Tales of the Town – Part two of three

 Tales Of The Town

By Jack Coll

Part Two of Three

      This is a mini three part series of Tales of the Town that I came across while researching a number of tomb stones found at St. Matthew’s old cemetery.  While panning through the micro film of the Conshohocken Recorder newspapers from 1901, I found these little gems, but I’m not quite sure if they are real stories of the town, or just some author of the day filling space in the paper.  Real or not, fact or fiction, I find them kind of interesting, see what you think.  The article is reprinted word for word.

From The Conshohocken Recorder

January 4, 1901

Heard From Our Oldest Residents

     In a little house in Connaughtown many years ago there lived an old woman named Becky, who was noted for eccentricities.  No one seemed to know how she made a living and the odd creature attended strictly to her own business.  Although the only minute of her little home she was always busy, if not chopping wood, Becky was sieving coal or sweeping a round her little house.  Her only companion was an old pipe which she puffed from morn till night.  The old woman never retired until midnight and could often be seen setting by the stove gazing into the fire.  She finally died after a short illness and kindly disposed neighbors saw that she had a decent burial.  Shortly after she was laid to rest there were stories of uncanny visions near her former home.  Many of the workmen around Fulton’s Mill declared that they saw the woman sieving coal at night but when they yelled she disappeared like a cloud of smoke.

     Others said that they saw her chopping wood and that she looked thin and worn.  So the rumors floated and timid people were afraid to pass the house after dark.  One night a large crowd of young fellows went to the house and stayed around all night waiting to see Becky’s spirit but it did not come.  They had their own “spirits” with them however and spent the night singing songs and telling ghost stories.  Never again did old Becky return and the accepted theory was that she had been frightened off.  So the residents of Connaughtown passed her house with a firmer tread and a lighter heart ever after.

                                                                                                                 The Prophet

     So that’s it, the way it was printed 113 years ago in the town newspaper, be reminded that the Connaughtown neighborhood more than a century ago was nothing like today.  The area was a lot more wooded, dirt paths and not streets, steel-workers from the mills were walking the dirt paths all times of the day and night.  Area wild-life was a lot more visible with animals roaming throughout the area.  No cars, trolleys, lights or police officers roaming Connaughtown back in 1901. 

     Have a good night’s sleep, see ya next week with part three.