Jeremiah Matthew Metzger

     Jeremiah Matthew Metzger was born on 5 October 1865. He was the son of Thomas M. Metzger and Anna Maria Waltz. Jeremiah Matthew Metzger married Alice Catherine Hetner, daughter of Daniel Hetner and Sarah Clark, circa 1890.¹
     Jeremiah Matthew Metzger appeared on the census of 1870 in the household of Thomas M. Metzger and Anna Maria Waltz at Anthony Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. Jeremiah Matthew Metzger was a farmer in 1900. This book presented today Is In no way complete: My hope is that It will provide enjoyment now, and that we will add to It in years to come. One of the primary values of a book like this Is to present stories and pictures of the family. I have focused on what it was like to grow up on the Mansion Farm and the delight which their six sons provided for Jeremiah and Alice Metzger. I have not concentrated on gathering dates and names that would provide us with a Family Tree, but feel this would be a valuable addition. Much more time and effort from other family members would be necessary. I want to acknowledge these persons who made the compiling of this book possible by sharing stories and/or pictures: Raymond Metzger, my father; LaVern Metzger, my uncle; Robert Metzger; Mary Metzger Bell; Dale Metzger; Bruce Metzger; and Louise D. Metzger.

     John Jacob Metzger was a native of Ober-Umpt, Stuttgart, Württemberg, Germany. He immigrated to Pennsylvania about 1814 and settled in Hepburn Township, Lycoming County. He and his wife, Catherine Fink Metzger, had four children: Jacob, John George, Elizabeth, and Josina.

     Jacob Metzger, was born in Germany in 1803. After reaching manhood, he purchased a tract of 400 acres in Lycoming and Anthony Townships, named it Mansion Farm and it is still in possession of his descendants today. Jacob was married to Barbara Christina Gerlach, who bore him the following children: Jacob Jr., Daniel, Thomas, John, Samuel, who was killed in the rebellion; Margaret, wife of John Sweeley; Kate, wife of John Phillips; David, killed in a railroad accident in Washington, D. C; Solomon, Rosanna, wife of John Kline; Lizzie, wife of John Wooster: and Aaron. Jacob died in 1871, his wife died some months before, in 1870. Early-in his life he was a Democrat and subsequently, a Republican.

     Jacob Metzger was an active and leading member of the State Road Evangelical Church for many years. Even in his last will he proclaimed his faith. It reads: 'in the name of God, Amen. I Jacob Metzger, of Anthony Township, in the county of Lycoming and the state of Pennsylvania, German, being of sound mind, memory, and understanding, do make and publish this my last will and testament, hereby revoking and making void all former wills by me at any time heretofore made. First I direct that my body be decently Interred In the churchyard near Robinson's School House, by the side of Barbara Christina, my wife deceased, according to the rites and ceremonies of The Evangelical Church, and that my funeral be conducted in a manner corresponding with my estate and situation In life. As to such estate as It hath pleased God to intrust me with, I dispose of the same as follows: I give and bequeath to my son Thomas Metzger, my Mansion Farm, which he now occupies and farms...' February 23, 1871

     Thomas Metzger and his wife Anna Mary continued the Metzger legacy. In the early 1800's a log house was erected by Jacob Metzger Sr. on the present site of the farmhouse. Later a two story salt box style house was built near the present old corn crib, little spring and the butcher house. The original barn was erected during this time. Thomas and Anna Mary Metzger had four children: Jeremiah, Frank, Emanuel, and Ida. Jeremiah inherited the Mansion farm from his father, Thomas Metzger.

     Jeremiah Metzger married Alice Hetner Metzger. When Jeremiah asked Alice if she wanted a honeymoon or a top buggy with rubber tires, Alice answered, 'A top buggy with rubber tires.' Since that day all the Metzger's have admired and valued 'fancy wheels'.

     One Sunday morning while Jeremiah and Alice were attending church, their house caught fire. They lived in the 'butcher house or-sometimes called the 'wash house' until the present house was built in 1898. The new house was built by Jeremiah's brother-in-law, Chris Auch. He used the original logs from the house of Jacob Metzger's log house, and these same huge logs support the present house Raymond, Louise, and Mark, live in today. The house was built in the Victorian style and featured a widow walk at the top of the house. Chris Auch was an expert designer of the beautiful ribbon grained woodwork that is featured in the dining room and throughout the house even today. One of the conveniences Alice Metzger had as a housewife, was a dumb waiter in the dining room. The dumb waiter looked like a built-in cupboard but when opened, the shelves were attached to pulleys that enabled Alice to lower her fresh warm pies to the cellar to cool. She could ring the dinner bell from a rope that extended from the balcony above, through the kitchen ceiling.

