A Thrilling Ride

            I’ve found some really interesting stories from the past. While reading a town’s website for my Iron Making and Other Pennsylvania Industries book, I read about the start of lumber rafting down the Delaware River which is Pennsylvania’s eastern border. Men lashed whole logs together to make a raft and rode them downstream to businesses that would buy wood. Shipbuilders along the Delaware needed long straight poles for masts and crossbeams. Philadelphia furniture makers also wanted wood.

Long after the first log raft in the 1760s, Frank Walton and his crew cut down trees, constructed a raft, launched it onto the Delaware River, and floated down in 1869.

            Riding a raft of lashed together logs with no good way to hang on would be daring enough, but another thrill in the trip occurred when Frank and his crew sighted elephants in the water ahead near the town of Milford, Pennsylvania. With no brakes or any other way to stop the raft, they barreled into one of the giants, an angry mean one! The men shouted and fought him with their oars to keep him from hurting them. Finally, they were able to push away and continue their dangerous trip down the river.

            Why would a group of elephants be crossing the Delaware River of all places? A circus traveling in the area thought a bridge over the Delaware might break from the weight of the elephants and chose the river bed instead as a safer route. The elephant that the lumbermen landed up against had the name of Tippo Sahib who had killed his trainer recently.

            The next time you cross a Pennsylvania river on a bridge, look down and think about how you would feel seeing elephants plodding through the water.

            Do you know any amazing lumbermen stories, past or present? The job was and still is one with lots of danger. Please share your story in the comment section.

Reference: “The Lord High Admiral.” Townofcocectonny.org. Web Aug 2018.

Photo Credit: “Pennsylvania. Lumbering and Lumber Towns – Log Raft on West Branch of Susquehanna.” Library of Congress. Wikimedia.org. Web 24 Oct 2018  

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pennsylvania._Lumbering_and_lumber_towns_-_log_raft_on_West_branch_of_Susquehanna._LCCN2016650769.tif.

_log_raft_on_West_branch_of_Susquehanna._LCCN2016650769.tif.

Erie Fishing: Part Four

Lake Erie 2010

The kinds of fish caught on Lake Erie changed over the years. Many of the popular fish decreased in availability from over fishing, huge buyer demand, environmental factors, and the loss of the spawning waters. For example, the sauger, with blotched brown or gray sides, 12 to 18 inches long, and a long sleek body similar to a walleye, grew scarce because of over fishing and habitat loss. 

Fish Caught in Lake Erie                                                                                                    

	1700s	1800s	1900s	2000s
Popular Fish	black bass, catfish, lake trout, perch,  muskellunge, northern pike, whitefish, lake sturgeon,	cisco, whitefish, lake trout	northern pike, walleyes, blue pike, smelt, white bass, whitefish, carp, goldfish, yellow perch, suckers,	catfish
Declined in number during this time		muskellunge, lake sturgeon	herring, northern pike, bluepike,   sauger, suckers, whitefish	cisco, lake trout

Ways of Fishing

            Even though the Seneca used nets, most Erie fishermen first used hook-and-line fishing to bring in fish.

With the introduction of the seine net by Thomas Horton in 1830, fishermen caught more fish at one time. The seine is a long rectangle net with a weighted bottom.

            The gill-net which tangled a fish’s gills came into use in the 1850s. The holes in the net are made a size that a fish’s head can go through but not its body. As the fish struggles, the cord slips behind its gills trapping it.

The seine or the gill net needed many men working together to haul them in over the side of the boat. Later, mechanical net pullers cut down the need for so much crew.

In 1902, fishermen used an estimated 800 miles of nets in Lake Erie

The End of the Industry

            The number one reason for the end of Erie fishing came from the new supermarket style of merchandising in the early 1900s. Until that time, people went to a fish market to buy fresh fish. The supermarkets wanted their products in packages ready to put out for sale at an inexpensive price. Salt-water fish could be obtained cheaper than Erie’s fresh-water fish.

To reduce the number of fish of endangered fish being caught, the government banned the use of gill nets in 1996. The seine net was also prohibited for most species. This caused the final collapse of the Erie fishing industry. Bringing in the quantity of fish needed to make a business thrive grew too difficult. 

 References

Applegate, Vernon C. and Harry D. Van Meter. “A Brief History of Commercial Fishing in Lake Erie.” Fishery Leaflet 630, April 1970 Washington, D.C.: United States Department of the Interior. pubs.usgs.gov. Web 24 April 2017.

Arway, John A. “Lake Erie Commercial Fishing – 2016.” Fishandboat.com. Web 6 May 2017.

Gwynn, David. “A Quick History of the Supermarket.” Groceteria.com, 1999-2018. Web 4 Jan 2017.

Roddy, Dennis B. “Caught in a Net of Laws and Bans, Fishermen Lost Their Livelihood.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 30, 2010. Web 6 May 2017.

Smith, Kristina. “Ohio wants to bring two fish species back to Lake Erie.” Port Clinton News Herald.com, April 16, 2015 Web 4 Jan 2018

Watkins, Charles A. “A Good Day’s Catch: Commercial Fishing in Erie.” Pennsylvania Heritage, Vol. IX, No. 2, pages 12-17. Harrisburg: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Spring 1983.  Print.

