This collection consists of calendars containing photographs, drawings, and prints from Lancaster County and the surrounding region. Some depict local culture, architecture, historic sites, events, or have Pennsylvania Dutch sayings. There are also backs of calendars containing information about Lancaster.
3 boxes, 14 folders, 3 oversized folders, 2 cubic ft.
Object Name
Archive
Language
English
Object ID
MG0070
Location of Originals
LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Restrictions noted at the item level. Restricted items may be used by appointment. Please contact research@lancasterhistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
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 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.
The George Steinman Papers, Series 1 contains an album, compiled by George Steinman, with many photographs of buildings, tombstones, monuments and scenes of Lancaster city and county. Ephemera and newspaper articles are among the photographs. Represented in the album are Postlethwaite's Tavern, hotels and taverns, fire houses, the Conestoga massacre, churches, cemeteries, Ephrata Cloister, prominent citizens and their homes, Stehli Silk Mill, and schools. The four boxes contain orginal correspondence, documents, photographs and ephemera or and pertaining to the same subject matter as the album.
George Steinman Papers, Series 2 (MG0184_S02) https://collections.lancasterhistory.org/en/permalink/6c7e11c6-f3ca-469c-891a-145832196710
Photograph Collection
Notes
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Collection Title (MG#), Series #, Box #, Folder #, (or Object ID), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL if applicable. Date accessed (day, month, year).
"Mr. Geo. Steinman who started this collection of pictures. This book was presented to the Lanc. Co. Historical Society after his death by Mr. Geo. S. Franklin."
John M. Gibson is recorded as the donor, 1968, in LancasterHistory's accession records.
LancasterHistory is committed to preserving and providing access to materials chronicling Lancaster County's heritage. As a historical resource, this document reflects the racial prejudices and actions of the era. In order to maintain the historical integrity and context of collection items, LancasterHistory does not censor historical documents or edit language, titles, or organization names when transcribing original content.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Please use digital images and transcriptions when available.
The use of the original album is restricted. Please contact Research@LancasterHistory.org with questions.
Copyright
Images have been provided for research purposes only. Please contact Research@LancasterHistory.org for a high-resolution image and permission to publish.
LancasterHistory retains the rights to the digital images and content presented. The doctrine of fair use allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder. Fair use includes comment, criticism, teaching, and private scholarship. Any images and data downloaded, printed or photocopied for these purposes should provide a citation. All other uses beyond those allowed by fair use require written permission.
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.
Other Number
MG-184, Series 1
Classification
MG0184
Description Level
Item
Custodial History
Processed and finding aid prepared PK and MSH, 2008. Added to database 20 July 2021.
Digitization of this document was funded by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, PHMC Appl ID # C980002119, 2021-2024.
This collection contains report cards of Mary L. Dubbs (1870-1951) and signed by father, Joseph H. Dubbs (1838-1910), clergyman and professor of History and Archaeology at Franklin and Marshall College.
Collection contains the original and typed copies of correspondence describing life in the gold fields of California in the 1850s, an account of crossing the desert on the way west, and a journal describing the sea voyage home. Also, two newspaper images relevant to the gold rush and Mr. Hackman's obituary. He sent many letters home to his family in which he related the details of his experience, hardships of finding gold, the high prices and lack of provisions, observations of life in mining towns, his health, and asked for news from home. He also wrote letters to his sweetheart, Harriet B. Miller asking her to write him back, and his uncle, regarding family financial information.
Admin/Biographical History
David Baer Hackman (1827-1896) was the second child of David Heistand Hackman and Susanna Frantz Baer. He was a third cousin, once removed, of Milton Hershey. David left Lancaster in the fall of 1849 with the hope of finding gold in California. In the spring of 1850, he went to Ohio and joined others headed west. They boarded a steamboat in Cincinnati that was bound for St. Louis and then travelled by wagon train to Sacramento City, where they arrived in September 1850. David found enough gold to buy food and supplies, and then had modest success in 1853. In 1854, he decided to return home, this time travelling by steamer and train from San Francisco to New York via Panama.
The adventure of travelling westward and his life in the gold fields of California are described in detail in David's journal and correspondence. He sent many letters home to his family in which he related the details of his experience, hardships, the prices and lack of provisions, observations of life in mining towns, and asked for news from home.
David also wrote to his sweetheart, Harriet B. Miller (1829-1870), the daughter of Adam and Rebecca Miller of Manheim. Although he did not receive any letters from her, they reunited upon his return to Lancaster in 1854 and married soon after. They had one son named Augustus, who became a minister. Harriet passed away in 1870. David later married Ella C. (1851-1907) and they had five children, Frank, Mabel, Harry, Walter, and Edith.
David's obituary shows that he was involved in the grocery, clothing, hat, and shoemaking businesses. In the 1860 Census he is listed as a hatter, and in 1880 as a saloon keeper. He was well-liked and respected in the community. David and Harriet are buried in Manheim Fairview Cemetery.
