Winter Issue (January 2010)
Published by the Mt Zion Historical Society
James Burke,President
Bob Nay, Editor, Web Coordinator
Mt Zion Historical Society Webpage Link




Dear Mt Zion Historical Society (MZHS) Friends:



It's been a great 2009 for us and we expect just as good a 2010. We hope you have enjoyed our newsletter - The Bennett's Valley History Gazette. There have been many good comments about it and it continues to get better each issue. We have almost 300 readers now and want to add even more. Please forward to whomever you like. If you would like to add friends to our email distribution list please have them or you can send an email to Bob Nay with their name and email address. It will not be used for any other purpose than our regular and special newsletters. We appreciate your support for the Mt Zion Historical Society. And again if you have any comments, feedback, or things to share please let Jim Burke or Bob Nay know at their email addresses above.

The prime purpose of this issue is to let you know what we are doing or plan to be doing in 2010, and continue our series on "Lost at Sea" by Mary Bentz, on early pioneers, and our collection of historic pictures.

If you have any questions or ideas please never hesitate to contact us through James Burke, MZHS President.




Mt Zion Historical Society Update and Plans for 2010



As 2009 has come to the end, and we begin a new year, we reflect back on the Mt. Zion Society events and accomplishment over the past year together with establishing our goals for the New Year -2010.

Veterans Honor Walk The Veteran's Honor Walk was a major addition to the Mt. Zion Historical Park. The purpose of this walkway is to honor the distinguished contributions and service of local veterans. The first of ten granite plaques was installed this year, and our goal is to dedicate a plaque each year at the annual Memorial Weekend Celebration. A special committee has been established consisting of members of both the American Legion and the Society to select future veterans for this honor. The installation of this walkway required a major effort from a number of people. Dave Konkle and Gaylon McClintick were both major contributors in giving there time and efforts to this project. The Board Members of the Society and the cooperation of The Valley American Legion were also essential elements. This project also included Josh Smith's contribution as part of his requirement for his Eagle Badge of rank.

This year the Society is planning another major addition to the park in the form of a Historical Walkway to honor and recognize the local history and heritage of the Bennett's Valley Area. This walkway will contain a total of eight plaques. The plaques will represent a combination of people, industry, organizations, and/or events. The plaque will honor Dr. Betty Hayes for her medical and civic contributions to the Valley. Your continued suggestions for this project are both important and meaningful in that this is a community project.

Dedication 2009 The third annual Memorial Weekend Dedication was the Society biggest event of the year. This event included participation by the Valley Legion Post, Boy Scout Troop #94, Father Tyler representing St. Joseph Church, Rev. Luther Nelson, Jr., representing the Weedville Wesleyan Church, Ron Guilyard representing the Vietnam Veterans group and Mary Parziale Bentz. Guest speakers included Representative Matt Gabler, Leslie Neal Glatt, and Evo Facchine. The first plaque honoring, Carmine Parziale, was dedicated, and additionally a Bronze Star was post-humously presented to Harry Harrison and accepted by the Harrison family. The Mt. Zion Historical Society is already making plans for this year's Memorial Weekend event.

Last year there were over one hundred Veteran's additional pavers installed in the Veteran's Walkway, and the Society is continually receiving orders for this popular project. In order to make space for these additional granite pavers, the pavers for the Korean War Veterans have been relocated to the new walkway.

Our e-mail newsletter- The Bennett's Valley History Gazette- has been a huge success, thanks mainly to the efforts of our editor Bob Nay. We now have almost 300 supporters on our mailing list. Our goal for 2010 is to have over 500 subscribers by this time next year. The newsletter provides an excellent form of communication between the Society the you. We are also striving to find more and better ways to communicate to all interested parties of the Society and Bennett's Valley. We do appreciate your comments and feedback.

Our Mt Zion Historical Society web site – www.mtzionhistoricalsociety.org has become a very popular website thanks to the efforts of our many contributors and all coordinated through Bob Nay. Since we first went on line in 2008, we have had almost 1600 unique visitors to the site. Currently the Society is developing a section entitled “Local Historical Sites in the Bennett’s Valley Area which can be found on the following link . The Lest We Forget series, initiated by Evo Facchine is most popular and continues to grow with articles from many sources. It is the Society’s goal to have over fifty stories honoring our local veterans by over the course of 2010. The Society encourages and welcomes you to submit stories on local Veterans of Jay and Benezette Townships.

