CLEARFIELD – The collection of volunteers at the Clearfield County Historical Society and Museum have borrowed the African proverb: “Every time an old person dies, it is as if a library has burnt down.”
“So much of our history is remembrances,” said Dennis Shaffner, president of the society, “but someone has to be there to answer the questions. We try to bring true historic fact to remembrances so that it’s not all conjecture.”
“You also have to put yourself in the shoes of the person who wants to recall the past. History isn’t relevant until it becomes personal for people, and that’s where we reach out and touch (lives).”
According to him, visitors have journeyed from an array of states and countries to access the museum’s records. Their local historical file is highlighted by its family genealogy collection, newspapers and obituaries and courthouse records, including original land grants and deeds.
For example, the society guides visitors who want to become educated about their family ancestry, local authors who need access to research for publications and local business owners who need their memories jogged by photographs of old storefronts.
“Without records, without paper trails, some of the requests would be impossible,” Shaffner said. “We can find the roots in recorded history, such as newspapers.
“Obituaries are factual. Newspaper advertisements provide records of businesses that were here and where they were located. It allows us to put names and places to things.”
Some days 60-plus visitors come and go from the museum and carriage house, while other days see only a “handful.” Many come bearing pieces of their family’s legacy and wishing to donate, which oftentimes creates the society’s biggest dilemmas, he said.
The society only has limited space available to display collectible items. Although it becomes difficult at times, it tries to limit acquisitions “to artifacts with strong roots to families, businesses or towns.”
While nestled in the Pennsylvania Wilds region, Shaffner said the logging and lumbering displays, located in the basement of the home, are reminiscent of the county’s early commerce as well as its heritage.
However, the society’s “neatest treasure,” for him, is the Kerr home itself, housing the historical museum. “Our genealogical collection is huge. If we didn’t have it, we would just be another museum,” he said.
Museum History
Today, the museum’s historical archives chronicle the settlement and development of Clearfield County, dating back over 100 years and linking the past to the present. Reed, Bigler and Kerr, all of whom are prominent names in county history, owned the land on which the museum stands or lived therein.
The museum paints the portrait of Victorian architecture that was typical of the 1870s and 1880s – “a brick, country mansion.” Further, it stood an “enormous box-shape” complete with ornamental horizontal molding located near the top, crowning with a light tower.
The land was originally owned by A.B. Reed, a descendant of early settlers to the county. He conveyed the land April 15, 1852 to William Bigler, whom governed Pennsylvania at the time and whom later served on the U.S. Senate.
Bigler, with his wife, conveyed the land for $1,250 to George S. Young of Meyersdale, Somerset County on Oct. 25, 1878. Assessment records from 1880 indicated that Young built a home, which is believed to be the present-day museum, on the property sometime between 1879 and 1880.
In a deed dated June 13, 1881, Young and his wife conveyed the home and its property to Julia Boardman (Smith) Kerr for $5,000. In 1874, she wed James Kerr, who was born Oct. 2, 1851 in Mifflin County. He came to Clearfield in 1865, where he had later risen into a distinguished business and political leader.
While it was the Kerr home to Clearfield until 1926, many business and political leaders were guests, including several-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan. Kerr befriended the Democratic leader during his residence in Washington.
Bryan promised to visit the Kerr home while renewing his friendship with Kerr in 1896 at which time he was nominated for presidency in Chicago. Bryan finally fulfilled his repeated promise sometime around Oct. 22, 1898.
Kerr died Oct. 30, 1908, and on March 12, 1926 his widow deeded the property to the late P. T. Davis. Davis was the chief clerk for two boards of Clearfield County Commissioners, spanning the timeframe of 1897 to 1902. In addition, he later achieved prominence as a director and president of the Clearfield Bank and Trust Company.
During Kerr’s residency, he embellished the home with the two turret-like additions to its front on East Pine Street and with the stone arch entranceway. He extended the porch along the side, built the carriage house and attached an elaborate “outhouse.”
However, shortly after the home was purchased by P.T. Davis, he had the outhouse torn down. Today, evidence remains in the brick masonry, where a door once connected the outhouse to the main Kerr home.
The Clearfield County Historical Society, a non-profit organization, would commence Nov. 17, 1955. The society would then acquire the property Dec. 27, 1962, from Attorney William T. Davis and Julia Davis Joplin, son and daughter of P.T. Davis.
In 1976-77, the society removed the wooden flooring and railings of the porch and refurbished them with concrete decking and wrought iron railing. Their renovation work also repointed the brick facing, repaired the stone masonry and caulked and repainted the exterior woodwork including the light tower.
Bloody Knox Cabin
Bloody Knox, an authentic 1860s furnished log cabin and Kellytown property, stands in the exact location as the original. It’s believed the cabin was once moved to Moose Creek but when donated to the society in 2004, it was rebuilt at its earlier site.
Built by Tom Adams in 1861, the cabin sits on a historical landmark of a bloody conflict that saw two dead and 18 arrested, when draft resistance culminated during the American Civil War in Knox Township, Clearfield County.
Troops marched from Philipsburg, and on the night of Dec. 13, 1864, the Union Army surrounded Adams’ cabin. The troops requested the surrender of deserters and draft dodgers. Adams fired and killed Union Soldier Edgar Reed of New Hampshire. Shots were then fired, killing Adams in the yard.
The cabin’s one-acre site also contains an outhouse, spring house, and a shed, which houses a period wagon, sleigh, buggy and threshing machine. In recent years, the society has hosted an apple cider festival there in the fall while making maple syrup in the spring. The maple syrup is available for purchase at the museum and has been featured in the grange exhibit at the Clearfield County Fair.
Courtesy of a matching grant through the Pennsylvania Lumber Heritage, the society plans to re-print and offer “My Partner, the River” by R. Dudley Tonkin. In addition, it’s received permission to re-print “80 Miles of Wilderness Adventure,” which is guide with maps of lore for canoers who are navigating the river between Cherry Tree and Keating.
The museum opens from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. every Thursday and Sunday, beginning the first Sunday in May and closing the last Sunday in October. There isn’t any cost for visitors to tour the museum; however, there’s a $5 fee per visit to use the research library. Group tours are encouraged and available by appointment.
The Clearfield County Historical Society and Museum is located at 104 East Pine St., Clearfield, PA 16830 and can be reached by telephone at 814-765-6125. Click here to visit the historical society’s Web site, or e-mail, chughes@clfdhistory.org, to book a tour.
