Genealogy of the Woodcock Valley

For a year and a half, I worked at Isett Heritage Museum in Huntingdon, PA.  In many ways, it was an ideal job for this genealogy loving history buff!  I loved being surrounded by the local history items and daily reminders of days gone by.

One of my favorite pieces in the collection was an unusual pillow, hand-crafted and hand-stitched in 1905 by the students at the Marklesburg Normal School.  The pillow had been donated to the museum by Elaine Fisher in memory of her mother, Grace Irene (Morningstar) Fisher (1927-2011).  Irene was the daughter of Howard Dewey Morningstar (1898-1957) and Sarah Grace Stone (1903-1973).  

In 1905, during the summer session, 52 teachers in training created a very special keepsake of their time at the Marklesburg Normal School in Penn Township, Huntingdon County, PA.  During the school year, the Marklesburg School housed grades one through eight, and was opened to young adults who wanted to further their eduction over the summer months.  The Normal School was affiliated with Juniata College.

Each soon-to-be-educator signed the pillow in stitches, and some included their hometown too.  The signatures on the pillow include:

1. Xopher Beck
2. Mayne M. Hoover
3. Ada Householder
4. J. H. McCall
5. Lorane A. Mierley
6. G. Homer Pheasant
7. Clyde Shultz
8. Raymond D. Baker
9. Harry Moore
10. Nelson Keith, Aitch
11. Maye Frank, James Creek
12. Florence B. Lincoln, McConnellstown
13. Blanche Boyer
14. Jno. H. Hess
15. Ella M. Lininger, Grafton
16. Minnie S. Marshall, Greenwood Furnace
17. Ethel Grace Isett, James Creek
18. Charles Johnson
19. Maude Vaughn, Salter
20. Blanche Speck, Huntingdon
21. Ira A. Taylor, Todd
22. Homer Miller
23. Maude Hetrick
24. Mary M. Donelson
25. D. Rolla Pheasant
26. Winfield Garner
27. John C. Horton
28. Emma Crum, Salter
29. Grace L. Shultz
30. Otto O. Stone
31. Frank Wright
32. John C. Householder
33. Gilbert Daughenbaugh
34. Wilmer A. Brumbaugh
35. Carrie A. Smith
36. Flora M. Cramer
37. Edna Boyer
38. Mary Davis
39. Oscar Johnson
40. Grace Hunter, McAlevys Fort
41. Samuel M. Schell, Aitch
42. Gertrude Roland
43. Oscar Stone, Salter
44. Geo. E. Corcelius, Hesston
45. Joseph Hess, Orbisonia
46. Effie Dell
47. Carrie Chilcote
48. L. E. Boyer, Marklesburg
49. John H. Keith
50. C. Pearle Crum
51. Doris R. Glasgow
52. Wilbur D. Swope

You can learn more about other students and instructors of the Marklesburg School by clicking on the link. 

This special pillow is a lasting legacy of not only a special group of young men and women, but of an unique education program that operated within the Woodcock Valley.

Two years ago, my son and I were fortunate enough to attend a public auction in Marklesburg, where they sold a box of teacher's manuals and student books from the Marklesburg Normal School.  Being a former teacher, book lover, and history buff, I couldn't pass up the books.  Many of the books have local names inside.  I will write about them in a future blog post.

Are you wondering about now how many jobs I've had?  LOL  I have finally found my forever job - accounting is for me!!!!