USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Braddock > The unwritten history of Braddock's Field (Pennsylvania) > Part 26
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
They selected the following officers :
President, Mrs. Schooley,
Vice President, Mrs. Scritchfield,
Secretary, Mrs. Kulp,
Treasurer, Mrs. James.
For nine years this little Gideon band met regularly once a month in the parlors of Mrs. Schooley, transacted what little business there was, kept the money well invested and so managed to keep the little spark of love for maimed and unfortunate humanity still burning.
"Persistency! thy name is woman."
About 1903 the Braddock Medical Association awoke to the fact that Braddock was sorely in need of a hospital and while they had been dreaming, their sisters were clad in armor and forth to the fight had gone. Realizing as never before that a place in the ranks awaited them, and in fact awaited every man in Braddock, if the desired object was to be obtained, they succeeded in getting the Board of Com- merce to throw off its lethargy and together they started in pursuit of their more progressive sisters and by forced marches were able to over- take them.
A committee called upon the women to see what agreement could be made and learned that the women would very gladly co-operate, provid- ing the men would donate an equal sum of money to the cause and give the women representation on the Board of Managers of the hospital.
Three committees were appointed for the purpose of adjusting matters :
Braddock Hospital Association-Mesdames James, Schooley, Scritchfield, Newman and Kelley.
Braddock Medical Association-Doctors Morgan, Nicholls, Miller, Rubenstein and Fisher.
Board of Commerce-Messrs. George Hogg, George Moore, D. F. Collingwood, L. A. Katz and H. J. Learn.
As a result of the meeting of these committees the Braddock Hos- pital Association disappeared and the Braddock General Hospital As- sociation was born with a Board of Managers consisting of fifteen peo- ple, five of whom were women.
When the Braddock Hospital Association was disbanded, the mem- bers organized into an Auxilliary to the board of managers of Braddock General Hospital in order to continue their work and to place their five members each year as co-workers on the board of managers.
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At the time the building was equipped, the members of this Aux- iliary worked two or three days each week under the direction of Miss Weir, Superintendent of the Hospital, sewing bed-fittings, muslins, gowns, table linen, etc. The material had been purchased from the merchants of the town at cost thereby saving many dollars; it was paid for with money from the treasury of the Auxiliary. Aside from the work they did, the women of the Auxiliary have made cash donations amounting to $2,698.59.
The women of Braddock have given to the hospital up to date the following sums:
$11,500.00 earned by women.
2,500.00 donated by Rachel Clay.
2,698.59 earned by Auxiliary.
$16,698.59
This money so zealously kept was after many years used for the purpose for which it was earned-a building in which suffering humanity could be nursed. That building, erected on Holland Avenue, devoted to the care and healing of the sick, stands a monument to these few, brave, persistent women who "hewed to the line no matter where the chips fell" and remained true to their convictions-that Braddock did need and must have a hospital. They wish no blare of trumpets for their humane acts. Their work is sufficient praise.
The entrance of woman into public life has taken place within the last thirty years and is gaining a momentum whose ultimate force can- not be prophesied.
That she is a human being, as well as a woman, and must have du- ties as such toward human beings outside of her own home circle, and to- ward her town and community, has proved a blessing to the world, and has been the cause of great social reforms.
Who first started prison reform? Elizabeth Fry.
Who aroused the world against slavery? Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Who led the temperance reform? Frances Williard.
Who organized the first Women's College? Mary Lyons.
Who was "The Angel of Crimea"? Florence Nightingale.
Who organized the Red Cross Society? Clara Barton, etc. etc. etc.
That she has intellectual ability as well as duties to humanity and that she ranks high in many of the pursuits of life are self-evident. One of the greatest writers in political economy since Adam Smith was a
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woman. The greatest novelist in England, since Thaceray, was a woman. One of the greatest writers in astronomical science was a woman. In art she ranks second to none, as the names of Rosa Bonheur and Harriet Hosmer testify. One of the greatest financiers of the twentieth century was a woman. Some of the ablest rulers of the world have been women, as the names of Elizabeth, Catharine II, and Victoria recall.
