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.
Documents filed with the Court of Common Pleas by municipalities in Lancaster County placing liens on real estate. The overwhelming majority were filed by the City of Lancaster. The next greatest number were filed by the Borough of Columbia. Other liens were filed by the boroughs of Adamstown, Ephrata, New Holland, Quarryville, Strasburg, and Washington. The liens show docket book and page numbers, the name of property owner, and then describe the location and size of the property along with buildings and improvements, the amount of money in question, and the cause for the assessment. These documents were recorded in Municipal Lien Docket Books 2 through 5, and are arranged in the order they appear therein. This leads to an oddity in filing order, in that the last 45 liens in Book 4 fall out of chronological sequence, overlapping and extending slightly beyond the dates of the liens in Book 5. Handwritten, plus a very few typewritten.
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Collection, Title and Object ID, Box #, Folder #, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Information for each lien has been recorded in an Excel Spreadsheet which is available in the Research Center and the attached PDF.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Please request at Reference Desk or Research@LancasterHistory.org.
Copyright
Copies of historic Lancaster County, Pennsylvania government records held by LancasterHistory may be published without special permission. There is no fee for publication. Proper credit lines are encouraged in the interest of good documentation.
Credit
Courtesy of Lancaster County Archives and LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Guest register for the Swan Hotel in Strasburg, PA
Description
Guest register for the Swan Hotel in Strasburg, PA. Proprietor is Frank H. Pfautz. Blotter pages display local Strasburg business advertisements. Spenger's Lager is advertised on every page. 21 April 1896 - 29 September 1921.