CALENDAR OF EVENTS

The February rotating exhibit at Allison-Antrim Museum, 365 S Ridge Ave, Greencastle, PA is its collection of the Brumbaugh Pennsylvania Governors’ Signatures. It will open on Saturday, February 9 and close March 9. The total collection is a sizeable assemblage of about 80 different documents of Pennsylvania governors’ signatures. The core group of 41 signatures in the collection was given to AAMI when the museum opened in August 1998 by the late Dr. Thomas Brumbaugh. It is a collection that he started in his youth and to which he continued to add “missing” signatures. AAMI believes this rare, educational, and historic collection is the largest collection of Pennsylvania governors’ signatures outside the number of signatures in possession of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. To officials’ knowledge, no other small, local museum or historical organization has such a collection or has focused on this topic.

From the Colonial era to the present, there have been 112 terms of office and 102 men who have served as governor of Pennsylvania. The figure of 102 does not include the only woman, Hannah Penn, wife of William, who assumed the duties of proprietor of the colony while William endured a lengthy illness before his death. Eight men served two different terms and one man served three different terms of office. 

The exhibit is comprised of at least one primary document with the signature of each of the 50 men from the collection. Of local interest, are the signatures of William Findlay and Joseph Heister from Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. The signature of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas McKean, is also part of the exhibit. He was Delaware’s delegate to the 1776 Continental Congress, in Philadelphia. 

The documents contain the governors’ signatures while in office, as well as outside their terms of office. The collection will be complemented by copies of illustrations, portraits, or photographs of each of the 50 men. As an accompaniment during the tour, visitors will be provided with a notebook containing historical sketches of each man’s service to Pennsylvania.

Ancestry of Franklin County’s Log Architecture

Doug Reed has been studying log houses and other types of log buildings since 1972. He has traveled most of the United States and Canada as well as almost every country in Europe in his pursuit to understand the traditional log building technologies and where they were developed. Early in his career, Doug apprenticed to Paul Lewis of the Catoctin Mountains for several years to learn the authentic methods of constructing a log cabin. Later he studied at George Washington University where many of his courses focused on vernacular architecture. With this extensive back ground of study concerning log structures, Doug has come to understand that most of what we have been taught over the last century concerning the quintessential American log cabin is mostly inaccurate and, therefore, poorly understood. Using a power point presentation, Doug will describe the four stages of log building development featuring, where possible, some of Franklin and Washington County’s log cabins, houses, barns, and churches. As each local building is shown, he will talk about the local building features that have antecedents in Europe and where those features are most prevalent. Come hear this enlightening talk about the world’s longest used housing form and certainly one of the most romantically honored and yet humble structures the world has ever known.

Ebbert Spring Park & Archaeological Preserve

The Archaeology Conservancy will create trails  with archaeological, historical, geological, ecological, and  environmental history kiosks throughout the property. The trails will be  completed by Old Home Week 2019.