Forgotten Resting Places: Knights of Pythias with Ms. Linda Andreassi

Did you know there's a historic landmark on SV's secondary campus in Jackson Township that dates back to 1905? In this episode, you’ll learn about the small plot of land that houses a cemetery with 16 graves, all belonging to members of the Knights of Pythias. Join us as we learn more about the cemetery, its residents, and the ongoing efforts to honor and preserve this special part of our community's past.

 IN THIS EPISODE, WE WILL REVIEW

• Historic landmarks on the SV campus dating back to 1905
• General information about the Knights of Pythias and its grave sites on the secondary campus
• Unique ways these historic landmarks are utilized as an educational resource
• Lesser-known facts about the Knights of Pythias 

SPECIAL GUEST
Ms. Linda Andreassi, Seneca Valley Communications Director

Linda Andreassi has been working at Seneca Valley for over 27 years. A graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism, Ms. Andreassi has previous experience in the newspaper industry where she was a reporter and editor. She has over 60 awards for excellence in public relations programs and publications from such organizations as Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA), Pennsylvania School Public Relations Association (PenSPRA) and National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA).

Ms. Andreassi is responsible for all District written and electronic publications, as well as communications through the mass parent notification system. She also manages the District website, social media sites, "Voices" Podcast series, mobile app, and serves as the press spokesperson for Seneca Valley. Additional department responsibilities include press releases, annual report development, marketing and promotion of the District and managing advertising for the website, e-newsletter and districtwide calendar. 

Transcript

FULL TRANSCRIPT (with timecode)

 00:00:02:26 - 00:00:10:13

Welcome to Voices, a national award-winning podcast brought to you by the Seneca Valley School District. 

 00:00:11:03 - 00:00:19:27

Jeff Krakoff: This is Jeff Krakow. Today we have guest Linda Andreassi, Communications Director at Seneca Valley School District. Thanks for joining us today. 

 00:00:20:13 - 00:00:22:11

Linda Andreassi: Thanks for having me, Jeff. How are you? 

 00:00:22:13 - 00:00:45:01

Jeff Krakoff: I'm doing well, thank you. So what I want to talk to you about today is a little different than a normal topic we might have. I understand that within the district, there's an interesting historical landmark on the secondary campus. And it dates back to 1905. Tell us what it is and what it's all about. 

 00:00:46:00 - 00:01:32:13

Linda Andreassi: It's a different subject for you, I'm sure. This one is, um. Well, first of all, just maybe to give people perspective. Our secondary campus, we call it our secondary campus is grades seven through 12. We're located in Jackson Township, and if you're familiar at all with our campus, we have, um, just outside on the east side of the intermediate high school, a small plot of land that has a cemetery in it. And that, uh, cemetery is historic. It dates back to, um, well, I think the most recent burial there is in the 1920s. Um, but it started the burials started about 1905. 

 00:01:33:23 - 00:01:41:23

Jeff Krakoff: So it way predates any Seneca Valley buildings. How long? How long have those buildings been there? I'm curious. 

00:01:41:25 - 00:02:52:12

Linda Andreassi: So we actually purchased the property. It's about 120 acres of property that we have here. And that's both for our established school buildings as well as all of our playing fields. And that property was purchased in 1962. And in my investigation of the cemetery at the time of the purchase of the land in the 60s. One of the conditions is that we would not build, obviously, on that property or disturb that particular plot of land, and certainly that condition is understandable and we continue to respect that today. So we have utilized as an opportunity, as a history lesson and, um, to just kind of generate more information about, Harmony's local history, Jackson Township's, local history, because it does go back to property that is not Seneca Valley's, but is just south of us. Um, in, um, off of, I should say, Evergreen Mill Road. And that's kind of where all of this started for that particular plot of land. I don't want to jump too far ahead. I don't know if you have any other questions before we get into that. 

 00:02:52:20 - 00:03:00:22

Jeff Krakoff: Just so so I understand the cemetery is Knights of Pythias, correct?  

 00:03:00:27 - 00:03:01:26

Linda Andreassi: Yes, yes. 

