By Velma Rose Smith
I am a six legged drop leaf table, made of cherry wood. The first I can remember, I was given by Solomon Rice and wife to their daughter, Lydia, when she married Fulton Smith as a wedding present, about 1860. They had two children, Henry Edwin and Jennie, who married Will March. Fulton had built a new square top house on what is called the Smith farm when their son, Ed married Carrie Orline Griffin. They gave me to them as a wedding present. Carrie and Ed had five children.. Ralph (who died as a baby) Stella, Iva, Ralph Arnold and Kenneth. I was kept covered and kept in a cool dark hall and used to keep butter and leftovers on.
On July 16, 1921 Arnold married Velma M. Rose of Charleston Twp., at the Presbyterian Manse of Pennsylvania Ave. in Elmira. Ed and Carrie gave me to them as a wedding gift. So, I was moved into the house on Miller Hill. I was set in the kitchen in front of two windows on the east side of the house. A new white tablecloth and a vase of flowers. There was a new kitchen range to keep me company. It was a bright spot, and I enjoyed a happy home. They closed the house in Nov. 1922, Arnold got work elsewhere and Velma went back to her folks. Wayne was born Dec. 7, 1922 and they stayed away. In Aug. 1923, they came to get us. I still set in front of the windows, covered with a white table cloth and a purple vase of dried asters. We were moved back to the Smith home, and I found myself in the living room, with a fancy doily, and a few books, including the Bible. For over three years; then I was moved to the Jay Rose house on Roosevelt Highway, now known as route six. Wanda Rose had joined the family on January 24, 1925.
On June 26, 1927, Jay Emerson was born. Jay and Eva sold their furniture, which was in the house, and Arnold bought their dining room table. So, I moved to the living room again.
In November of 1927, Arnold and Velma moved to Montoursville, all they owned on one truck. So, they decided to leave me with Papa and Mama Rose, so I wouldn’t get scratched; they were proud of me. So I lived at the Rose’s while my family moved around. They moved from there in August of 1928, to the Burr Dewey house, and Wayne started school at Mansfield that fall at five years of age. Grandpa Tom Jones died in December. The following March they moved to Niles Lumber Camp, up the reservoir road above Blossburg. The lived there until June, when they moved to Blossburg, where Arnold worked for the George Bower Mining Co. They lived there five years. Eileen was born there April 14, 1930. This was during the depression.
No money, the family received a slip of paper, allowing them $4.50 worth of groceries. Mama Rose washed out chicken feed bags, and clothing was made from them. Then they had a chance to buy a farm in Whitneyville, thirty nine acres. So, they cashed Arnold’s Government Life Insurance of $2000.00, paid $800 down and had the rest to fix the farm up with, etc.
I now joined the family again, I sat in the bay window most of the time. A Children Services little boy by the name of Edward, came to live with the family. Then Jeannette was born on June 21, 1937 and then Bernadene on September 16, 1939, Berwyn on July 30, 1942 and Dianne on October 17, 1943. Wayne went to war in 1940 and Jay in 1945. Wanda went to College at Mansfield. Eileen married Marion Dewey on July 19, 1949 and Wanda married John Urban July 30, 1949. Arnold and Velma gave me to Wanda and John for a wedding gift. John gave me to their daughter, Karen Whiting.
Today, I am still healthy, clean, and shiny. I am set in a place of honor in the dining room.
Velma came to visit in March of 1993, she patted and rubbed my shiny surface. She said to me, “I love you, old cherry table, I may never see you again”.
If Karen gives me to you, Jessica, I hope you keep me in the Smith family forever.