When I began writing of Oley Valley’s rich history last year for a volume picking up where Phil Pendleton left off in his 1994 publication, I gathered as much literature as possible, and began to read all I could of the amazing history the Oley Valley offered, most of which had become very valuable, out of print publications. Luckily, some of which had been re-printed at a fraction of the cost the last couple decades, and paralleled nicely with the rare Moyer and Fegley photos (discussed last two weeks) of roughly the same era, maybe a generation or two later, I began digging up through our collection and the Schwenkfelder Museum.
However, the most adequate source for Oley Valley history, I thought, occurred when Dr. Peter Bertolet recorded his oral history accounts, “Fragments of the Past: Historical Sketches of Oley and Vicinity.” Dr. Bertolet, who compiled this documentation in the mid-1800s for publication in 1860, himself gathered information in talking directly to pioneers who he met while living among Oley Valley residents, some of which had lived during the American Revolutionary years. These written recollections are housed in the Pennsylvania Historical Society archives in Philadelphia, but not until 1980, were Bertolet’s oral history writings readily available when the Women’s Club of the Oley Valley published some of these oral interviews.
But beyond all the reading, I am more fascinated and apt to believe the oral history passed along by natives as a more accurate account in most cases. In my early years, working for the Institute, I always noticed Mr. Shaner at flea markets or auctions, emphasizing older books of the era and us usually interviewing “old-timers.” But I never really bought into these rare finds picked up for a buck or two published near to the time in history they were writing about. Or the old Dutchy who pontificated at times until Dick and I started doing this column back in 2009, when exploring topics, our files of past and current interviews of locals came to the forefront and their oral history became integral in writing about lesser known areas/subjects of our local history. I realized then the indispensible value with all the mass research we began undertaking and the importance of local resources, both with person and local publication.
Today’s historians need to take into account oral history and its importance, and owe people like the intelligent author Bertolet, who spoke the PA Dutch dialect, for recording his “Fragments of the Past.” He interviewed our natives, whose experiences might never had been recorded or told by formal American historians, many of which were English, and overlooked Berks County’s participation in Colonial days due to prejudices against the “dumb Dutch” who were considered intellectually inferior.
Recording most of his oral interviews previous to the Civil War, Dr. Bertolet resided in Oley and was able to record eyewitness accounts from elderly pioneer citizens. Many natives spoke to him about the slaves owned by several Oley Valley gentry. From a surviving local tax survey, we know that celebrated Colonel John Lesher had at least four slaves (circa 1750-1760), but no servants listed. Influential Conrad Rife was listed as having one slave; however, most Oley frontiersman had no slaves but perhaps a few indentured servants, according to a Colonial document owned by the late Eleanor Rothenberger.
Unfortunately, only some of these oral interviews were used in this revamped publication, because during the mid-1800’s slaves were considered “second class,” and were rarely documented in white man’s public situations. Therefore, as some of the published and unpublished indicate, slaves were invisible unless their presence was remembered in the oral history medium. But one concrete fact remained: the Oley Forge Mansion’s 1750 interior doors were very high and allowed for the tall servants to tend to the seven or more fireplaces the Leshers used for comfort.
In Bertolet’s oral history, one of Lesher’s most talked about slaves (Mike), likely the same individual talked about in folklore as a very strong 30-year-old slave worked at his iron forge works, a larger known historical topic! Bertolet relates the episode as such: [“The slave that ran away from Lesher’s home got a coach job for rich gentlemen who left him starve and almost freeze to death while he was waiting for them at a tavern, while they drank and ate themselves (full), Lesher took Mike back but not before he beat him for running away, setting an example”].
Interestingly, an oil painting sold a few years back at Pook & Pook Auction Gallery (owned/operated by Oley Valley residents) depicting John Lesher’s barn where Mike had once hid in the straw at the Oley Forge. The 1750 Forge mansion still stands along the Manatawny stream in Oley Township as an Antique shop and may even sell rare books.
Richard L.T. Orth is assistant director of the American Folklife Institute in Kutztown.