President of this country ? Why not? If for any reason at some future time the country finds any one woman particularly fitted to be President, there is no reason why she should not rule as queens have ruled.
The wife of William Penn assumed the management of colonial af- fairs after his death, executed the task with tact and business capacity. Watson says, "She became in fact our governor, ruling us by her deputies or lieutenant governors during all the term of her children's minority."
If women were to govern the world's affairs in place of men, it would without doubt in most cases be done well.
This is an age of woman. There have been and still are great changes to be made in the status of woman, as this great war is going to show. There are great advantages to come from woman having power and voice in the affairs of the world.
What other women have done Braddock women can do! There is not a better class of women in the world-noble, intelligent, conscientious, self-sacrificing, willing women, alert to the needs of the day! That woman has borne an equal share of the burden of Braddock's development none can deny ; that she leads in the progress that ennobles the life of the bor- ough all must admit; that her great interest in her home and its youth and the moral welfare of her city will produce giant strides in social uplift in the future, we prophesy. In a word woman is Braddock's best gift- "man's joy and pride in prosperity; man's support and comfort in af- fiction".
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THE EVOLUTION OF LOCAL BUSINESS.
BY CHARLES ROSE. (1)
At the very beginning of this article, we wish to state clearly that its purpose is purely historical, and consequently has absolutely no ad- vertising object connected with it. Since the history of any community's commercial development is largely the story of the various business en- terprises of its residents, many names of individuals and firms, must neces- sarily be mentioned. Quite likely many names that ought to be here are omitted because of lack of space, as well as lack of definite data concern- ing them. Furthermore, the stores spoken of are not discussed because they are or were certain stores, but because their appearance in or disap- pearance from the district indicates to a degree the evolving necessities and changed or changing demands and requirements of the trading public, much as a barometer evidences the varying conditions of the atmosphere.
To find the beginning of business in this district, we must go back to the middle of the eighteenth century, when some adventurous traders made their way over dangerous trails from Philadelphia to the westward of the Alleghanies, to trade with the Indians. As the red men, becoming dependent upon civilization, grew accustomed to certain articles furnished by the itinerant merchants and as more settlers moved into the district, it became apparent to the astute traders that a permanent trading post might be profitably established. The French had early chosen the junc- tion point of the Monongahela, Allegheny, and Ohio rivers as an advantage- ous business as well as military position. After the French and English territorial disputes had been settled, more of these posts were placed at what were regarded as likely places. Most of these frontier stores were fairly well fortified in case some undesirable customers on the war path appeared, their frescoed countenances fairly equaling the most striking facial effects accomplished by our modern devotees of the paint pot, and making their presence known by a noise somewhat resembling the circus calliope. These undignfied and unprofitable interviews with the redskins occurred about as frequently in the early days as automobile bandit hold- ups occur now, but the gradual increase in population made them, after a while, a matter of history.
(1) Mr. Rose, the longest time merchant now doing business in Braddock, fur- nished much of the material for this chapter from early reminiscences. The story was written by Wm. J. Aiken, Esq., and Mr. Geo. H. Lamb.
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Besides the early trading post at Pittsburgh, another was located at the mouth of Turtle Creek on the Monongahela River, near old Port Perry, the exact point being now covered by railroad yards incident to the Edgar Thomson Steel Works. Another held forth further up the river near where Brownsville is today. The post at Port Perry and the post at Pittsburgh were the centers of trade for this immediate valley. For many years the town of Port Perry, on account of the commercial impetus given it by this early trading post, as well as on account of its superior location to the neighboring villages, kept most of the business. As late as 1820, people for many miles around went either to Pittsburgh or to Port Perry to do their marketing. The settlers in Braddock's Field, the settlers across the river and from all directions, bought their salt, sugar, tea, coffee, gun-powder, tobacco, and nails at Port Perry.
