ST. MARYS — For several St. Marys residents, an event Sunday afternoon at the Daniel Mooney Museum gave them the opportunity to listen to and interact with several prominent members from the community’s past.
“An Afternoon with the General” featured several historical re-enactors telling stories of their families and exploits and giving attendees a glimpse into the community’s rich history. The event grew out of a desire to honor the building of the house on South Main Street where the museum resides.
“The [Auglaize County] Historical Society trustees were approached by one of our members, Mike Lynch, with this idea about honoring the birthday of the house, which was built in 1876,” Auglaize County Historical Society Administrator Rachel Barber said. “This would be by revisiting some of the important people of St. Marys from that time period.”
Included in the event were Maj. Gen. Charles Hipp and his wife, Mary, who had originally built the house. Other figures from the community’s past, including connections to the Civil War, were also represented.
“They’re doing first-person interpretations of all those people in this historic building,” Barber said. “It’s really wonderful for the Historical Society that there are people who want to step forward and do this and go to so much trouble and effort to make sure it is accurate and entertaining at the same time.”
One of the historical figures portrayed was Civil War Union Army Brig. Gen. August Willich, who had emigrated from Germany and fought several battles in the war, including the Battle of Chickamauga. Portraying Willich was Kraig Noble, who was happy to bring local history to life.
“It’s a great event here at the house of my friend, Maj. Hipp,” Noble said, speaking as Willich. “I’ve spent many hours here and we hope that the community learns more about the history of St. Marys and Auglaize County. St. Marys is a very historic town. We were one of the first communities in northwestern Ohio because of the rivers and later the canal and the forts. Of course, my presence here was actually a focal point in the 19th century, the fact that I lived here and am, in fact, buried here.”
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