LOCAL HISTORY: Meet Jacob Schorr, ice man, stagecoach driver

Nov. 17—MILFORD — A marvelous old photograph exists of a gentleman by the name of Jake Schorr, Civil War veteran, peddling ice in Milford, Pa. with his mule team.

Here is a Mr. Schorr, white beard and mustache and sporting what looks something like a captain's hat, sitting in his wagon at the reigns of two find looking mules. His wagon is dark colored; the wheels are of a bright color. At the rear of the wagon stands what looks like a couple milk cans; perhaps they contained ice. In the background is someone's house as well as trees; the street is dirt.

There is bright sunshine; trees are in full foliage and Schorr's sleeves are rolled up to his elbows. It must have been a warm summer day; his ice, harvested from a nearby pond the winter before, will be welcome indeed and should sell quickly. It better, before it melts!

The year had to have been no later than 1913 or 1914, when he retired from the ice business.

Jacob C. Schorr (sometimes spelled Shorr) operated his own stagecoach line, and ran a livery. He served on Milford Borough Council. Local newspapers were full of tidbits about Jacob, also known as Jake.

He was born in Wirthember, Germany in 1838. As a young boy he sailed for America (U.S. Census records, however, give various years: 1838, 1848, 1851).

Schorr was living in Milford when the American Civil War broke out and he enlisted in Company B, 151st Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry. This was the only full company entirely made up of Pike County volunteers. On July 1, 1863, his regiment was at Seminary Ridge when they came under attack. The 151st lost 287 men, including their General Reynolds. They fell back and set up on Cemetery Hill where on the next day they faced Picketts Charge.

Schorr also served a Gettsyburg and Chancellorsville. When his enlistment expired in 1863, he was discharged as a corporal.

As a veteran in September 1889, Schorr attended the dedication of the Pennsylvania monuments at Gettysburg. He was attended by three others from his regiment, Ira B. Case and William M. and Wesley Watson, all of Milford. Schorr was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) post in Milford, an organization for Union veterans of the Civil War. In 1902 he and other post comrades attended the G.A.R. encampment in Washington, D.C.

Upon coming back to Milford, Schorr went to work as a driver for the Findlay and Wheeler Stage Line.

In February 1871 he and his horse team were running the stage as a sleigh, and were set to take it across the Delaware aboard the Matamoras ferry. An accident occurred with the scow and they nearly slid off and would have likely drowned, but for the quick actions of the ferry operator. Schorr kept tight hold on his reins but the horses had become unmanageable.

When he was working for John Findlay, he was operating the well-known stage coach named the Hiawatha, which has been preserved and restored by the Pike County Historical Society. Visitors may see it at The Columns Museum.

In 1873 he bought a livery stable on Broad Street and went into his own business operating his own stage between Milford and Port Jervis with his own stagecoaches.

This route, what we know as Route 6/209. was the Old Milford Road. The stage stopped for a rest along the way at the Halfway House. There were so many passengers they might be seen riding on top. Schorr was a familiar sight driving the stage coach in local parade.

A late 1880's news brief reported that Schorr had erected a huge tin representation of a white hat on top his new barn. He was calling his stables the "White Hat Stables" of Milford. The symbol was being used as his coat of arms and trade mark, painted on his carriages and bridle blinders. He wore his white hat while driving the stage.

"Jake is a live stage man who knows how to make things pleasant for the public, the Tri-States Union said in the early 1880's. He had just finished painting his coaches.

In August 1883 a New York attorney, Abram Kling, was operating his carriage heading from Milford to Port Jervis when he collided with Schorr's stagecoach. Kling claimed his rig was wrecked, he had a cut on his face and "lost some personal ornaments," the Evening Gazette (Port Jervis) reported. The lawyer sued for $250 damages but Schorr alleged the accident was due to Kling's "poor horsemanship."

At least once, in the early 1880's, he drove the sheriff who was taking a prisoner to the state penitentiary in Philadelphia.

In 1889 he added a diminutive Shetland pony and cart, which became the chief attraction at "White Hat" stables.

In June 1890, just as his stage was passing the Halfway House, lightning struck and split a telephone pole. Schorr's passengers received a slight shock.

