Audio and transcribed interviews of church and community members of their recollections.
All of these are works in progress with new material added when received. If you have photos, corrections, suggestions or new material, please send to Alan Keffer at alankeffer@gmail.com
Anderson, Stanley
The oldest great grandchild of John A. & Anna Buckwalter, son of Betta Lee Anderson who was the daughter of Alice Buckwalter Keffer, Stanley lived with his Buckwalter great grandparents and grandmother Alice on Wenger Rd sporadically in his elementary school age years, attended the Mt Pleasant Christian Day School at its original location and offers unique recollections of the community in the late 1940’s from a young boy’s perspective.
Bergey, Clayton & Maude
Clayton Bergey and his wife and four sons moved to Mt Pleasant from Doylestown, Pa in March 1910 by converted bread delivery wagon pulled by a team of four horses. Already a deacon in Pennsylvania he was accepted as a deacon at Mt Pleasant Mennonite church and ordained as minister in 1922, a post he held until his death in 1975, though inactive his latter years. His wife Amanda died in 1925 and he remarried Maude Miller in 1927.
Bergey, Jr., J. Harold
Eldest son of James and Mary Bergey, great grandson of Clayton Bergey, Harold attended Mt Pleasant Christian Day School, graduating from Great Bridge High School and then from Eastern Mennonite College where he also served the Virginia Mennonite Conference as conference youth pastor until returning to Mt Pleasant with wife Rose. Licensed in 1989 and ordained a couple of years later, he served as pastor of Mt Pleasant Mennonite Church until 2004 after which he was appointed Overseer of the Eastern District of the Virginia Mennonite Conference and managed Bergey’s Bread Basket with several of his siblings.
Interviews
Transcripts:
March 28, 2022
Audio
March 28, 2022
August 2, 2022 – Part 1
August 2, 2022 Part 2
March 27, 2024
Bergey, James & Mary
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Lehman, Jr., Jacob R
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Miller, Ira & Maggie
Ira Miller and Maggie Buckwalter arrived in the Mt Pleasant community within months of each other in 1910. Ira from Springs, Pennsylvania when 16 years old, and Maggie from Ephrata, Pennsylvania. They were married in 1913 and had four sons, Francis, Vernon & Ivan. A prolific contributor to “The Sugarcreek Budget”, Ira was a colorful writer and master carpenter, building many of the homes in the community as it grew.
Miller, Ivan & Orpha
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Morris, Betty Miller
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