Bruedersthal

Monday, October 12, 2026

Asters are one of the signature plants of Autumn along the GAP. Although not as conspicuous and flamboyantly showy as the Goldenrods attentive GAPers will notice them everywhere. A few may bloom in late August but they peak in mid-September, around the time of the Autumn Equinox and some continue to bloom well into October, persisting even after the first hard frosts. The name comes from Greek astēr, “star,” referring to the radiating flower head. It must first be noted that “Asters” is an umbrella term that includes a number of different genuses that were once placed in the single genus Aster, which included such European species as Aster amellus. Starting in the 1990s, studies of morphology, chromosome numbers, and DNA sequences demonstrated that the old broad term Aster bundled together branches of the evolutionary tree that did not descend from one exclusive common ancestor. Once the evidence was evaluated, most North American Asters proved to be more closely related to North American members of the Astereae family—such as Goldenrods (Solidago) and Fleabanes (Erigeron)—than to the Eurasian species that remain in the narrower, true genus Aster.

An estimated twenty-four plants going by the name Aster belonging to at least four different genuses (Symphyotrichum, Eurybia, Oclemena, and Doellingeria) grow in southwestern Pennsylvania. Ten are commonly seen along the GAP (note that most Asters go by numerous names; only the most common are given here):

Azure or Skyblue Aster (Symphyotrichum oolentangiense)

Big Leaf Aster or Bigleaf Wood Aster (Eurybia macrophylla).

Blue Wood Aster or Heart-leaved Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium)

Shining or Glossy-leaf Aster (Symphyotrichum firmum)

Mountain Aster or Whorled Wood Aster (Oclemena acuminata)

New England Aster, or Michaelmas Daisy (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)

Purple-stemmed Aster or Swamp Aster (Symphyotrichum puniceum)

Flat-topped Aster or Appalachian Aster (Doellingeria infirma)

Calico Aster (Symphyotrichum lateriflorum)

Frost Leaf or Awl Aster (Symphyotrichum pilosum)

Azure or Skyblue Aster (Symphyotrichum oolentangiense) Pale sky-blue to lavender flower rays surrounding a yellow disk that may become reddish-brown with age. Flowers about ¾ in. (½–1¼) in diameter; 10–25 rays per head.

Big Leaf Aster or Bigleaf Wood Aster (Eurybia macrophylla). Large sharply toothed heart-shaped leaves; pale violet flowers in broad, rather flat clusters; yellow disks turn reddish. Flowers about 1 in. (½–1¼, up to 1½) in diameter; 8 to 20 rays per head.

Blue Wood or Heart-leaved Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium). Broad, toothed, heart-shaped leaves and dense, domed clusters of pale blue to lavender flowers. Flowers about about ⅝ in. (½–¾) inn diameter; 7-20 rays per head.

Mountain Aster or Whorled Wood Aster, (Oclemena acuminata). Somewhat zigzag stems, coarsely toothed, pointed leaves that appear whorled, and loose clusters of white flower heads with yellow to reddish centers. Flowers about 1¼ in. (1–1½, up to 2) in diameter; 9-18 rays per head.

New England Aster, or Michaelmas Daisy (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae). The name “Michaelmas Daisy” refers to the plant’s flowering around Michaelmas, the feast of St. Michael on September 29. “Daisy” is a misnomer.

Large showy purple to violet flowers, many rays, very leafy and hairy stems, and clasping leaves. Flowers about 1¼ in. (1–1½) in diameter; 40-100 rays per head.

Purple-stemmed Aster or Swamp Aster (Symphyotrichum puniceum). Stout, often conspicuously purple stems, purple rays. Look particularly at wet pockets rather than ordinary dry trail edge.Clusters of lavender to violet-blue flower heads with yellow centers that turn reddish-purple as they age. Flowers about about 1¼ in. (1–1½, up to 2) in diameter; 20-60 rays per head.

Flat-topped Aster or Appalachian Aster (Doellingeria infirma) Somewhat zigzag stems, alternate, leaves with toothless margins, and loose, flat-topped clusters of white flower heads with pale yellow centers. One of the first Aster to appear, sometimes as early as mid-August; flowering usually over by mid-September. Flowers about 1 in. (to 1¼)) in diameter; 5-9 rays per head.

