My Pennsylvania

Stories from My Pennsylvania, Volume 1 
written in 1992 by Ray Abraczinskas
(true stories of my experiences growing up
on the farm (the Tewksbury farm) in the 1940s and 1950s) inquire about copies


STORIES FROM MY PENNSYLVANIA
Volume 1
                                                            Page No.
Dedication                                                      (i)
Introduction                                                   (ii)
CONTENTS
  1    Tom Doraski, the Troubadour Farmer.                      1
  2    Trappin' for Skunks, Muskrats and the Telegraph Key.     4
  3    Our Canoe Trip Down Flooded Roaring Creek.               8
  4    Droppin' the Steel Plate in Dad's Shop.                 11
  5    19 Beagles for Rabbit Huntin'.                          13
  6    Drivin' for Deer.                                       15
  7    Lithuanian Farmers.                                     17
  8    Potato Plantin', Pickin', and Packin' Times.            26
  9    Old Johani (pronounced Yoni).                           32
10     The Pony Dad Traded from Bill Deamer.                   35
11     Dad's Farm Implement Business.                          39
12     Skeet-Shooting at South-Side Conservation Club.         47
13     A Skunk in the Principal's Car.                         49
14     Apples in Ronnie Bickert's Locker.                      51
15     Dad's Buddy Huffy (Russell A. Hoffman).                 54
16     Fishing in Canada.                                      63
17     Moose Hunting in Canada.                                70
18     U.S. Marines from Eastern Pennsylvania.                 83
19     The Day Our Barn Burned Down.                           90
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS                                                94

Excerpts from Book

The house and farm goes back to Joseph McIntyre who came to Catawissa in
1782 and purchased the property from David Shakespeare. The farm was later
inherited by McIntyre's son (William) and five daughters. William McIntyre
sold the farm to William Davison in 1869. When he died, the farm was divided
between his wife, son and five daughters. One daughter named Ellen married
Edward Marvin Tewksbury in 1840.

1. My grandfather bought the farm from the Tewksburys in 1930 as described
on page 21. The land map is shown on page 22. In the map, the Evon
Abraczinskas shop and house is on the former Tewksbury property next to
McIntyre School and Cemetery.

2. The old Tewksbury house is shown at the top of page 22. Edward M.
Tewksbury, his mother Martha, his wife Ellen (Davison), his son Eugene and
daughter Hannah once lived there.

3.The barn shown in the background on page 27 was built in 1827 and burned
down in 1951. A story of it burning down is found in story Number 19 on page
90. Pictures on page 91 and 93 show the barn ruins.

4. The picture of the house on page 41 (circa 1953) shows the old Tewksbury
house after my dad (Evon Abraczinskas) had it sided with asphalt siding and
had a porch added on (circa 1931). I lived in this house from 1936 until
1954, when I joined the Marine Corps. This house burned down in 1977 which
is the subject of a story in Stories from My Pennsylvania, Volume 2, which
will be available from the author in latter 2002.

5. An aerial photograph on page 46 shows the former Tewksbury homestead
with a farm implement business shop added by Evon Abraczinskas in 1950.

6. More historical/genealogical information about the Tewksburys will appear
in Stories from My Pennsylvania, Volume 2, which will be available from the
author in latter-2002.



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