Source: North Manchester Journal, April 27, 1893

Early Recollections.

Last Tuesday was John Reahard's 66th birthday. He was born in the mountains of Pennsylvania and came here with his parents a mere strip of a boy in the year 1838. He says he grubbed out the first stump ever grubbed in this town. It was an oak tree stump and stood in the street in front of where Smith's bookstore now stands. Curtis Pauling and William Thorn then kept a dry goods store in a building on that lot. Mr. Thorn hired John to dig up the stump and paid him twenty-five cents for doing it. After the digging was done Thorn, Pauling, Singer and as John remembers all the men then living in town took hold and dragged it to the river bank, near where the Ebbinghous Bros. boot and shoe store now stands. Mr. Reahard is familiar with the early history of the town. He was among the first to drive team in the commencement of hauling wheat, corn and pork and such other stuff as was bought by  the merchants for shipment out of the country via the Wabash and Erie canal. The hauling of produce to the canal at LaGro and the bringing back of lads of merchandise furnished work for teamsters for a large part of the time that teaming could be done at all. The road to LaGro was the only outlet to the canal which was at all passable and it was only so in the dryest season of the year. Mr. Reahard has lived in and near North Manchester ever since coming to the country, mostly on a farm. His family has grown up and are married living near the fine homestead in Pleasant township where he and his good wife will perhaps reside the remainder of their lives.