A TRIBUTE TO A TRUE HUNTER, SPORTSMAN AND PIONEER.

November 5, 2009

From the archives of the Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny

Dateline: November 5, 2009

A TRIBUTE TO A TRUE HUNTER, SPORTSMAN AND PIONEER.

Doyle Thomas Wolford was born April 28, 1913 near Sigel, Barnett Township, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania and died July 27, 2002 near Shippenville, PA. He lived and worked his entire life in the hills and mountains of Pennsylvania. Tom was a houndsman, hunter and a true sportsman.

His parents were John Henry and Rebecca Jane Asel Wolford.

Tom's ancestors came from Ireland and Germany.

The Wolford school near Sigel, PA.

"Tom" as he was known by his friends and family left Jefferson County as a young boy with his family moving to McKean County and settling in the village of Walkertown, in the "oil patch" of Pennsylvania.

Tom worked and played in the woods all his life. From a young age he owned fox hounds, bobcat dogs, squirrel dogs, "coon" hounds and dogs as family pets.

He was a great deer hunter.

Tom worked his entire adult life on the oil leases of South Penn Oil Company which later became Pennzoil Company. During WWII he worked the "Victory Shift" at Dresser Manufacturing plant in Bradford, PA.

It was in the thick woods and on the steep hills of McKean County, Pennsylvania where Tom hunted with friends, family and his many hounds for fox, raccoon, bobcat and squirrel. And many hounds there were. I have pictured only a few of these beautiful animals.

I enjoyed many of his wonderful hunting stories and many times wished I would have written them all down.

As with all huntsmen and hounds some were happy stories and some were not. Losing a hound to whatever reason is always a sad story. Stories of successful hunts are the happiest  of stories.

As they say, "One picture is worth a thousand words."

Below are many thousands of unspoken words in picture.

Some of these pictures we know the year and some we do not.

(Below) Tom with red fox 1939.

(Above) A young Tom and "Joe". Look at Tom in his Sunday Suit.

(Above) "Lizzy Lee" 1937.

(Above) "Butts"

Note the outhouse or privy to the left and the push type reel mower on the right. This was the only type of lawn mower we had before gasoline self propelled mowers.

Tom Wolford with bobcat. (circa 1943)

Above: Tom and the late Simon Young with red fox and bobcat around 1943. Simon reported the cat was treed by the hounds while hunting for fox in the Farmer's Valley region of McKean County. He also remembers the bobcat was old with worn out teeth.



(Below) Tom with "Hi Noon". Note the pressure plant in the background. High pressure water was forced down "intake wells" to force the crude oil out of the oil wells.

 The doghouse was made from "sucker rods". Sucker rods went down the oil wells to facilitate sucking the oil out of the ground. When the change was made from wooden rods to steel rods the wooden sucker rods were everywhere and used for everything. They were made of cypress wood and impregnated with crude oil, of course. The sucker rods would last forever. 

Above:

"Tommy"

(Below) "Rattler"

"Rattler" was a squirrel dog. Tom used a ".218 B" hunting rifle for everything from deer to squirrel including deer, turkey, fox and bobcat.

(Left) Tom and "Rattler". Rattler was a Rat Terrier, hence the name, Rattler.

(Left) Tom, Noon and Joe. Again, the hounds are atop a sucker rod dog house.

(Below) A young looking Tom and a beautiful hound named "Speed".

Left: Great old fox hound Buff.

Below: Tom, far right, Jack Bishop, second from left. The other two are unidentified.

Jack Bishop was a great hunting buddy of Tom's as they hunted fox night and day.

Jack and Tom traveled to North Carolina to hunt fox on one occasion.

In case you don't know, Tom was my beloved father-in-law.