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WHO WAS WHO in PLUM TOWNSHIP
~ Titusville Herald
By H. W. Strawbridge ~ 1950s - 60s

Joseph Proper

Joseph R. Proper was born south of Diamond on April 23, 1824. He was one of several children of Daniel and Margaret Archer Proper. Joseph spent his childhood on the family farm which is now owned by the Melvin Pattern family.
Joseph was married to Miss Amelia Melissa Guild, who was a daughter of Dorastus and Ann Jane Haskins Guild of Stone Springhouse Corners, Cherrytree Township. Melissa was born in Allegany County, N.Y., on May 13, 1830. Just where she and Joseph began housekeeping is not certain.
Joseph once owned a one-third interest in a very large tract of timber in Tionesta Township for a while during the 1850’s. His brothers, John A. and Jacob G. Proper, owned the other two-thirds interest.
Joseph sold a portion, 132 ½ acres in 1855 to a certain Thomas Ashby for $300. Then, in April 1857, he made an article of agreement to dispose of the rest of his Tionesta Township land and timber interests, which was one-third of 1,000 acres. This provided a trade of properties with W.W. Wallace of Pittsburgh, from whom Wallaceville was named. Joseph’s new property was 130 acres with a sawmill and buildings on it. It was situated immediately south of Wallaceville on Little Sugar Creek. He was to take possession on May 1. Part of the agreement read as follows: “Wallace further agrees to give said Proper an order on J.P. Tanner for $50 in shoes, also an order on C.H. Paulson for $10 in hats, once box of double-bitted axes, and $100 worth of other merchandise, and the said Proper hereby acknowledges the receipt of the order.” This old agreement is still preserved by Joseph’s granddaughter, Mrs. Nora Manson, of Rouseville.
Thus Joseph and Melissa moved onto their Wallaceville property and lived there until her death years later. Both their house and sawmill stood beside the creek. A large willow tree stood beside the house. A lane extended back from the main road. A milldam was there, though not as large a dam as what the flouring mill had a ways up the creek. It is thought that Joseph’s sawmill had three mill wheels. One ran the saw, another ran the carriage and the third pulled the logs up and into the mill. The mill had the old type up-and-down saw.
Joseph was a tall thin man. He enjoyed visiting with people. He was one of those rare individuals who never ate all he wanted. He made it a point to get up from the table hungry. Inquiries as to what his middle initial “R” stood for have been in vain. He was a little outspoken at times. Once a certain Wallaceville man was giving Joseph some advice on something or other. Joseph spoke up and said when he wanted advice he would ask it from someone who made a success out of his life! This photo of him was taken around 1870. Along with his milling business, Joseph also farmed. He kept many horses and also kept black sheep.

Socks from Black Sheep

His wife, Melissa, was a large heavy woman. She was a good farmwife manager and worked hard. One winter she darned many pairs of black socks, mittens, etc, from the wool of the black sheep. Then she and her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Utto Proper, went to Oil City and bought a couch which she wanted for a long time. Even after buying it, she had $35 left over.
They also kept a large flock of geese. Melissa made for each of her three sons, when they married, a pair of large pillows filled with geese feathers and a feather tick. A granddaughter, Mrs. Kernie Wyher, who presently operates the Wallaceville store, still has the pillow ticks that were given to her father.
At the time of the “Big Frost” on June 5, 1859, when the fruit garden crops and corn were killed, Miss Rebecca Proper of Diamond was working in the home of Joseph and Melissa. Melissa voiced fears of starvation. However, they replanted their crops and reaped a harvest that fall after all. The houseworker, Rebecca, later married H.H. Jennings of Chapmanville. Their daughter, Mrs. May Morse, still lives in the Chapmanville home. Mrs. Morse recalls of Joseph visiting the Jennings home quite often when she was a girl. She also recalls of her mother telling an anecdote when she worked in Melissa’s house 100 years ago. It seems that Melissa baked a cake one day, then locked it in a drawer because she was going to be away for a while. When she returned it was molded and had to be thrown away.
Joseph and Melissa had four children, as follows: Merville Gerastus Guild Proper, Utto Camelio Proper, Orlando Proper and William Sherman Proper.
Merville was born July 26, 1852. He married Miss Anna Weber of the Wallaceville area on Sept. 12, 1879. They lived below Wallaceville for a few years where he had a blacksmith shop. Then they moved to Petroleum Center where they resided for 27 years. He also blacksmithed there. He died in Rouseville in April 1937, a few months after they observed their 57th wedding anniversary. Mrs. Proper died in July, 1938. They had two daughters, both of who live in this region. They are Mrs. Nora Manson of Rouseville, and Mrs. Pearl Pringle of Titusville.
Utto was born in 1859. He married Miss Addie Spangler of Wallaceville. They lived in Wallaceville for a few years. Utto and Tom Hinch ran the flouring mill a while. Later the Utto Proper family lived in Ohio where their last two children were born. He last lived in Paden City, W.Va., where he died of a stroke on July 25, 1920. He mainly worked in the oil fields as a tool dresser. They had five children, four of whom are living. They are Mrs. Macie Taylor of Okmulgee, Okla.; Mrs. Kernie Wyher of Wallaceville; Mrs. Elva Vogel of Paden City., W.Va.; Homer Michael Proper (deceased) of Summerville, S.C. and Mrs. Gladys Giles of Paden City, W.Va.

