Collection consists largely of information on the descendants of Edward Hand and on the Hand Family Reunion. Contains correspondence, genealogical materials, family charts, photographs, and commemorative booklet 1912, on Lancaster County in the Revolutionary War. Also, three documents concerning the settling of the Hand estate.
This collection contains ephemera related to Alice Potter Fordney, antiques dealer and rugmaker. Items in the collection include business correspondence with Armstrong, F. Schumacher & Co., and the Montclair art museum; personal correspondence with friends and family; hooked rug patterns; and antiques sale flyers from the early 20th century. Also included in the collection are newspaper clippings, including the obituary of Fordney's sister Ellen Franklin; reference material for rug making and interior design (informational sheets, books and patterns); several items related to the Yeates School, which Fordney's brother William Bush Fordney attended; several photographs of unidentified persons; and a statement related to the will of William J. Fordney, her uncle.
Admin/Biographical History
Alice Potter Fordney was born June 21, 1887 in Lancaster, the daughter of Ida Cox and Thomas Potter Fordney. A prominent antique dealer from the late 1920s to her retirement in 1965, Fordney also made and sold hooked rugs.
Fordney's family features prominently in Lancaster County history. Her maternal great-grandfather was John Michael, who owned the historic Grape Hotel from 1805-1839. Fordney's paternal great-grandfather William Jenkins built Wheatland in 1828 and later sold the property to President James Buchanan. Colonel William Bush Fordney, her paternal grandfather, was a prominent lawyer in Lancaster. He served as district attorney from 1839-1845 and negotiated for the loan that enabled Lancaster city to build the "water works" in the 1830s. Sarah Cox, her maternal grandmother, was a known philanthropist and for years helped to manage the Home for Friendless Children in Lancaster. Her sister, Ellen Fordney Franklin, was a "pioneer" in the industry of women's knit suits, opening her first shop in 1929 in Philadelphia.
Fordney never married. She kept in contact with her nieces and nephews, as evidenced by letters in the collection. According to notes provided by Wendell Zercher, Sarah Ellmaker McIlvaine Muench, her niece and the donor of the collection, recalled her as "warm and artistic," and "a character." She died April 17, 1973, at the age of 85.
Works Cited:
"Mrs. Franklin, pioneer of women's knit suits, dies." Daily Intelligencer Journal [Lancaster, PA], 10 May 1963, p. 2.
"Accident Fatal to Mrs. Sarah A. Cox." Daily Intelligencer Journal [Lancaster, PA], no date, page unknown.
"Miss Fordney, Antique Dealer, 85, Succumbs." Daily Intelligencer Journal [Lancaster, PA], 18 April 1973, p. 2.
"One of Lancaster's Most Prominent and Venerable Citizens Passes Away." Daily Intelligencer Journal [Lancaster, PA], 29 July 1889, p. 1.
3 boxes, 37 folders, 333 items, 1,015 pages to scan, 4.5 cubic ft.
Object Name
Archive
Language
English
Object ID
HC0001
Location of Originals
LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Associated Material
Sarah McIlvaine Muench Family Papers, MS 44 at Archives and Special Collections, Shadek-Fackenthal Library, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA.
Related Item Notes
See photograph collection.
See curatorial collection for examples of rugs.
Fordney Family Diaries (MG0539)
Notes
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Archive of Alice P. Fordney (HC0001), Box #, Folder #, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
The kraft paper patterns in Folders 33-37 are restricted. Please make an appointment with the Director of Archival Services to view these items.
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.
Accession Number
G.04.23.52
Classification
HC0001
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
From the Heritage Center of Lancaster County collection, G04.23.52.
Processed and finding aid prepared by MJ, June 2018.
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.
George and Rhonda Andreadis Collection of Lancaster City Records, Series 1 Market Houses
Description
The documents in MG0545, Series 1 represent the business of the City of Lancaster related to the market houses, primarily in the nineteenth century. Payments to Market Masters and for gas lighting, advertising and maintenance show some of the costs associated with running the market houses in the nineteenth century. Market license certificates provide the names of stand holders and their products for 1925-1926.
George and Rhonda Andreadis Collection of Lancaster City Records, MG0545
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions. Original documents may be used. Please contact research@lancasterhistory.org 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.
