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Jonathan and I thought that you fellow Parnassians might like to share stories of local or regional interest. I am going to write tonight about a native of Westmoreland County who wrote several historical novels about Western PA. If you have additonal information about this author, or if you have your own thoughts are stories about a subject or person of local or regional interest, please feel free to share them. Below, I am going to disuss a native Westmoreland County woman who wrote several novels about Western PA. Please click on "Read More":

Agnes Sligh Turnball grew up in New Alexandria. She graduated from Indiana University of PA, where she trained to become an English teacher. She moved to New Jersey with her husband after he came back from World War I. Nonetheless, while she lived in New Jersey she wrote several historical novels about Western PA. Among these are the following:

- “The Day Must Dawn”, which includes fictional account of the actual burning of Hannahstown by Native Americans in 1782. Hannahstown is near Greensburg, and in this day and age the event is celebrated each year with a reenactment.

- “The King's Orchard”, which is the semi-biographical account of the life of James O'Hara and his wife. O'Hara was George Washington's quartermaster and the owner of the land that later came to be known as O'Hara township near Pittsburgh. The O'Hara's founded a prominent Pittsburgh family, and their descendants built and resided in a home that was featured on the 2007 Allegheny West Victorian Christmas tour on Pittsburgh's North Side.

- “Remember the End” is a novel about the family of a Scottish immigrant ends up in Western PA and then pulls himself up from poverty to become a highly successful Industrial Revolution business owner. Since Ms. Turnball grew up in New Alexandria, I personally suspect that this particular novel is about the McKenna family, which in reality founded the Kennametal company in Latrobe.

Sadly, I am not sure whether Ms. Turnball's novels are still in print. I found the above-mentioned books, and several others, at the Saint Vincent College Library in Latrobe. I first learned of Ms. Turnball from one of the librarians there. (At the time of my discovery, I was a work-study student at this library.) A few years ago, I found "The King's Orchard" at a used book sale at the Monroeville Mall.

There is a Wikipedia entry for Ms. Turnball if you would like some additional information on her. Per this entry, her work is considered by some as old-fashioned for her use of morality writing. However, I enjoyed her books and I feel that they are comparable to those of Irving Stone.

I feel that her constant use of historical references throughout her work reveal her to be the local girl that she is. For instance, in "The Day Must Dawn", Simon Girty appears frequently appears as a supporting character. Girty was a real-life trader from that time. Hee was notorious and infamous as a trouble-maker among both the British colonists and the Native Americans. As such, he is the subject of many legends from that time period. When I was growing up, my grandmother in North Huntington Township used to make references to the ghost of Simon Girty. For instance, if the refrigerator started acting up, she would blame it on the ghost of Simon Girty causing mischief. (Girty's Run in Millvale is Simon Girty's namesake.)

If you are a fan of Turnball, or just a fan of the genre of historical fiction, I would like to have a book discussion with you. Also, please share any Simon Girty stories that you have.