Wellsville Historical Society

Tuesday - May 18: The Wellsville Historical Society held their regular monthly meeting at the Riverside Museum a week ago Tuesday. President Robert "Brassy" Beresford presided.

Beresford announced the season's opening date and list of special programs to be presented this year. The Museum will open Sunday, June 6, for the public to tour. They will be open each Sunday afternoon and, as always, admission is free. This year the theme is high school memorabilia in honor of the area's original 5 Year All-Class Reunion. Wellsville was the first community in the area to have all class reunions every five years. It started in 1950 with a dream by Luella Thompson. At first it was just a banquet dinner and has since grown. Today the reunion is five days of all kind of events.

In honor of all the alumni of Wellsville High School there will be display cases full of artifacts from different classes through the ages. A lot of the photographs displayed are one of a kind and are all that is left of their particular era. The people in the pictures and most of the buildings are long gone. Mannequins will be dressed in prom gowns that were originally worn at WHS proms. All of them are beautiful and many are quite elaborately made. There's even a boy's Tom Thumb outfit that was worn by the late Jay Walter Williamson when he was a young lad.

Some other announcements made was that a contribution has been made to the Wellsville Fire Dept. Some brick work on the kiln at 3rd & Lisbon St. will be refaced this summer. Brickers Catering has been chosen to cater the Christmas Dinner once again this year. The Trustees approved that the parking lotbe used by water color artists led by Fred Graf for a reunion event. Eight or nine years ago they use to meet there for painting scenes of the local neighborhood.

The Columbiana County Tourist Bureau is organizing a bus tour that will include a stop at the Riverside Museum and other Wellsville attractions. The newly formed group is just getting started and they are making plans for bus tours all over the area. Lori Kline of the Calcutta Chamber is the contact person for the group. Beresford said they knew about the Flood Wall Murals but were unaware of the museum, the preserved bottle kiln, the historic Ascension Church or Old Fire Station. Anyone in Wellsville that would like to be considered as an added attraction should contact Ms. Kline.

Best wishes and good luck was sent out to member Pam Smith as she graduates to her next step in life. The sidewalk for the caboose will have a new sub base installed when time permits. It is beginning to sink. The bronze plaque for the Mary Clark Room has come in and plans are being made for a dedication date. The plaque was manufactured by the Newman Company from Cincinnati. Pictures for a new advertising brochure are being organized. The brochure is being printed by a local, Ohio company. There will be 2,000 copies ordered.

Two groups will be touring the museum. On June 3 there will a group of Sixth Graders from Daw Middle School to take in the sights. Wellsville history is part of their curriculum. On June 17 the Lisbon Explorer's Club will come to town to see one of the finest museums in the area.

The list of special programs being offered this year are as follows:
Saturday & Sunday, June 12 & 13 - The 4th Armored WWII Re-enactment Group will set up camp around the museum. They'll roll in the day before to set up camp using authentic WWII equipment such as tents, cots, field radios and weapons. They are returning for the third year and usually have a weapons demonstration on the last day.

Sunday - July 11: The History of Acme Craft Pottery will be presented by Ron Bryor. Acme was located on Lisbon Street at the foot of Buckeye Avenue . The 3rd St. bottle kiln still in place today was part of that pottery.

Sunday - July 25: The History of Stevenson Manufacturing. Established in 1836 Stevenson is the oldest manufacturing plant left in Wellsville. It's gone through changes over the years but is still located in the same spot since its beginning.

Sunday - August 15: The History of the Wellsville Fire Department will be presented by WF33 Retired, Bob Lloyd. Mr. Lloyd is the most knowledgeable historian on the department, bar none.

Donations to the museum this month came from the June & Jay Williamson Family. There was a Tom Thumb outfit worn by the late Jay Walter Williamson when he was a toddler. There were several pieces of Weeping Gold ware made by Acme Craft. There were railway passes dating back to 1910 & 1919 in the name of James Arthur Allen. Mr. Allen was Mrs. Williamson's father.

Carol Smith donated a square Hillcrest Floral ashtray manufactured by the W.C. Bunting Company when they were located in town. Bob Lloyd donated a copy of a picture of the 1937 Seagraves fire truck that was taken at the factory when that truck came off the assembly line. That's the same truck that is on display at the museum. Paul Talbot Jr. donated a never used key brick manufactured by the MacLean Brickyard plus blue-print drawings of all the brickyards runned by the MacLean Company.

This month's program was presented by Bob Lloyd on the funeral train of the assassinated President Jame Garfield. Garfield was President for six months before dying of blood poisoning. He was shot twice by an assassin in Baltimore on July 2, 1881. After lingering for 1o weeks he died September 15. His train originated in the nation's capitol on Sept. 25. The New York Times called it the "Last Sad Journey". According to news accounts crowds lined both sides of the tracks to at least get a glimpse of the procession. Big town or small hamlet bells tolled as the train passed through each.

En route to the Cleveland area the train made two stops in the Wellsville area. One was at "Wellsville Junction" to take on water for the steam engines and one at the "Wellsville Station". No one is sure where "Wellsville Junction" was located but it is believed to be around the station located at 3rd & Riverside. With the newspaper reporters description it is felt the second stop was at the 12th St. Station. There was mention of a large manufacturing facility near the station. They were probably talking about the railroad yards that were in that area at that time.

Next meeting will be Tuesday, June 15 at 7:30 P.M. All new members are invited. The program for the next meeting will be presented by Virginia & Curt Glenn. The Glenns are the ones responsible for getting two books about the history of the Yellow Creek area combined and newly republished. The books, Yellow Creek Stories & Tales of Yellow Creek, was originally published in the 1940s and were written by R.W. "Doc" Schilling. The Historical Society has purchased copies of the book and they will be available at the Museum.

The Glenns are bringing with them the painting called Standing Rock painted by Richmond, Ohio, native Dave Barnhouse. The history of the Yellow Creek is an integral part of our area's history back to the days settlers started moving in and before. Standing Rock was a meeting place for different area Indian tribes to hold pow wows.

The Morning Journal had an article on the art work a couple of weeks ago. In it they incorrectly reported the Glenns will be in Wellsville on June 25. If you marked that on your calendar change it to June 15.

ole nib