Proudly brought to you by the Lymansville Gleaner Editorial Staff
THE LYMANSVILLE GLEANER ~ “Ferreting Out the Truth Since 1784!”
THE FOUNDING OF TCOL:
It was on January 17th of 1797 that the construction of The College of Lymansville officially commenced. The College of Lymansville (fondly referred to by all in town as TCOL, but pronounced “COL”—the “T” is silent) began informally in 1792 as a college of letters with lectures and discussions held in private homes. From there it expanded swiftly into a forum for those that wanted to share and learn applicable expertise in various fields. “The evolution of TCOL was, and continues to be, a marvel. It’s a true testament to the idea that the integration of learning into the comfort of common social interaction can lead to the ultimate success of a sphere of scholarship,” said Talia Spencer (current Chair of the College of Social Sciences) when asked about the early years of TCOL. “I mean, everything’s more fun when it doesn’t feel like you’re being force-fed a peanut butter and sardine sandwich, right?”
Now a full-fledged university (as it offers a collection of degrees), TCOL boasts five colleges under its banner: the College of Physical Sciences, the College of Social Sciences, the College of Small Business Development and Management, the College of Tillage and Husbandry, and the College of Letters, Languages, and Fine Arts.
TCOL is run collectively by the chairs of each college and funded, in most part, by an endowment generously provided by the Brighton family. While small and fairly unknown, TCOL is considered very prestigious and currently enrolls seventy undergraduate and fifteen graduate minds each year.
Fun facts:
~ The library was the first structure built on the campus.
~ TCOL has always been a fully co-ed and unsegregated institution.
~ The original “Stan the Pig” (TCOL’s mascot) was a wild pig that wandered into a tillage lesson that Emeline Geoffrey was teaching in her barn in 1795. Emeline was so taken with the porcine creature that she tamed it, named it Stanley, and it remained a beloved family pet until its death seventeen years later.
~ The TCOL motto, “Nos Creare Intelligentes Civium,” roughly translates to, “We Make Smart People.”
TRANSPORTATION IN LYMANSVILLE:
When interviewed by the Lymansville Gleaner in 1921 regarding the explosion of the automobile craze, Moss Flick famously remarked, “Even an eastern wild turkey would know they didn’t need a car here in Lymansville—hell, it only takes an average of six minutes to walk anywhere in town from anywhere else in town!”
At the time, many Lymansvillians agreed with the usually demure toy-store owner. But as the years passed and Lymansville expanded, many jumped on the bandwagon. Today, roughly 70% of households in Lymansville have an automobile. They are rarely used, however, and when they are, it is predominantly to drive to the docks at Lake Saponi; haul loads from Horshack’s Farm & Nursery (not to be confused with Horshack’s Garden Center—off Town Green); run out to one of the farms: Brighton’s Dairy, Geoffrey Farms, or Widdle’s Farmstead; or for the occasional trip to Walksburg.
In 1968, to ensure that Lymansville would never face an over-abundance of automobiles—and therefore the pesky side effects coming to light around the country such as traffic and poor air quality—Ordinance #42 was added to the Lymansville Bylaws stating that “No household shall obtain and/or maintain an excess of 1 automobile. No business shall exceed the number of vehicles needed to legitimately operate said business as proven to, fairly assessed by, and voted on by a Town Forum.” Ordinance #42.1 quickly followed, stating, “No, you cannot claim household vehicles as business vehicles for the purposes of obtaining and/or maintaining an excess of 1 household vehicle.” This was followed by Ordinance #42.2: “So don’t even try.” The ordinances were voted on and passed almost unanimously by a Town Forum with Strobe Talmadge I being the lone dissenter on all three.
Walking and bicycling continue to be the typically preferred modes of transportation for Lymansvillians. For day-to-day errands—such as trips to Clem’s Market, Horshack’s Garden Center, and/or any of the many other purveyors of goods in town—every household in Lymansville has a wagon of the “little red” variety. Two wagon parking lots accommodate wagon parking—one at the southwest corner of Town Green (outside Clem’s Market) and one at the southeast corner of Town Green (by the First Bank of Lymansville). There is one taxi service in town (Myron’s Taxi Service—owned by one Myron Rosengarten), which boasts a fleet of three cabs. Myron’s Taxi Service services all of Wickett County—though they predominantly operate in and around Lymansville proper—and will make runs to and from the train station in Walksburg for a flat fee.
Fun Facts:
~ Upon moving to Lymansville with his family in 1838, Archibald Talmadge opened Talmadge Wagon & Carriage Manufacturing & Repair, which still services Lymansville today under the banner Talmadge Auto-Repair, and is owned and operated by Strobe Talmadge II, Archibald’s great-great-great-great-great-great-son. Talmadge Auto-Repair is Lymansville’s only, and preeminent, auto repair shop.
~ The most typically spotted wagons in Lymansville are classic Radio-Flyers.
BIRTH OF A TOWN MOTTO:
On January 6th, 1749, the citizens of Lymansville (then, the village of Wickett’s Peak) collectively decided on a Community Motto: the Latin word, “Sit.” Researched and put forth to a Village Forum by Pell Brighton (eldest son of founding village member Gillum Brighton), the motto was intended to express the idea, “Let it be.” It remained “Sit” until 26 years ago when Jubal Brighton discovered that “Let it be” had been somewhat inaccurately translated by his great-great-great-great-great-grandfather. Upon this discovery, Jubal put forth a more definitive translation to a Town Forum: “Permissum Is Exsisto.” The motto was officially changed by an almost unanimous vote (with Strobe Talmadge II being the lone dissenter) on the very anniversary of the original vote in 1749.
Fun Facts:
~Even though the motto was changed to “Permissum Is Exsisto,” “Sit” remains included in the call and response that brings every Town Forum to order.
~ The official flag of Lymansville bears both the date of Lymansville’s founding, as well as the updated town motto.
{The Lymansville Gleaner would like to extend special thanks to Quentin Brighton (current Curator of the Museum of Lymansville and board member of the Lymansville Historical Society) for sharing his expertise and extensive knowledge of all things Lymansville with our editorial staff.}