January 2005, Volume 8, Issue 1
From the President’s Desk
“Treasure” boxes with approximately 150 letters that were written by and to members of the George W. Ziegler families, dating from about 1838 to 1919, were given to Allison-Antrim Museum by AAMI member David O. Nicodemus. Several of the letters were written to George W. Ziegler (Anne Ziegler Nicodemus’ great-grandfather) by the Rev. Dr. Edwin Emerson, pastor of the Greencastle Presbyterian church prior to the Civil War. The collection includes letters written during the Civil War by George Frederick Ziegler and letters written to him by family members. Handwritten, with dip pen and ink and occasionally pencil, are first-person accounts of daily routines, family members, family life, and opinions about relevant events and topics of the day. The letters are an invaluable resource, not only for insight into what everyday life was like in Greencastle, but also how American history impacted our citizens. As I read the letters, I sometimes felt as though I was eavesdropping on the lives of the Ziegler family members, even though the majority of the letters were written well over a hundred years ago. At other times, the descriptive writing was so engrossing that it drew me back into their presence. Among numerous books that were also included in the gift by David Nicodemus, husband of the late Anne Ziegler Nicodemus, are treasurers’ ledgers for the Waynesburg-Greencastle-Mercersburg Turnpike. George W. Ziegler was one of the incorporators of the turnpike. No other such records probably still exist for this main thoroughfare that cuts across the valley and is now known as the Buchanan Trail, East and West.
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Given at the same time was an oil portrait on canvas of George W. Ziegler, the first Ziegler to come to Greencastle in 1833 from the family homestead in Leitersburg, Maryland. It was painted by the well-known portrait artist of the time in this area, William D. Lechler. It is signed and dated January 21, 1841 on the back of the canvas. George W. Ziegler was the grandfather of G. Fred Ziegler, and the great, great grandfather of John Z. Nicodemus who donated the portrait to Allison-Antrim Museum. John is the son of David O. Nicodemus and the late Anne Ziegler Nicodemus.
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This photograph is of the restored portrait of George W. Ziegler. He was born near Leitersburg, Maryland on April 30, 1810 and died on November 16, 1897. This portrait was a gift to the museum from John Z. Nicodemus, great-great grandson of George W. Ziegler. |
The portrait, which now hangs above the grand piano in the large parlor of the museum, commands ones attention upon entering the room. George W. arrived in Greencastle 51 years after it was founded by John Allison and just a little more than a quarter century before the beginning of the Civil War. Only six years after he arrived in town, the era of the great iron horse began in Greencastle. Ziegler, a businessman and entrepreneur, understood the opportunities that daily train service offered, and capitalized on that opportuneness. Ziegler was a contemporary of the Rev. Dr. Edwin Emerson, Jacob Hostetter, Jacob B. Crowell, Samuel Bradley, and Alexander L. Irwin (builder of the museum house) who was also a businessman, merchant, and along with Ziegler was an incorporator of the Greencastle-Maryland Turnpike (now known as the Williamsport Turnpike).
Since 1997, the Greencastle-Antrim community has been blessed with and has greatly benefited from many such charitable gifts. It is through the generosity and the aforethought of donors, that Allison-Antrim Museum’s collections are as historically significant as they are today. Regardless of physical size, each gift has its own intrinsic story and historical value that contributes some new piece of information to the history of our Greencastle-Antrim community. As I was recently walking through the rooms of the museum, I realized how many gifts have been given to the museum since 1997 by individuals, with Greencastle-Antrim ties that have since passed away. If not for those charitable donors and their appreciation and interest in our history, many artifacts, textiles, and archival pieces never would have been made known. The very rare c. 1790 clover header, the simple c. 1870 toddler girl’s dress made for Sue Crunkleton Brumbaugh, hand-forged butchering utensils, the cast iron kettle used in a kitchen in Shady Grove, a hand-crafted baby cradle, and photographs are but a “handful” of the items that the museum wouldn’t have had to use in the interpretation of life in this area, had it not been for the donors calling and asking, “Would the museum be interested in this?” One of the four agreements in the book "The Four Agreements" by don Miguel Ruiz is never make assumptions. If you are downsizing or just going through things that have been packed away for years, and you don’t know what to do with something and wonder if the item you have might be of interest, call the museum and ask. You never know what treasure you may have.
