March 28, 2020
Stories of his youth from Chester Pribble.
Hello Dan.
You have a wonderful idea of collecting stories for the Jackson mailers. I only live an hour away from you. You and yours should take a drive to Woolrich, PA when the Coronavirus is gotten under control.
At age 95 I have lived here since 1931 when I was seven. All three of my wonderful children live within 12 miles from me. Every decade more life stories seem to occur. I give each a name. When I go to my hunting lodge, friends greet me by saying Chet give us “a Bob Story. “ I have many great stories about the ten kids I grew up with here in little old Woolrich. Sadly, I may be the only one alive. We all served our great nation. All returned home except Wallace Englert who was killed in France.
I am going to give you a story that is most appropriate with the virus fears this World is presently facing. Here it goes, my Friend:
We moved to Woolrich during the Depression days and were as poor as a church mouse. We had no party telephone, no radio, and before TV, but a happy family. Those were the days, when all in the family ate supper together and said a prayer before we ate. Then we talked about family, West Virginia letter news, as well as community gossip. Dad often talked about his World War I experience. It was called The Great War. Back then most travel was by horse or by train. Dad was drafted and sent by train from Ritchie County, WV to Fort Meade, MD. There he was assigned to the field artillery. The artillery guns were pulled by teams of horses. Being a farmer, my Dad, Sherman Pribble, was assigned a team of horses and wagon. Dad would tell us that the soldiers from the cities were afraid of horses.
Now, here is why I tell this story which is part of history. Just as the world is now in a war of terrible fear with the Coronavirus, during World War I [1918], it was Spanish Flu that killed millions. The Flu started in western army camps and moved East rapidly, including Fort Meade where Dad was stationed. A high number of troops died in the barracks. Dad was assigned with horses and wagon to take the dead to the Fort’s undertaker. Next they were put in rough boxes and taken to the rail station. They stacked them up like stair steps.
We kids got the impression that Dad fought the whole War by himself. Now, I must tell you that Dad was drafted late and honorably discharged soon following the war’s end having served about four to five months. I was drafted into the Army Combat Engineers, served two years in all major battles, including the famous Battle of the Bulge. After I returned back to US and also being discharged from Fort Meade, Dad stopped talking about the Great War, then renamed World War I, and wanted to hear my War II stories.
Submitted by Chester H. Pribble
2 comments
What a wonderful story from my old home town, Woolrich. What struck a chord from your story was the reference to Wallace englert who died in France in WW 2. His sister, Florence Larimer and her husband Grant were best friends of my parents, Dave and Trudy Maurer who built a house on Park Avenue where we lived until 1960 when we moved to Vero Beach, Florida to work at Piper and sold our house to Grant and Florence. The late Rossie Brayton was my best friend at age eight. Loved playing in that big house at the intersection with all the rooms. The Woolrich pool and park hold wonderful memories. Went to elementary school with some of the Rich children. Phoebe was in my class and sat behind me in second grade at the old four room schoolhouse. The principal was Mr. Barry. Thanks for your story.
Jeff Maurer
Hi Chester,
What a great story to share. Thank you for taking the time to share. My great grandmother was a Pribble. Her name was Lavina Pribble. I’m very interested in the history of my ancestors. Unfortunately most of my family that would have pictures or stories have past. Take care during these times.