Gypsy Heart
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It has been known in the Glockler family since forever that Anthony Glockler built the Octagon House but it was not for himself. He had his own farm up the line and built the house for a man from Philadelphia. We used to drive down to Sullivan County often when we were little mostly to hang out at Worlds End State Park. But dad visited family there, like Chet Glockler who lived just over the bridge. My parents often took us up to see the old octagon house with stories of Anton building it, that is, my great-great grandfather.
Anthony "Anton" Glockler built the Octagon House and a couple of churches; I am not sure if the churches survived. A descendant relative of Anthony's, David Beinlich, bought and remodeled the old house. The foundation was still in great shape but he had his work cut out for him My sister Laurie took photos of the house befor he began renovations (shown above). The story is that Anthony emigrated right around 1853. We are unable to find him on passenger lists yet, but he married in New York City on April 10, 1853 to Margretta Baumunk. Her father, Philip Baumunk, was a shoemaker by trade. Her mother was Elizabeth "Eva" Ratig. Anton, as he was called in the old country, was born May 8, 1826 in Baden, now part of Germany. The children of Anton and Margretta were:
Josephine, born in NYC
Rosalie, born in NYC
Elizabeth, born at Lake Run, Sullivan County, PA
David< born at Lake Run, Sullivan County, PA
Caroline, born at Lake Run, Sullivan County, PA
Anthony
Phillip
Charles
Adam
Edward
Christina
Anna Lenora
A relative in Towanda PA, Mrs. Varney, has furniture that Anthony built. She says that he had a furniture bussines at one time and probably introduced veneering to this country. This claim is also made in the histories of Sullivan County. It was amazing to us that this furniture survived in such great shape for as old as it is, including the veneered pieces.
Anthony and family show up misspelled in the Census for Elkland Township at that time as "Cleckler". I alos note that Anthony was postmaster for many years there and, at his death, the post office was discontinued. I am a little confused by that entry. It may have been his son-in-law Charles Heinze who married Caroline Glockler that was the post master. Perhaps someone will clear it up for me.
My cousin David Beinlich, who restored the house with his wife Karen, let me take a few photos of the resotred house (shown here). He confirmed that Anthony played a key role in building this house. there was an old saying that you could take it off its foundation, roll it down the hill, and it would still be intact. David said he had a heck of a time with wiring because the walls were so solid, like a log cabin They have furniture built by Anthony also. His furniture was upstairs with inlay or veneering.
That octagon house no longer looks like a spook house. David has done a nice job. Doris Baumunk told a lot of funny stories. She said that Anthony spoke almost no English at all. The kids did most of the translation for him. He would introduce his grandson, not as Anthony "the third", but as "Antony da tird". They still laugh about that today.
Doris Baumunk, my aunt, gave me the Baumunk geneology with some Glocklers and Baumunks going back to 1653. It was very interesting. They beleive that a few children are buried at the Glockler farm and Charles Glockler should be out there He was killed a year after he was married. It was in one of the Sullivan County newspapers. One child, named Dortha, was born stillborn, or lived a very short time. They beleive she is out there They are going to contact other Glockler family memebers to see if there is a family bible or list of burials. They also mentioned that Anton was a laborer helping to build two churches, one of wich is now just a foundation and the other still stands. We are not sure which churches these are.
I live in Waverly. NY now, although I grew up in Sayre PA. My grandfather Roy Gleockler and his father David moved up here from Elk Run to work at the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The railroad misspelled Roy's name on paychecks as 'Gleockner" and wouldnt let him cash the checks unless he spelled it that way, so it stuck. Our family put money together a while back and bought Anthony and Margretta a headstone for the family gravesite. Dated 1890, it is on what is now the Bogert farm north of L.R. 5601 and east of Lake Run. It was once the Glockler homestead farm. There are several indentations out there at the grave site, as if more are buried out there, but we have no idea beyond Anthony and Margretta. Some say one who died after being caught out in an ice and snow storm got pnumonia and is buried there. I think it is in the records in the Sullivan County courthouse, possibly a child. We just aren't sure.