He sold his livery business in December 1891 (the news item said he sold the stage line as well) but continued to manage the livery under a Mr. Kipp. New horses and conveyances were coming.

Another news item, however, states that in May 1894 Schorr sold his stage line that he had operated for more than 25 years. The business was sold to William F. Chol. "Jake" retained a team of tough little "buckskin" mules and a good road horse to push his ice business that summer, in addition to engaging in team work. His obituary commented that his buckskin mules were "landmarks" in the Milford area.

The press reported in 1898 that Schorr had not seen such heavy traffic on the road to Port Jervis, in 40 years.

Pictures shows Schorr at the reigns of the Hiawatha, in the grand July 4, 1916 parade in Milford. The 80-year old Schorr wore his trademark white hat for the occasion. The stage was brimming with riders.

On the same property with his house, Schorr had a 45 foot barn on the property, half of which accommodated the horses, wagons and mules he used in his stage line and prosperous ice business. The part of the barn that bordered the alley was used as his ice house, insulated with cork.

His home was on the corner of East Catherine Street and Third Street. He also had a large ice house on Fifth Street; an addition was added in 1901.

He had yet another ice house on the south side of the Klaer dam on the Sawkill Creek.

He lost this ice house in the so-called "Pumpkin Flood" that ravaged the Delaware River corridor on October 10, 1903.

For longer than 30 years, Schorr cut ice from Wells Dam or Sawkill Pond on the Sawkill Creek, and weather permitting, out of the Delaware River.

Among his ice customers was the Yale Forestry School, founded by Gifford Pinchot in what is today Forest Hall, a bluestone landmark at the corner of Broad and East Harford Streets.

A news brief in December 1895 said that Schorr had filled the ice house of Charles Nobs in Dingman Township with ice eight inches thick. It was harvested from Nobs' pond on the Raymondskill. The Dispatch added, "Jake is always in the front ranks when it comes to harvesting ice, being the first to fill his ice house."

He was delivering ice in a handsome, newly painted ice wagon in April 1898. His son Frank painted it. The Dispatch penned, "Jake takes great pride in his fine vehicle and is the happiest man in town. His little mules, seemingly, have caught the spirit of his master, and are imbued with new vigor, trotting along with the wagon as lively as a pair of three-year-olds."

He retired from the ice business when he was 75, and concentrated on the lighter demands of local carting and agriculture. This would have been in 1913 or 1914.

On November 15, 1869, Jacob Schorr and Mary Stichler of Dingman Township were married.

Schorr purchased a lot at 214 East Catharine Street where be built their house in 1870. The Schorrs still lived there when they celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary, renewing their vows and pledges, witnessed by their children, grandchildren, friends and relatives.

The Milford Area Architectural Study Committee included the Schorr homestead is their review of Milford, Pa. historic landmarks in 1975. This project of the Pike County Historical Society was done in preparation for the Nation's Bicentennial observance the next year.

There were four rooms to the original house; and a two-room addition was put on to house the growing family. There were wide floor boards. There were parlor stoves hearing the two rooms downstairs, with separate chimneys. A large cooking stove was put in the cellar to beat the heat of the summer cooking fire. A vegetable cellar and late preserve rack were also in the basement.

Their six children were born and raised in this house, John, Frank, Lulu, Jacob, Fannie and Leonard. Jake Schorr had a beloved pet dog named Jack, who the Dispatch called his "faithful friend."

Mrs. Schorr was active in the Presbyterian church in Milford, and had many friends.

Their son Leonard recalled in 1975 his fun accompanying his father on the stagecoach and the hard work helping him in his ice business. Leonard was born in 1896 was worked as a fireman in Garden City, New York. He later returned to lived in Milford.

Frank Schorr was the Pike County surveyor for many years before moving to Scranton. Lulu wed Robert Terwilliger and lived in Ridgewood, NJ. Fannie wed Ernest C. Wood and remained in Milford. Brothers John and Jacob (his nickname was Jakie) also continued living in Milford. Jacob, Jr. married Evelyn Thomas in 1898.

Jacob Schorr (Sr.)'s brother John resided with them till John's early death at 35, in 1885. John assisted with the stage and livery business.

