My interview this issue takes us to Grazierville to a person known by many in the area because she has “worn many hats” in her life. She is Theda Bailey Dysart.
Theda’s family tree is strongly rooted in Grazierville, dating back to the middle 1800s. She is the second child — a Christmas 1919 baby — of John Ermine and Ruth Snouffer Bailey. The eldest child of seven in the Bailey family is Dorothy Haverstine, then Theda, Delores Hooper, Elaine Lamson, John Jr., Robert, and Romaine Wilson. Theda’s family homestead was located where the Jack Wallace family lives today, across from Jean-O’s Pizzeria on old Route 220.
When Theda was young, the property had a small barn, a summer house in the corner of the lot, and other outbuildings. The Baileys had cows, chickens, pigs, and a horse named “Don.” The Bailey family, as most families were at that time, was self-sufficient. They had a huge garden and canned everything they could. The animals supplied their meat, milk, eggs, and butter. The family also made their own bread, jellies, and apple butter. Ruth taught her daughters the art of being a homemaker and cook. Theda loved to help in the kitchen and learned to be a very good cook. She became so good at the craft that her mother would allow her to stay home from school on Wednesdays to help with the baking. On these days at home Theda would bake the fourteen loaves of bread required for the week for their family of nine.
Theda’s father, John Sr., was a rural mail carrier for forty-five years. John delivered mail in the R.D. 1 area. His starting wage was $52 a month. His horse, Don, pulled his wagon for the mail deliveries. Theda remembers the wagon had two extra seats that folded down behind the main seat. Theda waited anxiously for Saturdays because she was allowed to travel the route with her father on one of the extra seats. The trip began at 7 a.m. from the Bailey home to the Tyrone post office on 11th St., where John would greet his fellow carriers and load up his wagon with boxes of mail. Some of the other carriers Theda remembers were Lee Adams, Carl McFarland, and Cloyd Knarr. They would start off the mail route heading toward the Spruce Creek area. Theda remembers stopping at the “Tree” family store on the river road to Spruce Creek near Union Furnace. This store was owned by Hulda Tree Engelman’s family. Most every Saturday John would buy groceries at Tree’s store. John’s route took him to the Forge and Ironville, then to Pemberton and down the hill to Eden Hill, continuing across the river to Spruce Creek through the tunnel to the road leading back toward Tyrone. They stopped at the Welcome Inn past Pemberton on the new road to Alexandria. The Inn was a slab-sided house, which is still standing. On the return trip to Tyrone John would take in part of Sinking Valley on his route. The Saturday mail route trips with her father were the days Theda treasured as a youngster.
Sunday was church day. The whole Bailey family attended the old Westley United Methodist Church on Logan Ave. and 12th St., which was located diagonally from the present Westley United Methodist Church. They attended Sunday school and church in the morning, returning home for lunch. At 2 o’clock the family went to the nearby Grazierville Methodist church for Sunday school and church, returning home for a bite of supper. Then the two oldest girls, Dorothy and Theda, would walk to Tyrone to the Westley church to meet with a youth group at 6 o’clock. Theda’s father, John, would later come to the church for evening services at 7 o’clock. John Bailey never missed church and sang in the church choir from age 17 until he was 74 years old.
When not doing chores, Theda spent her time playing games with the Eckley children from across the road. The children played games inside and outside — the same games that most kids played at that time. But the game that Theda remembers they could not get enough of was the new board game, Monopoly, which they played for hours.
Theda remembers walking to her paternal grandparents’ farm just south of her home on old Route 220. The William T. Bailey farm house was located where Nelson’s Chrysler garage is today. Their barn, which many will remember because of the Mail Pouch Tobacco ad printed on the side, was located across the road. The farm’s property line ran from the Juniata River behind the barn to across the road to the top of the hill behind the house.
“Race days” at the nearby Tipton racetrack created another pastime for the Bailey children. They would sit for hours on their front porch and watch the bumper-to-bumper traffic of race goers. To the Bailey children the traffic of people and cars was an event in itself to be watched.
One family gathering Theda remembers was butchering day at the farm. Family and friends would gather to make apple butter. The night before you made the apple butter you had a “snit party.” The snit party was made up of family, church, and area women who gathered to pare and quarter the apples that would be cooked down to sauce the next day. At these gatherings there always would be lots of all kinds of food to eat.
Theda started school in the one-room schoolhouse in Grazierville, on the back road to Tipton. The school was situated just above the Methodist Church on the hill. Theda went to first and second grades here — in 1925 and 1926 — and her teacher was Kathleen Sprankle LaPort. Mrs. LaPort taught first through eighth grades at this school. She then went to the newly built Grazierville school from third to eighth grades. This school had two rooms with four grades in each room. After finishing eighth grade at Grazierville, you traveled to the Northwood School to take a test to see if you would be accepted for high school. If you were one of the lucky ones to pass the test, you could then go to Tyrone to the high school on Lincoln Ave.
While in both grade and high school Theda remembers putting on plays and going to dances and sporting events. Theda played basketball with girls at the nearby Grier School, in Birmingham. As Theda moved on to high school she started to notice the boys. One day a friend of hers, Gordon Stine, introduced her to a young man named Edward W. Dysart. Eddie, as she calls him, taught her to dance. Theda went to two proms with Eddie — his in 1935 and hers in 1937.
