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.
The work of Eleanor Fulton, a professional researcher. Contains information on the Presbyterian Church in Lancaster County, including First Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Donegal Presbyterian Church. Also, genealogy notes for local families and St. James Episcopal Church.
This collection contains the records of the Marshall W. Warren family, including a marriage announcement, personal notebook, correspondence, and family bible records.
The William Wright Collection contains the papers of William Wright and his descendants. The papers include wills, land drafts, inventories, releases, receipts, correspondence, genealogical information, photographs, and copies of obituaries.
(It appears there is a correlation between this Wright family and the John Wright who petitioned the Philadelphia courts for the formation of Lancaster County in 1729. Further research must be done on this link. There were several interesting envelopes containing documents in bad repair. These envelopes all had the return address of C. J. Rainear & Co., Inc, 210 N. 21st Street, Philadelphia 3, PA. One envelope has been retained with the collection. Further investigation is necessary to determine the relationship between this company, the donor and the Wright family.)
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions. Original documents may be used by appointment--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
William Wright Collection (MG-56), Box #, Folder #, LancasterHistory.org
Lancaster County Almshouse and Hospital Collection
Description
The Lancaster County Almshouse and Hospital Collection is comprised of accounts, registers, minutes, and other records kept by this county department. There are birth and death records, lists of inmates, supply and payroll books, and auditors' reports, and a scrapbook of Conestoga View.
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Lancaster County Almshouse and Hospital Collection (MG0277), Folder or Book #, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Restrictions are noted at the item level.
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.
Classification
MG0277
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Most of the items in this collection are part of the Lancaster County Government Records, RG 08-12. They were transferred into MG-277 in 1999 during the planning of the Almshouse and Hospital exhibition. Other items are on loan from the Edward Hand Medical Heritage Foundation or were collected by LancasterHistory.
This collection contains papers and local government records related to Black history in Lancaster County, including an index to Lancaster County's register of enslaved persons, Mayor's Register of Coloured Persons or Negro Entry Book, and a biographical account of Rev. James William Charles Pennington. There are official records for enslaved persons and their children in Lancaster County, as well as freemen within Lancaster City. The collection also contains a manumission paper from the state of Virginia, a certificate for free persons of color, and letters from anit-slavery societies.
System of Arrangement
Series 1 consists of the "Slave Registers," official county records registering enslaved women and their children after 1780.
Series 2 contains the "Mayor's Register of Coloured Persons," a manumission paper, correspondence, and other records.
1 box, 33 folders, 128 items, 1,178 pages to scan, .5 cubic ft.
Object Name
Archive
Language
English
Object ID
MG0240
Location of Originals
LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Related Item Notes
Black History Collection (MG0240) https://collections.lancasterhistory.org/en/permalink/2b3d42c6-a313-4ebc-966f-516114048136
Notes
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Black History Collection (MG0240), Object ID, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL. Date accessed (day, month, year).
LancasterHistory is committed to preserving and providing access to materials chronicling Lancaster County's heritage. As a historical resource, this collection 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. Original documents may be used by appointment--contact research@lancasterhistory.org prior to visit. Restricted access for the Mayor's Register of Coloured Persons found in Series 2, Folder 2: Use transcript in Folder 3 or microfilm.
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-240
Classification
MG0240
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
The collection was formerly called "The Slave Records of Lancaster County Collection." Name changed to "African American Records Collection" and arrangement changed on 13 June 2007. Name changed again in 2022 to "Black History Collection."
Yeates, Lancaster County Historical Society Collection
Description
Yeates, Lancaster County Historical Society Collection provides insight into the Yeates family, local social history, and details of legal business from 1743-1870. These documents have been collected by the Lancaster County Historical Society over many years. Collection includes letters, receipts, articles, eviction notice, advertisement, estate inventories, wills, deeds, treaty, court transcript, drawings, photographs, copy of house plan, post road distances, daybook, letter book, catalog of books in Jasper Yeates' library, and an alphabetical catalog of law books.
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Yeates, Lancaster County Historical Society Collection (MG0205), Folder #, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Restrictions noted at the item level. The letter copybooks in Folders 31 and 36 are restricted--please use the transcriptions available in the library.
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-205
Classification
MG0205
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Folders 1-34 and Books 1-2 were processed and finding aid prepared prior to 1997. Added to PP on 26 March 2022.
General Thomas Welsh Family Papers, Series F Miscellaneous Family Papers
Description
The General Thomas Welsh Family Papers, Series F is a collection of documents, newspapers, and newspaper clippings that covers the years 1815 through 1929, as well as genealogy and ephemera from the Welsh family Bible from 1850 through 1938. The series also includes two scrapbooks - the first contains articles from the late nineteenth century pertaining to Thomas Welsh and his family; the second contains newspaper articles and ephemera related to Thomas Welsh and his family from 1854 through 1936.