The Fishing Industry in Pennsylvania: Part Three

The Presque Isle Lighthouse
watched over
fishermen after being built in 1873

Erie Fishing

Fish, fish, fish. That is what the people of Erie, Pennsylvania, did daily. They also ate lots of fish. The city of Erie is located next to Lake Erie in the northwest corner of Pennsylvania and in the 1900s once had the Read More

The Fishing Industry in Pennsylvania: Part Two

Shad Fishing (con't)

In the early 1800s, the construction of the three dams hurt the shad fishing. The Shawmont and Reading Dams on the Schuylkill River were built to make the river more travelable by boat. The Fairmount Dam also on the Schuylkill made a reservoir for a water works company that provided water for Philadelphia.

The dams prevented Read More

The Fishing Industry in Pennsylvania

American Shad

            The American shad is a silver-colored fish with a greenish band along its back and dark spots along the top of its sides. This species is the largest member of the herring family. In weight, American shad average from four to seven pounds and can be anywhere between 16 and 30 inches long.

Prior to the late 1800s, large groups of American shad grew to maturity in the Atlantic Ocean, and then made their way up rivers in April and May. After reaching the Pennsylvania waters Read More

Jobs from the Past

I haven’t posted in a while. The local homeschool group asked me to help with their co-op this fall. I found that preparing took all my extra time, and my writing took a back seat for a while. We had about 70 people attend from babies through to the oldest, me! What fun I had Read More

York Agricultural & Industrial Museum

           Years ago I wrote about my favorite museum, the Jimmy Stewart Museum. I just found my second favorite, the York Agricultural and Industrial Museum. Read More

Williams Grove Historical Steam Engine Show

We took our grandson to his Dillsburg home and noticed a sign nearby that said Read More

Tailor

"Young Man with a Flute" by George Romney
shows a garment that would have been made
at a tailor's shop

Until the mid-1800s, American people didn’t have factories that made cloth or sewing machines to sew that cloth. The process of spinning thread, weaving cloth, and sewing proved to be too much for most folks. More men, women, and children, rich or poor, needed Read More

Silversmith

          When one of our children was teething, my mother-in-law gave me three silver spoons which had been in her family. She told me that her mother had given them to her to teethe on when she was a baby since they were softer than the silver-plated silverware her family owned. 

        I looked up the silversmith marks on the backs of the spoons. Read More

Shoemaker

Shoe Last

            A colonial shoemaker made shoes from leather that he bought from a tanner. The early shoemaker sold his shoes to the middle and lower income people since wealthy people ordered their shoes from England and later from the Dutch and French after America declared its freedom from England.

The shoemaker began by Read More

Clockmaker

Early Clocks

The first clock in Pennsylvania might have been a lantern clock made to sit on a shelf. The lantern clock had a brass box and a bell on top for striking the hours. The clock had the height of about fifteen inches and a spring-driven single hand. The face had only hours and half-hour marks.

The next kind of clock Read More

Gunsmiths

Kentucky Rifle

     In colonial times, gunsmiths worked as repairmen and as makers of new guns. A gunsmith might make a gun from used parts, new parts, or a combination of used and new. The kind of guns made in the early years of America were Read More

Glassmaker

A Glassmaker at 2010 Pennsylvania Renaissance Fair

Have you ever heard the expression, “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones?” This is referring to someone whose house is made of glass. Today, I'm describing someone who worked Read More

Cabinet Maker

In the early days of America, the essentials of life kept a person busy. The homeowner or a neighborhood carpenter built simple rough furniture quickly and simply. The country carpenter also made Read More

Blacksmith

A necessary part of frontier life involved the care of horses. For the horse’s protection, metal horseshoes are nailed to horses’ hooves. In colonial times, a blacksmith would have made the horseshoes, and either he or a farrier would have “set” them. A farrier then as well as now traveled from farm to farm to shoe horses. 

Records show that in 1637, Read More

Apothecary

In colonial days, people sought help for their illnesses from a man called an apothecary who did some of the same things as the colonial doctor did. Just as people of today respect and listen to a doctor’s advice, colonial people thought highly of apothecaries.

To decide what to do, an apothecary Read More 

Early Craftsmen and Craftswomen

Furniture Makers*

Weavers*

As towns grew, hardworking people continued to seize opportunities to start their own businesses. Although still dependent on England for some supplies, these townspeople made things like guns, shoes, clocks, clothing, furniture, silverware, and horseshoes from beginning to end right in their own shops. Specialized businesses produced all the wares during the 1700s.

In the small towns, people often worked several jobs. For example, a clock maker Read More

Lumber, Grist, and Paper Mills

In the preceding blog the first definition of industry given in Merriam-Webster had been “the habit of working hard and steadily.” The second definition of industry in the same resource is “a group of businesses that provide a particular product or service.” The early industries in Pennsylvania fit this category. As towns sprang up, Read More

Early Agriculture

The early Pennsylvania colonist farmed. After he arrived in this country, he chose his land, built a rough shelter, cleared land by chopping down trees, and planted his crops so he would have food for winter. The settler deposed of the fallen trees by burning them and then sold the ashes or used them to make soap. Neighbors helped chop up or pull out tree stumps using sturdy horses, mules, or oxen.

Only after preparing his field, did the settler Read More