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 Medical, Dental and Veterinary Collection contains records of doctors and a midwife who practiced in Lancaster County. Susanna Rohrer Müller's account book is a record of her work as a midwife from 1791 to 1815. The other volumes in this collection contain medical school notes, records of births, ephemera, and medicinal formulas.
This collection contains business and family records for members of the Heinitsh family. Account and ledger books contain records of the drug store and a dry goods store. Personal records show the estate settlement for Charles Heinitsh, including an inventory of his household and kitchen furniture in 1804. Records for Heinitsh's Furniture and Carpet Store include stock inventory books, carpet books and order books.
The John Leaman Collection consists primarily of letters between John Leaman of Leaman Place and businesses in Philadelphia regarding produce and grain markets and prices.
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).
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Original documents may be used by researchers--contact Research@LancasterHistory.org prior to visit or request at Reference Desk.
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 Frank R. Diffenderffer Collection contains documents collected by Mr. Diffenderffer. These documents are primarily from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and include letters, legal and court papers, indentures, receipts, property and probate records, and financial and military papers. The people and businesses represented include George Ross, Jasper Yeates, A. Herr Smith, Timothy Matlack, Mount Hope Furnace, and the Lancaster, Elizabethtown & Middletown Turnpike Road Company.
This collection consists of business records for Whitson & Sproul of Christiana, Lancaster County and documents related to estate settlements. The business records include a ledger, letters and statements concerning the sale and purchase of various materials. One letter mentions the 1860 election of "Old Abe." The receipts and court documents consist primarily of receipts, releases, and sale agreements relating to the settlement of the estates of James Sproul and Moses Whitson.
The Temperance Collection includes convention programs of the Lancaster County Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.); a history of the group from 1884-1959; Pennsylvania State W.C.T.U. function programs; and a minute book from the Bart Chapter. Included are handwritten notes on some of the conventions, pro-temperance booklets and newspapers (Moral Reformer and American Reformer), and miscellaneous addresses and articles. Of special interest is a booklet "Operation Interview" in which 36 prominent Lancastrians comment on the question, "Is social drinking necessary for success?", and a newspaper article reminiscing on the temperance movement in Columbia, Pennsylvania.
The Conestoga Steam Mills Records contain the journal and ledger of the Conestoga Steam Cotton Mill, which detail the financial records of the company between 1845-1857.
Book 1: Minor tear inside the front cover along the spine.
Book 2: The front end paper of the Ledger is nearly torn off. There's a large split between the front cover and spine, still held together by the dust jacket. Binding coming loose.
This collection contains receipts and invoices from the Pinkerton & Slaymaker business. The receipts date primarily from May 1851, with one receipt from May 1853, and are for a wide variety of items. The collection also contains letters from the Philadelphia & Lancaster Turnpike Company and an undated check from the National Bank of Pottstown.
Admin/Biographical History
Henry Edwin Slaymaker and William C. Pinkerton went into the hardware business as Pinkerton & Slaymaker ca. 1850. The store was located on North Queen Street in Lancaster. The business was closed out in 1857.
The Survivors' Club collection contains dinner banquet programs for the Survivors' Club annual dinner held in February of each year between 1871 and 1914. While the club met between 1868 and 1921, this collection only includes banquet programs from 1871 and 1914, with years missing. Each program includes the living and deceased members and the dinner menu, unless otherwise noted below. The minute book begins in 1867 and ends with an entry from the last surviving member in 1921.
Admin/Biographical History
The Survivors' Club, which consisted of 20+ prominent Lancaster Civil War veterans from the 79th Pennsylvania Volunteers, was organized on 29 September 1867 at the Leopard Hotel in Lancaster. The first annual dinner banquet was held on 22 February 1868 and the members met annually on George Washington's birthday through 1921. Over the years, the plate of each deceased member would be draped in mourning, until only one member remained. P. L. Sprecher, the last member of the Survivors' Club, wrote the last entry in the minute book on 22 February 1921. After his death, each member's dinner plate and the punch bowl were donated to the Lancaster County Historical Society. The historical society later acquired the Survivors' Club minute book and the dinner banquet programs.
The Survivors' Club included the following members:
Charles D. Rupley; John Johns; John K. Rutter; Edgar C. Reed; Samuel E. Leaman; Jonathan Sprecher; Eli Landis; Dr. William M. Whiteside; Charles H. Sprecher; Edward A. Sener; John James McGrann; George F. Sprenger; A. S. Landis; John Copland; Jacob K. Barr; John D. Skiles; William S. Shirk; W. D. Stauffer; Isaac W. Slokom; J. C. Muhlenberg; P. L. Sprecher; Milton Weidler
Survivors' Club plates, saucers, and cups in the Curatorial Collection (1926.033)
Notes
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Survivors' Club Collection (MG0316), Folder #, (or Object ID), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL if applicable. Date accessed (day, month, year).
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.
Other Numbers
MG-316
Other Number
MG-316
Classification
MG0316
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
This collection was cataloged and the finding aid was prepared by MEB, Spring 2006. Added to database 1 October 2021.
The items were donated with the Survivors' Club plates, saucers, and cups, 1926.033. The programs and minute book were transferred to the Archives in 2005.