Bessie Mae Irvin 1880-1963

Bessie Mae was the eldest child of James and Ida Irvin. She was born on May 7, 1880, her father’s 18th birthday and only four days before her mother’s 15th birthday. The 1880 Federal Census shows that the young couple lived with Ida’s parents, David and Eliza Bock, and Ida’s maternal grandmother, Margaret Rossman, in Metal Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania in the year of Bessie’s birth. Though the 1880 enumeration was recorded by W. C. Alexander on June 17th, 1880 and was to include all children born prior to the 1st of June, Bessie was not counted.

On July 24, 1901, Bessie married George W. Rockwell in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. This marriage produced eight children; Lillian, Martin Luther, Gladys Viola, Lulu Ann, George Irwin, Robert W., Gordon, and Charlotte.

At the time of the 1910 Federal Census, the Rockwells lived in Martinsburg, WV. They returned to Franklin County, Pennsylvania prior to the 1920 Federal Census where they were enumerated in the Orrstown District of Southampton Township.

In 1929, disaster struck the Rockwell family home. The following article appeared in the News-Chronicle of Shippensburg on Tuesday, January 15th, 1929.

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HOME AT MIDDLE SPRING BURNS
William Rockwell Property Completely Destroyed by Fire on Monday
Loss is About $5000

Fire believed to have been started by an overheated stove pipe, completely destroyed the William Rockwell home and most of the house furnishing, near Middle Spring, at about 9:30 o’clock Monday morning. The loss was estimated at $5000.

Mr. Rockwell had gone to his work at the Peerless Furniture Company, leaving his wife and a small child at home. While Mrs. Rockwell was preparing to leave the house for Shippensburg, she discovered the fire on the roof of the house.

Spreading the alarm, Mrs. Rockwell attempted to remove the house furnishings, but was only successful in securing a small amount of clothing for the small child.

Neighbors in the section rushed to the scene of the fire, but were unable to stop the flames from consuming the entire house, which was partly brick and wood. A number of papers, valuable to the family were saved, but the house furnishings, with the exception of a few pieces, were lost with the dwelling.

A small frame building, which stood nearby, also was burned. The building had been used as a wash house, it was explained. Other buildings in the vicinity of the home were spared by the wind, which carried the flames and sparks in the opposite direction.

Mrs. Rockwell explained to a representative of the News-Chronicle, that she had planned to leave for Shippensburg in about one-half hour, when the fire was discovered on a section of the building which was covered with shingles.

The building was an old one, located near Middle Spring on the Middle Spring-Roxbury Road. It is known as the White Hill truck farm, and had been owned by Jacob Creamer. The property was partly covered by insurance, it was said.

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More trouble followed in the next year when the family was robbed by Chicken thieves. The News-Chronicle carried the following story on Tuesday, October 21, 1930.

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CHICKEN THIEVES CALMLY FORCE WOMAN TO AID IN THEFT

William Rockwell Home Near Middle Spring Scene of Bold Robbery; Mrs. Rockwell Made To Hold Flashlight During Operation

Man Informs Woman Of Former Raids At Home

Operations of chicken thieves were actively resumed Saturday night when about sixty chickens were boldly stolen from the William Rockwell farm near Middle Spring. Mrs. Rockwell was at home alone, two younger children being in bed asleep, when a tall blonde, dark dressed man entered the newly erected Rockwell home through a window from the porch and calmly announced to Mrs. Rockwell that she was being robbed of some chickens. Mrs. Rockwell was forced to supply food for the man and his partner and to help them take away the chickens.

Slightly before 9:30 Saturday night the intruder entered the Rockwell home. Mrs. Rockwell came to the front room from the kitchen. Here she was seized by the man who demanded wine and food. Mrs. Rockwell was quite stunned by the action but replied that she could give him some food and water. Meanwhile the man led Mrs. Rockwell to the kitchen in the rear of the house where he sat down and repeated his demands. Apparently not satisfied by Mrs. Rockwell’s reply, the man went down to the cellar where he carried on a fruitless investigation. Returning to the kitchen he demanded some bread, buttered. Mrs. Rockwell buttered two slices of bread and gave them to him. He then demanded more and she gave two more slices, finally she had eight slices of bread which he placed in the poke from which the bread had come from Mrs. Wengerd, a neighbor who baked bread.

