The Groff Family Papers contain patents issued to Frederick F. Groff, deeds and related documents for the property of Fred F. Groff, Inc. Funeral Home, and a booklet about the history of cremation in Lancaster. Patents include drawings, petition and specifications, and signatures of Mr. Groff, his attorneys, and witnesses. The property records show the purchase of lots at 234, 236, 238, and 240 West Orange Street, Lancaster.
Contains pamphlets, booklets, and annual reports from various water and power companies on the Susquehanna River. They include information about dams, hydroelectric projects, and how electricity is generated; maps and history of the region; and pictures of the river and hydroelectric stations.
The Frederick S. Brown Collection contains tax receipts, bonds, and letters belonging to Mr. Brown. Also, an agreement for the sale of land along the Susquehanna River.
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Frederick S. Brown Collection (MG0085), Folder #, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at research@lancasterhistory.org.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Collection consists of the minutes, bylaws, financial records and membership lists for the Lancaster County Librarian Association, originally the Lancaster County School Librarian Association.
Collection of Ellmaker family papers, including original papers of the first immigrant, John Leonard Ellmaker of Germany. Papers include correspondence, genealogy charts, deeds and legal papers. newspaper clippings, photographs, articles on Jacob Eichholtz, and a diploma and teachers' certificate. There is also a blank book with paper made at Ephrata Cloister in 1796.
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Collection Title (MG#), Box #, Folder #, (or Object ID), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL if applicable. Date accessed (day, month, year).
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions. Please request at Reference Desk or contact Research@LancasterHistory.org prior to visit.
Copyright
Collection may be photographed. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at Research@LancasterHistory.org.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory. Persons wishing to publish any material from this site must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright or other use restrictions. Publication fees may apply.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Classification
MG0071
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Cataloged prior to 1997. Added to database 23 October 2018.
Collection contains personal and business papers of John H. Hook. His 1906 diary is a record of his family and social life, business meetings, local baseball games, weather and Lancaster businesses, such as Long's Park, the Stevens Industrial School, Ann Street School and Federal Cigar Co. The billhead is an example of purchases made by his customers.
Admin/Biographical History
Copied from Biographical Annals of Lancaster County, Pa., 1903 by J. H. Beers & Co., page 746-747:
JOHN H. HOOK, who is a prominent citizen of Lancaster, Pa., and one who has long been identified with the material improvement and growth of the city, was born April 5, 1858, in Lancaster, a son of John and Catherine (Klaus) Hook, natives of Greiss, Gross-Gerau, Hessen Darmstadt, Germany, although they met and were married in Lancaster, Pa. John Hook emigrated to America in 1831, while the date of his wife's emigration was one year later. They have their pleasant home in Lancaster, where he is employed as a stone-mason and stonecutter. He was born in October, 1823, a son of Jacob and Christiana Hook, natives of Hessen Darmstadt, Germany, the former of whom was born on April 14, 1804, came to America in 1831, and died March 2, 1871. Mrs. Christiana Hook died in Germany, in 1850, aged fifty-six years, four months and twenty days. Mrs. Catherine (Klaus) Hook was a daughter of Ernest and Margaret Klaus, of Dreiburg, Hessen Darmstadt, Germany, who came to Lancaster county, in 1834, where he died, and was buried at Strasburg, Pa. John and Catherine (Klaus) Hook are members of the German Lutheran Church. In politics he is a supporter of the Democratic party. They had born to them these children: John H.; Elizabeth, who married Frank Witmer, of Lancaster; Henry, who resides at home, unmarried; Adam P., who died of yellow fever in Havana; Catherine, who married William Zercher, a tobacco merchant of Lancaster; Frederick, who is a barber; and William F., unmarried, who lives at home.
