Yes, I’m totally stealing that title from the movie The Sixth Sense. But it is kind of applicable to where we went after our visit with the relatives in Michigan. We were off to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where my mother’s family is from.
I haven’t been to Johnstown since the age of 2. Mom had a genealogical quest she was on, so we were happy to accommodate her and aid in said quest. More on that later.
Our visit began with the realization that Johnstown was near Shanksville, the site where one of the four planes hijacked on September 11, 2001, Flight 93, was forced down. It was a sobering visit to the National Memorial., which is under construction. It was interesting talking to one of the volunteers who lives in the area and hear her stories of the actual day. Coming back after the memorial is finished is on our to-do list.
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- Landscape around the Memorial
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- Walkway down to the Memorial
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- Approaching the Memorial Wall
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- Wall along the flight path with the names of the victims on it.
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- This sidewalk is along the flight path. The plane’s final resting place is through the gate at the end.
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- Final resting place is the rock, as seen through the gate. Only family is allowed out there.
Back to Johnstown…you can’t visit Johnstown without becoming emmersed in the town’s history. In 1889 the failure of a dam upstream caused a flood and the death of over 2000 people. Read all about The Johnstown Flood on Wikipedia. Family history has it that my Grandma McMullen lost an aunt in the floor. Reviewing the list of those lost, we did see one name that is related to us by marriage. My Grandmother would tell me stories of a false alarm when she lived in Johnstown and remembered fleeing to the hills.
Aftermath of the Johnstown Flood of 1889.
We did the touristy thing and rode the Vehicular Incline. Note the word vehicular…that means it can take cars. Jim would have put our Jeep on it if he had known. I’m glad he didn’t. The incline was installed after the 1889 flood to allow people to live higher up the valley. In a succeeding flood in the 1930’s, it was used to haul over 4000 people to higher ground.
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- Corinne, Jim and Eleanor (aka the parents) at the top of the Incline.
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- Inside the box you ride up and down.
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- The “box” you ride up and down the Incline.
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- Looking down the Incline.
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- Looking up the Incline from the bottom
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- Boarding at the bottom.
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- Looking up
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- Looking up at the station at the top.
Now on to the dead people. We stopped by the St. Benedict’s Cemetery on a whim and found my Great Grandparents’ graves.
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- My Mother’s Grandparents Stibich’s graves. They both died when my Grandmother was a toddler.
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- My Mom standing next to her Grandmother’s and namesake’s grave.
Now for the real reason for our visit to Johnstown. My Mother had heard a story that her Great Grandfather Stibich, when going off to fight in the Civil War, made a promise to God to give all his wealth to the Catholic Church if he survived. He did indeed survive, but the church wouldn’t take his money. Instead, he commissioned a painting of St. Mary to be done for his church. Then came the 1889 Johnstown Flood. The church was flooded, but the high waterline was just below the painting.
St. Mary’s church after the Johnstown Flood. The painting commissioned by my Great Great Grandfather is in the upper right corner of the photo.
As the story goes, my mother’s great aunt rescued the painting from the church and gave it to another great aunt who was a nun in Pittsburgh. And there the painting stayed, in a convent, for over 100 years. My Mother and Aunt Ruth attempted to find the painting about 10 years ago. They did find a painting, but now know it was not the right painting.
This is where the power of the Internet comes into play. My Mother had me put all the family history on the web (visit http://stibich.cjsquare.com). A member of the The Steeples Project in Johnstown (objective: save the old unused churches) saw my Mom’s website. A couple of emails were exchanged and my mother was told the painting found 10 years ago by my Mom and Aunt was NOT the right painting. Instead, some nuns in Pittsburgh still had the painting in their possession and wanted to return it to its original home in Johnstown. The Steeples Project rented a van, went to Pittsburgh, and the painting was returned to Johnstown. Once my Mom found this out, the quest was born…Mom wanted to see the painting.
The painting is now in the former Immaculate Conception Church in the Cambria City section of Johnstown (the replacement for the St. Mary’s church destroyed in the flood). Since the building is no longer a catholic church, The Steeples Project turned it into an event center called The Grande Hall on Broad Street (if you are getting married in Johnstown, this is the place to have the event!).
The Grande Hall on Broad Street
We were invited to stop by and see the event center and the painting.
Eleanor (aka my Mother) on the right, with Barbara Zaborowski, Steeples Project Board Member and the person who contacted my Mom.
The quest was fulfilled. My Mom got to see the painting her Great Grandfather had commissioned. If you compare this above picture to the picture during the flood, you can see it’s the same painting.
In addition, we saw a couple of stained glass windows donated by my Mom’s family.
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- Stained Glass window donated by my Great Great Grandfather
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- Inscription “Gift from the family of John S. Stibich”
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- Window donated by my Mom’s Great Aunt
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- Inscription “Gift from Katharina S…. in memory of Joseph and Margaretha Stibich”
Our quest was complete! I got to see Johnstown of which I had heard so much. My mother got to see the painting in person. (Hey Mom…did I get all the facts straight in the blog post?)
Now on to the next adventure, the Canadian Rockies. We leave in two weeks!
What a trip!!!! Also — small world. My father’s family is from Johnstown — ask your mom is she ever ran into any “Peffer’s”. My grandfather was a carpenter and then a EUB minister. I’ve ridden the incline in PGH. but not Johnstown. Can’t keep up with you.