Another dance that is vivid in Theda’s mind was the National Guard dance held in Clearfield at the Dimiling Hotel. This dance was a very posh event and required very formal attire. Theda borrowed a dress and shoes from a friend because she did not have anything grand enough for this dance. By this time Eddie and Theda were “going steady.” The couple was planning their future together.
Theda and Eddie dated four years. Then they were married on September 2, 1939 at the Westley United Methodist church by the Reverend Ressler Shultz. A reception was held at the church following the wedding. Theda remembered with a laugh that she got five lamps and casserole dishes exactly alike for wedding gifts. The newlyweds traveled by train to Pittsburgh for their honeymoon.
The young couple set up housekeeping in an apartment on 12th St., behind where the Mid-State bank branch is now. Theda liked the apartment and remembers the window box outside her kitchen window, which served as a makeshift ice box, but without ice.
Both Theda and Eddie had jobs in Tyrone. Eddie worked at the Big Yank clothing factory in East Tyrone on 17th St., making the big wage of 25 cents an hour. Theda worked at the F&F Laundry and Dry Cleaners on 10th St. as an inspector. She remembers that her pay was $7 week for six full eight-hour days. Eddie also received a monthly check from the National Guard, of which he had been a member since graduating high school.
But as luck would have it, Eddie was asked to quit the Guard because he was married. The real reason was that the Guard was being dispatched overseas and was taking only single men at that time. Eddie no sooner was released from the Guard when he received his draft papers from the Army. The young couple now was faced with a move to Alabama. Eddie reported to the Sibert Army Base near Gadsden, Alabama. The year was 1943 and Theda rented her own room with a family off the base in Gadsden.
While Eddie served in the army, Theda got a job at the local Lehner’s Clothing Store, where she worked until she read a newspaper ad looking for people with laundry experience. Jobs were offered by the Civil Service and the contract was with the U.S. military. The laundry plant cleaned uniforms for all branches of the service. Theda applied and got the job. She worked here until Eddie got his orders to go to California for training in preparation for overseas duty.
The month before Eddie was to be shipped out of Alabama the two decided to develop a code. Codes were put on corresponding maps that they each had. The couple now felt secure that if Eddie couldn’t say in his letters where he was, code words would give his new bride an idea of his whereabouts. After training, the army sent Eddie to New Guinea. Eddie served in New Guinea, Manila, and the Occupation of Japan during his overseas duty. After having served fourteen months with the army, Eddie was discharged.
Theda had moved back with her parents in Grazierville while her husband was overseas. She got a job at Big Yank where Eddie had worked. After working there for a while, she got a new job at McLanahan’s Drugstore, in downtown Tyrone. Theda worked and saved as much money as she could. Eddie sent most of all of his pay home to be saved also, building a nice nest egg.
When Eddie arrived home, the young couple moved into the summer house next to her parents’ home. Eddie went back to his job at the Big Yank factory. Theda quit work to be a full-time housewife. They took some money from their nest egg and bought two building lots behind Theda’s parents’ home. The lots were covered with nothing but brush, and the couple worked side by side clearing the ground and putting in a foundation. They bought a house in Sinking Valley and had it taken apart and hauled to Grazierville. The house was then reassembled on their lot in 1946. While all of this building was going on the Dysarts had their first child, a girl, in 1946. Eddie and Theda were blessed with a total of three children, Gail Masser, Edward A., and Avis Rice.
A notice appeared in the newspaper stating that a state welfare office was going to open in Altoona and needed people who could pass a civil service test. Eddie passed and was hired. He worked in Altoona at the welfare office for twenty-six years. When Eddie retired he was the supervisor of that Altoona office.
Theda kept busy with her family, but when her youngest went to school she began working as a cook at the local Grazierville school. Times had changed and the school now had a cafeteria. Theda was now doing what she liked best — cooking in large quantities. In 1962 the Tyrone school district had built a new high school and they came looking for Theda to take charge of the new school’s cafeteria. Theda worked at the high school for ten years.
In 1972 Theda had to quit her job to take care of her father, who was ill. She moved her father into their house to care for him. During that time Eddie’s father, Paul J. Dysart, had a stroke. Theda took care of both fathers in her home for the next five years.
Theda did not go back to work. Instead, she became more active in her community. Theda had joined the American Legion in 1946 and has always remained active in this organization. Theda is also a member of the VFW. She has held offices in church, school, and various Legion groups. For nineteen years she help run the nursery in the Westley United Methodist Church. But I believe she is most proud of helping to organize the 8 & 40 Keystone Salon #820 in Tyrone. Theda explained to me that “8 & 40” stands for the eight men and forty horses per railroad car on the military trains.
Theda helped organize another group in Grazierville called the “Grazierville Gang.” This group consists of alumni from both Grazierville schools and 40 to 100 members meet every month to keep alive the memories of Grazierville history.
I asked Theda what historical event from our area stands out most in her mind. She responded with the Centennial Celebration held in Tyrone. The Centennial was held August 11–17, 1957. The town had a parade every day with each day having a different theme. There were plays put on to tell the whole story of Tyrone. Theda remembers that each group in the area would enter a float in the parades. The Grazierville area entered a float with their king and queen on it. The king was Ronnie Scott and the queen was Theda’s daughter, Gail.
The home that Theda and Eddie worked so hard to build is lived in by Theda today. Theda has memorabilia throughout her home saved over the years. Theda keeps alive the Bailey and Dysart family history with scrapbooks and tons of photos.
Theda’s bubbly personality and love of life makes you come alive when you talk with her. She shares her life filled memories and we thank her.
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