Come celebrate the holidays at the Plymouth Historical Museum with the new exhibit "A Red Ryder Christmas Story" opening November 9. This fun-filled exhibit is based on the beloved Christmas movie, A Christmas Story, as well as the original story by Jean Shepherd from which the movie is based. The Museum will be filled with vignettes of scenes from the movie, including the infamous leg lamp and Flick's tongue getting stuck to the lamp pole. The movie and stories are nostalgic of the late depression era and early years of WWII, which the exhibit seeks to capture by incorporating items from the time period. Since Red Ryder BB guns were originally sold by Daisy Manufacturing Company of Plymouth, the story of Ralphie's quest for this particular BB gun is significant to Plymouth's history. "A Red Ryder Christmas Story" runs through December 31, 2011.

 

Nearly 100 years after he was laid to rest, Albert Nelson Stevens will receive a headstone in a dedication ceremony at Plymouth's Riverside Cemetery on October 19. While preparing for this year's Plymouth Characters Cemetery Walk, an annual event of the Plymouth Historical Museum, historians discovered that Stevens, a feature character and Civil War veteran from Company D, 4th Michigan Volunteer Infantry, had no grave marker to commemorate his life. One can imagine the countless veterans that have fallen victim to this sad oversight, but Stevens will no loner suffer such anonymity. Some of Stevens's descendants will be present for the ceremony, including a granddaughter and great-grandson. 

 

According to Public Law 107-103, signed on December 27, 2001, the Veterans Administration is required to furnish an appropriate government marker for the grave of a veteran buried in a private cemetery. Rick Danes, commander of the Sergeant John S. Cosbey Camp No. 427, Sons of Union Veterans (SUV) in Dearborn, submitted the application in cooperation with the Plymouth Historical Museum and the City of Plymouth Department of Municipal Services (who agreed to install the headstone at no charge).

 

The dedication ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, October 19, in Block B of Riverside Cemetery on Plymouth Road, near the 35th District Court. The ceremony will be conducted by members of the Cosbey Camp SUV and the Plymouth Historical Museum's Mike Gillett, a reenactor who portrays a Civil War Union chaplain. Other Civil War reenactors will be present to lend the ceremony the dignity and authenticity it deserves.  

 

Fact Sheet:

 

Albert Nelson Stevens was born July 4, 1841, in Whitmore Lake, MI. He enlisted in Company D, 4th Michigan Volunteer Infantry on June 20, 1861, but was discharged December 10 of that same year, because of rheumatism contracted in poor camp conditions. He reenlisted on December 5, 1864, in Company A, 30th MI Volunteer Infantry and was discharged June 30, 1865. 

 

 

On November 12, 1865, Stevens married Kate Hill in Milford, MI, the couple had 8 children, 4 of which survived to adulthood.

 

 

Albert Nelson Stevens died March 28, 1916, at Eloise Institution, in Wayne County, MI, and is buried in Riverside Cemetery.

 

 

Stevens' granddaughters, Helenn DeWolf, 90, and Juanita St. Charles, 88, and great-grandson, James Stevens, hope to be attending the ceremony, along with their families, and expressed great joy and gratitude that their family member would finally be honored and remembered in such a significant way.

 

 

Presidential campaigning took on new meaning at the Plymouth Historical Museum recently with the donation of an authentic Lincoln-Hamlin Campaign banner. Adding to the excitement is the fact that the banner once hung from a Plymouth home belonging to the influential George Starkweather, making this find truly unique to the city. The banner was handmade out of muslin and is still in good condition, with only a few stains. It maintains the original black lettering that spells out "Lincoln & Hamlin"—so meticulously painted one wouldn't suspect it was done by hand. The banner is understated but to the point, recalling a simpler time, when the flashy advertising of political campaigns was unnecessary.

 

The campaign of 1860 is remembered as a turbulent period in our nations's history, leading to the start of the Civil War. In the years preceding the election, Northern and Southern states had long been arguing over the acquisition of new U.S. territory and the expansion of slavery. Lincoln, a Republican who opposed slavery, won the election that essentially sealed the fate of the U.S. and its involvement in a war between the states.

 

The Lincoln and Hamlin banner, which now hangs in the Museum's "Lincoln Room," has been in the possession of the Starkweather family since it was created. Starkweather, the original owner, was a prominent member of Plymouth's society, and is remembered as the first non-native male child born in Plymouth Township. As well as a land and business owner, he was elected as president of the Village of Plymouth and served in the Michigan legislature. He was one of many Plymouth residents who supported Lincoln's campaign, taking his political support one step further than most by hanging the banner from his home. Starkweather was actively involved in the politics of his time, but he and the rest of the country were clearly oblivious to the devastating times that were to follow the election.

 

The banner, which had been pushed aside and forgotten over the years, eventually came to David Wallace, Starkweather's great-great-grandson, who recieved it in 1990 from his mother. Wallace had grown up with stories of Plymouth's history, and was well aware of the banner's importance. His original plans included displaying the banner, but when he visitied the Museum his intentions changed.

 

Wallace was donating glass plate negatives of post cards his great uncle had taken of Plymouth to the Museum and out of curiousity he decided to bring the banner for ideas on getting it appraised. The banner, quite a thrill for historians to observe was rare and unusual, and its significance was obvious. Persuasion to donate the artifact began at once, but Wallace was not easily swayed. In the end, however, he conceded. "I had read an article in Michigan History magazine about Dr. Petz and his collection," Wallace said, "and the banner seemed like a good fit—to be with his collection and, more importantly, to be 'home' again."

 

Indeed the banner fits in perfectly at the Museum along with the rest of the Lincoln collection, which was purchased from Dr. Weldon Petz, an avid Lincoln collector. The Museum boasts the largest display of Lincoln artifacts and original period pieces in Michigan, and the banner adds a unique touch, making the City of Plymouth fit in beautifully with Abraham Lincoln and his important historic legacy.

 

 

The Plymouth Historical Society wins Summer of Sharing award from Community Financial Credit Union.  (From left)  Community Financial Senior Vice President, Randy Penner presents a check in the amount of $1,060 to Plymouth Historical Museum volunteer Gregg Packard and Museum Executive Director Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens, along with Mark Evenson, Community Financial Plymouth Branch Manager.

The life of the renowned Dr. Weldon Petz will be celebrated at the Plymouth Historical Museum with a live performance of the Michael Shirtz Quartet on Tuesday, July 19, 7-8:30 p.m. Petz died April 28 at the age of 88. He began his career as a trombonist in an orchestra with Jimmy Dorsey and Johnny Long, and worked with many others such as Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Durante, and Abbott & Costello. Petz even started his own orchestra, the Tommy Weldon Orchestra, which operated from 1947 to 1953. He eventually sought a career in education, but continued to focus on music, and furthered his career as a historian focusing on the presidential history of Lincoln, music, and education.

 

The Michael Shirtz Quartet, led by Petz's grandson, is a unique jazz ensemble that plays traditional jazz with a blend of contemporary, folk, and Gospel-like textures. The quartet is based in Ohio. Shirtz has selected some of his grandfather's favorite tunes and will provide commentary during the performance. 

 

In the late 1990s, the Museum purchased most of Petz's vast Lincoln collection, which is permanently on display and offers insight into the life of the 16th President. Admission to the Museum and the performance are free and open to the public that evening. Light refreshments will be served.