Collection items may be photographed. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at Research@LancasterHistory.org.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory. 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, Pennsylvania.
The Frank R. Diffenderffer Collection contains documents collected by Mr. Diffenderffer. These documents are primarily from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and include letters, legal and court papers, indentures, receipts, property and probate records, and financial and military papers. The people and businesses represented include George Ross, Jasper Yeates, A. Herr Smith, Timothy Matlack, Mount Hope Furnace, and the Lancaster, Elizabethtown & Middletown Turnpike Road Company.
Prospect Mills Daybook from (1850-1852) contains an index of clients and what pages they appear on, an itemized list of their profits and expenses, an index of sales and where they are found, the employees of the mill and what they were being compensated for, and lists of how much cider was made. The profits list ranges from selling molasses, corn, wheat, bran, oats, and flour, as well as sawing boards, turning trundle posts, and rejoining carriage shafts. The recorded expenses for the mill include employee wages and transportation costs. The daybook also contained a note tucked into page 141 about an employee ruining wheat by storing something in the wheat barn. It mentions needing the damaged wheat to be paid for and the possibility of the employee working off the debt.
Admin/Biographical History
Joel Smedley was born in 1799 to parents Joseph Smedley and Rebecca Lewis Smedley. Joel married Martha Wildman and fathered six children including Charles, Mary, John, Lewis, Anne, and Ellwood. Joel inherited the mill from his father in 1833 and expanded it by building a sorghum factory. Joel died in 1872.
Preferred citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Collection Title (MG#), Box #, Folder #, (or Object ID), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL if applicable. Date accessed (day, month, year).
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions. Original documents may be used by appointment. Please contact Research@LancasterHistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at Research@LancasterHistory.org for permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
This record group contains canceled orders that were issued by the county commissioners for payment to be made by the county treasurer. The orders show date, order number, amount, name of payee, purpose, and signatures of the county commissioners. In the case of "poor children," teachers were reimbursed by the county for tuition and/or the supplies purchased for students whose parents were unable to pay. Orders include: Poor Children, Almshouse, Bridges, Coroners' Inquests, Prisons, Roads, Court House, and Tax Exonerations.
System of Arrangement
The record group is organized chronologically, then arranged by order number within each year.
This record group contains canceled orders that were issued by the county commissioners for payment to be made by the county treasurer. The orders show date, order number, amount, name of payee, purpose, and signatures of the county commissioners. In the case of "poor children," teachers were reimbursed by the county for tuition and/or the supplies purchased for students whose parents were unable to pay. Orders include: Poor Children, Almshouse, Bridges, Coroners' Inquests, Prisons, Roads, Court House, and Tax Exonerations.
System of Arrangement
The record group is organized chronologically, then arranged by order number within each year.
Payment to mayor and unnamed constables for arresting, examining and disposing of Vagrants ajd disorderly persons and hearing cases in which the charges were not supported by testimony.
Lightner, Nathaniel. Mayor.
Other names on the document:
Dresmond, William.
Jones, Thomas.
West, James.
Jefferns, Mary.
Davis, Jesse.
Johnson, John.
Cambell, Alexander.
Cambell, Mary Ann.
Hess, David.
Kerr, Robert.
Berry, Mary.
Philips, George.
Pile, Henry.
Pile, Elizabeth.
Buckram, John.
Connelly, Dennis.
Branton, Susan.
Casata, Joseph.
Sutton, Isaac.
Steward, William.
Kelly, John.
Reed, Paterik.
Keller, Daniel.
Jones, Joseph.
Blunt, George.
Ochston, Philip.
Hauser, Abraham.
Diller, George.
Reed, William.
Allen, Peggy.
Paine, Rotert.
Smith, Mary.
Montgomery, John.
Basset, Polly.
Davis, Sanford.
Thomas, George.
Doyle, John.
Terrance, Margaret.
Harris, William.
Johnson, Simon.
Aaron, Joseph.
Cambell, Daniel.
Jones, Hiram.
Henry, James.
Myer, John.
Parker, Joseph.
Hamilton, Charles.
Anderson, Pompey.
Porter, Mathew.
deaf and dumb man
Graeff, David.
Peters, Ann.
Buckram, Joseph.
Groff, George.
Hewlett, George.
Harring, William.
Tully, Margaret.
Binsley, William.
Drake, John.
Royer, Joseph.
Smith, Mathias.
Groff, David.
Brown, Samuel.
Lind, Henry. Boy - charge Larceny - discharged
Trainer, Hugh.
O'Riley, George.
Kernes, Robert.
1 item. 1 piece.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Request at research desk. Photocopy made by staff member.
This record group contains canceled orders that were issued by the county commissioners for payment to be made by the county treasurer. The orders show date, order number, amount, name of payee, purpose, and signatures of the county commissioners. In the case of "poor children," teachers were reimbursed by the county for tuition and/or the supplies purchased for students whose parents were unable to pay. Orders include: Poor Children, Almshouse, Bridges, Coroners' Inquests, Prisons, Roads, Court House, and Tax Exonerations.
System of Arrangement
The record group is organized chronologically, then arranged by order number within each year.
Payment to mayor and unnamed constables for costs on suits brought byTreasurer for for duty against [2 words are unclear] foreign merchandise from whom no recoveries were had.
Lightner, Nathaniel. Mayor.
Other names on the document:
Becker, Isaac.
Blanck, Joseph.
Piersol, Cyrus.
Cambell, James.
1 item. 1 piece.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Request at research desk. Photocopy made by staff member.
This record group contains canceled orders that were issued by the county commissioners for payment to be made by the county treasurer. The orders show date, order number, amount, name of payee, purpose, and signatures of the county commissioners. In the case of "poor children," teachers were reimbursed by the county for tuition and/or the supplies purchased for students whose parents were unable to pay. Orders include: Poor Children, Almshouse, Bridges, Coroners' Inquests, Prisons, Roads, Court House, and Tax Exonerations.
System of Arrangement
The record group is organized chronologically, then arranged by order number within each year.
