From "The Minteers As I Have Known Them" by Josephine Minteer Dickinson (1961 limited-edition private printing of 200 copies), youngest and last surviving of William Minteer and Mary Nicholson's 85 grandchildren:
"His mother was a Milligan, and he had a rich heritage on both sides of his family. Always active in church and civic affairs, his treasures were laid up in Heaven rather than on earth! (One history reports three brothers Dumm accompanying Lafayette when he came to the assistance of the colonies and remaining here then as settlers. I have just learned that there is a Dumm history in the possession of Earl Dumm of Wilkinsburg which tells about these brothers. Much has also been compiled on the Milligan family by Orlando Milligan, former pastor of the Avalon U.P. Church. Also, there are records of this family at the Manchester Church in Milligantown on Puckety Road near Parnassus.) Sam was an excellent teacher all his life and farmed only as a side-line. I had the pleasure of having him as a teacher when I was about ten years of age and I often find myself quoting some of his gems of wisdom very often."
--------
Civil War Army Veteran
SERGEANT MAJOR SAMUEL M. DUMM
78TH PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
- K COMPANY / B COMPANY - FIELD AND STAFF OFFICERS
Enlisted: 09-13-1862
Wounded in Action: 05-27-1864, Pickett's Mill
Transferred from K to B Company: 10-18-1864 Promoted to Sergeant: 12-04-1864
Promoted to 1ST Sergeant: 03-15-1865
Transferred from B Company to Field & Staff Officers: 05-01-1865
Promoted to Sergeant Major: 05-01-1865
Discharged 06-19-1865
----------
In 1850 he lived with his parents and five sisters on a farm in Allegheny Township, Westmoreland County, PA. His father owned real estate worth $500. In 1853 his father bought a little over 100 acres in Armstrong County, just to the northeast of Slate Lick. Tapeworm Road (now Township Road 386) split it into two parcels, with 35 acres on the west side of the road.
In 1860 he lived on the farm in North Buffalo Township with his parents, four sisters, and younger brother Henry. His father owned real property worth $1400 and personal property worth $430.
From March 1868 to March 1869 he and Mary Jane and their two children lived in Forringer's Mills, PA (now Kaylor), where he worked as a clerk in the large country store of Graff and Forringer. (For where he lived other years see Mary Jane's page.)
---------
From the memoirs of Frank Dumm:
"Father had the farm divided up into very conveniently sized fields. We kept a lot of stock for so small a farm. Mother never milked less than 4 or 5 cows during the summer. We had a team of horses, and sometimes a colt; 4 or 5 head of young stock, and sometimes a few sheep. We sometimes had a pasture field from Grandfather. The farm was not large enough to have any opportunity of raising much stock. Father often talked about buying 15 or 20 acres on the east side of the road from Grandfather, or rather Grandfather sometimes tried to talk Father into the notion of buying it. But he never did, and it was a good thing that he did not; for at that time he would never have got out on it. We raised very good crops, but the trouble was we did not have enough land of our own to farm, and raise enough to keep the stock and have something left to sell. We sometimes had hay to sell, but never any grain. We generally had to buy feed in the spring time and early summer, to last us until threshing time.
Father kept the farm after we left it in the Fall of 1892, and moved to Parnassus, Westmoreland Co. George McCracken mostly farmed it, and looked after it. The income from our share of what was raised, and rents from the pasture, and lease money paid by a Gas Company, paid the taxes and kept up needed repairs to fences, etc. No body lived in the house after we left, and of course it and the surroundings went down rapidly. Along about 1902, Father sold the farm to George McCracken, at a low price. But farm land was low then, and it was about all that could have been got out of it at that time. The land in that community had been leased for gas and oil for seven or eight years, but there never was any development to the territory. But in less than a year after Father disposed of the farm, a well was obtained on a neighboring farm. That started the development in that section. In two years afterward, not less than seven or eight gas wells, and some of them very good, could have been counted from the door of our old house. And from the top of our hill, I am sure that more than 20 wells could have been seen.