Having secured the food the intruder proceeded to tell Mrs. Rockwell the previous occasions on which he had visited their farm and taken chickens. He recalled one time in May, 1929, when he said he too 300 chickens and later in August when he took 125. A check up at the end of the year showed the Rockwell flock, originally numbering around 5000, to be short by almost 700 chickens. In March of this year the intruder recalled taking 100 chickens on two different occasions. Even last week Mrs. Rockwell recalled seeing a flash light as from a pocket flash flickering near the house. At the time she looked out the window but was unable to see anyone. The intruder on Saturday told Mrs. Rockwell that he was near enough to hit her with his club at the time.

The accounts of his previous visits related, the large blonde man led Mrs. Rockwell to the chicken house about 50 yards west of the house. He held his hand over her mouth so that she could not scream. On reaching the chicken house they were joined by a second man, equally large, dark complexioned and wearing dark clothes. This second man had filled one crate with chickens, apparently taken from the barn. The chickens roost in the barn, the coop, and the tree limbs. The second crate was filled with thirty chickens as Mrs. Rockwell held the light, while the men collected the fowls. The flashlight was taken from Mrs. Rockwell and the men walked off. Some distance beyond the coop, Mrs. Rockwell heard a police whistle blown three short blasts.

While being forced to walk out to the chicken coop from the house, Mrs. Rockwell’s mouth was held tightly by the intruder. Because she wears false teeth, this action almost choked her so that she was unable to reply to the man when he demanded “where in h-l do you buy your chickens”. After the two men had left the coop Mrs. Rockwell dropped her teeth and then groped around in the dark but could not find them. It was 9:00 o’clock when she returned to the house.

When Mr. Rockwell returned from Shippensburg he was told of the robbery and he immediately notified Chief of Police Robert Burns and Chambersburg State Police who arrived about 1:00 o’clock Sunday morning and searched the vicinity for about three hours.

Corporal Fritchey and Private Kelley from the Chambersburg station failed to find any tracks and treated the whole account as rather unreasonable. They stated they had nothing to work on. The case is quite unusual as the intruder made no attempt to hide his features and demanded bread when there were much more tempting dishes at hand including pies. The partner loaded chickens in the barn and then Mrs. Rockwell was forced to hold the flash which the blonde man had to collect the chickens in the coop. The intruder was quite bold in casually recalling his former ravages and sitting in the kitchen for ten or fifteen minutes.

Although Mrs. Rockwell did not hear any machine and believed the men walked off in the direction of Shippensburg carrying the two crates, one above the other, between them, Mrs. Levi Hoover, a neighbor, said she heard the sound of an automobile about 8:30 and again at 9:30. The lane leading to the Rockwell home is not often trafficked so the motor sound might be noticed particularly.

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On November 7th, 1930, the Chambersburg Public Opinion reported the arrest of 11 men from Carlisle and Plainfield who perpetrated the robberies and hustled the stolen chickens. The gang targeted hundreds of farms throughout four counties.

Bessie died on September 30, 1963. Her obituary appeared as follows in The News-Chronicle of Shippensburg on Friday, October 4, 1963.

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Rites Held For Mrs. Rockwell

Funeral rites were held Thursday at 2 p.m. from the M. Garfield Barbour and Son Funeral Home for Mrs. Bessie Mae Irvin Rockwell, 83, wife of George W. Rockwell, 16 Lurgan Ave. Shippensburg.

Dr. Edward P. Turnbach of Memorial Lutheran Church officiated, assisted by Rev. Robert Hawk. Burial was in Fairview Cemetery.

Mrs. Rockwell died Monday at her home.

A daughter of the late James and Ida Buck Irvin, she was born May 7, 1880 at Willow Hill. She held membership in the Lutheran Church.

Survivors include her husband, to whom she was married in July, 1901; three daughters, Mrs. Gladys R. Hassler, Newville; Mrs. Lulu A. Kressler, Philadelphia, and Mrs. Charlotte E. Raymond, Fairfax, Va.; four sons, Luther M. Rockwell, Shippensburg R. D. 1; George I. Rockwell, Shippensburg; Robert W. Rockwell, Carlisle, and Gordon R. Rockwell, Shippensburg; a foster daughter, Mrs. John K. Smith, Funkstown, Md.; a sister, Mrs. Grace Shipley, Fort Wayne, Ind.; two brothers, John Irvin, Philadelphia, and Ralph Irvin, Harrisburg; 11 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, and a number of nieces and nephews.

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George and Bessie Rockwell