SCHOOL

My father, Harry Wells Teckman, attended school in the brick building that still stands, in Darrtown, at the corner of Walnut Street and Schollenbarger Road. They only had eleven grades at the time (approximately 1901-1912 - since my father was born in 1895). He started the twelfth grade in Hamilton; but, after one week, he left school to join the work force.

My paternal grandfather, Edward Teckman, who worked as a day laborer on Darrtown area farms during his early adult years, became the custodian at the Darrtown High School, when the school was located on West Oxford Street - just west of the village square. My grandfather and grandmother lived in the house across the street from the high school building.

In the mid-1930’s, Milford Township had its own school system. The elementary grades (1-6) attended school at Collinsville and grades 7-12 attended at Darrtown. The elementary grades were organized around two grades per classroom. So, my first and second grade teacher was Mrs. Marie Schmidt. My third and fourth grade teacher was Mrs. Roberta Laughlin. My fifth and sixth grade teacher was Mr. Ernest Lock, who also served as the school principal.

TRUCKING

My father, Harry Teckman, got involved in trucking at an early age; because his father (Edward Teckman) transported milk from Darrtown to Hamilton, Ohio - using a wagon drawn by horses. Each day, dairy farmers from around Darrtown delivered their milk to Edward - near the center of the village. Edward then hauled the milk to the milk processing companies in Hamilton.

At some point, probably the early 1930’s, my grandfather transitioned from using horses and wagons to driving trucks.

Looking back, it seems natural that my father, Harry, would follow in his father’s footsteps and get involved in the trucking industry. And so, around 1916, my father took a job driving a truck for Charles Meeks of Seven Mile, Ohio. During his stint working for Mr. Meeks, my father hauled milk, livestock, and Kroger products.

While working for Mr. Meeks, Harry lived at the Wilson House in Seven Mile; which was the place where he slept and took his morning and evening meals. My mother, an elementary school teacher, was also a boarder at the Wilson house. It was during this time period that my parents met and they began dating.

Around 1920, my father returned to live in Darrtown and began his own trucking business. His company grew to the point that he had eight trucks; three milk trucks, one dump truck, one livestock truck; and three others that were used to haul beer.  At one point, the Teckman Trucking company made two beer runs per day (one for barrels and one for bottles), from a Cincinnati, Ohio brewery to the Hamilton, Ohio market. He also hauled Carlings beer from Cleveland, Ohio and Budweiser beer from St. Louis, Missouri to Hamilton.

Fred Popst drove a truck for my father, until he was drafted for military service in 1940-41. Other drivers included Ellis Glardon, Waldo Stumpf, and Clint Alexander (Walter Alston’s father-in-law). My father helped Clint get a job with the Butler County Engineer’s office, which was located near the Butler county fair grounds on Rt. 4.

Thinking about hauling milk prompts a memory about the onset of Grade A milk in the early 1940s. Some farmers, who only had a few dairy cows, chose to drop out of the milk production business, rather than take on the added expense of implementing the means to comply with the strict standards adopted by dairy processing companies (like French-Bauer and Frechtling). The new standards required that milk be stored in some form of refrigeration, in concrete milk houses, under specified health conditions, etc. Ernest “Ernie” Glardon who farmed at 3700 Hamilton Richmond Road is one farmer who, I recall, gave up the dairy business. Ernie Glardon was a brother to Ellis Glardon who drove for my father.

RESIDENCES

My grandfather, Edward Teckman; my grandmother, Anna (Yeakle) Teckman; my father, Harry Wells Teckman; and my uncle, Louis Jacob Teckman all lived in the house on Oxford Street in Darrtown. The house still stands about a half block west of Main Street, on the north side of Oxford Street, just opposite the place where the high school was located.

In 1923, Johnny Darr, the last Darr family member to live in Darrtown was, unfortunately, struck down by an auto, while crossing Main Street. After the accident, my father drove Johnny to the hospital. Mr. Darr expressed a desire for my father to acquire the land where he, Johnny Darr, lived. Subsequently, Harry Teckman purchased the property and constructed the house that still stands in the northeast corner of Main Street and North Street.

PEOPLE

Here are some of the Darrtown people that I recall:

> Brother and sister, George and Ella Kolb; they lived across North Street from our house, on the south side.

> Pete and Mytle Liebrich; they lived next-door to us, on the north side.

> The Alston family; I recall that Emmons Alston, Smokey’s father, worked at the Ford plant, in Hamilton. Emmons, or “Toby,” as he was known to friends and family, worked alternating shifts and often needed to sleep during the daytime. We neighborhood kids learned to be quiet, when passing by the Alston house, as Toby could get mad in a hurry.

> The Mee family

> The Cox family

> The Wyckoff family; they ran the grocery store, before the Glardons took over.

