This segment features a news item from Fayette County’s past. This week we examine the February 27, 1862 edition of the Genius of Liberty. On a February evening in Cumberland, MD, Captain James Morris of the 7th Virginia Regiment sat down to pen a difficult letter. “It becomes my painful duty to inform you, that your…
My favorite part of working in the Pennsylvania Room is that each and every day, I’m surrounded by stories. They’re tucked into yearbook pages, scribbled in the margins of ancestry charts, and hidden away in old family letters. Whether I’m faced with tracing the history of a person, place, or event, I enjoy the challenge of piecing all the fragments together to form a…
Unknown girl. Credit: Uniontown Public Library. Reverse of the photo. Credit: Uniontown Public Library.
Have you wanted to visit an ancestor’s place of burial, but you can’t make it to Fayette County? Or maybe you’re local and you just don’t want to go out in the cold? (Can’t blame you.) Check out the Fayette County Genealogy Project. Apart from a unique assortment of records and resources — including a bibliography of…
Advertisement from the Daily News Standard. Feb. 10, 1908.
This segment features a news item from Fayette County’s past. This week we examine a story from the February 14, 1908 edition of the Daily News Standard. “The observance of St. Valentine’s day in and about Uniontown this year is very general and young and old are joining heartily in the exchange of tender missives of affection,…
An unidentified man tidies up after a snowfall. Credit: Uniontown Public Library.
This month I’m starting something new in the Pennsylvania Room: a Book of the Month display. As many of our visitors are from out of the area and only have time to do specific genealogical research, they usually don’t have a chance to crack open one of our local history books. Given the variety and…
This segment features a news item from Fayette County’s past. This week we examine a story from the February 9, 1924 edition of the Morning Herald. The headline isn’t all that eye-catching: “Annual Meeting of Motor Club Monday Evening.” This was a reference to the Uniontown Motor Club, a relatively new group reorganized from the Automobile Club…
When researching the history of a particular town, check what the local media had to say on the anniversary of its founding. Newspapers often print special editions at these times that contain a wealth of historical information. Papers printed on a town’s centennial or bicentennial are a good place to start, but don’t discount the…