I lived there with Mon and Dad and Brothers Joe and John until I was almost two years old when we moved into a new house Dad built in Nuangola. Sister Dorothy Marie was born there. The house burned down when I was about five and we lived above the garage for a while. Then we moved into a cottage we owned near the lake. I don’t remember too much about either place except the bees were bad above the garage and the cottage had no water supply so we had to carry it from a spring in a field quite far away. The one happy thing I remember about the Nuangola house was my three wheeler bicycle. In fact I still had dreams about the bicycle when we lived here. I started first grade in the one room schoolhouse in Nuargola and got my one and only spanking from Dad when I screamed blue murder cause I wanted to go to town with them.

Joseph & Mamie Knapich Feb. 23,1919

The house had no running water and no electricity. There was a pump pn the kitchen porch and we had a coal stove in the kitchen. We took our baths in a metal tub, heating the water on the stove. We mostly wet to Babkas on Sat. so we took our bath there. We also saw a movie on Sat.. It was a western with a continuing serial where the hero is last seen in an exploding plane and you can’t wait to the next week to find out how he survived. Also a cartoon and only a dime. Stanley was born at Stainville. We woke up one morning to the sound of a baby crying. We rushed downstairs where Mom and Dad were sleeping and Mrs. Yaroshinsky was there and Mom was in bed with the baby. We asked whose baby is it and Mom said Mrs. Yaroshinsky’s. Boy was I naive; I believed her. I never knew she was pregnant. And I was eight years old. We went fishing and swimming a lot in a creek nearby, Mom and Dad too in the evenings.
 

A lot of our cousins stayed over in the summertime. My favorite was Gerald Zalaznik. He stayed at our place a week or so and I stayed at his house. In we continued that practice after we moved to the farm. There were seventeen acres with the house and we had a big garden. We usually had to pick a row of weeds before we could go fishing or swimming. We also had a cow that Mom milked. We had chickens & pigs & ducks & geese & pigeons. John had a pet goat that followed him around like a dog. We had dogs and cats too. We borrowed Yaroshinski’s horse to plow the garden. I remember one time Gerald and I were taking the horse back home. We decided I would ride him the first half and Gerald the last half. Well the horse got to the lane to his place, he started to gallop and Gerald fell off. He was so mad at me because he thought I knew the horse would do that. Joey and Johnny both skipped eighth grad and went into high school; but when it came my turn the teacher said the two of us in seventh grade were to small to go to high school. Anyway that’s the year Joey graduated from high school and wanted to be a farmer. So we bought the farm from R. Martz and moved to Harveyville. I didn’t see the farm until school was out. Johnny and I rode in back of Freddy Schmidths dump truck full of furniture and bedding. I loved the place the minute I saw it even thou the house wasn’t painted. The little pond and all the trees and buildings were just great. A cow and some pigs and a lot of chickens came with the farm, so I had a lot more work to do, but I liked the work. Johnny and myself had to clean the chicken coops and pig pens every Sat. and put in fresh straw. We brought the cow from Stainville and bought two more and started selling milk and eggs and dressed chickens. One horse also came with the farm and we used to trade off with Metcalf when we or he needed a team. There were no balers at that time so the hay was pitched off and on by fork. That’s how I learned to drive moving the truck from pile to pile while Johnny and Joey pitched it on.

I went to eighth grade at the Harveyville one room school house. My best buddy was Charles Bryant. He moved away after that year. Bob Taylor and Gerald Birth made a kind of rustic clubhouse in the woods, and we’s sit and eat apples and talk. I graduated from Huntington High School in 1942. The teacher tried to talk me into going to college but I really didn’t like school even thou I made good grades. We only had an auditorium the last year and I went out for basketball.  I enjoyed the game but I wasn’t very good in a game. I was great in practice but too shy in front of a crowd of people. I don’t think we won any games.

Surprisingly with all my shyness I was in two plays and had to give my essay at graduation. Mom said I went thru it like water. I was embarrassed at class night when the gave me a doll. It said you’re a peculiar fellow because you don’t like girls. So we give you this doll with pretty little curls.

By this time I had been taking care of the farm by myself. Joe and John went to work in Washington D. C. as carpenter’s helpers. Dad worked there too. Mrs. Harvey had to take me to Berwick for my driver’s license. M messed up on the questions and had to take the questions over. I had been driving since about fourteen, but just down to the store and around home. There was no one else to drive Mom around. Joey came back to take care of the farm and I went back with Dad and Uncle Joe Novak to Washington D.C..  Dad had to work so Uncle Joe took Johnny and me around to see the Capital and other sights. Then we went to New Cumberland and I tried to get a job as a carpenter’s helper but I wasn’t eighteen yet so I had to go back home on a bus and hitch hike home from Shickshinny. After my birthday I got a job in New Cumberland as a carpenter’s helper. I made good money and worked a lot of overtime and it wasn’t had work, but I really didn’t like it. We rented and upstairs room in a private house and I slept on a canvas cot with Dad and Johnny on the bet. From there we went to Indiantown Gap and we boarded in a farm home where the eats were fabulous but there was no bathroom and we has to wash in a bowl with a pitcher of warm water. There was no heat in the room but Johnny and I had plenty of covers. Then Johnny went in the army and it was just Dad and I and Uncle Joe Novak. After that job I came back to the farm. We has a lot more cows and a tractor and more crops. 
 

