• Nancy Lehman Place is part of Paint Township history
• The Windber Era
• November 18, 1966

These articles were researched and written by Patricia M. Shaffer for the Windber-Johnstown Genealogical Society.

Traveling along Route 160 from the ancient Village of Scalp Level you can see to the right side of the road the Lutheran Church Cemetery where monuments to the village residents of years past are now erected.

As you travel further south, you soon see the sign by the side of the road directing you to the Spruce Run Road. Passing the sign and traveling further on, about a quarter of a mile, your eyes catch a glimpse of a majestic scene.

Far off the beaten path of Route 601 in Paint Township is one of the oldest known structures of the county.

As you feast your eyes on the beautiful scene made by the yellow barn that seems to be guarded by the huge old spruce trees the every day traveler is not aware that this is the old Nancy Lehman Place, and this is where history was made 150 years ago.

The giant spruce trees seem to be announcing to the world that they were here before man arrived. This is the spot where Jacob Custer carved out his homestead from the wilderness.

If you are the fortunate guest of the current owner, Emma Maloy, local schoolteacher and well-known artist, then you may travel down the lane leading to this farm site. The big old barn stands at the end of the lane and appears before you that is almost overwhelming. Here stands the large two-story house of yellow and white looking like an immense plantation. The stately structure is light yellow with a white front entry door and porches on either side of the main building are painted white. Gazing upon this grand old home you can never imagine that underneath her new makeup is hidden the old log cabin of the Custer family which was build in the early 1830's before the town around her ever existed.

As you enter the front door you find yourself in a long narrow passageway leading to the kitchen, which was full of the sweet smells of just -made jam on the day of our visit. The kitchen was an addition of later years and as you cross under the thick beams you can detect one of the signs of the original building.

On both sides of the long hallway that leads to the kitchen are the two main rooms of the house. To the right is the dining room and to the left is the living room, both of equal size. The dining room could easily accommodate the old-time families made up of a dozen children who when married brought home their spouses and children for the holiday meals. The living room looks a bit more formal with French doors adding a touch of elegance on the outer wall. Paintings of a well-known artist are hanging on the walls, which depict log cabins and pioneer life. A bookcase is now built in the doorway that once led to the back of the house.

Leaving the room by way of the French doors one finds a small sitting room adjoining the living room. This intimate relaxing area has a fireplace of white brick on the inner wall while the outer walls are made up entirely of windows allowing the sun's warmth to come in and surround you. Walking outside of this pleasant little room, you come out onto the porch where one could easily sit for hours just listening to the stillness and smelling the great outdoors.

Reluctantly leaving the house behind, you cross the back yard where remnants of an old-time picket fence can still be seen in the elderberry bushes. The open field behind the house joins that of the Jonas Weaver farm along the Spruce Run Road. The view on top of this high hilltop is as beautiful and spectacular as any that the travel brochures urge us to see in search of the beauty of the world. It is right here in Paint Township situated in the northern part of Somerset County.

This is the part of the township where Jacob Custer made his homestead. On April 16, 1832, Henry Nixon, William Yardley and John Stoker of Philadelphia, assignees of the Luke Morris estate, sold to Jacob Custer and Joseph Johns in partnership a tract of land called Deerfield No. 5. The land was patented to Morris by John Penn and John Penn Jr. on Sept. 6, 1776, and was then situated in Brothersvalley, Bedford County. Jacob Custer's land was situated about a quarter of a mile above where the Paint Creek empties into the Stonycreek and by the vacant land of Jacob Kreider.

Jacob Custer was born on Aug. 9, 1801, the son of Frederick Custer, who resided near the Ridge Road. They are said to have been the cousins of Gen. Armstrong Custer, or Custard, who gained fame at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, when Sitting Bull killed him in 1876. Jacob Custer married Catherine Holsopple, whose father, Henry Holsopple, had been taken by the Indians to the Ohio territory during the War of 1812 and was burned at the stake.

On Feb. 21, 1835, Jacob Custer and his wife, Catherine, of Shade Township, and Joseph Johns and his wife, Nancy, of Conemaugh Township, divided by mutual agreement the land they had purchased jointly in 1832.

According to historical researchers the Jacob Custer home was built in 1841, but evidence of the family being on the land even before the 1832 land sale is found with the marker of their daughter, an infant, who died in 1830 and is buried on the land which was used for the Weaver and Custer families jointly for family burials.

Jacob Custer died when he was 48 years old and is buried near his home. Upon his death the Custer heirs sold their part of the real estate while one-third remained in the estate until the death of Catherine (Holsopple) Custer on Feb. 27, 1870, at the age of 71. The Catherine Custer heirs, by their executor Jacob Hoffman, named in the last will and testament of their mother sold the real estate to their sister, Nancy, wife of Tobias Lehman.

Nancy was only 16 when her father died and was the youngest of the children. She remained with her mother and upon her marriage they came to live on the Custer homestead. Here she and her husband raised their six children. The homestead became known as the Nancy Lehman place to the newer generation that never knew her father had been the original owner. Then on Nov. 22, 1893, Nancy and Tobias J. Lehman sold to Edwin J. Berwind of Philadelphia, the coal rights being in, under and upon the tract of land that was once Deerfield No. 5.

Nancy Lehman died on March 2, 1904, and Tobias Lehman died Jan. 5, 1906. The children they raised on one of the oldest homesteads of Paint Township were David T. Lehman , born Feb. 2, 1855, died June 29, 1880, married to Catherine Seese; Catherine Ann Lehman, Joseph Lehman, Sara Lehman, wife of John J. Kaufman and Mary Jane, wife of John L. Manges.

Since the Berwind-White Coal Mining Company took over the lands there have been several families residing within this historical structure. Today its current owner may have plans for this historical site situated in our midst her in Paint Township.