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.
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 David B. Landis Collection consists primarily of his personal and business correspondence, as well as his poetry and writings. Of special interest are a booklet with a synopsis autobiography of his life and his picture. There are also family papers, genealogy, membership cards, and obituaries.
Admin/Biographical History
David Bachman Landis was born in Landisville, Pennsylvania on 12 February 1862, the son of Israel C. and Mary M. Landis. As a school boy, he worked in his father's dry goods store and published a paper for boys titled Keystone Amateur. He began his printing career by apprenticing at the Inquirer Printing and Publishing Company in Lancaster in 1878, and in 1883 he opened his own job printing office in Landisville where he published the Village Vigil.
Mr. Landis moved to Lancaster in 1888 and started Pluck Art Printery. He started out in Lancaster by publishing Pluck, a magazine dedicated to the fields of printing and photography, but soon devoted his business to commercial and society printing. The name was changed in 1914 to Landis Art Print.
Printing, however, was not his only passion. He was an avid bicyclist and belonged to the Lancaster Cycling Club and the League of American Wheelmen. Through these organizations, he helped to improve the condition of roads in Pennsylvania. He was active in the Lancaster County Historical Society, the Pennsylvania German Society, the Ben Franklin Club, and Grace Lutheran Church. He wrote poetry and essays, and dedicated many pieces to friends and family.
David B. Landis married Nora K. Baker of Landisville in 1885. They had four children. Nora passed away in 1910. David married his second wife, Bertha L. Cochran, in 1914.
The Griel Collection contains both family and business correspondence for the Griel family, primarily Mr. Harvey M. Griel of Lancaster. Family correspondence include letters, invitations, announcements, and ephemera. These examples provide insightful clues about a late nineteenth century family in Lancaster city. The private documents of the family are primarily addressed to Harvey and Katie, with other family members occasionally included as well. The business transactions and correspondence concern a wheel manufacturing and a polishing tool supply business that Harvey operated in Lancaster city, dating from 1890 and 1891. Business orders, receipts, billheads, cancelled checks, and a personal business card, are some of the business items that are a part of this collection. The business portion of this collection provides information about a nineteenth century trade that once flourished in Lancaster city.
The Dr. George B. Kerfoot Collection contains medical lectures, mostly given by Dr. Kerfoot. Topics include surgery, epilepsy, colds, injuries of the head, digestion, the senses, phrenology, and morality and science.
Admin/Biographical History
"Dr. George Barrett Kerfoot, M.D., returned to Lancaster to establish a practice in medicine in the Spring of 1830 after graduating from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. That year he also married Elizabeth B. Reed.
From 1830 to 1843, Dr. Kerfoot expressed strong sympathy in lectures for such pseudo sciences as phrenology & Mesmerism, also promoting lectures and courses at his Anatomical Hall. Dr. Kerfoot opened a drug store and placed advertisements for the patent medicines which he sold there. In 1838, Kerfoot conducted a much publicized, sensational electrotherapy experiment on the body of Henry Kobler, a convicted killer, hanged for the murder of Lazarus Zellerbach. An April 1843 newspaper advertisement stated that Dr. Kerfoot was ending his drug and patent medicine business in order to concentrate on "the practice of medicine, surgery and obstetrics." Three weeks after the April 1843 advertisement, Eliza opened a millinery shop, with "Spring fashions" and a "supply of bonnets."
In 1843 the Kerfoot family resided on Center Square next to the Lancaster Bank. George was then aged 35; Eliza (Reed) Kerfoot, 36; children: Ann Louisa Kerfoot, 12; George Kerfoot, Jr., 9; William Dale Kerfoot, 6; Eliza Reed Kerfoot, 4; Emma Kerfoot, 2; and the family's live-in servants. In 1847 a daughter Sweetie H. Kerfoot was born and in 1848 their daughter Emma Kerfoot died.
In the 1840's Dr. Kerfoot served on the City Council, as a Democrat, and on the School Board. Dr. Kerfoot provided expert testimony in Lancaster criminal court in the 1847 Haggerty trial in which the insanity defense was used, and also in the 1851 Knepley trial at Harrisburg.
Dr. Kerfoot was a recording secretary for the Pennsylvania State Medical Society and charter member of the Lancaster City & County Medical Society. He was a Mason and became District Deputy Grand Master; was a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge and a promoter of the Lyceum movement; held membership in the Temperance Society; St. James Episcopal Church; allegedly wrote some for The Lancaster Intelligencer. Dr. Kerfoot practiced medicine until his death in 1851.
>Most of this information, quoted verbatim or paraphrased, is from: "Competing in the Medical Marketplace in Jacksonian America: The Creative Strategy of Dr. George Barrett Kerfoot," by Thomas R. Winpenny. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106207258/george-barrett-kerfoot
