Highland County Historical Society celebrates 50th anniversary, Part XIV
By Pamela Nickell
H.C. Historical Society
Involvement with the Highland County Historical Society seems like Christmas every day. The spirit is great and there is always a surprise or gift or enthusiastic idea just around the corner.
A few weeks ago HCHS Board Member Kati Burwinkel informed us that she had been in contact with a company who wanted to donate a commemorative bell to the Historical Society for its 50th anniversary. The back story is that a friend of hers had told her that Prindle Station Bells now own the patterns used by Hillsboro’s C.S. Bell Company and is producing these bells in Washougal, Wash.
Kati called the company and found out it is owned by Pete and Sandra Wilson. She told them about our 50th anniversary and since bells are so much a part of our history, asked whether or not it might be possible to obtain a bell in honor of the event.
Mr. Wilson thanked her for thinking of them and quickly volunteered to donate the bell. It has since arrived and will soon be mounted, probably near the log cabin, in time for the May 20 event on the actual date of the anniversary of the Society. Just three to four weeks later, a large box arrived containing a No. 2 bell and yoke, weighing 65 pounds. It is inscribed “Highland County Historical Society and 1965-2015.” It is actually larger than the last bell poured at Bell’s Foundry in Hillsboro which itself sits prominently in the Highland House today.
A quick visit to the website www.prindlestation.com finds Hillsboro and the C.S. Bell family prominently mentioned on the home page. Quoting here: “In 1858, the C.S. Bell family cast their first farm bells, school bells and church bells in Hillsboro, Ohio, and started an American tradition. That tradition continues to this day.
“Using patterns tracing back to the C.S. Bell founders, Prindle Station continues to craft original crystal metal bells the old fashioned way. And, because our molds are based on authentic patterns, the bells made today by the Prindle Station are identical to those first made by ‘America’s Original Farm Bell Manufacturer – C.S. Bell.’ In fact, many of C.S. Bell’s original Iron Farm Bells and Marine bells continue to ring throughout the country,
their tone still clear and far-reaching despite years of weathering. Like these, a Prindle Station bell will become a treasured possession....”
On Thursday, April 9 at 3:15 p.m., bells rang across the land in tribute to the 150th anniversary of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee meeting at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia to set the terms of surrender of Lee’s Army. I wonder how many of those bells were C.S. Bell/Prindle Station Bells? This particular bell didn’t ring on that day, but I bet it will in 2065, the 200th anniversary of the Grant/Lee meeting.
Preserving history – what we are all about!