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Quilt from 1900 returns home to Portersville church

From left, Susan Lehman Gillgrist; Dana Opp, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Portersville; and Ron Lehman hold a quilt made by the Ladies of the Presbyterian Church of Portersville Missionary Society in 1900. Submitted photo

PORTERSVILLE — A quilt went on a journey spanning hundreds of miles and almost as many years before finally returning to the place it was made, the Presbyterian Church of Portersville.

The 125-year-old quilt is not the only piece of the church to travel the nation — it brought with it the names of more than 500 of its members, many of whom also can be seen on gravestones in the cemetery, near where the quilt is now displayed.

The quilt belonged to Susan Lehman Gillgrist for the past 25 years, but it has been with her family since the early 1900s. On Tuesday, June 10, she traveled from her home in South Carolina to her former home of Portersville to return the quilt to the church, so it and the church’s history can be viewed by its community.

“It’s a beautiful quilt and it’s in great shape,” Gillgrist said. “There’s over 500 names, and it seems it was friends and family from all over the area.”

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