We sold the farm a little too soon to realize on the gas stored 1800 feet below the surface. The folks never suspected that there was any natural wealth stored up beneath those hills. Well, we were not the only ones who sold too soon. Squire William A. Jack, counted one of the rich men of our community, sold his farm just a year or so too soon. Some one else cashed in on the gas under his farm. Uncle Young Minteer sold his farm along about the same time, and some one else profited by his selling then. It was the same about the coal that was bought up along about 1906. No one in 1900 ever suspected that there was a 7 foot vein of good coal about 1000 feet below the surface, that would be bought up at $30 to $35 per acre. Well, it was a pretty good little farm anyway; it was my boyhood home; it was a far better place to raise a family of children than in town. It was a good community, too. We had splendid neighbors all around us. I am glad I was reared on that little hillside farm, and had to work. It was better for me and for the rest, too, that we were raised in that place, which we thought was such an out of the way locality, and removed from so many things. It developed character and self reliance, and kept us away from many temptations present in larger places. On the next page I have drawn, from memory, a plot of the farm as it was in the ‘70s and ‘80s." (See copy of that map by clicking "See 3 more".)
"His mother was a Milligan, and he had a rich heritage on both sides of his family. Always active in church and civic affairs, his treasures were laid up in Heaven rather than on earth! (One history reports three brothers Dumm accompanying Lafayette when he came to the assistance of the colonies and remaining here then as settlers. I have just learned that there is a Dumm history in the possession of Earl Dumm of Wilkinsburg which tells about these brothers. Much has also been compiled on the Milligan family by Orlando Milligan, former pastor of the Avalon U.P. Church. Also, there are records of this family at the Manchester Church in Milligantown on Puckety Road near Parnassus.) Sam was an excellent teacher all his life and farmed only as a side-line. I had the pleasure of having him as a teacher when I was about ten years of age and I often find myself quoting some of his gems of wisdom very often."
--------
Civil War Army Veteran
SERGEANT MAJOR SAMUEL M. DUMM
78TH PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
- K COMPANY / B COMPANY - FIELD AND STAFF OFFICERS
Enlisted: 09-13-1862
Wounded in Action: 05-27-1864, Pickett's Mill
Transferred from K to B Company: 10-18-1864 Promoted to Sergeant: 12-04-1864
Promoted to 1ST Sergeant: 03-15-1865
Transferred from B Company to Field & Staff Officers: 05-01-1865
Promoted to Sergeant Major: 05-01-1865
Discharged 06-19-1865
----------
In 1850 he lived with his parents and five sisters on a farm in Allegheny Township, Westmoreland County, PA. His father owned real estate worth $500. In 1853 his father bought a little over 100 acres in Armstrong County, just to the northeast of Slate Lick. Tapeworm Road (now Township Road 386) split it into two parcels, with 35 acres on the west side of the road.
In 1860 he lived on the farm in North Buffalo Township with his parents, four sisters, and younger brother Henry. His father owned real property worth $1400 and personal property worth $430.
From March 1868 to March 1869 he and Mary Jane and their two children lived in Forringer's Mills, PA (now Kaylor), where he worked as a clerk in the large country store of Graff and Forringer. (For where he lived other years see Mary Jane's page.)
---------
From the memoirs of Frank Dumm:
"Father had the farm divided up into very conveniently sized fields. We kept a lot of stock for so small a farm. Mother never milked less than 4 or 5 cows during the summer. We had a team of horses, and sometimes a colt; 4 or 5 head of young stock, and sometimes a few sheep. We sometimes had a pasture field from Grandfather. The farm was not large enough to have any opportunity of raising much stock. Father often talked about buying 15 or 20 acres on the east side of the road from Grandfather, or rather Grandfather sometimes tried to talk Father into the notion of buying it. But he never did, and it was a good thing that he did not; for at that time he would never have got out on it. We raised very good crops, but the trouble was we did not have enough land of our own to farm, and raise enough to keep the stock and have something left to sell. We sometimes had hay to sell, but never any grain. We generally had to buy feed in the spring time and early summer, to last us until threshing time.