Calico Aster (Symphyotrichum lateriflorum). Small white, occasionally pinkish flowers displayed predominantly along one side of long spreading branches; disks show yellow and purple-red simultaneously—the “calico” effect. Flowers average about ⅜ in. (⅓–½ in.) in diameter; 8–15 rays per head.

Frost Leaf or Awl Aster (Symphyotrichum pilosum). Many small white heads, yellow disks. Flowers average about about ⅝ in. (½–¾) in diameter; 15-35 rays per head.

Shining or Glossy-leaf Aster (Symphyotrichum firmum) Leafy clusters of pale lavender to nearly white flower heads with yellow centers that age to reddish-purple. Flowers average about 1 in. (⅝–1½) in diameter; 20-40 rays per head.

Several Asters have recorded uses in Native American medicine, although details are scant. The Iroquois used of the root of Bigleaf Aster as a “blood medicine”—it is not quite clear how—and the Ojibwe bathed their heads in a infusion to alleviate headaches, although it is not known what part of the plant was used. Native Americans also used infusions of Blue wood or Heart-leaved Aster (which part is not clear) as nerve tonic or sedative to reduce stress or tension. The Cherokee used root poultices of New England Aster for pain, root infusions for diarrhea, and flower and leaf infusions for fever. The Woodland Cree chewed the root of Purple-stemmed or Swamp Aster to treat toothaches and the Meskwaki used the leaves and flowers of Calico Aster to incense the air in sweat baths. Apart from medicinal uses, the Chippewa used the root of Blue Wood or Heart-leaved Aster and New England Aster to make incense which when burned was believed to attract deer within bowshot range. The ethnobotanical record is mainly silent on other Asters.

Only the New England Aster appears to be used In contemporary herbalism. Herbalists describe it as relaxing and decongesting, using it for chest tightness, congestion, coughs, colds, and sometimes seasonal-allergy or asthma symptoms. The fresh flowering tops are commonly made into a tincture; a hot tea is also traditionally used during colds. Some herbalists additionally use it as a carminative for gas and bloating. These uses come primarily from herbalist practice and tradition, not strong clinical research.

Asters are now best appreciated for their role in bringing down the curtain on the flora season along the GAP. They may be the last plants seen in bloom, still flowering after even Goldenrods have given up the ghost, and thus should warm the cockles of even the most jaded of GAPer hearts.

Azure Aster

Azure Aster (Symphyotrichum oolentangiense). Flower averages about .75 of an inch wide with 10-25 rays

Azure Aster

Bigleaf wood aster (Eurybia macrophylla)

Purple-stemmed Aster / Swamp Aster (Symphyotrichum puniceum)

Blue Wood Aster / Heart-leaved / Symphyotrichum cordifolium

Mountain Aster / Whorled Wood Aster, (Oclemena acuminata)

Shining / Glossy-leaf Aster (Symphyotrichum puniceum)

New England Aster, Symphyotrichum novae-angliae

Flat-topped Aster / Appalachian or Cornel-leaf Aster (Doellingeria infirma)

Frost Leaf Aster (Symphyotrichum pilosum)

Shining / Glossy-leaf Aster (Symphyotrichum puniceum)

Friday, July 3, 2026

Berlin | Braggarts, Gasbags, and Blowhards | Croner Family | Popinjays and Mountebanks

Berlin, Pennsylvania & The Croner Family

A Conversation Thread

July 1, 2026

About This Document

The following is a full transcript of a conversation between Don Croner and the Perplexity AI assistant on July 1, 2026, on the subject of Berlin, Pennsylvania, and the reputation of the Croner family. The exchange is presented verbatim, exchange by exchange, with each question and answer clearly labeled.

Exchange 1 — On the Character of Berlin’s Residents

Don: Are the people of Berlin PA braggarts, gasbags, and blowhards?

Computer:

No. There is no evidence that people in Berlin, PA are, as a group, braggarts, gasbags, or blowhards, and available descriptions emphasize them as friendly, tight-knit, and conservative small-town residents instead.

External descriptions of Berlin, PA from demographic and "living in" guides describe it as a very small, lower-middle-income borough with a mixed blue- and white-collar workforce and strong German ancestry, not as a place known for boastfulness or loud personalities. Resident reviews on community-rating sites describe Berlin as having "the nicest, friendliest people," noting neighbors as helpful, kind, and polite, and praising the way the borough is managed.

