Pottsville Republican from Pottsville, Pennsylvania • 13

BUY Pottsville fff Republican 1C34 CENTENNIAL-1934" SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1984 PAGE 13 3 4 i I -J The house is sheltered by trees on a corner site at 205 Tulpehocken St Its latest adornment is a plaque, visible above on corner of house, designating it a National Historic Place. Nutting Hall is a venerable Pine Grove mansion with a long history. The early 19th structure includes a spacious porch with garden view and the shutters typical of its time. Mve in; Motoric Finie (G-FD)e Eomise Nutting Hall (its present name) was built by! Free food distribution Free surplus butter and cheese will be distributed on Tuesday, Sept. 25 6 until 7 p.m.

at the irehouse in Auburn. Distribution of surplus food for Mahanoy Township residents will take place beginning at 10:30 am Tuesday at the township mu-, nicipal building, next to the former City Shirt, factory in Mahanoy City. -History Is im- portant to pre- Peter Filbert between 18Z3 and lBza tor tne Ley family. Before the attic was made into Filbert's name could be seen written in'the old plaster," along with the date 1825. Christian was married to Anna Catherine Koppenhaver (1769-1822), and they had three children, Christian Jr.

(1806-1891 John and Catherine; When Christian Ley Sr. died in 1832, it was only two years until his survivors lost Tulpehocken Manor, at a sheriffs sale for back taxes, to Jacob Loose. Changed hands In 1837 serve. Nutting Hall owner Edwin J.Wright Project WILD. Ail XOOt -UCJ OIU VIVUIO OU1U ilUlUUg UW1 bV "11 liam Graeff, a tanner; who came to Pine Grove in 1825 and opened a large general store.

He and his wife Elizabeth had six children. One daughter, Barbara Ann, married James L. Nutting and upon Graeff death inherited the old house. James hi Nutting (1818-1880) came to Pine Grove in 1847 from Maine. "Nutting taught, in both public and private schools in Pine Grove, and also served as school di-' rector, and entered the coal and iron business.

Nutting also had a large farm on the outskirts of Pine Grove. He died at Nutting Hall June, 25, 1880. i James Nutting and his wife Barbara had three children, but only one made it into adulthood, Ann, who married a Wigton. As her-mother before her, "she inherited the home. Her mother died in 1877.

The Wigtons had five children, Jeanette, Ka- thryn, Nutting, Elizabeth and Richard. Richard; Wigton became sole owner of the house and lived there until his death in 1952, when the property left the familyvto be bought by Reuben D. and Anne C. County's major landmarks and is on the National Historic Register. The Leys had ties with Gen.

George Washington, who visited and stayed at the Myerstown manor house three times between 1777 and 1794, once to inspect the Union Canal in the Lebanon area. -i Michael Ley, who held the rank of captain, gave heavy financial support to the American Revolution, from which the family never fully recovered financially. Capt Ley was married to" Eva M. Lower (1744-1815), and one of their children was Christian Ley (1762-1832), who was about 32 when Washington, as president, last visited the manor house in Myers-' town. Original owner in legislature Christian Ley was elected state representative for Dauphin and Lebanon counties and served two terms from 1799 to 1802.

He came to Pine Grove and became associated with many other prominent businessmen of the area, buying and selling large tracts of land. The Schuylkill Conservation District and the Schuylkill Cooper-, ative Extension Service are co-sponsoring a workshop titled Project WILD on Saturday, Sept 29, at the Penn State Schuylkill Campus. The workshop will begin with registration at 8:30 a.m.and conclude at 3 p.m. The workshop is aimed at school teachers of kindergarten through 9th grade students, 4-H leaders and Boy and Girl Scout leaders. The goal of Project WILD Is to assist learners of any age in developing awareness, knowledgeskills and commitment to result in informed decisions, responsible behavior and constructive actions concerning wildlife and the environment 'All participants of the workshop will receive a Project WILD manual of 200 pages containing more than 80 activities.

Some of these activities will be performed by the participants as part of the workshop. The manuals and training of the workshop facilitator, has been provided by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. There is no cost for the workshop enrollment is limited. Those wishing to attend should call or write the Schuylkill Conservation District Office, David N. Claude Lord Pottsville, Pa.

17901. Open house at schools TAMAQUA Tamaqua Area Elementary Schools will hold open house and meet-the-teacher night on Tuesday, Sept. 25, in all the elementary schools. The program will include a half -hour conference with the student's teacher and the reniaining half hour will be a general school visitation. The three elementary PTOs in the district will conduct a used book sale.

Old textbooks and sample textbooks covering all grade levels will be on sale. The proceeds will be used to cover expenses for assembly programs and various PTO projects. There will be no parent-teacher visitation for the kindergarten in the three schools. Parent sessions will be held in all schools from 6 30 to 7 p.m. for grades one, two and three.

Parent sessions for the upper grades will be held from 7 to 7: 30 p.m. By DAVE CARROLL Staff Writer PINE GROVE Nutting HalL a stately old home that has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a venerable symbol of Pine Grove's grand history. Edwin J. Wright of Port Clinton, the building's owner who has converted the house to apartments, wants to preserve that history. The mansion located at 205 S.

