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From the President's Desk Exciting things are happening. Have you seen some strangers huddled or digging around in the back yard of the museum? Well, those people are from the Cumberland Valley Chapter #27 of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology, Inc. The board invited well-known, local archeologist, Tim Rockwell, of Mercersburg, to walk the grounds of the museum. He discovered a couple of old brick and stone walks that have long since been grown over with grass. To where they led we aren't sure yet. But Tim has given us some suggestions as to where some missing pieces of history from former owners might be. I asked Seibert Zimmerman to visit the museum to recall his memories of the small farm. His parents, Cletus and Maude, bought the original property in September 1936. They moved into the house in 1937 when Seibert was ten years old. He lived on the property until he sold it in 1988. The property was originally 16 plus acres with a full-size barn, wagon shed, corn crib, hog pen, chicken house and barnyard, and a corn and hay field all located on the property now occupied by the middle school. A limestone kiln, used for baking bricks, was located on what is now the southeast corner of the Catholic Church property at the corner of Leitersburg St. and South Ridge Avenue. Ridge Avenue did not exist back then and Leitersburg Pike was the main road. So, the front of the house faces south, not east. There was a long lane that went directly south in line with the front entrance all the way to Leitersburg Pike. The land where the lower Catholic Church parking lot currently is was a fenced area for grazing cows. The land west of the current pine tree fence row on our property was planted in corn and hay. Just north of the house on the eastside of the row of boxwoods was a washhouse/summer kitchen with a large open oven. Sandy Kirkpatrick, our secretary, and I will be making a trip to the basement of the Franklin County courthouse to search the tax records on the property to find out exactly when the house was built. We'll keep you updated on any findings.
What's Been Happening Bonnie completed a four-page research survey on the code of ethics for museums for the American Association of Museums. In July, Allison-Antrim Museum received a grant in the amount of $5,000 from the Department of Community and Economic Development, Harrisburg, PA. The grant was attained with the assistance of Representative Patrick Fleagle. The grant was written and applied for in order to complete two projects: the construction of a wheelchair and handicapped accessible ramp on the north side of the house; and the recovery of space of an original upstairs room that will be used as a storage area for the time being.
Steve Divelbiss, local contractor and AAMI member, completed the second project - the recovery of an original upstairs room. It involved removing bathroom fixtures, moving electrical wiring and plumbing, reproducing baseboard molding and returning a wall to its original place to regain much needed space. The last thing to be done before the room can be actively used for storage is the restoration of the original pine floors. You are invited to visit the museum to see the improvements during its next regularly scheduled open house on Sunday, September 12, 1 pm - 4 pm.
Update on the Restoration of the Smith Paintings Shown here are pictures of "Snowing" and "The Yellow House" after they were partially cleaned. The cleaned and restored "Yellow House" and "Snowing" were "unveiled" at the August general meeting. Please stop by the museum to see the incredible results. Again our thanks go to Tom and Alice Brumbaugh who have made this project possible. They have chosen to continue with the restoration and cleaning of two more of Smith's paintings - "Springfield Meadow" that hangs above Phillip Baer's grand piano and "Market Street", the unframed center city Philadelphia painting.
Recent Acquisitions The Civil War canteen and powder horn of Jasper McLanahan along with a tin-type photograph of Jasper and a second tin-type of his wife and daughter, Maude, who was the mother of Dorothy Statler. These items were given by Dorothy and Ken Statler. The wedding tails worn by Walter Reed Sloan upon his marriage to Mabel Leon Trout on November 17, 1909. These items were given in memory of Walter and Mabel Sloan by their daughter, Matilda Sloan Wine, and John Wine. The West Point U.S. Military Academy full-dress cadet uniforms of Steven Miller, the first Greencastle-Antrim resident to be accepted into West Point from 1974 - 1978. A guest register from the Franklin Hotel (currently known as the Franklin House located on North Carlisle Street) from July 1864 to October 1867. The Franklin Hotel was owned by John H. Adams. The register was given to the museum by his three great-grandsons, AAMI member, William Adams, Robert W. Adams and Kenneth M. Adams.
Membership Campaign Enclosed with this newsletter is your 99/00 AAMI membership card. We thank you very much for your support. If you think you have renewed your membership and there is no card, please contact me at 597-9325. I may have missed recording the information on the computer records or the check crossed in the mail. If a membership card is not included, perhaps you have mislaid the application form and forgotten about renewing. If you haven't renewed, please use this as a reminder. We rely upon the membership dues to cover the annual operating expenses such as the electricity, gas, phone, water and sewer, etc. The levels of giving are: Student - $5; Individual - $10; Family - $25; Patron - $26 - $99; Supporting - $100 - $199; Sustaining - $200 - $799; Individual Life - $800; Couple Life - $1500. We would like to say, "Welcome," to our new members and thank you, also, for your patronage. We have, so far, received 11 new individual, 11 new family, three patron and one supporting level memberships. Support from the community continues to grow. This validates the work that has been accomplished to date and is an endorsement for the museum's future plans.
Proceeds Will Benefit the Museum Ted Alexander has given to the museum 25 copies of the August 1999 issue of the magazine North & South. The magazines will be on sale at the museum for $4.00 a copy on a first-come-first-served basis. Ted authored Ten Days in July - The Pursuit to the Potomac. In the article he recounts the retreat after the battle of Gettyburg of the defeated Confederate troops south through the Cumberland Valley to Hagerstown and Williamsport, MD. Included in the article is the encounter with the retreating confederates just south of Greencastle with Captain Ulrich Dahlgren assisted by Tom Pawling's group of local partisans from this area. Ted is park historian at the Antietam National Battlefield, an assistant editor of North & South and a member of the AAMI Board of Directors. A second article, Hurry was the Order of the Day, written by Steve French also focuses on the retreat and mentions the encounters at Greencastle.
Have You Seen… Do you know which of Smith's paintings hung in the Corcoran Gallery? The answer to July's issue "Have You Seen…" question is Henry P. Fletcher.
Did You Know… *There are approximately 15,000 museums in the United States. *75% are small museums *43% are situated in rural areas
Wish List Period Hall Light for Upstairs Small Dress Forms (Size 7 or smaller) Padded Hangers (bought or made)
Calendar of Events Thursday, September 9, 1999: monthly meeting, 7 pm, Evangelical Lutheran Church, Paula Reed presenting a program on the "Historical Architecture of the Cumberland Valley". Sunday, September 12, 1999: open house, 1 pm - 4 pm, special display TBA Saturday, October 9, 1999: open house, 11 am - 2 pm (co-insides with the Apple Festival) Sunday, October 10, 1999: open house,1 pm - 4 pm, Rescue Hose Antique Hand Pumper, leather hoses, buckets and other items on display Thursday October 14, 1999: quarterly meeting, Antrim House Restaurant, 6:30 pm, annual election of board members; Jane Alexander and Wayne Baumbaugh talking about the "History of the Echo Pilot". Thursday November 11, 1999: monthly meeting, 7 pm, Evangelical Lutheran Church, Charles White presenting "Tayamentasachta's Place in Greencastle's History". Sunday, November 14, 1999: open house, 1 pm - 4 pm; - display of Veterans uniforms Tuesday, November 30, 1999: annual Christmas dinner, 6:30 pm, Antrim House Restaurant, speaker Ed Bearss, nationally known Civil War historian, will speak on "The 126th PA at the Battle of Fredericksburg". Sunday, December 12, 1999: Christmas open house, 1 pm - 4pm, special display of miniature soldiers |