Chapter 23
928 NEW STREET
I was, of course, delayed by
the broken ankle, but I spent the time in very carefully developing plans for
our new house on the corner. The house would be our first split-level and be
our most spacious. It was also white stucco and faced on New Street. I had the excavating done, and formed and
poured the footers, still wearing the walking cast. Before the cast came off
the block layers put in the basement and garage walls for our house while I
finished George's garage. All in all we lost about five weeks, but we met our
deadline and gave possession to the Leatherman’s in August.
Rev. George B. Wolf, elder
of the Church of the Brethren, had lost his second wife a few years earlier and
had then married Ada's a sister Anna. He had sold two more lots on the north
side of Main Street just below our "brick-kote" house, but he still
had a vacant lot between them and his own house; also another one farther west.
He asked me to build houses on those two lots. He thought he could sell the
houses easier than the lots.
928 New St., Akron, PA
So after we were settled in
our house on the corner, I began the houses for George. I worked at them from
September of 1951 to June of 1952. Unfortunately George died on January 1st,
1952. I finished the work for the executor of his estate.
On June 9th, 1952 we sold
our home again; this time to Mr. and Mrs. Richard Ebersole. We were to be out
in four months; which was by the end of September. The same day we signed their
agreement, I bought two lots from Mr. Oberholtzer on New Street between Seventh
and Eighth Streets.
That year Arvilla graduated
at Ephrata High School and Ada and I took a few days vacation while Arvilla
kept the children. We had a good time touring Restored Williamsburg, Virginia.
On October 25th, 1951 I
traded our '49 Chevy for a dark gray 1951 four door Chevrolet sedan. The
two-door was too small for eight people.