Dear Members and Supporters of Historic Shepherdstown,
Season’s Greetings! As we head toward the start of 2023, we at Historic Shepherdstown Commission and Museum want to thank all of you for your financial and volunteer support this past year. We want to share just a few highlights of what you’ve helped us accomplish since our last newsletter.
Recognition of Clarence E. CEM Martin III
At the holiday party in December, Historic Shepherdstown recognized former State Del. CEM Martin, who was instrumental in helping to save the historic Entler Hotel complex from destruction. In 1978, CEM represented both Jefferson and Berkeley Counties in the state legislature. Ret. Gen. William Van Ryzin approached him on behalf of town residents, raising concerns about plans by Shepherd College to raze what was then known as Rumsey Hall and replace it with a parking lot. Working with other legislators from the area, CEM introduced the bill that ultimately resulted in the state Board of Regents selling the Entler complex to the corporation of Shepherdstown for $1. Residents of the town renovated the building and Historic Shepherdstown Commission accepted the responsibility to maintain it on behalf of the town. The Museum opened in 1983, and we plan to celebrate its 40th anniversary during 2023. A copy of the bill hangs in the museum beside some before-and-after pictures of the renovations.
After leaving the legislature, CEM worked with Martin & Seibert in Martinsburg for many years. More recently, he has been involved in initiatives to stop human trafficking, has served as a Vatican liaison, and is a fellow of the Catholic University Institute of Policy Research. He has received a number of honors and awards, including ones from both Pope Benedict and Pope Francis, an honorary doctorate from Shepherd University, and a Distinguished West Virginian Award, the highest civilian honor awarded by the governor.
CEM and his family – his wife Judy and his daughters McKenna Martin and Morgan Martin Boyer – attended the reception. HSC presented CEM with a plaque, which read:
Presented to Clarence E. CEM Martin III in recognition of your important role in saving the Historic Entler Hotel, and it was signed Historic Shepherdstown Commission and dated December 9, 2022.
In his remarks, CEM made it a point to thank everyone involved in Historic Shepherdstown for their efforts through the years to ensure that the history represented by the museum and the other buildings in the complex has remained accessible to both local residents and tourists. Thank you, CEM Martin!
Tour of Historic Houses of Worship
HSC is once again co-sponsoring the Tour of Historic Houses of Worship from 4-7 p.m. on the day after Christmas, Dec. 26. Seven churches, the War Memorial Building, the Historic Shepherdstown Museum, and the Shepherdstown Opera House will all be open to visitors. The best place to pick up brochures for the self-guided walking tour is the War Memorial Building, although a limited number of brochures will be available at the other locations on the tour. To mark the beginning of the event, participating local churches will ring their bells at 4 p.m. The tour is a wonderful way to introduce out-of-town visitors to Shepherdstown.
Museum update
We welcomed more than 1,100 visitors to the Historic Shepherdstown Museum this year and hosted field trips from Shepherdstown Elementary School, the Shepherdstown Day Care Center, and Shepherd University. We ran ghost tours during Boofest, gave out candy during the town’s Halloween celebration, and entertained a special visitor – Santa Claus – after the annual Christmas parade.
As we’ve noted before, a new exhibit opened in May, Educational Opportunities for Black Jefferson County Residents Before and After Brown v. Board of Education. We received a $1,500 mini-grant from the West Virginia Humanities Council to help fund that exhibit.
We now have a second new exhibit in place. We received a $7,000 grant from Americana Corner, which enabled us to get our S. Howell Brown 1852 Map of Jefferson County Virginia with Farm Limits restored. That map is the centerpiece for “Great Dreams: Maps of Shepherdstown and Jefferson County from the 17th through the 21st Centuries.” The Jefferson County Historical Society donated a copy of S. Howell Brown’s 1883 Map of Jefferson County West Virginia with Farm Limits to the museum in August. It is being restored and will become part of the new exhibit in the spring. The grand opening of the map exhibit will be held during our Spring Opening Reception in April.
Holiday ornaments still available
This year’s holiday ornament, featuring the James Rumsey Steamboat, is still available for purchase via our website. Previous years’ ornaments are also available. Because we mail them, we would expect that any ornaments ordered at this point would arrive after Christmas.
