The following was written by Margie Heberling (daughter of Harvey Dale Heberling). This was a bicentennial project to encourage residents of Indiana County to give thought to their own family heritage. The Indiana County tourist bureau directed an essay contest on "The Most Famous Person In My Family" Following is one of the winners in one of the categories. While it is about a man few of the readers would have known, this account of a life spent in this area tells much about the style of life enjoyed during the initial years of the 20th century.
GRANDPAP'S STYLE, SPIRIT OF AMERICA
by Margie Heberling
tenth grade student
Marion Center High School.
The most famous person in my family would have to be my grandfather, William Heberling , known as Bill. Although he wasn't known to the whole country or listed in history books, he was well-known in the Plumville area and had quite a few friends. The following is made up of bits and pieces of the many stories he told over the years.
Bill was born on March 19, 1877 in a house near DuBois, PA, where his family of three brothers and two sisters lived until he was about six years old. Then they moved to a farm just north of Plumville, PA which consisted of about 160 acres.
Grandpap, as we called him, said he could remember all his life, how the row of trees on the hillside at Frantz's Mills looked in the moonlight the evening of the day they moved by horse and wagon. His father, Gabriel, said, "it won't be much longer now and we will be to our new home."
Bill grew into a tall, lean, handsome man with blue eyes and brown hair. He was good natured with a hearty laugh. His lower jaw was strong, having the appearance of being stubborn and unchangeably set.
When Gabriel died, the farm was divided into four large sections for each of the boys and two small lots for his daughters. Harrison's land was directly behind his brother Bill's, to whom he sold his share.
Bill married Ida Beltz and had seven children, two boys and five girls, which he raised strictly.
Ida died in 1935 of diabetes, before insulin was very widely used. When she went into a coma, insulin was sent for but didn't arrive until the day after she died. Bill never re-married.
While farming his approximately eighty acres, he vealed calves, raised hogs, a few chickens to have eggs to sell. Sometimes he would cut a bee tree to sell the honey.
Sometimes while hauling coal for himself and others in a horse drawn wagon, Bill would get stuck in the mud or snow, miles away from home, making it necessary to stay at a farm house along the way overnight.
My grandfather never owned a car but neighbors were a little more "neighborly" then and took him to the grain mill or to town. "I'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine," he'd say, doing little repair jobs or other labor in return for their hospitality.
As a skilled carpenter, Bill made many pieces of furniture for other people and for his own home. He also helped to straighten two houses in Plumville, they were of two story structure. The bases were about twenty feet apart, leaning to such a degree that they nearly touched at the eaves, it took much planning and skill to get them jacked up and new walls underneath. Another event he participated in was barn-raising. The women would cook and prepare food, while as many as fifty or so men would set to work building the new barn, this work was done free gratis.
World war 1 came, calling all the young men to fight for their country. At first it was ages eighteen to twenty that had to go to fight; in 1917 Bill was forty when the "draft" called him to go. He had said goodbye and walked halfway down his lane when the news came, the war was over and he didn't have to go.
During the depression that followed, Grandpap took in his married children and their families to live on the farm again.
Because of taxes and other debts brought on by the depression, it became necessary to get a loan from the newly established "Farm Loan Association" to be able to keep the farm. In 1960 after working many years from dawn until long after dark, Bill finally paid the loan off. He was proudly able to spend the last fourteen years of his life without owing anything to anyone.
In the winter during the depression, the barn work was done before daylight and after dark so that Bill could work away from home as a carpenter during the day. Sometimes he traveled from one farm to another as a member of a hay and straw baling crew. Another job which kept this man busy was walking to and from a woodsman's job, five or more miles away. At this job the cut, skidded (used horses to drag logs) and hauled logs on sleds to a sawmill. He helped build houses, barns and other buildings in the vicinity. Later in life he built some hunting camps in Home Camp.
