Milford chronicle., 1962-07-06

Here's something you haven't
seen for a long time" he said
When / was a boy we never used
pencils and paper, only slates."
Mr.. Thompson took his guests
up a narrow stairway to the tiny
storeroom, filled with cartons and
boxes used in years past
He pointed to a box of old clay
| pipes ard said:
Take one :. they're not much
good though; l don't have any
stems for them"
! A quick check of the items un-
covered barrel partially filled
with loose alum.
This has been here for
awhile My father bought this
when he was keeping store here, "
he commented When l close up,
/ think I'll bag this up and take
it to Frederick"
Mr.. Thompson explained the
plastered wall at the front of the
storeroom by pointing out that his
house across the road used to be
! inhabited by a large family, and
some of them slept here in the
storeroom.
Over near the wall was a wood
en- block and other equipment US
ed for loading 1O-gauge shotgun
shells. He declined an offer to
purchase this, for, as he puts it:
Every now and then somebody
stops to see me, and | like to have
something to show them"
Hanging from the rafters are
wooden harness attachment for
hOrse-drawn cuItivator and a
circular piece of metal which
formed rack for buggy whips.
A metal canister with an isinglass
window decades ago was used as
container for cakes sold by a
bakery then located in the Potter
Coffin building in Milford.
Old umbrella handles, with
shreds of fabric still attached,
were stacked in a pile. A device
for repairing saw teeth lay at one
side, unused for years.
when l pass out, people will
be wild to get some of this stuff
that amt worth a durn," he mus
ed.
Mr.. Thompson was born only a
few miles away from the store,
near Bowers Beach. Late in the
nineteenth century his father and
business partner purchased a
cannery and sawmill near Thomp-
sOnville. Later the Thompsons took
over the store.
This used to be the post office
for this section" he stated, pro-
ducing a rolled certificate still in
its mailing case
The certificate, dated 1891, was
signed by Postmaster General
John Wanamaker. 1t named his
mother, Lydia T. Thompson, as
postmistress of the Thompsonville
Post Office. Mr.. Wanamaker was
responsible for the establishment
of a number of such rural post
offices.
The office was closed on the last
mail day of March, 1902, when
Rural Free Delivery was started
by the federal government. Mr..
Thompson still has records of
daily postal entries made at the
turn of the century.
Mr.. Thompson graduated from
Goldey College in 1897, and today
proudly displays his diploma 1t
is a mammoth certificate, about
two and a half feet wide by two
feet deep, and signed by several
members of the faculty including
Mr.. H. S. Goldey, principal; w. H.
Beacon, Penmanship. Accounting;
and Henry Conrad, Commercial
Law.
AS a student at Goldey, he re-
ceived from his parents $500 and
$3.50 on alternate weeks for liv-
ing expenses. The extra soc every
second week was for laundry
Once while attending college he
wrote to his mother for some
money. She sent him lone dol
lar bill with the admonition, BE
careful how you use it. 1t is the
last dollar in the store"
The Thompsons were not eXper-
iencing hard times. 1t was just
that customers paid for their mer-
chandise with chickens, eggs. pro-
duce and other things raised on
the farms rather than money.