Membership update
Our annual membership drive will begin at the end of January. We will be mailing our appeal letters, and we hope you will continue to support our efforts to tell the story of Shepherdstown and the surrounding area.
Have a wonderful holiday season. We are looking forward to seeing you in 2023 as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Historic Shepherdstown Museum.
Best wishes,
Donna M. Bertazzoni
President, Historic Shepherdstown Board of Directors
Historic Shepherdstown Speaker Series Presentation, Awards Scheduled
May is Historic Preservation Month, and the first Historic Shepherdstown Commission Speaker Series presentation and annual Historic Preservation Awards ceremony is scheduled for 7 p.m. on May 17 at the beautifully renovated Opera House on German Street in downtown Shepherdstown.
Author Kevin Pawlak, a Shepherd University graduate and local history expert, will discuss the recently released book “John Brown’s Raid: Harpers Ferry and the Coming of the Civil War, October 16-18, 1859”, which he co-authored with Jon-Erik Gilot.
Immediately preceding Pawlak’s talk, Historic Shepherdstown Commission will present the 2023 Historic Preservation Awards to this year’s recipients. The Preservation of Historic Properties award will be given to Steve and Harriet Pearson, for the renovation and rehabilitation of the Shepherdstown Opera House
The Preservation of Historic Legacies (James C. Price) Award is going to Jim Surkamp, for his years of actively promoting and preserving the local history, sharing his knowledge of historically significant families, and creating numerous videos about historic events in Shepherdstown
The Service to Historic Shepherdstown Commission will be given to two important long-time HSC volunteers, A. Jerry Bucey and Nick Blanton. Bucey is receiving the award for his dedicated service on the Board of Directors and for his work on the Executive Committee, as co-chair and member of the Building Committee, and as chair of the Cemetery Committee. Blanton served one term on the HSC board, and since then has been a dedicated volunteer member of the Building Committee and the Museum Committee. He has also been the liaison with the Rumseian Society and has been the lead volunteer with the James Rumsey Boathouse and replica boat, frequently volunteering to tell the James Rumsey story during student field trips.
The May 17 presentation is the first of four Speaker Series planned for 2023. All of the events are free and open to the public. The additional talks are:
Questions regarding the Speaker Series may be directed to the Historic Shepherdstown office by calling 304-876-0910 or emailing [email protected].
Historic Shepherdstown Museum opening April 15 with map exhibit.
Historic Shepherdstown Museum map exhibit
In 2023, Historic Shepherdstown Museum will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of its opening with a new exhibit, “Great Dreams: Maps of Shepherdstown and Jefferson County from the 17th through the 21st Century.” The museum reopens for the season on Saturday, April 15, at 11 a.m.
The exhibit features 20 maps, including six original maps owned by the museum. The maps are grouped by era: Early Maps, Civil War maps; and 20th and 21st Century maps.
The Early Map exhibit includes what is believed to be the earliest plat map of Shepherdstown, then known as Mecklenburg. The map, which is owned by the museum, has been dated to the 1760s by paper conservators. Also included in the Early Map era are copies of the first map of British America drawn by John Smith; Charles Varle’s 1809 map, which includes the first depiction of Jefferson County; and Thomas Shepherd’s original 222-acre land grant.
The Civil War maps include one pre-war map, an original of S. Howell Brown’s 1852 map of Jefferson County Virginia. That map was donated to the museum by Mary Hartzell Dobbins and was restored in 2022 thanks to an Americana Corner grant, which also funded the exhibit.
Brown and noted mapmaker Jedediah Hotchkiss both served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War and both drew detailed maps of actions in the Shenandoah Valley. The Civil War maps include depictions of the Battle of Antietam by Brown and the U.S. Government; the Battle of Shepherdstown by the American Battlefield Trust; and actions near Kearneysville and Shepherdstown in August of 1864 by Hotchkiss.
The final era depicted features an original 1883 S. Howell Brown map of Jefferson County, West Virginia, and a 2007 Jefferson County map by local cartographer Lori Simmons. The Jefferson County Historical Society donated the Brown map, and Simmons donated the 2007 map. Also included in that grouping are an original 1890 plat map of Shepherdstown by local architect S. P. Humrickhouse, an original 1920s Shaw and Whitmer map of Jefferson County, and an overlay of the Shepherdstown Historic District produced by the Jefferson County GIS/Addressing office.
