Frank
Ogden (1868-1948) was born in Tioga County, PA, and lived there
his entire life. Although Ogden's  grandchildren (now grandparents
themselves) and other long-time village residents hold
childhood memories of him as an elderly gentleman, local business man, pillar of the community, and Justice of the Peace;
the most
reliable sources of information on the man and his business
are public records and
documents. From those, it appears he
established his weaving business shortly after marrying his childhood
sweetheart in 1892. According to courthouse records, he
purchased land "for the Shop at Stonyfork" in October
of 1894, and the date engraved on his fly-shuttle loom reads 1895. While
the only identifiable documents found in the shop were three badly
damaged business cards (see reconstruct card under photo), his advertising efforts can still be found in comunity resources. A
prominent business advertisement in the 1899 Tioga County Directory (click here to view), on file at the Tioga County Historical Society,
indicates his business, and basic product lines, were probably
well established by the end of the decade. Later he began advertising in the local newspaper. From the wording and timing of his ad in the Wellsboro Agitator, it appears he preferred doing his weaving during the winter months (click here to view advertisment). He continued to use the same advertisement throughout his career; it first appeared on August 25, 1909, and continued to run periodically for several decades.  In 1927, just before Ogden turned 60, he was appointed Justice of the Peace (click here to view certificate). He may have opted for a more relaxed production schedule at this point, since he appears to have stopped advertising, but he never quit the weaving business. The neighborhood kids who helped out in the shop, remember him weaving right up to the time of his death, at the age of 80. In fact, his grandson Richard (who at the tender age of ten considered himself quite proficient at the loom) remembers his grandmother receiving a rug order shortly after his grandfather's death. She spoke of returning the order to sender, but he assured her he could weave the rug - and 65 years later - he still remembers the sense of satisfaction it gave him to complete that order. After Frank's death, Richard Ogden developed a sense of guardianship toward the shop and weaving equipment. As a teenager, he and other members of the local church youth group, thought the shop would make an ideal "teen center." They cleaned the place up, carefully moved all the weaving equipment (including Ogden's two looms) to the shop attic, and made the space their own. Later Richard rearranged the attic space and added certain antique items no longer in used in the big house. His intention was to return at a later date and collect his treasures - but he didn't think to mention this to his grandmother. Little did he anticipate, that while he was away at college an antique dealer would come by, and his grandmother (not realizing the family value of the items) would let the dealer take his pick? But the unforeseen did happen, and when Richard returned to claim his booty, his favorite loom and the entire stash of antiques from the house was gone - and his grandmother was devastated to learn she had sold the family heritage. Richard contacted me with the information above, after learning of the HTTM exhibit from Pennsylvania relatives. I was pleased to hear from him, and was particularly interested in learning what he remembered about the two looms. He assured me the looms were exactly alike; however, when I mentioned we had been unable to use one of the loom beams because of it being too short - exactly two inches too short - he contemplated the matter and then did recollect one loom being slightly larger than the other - but otherwise they were identical. Note: Given the condition of the HTTM loom, it is the author's opinion Frank Ogden probably used and repaired the original loom for many years, but eventually replaced it with a new model from the same manufacturer. He may have continued operating the older loom as a backup, but preferred his young helpers use the newer, more reliable, machine. |