The preceding account by Lynne O'Brien mentions her conversations with David Beinlich, her cousin and the restorer of the house. We recently also obtained a copy of an interview conducted by two Sullivan County High School students with David and his wife Karen in the Spring of 2000 for a high school history project:
The Round House
An Interview with Karen & David Beinlich
by Jose Elicker and Lee Zelewicz
While driving down scenic roads in Estella, one may not be aware of sites of historical interest on nearby mountaintops. At the top of Forks Mountain is an extraordinary building called locally the "Round House". It is really an octagon, or eight-sided, building which appears round from a distance, thus its nickname. In the mid-1800's, the house was constructed for $3,3000. This unusual house was built by Mr. Marsden for his bride-to-be, Elizabeth Whitely. She lived in an octagon house built by her father. Mr. Marsden decided to build her a house like her family home, but more grand and elaborate. The property was obtained by trading a property in Philadelphia for the 300-400 acre property in Estella. Soon after the property was purchased, they began construction of the round house. One reason people began building octagon houses was to use space more efficiently. It was also thought to have spiritual effects; the shape itself was considered holy, as the buildings had no corners. When putting in the foundation, they had to use dynamite. They wanted a full basement with plenty of headroom. Due to the extra space, it was easier and faster to use dynamite, because like all of Sullivan County, the soil is filled with rocks and boulders.
The living areas of the home were plaster walls, made with horsehair. The trim and woodwork is mostly oak. The house is two full stories with a cupola and a full-sized foundation. The outside walls were tongue and groove clapboard. Over the years, through different tenants renting the home, it received quite a lot of wear and tear. In the 1920's and 30's, the house was rented and stripped of its main supporting beams under the first floor. Any areas in the house where wood could be taken off; renters did so to use as fuel for cooking and heating. Sometime in the late 1950's, the house was left empty, abandoned. It was used only by kids who played and held parties there. It was considered a spooky place; rumors of murders and deaths added to its reputation, making it a scary place after dark. Games were once played there, such as daring a person to retrieve a small flag in the dark from the cupola. Cows and other livestock roamed through the first floor as the yard became pasture.
David Beinlich, present owner of the house, who resides there with his family, spent time playing in the round house as a child. He retained an affinity for the building and wanted to save it. Around 1982 or '83, David replaced windows in the cupola and started patching the roof. From there, the addiction of working to renovate the house became part of his life. He gutted most of the building during renovation, installed new electric and plumbing, along with everything else. One problem he found installing electric and plumbing was running lines between floors. The reason is the walls are stacked, two by six boards nailed with three nails across each board one foot apart. He had to restud most of the walls and jacked up the entire house to install new steel beams under the first floor of support. Almost 20 years after ripping plaster off the walls, dust is still settling in the home. The Round House, as we know it, might not even exist today without the love and care put into it by David Beinlich and his wife Karen.
Anthony "Anton" Glockler built the Octagon House and a couple of churches; I am not sure if the churches survived. A descendant relative of Anthony's, David Beinlich, bought and remodeled the old house. The foundation was still in great shape but he had his work cut out for him My sister Laurie took photos of the house befor he began renovations (shown above). The story is that Anthony emigrated right around 1853. We are unable to find him on passenger lists yet, but he married in New York City on April 10, 1853 to Margretta Baumunk. Her father, Philip Baumunk, was a shoemaker by trade. Her mother was Elizabeth "Eva" Ratig. Anton, as he was called in the old country, was born May 8, 1826 in Baden, now part of Germany. The children of Anton and Margretta were:
Josephine, born in NYC
Rosalie, born in NYC
Elizabeth, born at Lake Run, Sullivan County, PA
David< born at Lake Run, Sullivan County, PA
Caroline, born at Lake Run, Sullivan County, PA
Anthony
Phillip
Charles
Adam
Edward
Christina
Anna Lenora
A relative in Towanda PA, Mrs. Varney, has furniture that Anthony built. She says that he had a furniture bussines at one time and probably introduced veneering to this country. This claim is also made in the histories of Sullivan County. It was amazing to us that this furniture survived in such great shape for as old as it is, including the veneered pieces.
Anthony and family show up misspelled in the Census for Elkland Township at that time as "Cleckler". I alos note that Anthony was postmaster for many years there and, at his death, the post office was discontinued. I am a little confused by that entry. It may have been his son-in-law Charles Heinze who married Caroline Glockler that was the post master. Perhaps someone will clear it up for me.
My cousin David Beinlich, who restored the house with his wife Karen, let me take a few photos of the resotred house (shown here). He confirmed that Anthony played a key role in building this house. there was an old saying that you could take it off its foundation, roll it down the hill, and it would still be intact. David said he had a heck of a time with wiring because the walls were so solid, like a log cabin They have furniture built by Anthony also. His furniture was upstairs with inlay or veneering.