Bill loved to "figger". You can be sure he was never cheated wtihout knowing it. He said that if a man cheated him, he was only cheating himself by the wrong he did to another. He served as auditor for South Mahoning Twp. for four years, which kept him exercised in this field.
After the fall harvesting, Grandpap and Hugh Learn, a friend and neighbor of his, were traveling butchers in a sense. That was before the government inspection laws were passed forbidding the individual to butcher in this manner. They would average four hogs or two beef a day. The next day they would return after the meat cooled and cut it up.
Bill's kind voice and gentle persuasions was soothing to the ill and he was always willing to help out. One time he sat up with a sick neighbor who had such a high fever that he was delirious, refusing to listen to anyone. Grandpap was able to calm him down and get him to rest. He also sat up at night for a week with a granddaughter who died of scarlet fever at the age of seven.
Bill farmed with a team of horses until he was eighty-one years old and lived on the homestead until a weak heart forced him to give up, so the next years he lived with his daughter and son-in-law in Pittsburgh. His last three and a half years were in a rest home as a bed patient. He died in 1974 at the age of ninety-seven.
His life was one without the luxuries of time clocks (except for the roosters), pension plans, unions, coffee breaks or compensations. His main objectives were to do what was right, help others, earn an honest living and try to stay out of debt.
I would like to think that William Heberling and the other men like him as vertebrae in the backbone of our country. Truly they are the Spirit of America.
William Henry Heberlings Obituary:
William H. Heberling age 97 , Home RD 1, died Thursday, May 16, 1974 at Celia Cribbs Rest Home, Black Lick, PA. A son of Gabriel and Hannah Reasinger Heberling, he was born March 19, 1877 in DuBois. Mr. Heberling was a retired farmer and had also been a carpenter in the Plumville area for many years. Surviving are five daughters and two sons.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Ida E. Beltz Heberling in 1935. Friends will be received 7-9 p.m. today and 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Saturday at the Bowser funeral home, Plumville, where services will be held Sunday at 1:30 p.m. with the Rev. William Miller officiating. Interment will follow at the Beraccha Cemetery, Plumville.
GRANDPAP'S STYLE, SPIRIT OF AMERICA
by Margie Heberling
tenth grade student
Marion Center High School.
The most famous person in my family would have to be my grandfather, William Heberling , known as Bill. Although he wasn't known to the whole country or listed in history books, he was well-known in the Plumville area and had quite a few friends. The following is made up of bits and pieces of the many stories he told over the years.
Bill was born on March 19, 1877 in a house near DuBois, PA, where his family of three brothers and two sisters lived until he was about six years old. Then they moved to a farm just north of Plumville, PA which consisted of about 160 acres.
Grandpap, as we called him, said he could remember all his life, how the row of trees on the hillside at Frantz's Mills looked in the moonlight the evening of the day they moved by horse and wagon. His father, Gabriel, said, "it won't be much longer now and we will be to our new home."
Bill grew into a tall, lean, handsome man with blue eyes and brown hair. He was good natured with a hearty laugh. His lower jaw was strong, having the appearance of being stubborn and unchangeably set.
When Gabriel died, the farm was divided into four large sections for each of the boys and two small lots for his daughters. Harrison's land was directly behind his brother Bill's, to whom he sold his share.
Bill married Ida Beltz and had seven children, two boys and five girls, which he raised strictly.
Ida died in 1935 of diabetes, before insulin was very widely used. When she went into a coma, insulin was sent for but didn't arrive until the day after she died. Bill never re-married.
While farming his approximately eighty acres, he vealed calves, raised hogs, a few chickens to have eggs to sell. Sometimes he would cut a bee tree to sell the honey.
Sometimes while hauling coal for himself and others in a horse drawn wagon, Bill would get stuck in the mud or snow, miles away from home, making it necessary to stay at a farm house along the way overnight.
My grandfather never owned a car but neighbors were a little more "neighborly" then and took him to the grain mill or to town. "I'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine," he'd say, doing little repair jobs or other labor in return for their hospitality.