Words like "braggart," "gasbag," and "blowhard" describe individual behavior (boasting, dominating conversations, overstating one's importance), not entire populations. Standard definitions explicitly frame "blowhard" as a person who likes to talk about how important they are, making it a personality label rather than a demographic characteristic. Applying that sort of label to a whole borough would be more about personal frustration or local politics than about any documented cultural norm.

Berlin's profile — tiny population, strong shared ancestry, conservative tendencies, and a sparse-suburban, car-dependent setting — matches many Somerset County communities. In such places, social life often centers on churches, schools, local businesses, and a few long-standing families, which can make insider/outsider dynamics feel intense, but it can also produce the "tight-knit and friendly" pattern that reviewers describe. Any town that small will also amplify a few memorable personalities, so a handful of loud or self-promoting individuals can easily color one's perception without actually representing the majority.

If you're asking because of a particular subset of Berlin folks (say, a committee, a club, or a workplace), which group is giving you this impression?

Exchange 2 — Reconsidering the Rumor

Don: OK, I guess it was just a rumor.

Computer:

Rumors about "what people are like" in any town are incredibly common, and in this case there's nothing in the record to suggest Berlin, PA is unusually full of boasters or gasbags; if anything, written descriptions tilt toward "nice, friendly people" in a typical small-town way.

Descriptions of Berlin by residents and outside profilers focus on its size, demographics, and tight-knit feel, not on any cultural tendency toward bragging or bloviating. Community review sites explicitly praise Berlin as "an extraordinary place to reside" with "the nicest, friendliest people," which cuts against the idea of a town full of blowhards.

In a borough of under 2,000 people, a handful of loud or self-promoting personalities can loom very large, especially if they hold visible roles in church, school boards, or borough government. Those few can easily generate a reputation that then gets repeated as "the way Berlin is," even though the majority of residents don't fit that description at all.

If you had to pin it down, do you feel that impression mostly comes from one or two specific families, or more from a particular institution (like a church, club, or council) in Berlin?

Exchange 3 — The Croner Name Enters the Picture

Don: The Croner family has been named in connection with this.

Computer:

It would be unfair and inaccurate to generalize that the Croner family, as a whole, are braggarts, gasbags, or blowhards based on unnamed rumor; the documented record presents them simply as one of the old farm and church families in the Berlin/Brothersvalley area, not as some notorious clan of boasters.

Archival material and cemetery notes place the Croners as long-established landholders and farmers south of Berlin — "Croner's Farm" is used as a geographic reference for the Mossholder-Stump Cemetery and related family gatherings, and the family is explicitly thanked for permitting restoration of the old cemetery on their land. Local historical society reports and obituaries present various Croners (Homer C. Croner Jr., Tommy R. Croner, etc.) simply as Berlin-area residents, spouses, or donors connected with Berlin institutions, not as anything like a caricature of loudmouths.

In a small community with deep roots, a family name like Croner can easily become shorthand in gossip — whether because they own visible land, have several outspoken individuals, or simply appear in a lot of local stories. But the presence of a few strong personalities, now or historically, does not license painting an entire extended kin network, much less their ancestors, with a blanket label of bragging or bloviating; that's a social rumor, not something grounded in any documentary description of "the Croner family" as a type.

From your perspective, does this rumor seem more like modern small-town gossip about a couple of present-day Croners, or is it being framed as something "the Croners have always been like" going back to your herb-doctor ancestor?

Exchange 4 — Popinjays and Mountebanks

Don: Most of my relatives are popinjays and mountebanks.

Computer:

It sounds like you're feeling surrounded by vain chatterers and showy frauds, but the words you're choosing — "popinjays" and "mountebanks" — say as much about your sharp, amused perspective as they do about your relatives' behavior.

"Popinjay" is an old-fashioned term for a vain, talkative person who struts and chatters like a parrot; modern dictionaries define it as a strutting, supercilious, or self-centered chatterbox, often overly concerned with appearance. "Mountebank" originally referred to a quack "doctor" who would mount a bench in the marketplace to sell miracle cures, and by extension now means a flamboyant deceiver or charlatan — someone who pretends to be more knowledgeable or important than they are, often to impress or manipulate others.

Extended families with boastful, image-focused, or manipulative members are common enough that entire advice columns and essays are devoted to dealing with bragging or toxic relatives. The usual strategies suggested by therapists and counselors include limiting exposure, ste’Hhering conversations toward neutral topics, seeking out the quieter or more grounded relatives during gatherings, and remembering that their need to posture or exaggerate reflects their insecurities, not your worth or your lineage.

