Bob Benchoff is a man of mystery.
That is when he’s talking about his new book.
The retired teacher is cautious when offering details about “A Sketch of Mount Joy School.” Instead, Benchoff encourages readers “to find out. That’s the adventure of the story … part of the story line.”
The Waynesboro area man also won’t disclose where the school was located except to say the building was part of the Washington Township School District. “My quest was to find it, and then I realized ‘there’s quite a story there.’”
The process began in the summer of 2016, during a visit with his mother, Martha Smith of Waynesboro. “We often reminisce about family history and history in general, and that’s the way the story starts out. She said, ‘I’d like to go see if we could find it.’” There’s also a personal family connection to Mount Joy. Benchoff’s maternal great-grandfather, A. Stover Fitz, started his teaching career at the school.
After his mother exclaimed “Let’s go now,” the two set off on their quest. “We took a ride – we knew about where the school was – but we couldn’t find it,” Benchoff said.
“That’s when I began my research,” he added. “I made a few phone calls, including one to Todd Dorsett, an expert in local history who has written numerous books and publications … he knows Waynesboro area history.” After talking with Dorsett, Benchoff said he realized this could be a research project. “And so it began,” he said.
The book is a publication of Antietam Historical Association – Dorsett is executive director of AHA. “I am most appreciative of Todd for editing and designing the book and his creativity,” noted Benchoff.
Mount Joy “was once not just a schoolhouse but also a busy community center, which generated many happy memories,” according to Dorsett. Benchoff has “memorialized its story for future generations,” he added.
Early in the process, Dorsett asked Benchoff if he knew why the school was named Mount Joy. “And so, that stimulated more research. I initially did not have that in,” Benchoff added.
The 58-page book contains numerous graphics, said Benchoff. “Some are copies of items in the newspaper and photographs, including artifacts from the time period – my great-grandfather’s teaching certificate and report cards. There are pictures of my great-grandfather and great-grandmother and their family and portions of early maps showing where the school was located.”
A very helpful resource source for Benchoff was the digital archives of the Waynesboro newspapers at Alexander Hamilton Memorial Free Library. “And you can access everything online,” according to Benchoff. The newspaper clippings support the story and the accuracy of the research, he added. “When you talk to someone, word of mouth is not always accurate. You have to follow it up with references.”
The digital archives accessed by Benchoff date from 1851 to 2009 and include the “Waynesboro Record,” from 1901 to 1921, “The Evening Review (one page, from 1882), “Village Record” from 1851 to 1900 (over 9,000 pages available), “Blue Ridge Zephyr” (1904, one page), “The Daily Record” (one page from 1914) and “The Record Herald” from 1918 to 2009.
At one point several years ago, the author said he felt the story was finished. “And then a friend, Gary Carbaugh (of Waynesboro), asked how the project was going. He gave me names of people to contact who might have information. But it was tough to get good contact numbers.”
Another friend, David Hykes, worked closely with Benchoff through a lot of the research process. In 2019, he put him in touch with Robert Daley of Waynesboro after learning Daley could provide additional information about the school. “We had a great telephone conversation that enabled me to add quite a bit to the story.”
Benchoff’s research, at the suggestion of former student and local historian, the Rev. Lee Daywalt of South Mountain, also led him to Waynesboro Area School District officials, former superintendent Dr. Tod Kline and Dr. Eric Holtzman, business administrator.
“There are some Washington Township records at Clayton Avenue (WASD administration building), including old school board records and minutes of meetings. I was grateful for the access. David (Hykes) also did a spreadsheet (of the district’s resources) and made that available to the district.
“Eric posted a very favorable post on Amazon (where the book is available). ‘This book is well researched and documented. Our local area was dotted with many one and two room school houses around the turn of the 19th century. The author provides the reader with a start to finish history of this building with a nice surprise ending!’”
Benchoff, also a licensed auctioneer, taught elementary school from 1970 to 2005. He and his wife, Shelley, have three daughters and eight grandchildren.
In addition to Amazon, the book also is available from AHA in Waynesboro and from Benchoff at 717-377-4729 or [email protected]