Coming and Going
On December 31, 2004 the board terms of Nan Flaherty, Shirley Baker, and Pat Faust came to an end, with all three ladies deciding not to run for another three-year term. Nan and Shirley were two members of the original group of Greencastle-Antrim residents who met at the Chamber of Commerce in the summer of 1994 to begin discussing the formation of a museum organization for our community. They have both served Allison-Antrim Museum with great interest and dedication, both before and after the incorporation of Allison-Antrim Museum. Pat Faust joined the board in 1999 to complete the unexpired term of Kelly Scott, who at that time resigned as treasurer of the board. Pat has served as AAMI’s treasurer for five years and her expertise has been very valuable to the board. “Thank you” to all three ladies. Their presence at the board table will be missed.
New to the board of directors at the January 2005 board meeting will be AAMI members Pam Ott and Rebecca Elgin. Pam has agreed to assume the position of treasurer, and Rebecca Elgin, who did her masters’ internship at AAMI in 2004, will take the 11th seat on the board. We welcome both ladies and look forward to working with them in the coming years.
January Exhibit
“Baby It’s Cold Outside” is the title of the January exhibit which will feature outerwear and accessories. The items that will be displayed are from the museum’s collection and the James H. Craig Jr. collection, which is on loan to Allison-Antrim Museum. Other contributions are from Cynthia Lawrence-Fink, Marnie and Mo’s Antiques and Gifts, Cyndi Carbaugh, and AAMI members – Hermione Brewer, Alesia Permansu, Carla Wright, and Bonnie Shockey.
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Shown here is a sampling of outerwear accessories and a 1920s black and gold
Egyptian assutti shawl and a five-pelt mink scarf that will be part of Allison-Antrim Museum’s January 2005 exhibit, “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” |
Among the outer garments on exhibit will be a reproduction cloak from the 1800s, a c. 1898 high-collared wool cape with ornate, appliquéd braid and a fur muff, a c. 1905 walking coat and skirt, a c. 1925 child’s fur muff with a French ivory (celluloid) wrist ring and leather gloves, and two oriental-influenced c. 1911 cocoon-style coats. By 1910, as fashion started to rapidly change during the second decade of the 20th century, cloaks became much less popular as outwear. At that time, cloaks or capes became associated with uniforms for nurses and those in service industries. The c. 1929 nurses cape of Lorraine Pensinger Phillips will be on exhibit. Originally of Greencastle, Phillips received her nurses training at Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia, Pa.
Although politically incorrect in 2005, fur coats, jackets, and stoles were a part of fashion history. As a necessity of life, fur has been used for warmth since early history by those who live in cold climates. Later, fur became a fashion statement when it was used as trim on dresses, cloaks and coats, or as in the 1940s and 1950s when fur coats, jackets, and stoles became highly fashionable. Throughout history, all classes of society tried to imitate, within their financial means, the designs of the newest fashion plates from Europe and Britain. Fur and leather accessories were no exception. Along side the mink scarves and a c. 1950 mink jacket, will be a more affordable faux fur stole and muff. Two very unusual fur pieces that belonged to the late Nellie Snively Omwake are also included. The one piece is a lap robe that was used while traveling in a buggy or carriage and the other is a long rectangular fur breast stole with a pocket in each end for keeping ones hands warm.
Two c. 1920s Egyptian assuitti shawls and two woven 1920s shawls with fringe and embroidery, from the Craig collection, will be exhibited, even though they would have been worn during the more moderate temperatures of spring and summer. The museum-quality assuitti shawls are geometric in design and are crafted of the smallest, individually hand-hammered metal pieces on netting.
Other accessories included in the exhibit will be hats and handbags. Examples of purses in the display include one that is crocheted and some made of steel mesh and steel and glass beads. A nice selection of very fashionable 1950s Lucite handbags from the collection of Cyndi Carbaugh will be displayed along with two alligator handbags – one real, one faux.
A winter ambience will be created within the museum by the many snow paintings of the late Walter Washington Smith, who was internationally known for his paintings of Greencastle and Antrim Township. Smith’s favorite theme was snow. One painting of Market Street in center city Philadelphia is a vignette from the 1940s of ladies’ and gentlemen’s outwear during a winter snowstorm.
See the Calendar of Events for dates and times.
February Exhibit
Coming attractions: “Sweethearts of the Silver Screen” will be the February featured exhibit. During the last couple of years, many of the truly great film stars of the golden age of movies have died. The February exhibit will be based on half a century of these great leading actresses and actors of the silver screen. The exhibit will include many of the greatest stars of our time from the 1920s through the 1970s – the "Golden Age of Hollywood and Movies."
The memorabilia will include lobby cards, informative articles about individual stars, movie scene "stills," many photographs (some of which are original studio photographs), and other information about the major stars and movies, including a special display for early Academy Awards which were established in the 1920s. Special individual displays will showcase major life events and summarized biographies for selected major stars.
