In South Bend Township, Armstrong County, next to where the state highway crosses Crooked Creek, sits a log cabin occupied for 171 years.

The cabin was built in 1831 by John (Squire) Wherry about a mile from where it is now. The logs were hand cut, stacked, and the spaces between them stuffed with a mix of corn cobs, mud and horsehair.

Wherry gave the house to Raul Rupert. When Rupert married, he took the cabin apart log by log and rebuilt it on his father's farm, where it still stands. When Raul's father, George Rupert died, the house was put up for sale. Raul's daughter, Hallie Rupert Silvis, bought it for $175.00.

The house still has the original fireplace. Two windows in the front are also original. The house was partitioned into four rooms, two upstairs and two down, with the upstairs two being like a loft. The house remained this way for many years. During this time Reuben and Hallie Rupert Silvis raised eight children there.

Eugene and Ruth Silvis raised their 10 children in the cabin also. One, Ann Silvis Hollis, lived there until she married in 1964. Her parents remained there until 1983. Ann remodeled it in 1985, adding a bathroom and a bedroom. Her daughter, Brenda Hollis Ferguson lived there until 1993. Now it is a rental.

circa 1960

Silvis Log Cabin in 2004