The army and navy of America : containing a view of the heroic adventures, battles, naval engagements, remarkable incidents, and glorious achievements in the cause of freedom, from the period of the French and Indian Wars to the close of the Mexican War : independent of an account of warlike operations on land and sea : enlivened by a variety of the most interesting anecdotes and embellished with engravings
The Revolutionary War Collection contains a variety of materials from and about the Revolutionary War in Lancaster County and Pennsylvania. The original records include correspondence, military pay certificates, court records, and an orderly book kept by Lt. Col. Adam Hubley, Jr. during the Sullivan Campaign of 1779. There are also research notes and secondary sources, including a list of prisoners of war, a list of males in Lancaster County in 1776, Continental Hospital Returns 1777-1780, articles, information on soldiers buried in Lancaster County, and an article about John Paul Jones.
Harmful Language Warning: LancasterHistory is committed to preserving and providing access to materials chronicling Lancaster County's heritage. As a historical resource, this orderly book reflects the racial prejudices of the era and the violence perpetrated against the Haudenosaunee Confederacy during the American War of Independence. In order to maintain the historical integrity and context of collection items, LancasterHistory does not censor historical documents or edit language, titles, or organization names when transcribing original content. This volume contains language that is offensive, oppressive, graphic, and may cause distress. LancasterHistory does not condone the use of this language.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions. Please use digital images and transcriptions when available.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at research@lancasterhistory.org.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.
The life of Rev. Michael Schlatter; with a full account of his travels and labors among the Germans in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia; including his services as chaplain in the French and Indian War, and in the war of the revolution. 1716 to 1790
"A true history of the real condition of the destitute congregations in Pennsylvania, by Michael Schlatter" (a translation of Getrouw verhaal van den waren toestant der meest herderloze gemeentens in Pennsylvanien ... Amsterdam, 1751): p. 87-234.
Reverend Michael Schlatter was a minister of the German Reformed church who came to America to serve German immigrants. He was pastor in churches in Germantown and Philadelphia, and he also made missionary tours among the German Reformed settlers in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and New York State.
The General Thomas Welsh Family Papers is a collection of original correspondence, official documents, and ephemera. Many of the papers were created by or directed to Thomas Welsh between approximately 1843 and his death in 1863. They provide glimpses into his youth, his experiences in the Mexican War, his life in Columbia between the wars, and his rise in rank to Brigadier General during the Civil War.
The collection contains correspondence with his wife and family from 1861-1863. There are also official correspondence and documents related to Welsh's military service, autobiographical pieces, correspondence following his death, obituaries, and family papers into the early twentieth century. Other items in the collection include genealogy pages from the family bible, photographic images of Thomas Welsh and family members, two scrapbooks, newspaper issues and newspaper clippings, written notes from recollections of one of Welsh's daughter, and a biographical sketch of Welsh written by his son.
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
Please use digital images and transcriptions when available. Original documents may be used by appointment. Please contact archives@lancasterhistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
Copyright
Images have been provided for research purposes only. Please contact archives@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, Pa.
Classification
MG0828
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Almost all of the papers have been passed down through successive generations of Welsh's descendants, from Thomas Welsh's wife and children to his granddaughter, Emilie Benson (Welsh) Wiggin, to her daughter Nancy Jane (Wiggin) Townsend. After Nancy Townsend's death, her son Charles Townsend passed them on to his cousin, Richard Wiggin (grandson of Emilie Benson Wiggin) in 2015.
A few papers passed out of the family's possession and found their way into other collections. Richard Abel of Columbia, PA began collecting Welsh papers and artifacts some years ago, and subsequently transferred this collection of Welsh materials to Richard Wiggin in 2012.
A history of Maryland; from its settlement in 1634 to the year 1848, with an account of its first discovery, and the various explorations of the Chesapeake Bay, anterior to its settlement; to which is added, a copious appendix, containing the names of the officers of the old Maryland line: the lords proprietary of the province, and the governors of Maryland, from its settlement to the present time ... For the use of schools
Visitation of American vessels by officers of the British navy : message from the President of the United States, transmitting, in answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives calling for information in reference to reported acts of visitation by officers of the British navy of American vessels in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico
Message from the President of the United States, transmitting, in answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives calling for information in reference to reported acts of visitation by officers of the British navy of American vessels in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Lebkicher Family Civil War Letters and Discharge Papers
Description
Lebkicher Family Civil War Letters and Discharge Papers contain letters from Lebkicher family members before and during the Civil War. There are discharge papers for Jonah R. Duke and William H. Lebkicher who enlisted with Captain J. Miller Raub's Company D, 122nd Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers in August 1862. William (1846-1929) re-enlisted and his letters continue to 1865. Some of the letters concern transportation by train and subsequent wrecks and derailments, the rioting in Lancaster, the shortage of food and feed for animals, and the soldiers getting used to the shelling of their camp by the rebels. The majority of letters were written during the Civil War.
