Legends from the Frosty Sons of Thunder - Softcover

Doncaster, William Trall

9781883911256: Legends from the Frosty Sons of Thunder

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1883911257 ISBN 13: 9781883911256

Publisher: Brandylane, 1998

Several myths and legends of 19th century southwestern Pennsylvania are researched and retold from the historian's perspective. The Old Forbes Military Road that runs through Somerset County in Pennsylvania (Route 30) is the source of rich American history and folklore. Since their occurrence in 1889, the controversial Nicely brothers murder trial and the devastating Johnstown flood have become two of this area's most remembered historical events. Both have been recorded through oral history and embellished. This was an era of storytelling when the American wilderness was vast and rich with danger and possibility. These stories, along with many others, are brought to life in this account of Pennsylvania folklore and rural life punctuated by backwoods superstitions and romantic heroes and antiheroes. Doncaster explores other Somerset County legends including Mountain Jack, David "Robber" Lewis, and the Black Horse Inn, all in memorable and scholarly detail.

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From the Author:

The narrative contained in this volume is a somewhat personal one. It was the result of a privileged conversation with one of America's most revered authors and the fact that I was a professor in the history department of the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown and living in Somerset, Pennsylvania, at the time. It was the winter of 1968. Then president Dr. Theodore Bindle summoned me to his office. He had an assignment for me. David McCullough, author of The Johnstown Flood, was to be a guest lecturer. [His book has been a bestseller with Amazon.com]. Would I host Mr. McCullough while he was a guest of the college? What an assignment! The only difficult part was trying to conceal my exuberant delight. I had admired Mr. McCullough both as an historian and as an author, but never in my wildest imagination had I expected to have the opportunity of meeting him.

In the course of our conversation at dinner the evening of his arrival, I asked Mr. McCullough how he happened to become interested in the Johnstown flood. I was surprised to learn that while he was doing research at the Library of Congress on another subject, he came upon original prints of the Johnstown flood by a photographer from Pittsburgh who, with all his heavy gear and glass plates and the like, managed to get over the mountains and into Johnstown within days of the calamity. He suddenly realized that no one recently had made a definitive study of the subject. At some point in our conversation, somewhat starry-eyed and certainly awed by the presence of the person who sat across from me, I happened to make the statement: "Mr. McCullough, if only once I could be as absorbed in an interesting study as you have been in the Johnstown flood." His answer opened the door that fulfilled my desire for challenging research. "You are from Somerset," he said, "and you are sitting on a gold mine. Have you heard of the Nicely brothers...?"

About the Author:

William Trall Doncaster, Jr. was born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, into a third generation of medical doctors. Doncaster's interest in history from an early age, however, precluded a medical career. Following an undergraduate degree in history, he received a Master's degree in Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, and a Doctorate of Philosophy degree at the University of Pittsburgh. While serving as pastor of three Presbyterian churches near the Allegheny Mountain region of southwestern Pennsylvania, Doncaster developed a keen interest from an historical perspective of the legends of the region. His research resulted in this book. Dr. Doncaster resided in Somerset, Pennsylvania, for forty-three years and now lives in Richmond, Virginia. His late wife, Marjorie Walker Doncaster, was distinguished as both a classical piano teacher and a photographer. The Doncasters have one married daughter and two grandchildren.

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