The diaries of Peter C. Hiller, Conestoga, Pennsylvania, 1875-1898 : a reflection of the life and times in Conestoga, Pennsylvania during the late 1800s
Library's copy inscribed by Pauline Benedict Eshelman.
Summary
Peter Clinger Hiller was born in Conestoga, PA, and lived there with his wife and four daughters. He was a teacher and farmer. He also sold and repaired organs, bought and sold tobacco, was a clerk in the Internal Revenue office selling cigar stamps along with other duties, wrote deeds for the county Recorder's office, and served as Justice of the Peace. He belonged to several civic organization and had many hobbies.
Part I: Stackstown- History of Stackstown, Tillman S. Kraybill farm, Oliver Sager, William Ort, Benjamin Hoffman, Goudie's Creamery, Aunt Sally's store, Demmy's milk route, Stackstown Store // Part II: Billmeyer: J. E. Baker, Conoy Store, Billmeyer School, Rebecca Chapel, Bainbridge Sportsmen's Club // Part III: Wickersham School.
Summary
"Located in the rolling hills of Lancaster County,Pennsylvania, the Wickersham Grammar School faithfully served the surrounding communities from 1870 to 1955....Although the Wickersham School forms the heart of this book, I have included the history of Stackstown and Billmeyer, since the pupils who attended the school came from these areas." [from the preface]
pt. 1. Telling the story -- "Drive the heathen out of the land" -- "Some hot headed ill advised persons" -- "The same spirit & frantic rage" -- "Persons of undoubted probity & veracity" -- pt. 2. Retelling the story -- "I never heard one word of it till it was just over" -- "A mighty noise and hubbub" -- "Shot, scalped, hacked, and cut to pieces" -- "One of those youthful ebullitions of wrath" -- "The innocent were destined to share the fate of the guilty" -- "A zone of vicious racial violence" -- pt. 3. Killers and abettors -- "The most respectable of men" -- "They had possession and would keep it" -- "Eternal shame & reproach" -- pt. 4. Death and reconciliation -- "The remains of the victims of a terrible crime" -- "Slaughter'd, kill'd, and cut off a whole tribe" -- "Who was left to mourn for these people?"
Chapters: "A Friend" - an essay on the life of Daniel Gibbons by his daughter-in-law, Phoebe Earle Gibbons --- Anecdotes by an unknown friend --- Joseph Gibbons (1818 to 1883 ) obituary from the Lancaster New Era --- Tribute to Levi Johnson by Marianna Gibbons as printed in Lancaster New Era --- Excerpts pertaining to Levi Johnson from the diaries of Phoebe Gibbons and Marianna Gibbons --- "The Underground Railroad " a paper written by Marianna Gibbons Brubaker --- Newspaper articles : "County Duck Farm Unique in Pennsylvania " ; " Underground Railroad stop Holds Pre-Civil War Proof " ; " The Gibbons House . "