Other Numbers
MG-545, Series 1
Other Number
MG-545, Series 1
Classification
MG0545
Description Level
Series
Custodial History
Note: These documents are mostly administrative records, not permanent records, and were likely purged by the city offices when they were no longer needed. We are fortunate that they survived as they contain details about Lancaster's past.
Organized and preserved by MM, Summer 2011. Added to database 10 May 2021.
Lancaster County Society of Farm Women of Pennsylvania
Description
This collection contains the Board Minutes for the Lancaster County Society of Farm Women from 1922 to 2004. These minutes include roll calls, treasurer reports, entertainment schedules and activity reports. Minutes from 1922 through 1971 are contained in leather bound books. The following years are in three-prong pocket folders or three-ring binders. This allowed for additional items to be put in with the minutes such as Thank-you cards, newspaper articles of events they sponsored and hand-written notes. By the 1990's the minutes are more sporadic, only a few or one from each year. There are programs from the annual convention of the County Society starting with the 13th convention in 1929 through the 60th convention in 1977. The following years are missing: 1934; 1943-1944; 1949-1954; 1957-1958; 1961-1962; 1965-1971. Some of the minutes also contain a copy of these programs. Later years and some of these missing programs may be found in the minutes themselves. There are four typed up documents that comprise the history of the Society that were drafted between 1929 through 1982. This includes a summary of the past years written in what they call a "skit." The final years also contain documentation regarding the duties of the officers of the society-elected board members.
Admin/Biographical History
The Society of Farm Women of Pennsylvania was established by Flora Black from Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 1914 when she invited her female neighbors to her farm for lunch. Mrs. Black began the meeting for fellowship, but she also wanted to establish a support system for women living in rural communities. It was also a goal of the society to teach women to take on leadership roles and help contribute to society. Their numbers grew rapidly making it necessary for County chapters. (Reading Eagle. 8 Oct 2014. Society of Farm Women of Pennsylvania Celebrating 100th Anniversary. http://www.readingeagle.com/berks-country/article/society-of-farm-women-of-pennsylvania-celebrating-100th-anniversary) The Lancaster County Chapter was formed in January, 1917. It was very popular and eventual grew to 33 separate societies throughout Lancaster by the 1980s. They founded many successful charity drives and scholarship programs, but also provided entertainment for their members, such as bus trips and vacation tours.
This collection contains papers of Paul W. and Janet Eshelman. Paul W. Eshelman was a skilled wood turner as well as Associate Professor of Industrial Arts at Millersville State College (1947-1972). His wife, Janet Eshelman, was the crafts curator at the Landis Valley Fram Museum, specializing in weaving.
This collection contains letters, family papers, deeds, diaries, and mill records from three generations of the Gibbons family. The collection starts with documents focused on James Gibbons, then contains papers central to Daniel Gibbons, and finally end with the third generation papers surrounding Joseph Gibbons. The letters in this collection span from 1783 until 1865. The contents within the letters describe the daily happenings within the family and on their property which was located in Lampeter Township, Lancaster County. The family deeds in the collection detail the exchanging of property to and from the Gibbons family mostly within Lampeter Township and Upper Leacock Township, Lancaster County. The deeds span from 1727 to 1879. Also included are some miscellaneous family papers that span from 1799 to 1871. The content of these family papers ranges from anonymous stories about the Gibbons family, an independent order of Good Templars of Joseph Gibbons, to a land draft of James Gibbons' Land. This collection also contains diaries from various members of the Gibbons family, spanning the three generations. These diaries detail the day to day lives of the Gibbons family and also include historical anniversaries of important events or detail the passing of members within the Gibbons family and the surrounding community. The Mill Records in the collection contain information about [ ]. Overall, the Gibbons Family collection includes the regular happenings over the family's three generations in both business and secular life.
This collection contains ephemera of the Hamilton Club in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Admin/Biographical History
The Hamilton Club was founded in 1889 as a place for prominent citizens of the city to gather and named in honor of James Hamilton (1740-1783), a prominent lawyer and politician in colonial Pennsylvania, as well as planner of the City of Lancaster.
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.
