Chapter 8

Henry Boyer, my maternal grandfather, was much younger than Grandfather Dunkle.  He came into the neighborhood later from one of the original settlements in Schuylkill County and took up a piece of vacant land adjoining Father's, where he and his sons made harness, boots and shoes from leather of their own tanning.  He spoke very broken English; he had been so long in America that it was, he said, his father's grandfather that "had come from the old country."

The site and general plan of grandfather's house was nearly identical with our new home; in fact, more accurately speaking, our house itself was a replica of his.  There was the same eastern exposure overlooking the Clarion, the lower level basement and the alcove above.  The exception was in the location as not so much of the river was in view from grandfather's house, and its flow approached closer with only a precipitous bank intervening.  A little group of three houses, a mill and a boat scaffold were so nearly opposite and so close across the river on a low point of land that a missile from a well aimed sling might have reached the workmen.

Near grandfather's house was a building containing his tannery and shoe shop.  A bark shed adjoined with drying facilities and a mill for grinding the bark.  There were but six vats in the tannery and these were sunk in the ground so that their upper edges were on a level with the floor.  Each had its particular function; the first vat contained a strong solution of quicklime to set the hair free, the second loosened the hide for fleshing, and so on.  The complete process of tanning required much labor and nearly a year's time for its completion.  As no splitting machines were used, the hide had to be dressed by hand for use in making boots, shoes and harness.  The heaviest hides were finished for use as sole leather, the next grade for harness and heavy boots, and the third grade was called "kip" and the lightest, called "calf skin," was used for ladies' and children's shoes.  Sheep pelts were tanned in this shop and were prepared with the wool on.  I had the freedom of the shoe shop and roamed about watching grandfather and my uncles use what seemed to me the jumble of tools required to make a complete boot or set of harness.  In addition, they made their own waxed threads, wooden pegs, shoe lasts, boot trees, and other accessories.

The style of footwear for men passed from the buckskin moccasin of my father's boyhood days to high topped boots, without stopping to give the shoe a place.  Many a lad stoically endured the torments of putting on and taking off boots, which in winter time became as hard as cast iron stocks, that he might thus show he was a man.

Grandfather had a most amazing and mysterious way of filling his mouth with pegs, then with hammer in his right hand and awl in his left, he would juggle the pegs with swift passes of his hands rhythmically from his lips to the shoes, meantime keeping up a "rat atat tat and tit a tat too" without losing a beat.