loafers” who enjoyed smoking cigars and chewing tobacco while sharing news. Gas was 10 cents-per-gallon in 1931 and It rose to 15 cents by 1942.
     Lester’s son, Ardell, began working for his father in 1942 until he was drafted into the US Army from 1943 to 1946. Ardell’s younger sister, Nadene, helped their father by tending the station until Ardell returned from the military. When Ardell returned home from World War II, he brought the news of falling in love with a young German girl named Edith.
    Edith was the first German war bride in Pennsylvania and one of the first seven in the United States. She would later publish a book “From the Horrors of World War II...to a Great Love Story”.   Edith spent

time with her new husband at the gas station and learned to speak English.
After Lester’s death in 1957, Ardell owned the station for the next 23 years. The gas station closed for good in 1980.

The land and building went unused until Ardell’s nephews, Gary and Kenny Pyle, purchased it in 1996 to create a 50's style ice-cream parlor. Most of the items in the restaurant are Coca-Cola products that were prominent in the day of the service station.

The nostalgic exterior displays relics of the former service station including historical signs and antique gas pumps that were used in the past. The café still features Hershey’s ice-cream and is open year round. The small diner has limited seating, however, outdoor picnic tables are available.
Snyder County lost a part of its history and one of their oldest residents on July 28^th, 2010. Lester’s widow, Melva Landis, was 106 years and 11 months old at the time of her passing.

History Of Embalming Given
At Bean Soup Re-Enactment

Ralph Aitkin, of Lewistown, gave a presentation to visitors to this year's Bean Soup on the art of embalming bodies in the Civil War era. He had a tent set up adjacent to the encampment put on by Civil War re-enactors where he demonstrated methods and explained the technology of the day used in the preservation of dead bodies.
He was "accompanied" by his mannequin "Fred", draped in an American flag, used to illustrate a story about Elmer Ellsworth.

Ellworth was a Union soldier and dear friend of Pres. and Mrs. Lincoln. When he was killed in battle, Secretary of State Seward convinced Lincoln to have him embalmed.
When Lincoln and his wife immediately rushed to visit the body, Dr. Thomas Holmes, the pioneer in embalming, had no covering for Ellsworth's naked body. So he hastily draped a flag over the body.

Submitted by Carolyn Dreese