CC Historical Society Original Board Members Part 2

The Cameron County Historical Society is celebrating 100 years. In recent years, members of the Cameron County Historical Society have been working to plan a year long celebration in honor of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the organization’s founding.

The Historical Society has compiled a list of the 8 original board members.

On February 10, 2021 I listed the first two board members, Rile Prosser and Charles Ebbert Plasterer. Today I will list two more.

Harry Edwin Elliott was born June 5, 1882, in Mansfield, Pennsylvania. He married Mabel Ora Renfrew on June 7, 1911, in Fayetteville, Pennsylvania. Together they had three children: Julia, Frederick, and Thomas. Harry Elliott was known as “Pat” by his friends and served as a Forest Warden beginning in 1909 after graduating from the Mont Alto Forest Academy. Prior to Forestry college, he attended Normal School in 1902 and taught school for three years.

He was first assigned as forester in charge of a tract of land near Sinnemahoning, and in 1917, he was transferred to the Sizerville area. By 1920, he was named the first District Forester for the Elk District with an office in Emporium.

In 1921, he was named to the first board of directors for the Cameron County Historical Society. In 1923, he was transferred to Coudersport to serve as District Forester for the Susquehannock Forest District, where he remained until his retirement in 1950.

During the 1930s, he directed the work of ten Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps. He was active in Boy Scouts in both Emporium and Coudersport. He served as president of the Coudersport Borough Council, Rotary Club and a number of other community organizations. Harry Elliott passed away on December 15, 1970 in Coudersport, Potter County, Pennsylvania.

William T. Welsh was born in July of 1891 in Emporium, Pennsylvania, to parents Thomas and Jennie (Bullis) Welsh. He graduated from Penn State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry, and enlisted in the Army, earning the rank of Sergeant and serving in France. He was honorably discharged with a citation on June 9, 1919.

As of the 1920 Census, he was living in Emporium and employed as a chemist for Powder Works. In 1921, he served on the board as one of the first members of the Cameron County Historical Society. In 1924, he joined the High School faculty where he taught and served as High School Principal until 1929.

In 1928, he married fellow teacher Julia (Rogers) Welsh. From 1929 to 1942, he was employed as a chemist at Sylvania before he returned to teaching from 1941 until his retirement in 1958.

William Welsh had one daughter, Alice Julia Welsh Stisser, and one son, Charles William. On November 2, 1958, Welsh passed away at his home in Rich Valley. Emporium Schools closed early the day of his funeral out of respect.