John H. Hook was reared in a home where he was early taught the value of industry. Until he was thirteen years of age, he attended school and then became water boy on the railroad, retaining his connection with railroad work, from 1871, when he made this humble beginning, until 1898, when he quit the road. From 1884 to 1889 he was master stone-mason for the Frederick Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. In October, 1889, he made his beginning in contracting with J. F. Kellar and until his health failed, in June, 1898, he continued at that work. During that time Mr. Hook was engaged in building and contracting on a large scale, in Lancaster City, and in 1898, in association with Dr. M. L. Davis, began the building of garbage crematories, and in 1898 built a 100-ton crematory for the United States Government at Havana. Cuba. It would be a task to name all the work which has been completed by Mr. Hook in the building line, but a few of the notable constructions are: No. 13 bridge over the Juniata River, near Altoona, Pa., containing 10,700 cubic yards of masonry, built at a cost of $107,000, on the Middle Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and for the same, a bridge over Stone Creek, at Huntingdon, Pa., containing 4,000 cubic yards of masonry; also a bridge for the same over Shaver's Creek, at Petersburg, Huntingdon Co., Pa., containing 3,500 yards of masonry. It was at this point that Mr. Hook was stricken with paralysis, the heavy demands made upon his physical strength being more that he could endure. His present business includes contracting and grading, and probably there is no more competent man in his line in Lancaster county.
In September, 1884, Mr. Hook was united in marriage with Mary E. Boud, who was born at Barren Hill, Montgomery Co., Pa., a daughter of James and Sarah ( Fisher) Boud, natives of that county. The former was a son of James and Elizabeth Boud, natives of New Jersey. Mrs. Hook's father was a contractor and builder, and he died in 1879, at the age of sixty-seven years. Her grandfather was a cooper. The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Hook were George and Elizabeth Fisher, farming people of Montgomery county. Mrs. Hook's mother was born in January, 1821, and now resides at Audubon, Pa. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Boud were: William H., who keeps a hotel at Audubon; Kate F., who married Clinton Caster, and lives at Audubon, where he is engaged in brick manufacturing; Mary E., who became Mrs. Hook; and Margaret, who died unmarried. The children born to Mr. Hook and wife were: Adam, deceased; Henry B.; Irene M.; Josephine; Mary F. L.; John F.; and Paul R.
Mr. Hook has led too busy a life to have taken a very active part in politics, although no citizen of this locality is better qualified. For six years he consented to be judge of elections, but finally resigned the office. Until the silver question agitated the Democratic party, he had always adhered to its principles, but since that time, has been identified with the Republican party. For the past twenty-three years he has been an Odd Fellow, and also be longs to the order of Seven Wise Men. Mr. Hook was reared in the Lutheran Church, and is a most liberal contributor to its support, his family being regular attendants on its services and active in its work.
Although somewhat hampered by ill-health, Mr. Hook has retained in a very remarkable degree his energy, and still is the active and intelligent head of his business. It is to Mr. Hook that the city is indebted for the very satisfactory electric plant, erected at Slack Water, which supplies Lancaster with its light. He is also president of the South Mountain Kaolin Co., capitalized at $250,000, and president of the Cline Stock Car Co., capitalized at $100,000. Mr. Hook is one of the reliable, energetic and progressive citizens, who leave worthy monuments behind them, when called from life, and who can be but illy spared. He enjoys the esteem and confidence of his fellow citizens, and also has a large circle of personal friends.
The C. G. Herr Collection contains correspondence to Christian G. Herr. Most of the letters are related to his tobacco business. Although cigar brands and tobacco cuts are mentioned, most of the correspondence is about payments, orders, and samples.
Admin/Biographical History
Christian G. Herr (1839-1902) was the son of Daniel Herr and Susan Margaretta Hornberger, and a descendant of Rev. Hans Herr.
A tobacconist in Lancaster, he began as a clerk in the 1850s and soon owned a store. By 1877, he had a tobacco warehouse in the city and was manufacturing cigars with his business partners. His business was located at 45-47 N. Market Street for the majority of years, but he also had locations on N. Queen Street and N. Christian Street. C. G. Herr ordered from and shipped to tobacconists in Lancaster County, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and New York. At the turn of the twentieth century, he was a manager at Julius Vetterline & Co.
