Henry Hagey, artist and chronicler of Franconia Township

Written by Joel Alderfer on May 6, 2020

Back in late March, we published on this blog, Flu Epidemic of 1918: accounts from local diaries, which included excerpts from the diary of Henry D. Hagey, painter-paperhanger, artist and historian of Elroy, Franconia Township, PA. In this post, I’ll expand on his story and feature a selection of photos and artifacts from his camera and hand, donated to the Mennonite Heritage Center by his relatives over the last three decades.

Some biography

The MHC has a few hard-bound copies of this

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New acquisition: Macinskas home movies

Written by Forrest Moyer on August 7, 2018

Recently a set of local home movies by Peter Macinskas (1922-1969) was donated to the MHC by his son Dean Macinskas. The movies, mostly short clips (see examples below), provide an exceptional window into Vernfield and Lower Salford Township during the 1950s, especially his wife’s Price family and the Indian Creek Church of the Brethren.

Peter was the third generation of a Catholic family that immigrated to eastern Pennsylvania from Lithuania. He was born in 1922 and served in the 20th

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Autobiographical notes: J. C. Clemens

Written by Forrest Moyer on April 5, 2018

Jacob Cassel Clemens (1874-1965) was pastor of Plains Mennonite Church and a well-known evangelist in Mennonite circles. In 1979, the MHEP Newsletter published his autobiographical notes written in 1954. The manuscript is in his papers archived at the MHC (Hist. Mss. 3).

Clemens’ reflections on the first half of the 20th century, as he experienced it, are illuminating. They remind us how much has changed in the last century, but also that many of our ancestors’ experiences are similar to ours—love

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New acquisition: Indian Creek Brethren convertible bench

Written by Forrest Moyer on August 24, 2017

The Mennonite Heritage Center works to tell not only the Mennonite story, but the local Brethren story as well. Recently the MHC received a donation of one of the benches that was used in the Indian Creek Church of the Brethren from 1906 to 1953.

The church benches during this time had an interesting convertible design in order to accommodate love feast, the ritual “agape meal” that was representative of the Last Supper and was observed by the Brethren in combination

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Our Immigrant Heritage: Ruth

Written by Forrest Moyer on June 29, 2017

This series of posts highlights families descended from 18th-century Mennonite immigrants to eastern Pennsylvania, in connection with the MHC’s exhibit Opportunity & Conscience: Mennonite Immigration to Pennsylvania, on display through March 31, 2018. The stories reflect the enrichment brought to communities over centuries by the descendants of immigrants.

Henry and Magdalena

The immigrant ancestor of the Bucks-Mont Ruth family, whose name was Henry, came to Pennsylvania probably in the fall of 1717 and purchased 200 acres of land at Salford in February

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