The map exhibit is the second new exhibit the museum has opened in the past 12 months. Educational Opportunities for Black Jefferson County Residents Before and After Brown v Board of Education opened in May of 2022.
Also new to the museum this year is the Baptismal Font from the former Christ Reformed Church in Shepherdstown. The font was handmade in 1881 by S.P. Humrickhouse, who drew the 1890 plat map of Shepherdstown featured in the map exhibit.
The museum will open on April 15 with hours 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays. The suggested donation is $4 per person. Admission is free for members of Historic Shepherdstown, the military, children, and students. Special tours are possible if a volunteer docent is available. Call 304-876-0910 on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday to inquire.
Historic Shepherdstown Newsletter Feb. 24, 2023
Historic Shepherdstown is excited to share some good news with our members and supporters. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the opening of the Historic Shepherdstown Museum, and we are delighted to announce that we are opening a new exhibit; John Kavaliunas, the chair of our Museum Committee, has been named a West Virginia History Hero; and we have received a grant from Volunteer West Virginia to update our training materials for volunteers and docents.
40th Anniversary Celebration
The Historic Shepherdstown Museum will kick off its 40th year on Saturday, April 15, when the Museum reopens to the public. The highlight of the year will be a new exhibit entitled “Great Dreams: Maps of Shepherdstown and Jefferson County from the 17th through the 21st Century.” The exhibit includes several original maps owned by the Museum, including what is believed to be Thomas Shepherd’s original plat map of Mecklenburg, both an 1852 and an 1883 Map of Jefferson County by S. Howell Brown, an 1890 plat map of Shepherdstown by S.E. Humrickhouse, and a 1920s Shaw and Whitmer map of Jefferson County. In addition, the exhibit includes maps that show the evolution of Jefferson County, several Civil War-era maps, and an aerial map that outlines the Historic District of Shepherdstown.
The exhibit is located on the third floor of the Museum. Thanks must be extended to Americana Corner for funding the restoration of the 1852 S. Howell Brown map, the reproduction of several maps from the Library of Congress map database, and the signage for the exhibit. We also need to thank the Jefferson County Historical Society for donating an original copy of S. Howell Brown’s 1883 map of Jefferson County. That map is being conserved, and we expect it to be in place by the time the Museum opens.
For our celebration, we are also assembling an exhibit of photographs that highlight the Historic Entler Hotel, including its restoration by local residents after it was turned over to Shepherdstown by the West Virginia legislature.
Stay tuned for other 40th anniversary-themed events.
History Hero
John Kavaliunas, a long-time member of the Historic Shepherdstown Board of Directors and the current chair of our Museum Committee, has been named a 2023 West Virginia History Hero. Historic Shepherdstown Commission nominated John for the award because of his dedication to the Museum. John is always on the lookout for new Shepherdstown-related acquisitions. He also was the driving force behind our new map exhibit. He researched early maps of the area, selected those that best told the story of Shepherdstown and Jefferson County, and wrote many of the descriptions that accompany the maps. John received his award in Charleston on Feb. 23, from the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History. Congratulations John!
Volunteer West Virginia grant and call for volunteers
Historic Shepherdstown was recently notified that we have received a grant of more than $6,000 from Volunteer West Virginia to update our volunteer training materials. We plan to use the funds to develop a new docent handbook with information about important artifacts within the Museum. We will share the handbooks with current and new docents as well as with new members of the Board of Directors. In addition, we will be looking at best practices for recruiting and retaining volunteers, including for the Board, committees, and docents. Thanks to our grants committee – Frances Bernstein and Claudia Dressler – and our vice president Jerry Bock for writing and submitting the grant proposal.
Historic Shepherdstown welcomes volunteers to serve as Museum docents, members of the various Board committees, and as members of the Board of Directors. Docents commit to volunteering for two to three hours a month while the Museum is open. Board members are elected in September and commit to attending six board meetings, a strategic planning meeting, the annual meeting in September, and to serving on committees. If you don’t have time to serve as a docent or on the board but are still interested in volunteering, we also have a number of committees that support our organization, including for the Museum, the Entler building and grounds, grants, marketing, and events. Anyone who is interested in volunteering can contact us at [email protected], or by calling 304-876-0910.