Father kept the farm after we left it in the Fall of 1892, and moved to Parnassus, Westmoreland Co. George McCracken mostly farmed it, and looked after it. The income from our share of what was raised, and rents from the pasture, and lease money paid by a Gas Company, paid the taxes and kept up needed repairs to fences, etc. No body lived in the house after we left, and of course it and the surroundings went down rapidly. Along about 1902, Father sold the farm to George McCracken, at a low price. But farm land was low then, and it was about all that could have been got out of it at that time. The land in that community had been leased for gas and oil for seven or eight years, but there never was any development to the territory. But in less than a year after Father disposed of the farm, a well was obtained on a neighboring farm. That started the development in that section. In two years afterward, not less than seven or eight gas wells, and some of them very good, could have been counted from the door of our old house. And from the top of our hill, I am sure that more than 20 wells could have been seen.
We sold the farm a little too soon to realize on the gas stored 1800 feet below the surface. The folks never suspected that there was any natural wealth stored up beneath those hills. Well, we were not the only ones who sold too soon. Squire William A. Jack, counted one of the rich men of our community, sold his farm just a year or so too soon. Some one else cashed in on the gas under his farm. Uncle Young Minteer sold his farm along about the same time, and some one else profited by his selling then. It was the same about the coal that was bought up along about 1906. No one in 1900 ever suspected that there was a 7 foot vein of good coal about 1000 feet below the surface, that would be bought up at $30 to $35 per acre. Well, it was a pretty good little farm anyway; it was my boyhood home; it was a far better place to raise a family of children than in town. It was a good community, too. We had splendid neighbors all around us. I am glad I was reared on that little hillside farm, and had to work. It was better for me and for the rest, too, that we were raised in that place, which we thought was such an out of the way locality, and removed from so many things. It developed character and self reliance, and kept us away from many temptations present in larger places. On the next page I have drawn, from memory, a plot of the farm as it was in the ‘70s and ‘80s." (See copy of that map by clicking "See 3 more".)
From "The Minteers As I Have Known Them" by Josephine Minteer Dickinson (1961 limited-edition private printing of 200 copies), youngest and last surviving of William Minteer and Mary Nicholson's 85 grandchildren:
"His mother was a Milligan, and he had a rich heritage on both sides of his family. Always active in church and civic affairs, his treasures were laid up in Heaven rather than on earth! (One history reports three brothers Dumm accompanying Lafayette when he came to the assistance of the colonies and remaining here then as settlers. I have just learned that there is a Dumm history in the possession of Earl Dumm of Wilkinsburg which tells about these brothers. Much has also been compiled on the Milligan family by Orlando Milligan, former pastor of the Avalon U.P. Church. Also, there are records of this family at the Manchester Church in Milligantown on Puckety Road near Parnassus.) Sam was an excellent teacher all his life and farmed only as a side-line. I had the pleasure of having him as a teacher when I was about ten years of age and I often find myself quoting some of his gems of wisdom very often."
--------
Civil War Army Veteran
SERGEANT MAJOR SAMUEL M. DUMM
78TH PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
- K COMPANY / B COMPANY - FIELD AND STAFF OFFICERS
Enlisted: 09-13-1862
Wounded in Action: 05-27-1864, Pickett's Mill
Transferred from K to B Company: 10-18-1864 Promoted to Sergeant: 12-04-1864
Promoted to 1ST Sergeant: 03-15-1865
Transferred from B Company to Field & Staff Officers: 05-01-1865
Promoted to Sergeant Major: 05-01-1865
Discharged 06-19-1865
----------
In 1850 he lived with his parents and five sisters on a farm in Allegheny Township, Westmoreland County, PA. His father owned real estate worth $500. In 1853 his father bought a little over 100 acres in Armstrong County, just to the northeast of Slate Lick. Tapeworm Road (now Township Road 386) split it into two parcels, with 35 acres on the west side of the road.
In 1860 he lived on the farm in North Buffalo Township with his parents, four sisters, and younger brother Henry. His father owned real property worth $1400 and personal property worth $430.