     Along with farming, Alice and Jeremiah Metzger had special customers in the town of Williamsport where they sold their farm produce, which they delivered by horse and buggy every Friday. Alice was very good at driving horses and often drove the second wagon or buggy when they peddled their produce In town. They sold eggs, bushels of potatoes, 80 pounds of butter each week, 'dressed chickens and turkeys', lard, buttermilk, vegetables and melons from the garden, crates of apples and peaches from the orchard, and black and red raspberries.

     In order to carry on such a thriving and profitable business, Alice and Jeremiah Metzger had six fine sons; Lloyd, Verus, Clyde, Howard, LaVern, and Raymond. All their sons worked diligently and farmed with horse drawn equipment and three teams of horses. Some of their equipment Included: sulky plows, spring tooth harrow, hay wagons, drill, and a two row corn planter.

     Some of the 'out buildings' included the wood shed, which was the scene of most of the disciplinary matters for the six Metzger boys; the spring house, which supplied all the drinking water and cooled the dairy products; the smoke house, where the hams and bacon was cured with green maple wood; the butcher house or wash house, where the butchering was held. In the fall; and the clothes were washed; the ice house where the ice was kept for the cooling of food; the wagon shed, attached to the main barn, that housed the buggies and sleighs; a straw shed, for storage of straw; and a cold cellar to store all the potatoes and fruit; the chicken house, grainery, shop, and the pig pen. All the fields were fenced In with rail fences &so the cows might graze in any field.

     On Fridays, while Jeremiah and Alice were In town peddling produce, the Metzger boys had to scrub all the walks so they would be clean for Sunday. Lloyd helped his mother by Inventing a butter worker from pine wood so she could make her 80 pounds of butter faster. LaVern and Raymond had the job of gathering the chestnuts early in the morning before the turkeys got to them. After all the porches and walks were scrubbed and Lloyd had the carbide lamps all ready for the new week, the Metzger family helped Alice Metzger get all the food ready for Sunday.

     The Metzger's were great ones to Invite lots of people in for Sunday dinner. Alice being an excellent cook, would have as many as twenty people around the big long oak table in tile dinning room. LaVern and Raymond had to eat in the kitchen. A guest once told Howard Metzger, who was sitting with him at the dinning room table, 'If you can get a woman that can bake bread like that, snatch onto her.' The blessing was always said at every meal by the father of the Metzger family and that prayer is still said today.

     Church was a very important part of the Metzger family life. Jeremiah was very active in the State Road Church, and was said to shake hands with each person who attended each Sunday, even the tiny babies. 'Bush Meetings' were held up in the woods near where LaVern Metzger's present home is today. The preachers were always asked to come for supper. After dinner, Clyde would provide the music on an upright piano in the corner of the living room. Clyde was very talented in music. The Metzger's entertained many guests by singing hymns around the piano. The 'parlor' or living room, was only opened on Sundays. Alice Metzger kept the boys out by pulling the big oak doors shut. The Metzger 'parlor' also included an Edison Victrola and their first radio was an 'Atwater Kent.'

     One of the preachers that visited the farm often was Rev. Snyder. He brought his whole family. The Metzger boys were not very fond of the children because they would slide down all the hay stacks and find plenty of mischief to get Into while visiting. Just for fun, one time the Metzger boys placed a fresh 'cow flop' at the bottom of the hay stack. Jeremiah Metzger was naturally a generous man, but he was especially good to his preacher after the hay stack incident. He told the preacher that on the way back from preaching at the Pine Run Church he should stop by and take home a fresh turkey for Christmas dinner.

     The country doctor was Dr. Schaffer and another was named Dr. Yost. Their office was in Quiggleville. Those doctors made house calls in their horse and buggies. The mailman came by horse and buggy also, and delivered the Metzger mail at the big oak tree. The box number in those days was #27. The Grist Mill was in Perryville where the Metzger's took corn and oats to grind for the cows. All the Metzger boys had to help cut ice at John Metzger's pond, who was Jeremiah's cousin. The ice was stored in saw dust In the ice house near the only English walnut tree on the farm. When the apple trees produced an abundance of apples, Jeremiah would haul crates full to Cogan Station to the railroad station to be shipped to Williamsport.

