We Learn Some History Today

Pioneer Cemetery welcomed 27 paid guests for a remembrance of Lebanon's earliest settlers. Its was hot but the huge old sycamore tree provided plenty of shade.  We repeat the tour tomorrow, Sunday from 3 to 5 pm.

Sarah, wife of Icabod Corwin, founder of Lebanon portrayed by Karen Devanney.

Historian and Tour Guide John Zimkys (left) introduces the crowd to Mary Russel Drake, first wife of Colonel Lewis Drake. Mrs. Drake is played by Jenny Gauche.

Governor Thomas Corwin's father, Matthias Corwin as played by Steven Kaiser.

Cleaning tombstones

With the City of Lebanon's help supplying water and cleaning products, about a dozen volunteers worked Thursday afternoon at Pioneer Cemetery cleaning tombstones.  Members of the Warren County Historical Society organized the project and half a dozen Lebanon High School students from the JROTC program, under the direction of Major "Chip" Parker came and helped.

Our goal was to clean,  at the very least, the head stones of the people we will honor with our Pioneer Cemetery Tour this weekend.  The City purchased D2 Biologic tombstone cleaner for us and we provided buckets, brushes and a bit of elbow grease.

We were all really pleased with how well the D2 product worked and plan to come back in the fall for another round of cleaning - and maybe a little repair work as well.

Thanks to Scott Brunka and Sonny Redmon from the City of Lebanon, Major Parker and the students from the JROTC and our staff and member volunteers who joined us on a hot May afternoon. 

We look forward to seeing you either Saturday or Sunday at the Cemetery Tour. It's just $10 a person and the proceeds go to support Glendower and the Warren County History Center. 

Since Mulberry Street is torn up, the Jake Sweeney auto dealership across West Street from the cemetery is allowing us to park in their back lot. See you then.

Here's a scene from last summer's Lantern Light Cemetery Tour at Lebanon Cemetery. The next Lantern Light Cemetery Tour at Lebanon Cemetery is July 13 or 14 beginning at 8:00 pm. Tickets cost $20.00 each and can be purchased by calling the Warren County Historical Society at 513-932-1817.

Pioneer Cemetery Tour

Lebanon's Pioneer Cemetery contains the graves of many of the towns founders as well as some of its most interesting characters. Led by John Zimkus, our Historian and Director of Education, the tour includes re-enactors in costume portraying our honored and not so honored dead.  Meet the wife of the Icabod Corwin, founder of the town,  one of the four Harner sisters, and ten year old Eliza Clay, daughter of early Kentucky politician Henry Clay and many others.

Liz Graulwelman, John Zimkus and Mark Howard rehearse at the grave of Mary Craig Carpenter Dunlavy, a Revolutionary War veteran and one of Lebanon's earliest pioneers.

Christine Van Harlingen practices songs that were popular from about 1800 to 1850, the time the Pioneer Cemetery was in use. Historical music is always a part of our tours.

 We still have tickets for Sunday's tour - just $10 each at the gate.  A very few spots remain for Saturdays tour. Tours begin at 3:00 pm each day.  Parking on Harrison Street. Enter at the Mulberry Street gate.

Kash's Wedding

Our museum is noted for its textile department. We have over a hundred quilts, twenty or so coverlets, more than a dozen flags and thousands of pieces of clothing.  One of the most frequent donations to our textile department is wedding gowns.  A few years ago Mary Lou Amburgy, the widow of Kash Amburgy, donated her wedding gown, Kash's wedding suit and the bridesmaid dresses from their 1949 wedding. She also donated her going away suit and an alligator purse and belt Kash bought for her on their honeymoon to Hawaii. They are on display in our Victorian Gallery. The exhibit will be in place through the summer. Visit us Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 to 4:00. Admission for members of the Warren County Historical Society is free, all others $5.00.

Kash and Mary Lou Amburgy's wedding clothes circa 1949

Mary Lou's going away suit.

Willies Overland Jeepster Club Visits

Larry Woziak and his Jeepster

A couple dozen members of the Willies Overland Jeepster Club visited the museum today.  We'd never heard of Jeepsters which were made just from 1948,49 and 50.

Sam Hummell and his Jeepster

We think these are just the cutest little cars around!  Sam says that about 150 members of the club are in town, having lunch at Doc's Place and enjoying visiting Lebanon.