This past year the Society installed two new granite historical plaques - one honoring Philip Bliss who was born in what is now Jay Township, and the other honoring Eugenio Kincaid whose family was among the first pioneer settlers of the Valley. Over the course of the past year the Society has discovered two additional Revolutionary War Veterans buried in Jay Township. We plan to honor each of these Veterans with plaques in the Veteran's Walkway in front of the Veteran's Memorial.

The Society believes publications in the form of books and booklets of local historical interest provide a significant community interest in the local history and heritage of Bennett’s Valley. Publications such as “Pioneers of Second Fork” by Jim Burke which details a unique perspective and history of the Bennett's Valley Area and Ralph Harrison’s book “The History of Pennsylvania Elk County”. This year, 2010, we hope to have at least two or three new publications available. One of these publications is a history of Mt. Zion Church to be authored by Joyce Lee. The second is a diary of a Civil War soldier.

This past year Ken Ovell, who was appointed as the Society's Genealogist, and his wife Rita have initiated a project of collecting old pictures. The Society desires to build our collection of historical and family history information so we can share and better respond to the many inquiries we get via our website and personal requests. Such requests include pictures taken before the digital camera days - pictures of schools, churches, businesses, every day life on the streets of Bennett's Valley, people, reunion, baseball teams, etc. We would very much appreciate any contributions for this very important historical preservation project.

John Gray one of our board members who made a number of significant contributions to the Society passed away last year. He will certainly be missed. His wife Rosemary has taken his place on the board of directors. Rosemary has developed a MZHS clothing line. The Society through Bob Nay is enhancing our website with an on line web store capability where you will ultimately be able to purchase special Bennett's Valley items of interest( books, shirts, mugs, pictures, vet pavers, park benches, and your membership, etc) over the Internet or by mail. A number of Mt Zion Historical Society and related items will available for purchase. George Stroup another of the Society's Executive Board Members moved to California. Charles Carpin has joined the Board and will serve as a liaison between the American Legion and the Historical Society.

Park Bench During last year there were three Memorial Park Benches installed. They included one for the Ovell Family, one for the Burke Family, and one for the Winslow Family. Randy Kunes has purchased a bench plaque to honor his parents, and it will be installed for dedication at our next Memorial Day Event. Several park benches honoring your loved ones are still available. The cost is $500.00.

Gaylon McClintick has been authorized by the Board to install two road signs highlighting the Mt Zion Historical Park. One of these signs will we erected at the intersection of Route 255 and Caledonia Road, the other sign at the intersection of Route 555 (the triple-nickel highway)and Caledonia. These signs will give directions to the park. A second project is to install a grist-mill stone that has been donated to the park.




Mt Zion Cemetery Historical Grave Markers Restored
By Ken Ovell, Mt Zion Cemetery Association



Mt Zion Grave MarkerIn the autumn of 2009, two historic family grave markers were restored at the Mt. Zion Cemetery. The Mt. Zion Cemetery Association funded the restoration of the Pearsall family marker and the Mt. Zion Historical Society funded the restoration of the Morey family marker.

The Pearsall family played a significant role in the establishment of both the Mt. Zion church and the cemetery. In addition to donating the land used by both, a Pearsall family member was the first pastor at the church, serving from 1856 - 1870. Interestingly, Peter Pearsall, who donated the land, was the first person interred in the cemetery in 1838.

The Morey family were early settlers on the Bennett's Branch, arriving in 1813. A civic minded family they worked to improve the community as well as their own homesteads. They were instrumental in improving education and established the first school in the area. They also worked to improve roads suitable for wagons, construction of grist mills, used their influence to create Fox Township (part of which later became Jay Township), encouraged the creation of a local postal service and worked to improve government and the courts after the establishment of Elk County.

Both of these grave markers are made of marble and stand over 6' high. In addition to a century and a half's dirt and grime which needed cleaning, both markers were in jeopardy of falling over or having the heavy pieces split and separate. They now stand clean and tall on new cement foundations with resealed segments, proudly reflecting the heritage of two pioneer families.

We'd like to thank Cowan Monuments for their care and expertise in this effort.


"Lost at Sea" by Mary Bentz
©2010 Mary Bentz



On July 30, 1942, USS Grunion (SS-216) reported heavy anti-submarine activity near Kiska Island in the Aleutian Islands. According to the Dutch Harbor War Diary, ComTaskGroup (CTG) then directed submarines Grunion, Triton, S-18, S-32, S-33, and S-35 to return to Dutch Harbor. All responded and returned except Grunion. Attempts to reach her had failed. On August 4, 1942, USS Finback, in the vicinity of Attu Island, was asked to transmit to Grunion during darkness, asking her position. They sent results to CTG that their broadcast message at 2200 was unsuccessful.

