The Sentinel
18—Lewistown, PA
Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022
JUNIATA VALLEY MAGAZINE
Memories of our great-grandmother
Blanche Esther Carson Peachey We three sisters are happy to share some memories of our great-grandmother. “Great-Grandma” was a mouthful for a child to say, so we just called her Gugga. The photo we’ve provided is one of the last photos taken of her in her home. She’s holding her first great-great-grandchild, Brian. This is how we remember her: sitting in her favorite chair, wearing a dress with a bib apron over top. Gugga loved God with her whole heart. We’d often overhear her whispering prayers to God throughout the day. And she cherished her family and church. She was one of those dear old ladies who always wore a hat to church. She never gossiped and was soft spoken. We never heard her raise her voice; even her laughter was quiet. She didn’t watch much television, but she did enjoy watching her Yankees play baseball. She never missed watching the Triple Crown of horse racing, the Lawrence Welk show, and the Billy Graham crusades. Witnessing all the people coming forward at the end of the services while listening to the hymn “Just as I am” left quite an impression on us all. We were young kids during the Vietnam war years, but old enough to remember our pastor bringing Gugga the names and addresses of soldiers from
our church so she could send them news from home. She always used a quill pen that she dipped into an ink well (she never owned a ballpoint pen). Her handwriting was exquisite. The day before each Memorial Day, she would buy flowers to decorate the graves. (Our family continues that tradition today, at the Lutheran cemetery in Belleville.) Gugga was a wonderful cook and pie maker. She made the world’s best pot pie. One thing she made especially for us girls was chocolate rice pudding that she served as dessert at suppers we ate at her table. Included with the place settings was a beverage cup in each of our favorite color. Another memory we have is that on the night before a holiday meal, Gugga would set the dining room table for the next day and would lay another tablecloth over top of everything to keep the place settings clean. Included beside each dinner plate was a little crystal salt dip. Her favorite game was Scrabble and she made braided rugs. She also custom designed and made hooked rugs. Her rug frame was setup in a little outbuilding that in times past was her wash house. She enjoyed music: on warm summer evenings we’d often gather on her front porch and sing songs like “Down in the Valley.”
Another thing that stands out in our memories is watching her wind her clocks: a pendulum wall clock in the living room and a mantle clock in her kitchen. The mantle clock was her first Christmas gift from her husband as a new bride in 1911. Before she married, Gugga was a schoolteacher in a one-room schoolhouse. When she would reminisce about her teaching days, she’d inevitably sing the song, “Twenty Froggies Went to School.” We can still remember the tune to that little song from so long, long ago! As a schoolteacher, she had a special bell that she rang to call the children back inside after recess. Over the years people would gift her with bells, most little, some quite tiny, and she wound up with a nice-sized bell collection. Family thought it was quite appropriate that she collected bells, because she was from Belleville, after all. Gugga never learn to drive. She never needed to — there were plenty of other drivers in the family. But she really enjoyed car rides and reminiscing. Her daughter (our grandmother) would take Gugga and us girls on drives around the valley. Our great-grandma would point out places of interest. She showed us many places that were significant to our family like where her grandmother
lived during the American Civil War, where her daughters were born, etc. These trips gave us girls a sense that our roots run deep since at least six generations of our family has lived their lives in and around the Belleville area. She also pointed out various one-room schoolhouses that in her time were public schools where English and Amish all attended classes together. We rarely slept overnight at her house, but when we did, we’d watch See Peachey / Page 21
One of the last photos taken of great-grandmother Peachey, holding her first great-great-grandchild, Brian.
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