Sgt. Al Knapich

When I was certain I was going to be inducted in the army, I tried to enlist in the Navy – mostly because John Saluta was in it and he liked it. Thank goodness I was too old. They were only taking eighteen year olds. I found out when I had to go across the ocean to Germany by ship that I didn’t have any sea legs. I was sick all the way over and all the way back. I really hated the army. The officers with their noses in the air making us salute them and barking orders and treating us like dogs. I did meet some good friends. In the states I had Al Kowalchin and Steve Stolarnick and across ther was another Al ( Allison). Back home I had never been in the hospital but in the army I was in twice.

In the states I got a case of measles and across I had a bad cold and I passed out and threw up in the Dr.’s office so I spent Christmas in a hospital there. I was sent to supply company to learn to drive those big trucks. I never did learn to shift the gears without grinding but I passed. Luckily they had too many drivers, so they asked if anyone didn’t want to drive I put up my hand and I was put in supply. It was mostly folding and putting clothes on shelves and I liked it. No standing guard and carrying a rifle. (You were never to call it a gun) Often in the evenings I helped Al by calling out lists of supplies to him for his reports. By this time I was a T5. When Al went home they asked me to take his place as Chief Clerk. I said I didn’t type and they said you’ll have secretaries to do that. Soon after I took over, the company broke up and it was a mess trying to account for all the supplies. It meant ripping sheets in half to make two out of one cause a lot of guys took theirs home with them. I had to put my initials on all those lists.

I was sent to a heavy weapons company which I don’t even remember the name of. The Lt. didn’t know what to do with me since he already had a supply Sgt.. He put me in charge of a howitzer with a crew of all new men. We spent most of the time cleaning the gun and the one time we got to fire it during maneuvers, the shells were landing short. They said the gun was too old and worn out.

I was discharged on Oct. 28, 1946. When we got to Fort Dix, N.J. I couldn’t get enough of the milk shakes. They were so good. So I came home with broken teeth from eating K rations, ringing ears from the rifle range and I had a hard time getting out because my pressure was high. I had to lie down for a while and they finally let me go. No one at home knew I was coming. I got into Wilkes-Barre near midnight and just managed to catch the last streetcar to Nanticoke. I couldn’t wake Aunt Vic by knocking so I climbed up on the balcony and woke Blanche up. The next day I took the streetcar to Marie’s house. She and Charlie had married while I was away. We hitched a rice home with some of the miners. No one was home when we got there, and I hid upstairs and surprised Stan when he came home from school. When Mom and Dad came home, I hid again. Dad came in complaining his piles were killing him. When they saw me Dad said “my goodness my piles just got better”. 
 
 

It was great to be back home and I decided I wanted to be a farmer. Joey said if I would stay on the farm, he wanted to go to electrical school in Chicago. Dad stopped working out and helped me take care of the stock- especially the chickens. He didn’t do the field work – I don’t believe he ever drove the tractor. But besides taking care of the animals, he ran for parts and to the mill so it saved me a lot of time. Charlie helped me an awful lot and Marie and the girls too. Stan helped too but his main job was taking care of the house, the grounds, and the buildings.  Johnny helped

Then tragedy struck. In Dec. of 1963 Mom had a stroke, and on Jan. 5th, 1964 she died. I was really devastated. For a long time I had pains in my chest which was scary till I realized it was just the mourning. Thank goodness I had Dad to help me get thru the period. He was wonderful. He said you cook and I’ll do the dishes. I had never cooked before so we had a lot of hotdogs and burgers. He always said it was good and never complained. Of course Charlie & Marie & the girls came on the weekends & the girls stayed all summer so they cleaned the house and we had good meals then. Stan was teaching in New Jersey and he helped us on weekends. Then he got married and it was just Dad and I. We woke up at 4 in the morning and fed and milked the cows. After the evening milking Dad would eat and then go dow to the pond and fish – with a line of cats following him. Charlie had a bad mine accident & although he pulled thru, his eyesight was bad, his balance was affected. So he wasn’t able to help me anymore. That was a big loss. 
 

Grace Knapick (DiMaggio)

I was already in my fourty’s and was working such long hours on the farm, so I wasn’t dating or going out at all. I had already given up any thoughts of marriage. I mentioned to Stan that I wished I had someone to go to the movies with and he said there’s a real nice teacher at the college. I asked him how’s come he doesn’t date her and he said he already had Beverly. So he asked Grace if she would go out with me and she said yes. We went to see a move that was lousey but we went to her apartment afterward and listened to records and talked. So we dated for three years. Grace would ride on the tractor while I was plowing and kept me company while

Grace’s Dad ,"Pop" said he wanted to build me a new barn. I thought we should wait until I saved up some money, but he said he would finance and we could pay him back slowly. So in the spring of 1969 they started to build. Dad turned the farm over to Grace and I. In the meantime Grace got pregnant and she gave birth to a beautiful little girl we named Mary Grace. I’ll always remember holding the little

The new barn at High View Acres

Grace used to help me drive the tractor when we baled hey; but now she was taking Mary to Dancing classes and I needed help. I was lucky that chubby was around to help me and later is was Freddy Doring and still later Joey and Tommy. Dad took care of the chickens and Marie and the girls helped him with his egg route. Every night after milking he went down to the pond fishing. A row of cats followed him down. Mr. Jarolim often came up to fish with him and also help him clean eggs at night. Mary joined them quite often both fishing and cleaning eggs. As Dad got into the 80’s, he could help me less and less so he went to stay with Marie and Charlie. They enjoyed playing cards. Then at age 84 he passed away. He was a wonderful father and I still miss him. I always wanted to be just like him but I’m afraid I fell short. Charles too died that same year and also my brother Joey. 1980 was a horrible year. I was so glad I had Grace and Mary to help me thru those bad times. Mary went away to college and we sure missed her. I was in my middle 60’s and it was harder for me to keep up with the work, so we sold the herd and I retired from dairy farming.