That octagon house no longer looks like a spook house. David has done a nice job. Doris Baumunk told a lot of funny stories. She said that Anthony spoke almost no English at all. The kids did most of the translation for him. He would introduce his grandson, not as Anthony "the third", but as "Antony da tird". They still laugh about that today.
Doris Baumunk, my aunt, gave me the Baumunk geneology with some Glocklers and Baumunks going back to 1653. It was very interesting. They beleive that a few children are buried at the Glockler farm and Charles Glockler should be out there He was killed a year after he was married. It was in one of the Sullivan County newspapers. One child, named Dortha, was born stillborn, or lived a very short time. They beleive she is out there They are going to contact other Glockler family memebers to see if there is a family bible or list of burials. They also mentioned that Anton was a laborer helping to build two churches, one of wich is now just a foundation and the other still stands. We are not sure which churches these are.
I live in Waverly. NY now, although I grew up in Sayre PA. My grandfather Roy Gleockler and his father David moved up here from Elk Run to work at the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The railroad misspelled Roy's name on paychecks as 'Gleockner" and wouldnt let him cash the checks unless he spelled it that way, so it stuck. Our family put money together a while back and bought Anthony and Margretta a headstone for the family gravesite. Dated 1890, it is on what is now the Bogert farm north of L.R. 5601 and east of Lake Run. It was once the Glockler homestead farm. There are several indentations out there at the grave site, as if more are buried out there, but we have no idea beyond Anthony and Margretta. Some say one who died after being caught out in an ice and snow storm got pnumonia and is buried there. I think it is in the records in the Sullivan County courthouse, possibly a child. We just aren't sure.
The preceding account by Lynne O'Brien mentions her conversations with David Beinlich, her cousin and the restorer of the house. We recently also obtained a copy of an interview conducted by two Sullivan County High School students with David and his wife Karen in the Spring of 2000 for a high school history project:
The Round House
An Interview with Karen & David Beinlich
by Jose Elicker and Lee Zelewicz
While driving down scenic roads in Estella, one may not be aware of sites of historical interest on nearby mountaintops. At the top of Forks Mountain is an extraordinary building called locally the "Round House". It is really an octagon, or eight-sided, building which appears round from a distance, thus its nickname. In the mid-1800's, the house was constructed for $3,3000. This unusual house was built by Mr. Marsden for his bride-to-be, Elizabeth Whitely. She lived in an octagon house built by her father. Mr. Marsden decided to build her a house like her family home, but more grand and elaborate. The property was obtained by trading a property in Philadelphia for the 300-400 acre property in Estella. Soon after the property was purchased, they began construction of the round house. One reason people began building octagon houses was to use space more efficiently. It was also thought to have spiritual effects; the shape itself was considered holy, as the buildings had no corners. When putting in the foundation, they had to use dynamite. They wanted a full basement with plenty of headroom. Due to the extra space, it was easier and faster to use dynamite, because like all of Sullivan County, the soil is filled with rocks and boulders.
The living areas of the home were plaster walls, made with horsehair. The trim and woodwork is mostly oak. The house is two full stories with a cupola and a full-sized foundation. The outside walls were tongue and groove clapboard. Over the years, through different tenants renting the home, it received quite a lot of wear and tear. In the 1920's and 30's, the house was rented and stripped of its main supporting beams under the first floor. Any areas in the house where wood could be taken off; renters did so to use as fuel for cooking and heating. Sometime in the late 1950's, the house was left empty, abandoned. It was used only by kids who played and held parties there. It was considered a spooky place; rumors of murders and deaths added to its reputation, making it a scary place after dark. Games were once played there, such as daring a person to retrieve a small flag in the dark from the cupola. Cows and other livestock roamed through the first floor as the yard became pasture.
David Beinlich, present owner of the house, who resides there with his family, spent time playing in the round house as a child. He retained an affinity for the building and wanted to save it. Around 1982 or '83, David replaced windows in the cupola and started patching the roof. From there, the addiction of working to renovate the house became part of his life. He gutted most of the building during renovation, installed new electric and plumbing, along with everything else. One problem he found installing electric and plumbing was running lines between floors. The reason is the walls are stacked, two by six boards nailed with three nails across each board one foot apart. He had to restud most of the walls and jacked up the entire house to install new steel beams under the first floor of support. Almost 20 years after ripping plaster off the walls, dust is still settling in the home. The Round House, as we know it, might not even exist today without the love and care put into it by David Beinlich and his wife Karen.
