Staff report

ARCANUM, ITHACA — The Arcanum Wayne Trail Historical Society (AWTHS) will be hosting at the Ithaca Cemetery, located on Route 503 outside of Ithaca, on July 9 at 9 a.m.

Local residents will be portraying in character and outfits different individuals who were buried at Ithaca Cemetery and those who were a part of Ithaca or Arcanum area. For instance, visitors might meet the Founder of Ithaca, the Justice of the Peace, a Revolutionary War Veteran, a local farmer and shop keeper, or the town doctor.

The list of biographies include John Colville aka Mike Wells; Mary Wert Thatcher aka Annette Stewart; Diana Griffin Good aka Jeannie Miller; William Ashley and Phoebe Howe Ashley (Vicky Krogg) aka David Kepler; John Fasig read by Cary Wogoman; The John and Sarah Clark family read by Annette Stewart; and Dr. Cupp aka Cary Wogoman.

The characters, of which some are actual descendants of the family, have worked hard researching their historical figure’s life and putting effort into telling their story.

Follow AWTHS Facebook page to see posts with short bios of each character prior to the July 9 event. Please bring a lawn chair and be prepared for outdoors and to do some walking as visitors move from stone to stone. The rain date is July 16, 2022.

AWTHS needs your help! If you descend from any of these family names, please consider becoming a special guest at the program as AWTHS would be interested in the family stories and photos for their library.

Of special interest are the love letters of Mary Jane (Mollie) Clark, daughter of Sarah and John Clark, who married Sylvester Rynearson after the Civil War. In the book “The Civil War Letters of Sylvester Rynearson 1861-1865,” edited by Edward Rynearson Michaels, it stated Mollie’s letters were to be published in a similar way. At present, however, the search has come up empty-handed.

The family of Frank Michaels, descendants of Edward Michaels, may be the key from Minnesota. Jean Michaels, deceased, was to spearhead the project years ago, approximately in the 1980s. Another possibility is Edward Michaels from Novato, Calif., also during the 1980s, so this is old information.

A copy of the book was once in the possession of Ed Trick who used to live in the old brick house on Littles Road, west of Arcanum which was the original John Clark farm as well as Sylvester Rynearson’s place. It was given to Ed since he lived on the family place.

If you are a descendant or know the whereabouts of or any info pertaining to Mollie’s letters or the family, please contact Annette Stewart at AWTHS. You can email thru the website awths.org or FB messenger.