You may recall a recent blog about the accession of the Hophni Van Fossen Johnson portrait into our collection. You can read the old blog by clicking here. Why am I bringing this portrait up again? Well, I have some exciting news! We are fortunate to add another member of the Johnson family to our portrait… Read More »Dr. Ralph Linwood Johnson
With Halloween fast approaching, I thought everyone would enjoy this party invitation from the Aceola Tennis Club dated 1893. When we compare our English language today with older documents, it can provide for some entertaining conversations. This invitation has a pig design along with a pickax and a quill. It seems reasonable that they were… Read More »Having Fun with an Old Halloween Invitation
Our guest blogger, George Detwiler, is back with another story from the Audubon area: This home at the corner of Pawlings Road and Lark Lane was part of a large farm owned by Aaron Weikel in the early 19th century. When we moved into our home on Owl Road in 1953, the barn for the… Read More »The Weikel Family and Shannonville
Today I thought I would share a unique resource we have here at HSMC. If you have been following our blog and social media posts for a while, you likely have seen several references to the Montgomery County Almshouse. Click here to see a past blog post about the history of that site. In our library, we… Read More »Montgomery County Almshouse Journal Excerpts
We have several framed paintings at HSMC. Two of these paintings were created by a Norristown artist, Othniel S. Spang. The first example of his work is a painting of the bridge over Saw Mill Run in Norristown. The Bridge Over Saw Mill Run. Painted by Othniel Spang. (HSMC Art Collection, 1931.8290.003) Othniel was born… Read More »Othniel S. Spang
We have a guest blogger today. This post was written by HSMC Board member and volunteer, George Detwiler. One of the more colorful characters associated with the history of Betzwood and the Shannonville/Audubon area was William Levi “Buck” Taylor. Buck was born on November 15, 1857 in Texas. His grandfather was one of those killed… Read More »Buck Taylor, King of the Cowboys
After our last post about the Summerill Tubing Company, one of our volunteers gave us some extra insight into this company’s history. As most of you likely know, Charles Lindbergh was the first person to fly a non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. An article about his accomplishment was on the front page of the Times Herald on… Read More »Summerill Tubing Company, Part 2
Every now and then someone asks us “Did you know this happened in Montgomery County?” You really never know what you will come across in your research. In this case, we learned that a Bridgeport company was once evaluated for a potential clean up project after fears of potential uranium exposure, according to the Wall Street… Read More »Summerill Tubing Company
This week we received a new addition to HSMC’s portrait collection. This is a charcoal drawing of Hophni Van Fossen Johnson, who was from Norristown. He was a musician in the PA Reserves Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. After being discharged, Hophni became a miller. He married Elizabeth Shrawder in 1864 against the wishes… Read More »Hophni Van Fossen Johnson
You have probably heard us say this many times, but we really do find some of the most interesting stories when we are looking for something else entirely! This time I was looking for Elkton marriage announcements and stumbled onto this story about another marriage. Mary McClellan, a patient at Norristown State Hospital, went missing… Read More »Escaped Norristown State Hospital to Get Married