Miss Mary's Quest For Culture and Refinement

Miss Mary checks the table arrangements before the luncheon.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 more than 40 guests enjoyed a delicious lunch and Dr. Mary Klei's lecture, "Miss Mary's Quest for Culture and Refinement in the 19th Century". This was the May edition of our Lunch & Learn series.  Dr. Klei told about the history of manners and etiquette and explained how the classless Americans gained social status by the material culture of the time.

The next Lunch & Learn is June 18. The speaker is John Zimkus and the topic is The Golden Lamb and the Presidents.  Lunch will be served at the museum and provided by The Golden Lamb. Cost is just $18. Prepaid reservations are required. Call 513-932-1817 to sign up for this lecture and lunch.

Head Curator Mary Klei shows a sterling silver tea caddy from the museum's collection and a lovely folk art painting of ladies having tea - also from the museum's collection.

Dr. Klei shows Asst. Curator Jessica Thress a Victorian biscuit keeper (cookie jar). A variety of tea furnishings from the museum's collection were on display.

We Get Some National Recognition

We are simply thrilled over the moon to have an article published in the current issue of Early American Life magazine featuring our museum and our Shaker pottery exhibit.  Our volunteer pottery curator, nationally recognized traditional potter, Greg Shooner and our own Jessica Thress, Assistant Curator and Archaeologist co-wrote the article which features our Shaker pottery exhibit. Jessica has also been asked to go to Philadelphia to speak at the 39th annual Shaker Studies Conference. 

Here's some of the red ware glazed jars from the museum's collection. Greg and Jessica were able to d identify this as Shaker fro Union Village (now Otterbein Home) from the distinctive tool marks used to decorate the jars.  This is the first time anyone in the world has been able to identify Shaker pottery.  The exhibit at the museum has a study section so would be collectors can come and learn how to identify Shaker pottery. 

Books and Greens

Tomorrow is the last Saturday for our winter farmer's market.  The Lebanon Farmers' Market opens Thursday, May 17 from 3pm to 7pm on west Main street.  We will miss the market and the folks who visited the museum and our gift shop all winter on their way to buy those wonderful baked goods and other things from the farmers market.

Lettuce and Swiss Chard at the winter farmer's market last Saturday,  inside the Warren County History Center, 105 S. Broadway, Lebanon, OH.  Last Saturday for Free Admission to the museum.

We hope you won't forget that we have a really great gift shop and book store just inside the front doors of the museum. Yes, I know you have to climb all those steps to get to us, but just think what great exercise you are getting.  Also, the gift shop and book store have no admission charge, so come on in and see all our great stuff.

We sell a lot of books from our bookstore. Here's some of our favorites:

The Seed & Weed Garden Club hasn't been active for twenty years or so, but this cookbook is still available and has some of the best recipes anywhere including some from the Golden Lamb contributed by the Jones and Helen Kaufman's killer chocolate cake - still the best chocolate cake on the planet. You need to get this book!

We have a lot of ghost activity in both Glendower and the History Center and we love to take people on ghost tours.  Glendower is mentioned in this book along with the Golden Lamb and many other places in Warren County.

An award winning book, this is a great gift for anyone from Lebanon.  Artist Sylvia Outland and author Fred Compton were both instrumental in putting this book together for Lebanon's 200th birthday. It's one of the best history books anywhere. It's only $30.00, hardcover, full color.

Everyone who lives in Lebanon should have a copy of this book.  Its quick and easy to read -most chapters are only two pages in length, but you get all the best nuggets of Lebanon's history.

Western Star Archive Has New Home

John Zimkus, Historian and Director of Education for the Warren County Historical Society shows ones of the hundreds of files of photos from the Western Star archive.

When the Western Star newspaper moved their offices from Lebanon to West Chester, the owner of the venerable paper, Cox Communications, decided to donate their archive of original newspapers and photographs to the Warren County Historical Society. Now housed in the storage vaults located under the Old Post Office, the Western Star archives have settled in for the duration. Volunteers are hard at work scanning the photos into a digital format so they can be added to our electronic database for easy search and access.

Mr. Zimkus has opened one of several hundred bound books containing the original copies of the Western Star newspaper. You can see more volumes stacked on the shelves all around hi,.