> The McVicker family; Luther and Opal’s only son, Donald, was killed in WWII. On one of my many trips to Europe, I located Donald’s gravesite in The Netherlands. The Dutch government deeded land to the United States for the burial ground of many US military who were killed in action - as a sign of appreciation for American support in the war.

> The Bufler family; especially Frank and Addie - as they lived about one block from us.

> The Wagonfield family

> The Uhl family

> The Davis sisters; who lived on the Davis farm at Rt. 177 and Rt. 73.

> The Wiley family; I remember Bill Wiley; he bought some land from my father and build several houses in the North Street neighborhood.

> Others that I remember include the Hansels, Millers, Manrods, Bradburys, Harrises, Fowlers, Neanovers, Baumanns, Steeles, Lindleys and Weisses.

> I recall that Waldo Stumpf hauled milk for my father and that he was struck by lightning, while lifting a milk can from a refrigerated storage unit on a farm north of Morning Sun, Ohio. The lightning struck the milk house and the electrical charge traveled to the storage unit and the metal milk can that Waldo was grasping. Ironically, the farm, owned by Professor Peterson, was the last stop on his route. Waldo, who was a large muscular individual survived the incident; but he was never the same physically.

> Cliff Alexander and Smokey Alston were good friends who became brothers-in-law, when Smokey married Lela Alexander, Cliff’s sister.

Our home telephone played a part in the hiring of Smokey as the manage of the Brooklyn Dodgers. In the fall of 1953, Branch Rickey, the general manager of the Dodgers organization, called our house in an attempt to speak to Smokey. The Alston house was located about one block from our house, and my father either told Mr. Rickey to stay on the line and he would go for Smokey or he told Mr. Rickey that he would relay the message to Smokey and have him return the call to Mr. Rickey.

My sister, Joan, was best friends with Doris Alston, who was the daughter of Walter and Lela Alston. On several occasions, the Alstons invited Joan to travel with Doris and her mother to visit Walter - when he was managing minor league teams in Pueblo, Colorado; Trenton, New Jersey; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Nashua, New Hampshire. 

Webmaster Note: The 1946 Nashua, New Hampshire team, managed by Darrtown’s Walter Alston, was the first racially-integrated baseball team based in the United States in the 20th century. During the 1946 season, pitcher Don Newcombe and catcher Roy Campanella played for Alston at Nashua. This was one year before Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers and became the first black athlete to play at the major league level. Campanella debuted with the National League Dodgers in 1948 and Newcombe made the big club in 1949. In the spring of 1954, Alston was reunited with “Campy” and “Newk,” when “Smokey” took over as the Dodgers’ manager.

In the fall of 1953, when the Brooklyn Dodger manager, Chuck Dressen demanded that the Dodgers give him a multi-year contract, the Brooklyn general manager fired Dressen and promoted Smokey Alston from Triple A Montreal franchise to the Dodgers. Word of mouth stories later told how the Dodgers liked that Smokey was college-educated and that he used metrics to help assess baseball talent. Even after Smokey retired, the Dodgers occasionally employed Smokey as a judge of young players.

In 1983, Walter “Smokey” Alston was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, Smokey had experienced a heart attack and was unable to attend. The Dodger organization set up a television receiver in the Alston’s front yard, so that Smokey could watch the televised ceremony from his home.

PLACES IN AND AROUND DARRTOWN

In my youth, I rode my bike all over town, with a sense of joy and safety. It seemed like everybody in town knew everyone else. For example, I recall that In the 1930s, only five houses on Darrtown had indoor plumbing.

Places that I recall include:

> The Hitching Post - partly because my father housed his trucks in a garage on the Teckman property that was located across the alley - behind the Hitching Post.

> The Wilkie home - which was the fourth house south of our house on the same (east) side of Main Street, as ours. The first house south of our place was the Kolb home (George and Ella, brother and sister); the second was the Cox home; the third was the Zimmerman home; and then, the fourth, the Wilkie home. Doctor Wilkie (known locally as “Doc” Wilkie) was the town doctor. His daughter, Belle, worked the Darrtown Telephone Company switchboard which was located in the Lewis A. Miller home. 

> The L. A. Miller home - which was located in the southeast corner of Scott Road and Main Street (St. Rt. 177). That house still stands. As a side note; Belle Wilke married Ernest Miller, the son of Lewis Miller. Ernie helped his father maintain the telephone company (installing and repairing phone poles, lines, etc.).

Darrtown was a wonderful place to live.

Recollections of Charles Teckman

The following memories of Charles Teckman were gleaned from a series of interviews that extended over several hours, between April 28 through May 7, 2020. Charles also provided information about the Teckman family, which appears on the Teckman Family page.