Historic home gifted to Curwensville Area Historical Society
Courtesy photo
The Curwensville Area Historical Society is moving across State Street into the former Beardsley Funeral Home building that was the home of one of Curwensville’s most famous men, John Patton. The Beardsleys donated the building to the society in May. Pictured are the officers of the society and the former owners: (from left) Carolyn Rowles, treasurer; Karena Lingenfelter, vice president; Kevin and Ann Beardsley, of the Beardsley Funeral Home; Jennifer Tubbs, president and Audrey Thomas, secretary.
By Julie Rae Rickard
CURWENSVILLE — The Curwensville Area Historical Society recently received an incredible gift, a new home.
In May, Kevin and Ann Beardsley donated the Beardsley Funeral Home building at 815 State St.., Curwensville, to the society. It is located directly across the street from the Korb House, the home of the society since 1989.
“We are honored and excited to be able to donate this grand historic building to the society knowing that it will forever be an important part of the Curwensville community,” the Beardsleys said in a news release.
Beardsley Funeral Home will continue to serve the community from their other location at 113 N. Third St., Clearfield. They noted that they will continue to hold services at Curwensville churches or other venues in that town.
The building’s donation was a relief to members of the society who have been trying to find an alternate location.
The Korb House, which was donated by the family of Mildred Korb Houser, was in need of costly upgrades and was no longer big enough to house all their historic artifacts. The home, built in 1878, was expensive to heat in the winter and lacked air conditioning for the summer months. Large events and society meetings were scheduled elsewhere.
“The lack of sufficient parking and accessible restrooms, among other things, left the society wanting to be able to better serve our visitors,” according to information from the group.
The Building and Grounds Committee met with several owners of buildings in Curwensville, including the Beardsley location, to ask about possible purchases. To their surprise, Kevin and Ann Beardsley later broke the news that they had decided to gift the building to the society.
“Members of our society were completely blown away by the offer and excitedly accepted their proposal,” the group said.
The property was transferred on May 20.
“The Curwensville Area Historical Society greatly appreciates the Beardsleys’ overwhelming generosity of the gift of the John Patton home to the society and to the community. The home, a source of community pride, will serve as a gathering place for the society’s events and a repository for the Curwensville area’s history,” said Jennifer Tubbs, president of the society.
Their new home, built about 1860, is filled with history itself. It is the former home of John Patton of the well known Patton family, who along with the Irvin family brought industry and prosperity to early Curwensville.
The Patton family had five homes in that same part of town, but the Beardsley building is the only one left standing.
It is possible this home was also a stop for slaves on the Underground Railroad.
Patton and his family moved to Curwensville in 1828 when he was 5 years old. By the time he was 11 years old, he was an errand boy in a Curwensville store. By 1844, he was a lumberman and merchant.
His philanthropy was unlimited. He donated the money to build both the Patton School and the Methodist Church. Patton also organized the First National Bank of Curwensville. After it closed in 1876, he started the Curwensville Bank.
Patton helped develop the town in other ways. He took a leading part in securing an extension of the railroad from Clearfield to Curwensville.
In 1861, Patton was a member of the convention nominating Abraham Lincoln for president and was an elector giving Lincoln a second term. In addition, Patton served two terms as a senator.
A biographer of Patton wrote “It is especially proper to speak of his public spirit and generous support of all educational, religious and philanthropic movements and pass his name down to posterity as it deserves.”
His sons also got into politics. Alexander was a senator who entertained President Benjamin Harrison and his wife at his nearby home. That home burned down in 1942.
Another son served in the Senate and yet another served in the U.S. House of Representatives.
All of this history will now be preserved in John Patton’s home.
“We cannot thank the Beardsley family enough for their generosity of this donation,” it says on the society’s Facebook page.
“Our society will now have a building that has better parking, easy access for visitors, accessible restrooms, the ability to hold events, and safely store and display our collection for years to come.
“Perhaps most importantly of all, we now have the ability to preserve one of the most historically significant buildings in Curwensville’s history,” the Facebook post states.
For more information on the Curwensville Area Historical Society’s new home and events, check out their Facebook page or their website at curwensvilleareahistoricalsociety.org. Anyone interested in volunteering to help with the move, can contact the society at curwpikehistorical@gmail.com.