YorksPast

At the top of this illustration, I’ve pointed out, and marked, seven 1860 buildings in the Mt. Zion & Druck Valley Road Area within what is now Springettsbury Township. At the bottom of the above illustration is a 1937 aerial photo of the same region.

I’ve zoomed in on the 1937 aerial photo to provide better detail in locating the 1860 properties (n25) through (n31). If you are reading this on the Ydr.com site, click on this LINK for a Full View of the illustrations in this post on the original YorkBlog site; since the ydr.com site will occasionally cut off important details in the cropping of illustrations.

I’m working my way around Springettsbury Township until all buildings from 1860 are visited. See the post: Springettsbury Township building tally during 1860, for my specification of the four regions.

Other posts in this series include:

• 1860 Buildings 1-10 in North Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 11-20 in North Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 21-24 in North Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 32-35 in North Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 1-10 in South Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 11-20 in South Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 21-30 in South Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 31-35 in South Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 36-41 in South Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 1-10 in East Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 11-20 in East Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 21-30 in East Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 31-40 in East Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 41-50 in East Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 51-58 in East Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 1-10 in West Region of Springettsbury Township As a side note, when properties (w1) through (w10) were first visited, the precise 1860 owners of only two of the properties could be identified. Initial deed searches have now increased that number to seven. The 1860 owners of properties (w1) through (w10) will be posted upon the discovery of the final three.
• 1860 Buildings 11-20 in West Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 21-30 in West Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 31-40 in West Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 41-50 in West Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 51-60 in West Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 61-70 in West Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 71-80 in West Region of Springettsbury Township

Shearer’s 1860 Map of York County contains the owner/occupant of most buildings; for example (n26) is J. Sipe. Additional information on J. Sipe can be found by consulting the 1860 Census of the United States; where one discovers this is Jacob Sipe (Son of Joseph), a 32-year-old, farmer, with $2,300 in real estate holdings.

The results after consulting 1860 Spring Garden Township census records are shown below. Spring Garden Township 1860 Census records must be used because Springettsbury Township was formed from the northeast part of that township on April 20, 1891. The order of visitation, of the census taker, often provides assistance on who are neighbors and the tabulation of “value of real estate” separates the landowners from the renters or tenants:

Five of the 1860 buildings still stand at these addresses:

• [n25] – 2009 Mt. Zion Road
• [n26] – 2155 Mt. Zion Road
• [n27] – 2439 Mt. Zion Road
• [n29] – 3308 Druck Valley Road
• [n31] – 3350 Druck Valley Road

Henry Strickler Family and Farmhouse [n25]

Strickler family history research at the York County Heritage Trust unraveled a mystery. The order of visitation of the census taker along Mt. Zion Road is from [n27; visit 308] to [n25; visit 311]; which is clearly southward. The 1860 Map shows ‘H. Strickler’ as the owner of [n25], yet the 1860 census taker recorded the family headed by ‘Andrew Strickler’ as visitation 311.

Census records for these family members in later years all have ‘Henry’ as the head of the family. Census data did have several children missing from later records; this was resolved with the Strickler family history research at the York County Heritage Trust. Henry Strickler [1828-1898], son of Michael Strickler [1798-1854], was married to Maria Bernthisle on December 5, 1847, per records of St. Paul’s (First English) Lutheran Church in York. They had eleven children, however only five of the children lived to adulthood; which explained the missing children on later census records. The children that lived to adulthood include: Sarah Strickler married to John C. Bixler, Michael B. Strickler married to Leah D. Lehman, Henry B. Strickler married to Mary E. Shepp, and Benjamin F. Strickler married to Christiana Yinger.

Henry and Maria Strickler purchased 28.15-acres from Isaac Livingston on April 1, 1859, and build the stone farmhouse [n25]. The farmhouse has a 1859 date plaque and still stands today, along Colonial Farm Lane; a Private Lane off of Mt. Zion Road.

Henry and Maria Strickler eventually retired to Pleasureville. They sold the 1859 farm to John Strickler (son of Jacob Strickler). A later owner is J. Gingerich, per Beach Nichols 1876 Atlas of York County. Henry and Maria Strickler are buried at Mt. Zion Cemetery, just uphill from their farmhouse.

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