ROOTS & BRANCHES

Who’s heard the one about the traveler who’s spent time all around the world … but neglected to see what’s in his or her own backyard?
Well, that’s the way I felt last month when I had the occasion to speak at the Leesport Area Historical Society, in the borough of Leesport in Berks County.
As in … my own hometown historical society.
Which I had (ulp) never visited in my life.
My presentation was my “Tips for Beginning Genealogists,” one I’ve given so often over the years that I basically don’t even need notes anymore. It’s like dropping the needle on the record player (you know, back when people had record players, of course).
The society’s board assured me that the couple dozen people we had were a good turnout, and a genuine bonus was when one of their officers named Dex Mengel gave me a tour of the group’s library and museum.
I’ve now joined the society, and I plan to make time for a library visit. Is it likely that I’ve seen a lot of their materials? Probably. But you never know when there might be a much older reading of a local cemetery that includes tombstones no longer legible. Or a compilation by some local historian who might have been the one who put together a complex family from first-hand knowledge that didn’t make its way into more official records.
And a highlight of the museum is the actual printshop from one of the most prominent of those local historians, the late Milton Blatt. He wrote and published many historical book and monographs, including a bunch about the local Salem (Belleman’s) Union Church, one of the last so-called “union” churches in Berks County in which there are officially two congregations—usually and in the case of Belleman’s a Lutheran and United Church of Christ (once German Reformed)—that share one facility.
And another highlight was the return of a longtime friend Michael Strauss, also a nationally known genealogy lecturer, who I’ve known for 40 years, starting when we researched side by side at the Lebanon County Historical Society.
And while we’re asking “who’s heard the one about …,” I guess I should also take issue with the saying recounted in the gospel of Matthew that “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.”
Because the folks at Leesport Area Historical Society certainly made this hometown boy feel very honored.

For information on joining the society, go to its website at the URL, https://leesporthistory.org/
The society’s headquarters, with its library and museum, is located at 128 Main St., Leesport, PA 19533. It’s the sponsor of Leesport Community Days, a two-day carnival with games, food, live music and fireworks coming up on Sept. 5–6.