 00:03:02:03 - 00:03:06:16

Jeff Krakoff: That's an unusual name. What? It is. What's the history there? 

 00:03:06:29 - 00:04:07:23

Linda Andreassi: So the Knights of Pythias was actually founded way back in 1864. And again through my investigations. If that time seems interesting to you, it's because this was upon the conclusion of the Civil War. And the gentleman that founded Knights of Pythias did so because he was looking for a way to unite the North and the South, there was a great deal of divide in our nation at that time, and he felt that creating a charter of friendship and peace would be one way to help kind of bring together the North and South. So that's where it it basically got it start. Now it took some time to, um, generate interest and to kind of ramp up, if you will. Um, again, my research indicates that it did not peak in membership until the 1920s, which makes sense because it seemed that this was about that time, or right prior to that time that the burials started taking place on our property. 

00:04:08:24 - 00:04:21:02

Jeff Krakoff: Okay, so how long has this cemetery, you know, it goes back to about 1905. How many grave sites are there?  

00:04:21:04 - 00:05:37:15

Linda Andreassi: We have, um, 16 graves. Fourteen are male, two or female. If you look at the grave markers that are there, they're not the perpendicular type. They're the kind that lay flush with the ground. Okay. And so you can see them. There's a slight rise to them beyond the grass. But for the most part they're flat. So it's it's something that you have to, um, kind of come up on to see properly. Uh, I just know in all of the years that I've worked here and with all of the people I've talked to, no one has actually ever visited those graves. And part of the reason that is, is so I mentioned to you earlier that on Evergreen Mill Road there, um, is a piece of property that was originally owned by the Knights of Pythias. So one of the um, characteristics, if you will, of the Knights of Pythias, was to take care of people. And so they actually started nursing homes or elder care homes for, uh, members that were in their organization. And that was, um, one such example here locally, um, off of Evergreen Mill Road was, um, the Knights of Pythias assisted living. 

 00:05:37:29 - 00:07:16:15

Linda Andreassi: It is now also it's actually now continues to be an assisted living nursing home um, today. But it is not owned by Knights of Pythias anymore. They closed up or sold that property shortly, I want to say about 1921, but, um, while they had that property, they also apparently had this plot of land which is now ours, and at that time they would take in individuals that had no relatives, no family, and were on hard times, so they couldn't afford rent or a mortgage, so they would take them in in this assisted living home, and they could stay there until their passing. And then they took care of all the burial, um, processes. So that is why we believe no one is actually ever visited any of the graves that are there. Yeah. Um, again, through our research, we can tell that it appears the people buried there are from all over the United States. A lot of them were from Ohio. Yeah, but mostly they're from different areas across the United States. So again, they were just part of the home until they're passing. Um, and in two of the cases, they're couples I mentioned there are two females buried there. That's a husband and wife in both cases. So unfortunately I don't have any details about the individuals buried there. That might be a lot more, um, kind of legwork on my part, but we did find it very interesting that, um, as you can imagine, over the years there have been a number of rumors about, well, who's buried there? Well, you know, what was saying, like, and because we do have a very rich Native American historical, um, uh, history, I should say, here, there was always this thinking that maybe they were Native American Indians. 

 00:07:16:17 - 00:08:53:15

Linda Andreassi: So it was also it's also an opportunity for us to kind of, um, you know, make clear and identify, you know, who is buried there and so that we can properly pay our respects. So, um, that was part of the reason why I was very interested in learning more about the individuals that are interned there. Um, if you look at the, the graves themselves, the the first hint that we had that they were part of an organization is that in between their birth and death dates is a triangle and the Knights of Pythias logo is a triangle. So that was sort of how we were starting to able to kind of figure out who they were. Um, inside that triangle is a number that is their lodge number or their lodge membership number, I should say. So that's what that you'll see a different number on each grave. That's what that indicates because there were a lot of rumors about what does that number mean. Right. So um, the individuals that are, that are buried there range in age upon their death, anywhere from age 45 to age 80. So it was quite a range of ages as well. Um, that is, again, all we know about the individuals who are buried there. Now, when we were trying to determine exactly who owns the land. Right. Because if they're interned there, who owns that land? I actually made a number of phone calls. The Knights of Pythias, while very similar to groups like the Knights of Columbus or the Rotarians that are local here and very active here, the very similar in that they provide service, right. 

