The 62nd PA Volunteer Infantry Living History Family will once again act as hosts at the Armstrong County Historical Society’s Christmas Open House on Sunday, November 30th from 1-4 pm. This annual event is always one we look forward to, as we gather together as a living history family and welcome guests to the Armstrong County Historical Society. There will be three festively decorated buildings to tour that day- the McCain House Museum, the Rupp Log Cabin and the newly renovated Jim and Ann Oakes Carriage House, which will showcase vintage Christmas decorations from the 1940s-1970s.
The Armstrong County Historical Society is located at 300 North McKean St. Kittanning, PA 16201, with free parking nearby. This event is free and open to the public. We hope to see you at the open house, particularly to show you through the museum’s Civil War Room, which contains many artifacts, pictures, letters, and stories from local Civil War soldiers, including 62nd PA soldiers. Light refreshments will be served, and traditional folk music will be provided by a talented pair of guitar and violin players, The McCarney Minstrels. It promises to be a very festive old-fashioned Christmas!
A good friend of the 62nd PA Volunteer Infantry Living History Family, Mr. Paul Blackham, has created an incredible online resource for finding the final resting places of the soldiers of the 62nd PVI- the 62nd PA Virtual Cemetery. The website https://www.findagrave.com/virtual-cemetery/1702685 contains over 900 62nd PVI soldiers and links to information about where they are buried. Paul has devoted many hours of research to this project and compiled many stories of 62nd PA soldiers to give us a glimpse into their lives, pre and post Civil War, in addition to finding their final resting places so that we can still honor them today. Below are some pictures of what the virtual cemetery looks like and the information you can find. The soldiers of the 62nd PA are buried all over the United States, and their stories are waiting to be found. We hope you enjoy learning their stories to keep the history of the 62nd PA alive!
Katie Wolfe- The 62nd PA Volunteer Infantry Living History Family held another memorable Living History Encampment at the Gettysburg Heritage Center on October 11th & 12th 2025. Our President Slim Bowser and his wife Sue were able to attend after an absence last year, and so I give you our good First Sergeant Bowser’s Report:
Hi 62nd family…
For the first time in quite a while I can actually report on an event having participated, at least in part…I am very happy to report that it was another very successful event, and we were blessed to have had good weather, especially considering the forecasted rain and wind…the only rain we had was through the night on Saturday into early Sunday morning, but it was finished before we started the fire in camp around 9 AM…
Despite having limited hands available for set up on Friday, most of camp was ready to go for Saturday morning…from all accounts, Saturday was a steady day of greeting guests and friends alike, and the teamwork effort of preparing the meal and snacks resulted in apples & sausage, a hearty stew, apple pie, and meat & cheese and breads…as you will see in the photos, we had a drummer in the ranks for the first time in many years also, with Anna [excuse me, Andy] providing the cadence and the entertainment for young Patrick!…Kara did her part by keeping James involved in a game of checkers…I am always amazed by the youth of our family in their portrayals and actually “living” history…
Sunday started a little damp, and the fire was a favorite spot for a while, but by 10 AM we were gathered together for Chaplain Jeff’s Call to Worship, and his great message about “Living water”…while Jeff was teaching, our guest speaker for the day arrived…Amy Wilson and her husband Cole got her message boards and illustrations set up in the conference room inside the Heritage Center, where she delivered her presentation on “The 62nd PA Flag: Stories from Antietam, Gettysburg and the battle to be remembered”…she had a small group to listen to her 11 AM program inside, and by the time she had finished there, we were finishing up outside as well…while we shared the leftover breads, cookies and snacks, Amy was kind enough to share the highlights of her program for us and some additional guests in camp…as a special moment during her time with us, Amy received a very kind donation from Jim Johnson, an original letter written by Peter Bartren from Company M of the 62nd to his sister, dated June 15, 1862…obviously, Amy was very moved to receive it, and will certainly make it a part of her future presentations…
We had a number of families stop by during the day, and it gave the opportunities for some photos of “new recruits” taken by parents and grandparents…I have received one photo from a family, and had distributed several other business cards requesting them to share their photos, so we’ll see if we get any more soon…we also had a few members of our extended family visit with us throughout the event, including Big Lew Pack, his wife Aleen and his sidekick Earl, plus Bethany Yingling, her husband Mark and their son Ezra, and of course Eileen Hoover stopped briefly prior to her “Night at the Museum 1863” program in the Heritage Center…
By mid-afternoon Sunday, the glimpses of sunshine and light winds had dried the canvas, and we were able to tear everything down and pack it up dry, always a good thing, but especially on the final encampment event for the season…as always, teamwork got things packed up quickly, and by 4 PM, we were exchanging hugs and getting ready to head home…
I offer my sincere gratitude to everyone who participated in any way to make the Heritage Center 2025 event another memorable page in our “history book” of memories…
CoD62ndPVI 