The house was still in the family when in 1952 Lillian Gourley Schorr, widow of Jacob Shorr (Jr.) sold the house to Raymond Walsh. The house stands at the corner of East Catharine and 3rd Street; Peach Alley is in back. It is across 3rd Street from the Milford ball park.

In 1883 he won a fine gold watch a raffle held at the Crissman House. Just two years before he received a beautiful hunting case watch as a New Year's gift from his friend Desire Bournique, who operated a silver watch case factory in Milford.

Since the great Northeast blizzard in mid-March 1888, Shorr and another man, Dr. Steele, drove the first wagon to reach Port Jervis from Milford.

Milford Glen was a picturesque spot on the Sawkill Falls, heralded for decades as a destination for the local public and the many visitors resorting in Milford area hotels. Mott Street bridge crosses the Sawkill at the Glen. In July 1889 Schorr took part in a "frolic" to improve the Glen.

Schorr and three others came with their teams of horses. About 15 to 20 men took part. The Dispatch said, "The force worked like beavers, furnishing gravel for the rough places, improving the walks and cutting out unsightly brush." Fauchere's hotel supplied the refreshments. A board shelter from the rain was put up. A lawn tennis court was planned.

While in Port Jervis in August 1889 with his stage to pick up a passenger bound for Milford at the Erie depot, Schorr endured what was widely condemned as a false arrest.

The Dispatch reported that the newly named Chief of Police suddenly arrested him, "dragging" him off to the lock-up. The astonished crowd urgently defended Schorr. He secured a lawyer who witnessed the event. When Schorr's hearing came up three days later, no one appeared to bring charges, and the case was dismissed. The Dispatch, calling the arrest a "lawless outrage" reported that aim may have been to disrupt Schorr's business.

Schorr was elected to Milford Borough Council in February 1890. Milford had become a borough only five years earlier. The democrat was still serving on council in the 1900's. In 1902 Schorr was appointed as borough poundmaster at a salary of $7.50 a year; he held the office for years. The poundmaster was tasked with impounding livestock that were loose in the village. He resigned from council in April 1907.

Among his other activities, Schorr was president of the Milford Liars' Club. They met at the Crissman House at Harford and Broad (the site of the current Walgreen pharmacy).

A cyclone that hit Port Jervis around the beginning of October 1893 caused Schorr's team of horses to run away. They went off in a mad gallop down Main and Pike Streets; apparently the horses left the stage behind. Someone was able to stop the animals.

Schorr's blankets and lap robes were lost. Some days later, he saw them in a farmer's wagon, and was able to get them back without any trouble. The cyclone rendered considerable damage in Port Jervis, including the loss of the town clock and spire that stood on the Methodist church. The spire went through the roof of the church. Other structures lost their roofs.

The Schorrs had a fruitful garden. The Dispatch reported in September 1893 that they were growing potatoes averaging a pound apiece. Another item from 1907 told of his impressive sunflowers. He had "given up in disgust" trying to count how many he had just on one stalk. Several other men were invited to try but gave up. He had at least 40 sunflowers on the stalk, the Dispatch said. Schorr was thinking of offering a prize for a definite count but cautioned anyone nervous not to make an attempt.

Here's something for a Currier & Ives calendar painting: One Saturday in February 1894, Schorr's son, Jacob (Jr.) invited a large number of his young friends and acquaintances, together with his school teacher John C. Watson and wife, as chaperones, to enjoy a sleigh-ride on borough streets. They had two horses and two mules with Johnnie Schorr (apparently Jacob Jr.'s brother) at the reigns. The sleigh "conveyed the jubilant crowd around the village streets for a couple hours or more," the Dispatch reported.

His son Jacob, Jr. invited about 20 young people for a "straw ride" to Hickory Grove and back. The evening passed very pleasantly, with dancing enjoyed.

In December 1906 the elder Schorr was seriously hurt as he was unloading wood from his wagon at home. Dr. Kenworthy tended to his fractured ribs; there were also internal injuries. Schorr was resting at home afterwards. He was back harvesting ice later that month.

Jacob C. Shorr was 83 when he died, July 5, 1921, at St. Francis Hospital, Port Jervis. His death was related to an accident while plowing four days earlier. His wife and four sons survived him.

His wife Mary died in March 1924 at age 73.

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