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The Gem
Theater, shown here, opened in c. 1912, and was “the place to go” |
The exhibit includes the very early stars like Mary Pickford and Mae West and other favorite silver screen sweethearts like Clark Gable (King of the Silver Screen), Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Spencer Tracey and Lauren Bacall, Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Davis, Judy Garland, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Montgomery Cliff, and Natalie Wood are but a “few” of the stars featured in this extensive exhibit. The exhibit will be informative for all ages.
As an added attraction, Bette Davis movies will be playing for visitors as they tour the exhibit.
The Gem Theater was the first movie theater in Greencastle. It opened ca. 1912 in the annex that Harry McLaughlin built onto the McLaughlin Hotel (currently the Antrim House). Children could get into the movies for five cents and adults paid ten cents. A poster from the State Theater, a later theater in Greencastle, will be on display.
Nostalgia will be the word of the day for museum visitors. Please join us as we re-visit the Golden Age of Hollywood and Movies.
See Calendar of Events for dates and times. top
January Quarterly Meeting
AAMI member Dr. Jerry Harness, DVM will be the speaker for the January 13 quarterly meeting. He will present a PowerPoint program on the “History of Veterinary Medicine in Pennsylvania,” which will also include historical information relative to Franklin County.
Harness opened the Franklin Veterinary Associates practice in Antrim Township on April 1, 1972. The program will be about 45 – 60 minutes long, with a question and answer time period allotted. Light refreshments will be served following the presentation.
Historic Brick-end Barns of Franklin County
Available for purchase at the museum and the Greencastle-Antrim Chamber of Commerce are unframed poster-size prints of twenty historical brick-end barns in Franklin County. The photographs were taken by Phil Schaff of Williamson, who started taking photographs of these unique historical structures about a decade or so ago. Several of the barns on the poster no longer exist. The photographs include both colored and black and white images. Antrim Township’s infamous donkey barn, which is located a little more than a mile west of Greencastle, is included.
The Kittochtinny Historical Society, Fort Loudon Historical Society, Mercersburg Historical Society, Greencastle-Area Arts Council, and the Allison-Antrim Museum underwrote the cost of printing the posters. As the posters are sold, each organization’s investment will be reimbursed.
For more information, call the museum at 717.597.9010.
What’s Been Happening
- Bonnie was the facilitator for a Teaching American History class on November 13, 2004 at Allison-Antrim Museum for 11 social studies teachers in Franklin County. There were four teachers from the Greencastle-Antrim School District, one from the Tuscarora School District, and six from the Chambersburg Area School District. Along with the photographs in Images of America Greencastle-Antrim, each teacher was given a take-home notebook with additional historical background information and transcripts and photocopies of primary documents from the collections of AAMI, which helped show how Greencastle-Antrim’s history and Franklin County’s paralleled that of the colonies and the young nation.
Images of America Greencastle-Antrim books were purchased for each of the participants with Teaching American History grant money, which earned proceeds about $240 for the museum. By attending the class, the teachers earned credits to help meet the requirements of Pa Act 481.
Recent Acquisitions
- One 1932 and 1941 official Old Home Week photographs. Gifts from Max Pensinger, York, Pa.
Website Inquiries
- An eighth generation descendant sought information on William McBrayer (McBrier), born in Ireland and died in October 1795, and his wife Rebecca Brown McBrayer who died August 12, 1805. Both of the McBrayers are supposedly buried in the old Brown’s Mill Cemetery.
Calendar of Events
Thursday, January 6, noon – 4 p.m. and Sunday, January 9, 1 – 4 p.m.: Open House – “Baby It’s Cold Outside” – Vintage Outerwear
Thursday, January 13, 7 p.m., Evangelical Lutheran Church: Quarterly Meeting – Dr. Jerry Harness will speak on the “History of Veterinary Medicine in Pennsylvania and Franklin County.”
Thursday, February 10, 7 p.m., Evangelical Lutheran Church: General Meeting – Dennis Frye will speak on John Brown
Sunday, February 13, 1 – 4 p.m. and Thursday, February 17, noon – 3 p.m.: Open House – “Coming Attractions: Sweethearts of the Sliver Screen”
Tuesday, November 15, Antrim House Restaurant: Holiday Dinner Meeting – Ed Bearss will speak on Washington at Valley Forge
Upcoming Speakers: Curtis Myers on Fairchild; Will Pananes on Milton Hershey and His Legacy; Bill Diehl on Part Two of his personal story as a WWII P.O.W.; former Secretary of the Navy James Webb speaking on his new book “Fields of Fire”