On Jan. 21, 1921, Peter G. Rumpf saved the lives of two men in Schuylkill County, according to an inscription on a medallion Rumpf was honored with for the deed.
It was a “Joseph A. Holmes Safety Association Medal of Honor.” Engraved on it are the words: Awarded to Peter G. Rumpf who helped to save Frank Carter and John Payne and attempted to help save James Jackson from suffocation, Rausch Creek, Pa.
On Saturday, a member of Rumpf’s family, Rosalie Rumpf, Minersville, brought the medal to the annual Schuylkill County History Fair at Fairlane Village mall, and presented it to the Schuylkill County Historical Society.
“Peter Rumpf would have been my late husband’s adoptive grandfather. We’ve had it at home in a cedar chest for years. I did not know what to do with this. And I’m glad it will find a good home,” she said Saturday as she presented the artifact and a certificate of authenticity to Thomas B. Drogalis, the society’s executive director.
“I did not expect this,” Drogalis said.
“When you have some time,” Drogalis told her, “please come by the society so we can interview and get all of this documented.”
The donation was one of the highlights of the annual event, which was hosted by the Schuylkill County Association of Historical Societies and Museums.
Representatives of at least 13 area groups, including historical societies and private collectors, displayed hundreds of photographs and curios from yesteryear, according to Jennifer L. Bowen, president of the Orwigsburg Historical Society.
They included: Minersville Area Historical Society; the Greater Shenandoah Historical Society; the Saint Clair Community and Historical Society; Railway Restoration Project 113; the Auburn Area Historical Society; the Tremont Area Historical Society; the Girardville Historical Society; the Ashland Area Historic Preservation Society; the Schuylkill Haven History Collection, assembled by Richard J. Nagle; the Tamaqua Historical Society; and the Schuylkill County Agricultural Museum, Schuylkill Haven.
The Ashland historical society’s table featured copies of vintage high school yearbooks.
“Here’s a copy of ‘The Ardante’ from 1919,” Jim Klock, curator and treasurer of the Ashland Area Historic Preservation Society, said as he talked about the collection.
Photos of a local boxer known in the 1920s as “Battling Reddy” were on a display put together by the Girardville Historical Society.
There was also a copy of an ad for one of Reddy’s bouts at the “Opera House” in Girardville. On Christmas afternoon in 1920, he was slated to go six rounds with “Obrine of Locust Gap.”
“Cassimer Delago began his boxing career in 1917 at the age of 16; his name in the ring was ‘Battling Joe Reddy.’ ‘Battler,’ as he was called by friends, was welterweight champion of the coal region from 1924 to 1926. He retired in 1930 and in 1931 became a licensed referee and officiated at boxing bouts. He managed his own service station on the east end of town for a number of years. He died Nov. 28, 1962,” according to a citation below the photograph.
“He owned Battler’s Garage. It was there for decades. You know where the borough hall is on Fourth Street? It would have been near there. There’s a house there now,” Robert A. Krick, president of the Girardville Historical Society, and a member of the borough council, said.
The Tamaqua Historical Society had reprints of vintage photos on display, including one of an Eames Butter Krust Bread delivery truck.
“That’s from 1915 or 1920,” Dale Freudenberger, president of the Tamaqua Historical Society, said.
The Schuylkill County Historical Society was selling a few things from its collection. They included duplicate copies of “Schuylkill County Liquor License Applications” from the 1920s for $2.50 each.
“I thought that was kind of cool,” Bowen said.
“I am a genealogist, and I’m concerned that if I go to seek out these kind of records, they’re not going to be there,” Nancy Menaugh, Auburn, said.
“These are excess inventory. The last thing we want to do is give away the county’s history. We’re in the business of preservation,” Drogalis said.
“OK. Then I have no problem with that,” Menaugh said.
While picking through the stacks, Angela Yotko, Lavelle, found of bit of family history, a copy of the application for her husband’s grandfather.
On the application, which was filed Nov. 23, 1922, and approved in January 1923, his name was listed “Joseph Jotko.” It stated he was born in Poland, Jan. 15, 1881, and he was “naturalized” in Pottsville on June 12, 1916.
“He had a bar room at that house on Centre Street,” Yotko said.
On the application, the address was listed as 322 E. Centre St., Shenandoah.
Bowen said the Orwigsburg Historical Society bought a vintage milk bottle from the Schuylkill County Historical Society on Saturday. It was from “Kunkel Farms, Orwigsburg” and the name of the farm was emblazoned in red on the front of it.
The crowds were good Saturday, Bowen said.
“It seems to be really good, considering how cold it is out there,” Gayle Clews, a genealogist from Ashland, said.
“I think it’s great turnout today, considering there’s a sub-zero wind chill out there,” Bill Harleman, Tamaqua, said. He’s vice president of the Tamaqua Historical Society, president of the Lansford Historical Society and a director of the No. 9 Mine & Museum in Lansford.
“I think it’s a real nice crowd. What I’ve learned at this event every year is even though we’ve had some years where we had problems with the weather, like heavy snow in the morning or its bitter cold, it seems like a day when people do come because it’s an indoor event and this is a great venue,” Freudenberger said.