Photo Provided Officers of the newly formed Mt. Pleasant Abigail Flanner Questers Chapter include, from left, Don Feenerty, vice president; Angela Feenerty, president; Nina Cleaver, secretary; and RJ Konkoleski, treasurer.

MOUNT PLEASANT — We all contribute to history, but few live with the constant desire to keep it alive.

Local historian Angela Feenerty has gathered a group of like-minded preservationists and lovers of history to form the Abigail Flanner Questers Chapter of the international group known as The Questers. The Abigail Flanner Questers Chapter was formed to research, study and support the preservation and restoration of artifacts, historic buildings and landmarks in the Mt. Pleasant, Dillonvale and Adena areas. Questers is a nonprofit 501c3 organization dating back to 1944.

When considering forming the Questers chapter, Feenerty put out social media feelers that attracted a diverse group of history enthusiasts not only from the immediate area but also from the surrounding region, including St Clairsville, Steubenville, Deersville, Cadiz, Wheeling and as far away as North Carolina and California. One member, RJ Konkoleski, president of the Adena Historical Society, later accepted the position of treasurer for the chapter. Longtime Mt. Pleasant resident and community activist Nina Cleaver accepted the position of secretary. Feenerty’s husband, Don Feenerty, is the chapter’s vice president.

St. Clairsville resident Melissa Santini Reinbold serves as Questers International 3rd vice president, Ohio Questers state president and National Trail Questers chapter president. Reinbold provided assistance and guidance in the group’s formation.

Both Reinbold and her son Doug joined the Abigail Flanner Chapter.

“We are all excited about this new chapter,” Reinbold said. “Their level of professionalism and community involvement, combined with a wide skill set and younger members, will make them a powerful addition to our international organization.”

Keiran Menacher, president-elect of Ohio Questers, announced the new chapter on social media, stating, “I am very pleased to announce that Ohio has a new Questers Chapter … and the first president of this Mt. Pleasant Chapter is Angela Feenerty.”

About the chapter’s name, Angela Feenerty said, “Women in history are often overlooked. Not so in our area. We have Betty Zane, Annie Tanks, Margaret Brennen and Abigail Flanner, to name a few, that have contributed greatly and deserve to be recorded in our annals.”

Flanner was a Quaker, a poet and one of the first teachers at the Quaker boarding school that opened at Mt. Pleasant in the 1830s.

“The Abigail Flanner story is as important to the notoriety of Mt. Pleasant as Benjamin Lundy and Edwin Stanton. Abigail brought Mt. Pleasant to life for many in our nation as one of the great love stories of the early 19th century,” Feenerty added.

Angela Feenerty is a local historian and author of multiple books on the history of the area. She is the owner of The Log House Shop and Lost Arts Studio, located in a restored 1806 log house in Mt. Pleasant, and owner-operator of the Mt. Pleasant Printing Press, a publishing company dedicated to local authors.