"On April 17, 1865, eighteen year old John Rakestraw left the family farm in Bart Township, Lancaster County, to attend Unionville Academy, a small Quaker boarding school in Chester County. During the time he was away his two older sisters wrote to him regularly. Ten of those letters have survived and they provide a candid and often painfully honest glimpse of life on a Lancaster County farm in the 1860's. Diaries and ledgers kept by John's father, William I. Rakestraw , provide additional insight into that that time and place." [excerpt from the text]
Ida Minerva Tarbell was an American writer, investigative journalist, biographer and lecturer. She was one of the leading muckrakers of the Progressive Era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and pioneered investigative journalism.
The following mills are discussed: Martic Forge Mill; Horse Hollow Mill/Pequea Roller Mill/Sickman's Mill; Burnt Mill; Millvale Mill/Baumgardener's Mill; and Goods Mill. "Although the Goods were primarily farmers, they were also involved in milling, lime burning, distilling, and taverns, and were involved in local and county government. John J. Good, known as Squire Good, was a Justice of the Peace. His courtroom was in a tavern he owned."
