CLEARFIELD COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

...click to take a virtual drive-by tour

20th year!

'Fall Festival' 2024

Sunday, October 13th,

1:00 to 4:00 pm

at the 'Bloody Knox' Cabin of the

Clearfield County Historical Society!

Bring the whole family for a free afternoon of great fun!

2024 - Annual Fall Cider Festival - 2024

at 'Bloody Knox Cabin'

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Clearfield County Historical Society has scheduled its

annual Fall Apple Cider Festival at the historic Bloody Knox Cabin on

Sunday, October 13, 2024. - 1 to 4 PM

Located along Route 453, in Kellytown, between Madera and Curwensville.

The festival commemorates the December, 1864 armed skirmish between local Civil War deserters and the Federal Veteran Reserve Corp troops who were sent to arrest them. Two men were killed – nineteen-year-old Private Edgar Reed of the arresting party and Thomas Adams, the host of a party of deserters who were gathered at his cabin home. The reconstructed cabin stands on the spot of the original structure.

Since its beginning; the festival has been a free family-oriented affair enjoyed by all ages. Demonstrations of Civil War era crafts and workmanship will be available such as rope making, black smithing, flint knapping, butter churning, corn brooms, Gearhart Knitting Machine, corn shelling, sauerkraut and new this year, demonstrations on loom weaving. Also new, Tribe of Two will have Native American displays and education.

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Help press apples on our antique press to make cider.
First 100 children receive a free pumpkin to decorate.
Free samples of cider for all! Admission is free and the public is welcome!

...drive on out - join in the family fun!

Last Year's ...'Fall Festival' - 2023

at the 'Bloody Knox' Cabin

....enjoy a few images of a brisk day at

CCHS 2023 Fall Feasival !

Follow, click this handy map to the site of our Fall Festival .......

'Fall Festival' Photos from... 2022

Sunday, October 9th,

at the 'Bloody Knox' Cabin of the

Clearfield County Historical Society!

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Photos below show all the fun ! Click image for review & slide show.

"Bloody Knox" Cabin & Museum

at Kellytown Village

(on Route 453, between Curwensville and Madera, PA)

2022 Apple Cider Festival At Bloody Knox

The Clearfield County Historical Society will hold its15th annual Apple Cider Festival on Sunday, October 9, from 1:00 until 4:00 at the historic Bloody Knox Cabin, along Route 453, in Kellytown, between Madera and Curwensville.

Admission is free of charge.

The Bloody Knox Cabin was the scene of a tragic shootout, during the American Civil War, in December, 1864. That act of violence resulted in the deaths of two men; one a deserter and the other a young private who was part of a contingent of soldiers sent to arrest a gathering of army deserters.

A historical talk will bring to life that particular harsh slice of Clearfield County’s Civil War history

Numerous 19^th century displays and demonstrations of craftsmanship will be available for viewing throughout the afternoon. They include:

Apple Pressing and Cider Making
Rope Making
Corn Meal Grinding
Butter Churning
Corn Bread Samples
Braided Bracelets
Demonstrations/Gearhart Knitting Machine
Sauerkraut Making
Blacksmithing

The first 100 children under will be given a free pumpkin. County historical books and maps will be available for sale.

The Clearfield County Historical Society is an all volunteer group that seeks to preserve and demonstrate the county’s rich historical past for present and future generations.

The public is invited to attend.

HISTORICAL REVIEWS below....

Click the video below to see some of what happens at the 'Bloody Knox' Cabin museum of the Clearfield County Historical Society....!

The 14^th Annual Apple Cider Festival, at the Bloody Knox Cabin, on Route 453, in Kellytown was held by the Clearfield County Historical Society on Sunday, October 14, 2018 from 1:00 to 4:00. The festival is sponsored by Northwest Bank of Clearfield. All are welcome to attend the family friendly and free event. Families are encouraged to bring their children.

All attending can watch demonstrations of 19^th century of spinning yarn, shelling corn, blacksmithing, Civil War era surgical techniques and Native American flint knapping; as well as making corn brooms, butter and sauerkraut. A lecture about the historical signifigance of the cabin site is planned.

Fall Cider Festival - Sunday, October 14, 2018

...started at 1PM 'til 4PM

Come prepared to join in the free FUN!

Here is what happened at 'Bloody Knox'in 1864....over 150 years ago!

151th Anniversary of Bloody Knox
By Scott Kolesar

It doesn't seem all that long ago there were a busy few months in the small town of Kellyown, Knox Township, Clearfield County. But as most of us know and realize 2015 marks the 11th anniversary of the rebuilding of the Bloody Knox cabin and the 151ft anniversary of the Bloody Knox conflict.
Tom Adams built the original log cabin in Kellyown, 1861. He lived there with his wife, son and daughter. Adams enlisted in 1862 and deserted from the 149th Bucktails in 1863.

A party was held by known deserters in the cabin in December 1864. Soldiers were tipped off and marched to Kellytown to make arrests. Troops marched from Philipsburg, and on the night of December 13, 1864, the Union Army surrounded Adams' cabin. The troops requested the surrender of deserters and draft dodgers. Adams fired and killed Union Soldier Edgar Reed of New Hampshire. Shots were then fired, killing Adams in the yard.
The Bloody Knox saga is only a small glimpse into what went on all over the nation during this time of war between the states. Opinions about desertion and of those who deserted differ drastically. Deserters found that Clearfield County was a good place to 'hide out". They came here for a lot of different reasons; they were sick, injured, had fear of battle and dying or they just wanted to come back to their families.

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This is a brief outline of what happened in Knox Township, according to Richard Hughes of Clearfield.

"Thomas Adams, a deserter from Co. B, 149th, Pennsylvania Volunteers, was killed at his home in Knox Township on the 13th day of December 1864. Captain Southward, in command of the detail of 31 men of the 16th V.R.C., came to the house at about midnight on the above date, there being a dance held that night at the Adams home.

"When the house was surrounded, Adams ran upstairs, took a musket from under a bed and fired through a window killing a soldier named Reed. He then threw the musket down, picked up a double barrel shotgun and fired two more shots through the window.
"Adams then dropped the shotgun and picked up the musket, knocked the end out of the house next to the barn, then knocked the other end out, threw down the gun and jumped out at the end he first knocked out.
"When Adams got to the ground, he was halted by the soldiers and when he didn't stop was shot by a soldier named Blair.
"Nineteen deserters and some civilians were captured by the soldiers who took them to Philipsburg along with the 32 revolvers owned by the deserters."
Hughes said the log cabin where the event occurred was built in 1861.