 00:08:53:17 - 00:09:37:20

Linda Andreassi: But they're more secretive, the Knights of Pythias. Then most of the charitable organizations that are nonprofit in our area. But I did find somebody and I was able to reach someone, um, kind of higher up in their offices. And they were surprised to learn that those individuals were even there. They had no idea. So, um, yeah, I thought so too. Uh, now I'm sure they're going to log somewhere I have heard recently, I don't know the how true this is, but many of the records of the Knights of Pythias were lost in, uh, 1962. There was a property sale. There may have been a fire involved, but there are no records prior to that time. So I'm assuming this has something to do with it, but I can't confirm that. 

 00:09:37:22 - 00:09:42:16

Jeff Krakoff: And that's right around the same time the district became owners of that land as well. 

 00:09:42:18 - 00:09:44:04

Linda Andreassi: Right, exactly. Yeah. Okay. 

 00:09:44:14 - 00:10:02:07

Jeff Krakoff: So I'm curious if the Knights of Pythias weren't aware. Um, it's. The property's been owned by the the school district. You know, one of the big parts of any cemetery is maintenance, right? That's who maintains that part of the property. 

 00:10:02:29 - 00:11:10:23

Linda Andreassi: Uh, we are proud to maintain that property and our maintenance. Our amazing maintenance crew here maintains the grass area around it. I'm proud to say that our students who go over to view it or study it, have always done it with reverence and respect. Uh, so it's always been maintained well by by those of us here at Seneca Valley. Um, I've even pitched it as a possible senior project idea to our English teachers in the senior high school. I thought it would might it might be interesting to try and learn more about the individuals who are buried there, and to maybe even take on, as you can imagine, because they're flush with the ground, they're weathered. And those kind of etchings that are in the graves are starting to wear a bit and I'm thinking, wouldn't that be a wonderful project for a student who maybe is studying that cemetery to kind of help bring that back to life, whether it's through a deep cleaning or some, some way to etch that? Mhm. Uh, so we don't lose the names and the dates that are visible there. 

 00:11:10:25 - 00:11:25:28

Jeff Krakoff: So Linda, you mentioned students have visited. Is that sort of just an informal thing or is there something the district does to use this historical site, um, in its academic efforts. 

 00:11:26:00 - 00:13:16:10

Linda Andreassi: So because I have taken such an interest in it, I've maintained a file on the cemetery over the years, and I keep in that all of the newspaper clips of articles that have been written about it, all of my communications with the Knights of Pythias, just some general research, um, contact information that I've reached out to the historical society about it. Um, notes on interviews that I've had with former administrators who were here during the time of the property purchase and, um, of course, photos of the cemetery, too. We wanted to make sure that we kept on record what those look like, just in case, um, they do become more difficult to read down the road. So I have kept this file and then just offered it to teachers. We've had reading teachers and history teachers and English teachers. Different teachers have come to me and said, I understand you know more about the cemetery. And so then I provide them with the file and answer any questions they have and just encourage their students to do their own investigation and to please share with me what you find, because I just I find it an interesting, um, existence. And I, you know, it's such a unique piece to our property and, um, you know, as we begin this to study the, uh, renovation and rebuild of our intermediate high school, we are going to be embarking on a new construction project. That certainly was. You know, the architect sort of came to me with our eyebrows raised and went, do you have a cemetery? And I said, yes, we do. So they have found it interesting and we're going to incorporate that into the build in some way to to again to show reverence and respect for it and to, you know, kind of create a learning area around it. But again, to be done with, you know, we understand that it's a resting place. So we we want to maintain that respect and reverence with whatever we do with the new build. 