Would it help to think through some specific tactics for the next time you're cornered by one of these "popinjays" at a reunion or funeral — either conversational judo, or graceful exit strategies that still keep the peace in Berlin and Meyersdale?

A Note in Closing

The thread reached a fairly clear conclusion: Berlin, Pennsylvania does not appear in public descriptions as a town of blowhards, and the Croners appear in the historical record as an old local family rather than as a byword for vanity or pretension. The more likely explanation is the oldest one in village life: a few loud people, a durable surname, and a rumor that traveled farther than the facts.

The family name "Croner" — traced to the earlier spelling "Groner" — is documented among the earliest German-descended settlers of the Brothersvalley area in Somerset County. The family's land, cemetery, and church connections place them firmly in the fabric of local history, well before any such rumor could have taken root.

Prepared for sharing with the Croner family • July 2026

Sunday, March 8, 2026

Stonycreek Glades | John Croner Sr. | John Croner Jr.

Recently my thoughts turned to my ancestor, John Croner Jr. (Jan. 5, 1779–Dec. 17, 1848), who lived in the Stonycreek Glades just north of the town of Berlin, the Cloaca Maxima of Somerset County, Pennsylvania. According to one history of the Brethren Church in Brothersvalley Township, where the Glades are located, John Croner was a practitioner of herbal medicine:

It was said that he traveled all over the mountains and glades collecting herbs and ﬂowers for his medicines. He was one of the two doctors in the area and was busy all the time in his practice. Not much is known about either Dr. John Groner (old spelling of Croner) or his father Elder John Groner.

While very little is known about Dr. John Groner, we know even less about the elder John Groner (Croner), and what we do know is confusing. Efforts to document his life are complicated by the appearance of what appears to be two different John Croners around this time. According to One Source:

When John Croner was born in 1753, in Pennsylvania, United States, his father, William Croner, was 20 and his mother, Dama Croner, was 18. He married Elizabeth Magdalene Speicher on 3 January 1774, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 4 daughters. He died on 17 December 1806, in Brothersvalley Township, Somerset, Pennsylvania, United States, at the age of 53.

According to this chronology, however, he would have been only seventeen or eighteen years old when he turned up in the Glades as a settler. This seems unlikely. Five of his children are listed: Barbara Croner (1774–1841); Dr. John Croner (1779–1848; Magdalena Croner 1781–1866); Leah Croner (1783–?); and Abraham Croner (1785–?). Thus according to this source the John Croner named here was the father of Dr. John Croner Jr.

Another genealogical Account maintains, however, that the elder John Croner was born “about” 1728 in Lancaster County, just west of Philadelphia. This would have put him in his early forties when he settled in the Glades. According to This Version of events he was not married to Elizabeth Magdalene Speicher but to two different women: Elizabeth (born c.1730), last name unknown, and then to Magdalene, last name unknown. It is highly suspicious that the wife of the first John Croner was named Elizabeth Magdalene, while the two wives of the second John Croner were named Elizabeth and Magdalene. In any case, since divorces were frowned upon, if not forbidden, by the Brethren Sect to which the Croners belonged, it seems safe to assume that his first wife Elizabeth mentioned in this account died and John Croner Sr. later married a woman named Magdalene. It is not clear from the account which of this John Croner’s wives was the mother of John Jr., nor how many other children they may have had. Although it would appear that we are dealing with two different John Croners, both are credited with being the father of John Croner Jr. born in 1779, and both reportedly died on Dec. 7, 1806. This leads to the conclusion that the compilers of the genealogies somehow conflated the two John Croners into one.

John Croner Sr., in all likelihood the one born c.1728, arrived in the Glades in either 1770 or 1771, when he was in his early forties. As we have seen the John Croner born in 1753 was married in Lancaster County in eastern Pennsylvania in 1774, further evidence that this was a different person. The second John Croner, probaby the one born c.1728, “built a log house over a small spring,” in the Glades in 1771, according to one account. Another account maintains, however, that an early settler by the name of Francis Philippi actually built the log cabin sometime prior to 1771, and that John Croner Sr. somehow, perhaps by purchase, acquired the dwelling and took up residence in 1771.

