Notes from
Monument Square

Newsletter of the
Mifflin County
Historical Society

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Volume XXVII Number 4
AUGUST 2001
(Text version of Society News & Notes)
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Office & Research Library,
1 W. Market St., Suite 1
Lewistown, PA 17044-2128
Phone (717) 242-1022
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McCoy House Museum
17 N. Main St., Lewistown
Sunday afternoon
1:30 - 4:00 p.m.
(May thru December)
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Newsletter Editor : Forest K. Fisher
MCHS e-mail: mchistory@acsworld.net
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Society
News & Notes

MEMBERSHIP
We wish to acknowledge and welcome these new members of the Mifflin County Historical Society. Nineteen new annual members and three new individual life members have joined the ranks. Memberships allow us to operate the society office and open the museum every Sunday May to December, as well as other special programs throughout the year, such as Kid Connection in April and Home Town Christmas in November and December.
We thank these new annual and life members for joining the Mifflin County Historical Society!

New Individual Life Member
Darwin E. Gearhart, McVeytown

New Annual Members
Darleen T. Weimer, Strongstown, Pa.
Joe Westover, Belleville
Clara Warner, Clinton Twp., Mich.
Daniel & Barbara Brought, Brooksville, Fla.
Mrs. Wayne C. Watson, Ambler, Pa.
Haven Bearley, Reedsville
Jeff Thompson, White Deer, Pa.
Stephanie M. Espigh, Lewistown
Eugene W. Smith, Jr, Huntingdon, Pa.
Rick Skipton, Buffalo Grove, Ill.
Richard W. Thomas, Johnstown, Pa.
Lorrie Noey, Huntingdon, Pa.
Shirley M. McMullen, Lewistown
Eileen Hammond, North Wales, Pa.
Ann Snider, York, Pa.
James F. Tully, Jr., Erie, Pa.
Beverly A. Fisher, Lewistown
Theresa (Lennartz) Witzel, Royersford, Pa.
Charles & Bernadine McCoy, Hummels Wharf, Pa.

GROUP HEARS ABOUT
HARRY TRUMAN

The 2001 Spring Dinner Meeting was held at the McVeytown Fire Hall, April 26th. Program Chairman Ray C. Allison, presented featured speaker John R. Sisley following the business meeting. John entertained the historical society’s members and friends with stories and anecdotes of the 33rd President, Harry Truman.
John observed during his presentation, that Harry Truman was the best president we ever "backed into by dumb luck and awkwardness."
One anecdote told of Truman’s thrifty ways. John related how the letters President Truman wrote his mother all carried the regular three cent stamp. When asked why he didn't use his free postage privilege, he replied, "That's for constituents! I was writing my mother.”
Following a brief question and answer period at the conclusion, Chairman Allison presented Mr. Sisley with the traditional speakers’ gift, The Mifflin County Bicentennial Cookbook.

SEPTEMBER BANQUET
“An Evening with Mark Twain”

Famous author and humorist Mark Twain, in the person of Donald Orwald of Butler, Pa. will entertain the Mifflin County Historical Society at the Fall banquet. The event will be held September 20, 2001 at the McVeytown Fire Hall. A family-style roast beef dinner will be served.
With an English teacher’s background from Saxonburg’s Knoch High School and an avocation for the theatre, playing Twain comes naturally for Mr. Orwald. He commented in a 1996 Butler Eagle article about his persona when he plays the American humorist, “I like to enter through the audience, breaking that third wall right away and behaving as though I really am Mark Twain giving a speech at a meeting hall.”
Appearing in elaborate make-up and period clothing, Mr. Orwald transforms himself into the famous author during the lectures of Twain’s later years.
For a family style meal, followed by fine entertainment, plan to attend the society’s September banquet.

Deadline for Reservations
Sept. 13, 2001
Call 242-1022 and reserve today!

Please meet...

Members of Our Board

John P. Mertz

Mifflin County native John P. Mertz credits his love of history, including world, U. S. and local history, as one of the reasons he serves on the board of directors of the Mifflin County Historical Society.
John serves on the Membership Committee, and served terms as Board Vice President and President. He recently commented on why he gives his time to the historical society. John stated, “I want to be close to and be a part of those individuals that dedicate so much time preserving local history.”
John Mertz is a 1953 graduate of Lewistown High School and received an Applied Associate Science Degree and a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Photography from Rochester Institute of Technology in 1957. He was a military photographer in the U.S.Army from 1957 to 1959, stationed in Germany.
From 1960 through 1995, John worked at Penn State University, retiring from there as Director of Photography and Graphics in 1995.
John has also given untold hours, both in the past and presently, to a dozen or more service clubs and organizations, from Lewistown Rotary to Lions International, plus many more.
With wife Robyn, John lives at 532 E, Freedom Ave., Burnham. Daughter Heidi is married to Scott Welham and they have twin sons Mitchell and Coleman and daughter Sawyer.
John and Robyn, besides enjoying their grandchildren, are frequent travelers, touring extensively throughout the United States and Europe. The couple’s major hobby is collecting antique beer steins and related drinking vessels.
John P. Mertz, a member of our board. We wish to acknowledge and thank John and our other board members. To keep the Mifflin County Historical Society moving forward, it takes the many, many hours of dedicated and volunteered service that members like John Mertz are willing to give.

