Highland County Historical Society celebrates 50th anniversary, Part 40

By Pamela Nickell
H.C. Historical Society

Unfortunately, this week’s article must be started with a correction to last week’s. Time goes fast enough, but somehow in that article 30 years were skipped. As you know from all our celebration this year, the Highland House was obtained in 1966 by the newly formed Highland County Historical Society, not in 1996.

Also, the L W. Noyes dictionary stand was accessioned in 1967, not in 1997. Of course, the error was husband Bob’s since he did not read the article until after it was printed and noted immediately the mistake!

Our 50th anniversary year does speed on, but not quite that fast.

This week the new windows on the west side of the building will be completed. The second story windows had been replaced some years ago thanks to previous caretakers, but the ground floor and attic windows had since deteriorated badly, so two wonderful donors provided the funding for the six windows on the main floor and the one attic window. These and all benefactors to the HCHS are so greatly appreciated.

Now to the point of this article. While we were removing the curtains in the Pioneer Kitchen for the window replacement, the stove pictured here came to our attention.

John Glaze told me that just over a year ago during the summer, a couple visited the museum who were celebrating their anniversary. They especially wanted to see the stove that had belonged to the great-grandmother of one of them.

They asked permission to photograph it, which John certainly gave, exactly fulfilling the purpose of the museum. He also photographed them with it. The provenance of this stove is more defined than many of the museum’s holdings. There are two pictures of the owner with it: One inside the house and the one here on the porch. The assumption would be that it had been replaced inside with a more modern version but kept outside for continued use.

On the reverse side of this picture in faint pencil is, “Mrs. Flora VanPelt, Hillsboro, O. Route 6. This is the picture of the stove. Was bought in 1891. My first stove when I went to housekeeping at the age of 19 years. And the stove has been in use for 56 years. And now I am 75 years of age and I am still working on the same stove. (Photo Oct. 1947.)”

The advertisement for the stove is penciled 1870 and states that since 1868, 350 of them had been sold by N. Rockhold & Son, a Hillsboro company established in 1843.

The ad reads that also available at this establishment were “Builders’ and Carriage Hardware, Carpenters and Blacksmith supplies, Wagon Timber, Coffin Trimmings, Wheelbarrows, Eagle and Sanford Cutting Boxes, Pittsburgh and Hamilton one- and two-horse plows. Also, a superior article of blacksmith’s coal always on hand.”

As stated by Highland House Director Vicki Knauff, our charge is to “preserve, protect and promote” our history.