Earlier this year I wrote about Daniel May, printer and newspaper publisher in York from about 1829 to 1843. He was one of several York County printers to produce Taufscheine, or baptismal certificates, also known as Fraktur. These colorful certificates, popular from about 1770 to 1870, recorded the birth and
It is almost time for the Fifth Annual York County History Storytellers Night at 7 p.m. next Tuesday, December 10 at the Appell Center’s Capitol Theater, a beautiful historic site in its own right. We have had great turnouts in the past and expect the same this year, so we
I admit I know only the basics of baseball, but I might be in the minority in York County. For as long as I can remember, family members followed their favorite major league teams on radio and television, as well occasionally trips to the ball park to see the action
A couple of months ago I wrote a column on the basket makers of Bullfrog Alley. Many of them seem to be the same families that were known as York’s Gypsies. Just about all these people came to York from southwestern Germany around 1840 to 1860. They settled around East
Look at an old map of York County. You will see names of areas, perhaps very near where you live, that you have never heard of. It might have been a flourishing area at one time with a general store where you could buy just about anything, a post office,
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
York’s Bullfrog Alley (part of East King Street) had a distinct personality over the years. It was famed as the home of “gypsies” who went out traveling each summer and for basket making, some of which seem to be in same families. It was also the home of a gang
Some volunteers are still needed for the 2019 Camp Security dig, which starts in less than three weeks. No experience is necessary, but volunteers do need to fill out the Volunteer Registration Form and submit it quickly. The form is posted on the Friends of Camp Security website homepage: www.campsecurity.org.
Some of you might be lucky enough to have Pennsylvania German birth and baptismal certificates that were done for family members well over 100 years ago. Or you just might be intrigued by the art and design of these unique folk art documents and perhaps collect them. I have written
Family history research is so absorbing because you never run out of relatives, and you sometimes find some surprising ones. For example, I am distantly related to President Dwight Eisenhower. We both descend from immigrant Hans Nicholas Eisenhauer, (b. 1691), but our lines split way back. See below for my