Admin/Biographical History
Thomas Welsh (1824-1863) was a Lancaster County native (born and raised in Columbia), who rose from hardscrabble origins to local fame, first as a Mexican War hero, and then as a brigadier general during the Civil War. He was well known and well respected as a no nonsense officer, for his leadership and gallantry in battle, for his dedication to the service of his country, and for his concern for the welfare of his men.
Welsh lost his father at the age of 2, and went to work to support his family at age 8. He had very little formal schooling, and was largely self-educated. In 1843, at age 19, he left Lancaster County for Washington City, then went west as an itinerant carpenter/laborer to Cincinnati, Little Rock, and Fort Smith.
When the Mexican War broke out in 1846, he enlisted in a Kentucky regiment, and was severely wounded at the battle of Buena Vista (1847) from which he never fully recovered. Returning home to Columbia, he re-enlisted as a second lieutenant, assigned to the 11th U.S. infantry regiment in Mexico City. Within days of his arrival in Mexico City, he was declared unfit for service on account of his battle wound, and sent home again.
Back in Columbia as a civilian, he dabbled in politics, and received a patronage job in the Pennsylvania Main Line of Public Works (the rail and canal system connecting Philadelphia and Pittsburgh). After several years, he opened up a grocery and dry goods store in Columbia's canal basin. He also became an insurance agent. In 1857, he was elected Justice of the Peace, and his reputation grew as a community leader. By 1860, he was president of the Borough Council, a founding member of the Columbia Board of Trade, Vice President of the Columbia Cricket Club, and a canal boat operator, in addition to a dry goods merchant, insurance agent, and Justice of the Peace. He had a wife, 5 surviving children, and legal guardianship of his sister's 4 children.
When Confederate forces shelled Fort Sumter, marking the beginning of the Civil War, Thomas Welsh raised and organized the first company of volunteers from Lancaster County, and took them into the field as their Captain. Within days, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment, which served out its 90-day enlistment in the Shenandoah Valley.
Returning to Harrisburg, he was appointed Commandant of Camp Curtin, the problem-plagued processing center for new recruits. In short order, Welsh cleaned up the camp's poor sanitary conditions, improved the health of the camp, and implemented soldierly discipline and training.
In October 1861, he resigned from his camp duties, and as Colonel of the 45th Pennsylvania, led his regiment into the field. After brief service outside of Washington, they were sent to South Carolina in December, where they were posted to Otter Island. After the battle of James Island, they were recalled to Newport News, in July 1862, then sent to guard Aquia Creek.
In September, now in brigade command in Burnsides' 9th Corps, Welsh chased Lee's Confederate army west into central Maryland. His brigade broke the enemy line in Fox's Gap, on Sept. 14, then 3 days later achieved the furthest Union advance at Antietam, reaching the edge of Sharpsburg, and nearly cutting off Lee's only avenue of escape. Welsh's gallantry earned him a field promotion to brigadier general, which Congress confirmed on March 13, 1863.
The 9th Corps (Welsh now in command of the 1st Division) was sent west in the spring of 1863, then dispatched south to support Grant's investment of Vicksburg. After Vicksburg fell, they turned east and defeated Confederate General Johnston at the Battle of Jackson. Welsh contracted malaria in the southern swamps, and died in Cincinnati upon their return north. One of his men later recalled, "Had he lived, Welsh would undoubtedly have attained a much higher command. 1
1. Beauge, Eugene, in Albert, Allen D., Ed., History of the Forty-Fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865, Williamsport, PA: Grit Publ. Co, 1912, p. 79.
System of Arrangement
The collection is arranged in series:
Series A Thomas Welsh before the Mexican War
Series B Mexican War, 1846-1848
Series C Between the Mexican War and the Civil War, 1848-1861
Series D Civil War
Series E Post-Civil War
Series F Miscellaneous Family Papers
Series G Papers from the families of Gen. Thomas Welsh and Blanton C. Welsh
Provenance: Passed down through the family, Blanton Charles Welsh to Emilie Benson (Welsh) Wiggin to Nancy Jane (Wiggin) Townsend.~~Acquired from: Chuck Townsend, Knoxville, Tennessee, 2016/05/15.
In Boxes 1 and 2
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Please use digital images and transcriptions when available. Original documents may be used by appointment. Please contact research@lancasterhistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
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. Some items are photocopies from other collections--researchers must obtain permission for reproduction and publication from the owner of the original material.
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
MG0828
Description Level
Series
Custodial History
Folders 1-35 organized by Richard C. Wiggin prior to donation.
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.
George and Rhonda Andreadis Collection of Lancaster City Records, Series 7 Administrative Records
Description
The documents in MG0545, Series 7 are invoices pertaining to payments made by the City of Lancaster during the 19th century. The documents represent a wide cross-section of Lancaster's history and include references to City Hall, the mapping of the city, officers salaries, charity donations, printing invoices, and bills and orders for coal. By far the largest groups of documents are those which record payments made for goods and services and for general labor completed for the city. These documents highlight the growth and improvements taking place in the city during the 19th century. Businesses or individuals are named on many of the invoices.
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 7
Other Number
MG-545, Series 7
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 KH, February-March 2012. Added to database 11 May 2021.