What do Cecil County, Maryland’s first millionaire; the 1871 candidate for Governor of Maryland and the founder of several steamship companies have to do with a York County native? They are just a few accomplishments of Jacob Tome, born in the Hanover area and raised in Chanceford Township. His fortune,
We should not panic when we hear of impending storms and flooding, but neither should we be complacent. If an area is to be evacuated, the smart thing to do is leave before you find yourself underwater. Fellow blogger Blake Stough’s post earlier this year showed Indian Rock Dam, built
A few months ago I wrote about what was probably Declaration of Independence signer James Smith’s original gravestone. A newspaper clipping from 1887 said it had been found in a basement in South George Street. The present location is unknown. It was a mystery to the writer of that article,
Does anyone know what happened to the original tombstone of James Smith, York’s Signer of the Declaration of Independence? Not the fancy one shown above, which was put up in 1850. It replaced an earlier stone, which was last seen in 1887 in the basement of a house in the
Old “City Directories,” which eventually covered small towns, suburbs and even rural areas are invaluable sources for researching the past. You can find out where your family members lived and worked; businesses, manufacturers, professionals, local government, churches and social organizations are classified, giving a glimpse into lifestyles. (It seems like
This one must be included in the “what were they thinking” category. The full-page ad above is from a late 19th century York, Pa. city directory–it shows Samuel Dick’s “Daisy” folding flower stand. Mr. Dick was selling it at his establishment on South Duke Street; he may have also been
William Gibson came from a talented York family. His great-grandfather, Dr. David Jameson, was a colonel during Revolutionary times. Grandfather Horatio Gates Jameson was a distinguished physician and surgeon. Mother Elizabeth Jameson was said to be one of the two most beautiful women in Baltimore when the family lived there.
I was intrigued by the strong advertising and testimonials lauding H. M. Crider’s 1881 fruit-picker (see previous post), so I stopped by York County Heritage Trust’s Agricultural and Industrial Museum to see one of these wonderful inventions in person. It does look like a good idea—strong metal tines or fingers
The Crider brothers are perhaps best known for their late 19th century marriage certificate forms, especially the ones with cutouts for individual photos of the couple, and, sometimes, also of the officiating minister. (More on the certificates later.) This time I’m sharing an ad for H.M. Crider’s 1881 “Patent Adjustable
Newspaper clipping, 1896 As promised in my previous post, I checked the Trinity Evangelical/ Trinity EUB/ Trinity United Methodist Church file at York County Heritage Trust. Besides copies of original church records, such as baptisms, I found directories, anniversary history booklets and images of the church over the years. The