As a skilled carpenter, Bill made many pieces of furniture for other people and for his own home. He also helped to straighten two houses in Plumville, they were of two story structure. The bases were about twenty feet apart, leaning to such a degree that they nearly touched at the eaves, it took much planning and skill to get them jacked up and new walls underneath. Another event he participated in was barn-raising. The women would cook and prepare food, while as many as fifty or so men would set to work building the new barn, this work was done free gratis.
World war 1 came, calling all the young men to fight for their country. At first it was ages eighteen to twenty that had to go to fight; in 1917 Bill was forty when the "draft" called him to go. He had said goodbye and walked halfway down his lane when the news came, the war was over and he didn't have to go.
During the depression that followed, Grandpap took in his married children and their families to live on the farm again.
Because of taxes and other debts brought on by the depression, it became necessary to get a loan from the newly established "Farm Loan Association" to be able to keep the farm. In 1960 after working many years from dawn until long after dark, Bill finally paid the loan off. He was proudly able to spend the last fourteen years of his life without owing anything to anyone.
In the winter during the depression, the barn work was done before daylight and after dark so that Bill could work away from home as a carpenter during the day. Sometimes he traveled from one farm to another as a member of a hay and straw baling crew. Another job which kept this man busy was walking to and from a woodsman's job, five or more miles away. At this job the cut, skidded (used horses to drag logs) and hauled logs on sleds to a sawmill. He helped build houses, barns and other buildings in the vicinity. Later in life he built some hunting camps in Home Camp.
Bill loved to "figger". You can be sure he was never cheated wtihout knowing it. He said that if a man cheated him, he was only cheating himself by the wrong he did to another. He served as auditor for South Mahoning Twp. for four years, which kept him exercised in this field.
After the fall harvesting, Grandpap and Hugh Learn, a friend and neighbor of his, were traveling butchers in a sense. That was before the government inspection laws were passed forbidding the individual to butcher in this manner. They would average four hogs or two beef a day. The next day they would return after the meat cooled and cut it up.
Bill's kind voice and gentle persuasions was soothing to the ill and he was always willing to help out. One time he sat up with a sick neighbor who had such a high fever that he was delirious, refusing to listen to anyone. Grandpap was able to calm him down and get him to rest. He also sat up at night for a week with a granddaughter who died of scarlet fever at the age of seven.
Bill farmed with a team of horses until he was eighty-one years old and lived on the homestead until a weak heart forced him to give up, so the next years he lived with his daughter and son-in-law in Pittsburgh. His last three and a half years were in a rest home as a bed patient. He died in 1974 at the age of ninety-seven.
His life was one without the luxuries of time clocks (except for the roosters), pension plans, unions, coffee breaks or compensations. His main objectives were to do what was right, help others, earn an honest living and try to stay out of debt.
I would like to think that William Heberling and the other men like him as vertebrae in the backbone of our country. Truly they are the Spirit of America.
William Henry Heberlings Obituary:
William H. Heberling age 97 , Home RD 1, died Thursday, May 16, 1974 at Celia Cribbs Rest Home, Black Lick, PA. A son of Gabriel and Hannah Reasinger Heberling, he was born March 19, 1877 in DuBois. Mr. Heberling was a retired farmer and had also been a carpenter in the Plumville area for many years. Surviving are five daughters and two sons.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Ida E. Beltz Heberling in 1935. Friends will be received 7-9 p.m. today and 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Saturday at the Bowser funeral home, Plumville, where services will be held Sunday at 1:30 p.m. with the Rev. William Miller officiating. Interment will follow at the Beraccha Cemetery, Plumville.
The following was written by Margie Heberling (daughter of Harvey Dale Heberling). This was a bicentennial project to encourage residents of Indiana County to give thought to their own family heritage. The Indiana County tourist bureau directed an essay contest on "The Most Famous Person In My Family" Following is one of the winners in one of the categories. While it is about a man few of the readers would have known, this account of a life spent in this area tells much about the style of life enjoyed during the initial years of the 20th century.