Admin/Biographical History
For more information about William H. Lebkicher, please see the Hershey Community Archives website. https://hersheyarchives.org/encyclopedia/lebkicher-william-henry-lebbie-1845-1929/
Lebkicher Family Civil War Letters and Discharge Papers (MG0258) https://collections.lancasterhistory.org/en/permalink/4b929d84-1c6a-4e1f-8bc2-523672636170
Notes
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Lebkicher Family Civil War Letters and Discharge Papers (MG0258), Folder #, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions.
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
1998.MG0258
Other Numbers
MG-258
Other Number
MG-258
Classification
MG0258
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Organized and finding aid prepared by JM. Finding aid typed by KS and SH, 2013. Added to database 10 January 2022.
A system of aeronautics, comprehending its earliest investigations, and modern practice and art. Designed as a history for the common reader, and guide to the student of the art. In three parts. Containing an account of the various attempts in the art of flying by artificial means, from the earliest period down to the discovery of the aeronautic machine by the Montgolfiers, in 1782, and to a later period. With a brief history of the author's fifteen years' experience in aerial voyages. Also, full instructions in the art of making balloons
This collection contains the diaries of Gilbert and Edith Bushong.
The first diaries in this collection (Folder #1), written by Gilbert Bushong who is 14 years old, are dated from 3m 17 1850 - 5m 29 1852 and April 20, 1853. The topics covered are the everyday events of family life and farming activities. He also writes about school life, and butchering hogs, and trips to visit family and friends.
The second part of this collection (Folder #2-5) was written by Edith Paxson Bushong and dates from December 31, 1858 - April 5, 1862, after Gilbert presents her with a new diary journal on his return from a trip to Lancaster. Edith writes mostly about the welfare of her family and friends, including news of marriages, births, illnesses, and deaths.
She also writes about life on the farm, her housework routine, and news of the Civil War, including the battle at Gettysburg.
Admin/Biographical History
Gilbert Bushong was the son of Henry Bushong and Esther Valentine. He was born on 2 December 1836 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and died on 10 December 1911 in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He was a farmer in Eden Twp., Lancaster County. Gilbert was a member of the Society of Friends (Quakers) and an abolitionist who helped, with family members Henry and Jacob Bushong, to run the Underground Railroad for runaway slaves during the Civil War at Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania.
Edith D. Kinsey Paxson was born on 14 January 1836 and died 2 December 1914 in Chester County, Pennsylvania. She was the second daughter of Elwood H. Paxson and Elizabeth Moore White. She married Gilbert Bushong on 20 December 1855. The Bushongs owned a farm along what is now Valley Road, Route 372, on the eastern side of Eden Twp. and received their mail at May Post Office. They are buried together at Sadsbury Meeting Cemetery in Chester County.
Children of Gilbert and Edith Bushong:
1. Dr. Charles Henry Bushong (1 October 1856-20 December 1903). He was married twice, to sisters who were twins, Anna W. Keene and Nora E. Keene. One died and he married the other.
2. Frances E. Bushong (18 May 1858-16 November 1861).
3. Marion E. Bushong (20 March 1860-March 1937). She married Sanders M. Collins on 20 December 1884. Their children were Edith Bushong Collins (1886-1966) and Wallace Collins (b. 1899). Edith never married. She kept house for her father and was a school teacher. Wallace married Marion Chandler.
4. Marvin E. Bushong (7 June 1878-27 October 1936). He married Lydia Rakestraw on 10 September 1903. Their children were Henry Rakestraw Bushong (b. 28 July 1904) and Gertrude (b. 4 August 1909). At 21, Marvin was appointed a Justice of the Peace of Eden Twp. and in 1908 was elected Clerk of Quarter Sessions at Lancaster County. Later, he was associated with the Pennsylvania Water and Power Company, and in 1933 was vice-president of the Safe Harbor Water Power Corp.