The Villages

By Christopher Miller

Coming from a small town surrounded by two major U.S. cities and a few million people, I was always amazed by the Hammersley Fork News column in the local papers. The happenings of this little village afforded its own news column with a well-known local woman at the helm. Through her thorough reporting, readers got to know who visited who, how attended church was, and who was at their camp over the weekend. With that being said, Mrs. Lillian ‘Bette’ Cole, but better known as Mrs. Clifford Cole, this one’s for you.

In 1827 Jacob Hammersley settled at the eastern mouth of the first fork of Kettle Creek. This is not at all unusual for the time as many people settled within the wilds of this area around that time. What is a remarkable feat is that prior to him building a log grist mill on the fork, he carried many loads of flour on his back from the river to his home, traveling the old Boone Road over the mountains, a distance of 16 miles. He also had groceries and dry goods shipped a distance of 45 miles from Great Island to his home. Think of this as an early form of Amazon Prime without the ability to track your order.

He was a very skilled and accomplished hunter, like many who lived in the area back in those days.

At some point, the fork that he settled on was named Hammersley Fork, the family name, though I am sure there was no elaborate naming ceremony nor the breaking of a bottle of champagne such as when a ship is christened.
Jacob, or “Old Jake” as he was locally known and his wife, referred to as “Granny” Hammersley, raised nine children on the Fork, and he had beheld almost a century of sunsets before his death at the age of 90.

One such child who was also known as Jacob, kept a decent track record of the animals he had taken throughout his life of 60 years as of 1875: 85 bears, 250 deer, 5 elk, 1 panther, 6 wolves, and 40 wild cats. He often boasted of holding the honor of shooting the first elk ever killed in this section of the state. He also often hunted alongside the legendary panther hunter Seth Nelson.

Throughout the years, there was one person who made sure that the spirit of Hammersley Fork would never be forgotten and that is Lillian B. “Bette” Cole, also known as Mrs. Clifford Cole in the local journalism world. She passed on in 2012 in Renovo, but made sure to keep the memory of this place alive with her weekly column in both local newspapers. She was also the postmaster of the post office in Cross Fork for ten years, which also afforded her the opportunity to get to know every name of everyone whose mail passed through the area, whether full-time resident or camp owner.

Mrs. Cole’s weekly news column was well-known and well-read. Below are some excerpts from past columns that might just bring a smile to your face. Nothing happened in Hammersley Fork without Mrs. Cole knowing about it.

–Church attendance at Sunset Memorial was down on Sunday, Dec. 23 as many of our members were away. The flowers were in memory of Loretta Gavlock. After the service, we had brunch in the basement. (published posthumously in 2013)
-Tamarack Grange will meet Tuesday, July 13 at 7 p.m. at Noyes Township Building. (2004)
-Most everyone in the community helped out in some way at the annual Snake Hunt at Cross Fork. It’s good to see the people work together. Thanks to each and everyone. (2004)
-I helped out at the craft table at the Snake Hunt on Saturday and Sunday. It was good to see several people that I had not seen for a long time. Had an especially nice visit with Bob and Kay. (2004)
-Kettle Creek Community Club will meet next Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the fire hall. We’ll have a potluck supper. Bring a dish to share and join us. There will be special entertainment for the program. (2011)
-Several persons attended dinner at Deb’s on Labor Day, given by Jann and Ken Oden of Folded Hills Lodge.

Not much else exists paper-wise about the history of the little village of Hammersley Fork. There were no abundance of stores or shops, there was no train station or daily stops on the PRR. Hammersley Fork was just…there. It has existed in the hearts and minds of those who called it home since the 1820s. And it seems that it is just as wild as those early pioneer days.