Turkeyfoot Historical Society

09/02/2026

Here's a bunch of "good old guys". How many do you know?

Glenn Beachy, Warren Warner, R. O. Thomas, Harry Gunderman, Fred Smith, Tom Beggs and George Smith. Looks like they were selling dishcloths to raise money for the Toll House.

09/01/2026

I have a page of photographs of William and Nancy Harned and other family members and have been looking for them on the internet - finally found them today.

William was the son of Luther W. and Annie Welfley Harned.
Luther W. Harned (photo below) died at his home near Fulton, Kan., Monday, February 22, 1926, where he has been living with his son, Edward, since the death of his wife in 1906. He was born in Turkeyfoot township, Pennsylvania, February 18, 1839, and lived in Harnedsville most of his boyhood days. His father owned the farm on which the little village was built; also, manager of a store there.

He was married to Annie M. Welfley of Confluence, Pa., living for five years in Harnedsville, then moving with his family to Illinois, where he lived a number of years, afterward moving near Iowa City, Iowa, later coming to Oklahoma seeking better health for his wife.

The children who survive and mourn the loss of their father, are Frank Harned of Bethany, Ill., Edward S. Harned of Fulton, Kan., Wm. I. Harned of West Liberty, Iowa, Mrs. M. R. Church of Fulton, Kan., Mrs. H. L. Adams of Dalhart, Texas, Mrs. J. S. Bradshaw of Battle Creek, Iowa, Mr. L. W. Harned of Fulton, Kan., Dr. C. W. Harned of Des Moines, Ia., Mrs. Alta Thompson of Carrier, Okla., and Mr. W. E. Harned of Dalhart, Texas.

He quietly passed away after a short illness to be with his God. He was a firm believer in God's word, brought up in Methodist belief, teaching his children honesty and fear of God.

09/01/2026

This photograph which is currently on display at the Turkeyfoot Historical Society building was taken in 1943 and was posed in front of some of the beautiful windows in the Confluence Methodist Church. A visitor questioned why it was taken in the middle of winter. I had no answer for them!

08/29/2026

I get lost in time when I'm looking at my computer and often get sidetracked, but I also find some interesting things that take me down memory lane.

Do you like to look at old photographs? Here's one I found on Find a Grave - Jacob and Mary Diehl Becket. Jacob was born in 1848 and died in 1936. Mary was born in 1848 and died in 1916. They had 11 children. I found it interesting that I know so many of their descendants, and I'm sure you will know a lot of them, too.

One of their children was Louise Becket Smith, married to Daniel Smith. One of Louise and Daniel's children was Lawrence Smith, who was married to Ethel Gower. One of their children was Delaine Smith, who married George Swearman. Their children were Clifford, Gary and Nancy, who I remember from Turkeyfoot High School in the 1960's.

Another child of Louise and Daniel Smith was Nora, who married Mahlon McClintock. Nora and Mahlon were parents of Cleabel, who married James Melvin Sechler, whose children were Dean, Carol, Patsy Nicklow, Cathy Bender, and Lorie Sechler. Other children of Nora and Mahlon were Marlin, Dale, Linden Ed, and Gay Bailey.

Another child of Louise and Daniel Smith was Mabel, who married Floyd Davis. Their children were Terry, Linda and Brenda, who I also remember from school.

One more child of Louise and Daniel Smith was Herbert Paul Smith, who married Mae Elizabeth Keslar. Their children were Nancy, Jack and Geraldine Smith, and I remember all of them, too.

Yes, I definitely spend too much time on the internet, but it's just so interesting!

08/28/2026

Come in and visit with us on Saturday - shop the yard sale & check out the museum (we have some new items on display) or just say "Hello".

08/24/2026

Are there any relatives of Omer Galen Tressler out there? He was born in 1893 and died in 1931, due to ill health from serving in World War I. The metal plate shown below was found in a house that was being demolished, and the owner of the house was wondering if anyone in the family would like to have it. It's in pretty bad shape, but you can still read his name. Send us a message or text me at 615-767-3664 if you are a relative and are interested in the plate.

08/24/2026

The Confluence Lutheran Church has donated items to the Historical Society, and we need help moving them to our building.

If you are available to help, please meet Lisa Hall at the church on Thursday, August 27th at 6:30 p.m.

Your help will be greatly appreciated.

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08/23/2026

The Turkeyfoot Historical Society has a Xerox copy of "Harnedsville, Penna. as I Remember It", which was written by Ina Zufall Adams Russ. She was born in Harnedsville in 1901 and died in 2002 in Allegheny County. She was a daughter of William Harrison Zufall, a well-known store owner in Harnedville, and we have written about him in previous posts. The following is an excerpt from her hand-written information entitled "Schools". Does anyone have information about the schools she mentions?

From the old schoolhouse on Hogback hill to the one at the forks of the road and railroad where I went to school, to the newer school across the road and now to the new consolidated school is now one hundred and forty years (1978).

When I started to school in 1908 my first teacher was Charles Koontz of Ursina. He taught my first two years. The next teachers were Frank Leslie - town, Sarah Schaible - Ursina; Edith Show - Confluence; Belle Ream - Confluence; Merle Lenhart - Draketown; Fay Rush - Ursina; Olive Ankney - town. Fay Rush taught school all her life. She taught me, my three children and a couple of my grandchildren.

We had lots of good times at that school. The schoolhouse sat in a corner of the forks of the roads and a creek ran past two sides of it. We girls would make paper boats and sail them or play in the front yard. The boys played ball in the bank. The bathrooms were two little houses on the lower edge of the lot.

When we needed water for drinking, the teacher would let two of us take a large tin bucket and, at the morning recess about ten o'clock, there we would go down to Mrs. Leslie's or Nickelson's well and pump a bucket full and bring it back and put it on a shelf in the girl's cloakroom. We had a tin cup and everyone drank from it. The Nickelson family consisted of Mr. and Ms. William Nickelson - Minnie, Bessie, Emma, Harry and John. Mrs. Nickelson and all the children contracted tuberculosis and died, and not one other child that ever went to school got it from them.

We had a large room with a big iron potbellied stove in the middle. The older pupils in the rear froze, while the younger children were too warm. It was not an insulated building, we did not know anything about such things then.

The teachers would walk to work each day from Ursina or Confluence, a distance of one and a half to two miles, and build a fire and have the school as warm as it would get until eight o'clock when school started. The boys sat on one side and the girls on the other. The front seats were for classes. The teacher taught from primer to sixth grade. They would call out which class and the children would go up and sit on the front seats and recite and were dismissed and another class called up.

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08/22/2026

An article from the Somerset Daily American from June of 1994 - 32 years ago, and Johnny still loves Confluence. As long as I've known him, he has done everything within his power to make Confluence the best town it can be. Anyone have any good (printable) stories?

08/18/2026

Are there any descendants out there of Andrew Jackson Cramer (1833-1913) and his wife, Catherine (Cassy) Cramer from Unamus? I thought this was an interesting article.