Annual membership drive
HSC is holding its annual membership drive. We depend on the support of our members to fulfill our mission to tell the story of Shepherdstown, and to help us maintain the historic Entler Hotel complex and the Historic Shepherdstown Museum. We welcome new and renewing members. You can mail your membership contribution to Historic Shepherdstown Commission, PO Box 1786, Shepherdstown, WV, or join through our website, www.historicshepherdstown.com. Select “Support” from the menu at the top of the page and then “Join or Renew” from the drop-down menu.
George Tyler Moore Center news
Dr. Jim Broomall, the director of the George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War, is now a member of the Historic Shepherdstown Board of Directors. The center will be featuring Dr. Emilie Amt, professor emerita of history from Hood College, on Thursday, March 2, at the Byrd Center at Shepherd University. In her lecture, “Black Antietam: Searching for African American Civil War History,” Amt will talk about the hundreds of Black civilians, both enslaved and free, who lived on and around the battlefield at Antietam. Amt will cover how they experienced the war and the battle, how they reconstructed their lives afterward, what America’s bloodiest day and the Emancipation Proclamation meant to them, and how their memories of this pivotal event were preserved or erased. The 7 p.m. lecture is free and open to the public.
Finally, save the date. Members will be receiving an invitation to the Spring Opening Reception, scheduled for April 21. Keep an eye out for it and thank you for continued support.
Donna M. Bertazzoni
President, HSC Board of Directors
A New Map Exhibit Opens in April 2023
Some 20 maps of Shepherdstown, Jefferson County and the surrounding area will be on display in a new exhibit that will kick off the 2023 season at the Historic Shepherdstown Museum. The maps span several centuries of the region’s history from the 17th through the 21st Centuries and include reproductions of maps from the Library of Congress and elsewhere, as well as maps from the Museum’s own collection. Included are the 1612 John Smith Map of Virginia, a copy of the Thomas Shepherd land grant of 1734, several Civil War Era maps, and a recent aerial view of Shepherdstown.
Funding for the exhibit, as well as for the restoration of the Museum’s 1852 S. Howell-Brown Map of Jefferson County, was provided by the Americana Corner.
This April will also marks the 40th anniversary of the opening of the Historic Shepherdstown Museum.
Historic Shepherdstown newsletter – December 2022
Dear Members and Supporters of Historic Shepherdstown,
Season’s Greetings! As we head toward the start of 2023, we at Historic Shepherdstown Commission and Museum want to thank all of you for your financial and volunteer support this past year. We want to share just a few highlights of what you’ve helped us accomplish since our last newsletter.
Recognition of Clarence E. CEM Martin III
At the holiday party in December, Historic Shepherdstown recognized former State Del. CEM Martin, who was instrumental in helping to save the historic Entler Hotel complex from destruction. In 1978, CEM represented both Jefferson and Berkeley Counties in the state legislature. Ret. Gen. William Van Ryzin approached him on behalf of town residents, raising concerns about plans by Shepherd College to raze what was then known as Rumsey Hall and replace it with a parking lot. Working with other legislators from the area, CEM introduced the bill that ultimately resulted in the state Board of Regents selling the Entler complex to the corporation of Shepherdstown for $1. Residents of the town renovated the building and Historic Shepherdstown Commission accepted the responsibility to maintain it on behalf of the town. The Museum opened in 1983, and we plan to celebrate its 40th anniversary during 2023. A copy of the bill hangs in the museum beside some before-and-after pictures of the renovations.
After leaving the legislature, CEM worked with Martin & Seibert in Martinsburg for many years. More recently, he has been involved in initiatives to stop human trafficking, has served as a Vatican liaison, and is a fellow of the Catholic University Institute of Policy Research. He has received a number of honors and awards, including ones from both Pope Benedict and Pope Francis, an honorary doctorate from Shepherd University, and a Distinguished West Virginian Award, the highest civilian honor awarded by the governor.
CEM and his family – his wife Judy and his daughters McKenna Martin and Morgan Martin Boyer – attended the reception. HSC presented CEM with a plaque, which read:
Presented to Clarence E. CEM Martin III in recognition of your important role in saving the Historic Entler Hotel, and it was signed Historic Shepherdstown Commission and dated December 9, 2022.