GRANDPAP'S STYLE, SPIRIT OF AMERICA
by Margie Heberling
tenth grade student
Marion Center High School.
The most famous person in my family would have to be my grandfather, William Heberling , known as Bill. Although he wasn't known to the whole country or listed in history books, he was well-known in the Plumville area and had quite a few friends. The following is made up of bits and pieces of the many stories he told over the years.
Bill was born on March 19, 1877 in a house near DuBois, PA, where his family of three brothers and two sisters lived until he was about six years old. Then they moved to a farm just north of Plumville, PA which consisted of about 160 acres.
Grandpap, as we called him, said he could remember all his life, how the row of trees on the hillside at Frantz's Mills looked in the moonlight the evening of the day they moved by horse and wagon. His father, Gabriel, said, "it won't be much longer now and we will be to our new home."
Bill grew into a tall, lean, handsome man with blue eyes and brown hair. He was good natured with a hearty laugh. His lower jaw was strong, having the appearance of being stubborn and unchangeably set.
When Gabriel died, the farm was divided into four large sections for each of the boys and two small lots for his daughters. Harrison's land was directly behind his brother Bill's, to whom he sold his share.
Bill married Ida Beltz and had seven children, two boys and five girls, which he raised strictly.
Ida died in 1935 of diabetes, before insulin was very widely used. When she went into a coma, insulin was sent for but didn't arrive until the day after she died. Bill never re-married.
While farming his approximately eighty acres, he vealed calves, raised hogs, a few chickens to have eggs to sell. Sometimes he would cut a bee tree to sell the honey.
Sometimes while hauling coal for himself and others in a horse drawn wagon, Bill would get stuck in the mud or snow, miles away from home, making it necessary to stay at a farm house along the way overnight.
My grandfather never owned a car but neighbors were a little more "neighborly" then and took him to the grain mill or to town. "I'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine," he'd say, doing little repair jobs or other labor in return for their hospitality.
As a skilled carpenter, Bill made many pieces of furniture for other people and for his own home. He also helped to straighten two houses in Plumville, they were of two story structure. The bases were about twenty feet apart, leaning to such a degree that they nearly touched at the eaves, it took much planning and skill to get them jacked up and new walls underneath. Another event he participated in was barn-raising. The women would cook and prepare food, while as many as fifty or so men would set to work building the new barn, this work was done free gratis.
World war 1 came, calling all the young men to fight for their country. At first it was ages eighteen to twenty that had to go to fight; in 1917 Bill was forty when the "draft" called him to go. He had said goodbye and walked halfway down his lane when the news came, the war was over and he didn't have to go.
During the depression that followed, Grandpap took in his married children and their families to live on the farm again.
Because of taxes and other debts brought on by the depression, it became necessary to get a loan from the newly established "Farm Loan Association" to be able to keep the farm. In 1960 after working many years from dawn until long after dark, Bill finally paid the loan off. He was proudly able to spend the last fourteen years of his life without owing anything to anyone.
In the winter during the depression, the barn work was done before daylight and after dark so that Bill could work away from home as a carpenter during the day. Sometimes he traveled from one farm to another as a member of a hay and straw baling crew. Another job which kept this man busy was walking to and from a woodsman's job, five or more miles away. At this job the cut, skidded (used horses to drag logs) and hauled logs on sleds to a sawmill. He helped build houses, barns and other buildings in the vicinity. Later in life he built some hunting camps in Home Camp.
Bill loved to "figger". You can be sure he was never cheated wtihout knowing it. He said that if a man cheated him, he was only cheating himself by the wrong he did to another. He served as auditor for South Mahoning Twp. for four years, which kept him exercised in this field.
After the fall harvesting, Grandpap and Hugh Learn, a friend and neighbor of his, were traveling butchers in a sense. That was before the government inspection laws were passed forbidding the individual to butcher in this manner. They would average four hogs or two beef a day. The next day they would return after the meat cooled and cut it up.
