MANSFIELD - This year's Fabulous 1890s Weekend includes some new attractions, according to co-organizer Dennis Miller, including a century-old murder mystery "tour."
In September, 1897, Effie Copley, of Hills Creek, was shot in the head four times on what now is part of the university campus. Her estranged husband, Walter Goodwin, of Charleston Township, claimed his 14-year-old girlfriend pulled the trigger, but Goodwin was tried, found guilty and hanged in Wellsboro in June, 1898.
Goodwin professed his innocence to the very end.
Questions still remain about the murder and about Effie's baby, who disappeared immediately after birth.
Saturday, Effie Copley's great nephew, Brian Barden, will host the "Who Murdered Effie Tour."
Miller said he first learned about the incident from Joyce Tice, who operates a local museum on Main Street and has a large website filled with old newspaper accounts among many other archives of local history, including extensive coverage of the murder and subsequent trial in the old "Wellsboro Agitator."
Fact Box
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Fabulous 1890s Weekend
WHEN: Friday and Saturday
WHERE: Mansfield
According to Miller, the tour, in Tony's Trolley, will begin at Smythe Park, travel to Route 6 and then to the Wren's Nest Restaurant, Miller said. The restaurant is a historical building that once was owned by Dr. Joseph Morris, a cousin of Benjamin Morris. Dr. Morris donated land to the borough of Mansfield, Miller said.
The tour then goes back across the bridge to the old Railroad Depot behind Sherwood Manor, then up to Main Street, where it will turn to the south and Barden will describe what the town would have looked like in the late 1800s. The tour then goes to the university campus for a tour of North Hall, where Effie took a nursing course, and past the new residence halls to show the contrast between old and new. It then goes down Sherwood Street, up Route 6 to the campus day care center and out behind it, where Copley's body was found more than 100 years ago. The tour then returns to the park.
Tickets are $10 and will be available Friday afternoon in the 1890s office at Smythe Park. There will be two tours, each limited to 20 people.
Hot air balloons will launch from the park Friday evening, Saturday morning and Saturday evening, weather permitting. For information on balloon rides, contact David Cummings at dcjewels@ptd.net.
Admission to Smythe Park is a $3 button, which is good for the entire weekend.
For more information, visit 1890sweekend.com. For daily updates, "like" the 1890s Facebook page.
Schedule of events:
FRIDAY
4 p.m. - Craft and food booths open, Smythe Park
4 p.m. - Living history displays, Smythe Park
4 p.m. - 1890s museum tent, Smythe Park
4 p.m. - Mansfield vs. Sayre girls soccer, soccer field
4:30 - 6:30 p.m. - Smorgasbord, Holy Child Church
5 p.m. - Hot air balloon launch, Smythe Park
6:30 p.m. - Nashville performer Angele Hesse, Pavilion
7 p.m. - Hot air balloon glow, Smythe Park
7:30 p.m. - Prism concert, Steadman Theatre
8 p.m. - Square dance: Cowanesque Valley Boys,
Pavilion
SATURDAY
6 a.m. - Breakfast 6-10 a.m., fire hall
6 a.m. - Hot air balloon launch, Smythe Park
9 a.m.-3 p.m. - Book sale, Mansfield Library
10 a.m. - Craft and food booths open, Smythe Park
11 a.m. - 1890s Parade, Main Street
Noon - Chicken barbecue: Lions Club, Smythe Park
Noon - Mansfield vs. Sayre boys soccer, soccer field
Noon-12:40 p.m. - Phydeaux's Flying Fleas/Wahoo Medicine Show, pavilion
Noon-5 p.m. - Vendor fair, Mansfield Fire Hall
12:30 p.m. - 1890s pet fashion show, Pavilion
12:30 p.m. - East-West karate demonstration, soccer field
12:30-1 p.m. - The Country Kids Jamboree, puppet shows and games, northwest side
12:30-2:30 p.m. - Pat Kane, tent
1 p.m. - Mansfield University Sprint football vs. Army, MU Karl Van Norman Field
1 p.m. - Hot air balloon tethering (weather permitting), Smythe Park
1:20-2 p.m. - Phydeaux's Flying Fleas/Wahoo Medicine Show, pavilion
1:30 p.m. - Who Murdered Effie trolley tour, near the gate
2:15-3:15 p.m. - Folk Spirits, pavilion
2:30-3 p.m. - The Country Kids Jamboree, puppet shows and games, Northwest side
3 p.m. - Who Murdered Effie trolley tour, near the gate
3 p.m. - 19th Century Boxing Demonstration, by the soccer field
3-5 p.m. - Djug Django, tent
3:45-5 p.m. - Cherry Flats Ridge Pluckers/Contra - dancing, pavilion
5:15-6:30 - Cherry Flats Ridge Pluckers (music and dance), pavilion
5 p.m. - Hot air balloon launch, Smythe Park
5-5:30 p.m. - The Country Kids Jamboree, puppet shows and games, northwest side
5:15-6:30 p.m. - Cherry Flats Ridge Pluckers/Contra-dancing, pavilion
7:30 p.m. - Prism concert, Steadman Theatre
8:30 p.m. - World's First Night Football Game Re-enactment, soccer field
8:45 p.m. - Fabulous 1890s fireworks (about), Smythe Park
