Page 18 - Jeffersonville Journal Visitors Guide
P. 18

Family members gather at the dedication of George Spielmann’s tombstone.
Jeffersonville. In the fall of 2015, Spielmann received an email from Michael Sweeney, his piano was ready to be delivered to Stone Wall Acres. To mark the occasion of the piano’s acquisition, its completed restoration project, and its new status as a family heirloom, Spielmann organized an unveiling ceremony and invited family members and friends to attend. One
The Spielmann upright piano before and after.
Mr. Sweeney shared his piano expertise with Glenn, "The Spielmann Upright is the flagship size. Some makers, like George Spielmann called them ‘upright grands.’ Of all of the vertical pianos, this size has the fullest sound. Though not as powerful or dynamic as a baby grand, it is the fullest sound of all upright models available."
Sweeney carefully transported the piano to Pennsylvania, and got right to work. He told Glenn, "I promise you a gorgeous job!" Restoring, refinishing, and rebuilding a piano demands hours and hours of labor, and it took over a year for Sweeney to complete his work. Sweeney himself described the final product as “exquisite.” He had kept his promise.
Anyone who has visits Stone Wall Acres Bed & Breakfast, Glenn’s decision to restore the piano will not come as a surprise. In addition to his affability as an innkeeper and active involvement as community member, Spielmann relishes his avocation as a serious historical preservationist. In 1985, he purchased five acres on Eagin Road, a property that included an old house and barn that were almost beyond repair from years of neglect and episodes of vandalism. But Spielmann had an ambitious vision for this property. He would restore the ancestral homestead of his and my great, great, great grandparents, Thomas and Mary Annie Laurie Brown. Thomas Brown purchased the property around 1840. He and his wife raised their 11 children here. Thomas lived until 1898, and Mary Annie lived until 1912. Sold after Mary Annie’s death, the property saw many decades and multiple transfers of ownership until at last it came back to family ownership when Spielmann acquired it.
It took Spielmann six years of extensive restoration to transform the property. The aging barn blossomed into an attractive carriage house style structure that now provides lodging for bed and breakfast guests, not animals. Completely restored, the old house now serves as Spielmann’s home and as a site for serving that essential B & B offering—breakfast. Standing dry stone constructed walls that give the property its name—Stone Walls Acres—outline the fields once again.
The property also contains numerous antiques that Spielmann has acquired. Many he has restored himself. Others he has engaged craftsmen to restore like the original wood-burning Glenwood cook stove in the cozy kitchen. Displays of family heirlooms, along with other decorative items, show a longstand- ing family connection to the local community. For example, the John’s General Store newspaper stand that once held papers on the Dunnigan family’s storefront porch in Youngsville serves as a functional antique treasure. A wooden propeller that was retrieved long ago from an airplane crash decorates a sitting area. Rumors have it that the crash took place during World War II on the Dewitt Flats field, located between Youngsville and
16 Jeffersonville Journal • 2016-2017
of his former students from Liberty High School—an accomplished pianist—Justin Sutherland, serenaded the guests on the upright with old tunes such as “Little Brown Jug,” a favorite song of Great Uncle George and his sister Katie Spielmann Ritterhausen.
Once again, this Spielmann upright piano drew family and friends together in musical merriment. It now occupies a prominent space in the Spielmann family home. What a perfect ending to a story that began with the surprise discovery of an old, beat up piano in a local barn.
Ginny Brown Davis has contributed several articles to the Jeffersonville Journal over the last five years. She lives in the Philadelphia area and proudly considers Kenoza Lake to be her home town. Ginny and Glenn Spielmann are distant cousins. They are related through Abigail Brown’s marriage to Henry Spielmann in 1880.
If you own a Spielmann upright piano, or know of someone who does, please contact Glenn Spielmann. He would enjoying hearing from you, 1-845-701-2271.


































































































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