     The peddler came once every couple months. He sold socks. gloves, sheepskin coats, jewelry, and watches. The Metzger boys didn't like the peddler because he let his horse eat too much oats and corn. One time they put rotten eggs under the peddler's buggy seat. As he drove away from the farm he began to smell something and looked under the seat to see the Metzger, boys' surprise.

     Silo filling, thrashing, and butchering were times when all the neighbors and family got together to help each other. The food and hard work balanced out a profitable and enjoyable day. All the women tried to out-do each other by having the most delicious food.

     Jeremiah was a community leader serving as a director of the Dairymen's League, school director of Anthony Township, and a member of the Cemetery, Association of the State Road Church.

     The Metzger boys attended the Steam Mill School in Anthony Township. This structure is still standing and now used as an election facility for the community. The boys had to walk in the snow waist deep in the winter and in the spring the mud was terrible. Raymond and LaVern hated to walk past Charlie Newcomer's farm because he owned a mean bull that pawed and snorted at the boys every time they went by. One day Raymond and LaVern were walking home from school. It had been butchering day at the Newcomers, and Charlie Newcomer decided to play a little trick on Raymond and LaVern. He coaxed the boys into the barn to show them his calves. While they were inside, Charlie's brother, Wiltz Newcomer filled up LaVern and Raymond's 'dinner buckets' with hot 'pon haus or scrapple' left over from butchering.

     With six boys around the house, Alice Metzger had a few tricks up her sleeve to keep order in the family. She hid the homemade cookies in the bedroom closet so the boys couldn't eat them all up. Alice had an oak bureau, that is still used in the house today, that she kept the boys clothes in. In Alice Metzger's handwriting each drawer is labeled from top to bottom, Lloyd, Verus. Clyde, Howard, and Verne written in pencil. Raymond didn't have a drawer in that bureau. Verne was known to hide his candy in his drawer to give to the girls. Clyde is still distributing candy at the Sunday School picnics, Metzger Reunions, and other functions to this day.

     The Metzger's celebrated Christmas at the Mansion Farm or sometimes went to Frank Metzger's home, Jeremiah Metzger's brother. On the Christmas's that the Frank Metzger family would visit, the boys enjoyed playing with their cousins Walter and Harold they would all enjoy home made ice cream. Raymond remembers getting an orange in his stocking. That was a big treat in those days!

     Sledding parties in the winter were Metzger's. The sleigh bells that had been carefully polished for decoration at Christmas time were now attached to the horses' harness. The horse-pulled bobsleds carried many passengers who kept their feet warm with a soap stone and covered up with a horse blanket or buggy cover. Raymond was responsible to bring the homemade ice cream. On one occasion, he tipped over the ice cream can in route to the neighbor's house.

     Jeremiah Metzger never smoke or drank. He taught his children not to adopt these habits either. He rewarded Raymond with a gold watch, which he still has and uses today because he does not smoke or drink. LaVern followed his father's wise advice and rather than a watch he preferred to receive a gun for his reward.

     Another form of recreation for the Metzger boys and their father Jeremiah, was hunting. They enjoyed squirrel and deer hunting. Jeremiah, Clyde, and LaVern got many squirrels in the big woods. The Metzger boys once had squirrels as pets and had a cage with an exercise wheel. There are two stuffed squirrels in the attic of the farm house today. Nobody seems to know who they belong to.

     Many of these remembrances of the Jeremiah Metzger family were shared with me as I was growing up, by my father Raymond Metzger and my Uncle LaVern Metzger. Some of this information was gathered during the last several months. Aida, Bruce, and Dale Metzger, grandchildren of Jeremiah and Alice Metzger and children of Lloyd and Alice Metzger recall good times while visiting Mansion Farm. Bruce remembers a special time when he got to ride on the work horses under the supervision of Uncles LaVern and Raymond. Another grandson, Robert, (Bob) son of Clyde and Ruth Metzger has these memories of his visits to the farm.

