Growing Up in Williamsport, Ohio

​Clarence Tecumseh Harmount 
 
Betty and I walked about three blocks to school every day. It took us around ten minutes. My parents always saw to it that we had warm coats though our clothes underneath were thin cotton dresses and cold.
 
We had to walk past Clarence Harmount’s house on the corner where Pettit’s now stands. My mother always warned us not to stop and talk to him. Actors and actresses were not well thought of in those days. 
 
Clarence had a barn on the alley which contained dogs that may have descended from those used in The Uncle Tom’s Cabin performances. When we walked past the barn, they barked. I think they were big, brown dogs. Glimpses of them could be seen through the cracks in the barn.
 
Clarence was always outside in the mornings carrying food and water to his dogs. He was an old man at that time. He was tall and thin and looked like Gabby Hayes. He had gray hair and a beard and wore an old suit jacket or a long barn coat and gray hat. And of course, he always said, “Hello girls”. We put our heads down and grudgingly said, “Hi” and sped on past to the only traffic light in Williamsport. From research that I personally did on Ancestry.com, I found that he was born on August 17, 1874. All of the information provided looked impressive to me.
 
Clarence died on March 11, 1960. My brother Bob bought much of the memorabilia from the Uncle Tom’s Cabin performances, probably at an estate sale from the former attraction. I suppose they were stored in Clarence’s barn. I have learned that Ohio State has a collection of things from Clarence’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin show. 
 
In 1961, a relative of Clarence’s talked of reviving the show but that never happened. My brother had plans to construct a small museum of local historical artifacts on Jim Town Hill outside of Williamsport but he became ill and passed away before his vision could be realized. 
  
The town of Greenfield, Ohio has Annie Oakley for its attraction and is vibrant. I have always thought that Williamsport needed something or someone to attract people like other small towns. Clarence Harmount and his family may have been Williamsport’s biggest claim to fame.
 
Note: In 1903 Harmount’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin Troupe gave its first performance in Williamsport. The play was based on Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Christian anti-slavery book. They traveled all over the area and beyond.  Albert Luther Harmount was the father of the Harmount family and all of his children were involved in the production. When he died, his oldest son, Clarence Tecumseh Harmount, took charge. The company disbanded in 1929. Clarence Harmount returned to Williamsport and lived there the rest of his life. Additional information regarding Harmount’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin Troupe may be found in Peek at the past, Williamsport, Ohio (pp.159-173) by Bob Francis. It is located at the Pickaway County Historical Society in Circleville, Ohio.

©Marilyn Francis Ferguson 2020
Photography/graphics by Michele Ferguson Schuck