SMITH BROTHERS STORE
Instanter, PA Early 1900s
Story Acquired from Janice McElhoe

The village of Instanter was established in Elk County, Pennsylvania in the late eighteenth century to support the erection of a tannery, an extension of the Elk Tanning Company in nearby Wilcox. Construction of tenant houses and other buildings included a store that was operated by the tannery company for several years before it was sold to Smith Brothers of Ridgway.

Sarah Catherine Myers (Moyer) of Boalsburg, PA married William (Will) Nathaniel Sweet of Arroyo, PA on February 17, 1903 in Salamanca,New York. They moved to Instanter, PA where Will became the manager of Smith Brothers Store. Instanter was a small town of about 400-500 people. According to Frank Nitsche, “Buggies lined up in front of the Smith Brothers’ General Store, where a person could buy almost anything from a Sears, Roebuck catalogue. The store was also a place to warm your feet by the stove and your ears with the hot news” of the day.

Will and Sarah had an apartment over the store. Their sons, William Nathaniel and Perry H. were born and grew-up there. Perry (Pud) was born a Spastic Paraplegic and weighed just 2 1⁄2 pounds (you could put a teacup over his head). Favorite pastimes included playing baseball and fishing with other neighborhood boys including the Nitsche brothers – Charles, Little Joe and William; the Whitaker brothers – Clyde and Horace; and Chester DeRocher. Bill often totted Pud on his back, since he couldn’t walk himself.

Wills’ younger brother, Raleigh, worked in the store as did another brother, Frank, after he returned from service with the Marines. Customer service included a daily run with the company delivery truck. When William Nathaniel, Jr. (Bill) was old enough he began helping out and eventually took on the job of “doing the books” at the end of the day for the post office, while Will “did the books” for the store.
Will and Sarah also took in some of offspring from his Aunt Ida Lucretia (Snyder) Carnahan who had died in 1912 from childbirth. Will’s cousin Issac came to Instanter to work in the tannery run by the Elk Tanning Co. Will soon learned that Issac was rooming at The Boarding House and insisted that he come to their place to live. There was an extra apartment over the warehouse part of the store furnished with several beds. Issac’s sister, Lottie, kept in touch with her brother and was invited to visit in 1921. Lottie stayed on to help Sarah. Soon a third cousin, Clifton, came to be closer to family and Will hired him as a clerk in the store.

During the following winter some men came to do repair work in the tannery. The men played various instruments and one of the girls from Instanter played the accordion, so they all began having square dances in the old ballroom of the former hotel in Instanter. All that winter, folks gathered every Saturday night and had a good time.

The Instanter school house, a short distance above the Boarding House, had eight grades, two years of high school and sometimes offered a night school course such as bookkeeping. The principal was Mr. Moran in the early 1920s. At times some of the teachers, including Bertha Burt from Wilcox, received room & board at the Sweet’s apartment above the Smith Bros. Store.

When Bill had completed the schooling that was offered in Instanter, he was sent to a semi-military school, McDonough in Maryland, to finish. Bill graduated after one year (1923-24). While he was a student at McDonough School he was a sergeant and played in the band and orchestra, participated in the Allen Debating Society, the Sullivan Society, Hi-Y, and the Dramatic Club. The following summer, Bill sent a postcard from Instanter to friends at McDonough School, where he tells of laying 1000 feet of water line during July, 1924.

In 1925 Will became very ill. At first he seemed to have periods of illness, feeling better at times. Eventually he was so ill that Bill carried him over his shoulder to the car and drove him to the Kane Hospital. The septicemia caused very high fevers and then chills. There were no antibiotics at that time and Will died on January 25, 1925. Burial was in Wilcox but the bell in the school house at Instanter tolled at the time of the funeral. Shortly thereafter, Sarah moved back to Boalsburg.

On December 21, 1926 the Elk Tanning Company ceased operations permanently at the tannery and Instanter thus began the descent to a ghost town. The Smith Brothers Store was relocated in Wilcox. The final blow came in the mid-1950s with the construction of the East Branch Flood Control Dam and now the land where Instanter stood is under the waters of the East Branch Dam.

REFERENCES
Hinds, M.D. (1992). Instanter Journal; What Water Hid, Drought Reveals, The New York Times
Rupprecht, G. & R. (1979). Instanter, PA. The Elk Horn, 15(1).
Sweet, L. (1991). Family History Reminiscing: A Century in Time. Self-Published
Sweet, W.N., Jr. Photographs and Conversations