     Bob recalls vividly the big white Metzger homestead with the white picket fence on State Road out Queneshague Creek, where a big collie dog always met you with a wagging tail and a big wet tongue. When I first remember going there, the collie and I were eyeball to eyeball, so I remember mostly the tongue. I usually spent a week or so during the summer of my early years with Grandmother Alice. Uncles Verne and Raymond were then unmarried and living at home. Grandmother used to tell me that 'they were good boys but still not dry behind the ears.' As a matter of fact, they were still courting the young ladies of Anthony Township and environs, terrorizing the cows as they roared around the dirt roads in their roadsters. One particular occasion, I recall, was Uncle Verne waving gallantly from his open convertible to a group of young ladies sitting on a front porch. Can't you just see him, and there I am hanging on to the seat behind him. Forgetting that the road took a sudden turn, Verne ran off into a slight ditch. How embarrassing! Fortunately their father was home. More fortuitously he owned a horse who pulled the Chevy out of the ditch only-slightly marred by the exercise. Uncle Raymond, too, was browbeat by Grandmother to take Bobby along' on a date. My recollection is that Uncle Raymond was a much better driver. At any rate, Grandmother M. was a 'ruling despot' in that I'm sure Verne and Raymond didn't exactly want me along in their visits. I think Grandma thought I would be a hindrance to any hanky-panky.

     Times have changed a great deal in the past 50 + years, but I think Grandmother and Grandpa Metzger really had the best of all worlds. Who else had six sons to help work a big farm? But I think the most outstanding feature of that old house was the bathtub and toilet adjacent to their downstairs bedroom. What luxury! But those boys ensconced on the second floor made do with 'thunder mugs.' No fancy frills for them.

     The cold cellar in the original barn at the homestead, the old spring house down the hill, and the ice house across the road were Grandmother's means of maintaining yeast, food, fruit for any period of time. I remember many trips to the spring house to bring Grandma something and how crisp the apples tasted when they came out of the cold cellar in the corner of the old barn.

     I clearly remember the huge team of horses on the farm. Burt and Sailor were their names and they were big. No one ever rode them because your legs would have stuck out straight. I wonder if Uncle Raymond remembers the day fie was shoeing one of them. The horse kicked and ripped Uncle Raymond's brand new overalls. After a good talking to and a few slaps, on the rump he got the horse's attention and things went along smoothly.

     In the old days you had to start the gasoline-powered electric generator each evening as it began to get dark. It was in the wood shed near the back door and adjacent to the smoke house. Come to think of it, Grandmother had just a short trip to the meat market.

     Some of the best times were when we would all gather at Grandma's house on a Sunday for dinner and then make ice cream in the evening. Who can forget the strenuous turning of the crank on an eight quart freezer as the cream began to freeze and harden. That was delightful work! A picture I can never forget is Grandma Metzger sitting on a kitchen chair at her table where she was accorded the singular honor of eating the ice cream off the dasher when it was withdrawn. There she sat with her ever present apron, the dasher resting upright in a big soup dish, and a sweet smile on her face as she relished the presence of her sons and their families.

     An occasion every year was the church picnic in the grove up on the hill by the peach orchard. The food, fellowship, fun and games, and the chance to know each other better was always an exciting event. Was there anybody stronger than Perry Paulhamus? And do you remember how marvelous the swings were fastened to those high limbs in those magnificent trees?

     Perhaps one of the most indelible memories is attending church and prayer meeting at State Road Church. In those days when you prayed, you knelt and faced the back of the pew. And believe you me, you prayed loud and clear in sequence. It often comes to mind how surprised I was when I first heard Uncle Raymond and Uncle Vern pray at those meetings. And in those days there was still a long covered shed where you parked your car or your horse to keep it cool in the summer and out of the bad weather in the winter. I wish we still had them today. That church also brings to mind that a respected gentleman whom I knew well in Boy Scouts, William McKinley, longtime friend of my mother and father, fellow-member of our church in Williamsport, Boy Scout Troop 3 Committeeman, lost his life when he fell from a scaffold while he was painting the steeple of State Road Church.

     I have the very vivid memory of the morning routine at the farm. After getting up and doing the chores and the milking, everyone came to the kitchen for morning devotions and breakfast. Someone read a passage from the Bible, a prayer of thanks was given, breakfast was served, and then the plan for the day's or week's work was discussed. It was a time of togetherness that is rarely equaled in our homes today.

     Speaking of Grandma in the kitchen reminds me of her cooking. Feeding twenty was no challenge. Smelling the bread baking in the wood-fired oven is a sensation hard to beat. And watching Grandmother slice bread always gave me a feeling of apprehension for fear she would slice her shoulder. Can you visualize holding a round loaf of bread 12 inches in diameter clutched between elbow and breast while you sliced upwards?

     I wish I could remember more of my grandfather. All I can envision is a tall, slender man with a kindly face. When my grandchildren visited our home recently, it suddenly occurred to me that I was experiencing a period of great joy and happiness which my grandfather had missed.²