CLINTON TWP — John and Kathy Allen are piecing together a historical site in their backyard, and they need help.

The Allens own the former Love Farm, known as Armstrong Farms for the past 100 years. They are working with South East Butler County Historic Resources, a history and genealogy group in Winfield Township, to publish a booklet and erect a roadside marker near the remains of a Grand Army of the Republic hall on the property along Westminster Road.

The GARs were Civil War veterans clubs, much like VFW or American Legion clubs today.

John Allen is a descendant of John S. Love, a co-founder of the post who served in the 137th Pennsylvania Regiment, Company D, during the Civil War.

Love donated part of his farmland in 1887 to the township so an armory and a GAR hall could be built there.

"I've always known that. We are seven generations here," Allen said. "Armstrong comes from the name of a man who married into the Love family about 100 years ago, I guess."

Allen bought the farm in 1967, and since then he and his wife have refurbished a barn and a farmhouse on the site dating back to the 1860s. Both buildings are used as part of the bed-and-breakfast Kathy Allen operates.

"There was one owner for a very brief period between the Love family and my purchase of the farm. That owner razed the hall in the 1960s. By that time the building, about the size of a one-room schoolhouse, was not much more than a shack," John Allen said.

While the building no longer stands, the GAR building's foundation is still on the site, as are artifacts from the Civil War era.

"Last summer, I began research at (Kathy Allen's) request and all sorts of information began popping up," said Drenda Gostkowski, founder of South East Butler County Historic Resources. "Now I'd like to get pictures, more names than I already have and more information all the way around."

The Allens and Gostkowski are looking for families who might have inherited photographs, documents or family stories about the site.

Artifacts discovered nearby confirm its historic relevance.

"I've only had the opportunity to go out there maybe a half-dozen times, but I've made some interesting discoveries," Jared Stroech said.

Stroech digs through a Cannonsburg engineering firm's finances by day, but the Castle Shannon resident scours the countryside with a metal detector in his spare time.

"In my first two trips, I found pieces of what I believe are Civil War saber belts, which were made from leather and bits of brass," Stroech said.

"I can tell there were at least five or six because the pieces are unique to the belt."

Stroech also has discovered the top and bottom pieces of a flagpole used at the GAR hall, as well as his most prized discovery, a 1857 silver half-dime.

"This was the coin they used before nickels were produced as a 5-cent piece. It's smaller than a dime, and they're not found very often," he said.

Stroech says tenacity is the best attribute a treasure hunter can have.

"I've only just scratched the surface of the (GAR) site," he said. "The plan is to dig until I don't get any more signals on the machine. It's kind of a rule among metal detectors: No site is ever hunted out."

Much is already known about the site's history.

Love and fellow hall founder James Harvey served in the 137th together and owned adjoining farms on Westminster Road.

Old maps of Clinton Township show a small village called Riddle's Crossroads as well as its post office along the same road.

The James Harvey Post 514 was organized on March 25, 1886, at Clinton Township's Schoolhouse 2.

Many of its members served with the 137th, but others hailed from the 11th Pennsylvania Reserve and the 78th, 103rd and 169th Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiments.

"It's interesting. As you go back through the history, a lot of the old families persist in this community — names like Love, Halstead, Harvey, Thompson and Cunningham," John Allen said.

"I think it would be nice to honor their ancestors."

The 137th, in particular, saw a lot of action during the Civil War. Companies D, F and G were recruited in Butler County.

Those men guarded the armory at Harpers Ferry, fought in the Battle of Antietam and covered the Union army's retreat at Chancellorsville during their nine-month enlistment.

Allen said one prize he would love to see unearthed intact, either from the ground or someone's attic, is the GAR hall's leather-bound, record-keeping ledger.

"It's my understanding that each member could write his recollections in there, creating a history for that group of men. It's a shame that it's been lost. It doesn't seem like the kind of thing one would throw away," Allen said.

According to the South East Butler County Historic Resources Web site, about 18 former GAR sites have been documented in Butler County.

"At this point there is no national preservation (effort for them) so far as I know," Gostkowski said. "It is up to the individuals who have those sites on their property."

Anyone with information on the James Harvey Post 514 site is asked to contact South East Butler County Historic Resources at its Web site, www.saxonburglocalhistory.com.