From March 1868 to March 1869 he and Mary Jane and their two children lived in Forringer's Mills, PA (now Kaylor), where he worked as a clerk in the large country store of Graff and Forringer. (For where he lived other years see Mary Jane's page.)
---------
From the memoirs of Frank Dumm:
"Father had the farm divided up into very conveniently sized fields. We kept a lot of stock for so small a farm. Mother never milked less than 4 or 5 cows during the summer. We had a team of horses, and sometimes a colt; 4 or 5 head of young stock, and sometimes a few sheep. We sometimes had a pasture field from Grandfather. The farm was not large enough to have any opportunity of raising much stock. Father often talked about buying 15 or 20 acres on the east side of the road from Grandfather, or rather Grandfather sometimes tried to talk Father into the notion of buying it. But he never did, and it was a good thing that he did not; for at that time he would never have got out on it. We raised very good crops, but the trouble was we did not have enough land of our own to farm, and raise enough to keep the stock and have something left to sell. We sometimes had hay to sell, but never any grain. We generally had to buy feed in the spring time and early summer, to last us until threshing time.
Father kept the farm after we left it in the Fall of 1892, and moved to Parnassus, Westmoreland Co. George McCracken mostly farmed it, and looked after it. The income from our share of what was raised, and rents from the pasture, and lease money paid by a Gas Company, paid the taxes and kept up needed repairs to fences, etc. No body lived in the house after we left, and of course it and the surroundings went down rapidly. Along about 1902, Father sold the farm to George McCracken, at a low price. But farm land was low then, and it was about all that could have been got out of it at that time. The land in that community had been leased for gas and oil for seven or eight years, but there never was any development to the territory. But in less than a year after Father disposed of the farm, a well was obtained on a neighboring farm. That started the development in that section. In two years afterward, not less than seven or eight gas wells, and some of them very good, could have been counted from the door of our old house. And from the top of our hill, I am sure that more than 20 wells could have been seen.
We sold the farm a little too soon to realize on the gas stored 1800 feet below the surface. The folks never suspected that there was any natural wealth stored up beneath those hills. Well, we were not the only ones who sold too soon. Squire William A. Jack, counted one of the rich men of our community, sold his farm just a year or so too soon. Some one else cashed in on the gas under his farm. Uncle Young Minteer sold his farm along about the same time, and some one else profited by his selling then. It was the same about the coal that was bought up along about 1906. No one in 1900 ever suspected that there was a 7 foot vein of good coal about 1000 feet below the surface, that would be bought up at $30 to $35 per acre. Well, it was a pretty good little farm anyway; it was my boyhood home; it was a far better place to raise a family of children than in town. It was a good community, too. We had splendid neighbors all around us. I am glad I was reared on that little hillside farm, and had to work. It was better for me and for the rest, too, that we were raised in that place, which we thought was such an out of the way locality, and removed from so many things. It developed character and self reliance, and kept us away from many temptations present in larger places. On the next page I have drawn, from memory, a plot of the farm as it was in the ‘70s and ‘80s." (See copy of that map by clicking "See 3 more".)
"His mother was a Milligan, and he had a rich heritage on both sides of his family. Always active in church and civic affairs, his treasures were laid up in Heaven rather than on earth! (One history reports three brothers Dumm accompanying Lafayette when he came to the assistance of the colonies and remaining here then as settlers. I have just learned that there is a Dumm history in the possession of Earl Dumm of Wilkinsburg which tells about these brothers. Much has also been compiled on the Milligan family by Orlando Milligan, former pastor of the Avalon U.P. Church. Also, there are records of this family at the Manchester Church in Milligantown on Puckety Road near Parnassus.) Sam was an excellent teacher all his life and farmed only as a side-line. I had the pleasure of having him as a teacher when I was about ten years of age and I often find myself quoting some of his gems of wisdom very often."