Projects from the
WPA on display

Times were tough during the Depression years of the 1930s. Many people were out of work or worked only occasionally. Yet through the WPA or Works Progress Administration, part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, employment opportunities became available. Public projects from architectural and road reconstruction to artistic preservation, all helped maintain and preserve many facets of the community.
Visitors to the McCoy House can see the results of one of these projects, the Museum Extension Project, supported by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
Miniatures depicting the historic furniture of colonial Pennsylvania are on display. The recreated miniatures are handmade of various woods, and accurate to the most minute detail. Colonial furniture types considered desirable antiques today are portrayed in wood.
The photographs below show some of the items on display. Corner cupboards, tables, a wash stand, a butter churn, plank-bottom chairs, even a butter mold can be seen in miniature form.
Also on display are other models from WPA, dioramas that depict modes of shelter from around the world and at various historical periods.
WPA items on display are part of the Mifflin County Historical Society’s permanent collection. Many have not been on display for a number of years. Stop by and see this exhibit of Pennsylvania’s heritage. 

McCoy House Museum is open to the public each Sunday from 1:30 P.M. to 4:00 P.M

SOCIETY HAS REDESIGNED
INTERNET HOME

www.McCoyHouse.com

The Mifflin County Historical Society recently announced the redesign of its Internet site at McCoyHouse.com
Several years ago, the site was developed and maintained by Douglas Armstrong of Reston, Virginia. He registered the site name and developed the project as a welcome contribution to the society, all part of the PAGenWeb Project, a shared genealogical and family research and resources project covering every county in Pennsylvania by computer literate volunteers. He was our first Web Master - the person in charge of design, development and administration of our site.
Maintaining a web site is time consuming and with a growing young family, Douglas decided to pass the maintenance of the web site on to someone else. The historical society retains the registration of the site name.
Earlier this year, Cynthia Rosenberry, of Richmond, Virginia, took up the challenge and volunteered for the GenWeb Project. She is now our new Web Master. Cynthia has been working closely with the society’s newsletter editor, Forest Fisher, in developing many new features.
The editor recently commented,” Cynthia has the creative drive and technological know-how. She can translate an idea into something workable. I’ve looked at many historical society sites on the Internet and ours is one of the best.”
The society’s redesigned site contains all the bells and whistles Internet users would expect. There’s good reason for that, too. Cynthia is proprietor, artist and webmaster of Crow & Pitcher Creative Solutions, a design business with its own home on the web at www.crow-n-pitcher.com.
Cynthia also maintains the Mifflin County site for the PAGenWeb Project at www.rootsweb.com/~pamiffli/. Her interests in genealogy and her family roots stretch all the way back to the early 1800s in Wayne Township, Mifflin County. Thomas Johnson and Allen Rosenberry were among her earliest local ancestors.
If you have Internet access, the society invites you to visit McCoyHouse.com You can take a Virtual Tour of McCoy House. See the exhibits and displays online.
Other features you’ll find: Local vintage photos; Complete list of society publications; Research services; Online Resources including a Newsletter Archive from 1997 to date of Society News items and much more.

Three years in the making...

Biographical Cemetery
Books Series
Mount Rock Cemetery
by
Charles William Morgan

Charles William Morgan has written books covering 40 cemeteries in Mifflin and Snyder Counties and recently announced the publication of the latest in the series on area cemeteries.
Mount Rock Cemetery, in Mifflin County’s Derry Township, is the largest cemetery Mr. Morgan has completed to date. He commented recently, “It was quite a project.”
He included a new feature with this publication, too, stating, “I have a computer CD with a digital photo of every stone in Mount Rock Cemetery.” That is quite a project.
Mr. Morgan also noted that his cemetery books are not publicized or generally advertised, but can be seen at historical societies and libraries, including the Mifflin County Historical Society.
The author is a life member of the Mifflin County and Snyder County Historical Societies. He was raised in Decatur Township, Mifflin County, residing there until 1966, when he moved to Shippensburg, Pa.

Contact the author directly for
purchasing details or other questions:
Charles William Morgan
29 Mount Rock Road
Shippensburg, PA 17257
e-mail: morganc@cvn.net.

Mount Rock Cemetery Book - $20.00
Photo CD for Mount Rock- $20.00
Photo CD includes a digital photo of every
stone in Mount Rock Cemetery
Mount Rock Book + CD - $35.00

Editor's Desk

I was privy to a conversation recently that revolved around the idea of cremation, a very lively discussion, no pun intended.
The pros and cons were batted around pretty well... “It would be cheaper.” and “It’s against my religion.” and “It doesn’t matter to me, I’ll be gone anyway.” It was a spirited discussion, more like a political discourse, without any declared winner.
Eventually, the topic turned to, what else, what to do with the ashes... “Just bury them in the plot.” or “Take mine to the lake and spread them on the waters.” or the 21st Century one...“I want mine blasted into space.”
I’m listening to the discourse and recalled a friend whose relative was cremated and scattered back to Mother Earth, with benefit of a funeral, but no burial or headstone.
That’s perfectly fine, it was an honest choice. I certainly have no quarrel with that. However, here at the historical society, we have folks searching for long lost relatives all the time. They lack the basics, like exact date of birth or death date. What is a resource often helpful in that search? Cemeteries, of course.
Mifflin County has, at last count, over 120, from single burial plots on a family farm, to church affiliated and secular cemeteries with thousands of individuals interred. As one who’ll walk a cemetery or battlefield at a moments notice, it struck me, “What if there is no headstone? How would I find a relative?” Granted, public records today keep track of us all, maybe better than we’d like. Yet, our ancestors’ headstones fade a bit every day.
To appreciate a person who’s done much to keep that record intact, please check out the effort of society life member, Charles William Morgan.