00:13:16:17 - 00:13:26:17

Jeff Krakoff: Okay. So you mentioned students have tried to find out more. Are there any interesting facts that have come to light through students research? 

00:13:26:27 - 00:14:06:14

Linda Andreassi: I did, um, I did hear through research and then confirmed it, you know, before sharing it. I like to vet and apparently when, um, when it was founded in 1864, Abraham Lincoln found out that they were trying to organize this charitable organization. And it was the first of its kind. So it was a new concept. So apparently he showed a great deal of support for it, and it was through his encouragement that they took it to the United States Congress. And it apparently is the first American order ever chartered by an act of Congress of the United States. 

00:14:06:16 - 00:14:07:01

Jeff Krakoff: Really? 

00:14:07:03 - 00:15:04:20

Linda Andreassi: So, yeah. So I thought that was another interesting piece to the Knights of Pythias group. Um, you know, I mentioned to you before that they peaked in, I think it was 1929, and as far as membership numbers and had dropped off since that time. So I it was curious to see where they are today. So before we met, I did check it looks like there are about three lodges left in the state of Pennsylvania. And um, of those three, they're spread out pretty evenly across the the state of Pennsylvania. And then I learned that they exist only in about 20 states in total. So at the height of their membership, they had like 650 lodges. And I believe they have around 175-200 today. So they're still active. Yeah. Um, but they're not, I guess, at the levels that they were back in the, in the late 20s. 

 00:15:04:23 - 00:15:13:21

Jeff Krakoff: So you've obviously done a lot of homework on, on the Knights of Pythias. Is there anything else you think listeners would find interesting about this organization? 

 00:15:14:04 - 00:15:59:29

Linda Andreassi: Let me check my notes. Well, you know. Um, I, I think most people are familiar with what these types of service clubs do. Specifically, the Knights of Pythias, um, were about, um, service to mankind. And that friendship is an essential ingredient in every walk of life. And they have chosen the Special Olympics International as their main charity. So today, like the non-profits that are similar to Rotary and Knights of Columbus, they mainly work with fundraising efforts and fellowship and social gatherings, that type of thing. But they do focus their efforts on the Special Olympics, which I thought was really terrific. 

 00:16:00:21 - 00:16:05:06

Jeff Krakoff: So they've been doing good work for over 150 years, and they keep on going, right? 

00:16:05:09 - 00:16:06:08

Linda Andreassi: They keep on going. 

00:16:06:10 - 00:16:19:13

Jeff Krakoff: So one question I have, if somebody is intrigued and is curious to to check this area out, can they just go to the secondary campus. Do they need to check in with the school? How would that work? 

00:16:19:23 - 00:17:19:29

Linda Andreassi: Sure, sure. Well I would I would recommend any time that you're on campus grounds during a school day that you always check in with us. I think in this day and age, it's it's probably important to be safe and to let us know that you're there and you're there to view it. We certainly have no problem with that. We just want to know you're there. So I would ask that you check in with our central office building or the district administration office building, um, before just to get a visitor badge. But certainly that area is open to the public at any time. And again, we just ask that our community join us in respecting that space and the sacred ground that it is, so that those individuals resting there can do so? Um, with respect by all of us. So yes, please, I would recommend it. And if there are any teachers out there that may hear this and you're interested, I will be happy to share with you my notes and my file so that you can, um, maybe take a mini field trip out to the cemetery and show our students, because I think it's important that they see it and know more about it, too. 

 00:17:20:05 - 00:17:35:00

Jeff Krakoff: Well, this was quite interesting. Thank you so much. That was Linda Andreassi Communications Director. And if anybody wants to check out the fact that, uh, I was unaware, there's a cemetery on campus, on the secondary campus. 

 00:17:35:02 - 00:17:38:18

Linda Andreassi: Um, next time you come up here, stop by my office and we'll take a walk over. 

 00:17:38:20 - 00:17:43:10

Jeff Krakoff: I absolutely will, but check it out. Thanks a lot for your time. I appreciate it. 

 00:17:43:16 - 00:17:45:01

Linda Andreassi: Sure. Thank you.