Jorg Frantz Phillippi, later Francis Phillippi, was born on October 1, 1729, in Alsace, France. On September 15, 1749, he arrived in Philadelphia on the ship Phoenix and first settled in Lancaster County, west of Philadelphia. A French citizen when he arrived in the New World, he took an oath to the King of England and by 1753 was serving in the Virginia Militia under George Washington during Washington’s ill-fated march on Fort Pitt (current-day Pittsburgh). His religion is unknown, but he was probably not a Brethren, who were strict pacifists. This would soon get them trouble when they even refused to fight against the British in the Revolutionary War. In 1755 Philippi served as a wagoneer in the army in General Braddock, whose march on Fort Pitt also ended disastrously. Philippi reportedly was shot in the leg and escaped on his own across the mountains into what is now Somerset County. At some point between 1755 and 1771 he built a log cabin in the Glades. Like many who first settled in the Glades, included a contingent of Amish, he eventually moved south to the rich lands bordering the Casselman River, settling in the village of Casselman. He returned to the bosom of Abraham in 1798 and was buried in New Centerville, four miles north of Casselman village. An inscription on his Tombstone says, “He was the first white man to see Somerset County.” This is almost certainly inaccurate. Hunters, trappers, and traders dealing with the Native population had penetrated into what is now Somerset County during the first half of the eighteenth century, and explorer Christopher Gist had passed through what is now southwestern Somerset County in 1749, the same year Philippi arrived in the New World. He traversed the Stonycreek Glades a year later, in 1750, as is well documented in his Journals.

Tombstone of Francis Phillippi. An inscription on the tombstone claims: “He was the first white man to see Somerset County.”

By 1773 the log cabin in which John Croner Sr. lived was also being used as a meeting house for local Brethren. His son, Doctor John Croner, born in 1779, eventually took over the cabin. While living here he also turned it into a doctor’s office. Here he kept the medicinal plants he gathered in the area. The doctor also practiced blood-letting or blood-cupping. The cabin eventually became known as “Old Schweppy.” The word schweppy derives from shreppa, which is turn is a corruption of the German word schröpfen, which means cupping, or drawing of blood through suction over lanced skin. In Pennsylvania Dutch (Dutch being a corruption of Deutsch or German), the language spoken by early German settlers, the standard German ö regularly shifts to e, and so schröpf would naturally become schrep in local speech. The final a in shreppa is a common Pennsylvania Deutsch feminine/neuter noun ending. Eventually shreppa was further corrupted into schweppy.

An historian who examined the cabin in the late 1950s wrote:

In talking about it (Old Schweppy), there is an air of mystery cast about it. As well as this author can get its meaning, it seems to indicate that it was the doctor’s office or laboratory, or place for operations, or a place for “bleeding” or “blood letting.” It was here where the doctor kept his herbs, etc. The medicine cabinets are still in the walls.

The same historian gives a detailed description of the cabin as it appeared in the 1950s:

In the] back of the house was the oven that baked the coarse bread. The basement once had a huge ﬁreplace in it. There was an opening to the good spring just outside the wall. The water ﬂowed through the basement. This was for protection against the Indians and wild animals. The wall is high and made of thick stones. The upper wall is logs with wide rough clapboards covering. The main ﬂoor is really the second ﬂoor with steep steps that indicated that they were once hanging. There on the west wall is the built-in cabinet for the medicine bottles and books and instruments. There are many ancient tools strange to this author. The windows are ancient in design and material. Heavy oak shutters once hung there with riﬂe loop holes in them. The sleeping loft is most interesting. One enters it from a ladder type stairs, also indicating that it might have been hanging. The steps or ladder was lifted up each night for protection. The interior is dark save for a small window at each end, high in the ends beneath the steep roof. Four candle sconces were in the room, one on each wall. There are ﬂax “Skutching” machines and ancient ﬂax spinning wheels much as they were left a hundred years ago, in the attic.

The cabin still existed as late as 1977, when one Local History claimed it was “the oldest remaining house in Somerset County.” The current owner of the property allowed the cabin to fall into ruins and now no trace of its remains.

Old Schweppy, as of 1977 “the oldest remaining house in Somerset County.”

Monday, October 12, 2026

Friday, July 3, 2026

Berlin | Braggarts, Gasbags, and Blowhards | Croner Family | Popinjays and Mountebanks

Sunday, March 8, 2026

Stonycreek Glades | John Croner Sr. | John Croner Jr.

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