Family heirlooms discovered in Museum at Harmony, Pennsylvania
May 1, 2010
Families treasure heirlooms. In this particular case, an aunt knew of treasures on display at the Harmony, Pennsylvania Museum.
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Ancestral visit to Pennsylvania
While taking an ancestral trip back to my husband's place of birth inBeaver Falls, Pennsylvania, we visited with his Father's youngest Sister. In addition to showing us around the Slippery Rock Cemetery where many Schantz and Craven ancestors are buried, Beaver Falls,Ellwood City, New Brighton, and Zelienople, we traveled to Harmony, Pennsylvania, and found information about the Schantzancestry in its small museum.
Visit to Harmony Museum
Harmony is in Butler County, western Pennsylvania, and is a National Historic Landmark. Harmony was founded in 1804 as the first home of the communal German Harmony Society. Harmony (previously settled as Murdering Town in the mid-18th Century), was a site along the route of George Washington's first mission in 1753 that led to the French and Indian War. George slept here on his mission!
History of Harmony, Pennsylvania founders
Weaver and vine tender George Rapp from Wurttemberg, Germany, purchased several thousand acres of Butler County land in 1804 from Dettmar Basse, founder of Zelienople, Pennsylvania. Rapp's Lutheran Separatist followers accompanied him to America, pledging their worldly possessions to the Harmony Society. In return, the Society would provide necessities of life, as well as religious and educational instruction.
The Society prospered until 1807, when celibacy was adopted. This mandate ultimately led to its demise as a communal Society.
By 1812, Harmony's population reached around 850, with more than 2,000 acres cultivated, and 130 buildings erected (church, school, warehouse granary, woolen mills, tavern, grist mills, oil mill, brewery, distillery and tannery).
The Harmonists moved to southwestern Indiana Territory in 1814, founding New Harmony. Abraham Ziegler, a Mennonite, purchased 7,000 acres of Harmony land for $100,000 in 1815, and he and other Mennonite families resettled Harmony. The Harmonists retained ownership of their cemetery, however, on the southeast edge of town.
In 1824,The Harmonists returned to Pennsylvania to establish Economy, which was situated on the Ohio River 20 miles west of Harmony.
Following the War of 1812, bankrupt Harmony was forced to sell land, plot by plot, which helped Harmony to again grow in population. The Mennonite congregation eventually faded, and its church was closed in 1902.
Schantz name recognized
We were lucky to be taken on a walking tour. Our museum guide explained that several tunnels hid beneath the streets, linking buildings together. When our guide heard that our surname was "Schantz," she rushed upstairs and returned with a copy of the old cemetery list. Lo and behold, we found Schantz family names everywhere!
Once inside the museum, we noticed several chairs and rockers, all with distinguishable woven seats credited to a "Schantz." It was rewarding to be able to view the handiwork of a craftsman ancestor who bore our last name! Other museum heirlooms included trundle beds, baby cradles, dining tables and chairs, spinning wheels, wooden rocking horses, vintage pianos, heirloom quilts,old medicine cabinets, farming implements, and weapons.
Aunt Jean, age 89, still possesses a stool with a hand-woven patterned seat made of hickory, and made by ancestor Schantz, which was passed down to her.
References:
Butler County Tourism & Convention Bureau www.VisitButlerCounty.com
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