Today, Father’s Day, Akalena’s birthday, and the longest day of the year, we went back in time to 18th century Hannas Town, We learned about lacemaking, the clothes children wore, complete with lead lines to pull them back from the fire or other dangers. Girls’ dresses came with laces and growth pleats so they could be let out and worn until the cloth wore out.
Akalena carded wool, explored the tavern and log houses, and played with 18th-century figet toys designed to keep the kids busy on rainy days. Robert photographed the British soldiers, American militia, and cannoneers. The firing of all the weapons hurt Akalena’s ears, so we stayed away from the battle reenactments.
We all attended a reenactment of several actual court cases heard in the Hannas Town court between 1773 and 1782. In the final case a Revolutionary soldier requested a pension for his service in the war, having been injured, captured by the British and held for a year, walking from the prison in Canada to Philadelphia, catching a ride to Hanna’s Town, only to find that his house had been burned and his family killed in a raid that happened after the British surrender. He was granted the petition, but the pension did not come through until 1832.
After the reenactments, we visited St. Clair Park in downtown Greensburg, where Major General Arthur St. Clair and his wife Phoebe are buried. It was once a cemetery surrounding the Presbyterian church, but in the 1800s most of the graves were moved, leaving only a few Revolutionary heroes in the park. In addition to St. Clair’s grave, there is a statue of Major General Nathanael Greene for whom the town is named.
