Treasures from the Past
Glee McKnight wanted to do something special for her mother in the 1970s after her grandfather died, so she decided to research her family history.
Some 40 years later, McKnight is still researching, discovering her family's roots are intertwined with many others.
“I found if you were here early — your relatives or ancestors — then they are all related in some way,” said McKnight of Franklin Township.
McKnight used to spend more than 40 hours a week researching local families. Cabinets, notebooks and history books fill her garage office.
Wanting to share the information with the county, McKnight donated 19 file drawers full in September to the Butler County Historical Society.
“There were just hundreds and hundreds of files, many with wills, deeds and marriage applications,” McKnight said.
The collection is one of three recently acquired by the society.
Others include thousands of photographs donated by Joy May of Penn Township and the remaining contents of the Lowry house, a three-story structure demolished in 1965 at the corner of East Diamond and South McKean streets. That collection was donated by Ruth Thoma of Center Township.
When Jenta Lowry, the youngest of five sisters, was told her family's home belonged to the city after her sisters' passing and would be demolished for parking, it was devastating.
“The house should have never been torn down,” Thoma said. “Inside the woodwork was immaculate.”
When Thoma moved to Butler 51 years ago, she met three of the five Lowry sisters: Blanche, Bertha and Jenta. She viewed the women as her surrogate mothers or aunts.
Thoma and some friends helped Jenta go through the household items and find an apartment.
“It really took days and we only had 90 days to work with,” Thoma said.
The house was full of Butler history from paperwork and photographs to antique furniture and jewelry.
“I think they kept every correspondence that they had ever gotten, cards greeting cards; everything was kept, just boxes and boxes,” Thoma said.
The Lowry family had been prominent in Butler County. Their father, William Lowry, served in the Civil War and married Annie Zeigler, daughter of Jacob Zeigler, who was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
The family also owned and operated the Lowry Hotel, which was on the corner of Jefferson and Main streets.
Thoma and friends took care of Jenta until her death in 1978. She left Thoma many of the items she saved from the house.It was important for Thoma to give these items to the society so the family's history can be remembered.“This is my way of seeing it be saved where other people can look at it and enjoy it,” Thoma said.Joy May also wants the photographs collected by her husband, Richard May, to be displayed for Butler County residents to enjoy.“I'm just glad the pictures and the negatives are in the hands of someone who can actually use them and share them with the community,” Joy May said.Pat Collins, administrative director of the historical society, went through the boxes of photographs. “We're estimating probably 15,000 to 20,000 images in that collection of Butler County and just priceless photographs that are one-of-a-kind,” Collins said.Some of the photographs where given to Richard May by Harry Price, also known as “Hopie.”Hopie was a police officer who photographed various events for the police department and for the Butler Eagle.The collection also includes family photographs, since Richard May's family was one of the first to settle in the Butler area. “His Dad is a descendant of Eli May, and he used to have a delivery stable right up on Main Street,” Joy May said. “It was where the Rite Aid store is now.”The society is working on indexing all of May's photographs, as well as McKnight's collection, and will make them available online as they're processed.Some of the Zeigler/Lowry collection is already displayed at the Historical Society's home at 123 W. Diamond St., while other parts will remain with Thoma for now.