Christian married Emma Miller circa 1860. They had two sons: William M. (b. 1863) and Charles C. (b. 1868). The family resided at 224 W. Orange Street. Emma is listed in the 1880 census as having consumption. She passed away in 1881 and is buried in Woodward Hill Cemetery. Charles was involved in the tobacco business in 1900; William was a physician, married to Lizzie with one daughter.
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), C. G. Herr Collection (MG0381), Box #, Folder #, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions. Please request at the Reference Desk or contact Research@LancasterHistory.org prior to visit.
Copyright
Collection may be photographed. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at Research@LancasterHistory.org.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory. Persons wishing to publish any material from this site must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright or other use restrictions. Publication fees may apply.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
The Diffenderffer Family Papers collection contains items that have been passed down through generations of the Diffenderffer family. Deeds for tracts of land in New Holland date back to the creation of New Design, the village that preceded New Holland. Correspondence and some manuscripts pertain to J. P. McCaskey's life and accomplishments. F. R. Diffenderffer's manuscripts on Easter Day and Conrad Weiser are preserved with this collection, as well as poems, a program for the C. Elvin Haupt School, and a claim of F. R. Diffenderffer & Co. against the State of Texas.
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Collection Title (MG#), Folder #, (or Object ID), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL if applicable. Date accessed (day, month, year).
Deeds in folders 1-18 were a gift of Fianna Diffenderffer and the Diffenderffer family, 4 November 2006.
Items in folders 19-23 were a gift from her nephew, David Diffenderffer, 14 August 2006.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Restrictions are noted at the item level--please use photocopies or transcriptions for those items. Other original documents may be used by researchers--contact Research@LancasterHistory.org prior to visit or request at Reference Desk.
Copyright
Collection items may be photographed. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at Research@LancasterHistory.org. Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory. Persons wishing to publish any material from this collection must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright or other use restrictions. Publication fees may apply.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Accession Number
2006.MG0410_NOV
Other Numbers
MG-410
Classification
MG0410
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Cataloged by HST, November 2008. Added to database 28 July 2021.
The J. U. Neuhauser & Sons Records collection contains records of the hardware and farm machinery business of J. U. Neuhauser & Sons, Bird-in-Hand, Pa. The items include product inventories, records of sales and customers, territory lists and salesmen, financial records, and tax records.
Admin/Biographical History
Neuhauser Brothers was established in 1891. In 1901, brothers Isaac U. Neuhauser and Jonas U. Neuhauser bought land from Levi Rhoads at 2701 Old Philadelphia Pike in Bird-in-Hand. The transaction included buildings that the Neuhausers had been using since 1890. Jonas bought out Isaac's share in 1921 and the business name was later changed to J. U. Neuhauser & Sons. Jonas' sons sold the store to Abram E. Keener in 1958 who continued the hardware business, but did not deal in farm machinery.
The business was located on property formerly owned by the Bird-in-Hand Hotel, was The Old Village Store for many years, and is presently the Bird-in-Hand Village Antique Market (2008).
Employees in 1958 were Irvin Denlinger (shop), Aaron L. Hershey (store clerk), Miriam G. Neuhauser (bookkeeper), Aaron P. Miller (store clerk), Henry K. Blank (shop), Michael L. Fisher (shop).
Reference: Bird-in-Hand, 1734-1984: A History of Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania. 1984.
The source is unknown for the bulk of the collection. Record book of automobiles, farm machinery, and major appliances, 1922-1959 in Folder 12 was a gift of Robert G. Neuhauser, December 2006.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Folder 13 is restricted.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at research@lancasterhistory.org.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Other Numbers
MG-21
Classification
MG0021
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
The collection was cataloged prior to 1997; Folder 12 was added by HST in 2007. Added to database 29 July 2021.
