Cemetery walk to feature fascinating tales of past residents
A contemporary of Pablo Picasso, Amelia Earhart’s cousin, World War I aid volunteer, and an immigrant who cherished the opportunities in America are the people, places and concepts to be discussed on Saturday, May 20, at the Butler County Historical Society’s 2023 Echoes From Our Past cemetery walk.
Jennifer Ford, historical society director, said the event will be from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Northside Cemetery on North Main Street hill.
Groups will take a guided tour of the cemetery, stopping at the graves of various Butler residents to watch costumed actors portray their stories.
Cost is $10 for historical society members and $15 for nonmembers.
Tickets for the event, which always sell out, can be purchased at ButlerHistory.com/shop or by calling 724-683-8116.
Subjects on this year’s tour include:
√ Josephine Hammond Marshall, World War I aid volunteer, world traveler, teach, organizer and advocate for the care of World War I veterans.
√ Maj. George Washington Reed, one of Butler’s earliest residents who was the town’s oldest resident when he died in 1893. He served in the local militia and enlisted in the Civil War in his 60s.
√ Rosetti Fry, a Butler mayor’s daughter and wife of a Harmony Short Line superintendent.
√ Lovey Forkin, of the wealthy Ayres family of Butler, was in Paris at the same time as Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Pablo Picasso.
√ Lida Earhart, who earned her Ph.D. in education and spent her life traveling, publishing and speaking on educational reform.
√ Paul Bobak, a Slovakian immigrant who brought his family to Butler in 1905 so he could earn a good living as a machinist in a steel mill.
Echoes From Our Past is one of the historical society’s most significant fundraisers each year.
