The Mail-Journal, Volume 26, Number 20, Milford, Kosciusko County, 1 July 1987 — Page 47

Harvey Medlam was bom in Syracuse

By JACK ELAM Harvey Medlam of Bremen was born 91 years ago in Syracuse. He was born on South Huntington Street, August 13, 1895. Harvey is the son of Amos and Ida (Coy) Medlam. His father was originally from Topeka. He (Amos) moved to Syracuse and married Ida who was the daughter of John and Catherine Coy. John Coy, the grandfather of Harvey, was a veteran of ..the civil war. Medlam attended school in the first brick school which was across from the Church of God. Grandfather John Coy died when Harvey was young and Harvey was sent “up the street” to make his home with Grandmother Catherine and to help her with the chores. On inquiring where the grandparents lived, it was learned they lived on the southwest corner of Huntington and Pear) Streets. Today, the Syracuse Case occupies that spot. Medlam recalled the McClintics lived just north of his grandmother’s house. He was surprised to learn the McClintic home had been moved and a brick building (old post office) was now on that site. Medlam’s earliest memory was the 1900 burning of the buildings (Pickwick block) on the north side of Main Street. He said he and other children dug in the ashes and found silver money that had melted in the fire. Another recollection was that the Rothenbargers lived on the east side of Huntington Street. This is the recently remodeled home which the late Stan Schopf lived in for many years. Rothenbarger was the local undertaker. Amos Medlam, the father, operated a blacksmith shop across the street from the Dunkard (Brethren) Church near the mill race. Harvey remembers watching his father shoeing horses with cork shoes so they could walk on the ice. He said his father had this shop for 40 years and employed two other men. They were Mel Crone and Sherm Locke. According to Harvey, Jim and Sam Searfoss ran a grocery store "catty cornered” from his grandmother’s house. In mentioning Wes Hire’s butcher shop, he was reminded of a story about someone robbing six buckets of lard from the shop. Snow was on the ground and the thief was easy to track. He was tracked out of town on the Stringtown (Milford) Road to the (won’t mention any names) farm. L --' The resident was found in the barn and confronted with the crime. The accused denied the

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charge, but was soon found guilty. The six cans of lard were discovered under the hay where the culprit was standing. Another time, the guilty party in this story crept into his neighbor’s kitchen where the wife was frying meat and not only took the cooking meat, but the skillet, too. A social event which Harvey remembers attending was “box socials” at the Meloy School House which was also on the Stringtown Road. The caretaker at the cemetery in those years was Ben Ott. The caretaker or sexton of the Methodist Church was Harvey's father, Amos Medlam. Harvey has in his possession a Bible given to him by his father in 1908. Sliding down Huntington Street hill on a bobsled which his father had made him was great fun, according to Harvey. He said the hill was much steeper before they cut it down and one could coast all the way to the bridge. Mr. Medlam tells that Phil Bowser was on his “flexible flyer” and was nearly trampled by a team of horses pulling a wagon at the Huntington and Main intersection. After that incident, a “flagman” was used to stop the east and west traffic. In his reminisces, Harvey recalled some sad times, too. Ice was cut from the lakes in the winter and stored in ice houses along the lake. At one time, there were seven ice houses on the shore of the Syracuse lake. The men cutting ice from the lake would rope off the area of open water to warn people of the danger. Mr. Medlam stated one night Phil Bowser was ice skating with other youngsters on the lake. Phil’s sister was riding on a sled and Phil was pushing the sled as he skated along behind. He skated too close to the open water and could not stop in time — the sled and his sister went into the water, drowning the girl. Another sad story related by Mr. Medlam happened when he was around 16 years old. He and four or five friends had gone around the lake to Ott’s Woods to duck hunt. They waited quite sometime for another friend, Roy Crandall, to show up with a boat. Roy did not come and they walked around the lake to the Crandall home to inquire about their friend. Mrs. Crandall said her son had left some time ago and should have arrived at Ott’s Woods. A search was started and all they found was the boat. It was not until the next summer when a man and women discovered the body. They had hooked into the body while fishing. Another inemory was the time

he and friend Hugh Sloan were caught in the Sloan barn, smoking cigarettes in the hay. Hugh’s father, Sidney Sloan, came home from his milk route (which he ran for Bert Ward) and caught the boys red-handed. Harvey said Mr. Sloap gave them quite a lecture. Harvey Medlam united in marriage with Hattie Tom, daughter of William Tom, on New Year’s Eve in 1917. This was a short time before he was drafted into the Army. While in the Army in World War I, he served with the engineers in the 39th division. The 39th was a replacement division. Medlam did replacement duty in the 77th, 42nd and the famous Rainbow division. He said the men were located on the Hindenburg line. He served a total of 16 months. After returning home, Harvey purchased his first automobile, which was a new Ford Touring car, for $350. Harvey and his wife, Hattie, moved to Bremen soon after the war and this is where they spent the rest of their life together. While still in Syracuse, Harvey worked a short time for the Portland-Sandusky Cement Company on Medusa Street. After moving to Bremen, he worked at various jobs. The longest employment was with the Ball Band Factory in Mishawaka where he retired after 18 years. His wife, Hattie, is now gone and he lives with is son, Max. Concerning his general health, after a recent checkup, Harvey quoted the doctor as saying, “I don’t know what you are doing, but whatever it is, keep it up.”

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Wed., July 1,1987 — THE MAIL-JOURNAL

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HARVEY MEDLAM

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