In his remarks, CEM made it a point to thank everyone involved in Historic Shepherdstown for their efforts through the years to ensure that the history represented by the museum and the other buildings in the complex has remained accessible to both local residents and tourists. Thank you, CEM Martin!
Tour of Historic Houses of Worship
HSC is once again co-sponsoring the Tour of Historic Houses of Worship from 4-7 p.m. on the day after Christmas, Dec. 26. Seven churches, the War Memorial Building, the Historic Shepherdstown Museum, and the Shepherdstown Opera House will all be open to visitors. The best place to pick up brochures for the self-guided walking tour is the War Memorial Building, although a limited number of brochures will be available at the other locations on the tour. To mark the beginning of the event, participating local churches will ring their bells at 4 p.m. The tour is a wonderful way to introduce out-of-town visitors to Shepherdstown.
Museum update
We welcomed more than 1,100 visitors to the Historic Shepherdstown Museum this year and hosted field trips from Shepherdstown Elementary School, the Shepherdstown Day Care Center, and Shepherd University. We ran ghost tours during Boofest, gave out candy during the town’s Halloween celebration, and entertained a special visitor – Santa Claus – after the annual Christmas parade.
As we’ve noted before, a new exhibit opened in May, Educational Opportunities for Black Jefferson County Residents Before and After Brown v. Board of Education. We received a $1,500 mini-grant from the West Virginia Humanities Council to help fund that exhibit.
We now have a second new exhibit in place. We received a $7,000 grant from Americana Corner, which enabled us to get our S. Howell Brown 1852 Map of Jefferson County Virginia with Farm Limits restored. That map is the centerpiece for “Great Dreams: Maps of Shepherdstown and Jefferson County from the 17th through the 21st Centuries.” The Jefferson County Historical Society donated a copy of S. Howell Brown’s 1883 Map of Jefferson County West Virginia with Farm Limits to the museum in August. It is being restored and will become part of the new exhibit in the spring. The grand opening of the map exhibit will be held during our Spring Opening Reception in April.
Holiday ornaments still available
This year’s holiday ornament, featuring the James Rumsey Steamboat, is still available for purchase via our website. Previous years’ ornaments are also available. Because we mail them, we would expect that any ornaments ordered at this point would arrive after Christmas.
Membership update
Our annual membership drive will begin at the end of January. We will be mailing our appeal letters, and we hope you will continue to support our efforts to tell the story of Shepherdstown and the surrounding area.
Have a wonderful holiday season. We are looking forward to seeing you in 2023 as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Historic Shepherdstown Museum.
Best wishes,
Donna M. Bertazzoni
President, Historic Shepherdstown Board of Directors
Holiday Tour of Historic Houses of Worship scheduled.
Shepherdstown’s third Holiday Tour of Historic Houses of Worship will be held Monday, December 26, 2022, from 4 to 7 p.m. The self-guided walking tour includes several downtown historic churches, including one from as early as 1747. The tour is open to the public and there is no admission charge.
The churches on the tour include Christ Reformed United Church of Christ; New Street United Methodist; Shepherdstown Presbyterian; St. Agnes Catholic; St. Agnes Chapel; St. Peter’s Lutheran; and Trinity Episcopal. Greeters and docents will be stationed at each church to welcome visitors with information about the history of the congregation and the church, the architecture of the buildings, and the interior accoutrements of the sanctuaries. The Historic Shepherdstown Museum at the corner of East German and Princess Streets, and the newly-renovated Shepherdstown Opera House, at 131 W. German St., will also be open for visitors.
Walking tour brochures can be picked up at the War Memorial Building, and a few will be available at each of the sites on the tour. The War Memorial Building is located at the corner of German and King Streets. Refreshments and hospitality for tour visitors will also be available there.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for Shepherdstown residents and out of town visitors to admire the interior beauty of the town’s houses of worship,” said Jerry Bock, one of the founders of the tour and the vice president of Historic Shepherdstown Commission. All of the churches are within easy walking distance of each other and will be marked by luminaries. The tour will begin with a citywide ringing of the church bells at 4 p.m.