Bill's kind voice and gentle persuasions was soothing to the ill and he was always willing to help out. One time he sat up with a sick neighbor who had such a high fever that he was delirious, refusing to listen to anyone. Grandpap was able to calm him down and get him to rest. He also sat up at night for a week with a granddaughter who died of scarlet fever at the age of seven.
Bill farmed with a team of horses until he was eighty-one years old and lived on the homestead until a weak heart forced him to give up, so the next years he lived with his daughter and son-in-law in Pittsburgh. His last three and a half years were in a rest home as a bed patient. He died in 1974 at the age of ninety-seven.
His life was one without the luxuries of time clocks (except for the roosters), pension plans, unions, coffee breaks or compensations. His main objectives were to do what was right, help others, earn an honest living and try to stay out of debt.
I would like to think that William Heberling and the other men like him as vertebrae in the backbone of our country. Truly they are the Spirit of America.
William Henry Heberlings Obituary:
William H. Heberling age 97 , Home RD 1, died Thursday, May 16, 1974 at Celia Cribbs Rest Home, Black Lick, PA. A son of Gabriel and Hannah Reasinger Heberling, he was born March 19, 1877 in DuBois. Mr. Heberling was a retired farmer and had also been a carpenter in the Plumville area for many years. Surviving are five daughters and two sons.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Ida E. Beltz Heberling in 1935. Friends will be received 7-9 p.m. today and 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Saturday at the Bowser funeral home, Plumville, where services will be held Sunday at 1:30 p.m. with the Rev. William Miller officiating. Interment will follow at the Beraccha Cemetery, Plumville.
GRANDPAP'S STYLE, SPIRIT OF AMERICA
by Margie Heberling
tenth grade student
Marion Center High School.
The most famous person in my family would have to be my grandfather, William Heberling , known as Bill. Although he wasn't known to the whole country or listed in history books, he was well-known in the Plumville area and had quite a few friends. The following is made up of bits and pieces of the many stories he told over the years.
Bill was born on March 19, 1877 in a house near DuBois, PA, where his family of three brothers and two sisters lived until he was about six years old. Then they moved to a farm just north of Plumville, PA which consisted of about 160 acres.
Grandpap, as we called him, said he could remember all his life, how the row of trees on the hillside at Frantz's Mills looked in the moonlight the evening of the day they moved by horse and wagon. His father, Gabriel, said, "it won't be much longer now and we will be to our new home."
Bill grew into a tall, lean, handsome man with blue eyes and brown hair. He was good natured with a hearty laugh. His lower jaw was strong, having the appearance of being stubborn and unchangeably set.
When Gabriel died, the farm was divided into four large sections for each of the boys and two small lots for his daughters. Harrison's land was directly behind his brother Bill's, to whom he sold his share.
Bill married Ida Beltz and had seven children, two boys and five girls, which he raised strictly.
Ida died in 1935 of diabetes, before insulin was very widely used. When she went into a coma, insulin was sent for but didn't arrive until the day after she died. Bill never re-married.
While farming his approximately eighty acres, he vealed calves, raised hogs, a few chickens to have eggs to sell. Sometimes he would cut a bee tree to sell the honey.
Sometimes while hauling coal for himself and others in a horse drawn wagon, Bill would get stuck in the mud or snow, miles away from home, making it necessary to stay at a farm house along the way overnight.
My grandfather never owned a car but neighbors were a little more "neighborly" then and took him to the grain mill or to town. "I'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine," he'd say, doing little repair jobs or other labor in return for their hospitality.
As a skilled carpenter, Bill made many pieces of furniture for other people and for his own home. He also helped to straighten two houses in Plumville, they were of two story structure. The bases were about twenty feet apart, leaning to such a degree that they nearly touched at the eaves, it took much planning and skill to get them jacked up and new walls underneath. Another event he participated in was barn-raising. The women would cook and prepare food, while as many as fifty or so men would set to work building the new barn, this work was done free gratis.
