On June 20, 1883, a man by the name of Earle R. Forrest was born in Washington, Pennsylvania. As a boy, he was fascinated with ornithology and zoology and created an exceptionally large collection of eggs that grew as he aged and began interacting with other enthusiasts. As a young man, he also became increasingly interested in photography. Forrest would spend some years after high school working on his uncle’s farm in Missouri where he first witnessed a Wild West show, fostering an interest in the American West.
Forrest, after suffering health problems in the early 1900s, would find himself living in Arizona to enjoy the healing effects of the warm weather. He traveled all over the western United States, photographing Western scenes, cowboys, and Native Americans. His photography is very well known to this day.
Forrest would also become a well-known author and historian, perhaps best known in that field for his extensive history of Washington County, Pennsylvania. Forrest would not limit his work to Washington County. In 1952, after having returned to Pennsylvania, Forrest would write a small book that was never formally published in memoriam to his friend, Austin Lane Moredock, a former president of the Greene County Historical Society. This book would detail travels Forrest made into Greene County from his home in Washington in the first half of the 20th century and relate incidents of people, places, and events. The book was instrumental in recording aspects of our local heritage that may have otherwise been lost.
One of the stories Forrest would relate involved a very special barn. From Fredericktown, Forrest ventured towards Jefferson, in search of a barn upon which he saw a very unusual scene painted many years ago – a unique rendition of a rural fox hunt. He mentions seeing several women carrying parasols as a protection from the blistering sun on a remarkably hot day. Along the way, he stopped at the old Moredock farm, not too far distant from Jefferson, and the home of Greene County Historical Society President Austin Lane Moredock. The architecture of that old home place was fascinating, almost certainly dating back to the 1840s with a mix of Georgian and Federal style elements anchored by a highly styled front door, with intricate glass panels forming a transom and side lights. A large stone smoke house stood near the main building, an ancient structure almost certainly predating the old farmhouse.
He visited with Moredock for some time and learned of a unique story. In the late 19th century, hot air balloon ascensions were held at the Greene County Fair, and on one occasion around the year 1877, a young boy was sent to make the flight. The balloon filled up, floated into the air, and the young boy took off. Unfortunately, he did not descend as was planned, and sailed out of sight. Nothing was seen or heard from him for several days, then word arrived in Waynesburg that he had landed in Fayette City. Unfortunately, the poor lad had damaged the mechanism to lower the balloon and had to wait until it naturally rested itself on the ground.
After visiting with Moredock, Forrest continued his journey, eventually arriving at the Lee Armstrong farm on Route 188, where the barn had been observed. Unfortunately, Forrest learned that the building had been torn down some years prior.
The scene was painted around the year 1916 by a gentleman named Bill Stark, a roustabout, who made his living in the warmer months working as a farm hand in and around Jefferson. Once fall came, and work wasn’t available, Armstrong would provide him with a place to stay in return for chores around the house and the farm. Stark had a knack for painting, and proved to have some talent, and it was said that he may have been quite the famous artist had he the inclination to really apply himself to his work.
Armstrong was an avid fox hunter, as were many men in Greene County at the time. Armstrong had asked Stark to paint a hunting scene on the side of his barn, and Stark agreed but on one condition – that Armstrong pay him with a quart of good liquor. Stark himself had never seen a fox, so for his painting, he used an image of a red fox on the side of a fruit crate. There were many hounds in the area, and Stark selected several well-known hunters in the area to incorporate into his painting. By late spring, his masterpiece was completed. Stark was paid his liquor and drifted on, eventually spending out his days at the Greene County Home. This painting gained quite a bit of fame in its day, and it is said that photos of it were published in magazines as far away as Montana and California.
From Armstrong’s farm on Rt. 188, Forrest ventured the roads leading to Mt. Morris. There he visited a covered bridge (no longer standing) that still had a poster visible advertising the Carmichaels Fair in 1898. Forrest found the poster still largely intact, surviving for more than 50 years on that old covered bridge. The poster read: “Thirty Sixth Annual Fair of the G. C. A. & ? Society, Carmichaels Pa, September 25th, 26th and 27th 1898.”
Below these lines was an engraving of a racing horse and more information on the exhibits and activities at the fair. The big feature seemed to be horse races and band music. Other posters still on the bridge included an advertisement for the Sandy Plains Fair in 1908, and a poster for the Mount Morris Fair of 1899.
In the spirit of fairs, Forrest made his way to Jacktown (Wind Ridge) to visit the site of the infamous Jacktown Fair. The Jacktown Fair was originally known as the Richhill Agricultural Fair, a name nearly as imposing as the society that started it, the Richhill Agricultural, Horticultural and Mechanical Society.
It was on July 6, 1866, that the society was organized, just a year after the end of the Civil War. Grounds were secured near the far end of town, near the site of George Ryerson’s old Indian Trading Post, and the first fair was held October 3rd and 4th of 1866.
Forrest spent a great deal of 1952 traveling in and around Greene County and described it as place where the olden times are still alive and well, a peaceful escape from the hustle and bustle of the larger cities and industrialized areas common elsewhere in the state. A type of atmosphere that Greene County still holds today, 70 years after Forrest wrote of his time in good ol’ Greene.
Great read. Thank you.