Would you like to visit an active archaeology dig? It has been a few years since the last archaeological dig at Camp Security in East York, mostly because it takes time to raise funds to support a hands-on dig, but that doesn’t mean the Friends of Camp Security haven’t been
On October 19, 1781, British General Charles Cornwallis’s army surrendered his army at Yorktown, Virginia. That American victory effectively ended the Revolutionary War, although it was not official until nearly two years later, when the Treaty of Paris was ratified in September 1783. Camp Security, York County’s prisoner of war
Hanover Lutheran pastor Frederick Valentine Melsheimer has been called the father of American entomology (insects). He was also a “Hessian,” who came to America with troops fighting on the British side during the Revolutionary War. If you have Melsheimers in your ancestry, there is a good chance that you descend
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,
My previous post shared a July 21, 1905 article from the York Daily about Dr. Reed of Lancaster coming to look for the camp where his grandfather guarded Revolutionary War prisoners. We know the site today as Camp Security. Dr. Reed’s visit must have been important in the news of
I found this article from the July 21, 1905 York newspaper, probably the York Daily, in the Jere Carl scrapbooks at the York County History Center. Little articles about Camp Security pop up every now and then in the old newspapers. Even though these articles might not be completely accurate, as
You never know what fascinating stories you might uncover in the York County History Center files. I never expected to find one on a Soviet spy who allegedly hid from the world in plain sight in the little village of Delroy. (Delroy is in Lower Windsor Township on Route 124,
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
My previous two posts concerned a day trip I took a couple of weeks ago to southern Maryland, visiting the homes of two of the convicted Lincoln conspirators, Mary Surratt and Dr. Samuel Mudd. Both sites are well interpreted. I was especially interested in Dr. Mudd’s house, since carpenter Edman
In my last post I shared my recent visit to the Surratt House Museum in Clinton, Maryland. Less than half an hour away is the Dr. Samuel Mudd House Museum. After picking up arms and ammunition at the Surratt House, the next significant stop on John Wilkes Booth’s escape route