Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 33

WW1 Barns at Meadowcroft offer clues I I I to rural lite ot our ancestors iieuDnistt): TONY UUUJ '-1 1 r- By Patricia Lowry Post-Gazette Staff Writer William Patterson was 43, a little old for soldiering by today's standards, when he was mustered into service in 1776. Two years later, with the Revolutionary War still raging on several fronts, the Lancaster County native came west into the frontier with his two sons, looking for land. When he found it, he returned for his wife and other children, settling in Washington County. For nine years, the Pattersons cleared and worked the land. In May 1787, two days before Ben- jamin Franklin met other delegates at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, he signed a parchment patent giving Patterson title to his 245-acre farm.

Because of the irregular shape of their land, the Pattersons named their farmstead Oddity. In 1794, they replaced Oddity's frame house with a stone one, which generations of Pattersons SEE BARNS, PAGE D-8 Steve MellonPost-Gazette The Patterson barn, built about 1790, is the oldest in Washington County and one of four preserved at Meadowcroft Museum of Rural Life near Avella. 1 -4 Barn built in 1888 could become part of village Mte! I Hill; tfe NORMAN Hard to take a shine to tax issue Donald Jefferson is usually the last person in the world to utter the words "none of your business," but he will if you ask him about his vote on the Regional Renaissance Initiative today so don't Standing in the glass foyer of PPG Building 2, he'll chain smoke as he's done nearly every day for the past 14 years, watching the pedestrian traffic drift to and from Market Square. As usual, he'll smile at the women passing through the revolving door and tip his hat As usual, he'll acknowledge with a nod the men who make their way to his shoeshine stand with leather at- taches in hand and newspapers tucked under arm And though his regulars will dutifully ask his opinion of the half-per- cent sales tax as they stroll up for a Tuesday morning buff and polish, Jefferson will adjust their wing tips on the silver metal foot rests, straighten their cuffs and politely ignore the question. It's not that he doesn't have an opinion; there's just no advantage to expressing it Years of dreaming of a larger share of the foot traffic outside his window has made the self-styled "boot black" as pragmatic as the executives who make up the bulk of his daily business.

Keeping his mouth shut makes more sense in the long run. "I'm a businessman," he said while pacing in front of his lobby shoeshine stand Friday afternoon. "My clients are split down the middle on this thing. If I turn around and give an opinion contrary to one they have, well, somebody is bound to get offended and I might lose a customer." Though as patriotic as they come, Jefferson appreciates the economics of free speech when his livelihood is on the line. Still smarting from his prediction that Councilman Bob O'Connor would win the last Democratic mayoral primary, he's not even willing to predict which way the referendum will go, though he's confident he'll know the percentage breakdown by noon.

"Usually on Election Day, people talk to me after they've voted," he said. Though initially reluctant to say how he'd vote, a nattily dressed minister everyone calls Rev, decided to offer his two cents. "That little half-cent doesn't seem like much, but if you're on a fixed income it means a lot" he said clearing his throat. "All those rich ball players should cough up an ante and add it to the Rooneys' ante and they should have enough for a stadium right there." For half of Jeff erson's customers, the referendum boils down to an old-fashioned money grab Pittsburgh style, and they don't like it. One of Jefferson's customers said he would've voted "yes" to the initiative if athletes "weren't making so much money" as if Steelers and Pirates salaries were part of the deal Other customers, like lawyer Bobby Del Greco, initially opposed the initiative but was eventually won over to it by visions of a stagnating region.

"I'm afraid that if it doesn't pass, we'll end up a second-rate city," Del Greco said. Jefferson looked down at his own shining shoes and whistled. Olivia Baker, a consultant for an insurance company said she was still undecided after mulling over several university projections about the region's economic future. Jefferson jingled his keys in his pockets and took a drag on his cigarette. "I'm for if travel business executive Jim Dombrowski said, laying out several best caseworst case scenarios if the initiative passes, ending with "I'm willing to gamble on it working." Rich Cunningham, a welfare case worker echoed Dombrowski's sentiment though he's pessimistic about the initiative's chances outside of Allegheny County.

Perhaps he caught a glimpse of Eleanor Cliff ord strolling on the other side of the revolving door carrying a plastic skeleton and a "Vote No" sticker perched on its red cowboy hat "This initiative is so rigged to the wealthy that it's unbelievable," Clifford said pointing to her own "Taxed to Death'', T-shirt. "I wish someone would tell me what industries would suddenly come to a region with such high taxes," she added. Inside the glass foyer, you could tell Donald Jefferson was itching to say something, to add his two cents to the mix. But business is business. The sun will come up tomorrow no matter what the outcome of the vote is.

Tomorrow, shoes scuffed in battle will need to be shined again. Tony Norman's column appears every'Tuesday. Annie 0 NeillPost-Gazette photos Farmer Robert Wylie had this octagonal barn built in1888. It lies along Route 19 in South Strabane on a site under consideration for a mall. lllinipil.liwil I 1,1111 Tuesday, November 4, 1997 INSIDE 1 111 15 By Patricia Lowry Post-Gazette Staff Writer Savior of four barns that enjoy new life in a new location, Meadowcroft Museum of Rural Life may get a fifth.