World war 1 came, calling all the young men to fight for their country. At first it was ages eighteen to twenty that had to go to fight; in 1917 Bill was forty when the "draft" called him to go. He had said goodbye and walked halfway down his lane when the news came, the war was over and he didn't have to go.
During the depression that followed, Grandpap took in his married children and their families to live on the farm again.
Because of taxes and other debts brought on by the depression, it became necessary to get a loan from the newly established "Farm Loan Association" to be able to keep the farm. In 1960 after working many years from dawn until long after dark, Bill finally paid the loan off. He was proudly able to spend the last fourteen years of his life without owing anything to anyone.
In the winter during the depression, the barn work was done before daylight and after dark so that Bill could work away from home as a carpenter during the day. Sometimes he traveled from one farm to another as a member of a hay and straw baling crew. Another job which kept this man busy was walking to and from a woodsman's job, five or more miles away. At this job the cut, skidded (used horses to drag logs) and hauled logs on sleds to a sawmill. He helped build houses, barns and other buildings in the vicinity. Later in life he built some hunting camps in Home Camp.
Bill loved to "figger". You can be sure he was never cheated wtihout knowing it. He said that if a man cheated him, he was only cheating himself by the wrong he did to another. He served as auditor for South Mahoning Twp. for four years, which kept him exercised in this field.
After the fall harvesting, Grandpap and Hugh Learn, a friend and neighbor of his, were traveling butchers in a sense. That was before the government inspection laws were passed forbidding the individual to butcher in this manner. They would average four hogs or two beef a day. The next day they would return after the meat cooled and cut it up.
Bill's kind voice and gentle persuasions was soothing to the ill and he was always willing to help out. One time he sat up with a sick neighbor who had such a high fever that he was delirious, refusing to listen to anyone. Grandpap was able to calm him down and get him to rest. He also sat up at night for a week with a granddaughter who died of scarlet fever at the age of seven.
Bill farmed with a team of horses until he was eighty-one years old and lived on the homestead until a weak heart forced him to give up, so the next years he lived with his daughter and son-in-law in Pittsburgh. His last three and a half years were in a rest home as a bed patient. He died in 1974 at the age of ninety-seven.
His life was one without the luxuries of time clocks (except for the roosters), pension plans, unions, coffee breaks or compensations. His main objectives were to do what was right, help others, earn an honest living and try to stay out of debt.
I would like to think that William Heberling and the other men like him as vertebrae in the backbone of our country. Truly they are the Spirit of America.
William Henry Heberlings Obituary:
William H. Heberling age 97 , Home RD 1, died Thursday, May 16, 1974 at Celia Cribbs Rest Home, Black Lick, PA. A son of Gabriel and Hannah Reasinger Heberling, he was born March 19, 1877 in DuBois. Mr. Heberling was a retired farmer and had also been a carpenter in the Plumville area for many years. Surviving are five daughters and two sons.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Ida E. Beltz Heberling in 1935. Friends will be received 7-9 p.m. today and 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Saturday at the Bowser funeral home, Plumville, where services will be held Sunday at 1:30 p.m. with the Rev. William Miller officiating. Interment will follow at the Beraccha Cemetery, Plumville.
Gravesite Details
This is my great grandfather. Husband of Ida Elizabeth Beltz Heberling. Son of Gabriel Heberling and Hannah Reasinger Heberling
Family Members
Siblings
Children
-
Delbert Heberling
1905–1905
-
![]()
Charlotte Grace "Grace" Heberling Scott
1907–1996
-
Raymond Smith "Smith" Heberling
1909–1994
-
![]()
Clara Mae "Tommie" Heberling Elkin
1911–1998
-
![]()
Edith M "Madge" Heberling Kerr
1912–1989
-
![]()
Vaida Myrtle Heberling Warden
1915–2010
-
![]()
Harvey Dale "Dale" Heberling
1918–2004
-
![]()
Helen Jean Heberling Poole
1921–2016
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
