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The
Story of Agnes
Agnes Bennethum
was born in the mountains near Myerstown in 1845.
Her parents were Peter Bennethum and Sarah Heffelfinger, her grandparents
were Peter Bennethum and his wife Kate Moyer, and her great-grandparents were
Johannes Andreas Benedum and Marie Barbara Minnich. When
she was a very old woman, Agnes's children insisted on recording the story of
her life. And a fascinating
life it was!
When she was a young girl her family. along with her father's brother's
family, moved to Ohio. She
describes the trip in vivid detail. They
took two Conestoga wagons crammed full of their possessions.
She tells of provisions the wagons had for camping enroute, such as
boards on the side that pulled up for sleeping.
In Ohio all the women spoke the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect her mother
didn't know it very well. She grew
lonely and homesick and took to her bed, telling her husband she was not getting
out of bed until he promised to take her back to Pennsylvania,
They comprised and went to Illinois where her father's cousin owned the
Pennsylvania House hotel.
When Agnes was about 16, President Lincoln came to Freeport.
There was a big parade and Agnes was chosen as one of three girls to
represent of colors of the flag. She
wore a all-white dress and rode a white horse When she married John Henry in ___ she wore an elegant brown silk wedding dress Submitted by: SueCunning@aol.com |
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