Heritage House Museum plans to host open house

As a part of the Shawnee Hills Arts Council’s Civil War Weekend activities, the PAST organization of Union County plans to host an open house at the Heritage House Museum in Jonesboro.   

Heritage House is scheduled to be open from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10.

At 2 p.m., PAST has arranged a presentation to recall Civil War times in Jonesboro.  

Hostess Evelyn Gillespie will take on the role of Mrs. (Thomas)Lucinda Frick Watkins, who owned and resided in what is now Heritage House at 102 S. Main St. in Jonesboro.

Special guest Emily Davie Wiley, reenacted by Diana Scherer, will “visit” from her “home near Makanda.”  

The presentation is based on the letters written between Col. Ben Wiley and Emily Davie Wiley during the Civil War. The letters are part of a collection of Wiley Papers archived at SIU.  

Diana Scherer reenacted the story of Kitty Mae Sams Keyser Tanner during the  Jonesboro Bicentennial Cemetery Walk last October.   

Another person of the past, Mary Craver Cover, will be portrayed at Heritage House by her great-great-grand niece, Barbara Boyd  Bauer.  

Mary Craver Cover was a neighbor of Lucinda Watkins in Jonesboro.  Like many Union County pioneers, Mary Craver came with her family from North Carolina in search of a better life.  

She established her own family, became a land owner and left a legacy as a community and church leader. 

Her family gave land for the Jonesboro School and she helped to establish Mt. Moriah Lutheran Church in Anna.  

There will be a $5 admission for the presentation event. Admission funds are used to preserve and maintain Heritage House.  For more information call 618-697-1870.