On April 21, 1865, the funeral train bearing the body of assassinated President Abraham Lincoln passed through York County, PA, enroute to Harrisburg.
York Archives
Here are ten misconceptions about York County, PA, during the Civil War. Author and lecturer Scott Mingus answers readers’ questions.
Two major traveling circuses came to York PA in the spring of 1865 at the close of the American Civil War. Children got in for a quarter.
After the Civil War, PA residents could file border claims for the damages inflicted by the Confederate or Union soldiers, including stolen horses. More than 800 York Countians filed such claims. None received a dime from the commonwealth.
Many accounts exist as to the fate of York’s massive flag hauled down by the Rebels during the Gettysburg Campaign. Here’s one eyewitness’s reminiscences.
The Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918 killed more than 50 million people. It impacted York County, including killing some Civil War vets.
York County’s Democratic congressman, Joseph Bailey, voted against recruiting black soldiers. He later supported President Lincoln’s war efforts.
In 1892, York historian George R. Prowell interviewed ex-Confederate General Jubal A. Early at his house in Lynchburg, VA, to discuss the ransom of York PA.
A Rebel soldier who fought at Gettysburg later designed and sculpted the impressive Irish Brigade Monument. William O’Donovan had a connection to York PA.
The controversial 1842 Supreme Court decision in the Prigg vs. Pennsylvania legal case was a spark on the path to civil war. It had York County roots.