The 200-acre Washington County living history museum is considering adopting a 19th-century octagonal barn that lies on land to be developed along Route 19 in South Strabane. The barn is nestled into the hillside near a red brick farmhouse and wooden outhouse, all part of the former Wylie farm. "It's a neat barn," said Jim Dick, president of Reservation Development Corp. of Meadow Lands, who plans to build either a regional mall or an outlet mall on the farm's 200-plus acres. "It's always been kind of an historic landmark around here.

I've driven past that barn for 30 years of my life. I've always wanted to own it," Dick said. He considered incorporating the barn into the development, and hasn't completely ruled that out. But he thinks it really belongs at Meadowcroft, and that he would work around the museum's schedule ward the center, so that one can pass from bay to stall with half the steps required in a (rectangular) barn It will allow you to drive a wagon and cart around in a circle. It also furnishes just the shaped floor required for circular threshing with horses," wrote Orson Squire Fowler in 1853.

Fowler, who lived in New York state, had been promoting "the octagonal mode" in the construction of houses and barns in books and lectures since 1848. Plans for octagonal barns were disseminated through farming journals, and by the 1880s hundreds had been built. Like most octagonal barns, the Wylie barn is a bank barn with two levels: hay was stored one floor above the ground floor, where livestock was stabled. While some octagonal barns had central silos, the Wylie barn has an open interior and a self-supporting roof made up of eight wedge-shaped pieces, terminating in a louvered, ventilating cupola. Because of its significance, measured drawings of the barn were done in 1962 by the Historic American Buildings Survey.

The SEE OCTAGONAL, PAGE D-8 Octagonal barns were once thought to be progressive and efficient. The Wylie barn has a self-supporting roof made up of eight wedge-shaped pieces, terminating in a louvered, ventilating cupola. terms of agricultural literature and implements manufactured here and used around the world. Several plow manufacturers catered to the western movement from the 1830s to the 1850s," said Meadowcroft site administrator DanFreas. In the late 1800s, octagonal barns were thought to be progressive and efficient.

"This form will turn heads of all the horses and cattle, and openings of all the bays and bins to for acquisition. "It fits in with the environment of Meadowcroft, and a lot of people would be able to see it and feel it and use it." The barn was built in 1888 by Robert Wylie, a farmer who had studied law and was a frequent contributor to agricultural journals, including the National Stockman and Farmer, published in Pittsburgh and nationally distributed. "Pittsburgh played a big role in Connie Chung Connie Chung will return to the air on ABC after an almost two-year hiatus. She will report on newsmagazines such as "PrimeTime Live" and also be available as a substitute news anchor. TV, PAGE D-4.

Three valuable new CDs serve as an introduction to serious American composition in the last 50 years. PAGE D-2. The breast cancer storyline on "Murphy Brown is not a gimniicK says veteran TV producer Diane English. PEOPLE, PAGE D-3. The holiday season is a nail-biter for Hollywood dio execs as more films slug it out for box office dominance.

PAGE D-2. Willdnsburg honors its own aviation pioneer aviator and claiming her a daughter of the borough forever. As Lafranchi read, James stood at attention in the Air Force uniform that still was a good fit after 47 years: "Whereas, Teresa James, a former merchant of Wilkinsburg, who managed her family's flowers and gift shop, "Whereas, Teresa James was a pioneer woman aviator whose first flight was from the Wilkinsburg Airport on Sept. 20, 1933, "Whereas, Teresa James was soon performing stunts in exhibitions at air shows and flying airmail, "Whereas, on Sept. 20, 1942, Teresa James became one of 25 women selected to fly all types of Army aircraft in the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS), "Whereas, the WAFS delivered fighter and liaison planes from frontier to training fields and embarkation bases during WWII, "Whereas, Teresa James received the Outstanding Women's Award of OX5 Aviation Pioneers and whereas at 86, Teresa James' heart is still 'soaring with the "Therefore, Sylvia Lafranchi, Mayor, declare Wednesday, Oct.

22, 1997, Teresa James Day in Wilkinsburg." the proclamation was dated Oct. 22 because James originally was to have been cited then at the borough hall. But James, who had attended Women in the Military Day the day before in Washington, D.C., tore ligaments in her leg, delaying the tribute. A small group witnessed the brief ceremony. Among them were borough librarian Joel SEE AVIATOR, PAGE D-5 By Jean Bryant Post-Gazette Staff Writer The gleaming gold leaves on the shoulders of the gray-blue Air Force uniform denote the rank of major.

And they command a snappy hand salute. But retired Maj. Teresa James, looking trim and spiffy in that uniform, stood at attention for a different kind of salute last Monday inWilkinsburg. James, a Palm Beach, resident who more than six decades ago became the first woman to fly out of the old Wilkinsburg Airport, had returned to be honored by her hometown. Wilkinsburg Mayor Sylvia Lafranchi read a proclamation, extolling the achievements of James during her more than 60 years as an ALSO INSIDE Ann Landers' D-3 Celebrations D-5 Kids' Corner D-6 Horoscope D-7 'ikttiilMlitititlltti Wl.