--------
Civil War Army Veteran
SERGEANT MAJOR SAMUEL M. DUMM
78TH PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
- K COMPANY / B COMPANY - FIELD AND STAFF OFFICERS
Enlisted: 09-13-1862
Wounded in Action: 05-27-1864, Pickett's Mill
Transferred from K to B Company: 10-18-1864 Promoted to Sergeant: 12-04-1864
Promoted to 1ST Sergeant: 03-15-1865
Transferred from B Company to Field & Staff Officers: 05-01-1865
Promoted to Sergeant Major: 05-01-1865
Discharged 06-19-1865
----------
In 1850 he lived with his parents and five sisters on a farm in Allegheny Township, Westmoreland County, PA. His father owned real estate worth $500. In 1853 his father bought a little over 100 acres in Armstrong County, just to the northeast of Slate Lick. Tapeworm Road (now Township Road 386) split it into two parcels, with 35 acres on the west side of the road.
In 1860 he lived on the farm in North Buffalo Township with his parents, four sisters, and younger brother Henry. His father owned real property worth $1400 and personal property worth $430.
From March 1868 to March 1869 he and Mary Jane and their two children lived in Forringer's Mills, PA (now Kaylor), where he worked as a clerk in the large country store of Graff and Forringer. (For where he lived other years see Mary Jane's page.)
---------
From the memoirs of Frank Dumm:
"Father had the farm divided up into very conveniently sized fields. We kept a lot of stock for so small a farm. Mother never milked less than 4 or 5 cows during the summer. We had a team of horses, and sometimes a colt; 4 or 5 head of young stock, and sometimes a few sheep. We sometimes had a pasture field from Grandfather. The farm was not large enough to have any opportunity of raising much stock. Father often talked about buying 15 or 20 acres on the east side of the road from Grandfather, or rather Grandfather sometimes tried to talk Father into the notion of buying it. But he never did, and it was a good thing that he did not; for at that time he would never have got out on it. We raised very good crops, but the trouble was we did not have enough land of our own to farm, and raise enough to keep the stock and have something left to sell. We sometimes had hay to sell, but never any grain. We generally had to buy feed in the spring time and early summer, to last us until threshing time.
Father kept the farm after we left it in the Fall of 1892, and moved to Parnassus, Westmoreland Co. George McCracken mostly farmed it, and looked after it. The income from our share of what was raised, and rents from the pasture, and lease money paid by a Gas Company, paid the taxes and kept up needed repairs to fences, etc. No body lived in the house after we left, and of course it and the surroundings went down rapidly. Along about 1902, Father sold the farm to George McCracken, at a low price. But farm land was low then, and it was about all that could have been got out of it at that time. The land in that community had been leased for gas and oil for seven or eight years, but there never was any development to the territory. But in less than a year after Father disposed of the farm, a well was obtained on a neighboring farm. That started the development in that section. In two years afterward, not less than seven or eight gas wells, and some of them very good, could have been counted from the door of our old house. And from the top of our hill, I am sure that more than 20 wells could have been seen.
We sold the farm a little too soon to realize on the gas stored 1800 feet below the surface. The folks never suspected that there was any natural wealth stored up beneath those hills. Well, we were not the only ones who sold too soon. Squire William A. Jack, counted one of the rich men of our community, sold his farm just a year or so too soon. Some one else cashed in on the gas under his farm. Uncle Young Minteer sold his farm along about the same time, and some one else profited by his selling then. It was the same about the coal that was bought up along about 1906. No one in 1900 ever suspected that there was a 7 foot vein of good coal about 1000 feet below the surface, that would be bought up at $30 to $35 per acre. Well, it was a pretty good little farm anyway; it was my boyhood home; it was a far better place to raise a family of children than in town. It was a good community, too. We had splendid neighbors all around us. I am glad I was reared on that little hillside farm, and had to work. It was better for me and for the rest, too, that we were raised in that place, which we thought was such an out of the way locality, and removed from so many things. It developed character and self reliance, and kept us away from many temptations present in larger places. On the next page I have drawn, from memory, a plot of the farm as it was in the ‘70s and ‘80s." (See copy of that map by clicking "See 3 more".)
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