Twenty-five years before the Civil War, Braddock's Field was a country village straggling along the township road parallel with the river. The houses of the village, for the most part, were located near the road. The land between the road and the river was mostly swampy, but when drained, made good farm soil. It was fertile, furnished good pasturage for cattle, and made several orchards famous for their excellent fruit. North of the road, the land sloped upward to the large farms that spread over the hills. By 1845, these farms were noticeably smaller in area and houses were more numerous. The hillsides soon became dotted with dwel- lings and the dusty township road, forming the main street in the village below, now and then took on an active business air. As the village grew, more highways were necessary to accomodate the growing population and those who could make their living in town built their houses in more or less regular order upon certain fairly well defined streets, and the one time farmers began to lay out plans of lots. By the time recruiting began for the Rebellion, Braddock had acquired the appearance of a prospering town and contained enough people to support a diversified class of stores. The township road then and long afterwards called Main Street, now known as Braddock Avenue, has remained the principal business thoroughfare. Most of the stores were located between what are now Ninth and Eighth Streets. Very few were successful above Ninth and any located much be- low Eighth were regarded as too far out of town. No stores had ap- peared amongst the scattered dwellings on the hills, and Copeland was still in the country.
Like all country towns, Braddock's first store was of that general type where the farmer lad could bring a few dozen of eggs, some butter,
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
a load of potatoes, or some corn, and either receive cash in exchange or trade for anything from a pocket knife, a whetstone, or a pound of sugar, to a suit of clothes. While the salesman, who was also proprietor, as well as political prophet of the community, was weighing out the sugar, his customer might slip into the back room where the heavy scales and numerous barrels were kept, and there try on a pair of jeans. The village belle, whose tastes in fashion could not be satisfied with the conservative calicoes, ginghams, and roomy shoes handled in town, had to go to Pitts- burgh, traveling by stage-coach or by river packet, unless the family pos- sessed their own conveyance.
The blacksmith shop in combination with a wagonmaking business was always busy, but never rushing. The ringing anvil and the flying sparks fascinated many a boy whose swelling ambition filled his dreams at night with vision of himself as a brawny bare-armed man, applying a hot shoe and sniffing smoke from the singeing hoof. There was no hurry around the shop. The farmer who had taken a load of grain to the packet for shipment to Pittsburgh, left his team to be shod. No hur- ry to get back to the farm. Besides, acquaintanceship must not suffer just because he did not live in the crowded town. His favorite store usually chosen for the reason that the members of his particular political party gathered there, had to be visited, or perhaps he called at the harness maker's shop to dicker on a set of new harness, or possibly the tavern attracted him. He often visited the livery stable, scenting prospects of disposing of a doubtful horse at a good profit. The tavern and livery stable were frequently combined under the same enterprising manage- ment, and sometimes the undertaking business was included with the livery.
The barber led perhaps the easiest life in town. Those were the halcyon days of the grandfathers, when a grandfather was not a real grandfather without a flowing beard, when the young man proudly cul- tivated the hair on his face, and when mothers used the shears and mush bowl regularly every two months, except in the wintertime, upon the tops of their sturdy sons. Joke-picture artists in the Sunday supplements had not yet set the style for cutting children's hair. A barber who could not play a quadrille or a Virginia reel and call the figures was of little use to the rising village.
It was a common sight in old Braddock to see a herd of cattle, a hundred head or more being driven along the road. There was a slaugh- terhouse near the river and in these times before the packing house was de-
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veloped every butcher dressed the meat he sold. The meat shop storage room was filled with ice cut from the river in winter. It was the only bus- iness house that had much need of ice, but there were a number of private icehouses, all filled in the winter time with ice-blocks cut from the frozen stream. The meat supply was kept alive and killed as the demand arose so that very little of it was stored. Ice was needed only for preserving meat soon to be sold, and the supplies of salt meat did not need ice. Large quan- tities of salt pork cured in the old fashioned way were brought in by the farmers, and the butchers themselves were always in the market for hogs, sheep, calves, and cattle.
As the town thrived and the opening of the coal mines increased commercial demands, it was apparent that the onetime village was be- coming firmly established as a business center. The general stores in the old style gradually ceased to do business and the merchants entered into various separate lines of trade. The following stages always mark com- mercial progress: first, the general store; second, the diversified stores; third, as the town becomes large and thriving, the last stage is marked by the introduction of the same idea as the general store, but called the de- partment store.