The tour is sponsored by a partnership of the churches, the Historic Shepherdstown Commission, the Shepherdstown Community Club, the Jefferson County Convention & Visitors Center, and the Corporation of Shepherdstown. Questions about the tour may be directed to Jerry Bock at [email protected].
Historic Shepherdstown Museum Ghost Tours October 29 and 30
Halloween is coming and that means it’s time for Shepherdstown’s BooFest and the Historic Shepherdstown Museum Ghost Tours. Here, at the most haunted building in the most haunted town in America, you will hear about some of our most prominent spirits — the lady in white, the amorous Frenchman, Civil War soldiers, and the unlucky duelist. Don’t miss the Traveler’s Room that according to some, is the most haunted room in the building. This year, tours will be offered on Saturday, October 29, every half hour from 12:30 to 3:30 PM. On Sunday, October 30, tours will start at 1:30 with the last tour at 2:30.
2022 holiday ornament
Historic Shepherdstown Museum – virtual video tour
Have you ever wondered what artifacts are housed in the Historic Shepherdstown Museum and how it tells the story of Shepherdstown? Or, have you visited the Museum and wished you could show it off to friends who don’t live in the area? Now, you have a chance. You can preview the Museum via YouTube.
During the summer of 2022, Jessie Ramchurran, a Communication Arts major from Hood College who interned with Historic Shepherdstown Commission, completed a three-part video tour of the Museum. The tour gives an overview of each floor of the Museum, and it also highlights artifacts from several of the rooms. The tour is now available on Historic Shepherdstown YouTube channel
The museum is housed in the historic Entler Hotel. The first floor is set up to resemble the parlor and dining area of a 19th century inn. Highlights include three tall clocks; Col. John Francis Hamtramck’s sword and West Point commission; and furniture made by Adam Link, James Shepherd and Thomas Hopkins. Visitors are then invited to tour the garden and the James Rumsey Steamboat Museum, which houses a working half-size replica of Rumsey’s steamboat. Rumsey conducted the first successful steamboat demonstration on the Potomac River at Shepherdstown on December 3, 1787. The first-floor video can be found at HSM – First Floor Video Tour
Chronologically, the next video to watch features the third floor of the Museum, which focuses on the early-Colonial era through the late 19th century. Highlights of this floor include a 1760s plat map of Mechlenburgh (now Shepherdstown); Shepherdstown samplers, Sheetz rifles and Schindler kettles; a room dedicated to the impact of the Civil War on Shepherdstown; the importance of the Potomac River and the railroad; and maps of Shepherdstown and Jefferson County. The third-floor video can be found at HSM – Third Floor Video Tour
Finally, view the video of the second floor of the Museum, which is mostly dedicated to the 20th century. The Traveler’s Room (purported to be the most haunted room in the Museum) features rope beds and a 19th century bathtub. Other highlights include the Small Town America room, which is dominated by an early Rural Free Delivery horse-drawn mail cart; the 20th century room which features posters from Morgan’s Grove agricultural fairs and circuses, and pictures from the Israeli-Syrian Peace Talks that were held in Shepherdstown in 2000; and the African American room, which houses exhibits related to the educational opportunities for and leisure activities of the area’s Black community. The second-floor video can be found at HSM – Second Floor Video Tour
We hope the virtual tour will inspire you to take a trip to Shepherdstown and visit the Historic Shepherdstown Museum in person. The Museum is open Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m., and Sundays from 1 to 3 p.m., from April through October and during Christmas in Shepherdstown. For more information about our museum, hours and artifacts, visit our Facebook page Historic Shepherdstown Museum Facebook or check out the digital exhibits section of this website.
Speaker Series, 2022 -Keith Alexander, Living Libraries: Using Oral History to Preserve the Past
Dr. Keith Alexander, associate professor of history at Shepherd University, discusses the importance of oral history in his talk entitled “Living Libraries: Using Oral History to Preserve the Past.” The talk was given to accompany Historic Shepherdstown Museum’s exhibit: Educational Opportunities for Black Jefferson County Residents Before and After Brown v Board of Education, which was based on oral interviews conducted by Dr. Alexander’s students. The talk and the exhibit were funded in part by the West Virginia Humanities Council