Flooding My Memory

 Flooding My Memory
I’ve written before about the flood that devastated much of the village of Melcroft, Pennsylvania. I’ve shared the information taken from the Connellsville Courier in a past newsletter of the Chestnut Ridge Historical Society. It was a story that has a family connection. My Aunt Estella Beck Strawderman and her daughter Shirley Strawderman Olbrysh were some of the survivors of the rushing water. Their home was washed away in the deluge. Shirley was only six years old when her home, mother, and neighbors were all caught up in the maelstrom.
She requested any information that I might gedt from the Society’s archives. I sent her a copy of the newspaper article from the Connellsville Courier, Doen Memory Lane, the Historical Society’s newsletter, and a copy of the photograph of Melcroft just before the flood.
When she received the packet of articles, she called me to say that the Courier’s article had several incorrect pieces of information. When she began to share the facts that she remembered, I asked her to please write down the facts that she remembered. I wanted to have those recollections in her handwriting to add to the information in our archives. She said that she would. It’s always a great addition to the Society’s records when we can get an oral history of past events from an actual witness.
Several days later she called again, telling me that she remembered meeting someone that lived in Indiand Head, Pennsylvania. He shared many stories with her and gave her several documents of history from Indiand Head. As we tallked, she mentioned that the man’s name was Duane Layman. I chuckled and shared with her that he had passed away and his family had donated twelve 12 X 12 X 18 inch boxes of books, papers, and photographs to the Society. We ae still sorting through them, ascessioning each item, and attempting to find a place to store all of them. Books, obituaries, photographs, personal notes from many families geneology filled thoe boxes. His writing wasn’t all that easy to decipher.
It seems strange that the information almost came to a full circle from one small inquiry.