Simon Girty Impersonator to Visit Grand Opera House

The St. Marys Community Public Library is proud to present Professional impersonator Kenneth Hammontree of Living History Productions as he brings Simon Girty to the St. Marys Theater and Grand Opera House, 119 West Spring Street, St. Marys, Ohio, on Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at 6:00 pm.

Hammontree who started his career as a teacher of American and Ohio history found that his students had a difficult time relating to history so he came up with an unusual plan which was to teach the class in first-person, impersonating a historical figure. His first performance was Johnny Appleseed.  Hammontree has continued to perform and has a number of historical figures that he does.

Simon Girty (1741-1818) known as “The White Savage of the Forest” was an important frontiersman in the Ohio Country in the years before, during, and after the American Revolution. From 1778 until the American Revolution ended in 1783, Girty served as an interpreter for the British among American Indians.  He also lead American Indians in several attacks against U.S. Soldiers.  Simon Girty’s brother, James Girty, was one of the first to settle in what is Now St. Marys, then known as Girty’s Town.