Voices from the Past

(Below is a loose summary of both sides of the audio tape, not a strict transcription).

Andy Evans interviews 80-year old Lawrence Lawyer about his work on restoration of the village. He remembers the mill in 1924 when it had no floors, no wheel. He remembers the 2 clapboard buildings and the one that they call the nursery now, all there in 1924. He told about the house that LeHigh built in the village for someone to look after the pump. Charlie Gene? lived in it. He thought its about where the flower garden area is now. He said the stone fence along the road was always there, but not the stone fence around the garden. The lower Hamer house still had 2 chimneys standing in 1924. The upper Hamer House came from Pinhook Ridge. It was a Foster he thought who owned it but others said it was John Allen’s house. But Crawford owned it when they tore it down.

Andy said he heard there was another mill located at the bottom of where the lake is now. The man agreed it was pretty near to where the bridge is. A quarry site too. Old wagon road too that you can still see. And you can still see piles of ash from the furnaces. He said they had to dig the lake out quite a lot, swung out a bucket and scooped it out – an old antique looking thing and hauled the dirt off. Oliver had the crane and ran the drag line. Claude Fiddler was another one that worked down there but they’re about the only two still living. He said the CCC built the millrace along the creek. Andy said he’s read Dalton, who ran the distillery when the Hamers were there, had a house up by Twin Caves, did he know of any other houses in the area. Lawrence said there was an old house up by the Donaldson Cave parking lot area. Board and batten, old man Donaldson lived in it, closer to where the manager’s house is.

They built the managers house about 1932. The old Turley School House sat where you turn off to the old CCC camp. Some of the materials out of old schoolhouse (Mrs. Lawyer went to school there) were used to construct the service building. It was just a one room schoolhouse. Two doors in the front, boys sat on one side and girls on the other side. He said there was another CCC camp right by the managers’ camp. Its all gone now. There was a colored section and a white section. They got along alright together. The white camp came in in 1933 he thinks. The colored camp might have come in 1935 or maybe 36. He was gone as foreman when they started. He was foreman until 1935. He said there were usually 200-225 CCC enrollees that worked out of the camps. They stayed right there at the camps. He said they ran it like the Army. Had a recreation hall in the middle of camp and a medical room and a shower house. They used the recreation room for church. The camp allowed 4-5 local enrollees that could live in town- like the blacksmith – William Goatee – he was a carpenter too. Made all the hinges and latches in the village.

Andy asked more about CCC life. Lawrence said they had old hickory tables and chairs. The boys liked to play cards and got the newspaper and there was a little store that sold tobacco and pop. There were other camps that were WWI veterans- one was at Brown County and one at Morgan Monroe. He was paid 30 cents an hour when he was working there as a foreman. He earned $150/month. 

Lawrence built the first mill wheel, they found a section and he made blueprints from that. But then the Indianapolis guys got into it. Mr. Stiles gave him their plans and it had some improvements. He said his wheel was white oak, and the new one is too. He said he built all the inside mechanisms too, all out of white oak. They re-chinked the stones in the mill. Lawrence said they used cement, sand, and lime. That is what they used between the logs in the house.  He said that’s what they’d used originally. Didn’t take long to set up. Ratio was 1 part lime and 2 parts sand. Later they added the cement. He said they used rocks to chink  the cracks and then used that sand and lime and cement to fill in.

Andy asked who restored the Granny White House and Sheeks (weaver) House. Lawrence said he worked on the Sheeks House, but the Granny White House was already built when he went to work at Spring Mill in 1932. The Munson House and Tavern were also already built. The Hatters Shop along the stagecoach road was also already there. Lawrence said he’d been working as a carpenter since he was 12-13 helping his dad and grandpa. He also knew a bit about blacksmithing.  His dad had a blacksmith shop too and he worked in that when he was maybe 9 years old- up in Washington County. The shop was in their barnyard.

Andy asked about the fence around the cemetery in the 1930s. Lawrence said he thinks there was a woven wire fence around the back maybe but then the CCC built a wooden rail fence around it. Later a stone fence got built in the front but that wasn’t the CCC. There are also cut stone pillars (maybe they’re concrete?)  around it with aluminum fence but they don’t know where those came from – Lawrence thinks maybe LeHigh put them in? They talk about the cedar shingles on the roof and walnut doors on the mill. Andy asked if the sawmill is configured the same way it always was. Lawrence said yes. He said the only thing left of the sawmill when he started working on it, was a few old irons, the big cogs that fed in the log and some shafts, and one of the wheels.

They talked about how they moved the logs for the cabin. Used 12-15 men and slick logs. He said the men seemed to enjoy the work and 30 cents an hour wasn’t bad pay back then. They were coming up on a CCC reunion at the Butternut Grove Shelterhouse. Usually been having 25-30 last few years. Andy asked if there was music in the CCC camp. Lawrence said a few of the boys played the Jews or French Harp. They were so poor they couldn’t really afford any musical instruments. They had good food. It was cooked right there, but the govt allowed so much for the camp and the cooks went to town and bought what they needed. Brought big vats of food out too. They were WWI ration cookers.