Antietam Historical Association (AHA) will hold its twelfth Annu[1]al Meeting on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. The meeting will occur at Foun[1]tain Head Country Club, 13316 Fountain Head Road, Hagerstown, Maryland 21742. As in previous years, the festivities will begin at 5:30 p.m. with hors d’œuvres, cash bar, live piano music, an exhibit, and book-signing. A chicken cordon bleu dinner (or vegetarian alternative) will follow at 6:30 p.m. The cost of the event is $45.00 per person, payable when making reservations. To make reservations, please send your remittance with the enclosed coupon to “AHA,” 119 West Main Street, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania 17268. Those requesting the vegetarian alternative dinner need to do so when making reservations. Please also communicate any serious dietary restrictions at that time. The deadline for making reservations is Tuesday, April 8, 2025.
Guest speaker is the owner of Anderson CoGen in Franklin county, Pennsylvania. She began her genealogical career in 2010, researching her own family history. In 2014 she went professional and has re[1]searched for clients from California to Slovakia. Mrs. Anderson has written articles for and presented to the Association of Professional Genealogists, the National Genealogical Society, the Maryland, New Jersey, and New York genealogical societies, and various Franklin county organizations. But her passion is researching little known facts about Franklin County. Her works about the Antietam country include “The Two Emilie Reeds of Blue Ridge Summit” and “Finding the First Flu Victim of Franklin County.” The subject now commanding attention, William Wallace Denslow (1856–1915), was a native Philadelphian and is best remembered as the illustrator of the first edition (Continued from Page 1) of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. But W. W. Denslow is best known locally as the illustrator of the 1878 edition of I. H. M’Cauley’s Historical Sketch of Franklin County. As such, Denslow preserved dozens of local scenes (although he playfully used artistic license to enhance some views). Some of these places are remarkably identifiable today; others are greatly changed while some have been erased from the landscape. Denslow’s skill and artistic temperament combined to create a topic well worth sharing.