About the year 1869, Braddock was well entered upon its second stage of business development. One evidence of this advance is the fact that William Rose in that year established a shoe business at the corner of Main and Allequippa Streets, now known as Ninth Street. He died in 1877 and the store was run for four years by William Millick, Trustee for the estate of William Rose. In 1881 the present proprietor, Charles Rose, took charge of the business. The following prices of shoes were taken from an advertisement in 1887 of Charles Rose's shoe store: Babies' shoes, 50c; Boys' and Girls' shoes, 75c to $1.50; Men's calfskin boots, $2.50; Men's fine dress shoes, $2.00 to $2.50; Men's working shoes, $1.50 to $2.00; Women's fine shoes, $2.25. It is needless to remark here in this year 1917 that the same goods sell at anywhere from three to five times the mentioned figures.
In the month of February, 1881, Franklin Wentzel began business at the head of Ninth Street on Main Street and moved into his present location in 1887. His catering, confectionery and baking business thrived, showing that the demands of the population had outgrown the meager home necessities of the old town. A. S. Goehring was established in the eighties in the ice-cream business between Tenth and Eleventh Streets on Main Street.
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The gustatory requirements of the community are now further cared for by Nill's bakery, an institution of long standing, and by Ellen- berger's bakery, a more recent establishment.
In passing, it is necessary to mention Ward's Cafe. This famous restaurant started many years ago in a place so small that it was dubbed the "Hole in the wall". Its present standing reminds one of Mark Twain's etymology of the word restaurant; taurus, a bull, and res, a thing; hence a bully thing. Ward's is known far and wide as the best eating place at moderate prices to be found anywhere-and traveling men always try to "make" Braddock at noon, so as to lunch here. Never closed, the rush between midnight and 2:00 A. M. and again at breakfast is as great as at the noon hour or the evening meal. Mr. Thomas Ward, the popular caterer who established the place and built up the trade, sold out a few years ago and went to California; but his successors, Messrs. John Gaffney and Clark Harding, have kept the place up to the standard adopted in the be- ginning, and Ward's cafe is still the popular eating place, and is abundant proof that money can be made by serving meals without any bar or other side issues. Other restaurants are the Corey Avenue restaurant, and the Olympia, one of a chain. Some of the hotels also cater especially to the noon day lunch for business men. Among such are the Ebner, Butler, and Opperman hotels.
THE FAMOUS.
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
The firm of Katz & Goldsmith,-composed of Leo A. Katz, born in Pittsburgh, Pa., 1857, and Louis J. Goldsmith, born in New York City, 1852,-under the trade name of "The Famous", opened in Braddock at 872 Braddock Avenue, October 12, 1881, in a store twenty by sixty feet, with clothing and men's furnishings. At that time Braddock had no lighting system or water works. The illumination was by lamp light only. The store was lighted by tin pipes suspended from the ceiling filled with kero- sene, to which wick burners with lamp chimneys were attached. It was considered the best lighted store in Braddock. Brackets holding lamps illuminated the windows. The store prospered from the start. It was in the early days of the Edgar Thomson Works, with monthly pay days. In a few years they outgrew their quarters and occupied the double store of the Baldridge Building at 871-873 Braddock Avenue, opposite Ninth Street. It was then the largest store in Braddock, with the distinction of having the largest plate glass windows. The business continued to pros- per and larger quarters were again needed and an addition was added to the rear. Illuminating gas had been introduced into Braddock and the town felt metropolitan. In a short time larger quarters were again neces- sary and the Kerr Arcade Building at 807-809 Braddock Avenue was se- cured in 1893, the year of the panic. New lines were added and the building was altered to meet the ever increasing trade. In 1896-1897 new stories were added and it blossomed out as a Department Store. In rapid succession the Routh property on the west and the Masonic Hall As- sociation Building on the east were acquired and transformed to meet the requirements of a modern department store. In 1914 Josiah L. Goldsmith was admitted to the firm and the firm is thus constituted today. The store's area (when the contemplated changes are carried out) will be one hundred sixty by one hundred twenty feet, three and four stories high with basement, all used for selling, with modern lighting and heating system and a warehouse on Talbot Avenue and Pine Way. The growth of the store typifies the growth of the town probably better than anything else, in the period from kerosene oil to illuminating gas and from the latter to the electric lighting. Lanterns carried by pedestrians was the only lighting in 1881 and when the stores turned out the lights the town was dark indeed.