On October 5, Grunion was reported overdue from patrol, and presumed lost with all hands. The Navy Department began sending telegrams to all of the families expressing their regrets and explaining that details were not available, and that delay in receipt must necessarily be expected, to prevent possible aid to the enemies.

There was no consoling the families. Nobody knew what had happened. A second telegram arrived a few days later, with a significant change. It was the same telegram, except that a new sentence had been inserted: "However, no proof has been received that it was the result of enemy action."

Families immediately began writing to the Navy Department, desperate for information. It is difficult to imagine the effect the loss had on wives, parents, and entire families. I learned in the telegram below, sent from Carmen's older brother to the Navy Department, that their mother, my grandmother, became very ill after hearing the news. This telegram, sent on October 2, 1942, had an immediate response.

Grunion Telegram

Grunion Telegram Response

USS Grunion was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on November 2, 1942. Captured Japanese records show no antisubmarine attacks in the Kiska area.

Early this past November, my husband and I spent 4 days at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, MO, photographing the service records of all 70 men who died on Grunion. Although we personally knew from the families how desperate they were for any piece of news, it wasn't until reading the families' letters that we could grasp the pain and grief these families experienced.

In our research we found that the Navy answered with a personal response every single letter from Grunion families, not just in the days following those first telegrams, but for years after. 3500 men on 52 submarines were lost in WW II; so it's hard to imagine the administrative force it must have taken to respond to all those letters, especially in the days of manual typewriters, onionskin paper, carbon paper, no email, no copiers, and very little information to include in the responses. Four submarines have been found and families notified. Forty eight remain on eternal patrol. How fortunate we are that the three sons of Grunion's Lt. Commander Abele grew up wanting to find out what had happened to their father. With determination, foresight and courage, they pursued their dream and were victorious for 69 families who waited 65 years to finally know what had happened. We are forever grateful.

What remains unknown is what caused Grunion's loss.

…. To be continued




Our Historic Bennett's Valley Picture Series and Collections
Your Contributions are Very Much Needed



Garvin Deer Hunt 1939 Hunting in the Bennett's Valley area has been a tradition from the time the first Indian set foot in the valley. The first settlers depended upon hunting as a source of food. Over the years hunting has evolved into a sport, although many us today still enjoy a good meal of venison.

The pictures below were contributed to Mt. Zion Historical Society by Ron Huff, and are pictures of the Garvin's family deer hunt in 1939.

Garvin Family Deer Hunt 1939 Picture above from right to left are Miles, Christine, Pauline, Ma, and Wilbur Garvin together several of their friends.

The Mt Zion Historical Society is undertaking this special project to further its mission. And we need your help.

We desire to build our collection of historical and genealogy-family history information so we can share and better respond to the many inquiries we get via our website and personal requests. Such requests include pictures taken before the digital camera days- pictures of schools, churches, businesses, every day life on the streets of Bennett's Valley, people, reunions,baseball teams, etc. We would like to eventually post on our website and build a library of such information for a future research base similar to other historical societies. And potentially also publish manuscripts and books as a funding source for our projects. Pictures can be mailed or questions can be sent to Rita Fencie Ovell, Abby Road, Weedville, Pa. 15868, or emailed to Jim Burkeor Bob Nay.

We would like to thank the following contributors of both pictures and books:




Upcoming Events in and near Bennett's Valley



Date Event Comments and Contacts
Next Feb 16, , 2010 Mt Zion Historical Society Monthly Meeting Meets the 3rd Tuesday of every month except December;
Contact Jim Burkefor further info.
January 30- Feb 1 GROUNDHOG DAY - PUNXSUTAWNEY, PA INFORMATION 800-752-7445
FEBRUARY 20-27 CHAIN SAW CARVING RENDEZVOUS - RIDGWAY INFORMATION 814-772-0400
Tuesday, April 19th , 1 pm Elk County Historical Society Museum Opening All New Exhibits (Museum open April 19 through December 5)
Memorial Day Weekend, May 2010 Mt Zion Historical Society Memorial Day Dedication The Annual Memorial Day Weekend Services at the Mt Zion Memorial Park
Contact Jim Burkefor further info.
Friday, June 18th 5-8 pm Elk County Historical Society Annual Strawberry Festival Center Street between Elk and Vine. Live entertainment, games, balloons, raffles, 50/50s, and strawberry treats and goodies!
Saturday August 7, 2010 Annual Winslow Family Reunion Benezette School - More Info to Follow



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