June 20

SUPPER: Thurs., June 20, Chicken & Biscuit Supper, Starrucca Baptist Social Rooms, Serving 5:00 p.m., Donation plus food pantry item.

June 21

MUSIC CAMP FINALE: Fri., June 21, 6:30 p.m., St. Paul’s Summer Music Camp Friday Night Finale, Montrose Area School.

June 22

FOUNDER’S DAY: Sat., June 22, Wyoming County Historical Society will be open, 10:00 – 4:00 p.m., Corner of Bridge & Harrison Streets, Tunkhannock, PA.

COMMUNITY FUN DAY: Sat., June 22, 1:00 – 8:00 p.m., Community Fun Day, Hallstead Ball Park, Route 11, Hallstead.

BUG SHOW: Sat., June 22, 8:00-9:30 p.m., Lightening Bug Show, Woodburne Forest and Wildlife Preserve, Dimock, PA.

DINNER: Sat., June 22, Caring Café, Free Community Dinner, 4:00 – 6:00 p.m., United Methodist Church, Main St., Great Bend, PA.

BIKE RODEO: Sat., June 22, Bike Rodeo, Susquehanna Community Elementary School, Registration: 8:30, Bike Rodeo: 9:00 – 1:00 p.m., For children 12 years and younger, Age groups: 2 to 4, 5 to 8, 9 to 12, Helmet Required, Children must be accompanied by an adult. Hosted by Cub Scout Pack 81.

June 29

SUPPER: Sat., June 29, Roast Beef Supper, 5:00 p.m., Thompson United Methodist Church. All are welcome.

June 30

BREAKFAST: Sun., June 30, Breakfast 8:00 a.m. – 12 Noon, Greenfield Volunteer Fire Company Hall.

Mon., June 24: roast pork, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, rye bread, apple crisp.

Tues., June 25: ground beef & mushrooms, chicken vegetable soup, harvard beets, buttered noodles, ww bread, banana.

Wed., June 26: baked ziti w/meatballs, steamed spinach, italian bread, tropical fruit.

Thur., June 27: Centers Closed – Troy Picnic.

Fri., June 28: thyme baked chicken, peas, roasted red potatoes, ww roll, chocolate pudding.

Leatherstocking Gas Company will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for its Montrose-Bridgewater distribution system expansion in Pennsylvania. Elected officials, dignitaries and officials from local government, the Montrose Area School District, Endless Mountain Health System and officials from within the natural gas industry have all been invited to participate in the ceremony at the Montrose Junior-Senior High School on June 18th at 11:00 am.

The ceremony is to mark the beginning of natural gas distribution system construction within Pennsylvania’s newest natural gas utility franchise territory.

On June 22nd, the Harford Historical Society will hold its annual Strawberry Festival from 10am to 3pm at the Soldiers’ Orphan School on Orphans School Road in Harford. In addition to the strawberries, there will be hot food, vendors, and an opportunity to speak with a local expert on the Civil War. Many current and historical books will also be on sale. However, the highlight is the museum the Society now maintains in two buildings of the original school.

The school’s origins began in 1817 when Lyman Richardson held classes upstairs in the attic of his family’s home. The home was built by Lyman’s father Caleb, son of one of the original 1790 founders of Harford. The purpose of the school was to provide further education to children who had completed their courses in the one room school houses that abounded mainly at crossroads in the area.

The Richardson Home

When the school got too large for Richardson’s attic, Franklin Hall was built in 1831. The Hall is now part of the museum. By 1836, the school had a charter from the Pennsylvania Legislature and became known as the Franklin Academy. Now the school functioned as a high school preparing students of the “agricultural and mechanical classes” for college and other stations in life without distinction of “dress and wealth”. Classes were taught in Latin, Greek, mathematics, science, embroidery, wax flowers, music, and painting in a year divided into three terms of thirteen weeks. Teachers, buildings and courses were soon added as needed. Susquehanna Hall still exists and was planned as early as 1837 and finished in 1842. The ground floor became the chapel and recitation room and the second floor was the room of two societies. There were three Literary Societies, a Temperance Society, and an Anti-Tobacco Society associated with the school. There was a main library of 500 volumes and a Lyceum for weekly “forensic disputation”.

In 1850, the Academy was chartered by the State as the Harford University. The school continued its high standards and functioned as a normal school for training teachers. Other graduates included ministers, justices including a Supreme Court Justice, attorneys, a governor, a prominent railroad owner, and a speaker of the House of Representatives, Galusha A. Grow. In 1854, Horace Greely, the well-known newspaper editor, abolitionist, and crusader against political corruption spoke to the graduating class in the fields behind the school.

When the Civil War began in 1861, 400,000 Pennsylvanians went into battle. When they took the oath of allegiance of a soldier, they heard the promise of a 43 year old newly elected governor pledging aid for their families in the event of their death or disability. Fifty-six thousand of the four hundred thousand died and one hundred thousand returned wounded. Governor Andrew Gregg Curtin fulfilled his promise to those who had given the ultimate sacrifice for the war effort by building a total of 44 orphan schools in Pennsylvania. Under these schools, the state assumed guardianship of all children under the age of 16 whose parent was wounded or killed. Food, clothing, education, and medical care were provided.

By 1865, Harford University covered several acres of the old Richardson farm and consisted of 5 classroom buildings, dormitories, a barn, living quarters for a farmer, a house for the principal, a bakery, a smokehouse, and an infirmary. But times were changing. Public schools were replacing private facilities, Governor Curtin needed schools for his Civil War orphans, and, after almost 50 years as principal, Lyman Richardson was ready to retire. In 1865, Harford University was bought by Charles W. Dean and became the Soldiers’ Orphan School of Harford.

Eighteen children registered when the school first opened its doors and that number soon swelled to over 200. Girls wore gingham dresses and boys wore military uniforms. Habits of industry were furthered as all students had to spend one to two hours on chores on the farm, in the dormitories, kitchen, or sewing room in addition to their classes but the educational standards remained. The yearly commissioned state reviews all testify to the high regard held for the Harford school. Terms of admission were soon extended to children of pensioners and the school continued until 1902. In 1916, Glenn and Leda Adams Rhodes bought and farmed the property of the Soldiers Orphans’ School. In 1987, their children, Alan and Margery Rhodes, donated the property to the Harford Historical Society.

The Society has preserved many artifacts and pictures from the different eras of the school and has a full scale model of the school as it looked in 1865. All are displayed in two original buildings of Franklin Academy. Susquehanna Hall, built in 1837, is on the left hand side of the museum and Franklin Hall, built in 1831, is the right side of the museum. The 1817 home of Caleb Richardson can also be seen to the right of these two buildings. It is still currently a private residence and is not open to the public.

The village of Harford is unique in that much of its 200 year history can still be seen. The Harford Historical Society Strawberry Festival provides a rare opportunity to not only enjoy a traditional festival but also to see history in its original locations.