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Hm C—hoftiw N#wiW«HT, JAIL ». imUp and Down the RiverROMANTIC STORIES OFTHE MUSKINGUM VALLEYBy Eleanore Bailey JohnsonTHE STORE FACES STATE STREET, and so does the family home only a few steps away. Over the counters of the store, fCtt three generations, goods of all kinds have been sold. On the long front porch of the pleasant, white house which has been home for the Baker family even longer than the store has been in existence, are quaint ribbed benches where one may sit ol a summer’s evening and watch the comings and goings of the neighbors in the village ot I1 razeysburg ... one of the most charming and up-to-date hamlets in the Muskingum Valley. * —.....—------—— —* —The fine, old gentleman who'*' travels the few yards between fn-r ”2 years, 6.-! at its present. ]o- jthe house and store wjih the regu*larity of a pendulum on a clock,morning, noon and nigh\ loves •§them both ... his home, hiscation, come thisMarch.”THE STORY‘T was born in Dresden, near■■»i”l O k I f kthing was weighed ©ut end wrapped in rraaniia paper for light things, such as tea, spices, etc. and in “rag paper for the heavier groceries, such as sugar, beans and salt.There were no sacks of any kind, no cartons of cereals. In fact, there was, of course, no such thing as our dry cereals. Oatmeal, hominy and buckwheat flour came in bulk and had to be weighed up for orders. When a car load ol was put off atthe Frazeysburg siding, it was nip and tuck to get it unloaded in the specified time. Once when a car load c*me in, he and the boys and the two McNaughts. Elmer and Lawrence unloaded it in one night. They closed the store at 10 o'clock, (it always was open until late every night) and got the sugar into the store by morning. That was a real chore, but willing hands and stout bodies did the trick.Another old-fashioned commodify that we seldom mo in our grocery stores ioday was stoneware. There was a factory in Dresden end the stuff was loaded on the boats that plied the Muskingum River end taken through the old cenel to Freseysburg. He bought a great deal of this, as fruit was packed in these jars by housewives. There were no glass jars then!The old canal was a great boon to the village. Coal barges would come through, drawn by the mule teams we tee in old pictures, dock for a few hours end everyone could go down and buy the coal .. . five cents• bushel! TH* canal was operated until about 1883 when the railroad line made freight so much quicker and easier, it was abandoned. It was one of the romantic parts of our country history, and some day I willThe romantic old huckster wagon pictured here was the beginning of Mr. Baker’s career as a prosperous county merchant. He drove it himself for ten years before opening his general store in Fra2evsburg, The driver in the picture, taken about 1908, is Ross Davidson, who now manages the Carroll department store in Newark. The wagon was on the road for 45 years and toured three counties, Muskingum, Licking and Coshocton. ____served as elder for years and was; treasurer a few years after the. church was organized.In 1919 many major improve- 1 merits took place in the village, the most important being tne pav- : ing of streets that year. A city i water works system was installed : in 1941 and 1943 very fine vo}-: unteer fire department, under the able direction, of Roger Bolder, as fire chief, gave the village: much needed fire protection. 1COUNTRY STORE IN WINTERNow to be pitied are those, whose earliest memories Do not include an old store at the cross roads.The circle of oldsters who gathered About the hot, big-bellied stove While wagon wheels creaked in the snow On the road, seen through dim windows, Snow piled by the door, and clinging to
Newspaper Details
Coshocton News
Coshocton, Ohio, US
Sun, Jan 27, 1946
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Muskingum C.
OH, USA 13 Jul 2020
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