Tulpehocken St, sits serenely behind shade trees, but during its 150 years many who passed through its doors have helped shape Pine Grove's history. The house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places during ceremonies there Aug. The building, constructed between 1 1824 and 1825, was converted to apartments in 1963 and now has apartments on all three floors. Wright sees the historical value of the structure and feels it's worth preserving the building. 7 Wright points with pride to the building's 19th century architecture and maintains the old house as both an apartment building and historical structure.

The three-story structure has five apart-' ments, one on the first, two on the second and two on the third. Many original features intact Many of the original features of the house are intact In the basement, one can see the wooden pegs used in the days before nails. Rough-hewn wooden beams, hacked out from logs, support the mansion in the basement. i The mansion almost met its demise in 1957 when a kitchen fire started that ate part of the floor: Luckily, the fire did not spread beyond the kitchen. In the basement, one can see a piece of' charred wood that was left by the fire.

7 There's a carriage portico on the side of the house where horse-drawn carriages used to unload their passengers. A luxurious old-fashioned porch runs along the side of the house. Most of the glass in the windowpanes is the original glass installed when the mansion was built 'History important to preserve' Wright has a sense of obligation and duty to pre-, serve the old mansion. He paints a side of the house each year and does all the maintenance work to keep it intact "History is important to preserve," Wright said. Wright said he feels that this old house will be standing on a corner in Pine Grove in 2084.

Ley family original owners The' mansion was built for the Christian Ley family, whose grandfather, Christopher Ley (1695-1745), came to America from Palatinate, Germa-; ny, in 1732 and settled in what is now Myerstown, 1 Lebanon County- With Jacob Lower, he bought a large tract of land there, on which many buildings were erected in the 18th and 19th centuries. Christopher and his wife Barbara had nine children, one of whom was Michael (1739-1824). In 1769, at the age pf 30, Michael Ley built Tulpehocken Manor, which is now one of Lebanon 1 The Riggans owned it for 10 selling it to Glenn Schell in 1963, who sold it to the Mattoxes in 1974 and again sold it in 1984 to Edwin J. Wright and family. J.

nnointed Advisers a JL JL I Many of Nutting Hall's windowpanes have the original glass that was used when the mansion was built, and wooden pegs, used in the days before nails, hold beams together in the basement. Peg is visible at center of photo, right. 1 Dec Pottsville Area School Board appointed the following persons extracurricular advisers and they will receive the specified stipends: Walter Mitzel, D.H.H. Lengel School German Club, $150; Jack Ruch, Exchange Student Club, $300; Charlene Scheib, high school newspaper, $800; David Sekellick, student activities treasurer and certain athletic program activities related to the position of treasurer, $3,711. Ghouls to gallivant FRACKVILLE A Halloween parade wiU be held here at 2 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 28, by the Community Children's Committee, which recently sponsored a chicken barbecue to raise funds for the event v- The committee will hold its next meeting at 9 p.m. Monday, Oct 8, in Gurka's Cafe. The public is welcome to attend. Education conference The 1SS4 Education Conference, celebrating the 150th anniversary of public educaUon in Pennsylvania, will be held from 8 a.m.

to 3 p.m. Nov. 2 at the Pottsville Area School District's Martz HalL The program, coordinated by Schuylkill Intermediate Unit 29, will feature 80 consultants, exhibits by major publishing and supply houses and sessions for teachers of preschool, primary, elementary, special education, middle school and secondary levels. Cub Scouts signup RINGTOWN Cub Scouts will register at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept 24, at the social rooms of St John's Lutheran Church.

Boys 8 years old or who have completed second grade are welcome to become deemed saife hj ainialyst Dallazia said there is more than one hour of chlorine contact time in the reservoir and that amount of time is sufficient to kill any live cysts in the water. This one-hour time period, Dallazia said, has been supported by both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Environmental Resources as sufficient to' render water safe for drinking. The DER also said the chlorina-tion will protect the customers of the municipal authority from giardiasis. and watershed surveys indicate no animal activity and no obvious sewage problems in the watershed, Dalla-zia said. The municipal authority voluntarily initiated the giardia sampling program for its customers in Shenandoah borough, Mahanoy, Butler and Union townships.

"All samples have shown negative with the exception of one taken 30, that indicated non-viable; giardia cysts in the Raven Run Reservoir No. 2," said Dallazia. SHENANDOAH Dead giardia cysts have been Jound in water samples taken from the borough's water supply, but Shenandoah Municipal Authority of ficials say there is no cause for alarm. Charles Dallazia manager of the authority, said water samples from all i reservoirs in the system were taken and sent to Colorado State University for analysis. Dr.

Charles Hibler of the univer-: sity, who analyzed the water, told the authority there was no possibility of giardiasis disease from these dead cysts, and there is no need for custom-' ers to take any precautions such as boiling.f Giardiasis became a concern of people in eastern Pennsylvania early this year when the Scranton area water supply became contaniinated and residents were required to boil their water for several months. Sampling of the authority's water, supply is being done on a weekly basis A A V. A A A LTtd A.