A good illustration of the old adage "Tall oaks from little acorns grow" is afforded by the Department store of Thos. W. Nugent & Co., familiarly known as "Nugent's, Braddock's Best Store."
Conceived in a small and unpretentious way, in a small store with
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
NUGENT'S DEPARTMENT STORE.
only a few lines, the business has steadily grown year by year until today, when it stands forth in this community as a fine example of a Modern De- partment Store.
The business was founded in 1894 by Mrs. Mary Nugent, and has been conducted ever since that time by her and her sons and daughters.
The place in which the business had its beginning was a small store at 823 Braddock Avenue, in the site now occupied by the First National Bank. The lines carried at that time were Millinery and a few lines of Ladies' Wear.
In a few years the business had grown so that larger quarters be- came necessary, and a more spacious store was found at 851 Braddock Avenue, where the firm moved in 1898. New departments were now added, principally Dry Goods and Men's Furnishings.
From that time the store has had a continuous growth, new de- partments and additional space being added every year. The Lytle Opera House, which included the second floor of the store at 851 Braddock Avenue, and also of the adjoining store, was added, making the largest store-room in Braddock.
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In the year 1906, the pioneer furniture store of Masters & Lewis, which occupied the next room at 853 Braddock Avenue, was purchased by Nugent's, and thus additional space was gained, and also more lines were added to the many carried.
The two storerooms on George Street were soon found necessary, and by this time the store occupied almost the entire block.
However, the store still continued too small for the ever-increasing business, so it necessarily followed that plans were made in 1915 for the erection of a modern three-story Department Store. A site was chosen at the corner of Braddock Avenue and John Street, in the next block from the old building.
The new structure was completed in September, 1915, and was built of white enamel brick, with large show-windows forming an Arcade front. The store has modern fixtures throughout its three floors finished in ma- hogany.
The successful growth of The Famous and Nugent's into thorough- ly modern department stores marks the entry of Braddock into the class of large commercial centers.
Harry J. Learn, a well-known resident of the town, for many years has conducted a dry goods business that began successfully and has had a steady and flourishing growth.
A. J. Spigelmire, who began business in the eighties, has conducted a growing business ever since, having a general store and handling dry goods and carpets.
Of the old stores that are now out of business, familiar to the earli- er residents, may be mentioned the clothing store of Katz & Wormser, the dry goods and millinery store of Thomas Wagner, the general dry goods store of Spitzer & Speidel, the dry goods store of J. W. McCune, the Kerr Arcade, a dry goods store occupying a part of the present site of The Famous, and Blattners Department Store, a member of which firm now conducts a men's furnishing store.
Among the clothing and men's furnishing stores of long and suc- cessful standing in the town may be mentioned Bachman's, Sullivan, Jones & Ryan, C. V. Weakland & Co., Fromme's, and Fromme & New- man's, all located on Braddock Avenue.
The first furniture store in Braddock was that of James A. Rus- sell, which he opened in connection with his undertaking establishment as was quite the custom in the '60's and '70's. There are now several exclusive furniture stores in the town, among which may be mentioned,
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Noland Furniture Co., Stephens Furniture Co., Braddock Furniture Co., Globe Furniture Co., and R. E. Thompson.
H. M. Glenn and Braddock Paint & Glass Co. specialize on house decorations. Roderus & Klaban of Braddock, and C. B. Guttridge of Rankin, have flourishing trade in periodicals, stationery, blank books, and office equipment. John M. Balsamo, starting with a small tobacco store, has built up in connection with it a good trade in papers and periodicals. A. B. Crow has for many years conducted a harness making plant and store.
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