Orlando Died of Diptheria

Orlando died of diphtheria at their Wallaceville home aged about three. It happened in bad winter weather while Joseph was away tending to his lumber interests in the north woods. After Orlando died, Melissa laid him out for burial. At that time her sister-in-law, Mrs. Angeline Proper, arrived and before she opened the door she could hear Melissa singing a hymn. She buried Orlando in the Wallaceville Cemetery near the present hydrangea bush at the lower part of the cemetery. Strangely, she never told Joseph the exact location of his grave because he had always insisted the family would be buried on a high mound south of Wallaceville. She didn’t want that burial place, and figured if she told Joseph the exact location that he’d raise the body and rebury it on the mound. (Ironically enough, Melissa died before Joseph and she was buried on the mound.)
The youngest son, Sherman, was born Jan.20,1865. He built a nice store building in Wallaceville when a young man. Later he operated a hotel in Petroleum Center. Then he made the oil fields his permanent living. He first drilled several wells on the home farm at Wallaceville, one of which yielded gas and oil. It was situated by the creek. He married Miss Anna Noland of West Virginia. They lived in St. Marys, W.Va., for years. Then he worked in the Kentucky oil fields. He was moving to Marietta, O., when he suffered a stroke in that city and died in November, 1925. They had the following children, all of whom are living: Mrs. Zora Everly of Akron, O., Vernard Proper of St. Marys, W.Va., Lester Proper of St.Marys, W.Va., Howard Proper of Akron, O., Mrs. Pauline Widmeyer of Akron, O., and Gail Proper of Washington, D.C. Another daughter, Miss Mirtell Proper, died at the age of 16 or 18.
In 1861, Joseph and Melissa united with the Wallaceville M.E. Church and remained active members until her death which was 25 years later. After her death Joseph joined the Wallaceville Second Advent Church and remained a member of it until his death. He was quite often called “Deacon” Joe Proper.
In 1866, Joseph and William Gill of Wallaceville bought 40 acres southeast of Diamond from Miss Rebecca Proper. In 1869 Gill sold out his share to Daniel D. Proper, Joseph’s brother. Then in December 1872, Daniel sold his share to Joseph, and during that same month Joseph sold the 40 acres to Robert Kightlinger for $800.

Operated Brick Kiln

Besides his milling and farming activities, Joseph operated a brick kiln in Wallaceville during the mid 1880’s. He had planned to build a brick house, but his wife’s death changed those plans. A newspaper article in July 1887, stated in part: “Deacon Joe Proper is making preparations to burn a kiln of brick this summer. The moulders at work said they were working in as good a clay for the purpose as they ever used. Persons wanting brick can be accommodated after Sept. 1.” Eventually Joseph had trouble securing brick clay, so he did away with the business.
Joseph served a term as Plum Township road commissioner from 1884 until 1887. Undoubtedly, he sold lots of plank to the road commissioners for use in bridges, because an instance is recorded in November, 1867.
Melissa died June 24, 1886, of typhoid fever. She wasn’t sick very long. Others in Wallaceville had it at the time, too. At first they couldn’t find the source of it. Finally, it was discovered that cows were drinking the contaminated creek water, and the people in turn drank the milk from their cows. For some time the people boiled both milk and water, and then it quit spreading.
Joseph remarried on April 25, 1887, to a widow, Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Bedow. Her maiden name had been Carnahan.
After his second marriage Joseph moved his house next to the main road. He had already built a barn by the road.
Mrs. Nora Manson, the granddaughter at Rouseville, nearly had her arm cut off by Joseph’s scythe when she was 3 or 4 years old. While he was swinging it one day, she happened to run right in front of it. A bad gash was inflicted, but it healed. Mrs. Manson also remembers of her grandfather Proper liking peppermint and wintergreen lozenges during his last years.
One day Mrs. Kernie Wyher and her sister, Mrs. Macie Taylor, wanted to take a ride on one of Joseph’s horses when they were girls. He told them they could ride a horse the next day if they helped him to mow back some hay in his barn. This they did. The next day they caught one of his horses, put the bridle on it and rode it up the road. Joseph and his second wife were scared. They weren’t expecting them to do that and they ran up the road after them. However, nothing amiss happened.

Later Stayed With Sons

Joseph spent his last years between the homes of his sons. He would stay in Wallaceville a while, then go over to Petroleum Center for a spell. Then, maybe, he’d go to Sistersville, St. Marys and Paden City, W.V., for stays.
He gradually failed and died of old age at the home of his son, Merville, in Petroleum Center on Sunday morning, July 5, 1908.
The funeral occurred on Tuesday in the Wallaceville Second Advent Church with the pastor, Elder Smock, officiating. He was buried on the mound south of the village beside Melissa. The son, Utto, is also buried beside them.
Joseph’s house and barn below Wallaceville have been gone for years. The house was moved away by the late Ralph Proper and it burned down in 1945. The barn was sold by Mrs. Kernie Wyher to the late Clyde Bearce who rebuilt it west of Diamond on the present Albin Sagan farm.

Transcribed by Paula Harry
dharry@pa.rr.com

Disclaimer:there may be errors due to transcription of information from both early and late (current contributors) work.