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Authored by Society president George Meiser IX |
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SEVEN News-Bits of Reading-Berks historical interest...
=================================== 1- "The History of Virginville" has been completed 2- Leinbach family history book is nearing completion 3- Hamburg’s early history (illustrated) arriving soon 4- Main St. Fleetwood log & stone farmhouse razed 5- Oley Furnace grist mill being saved 6- Society’s web-site being improved on a regular basis 7- Sinking Spring’s Paul Specht occupied the world stage =================================== 1- "The History of Virginville" by Lloyd T. Dreibelbis-- in cooperation with the Virginville Grange; 208 pages; hardbound; includes a table of contents; approx. 275 illustrations; printed by the Kutztown Publishing Co., Inc. Cost is $ 45 postpaid. Make checks payable to... Virginville Grange, P. O. Box 173, Virginville, PA 19564 Anyone with any connection whatever to Virginville, Richmond and/or Greenwich townships--and all places circumjacent-- absolutely will want this book...as will those interested in Berks County history generally. Lloyd T. Dreibelbis, one of a committee of nine, not one of which with any previous experience in book preparation, compiled a really splendid and comprehensive book on the history of their area. The table of contents identifies twelve sections of concentration: (1) Life of Lloyd T. Dreibelbis, (2) Village of Virginville, (3) Early Settlers, (4) Residents and Their Trades, (5) Postal Service, (6) Organizations, (7) Newspaper Clippings, (8) Structures and Dwellings, (9) Natural Attractions, (10) Religion and Education, (11) Folk History, and (12) Photo Gallery While every part of the book is of genuine value, largely because of the well-chosen illustrations of quality, yours truly found "Structures and Dwellings" and "Natural Attractions" of exceptional interest. The former takes you up one street and down another, describing each and every house, who built it, who has lived in it, and particulars of the structure....and the latter contains a bountiful supply of never-before-published illustrations and data on the caves that abound in the area. Photo quality and general lithography are superior, which is what one expects and gets from the Kutztown Publishing Co. As only 750 copies of this volume have been produced, and the fact that anyone who lays hands on it will surely want a copy, those reading News-Bits from out of the area are advised to get your checks into the mail before too long. ====================================== 2- Laurel Miller, well-known genealogist and author of numerous publications in her field of interest--including a guide to Berks cemeteries--emailed today (from Germany, waiting out the crisis in the Ivory Coast of Africa where she has been living a number of years) to inform us that her book on the Leinbach family is just about ready to go to the printers. She was interested in several historical Leinbach sites in Bern Township which yours truly endeavored to supply. When Lauel’s book is available to the general public, you will be notified through News-Bits. PHOTO: Razing the Leinbach Homestead along Route 183 near Van Reed Rd., south of Leinbach's Village, around 1971. A modern house now occupies the site. 
=========================================== 3- A new Hamburg history has been produced by a committee of history buffs from that area. Copies should be available within a matter of days. You will be apprised of availability and cost shortly. ================================== 4- Last week we informed you that workmen began razing an 18th century log-and-stone farmhouse at 26 East Main St., Fleetwood, latterly the residence of George Schwartz, who had earlier operated a jewelry store there. The building has been uninhabited for about two years due to its advanced state of decrepitude--a victim of neglect. That the front portion of the structure was log came as a great surprise to many as it long had German siding and was highly Victorianized at some point. Its front porch was once an ornament to the locality. Its chestnut logs will be recycled into a blacksmith shop to be erected on the grounds of Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center at Kutztown University. 
===================================== 5- Some months ago we made mention of the fact that the stone grist mill at General Udree’s Oley Furnace was in an advanced state of decrepitude because of missing windows and a roof that was on the verge of caving in. A recent email informs us that someone has purchased the landmark with the intention of restoring it. More information will be provided as soon as all the facts are ascertained. ==================================== 6- Thanks to the initiative of Montello/Spring Twp. historian Paul Miller, president of the Sinking Spring Historical Society, the Historical Society of Berks County has been able to add three wonderful CD’s of Paul Specht’s artistry to our musical archives. PAUL SPECHT (1895-1954) of Sinking Spring, Berks County In the realm of popular dance music in the 1920’s, Berks County’s Paul Specht was one of the U.S.’s big three; the two others were Vincent Lopez and Paul Whiteman. So famous was Specht that he was chosen, over Whiteman, to play for Hoover’s 1929 inaugural ball. Additionally, his was the first orchestra to broadcast for RCA, the first to make a sound motion picture (DeForrest’s Phonofilms), and the first to broadcast over a nationwide radio network of 109 stations. Paul Specht was born March 24, 1895, at 595 Penn Ave., in Sinking Spring, a son of Hain’s Church organist John Specht. While John taught Paul to play the cornet so that he could be in the Sinking Spring Cornet Band, it was Harold Bechtel who taught the boy violin. He attended the Combs Conservatory of Music, Phila., to learn the classics. In Reading, he played with pianist Chester Wittel and cellist Paul Sechrist at the Berkshire Hotel, the Arcadia Theatre (734 Penn), and at Loew’s Colonial. He soon went to NYC where he organized an orchestra that became extremely popular, largely through sales of his Columbia recordings. In the 1940s he developed an increasingly debilitating arthritic condition which gradually forced him into early retirement. He died April 11, 1954. His remains were returned to Berks for burial at St. John’s Church cemetery in Sinking Spring. [Those of you who can listen to sound clips, what follows is Specht's late 1920's recording of "Sweetheart of All My Dreams," Columbia 78rpm disc # 1708.] 
========================================= Extra Added: Last week you received the news that Salem United Church of Christ, Spangsville, Oley Township, was in the process of moving some tombstones and burials to make way for an addition to the church. Here is a snapshot of the east side of the church showing the state of things last Saturday, Nov. 23rd. Notice the stones stacked together in readiness for their eventual place- ment elsewhere. 
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