Boating On The Canal - Yesteryears Column by Agnes Selin Schoch

Boatman's Reunion at Rolling Green, 1926

In 1949, Agnes Selin Shoch shared some of the stories her brother Marion Schnure Schoch had collected at some of the many Boatman's Reunions over the years:

The Canal in Milton, seen here after the 1880 Fire that wiped out nearly the entire town.

"By 4 pm, the the fire had burned over 125 acres. More than 400 houses were lost, in addition to all of the hotels, two banks, the opera house, the telegraph office, the Miltonian and the Independent weekly offices, all but two of the business houses, and the depot. Before the fire, Milton had 700 buildings. After the fire, only 60 were left standing.

More than 3,000 people were left homeless, most having escaped the flames with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. And one man lost his life."

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-great-fire-of-1880-when-entire-town.html

 

Marion Schnure Schoch, and his sister Agnes Selin Schoch, were descendants of Mathias Schoch of the frontier Schoch Blockhouse [Fort] and of Major Anthony Selin, founder of Selinsgrove.  Marion purchased the Selinsgrove Times, and then in 1944 he acquired the Snyder County Tribune, merging the two papers.  After his death in 1947, his sister Agnes took over the newspaper operations through 1953.

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John Israel Charles

1862-1938

Tribute to Marion Schoch

History Of The Selinsgrove Times