While our events and appearances have been limited or altered the past few years due to Covid restrictions and other factors, including the passing of our Cpl. Joe McShane in October, we have still managed to remain active in sharing, remembering and preserving the history of the 62nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry…
Following Joe’s passing, we made the solemn trip to Gettysburg for the Remembrance Day in November, where we held a very emotional “Wheatfield Tribute”, honoring not only the memory of the service and sacrifice of the Veterans of the 62nd, but that of Joe McShane as well…
We marched through the streets of Gettysburg in the annual parade, shared some much-needed fellowship together, and closed the day by serving as Honor Guard for the Illumination of Soldiers National Cemetery that evening, with Cindy McShane mustering up the courage to “stand in Joe’s place” as a guard in her Marie Tepe’ uniform…all of the stories of honor and valor that we have read about from the Civil War came flooding back as we stood together that evening…words fail me……………
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A week later, we reprised our role as hosts for the “Christmas Open House” at the Armstrong County Historical Museum in Kittanning, PA…this proved to be an emotional day as well, as we hung Joe’s kepi on the beautiful Fraser fir tree in remembrance–like so many of us, Joe loved Christmas!
The afternoon saw a good crowd of guests go through the McKain House, festively adorned for the Christmas holiday…the aroma of wassail and fresh-baked cookies reminded us of the warmth and comfort of friendship of our living history family…
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So, as we look forward to 2022, here are the events scheduled for the coming months:
“ECHOES FROM THE PAST”: MAY 21 & 22
ARMSTRONG COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM & GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
This two-day event will feature “Proctors Militia” on Saturday, May 21, presenting living history from the French & Indian period, a very active and notable time in Armstrong County, including the county seat town of Kit-Han-Ne, present day Kittanning…while the living history goes on outdoors, artist and author Larry Smail will also be giving a historical presentation in the museum dining room, highlighting his book “The Attack on Kit-Han-Ne”, and his painting to provide the visual aid to the story…
There will also be a Children’s Story Time with Katie Wolfe at 2 PM, where kids can learn history through readings and illustrations…
On Sunday, May 22, our 62nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Living History Family will take to the museum grounds with our demonstrations and discussions about the Civil War period, including stories and images of not only 62nd Veterans, but men who served in many other units, all of which are evident as you tour the Civil War Room in the museum…
There will be other guests sharing the afternoon with us, including “spinning lady” Jean Chestnut, who will join our ladies as they display materials, fabrics, and clothing from the period, including the process of spinning wool…
William “Bill” McMaster will be on hand sharing books and items related to the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War [SUVCW]…
Both days include free admission, free parking, tours of the museum and access to the genealogical library located in the Carriage House next to the museum…
We hope you will join us for our first event in our 28th season of keeping history alive!
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JUNE 4: VOLUNTEER WORK DAY, GETTYSBURG:
Many years ago, one of our long-time members and descendant Joe Rupp brought up the idea of participating in “Volunteer Work Day”…at the time, Joe and maybe one or two others started what has become a standing tradition with the 62nd PVI LHF…there were years that only a few could go, and there have been years that we have had 15 or more volunteers…the event is hosted by the GETTYSBURG FOUNDATION, in affiliation with the NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, GETTYSBURG…
As the name states, volunteers have the opportunity to work on the Gettysburg Battlefield, in a variety of job duties and work sites as selected by NPS…among the duties we have performed are “fence building”, “fence painting”, “headstone painting”, “headstone cleaning”, “historic structure painting”, “fence clearing” and “clearing brush”…we have participated in painting the McPherson Barn, the Codori Barn, the HQ building at the Eisenhower Farm, as well as painting many fences, including the hog fence and picket fences at the Sherfy Farm, the fences at the Trostle Farm and the fences at the Eisenhower Farm…we helped build several miles of fences, including the Virginia worm fences along the Emmitsburg Road…we have cleaned headstones in the Soldiers National Cemetery, and I believe our favorite and most honorable detail has been painting in the engraved names on the headstones of the Union Civil War graves…
For each of these duties, the Gettysburg Foundation not only provides the materials, water, and a Subway lunch, but for most of our events, a representative from the Foundation provides detailed accounts for the work site or structure related to the battle…part of what makes the headstone painting so memorable are the stories behind the names…while you are leaning over the markers, taking great care to put black paint in the engraving, Sue Boardman, or another Foundation member may stand behind you and read “John A. Walker, Private, Company D, 62nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry: killed 2 July and buried on the road from the Peach Orchard to Little Round Top [D-77 Pennsylvania Plot]”…you can imagine the emotional experience of hearing the name you are painting, and how he came to be interred in the cemetery…the information comes from “These Honored Dead–The Union Casualties at Gettysburg”, by John W. Busey among the resources used…
After several years of being postponed due to the Covid pandemic, 2022 marker the return of the Volunteer Work Day event…many volunteers from many, many places gathered to lend a hand in preserving the Gettysburg Battlefield and Eisenhower Farm Historic Site for years to come…
The 62nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Living History Family continued our tradition as a “volunteer” Company, with fourteen volunteers present for duty…we had nineteen originally signed up, but several family health emergencies prevented the others from being able to attend…
Our duty for this year was to “daylight” the Virginia Worm fences that run from the Emmitsburg Road, behind the Sherfy House and Barn, stretching along the property to the adjoining Spangler Farm…this meant cutting and removing the brush [poison ivy, honeysuckle vine, briars] using hand tools and hard work…we also repaired or reset any sections of fence that had been damaged or dislodged…with not a cloud in the sky, nor a tree for shade, we worked under the hot sun to make a visible difference in the appearance of that property, on the historic area of the July 2nd fighting…
At the conclusion of the work day, our volunteers gathered at our usual location, a log cabin at Drummer Boy Camping Resort, for our annual “Volunteers Cookout”…this is a great way to spend an evening of friends, food and fellowship, with our “62nd Family”…
For more information about Volunteer Work Day, go to http://www.gettysburgfoundation.org
The tentative date for 2023 will be Saturday, June 3…
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CoD62ndPVI 