Universal York

Part of the USA Today Network

Pennsylvania Germans Archives

I noticed Prospect Hill Cemetery has been posting historical information on their Facebook page about notable people from York County’s past who are buried there.  Today’s was on Henry Lee Fisher, attorney, historian and Pennsylvania German poet.  Fisher is one of my favorites from the past, and I realized I

I became interested in Meyer and other York County printers because several also printed Taufscheine, the birth and baptismal certificates that I have been researching for years.  Most of them were also very interesting individuals, especially as they used their newspapers as a political platform.  One good example is Solomon

You can enjoy a Victorian Christmas at the Bonham House, 152 East Market Street, York from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, December 2. The free family event, presented by the York County History Center as part of Light Up York, offers costumed house tours, crafts, games, live music,

Our area has a high concentration of descendants of so called “Hessians.” This general term was applied to those soldiers from German-speaking regions whose rulers hired out their regiments to fight on the side of the British during the Revolutionary War. (Germany did not become a confederated nation until 1871,

You might be familiar with two books featuring drawings of Lewis Miller published by The Historical Society of York County/York County Heritage Trust/York County History Center over the years. Lewis Miller, Sketches and Chronicles: The Reflections of a Nineteenth Century Pennsylvania German Folk Artist (1966) is out of print; Lewis

Doing historical research? Can’t find much on a particular person or family? Don’t despair—just keep looking and widen your search to include many resources. Sometimes you find what you are seeking where and when you least expect it. See below for my recent York Sunday News column using York’s 19th

Aren’t those fresh summer vegetables wonderful? Especially if they are locally grown, perhaps in your own back yard. By now, you have a good idea of how well your garden has fared. You know if you have more squash than you can use, or not enough tomatoes for your homemade

One thing leads to another, or, off on another tangent. A valuable reference for research on the “Pennsylvania Dutch” (Pennsylvania Germans) is the now defunct Pennsylvania Folklife magazine, published first in 1946 as The Pennsylvania Dutchman. The articles were scholarly, but popular. The founding editors were well known historians Dr.

I never tire looking at the drawings of York folk artist Lewis Miller (1796-1882). His illustrations depicting town and rural life during the first half of the 19th century are so detailed. He wrote captions, most just a few sentences, but some quite lengthy, adding more insight into the daily