Samuel R. Slaymaker II, White Chimneys Collection, Series 2
Description
The Samuel R. Slaymaker II, White Chimneys Collection, Series 2 was carefully curated by Mr. Slaymaker and contains papers dating from the mid-eighteenth century to the early twentieth century. This series is primarily composed of correspondence related to business, railroads, legal affairs, and personal matters. The personal letters are rich in details of social history and genealogy. Legal documents include estate papers for the Fleming, Slaymaker, Leech, and Boyd families. The remaining documents include land surveys, receipts, tickets, accounts, bonds, and wills.
System of Arrangement
The Samuel R. Slaymaker II, White Chimneys Collection is divided into six series according to the original order; Series 1, 2 and 4 have been cataloged and are available for research.
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Collection Title (MG#), Series #, Box #, Folder #, (or Object ID), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL if applicable. Date accessed (day, month, year).
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.
Other Numbers
MG-268, Series 2
Classification
MG0268
Description Level
Series
Custodial History
Added to database 8 August 2022.
Much of this series was microfilmed by the Pennsylvania State Archives. The microfilmed items are noted within the finding aid and the microfilm is available in LancasterHistory's Research Center.
This collection contains patents issued to inventors in Lancaster County. The patents have the technical information about the invention and also drawings and/or blueprints. Some of the patents are for a horse hay rake, pinions, a railroad car brake, and improvements in threshing machines, balancing mill stones, kitchen slicing utensils and a still. Two of the documents are signed by Secretary of State Henry Clay and President Andrew Jackson.
The McCaa Collection contains the papers of and collected by the family of James McCaa in northeastern Lancaster County. Among the items are account and ledger books, a physician's visiting book, legal papers, deeds, certificates for commissions, receipts, letters, and estate papers.
Herr, Neff and Kauffman Family (Manor Twp.) Papers
Description
This collection contains mostly deeds and releases for property in Manor Township between the Herr, Kauffman, and Neff families. The dates for the deeds and releases are 1791-1792, 1804-1808, and 1841-1865. It seems that there are three main properties that all of the documents are mentioning within Manor Township. There are also nine bonds between Tobias H. Herr and Henry Herr Sr. that were all made in 1864. There are two Cyrus Neff's mentioned in this collection, Cyrus Neff and Cyrus L. Neff. One of the documents is Cyrus Neff's Certificate of Election for the Lancaster County Auditor in 1887. The documents pertaining to Cyrus L. Neff are his policy with the Pennsylvania Threshermen & Farmers' Mutual Casualty Insurance Company in the early 1920's. Towards the end of the collection there are two newspapers from 1929 and 1947, pertaining to the Herr family farm and house as well as what seems to be instructions on how to make animal feed.
Admin/Biographical History
John Herr came to Pennsylvania in 1710 with four of his five sons. His oldest son, Abraham Herr came with his father in 1710, and was the only one to settle west of the Conestoga River in Manor Township.
Francis Neff came to America from Switzerland in the early 1700's. One of his sons, Henry Neff, was the first to live in Manor Township. One of Henry Neff's four sons, Henry Neff Jr., was the only child that stayed at the homestead in Manor Township. He and his wife, Susannah Neff, had a son named Benjamin Neff who, in turn, married Anna Hostetter, daughter of Ulrich Hostetter and had two sons, Cyrus and Benjamin H. Neff. Cyrus Neff attended common schools till he was 18 years old then farmed for 11 years, after which he taught in schools for three terms. He was very active in the school board for six years and then was elected as Lancaster County Auditor in 1887. He married Kate Lehman, a daughter of Reverend Benjamin Lehman, of Manor Township, and together they had eight children. Cyrus died in 1890 at the age of thirty-eight years.
The donor, Ethel Huber, is related to the Neff and the Herr families on her mother's side and may be a descendent of Abraham Herr, the brother of Christian Herr.