Click Here to Return to Milestones
Jim Deaver was born in New Cumberland, West Virginia, in 1881. In 1884 his family moved to Freedom after a flood destroyed their home. Jim was a prominent resident of Freedom until his death in 1973. He was a remarkable man. Although partially blind for most of his life and completely blind for about 25 years, he led a very active life and was interested in everything and everyone around him. He worked as a clerk for the Pennsylvania Railroad until his retirement. He was an active member of Freedom's Methodist church where he served as trustee for many years. He was one of the original members of the I.O.O.F. lodge - the women's branch is named for his wife - The Ada Deaver Rebecca Lodge. Jim also served as secretary of the Board of Health for 20 years.
Partial blindness prevented him from fulfilling his dream of becoming
a riverboat captain like his father and grandfather. However,
because of his upbeat outlook on life, he achieved much and enjoyed
life to the fullest.
When he was 89 years old, he realized that much of the rich history
of the town he so loved might be lost; so he set about recording
some of his memories. The following are excerpts from that recording:
"Freedom was a booming riverboat town before the turn of
the century and most of the people worked on the river. My father
was captain of the steamboat, Hawk, which plied the Ohio and Mississippi
Rivers. My mother, brother and I often rode with him. My best
memories are of the wonderful meals on the boat - there were always
freshly baked breads and pies as well as ham and roasts. We enjoyed
a very good life until my father's death - his steamboat capsized
and he and his crew perished. My grandfather, also a steamboat
captain, died in a similar accident on the Mississippi. Some of
the early family names associated with riverboats were Captains
Bentley, Clark, Erwin, Bryan, Watson, Graham, Curtis, McCaskey,
McDonald, Noss, Bentel, Coulter, Dravo, and Connor.
"Although most of us worked six days a week and often ten-hour
days, there was still time for fun. The church was the social
center for many of the early residents. There was also Morgan
Hall where folks gathered for various meetings. Two Scotsman,
Dave White and Walt Anderson, organized the local Christian Temperance
Union which met weekly in Morgan Hall. After fiery meetings and
songs decrying the evils of alcohol, the chairs would be pushed
back for dancing and socializing.. They would sing lightning songs.
One of them went like this: My wife's mother whose my mother in-law.
She ought to have a padlock on her jaw. If she were a woman instead
of a man, I would scratch her eyes with a corn beef can.
"Freedom was also a bustling business friendly town. Third
Avenue was lined with trees that formed a canopy over the street.
The street was unpaved. There were stepping stones at each comer
because the street was muddy most of the year. The trees were
removed to make way for the overhead power lines for the trolley
line. The streetcar tracks went as far as Ninth Street. At one
time there were thirteen grocery stores in town - Daddy Snead's,
Kuhl's, Kribb's, Jack's, to name a few. There were several barber
shops and three butcher shops. J. Lochart opened the first drugstore.
Later Danly and Bore, Palmer, Thompson and Edward's drugstores
were established. Other businesses included two photo galleries;
two livery stables (Cunningham's, Keff and Dunlap's); three restaurants;
Mengel's stable and feed store; two hotels (Hotel Freedom and
Hotel St. Clair); a foundry; three oil refiners (Bentel Oil, Carter
Oil, and Freedom Oil); French's brickyard and Craig Casket Company.
There were several businesses south of Third Avenue: the livery
stables, train passenger station, foundry, the two oil works and
French's Brickyard.
"Third Avenue was then Main Street - the hub of town. Residents
living on the corners named others: Third St. was Baker's Corner;
Fourth was Bevington's; Fifth was Cumming's; Sixth was Hartman's;
Seventh was Lowery's; Eight was Cox's; Ninth was Lodge's Corner.
"Eighth Street had the marble works and later the casket
works. Linenbrink and Mengel owned a flour mill.
"Some of the names of members of the Methodist Church were
Overton, Lockhart, Fowler, Rider, Snead, Headland, Anderson, and
McCaskey. Some of the families in the German Methodist were Wilt,
Walls, Geyser, Hecky, and Kuhl. The Presbyterian Church had Block,
Morgan, Jack, Chaney, Melon, Danbaugh, and Wilson. The Lutheran
Church had Mingle, Seigler, and Fruth. The Trinity Lutheran included
Mohr, France, Grettle,and Cuppinger."
Freedom originally ran from East Rochester to Dutch Run. East
of Dutch Run was Saint Clara to Thirteenth Street. In 1893 the
two were combined into Freedom. Jim remembered a parade the night
of the merger in which he participated at the age of twelve. Freedom
had seventeen gas streetlights and Saint Clara had oil lights.
When the two boroughs merged, Jim became the first lamp lighter
for both Saint Clara and Freedom. The City building was located
at Fourth Avenue and Fourth Street. This would later be the location
of the Liberty School building. Twice a week Jim would pick up
a five-gallon oil can at the City Building to refill the oil lamps.
Jim held several jobs during his youth. He drove a delivery wagon
for the Craig Manufacturing Co, which operated the Casket Works.
He would deliver caskets and rough boxes. In 1900 he worked for
Fred Winter Constructing Co. They replaced a wooden arch over
Crow's Run with a stone arch.
Jim was a wonderful storyteller with a near perfect ability to
recall the past. His life spanned nine decades of tremendous change
in his beloved town. He regarded "progress" as a negative,
especially as it applied to Freedom. Perhaps he was right. The
forward-looking, church centered, lively town of Freedom of the
late 19th and early 20th centuries is gone as are the towns like
it throughout the country. Wouldn't it be fun to revisit them
as they once were?