The Ranck Family Reunion Records contain reunion programs of the Ranck family from 1928 to 2002, lists of descendants from 1983 to 2000, minutes from 1976 to 2002, and letters and correspondence pertaining to the Ranck clan.
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Collection Title (MG#), Folder #, (or Object ID), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL if applicable. Date accessed (day, month, year).
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Original documents may be used by researchers--contact Research@LancasterHistory.org prior to visit or request at Reference Desk.
Copyright
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.
Other Numbers
MG-663
Classification
MG0663
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Processed and finding aid prepared by KV, September 2013. Added to database 30 September 2021.
This collection contains genealogy for some of the descendants of Philip Lefever. Family history includes family sheets for several descendants, the family crest and a family tree. Copies of the will and estate inventory of Martin K. Lefever are among the documents. Minutes are preserved from the Adam Lefever Descendants Reunions, 1945-1979. There are also legal papers and information for the Philip Lefever Cemetery and Philip Lefever Burial Ground Association, including the rededication of the cemetery in 2001.
The Woodward Hill Cemetery Collection contains records of the cemetery from 1851-1997, such as the charter and by-laws, board minutes, lot holder records, plans, programs, financial documents, and grant proposals. The records include the names of thousands of people who were employed by, buried at, served on the cemetery board, or were otherwise associated with the cemetery.
Admin/Biographical History
For more than 150 years, Woodward Hill Cemetery has been one of Lancaster’s most significant historic sites. As the final resting place of numerous prominent citizens including President James Buchanan, with a layout reflecting Victorian ideals of landscape design and containing fine examples of funerary monuments, Woodward Hill’s national significance was recognized in 2005 when the cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Woodward Hill was the largest and most elaborate of the new rural cemeteries established in Lancaster during the mid-nineteenth century. Rural cemeteries were designed as vital open spaces or public parks for the community; they provided a place for recreation as well as veneration of the dead. As a final resting place for illustrious citizens, Woodward Hill is a “museum” of notable clergy, educators, civic leaders, and veterans. Today the cemetery occupies 32 acres and contains approximately 13,750 grave markers ranging in date from the late eighteenth century to the present day. They illustrate the 200-year evolution of funerary art, sculpture and associated symbolism. In addition to tombstones, there are numerous obelisks and mausoleums representing Victorian, neoclassical, and early modern architectural styles. Founded in 1852 by Trinity Lutheran Church, Woodward Hill Cemetery is one of Lancaster's significant historic sites. The cemetery was the largest and most elaborate of the new "rural" cemeteries established in the mid- nineteenth century. It was designed as vital open space, allowing for recreation as well as veneration of the dead. The final resting place of many notable clergy, veterans, education, civic and business leaders, Woodward Hill's best known grave site belongs to James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States http://www.woodwardhillcemetery.com/ 8/11/17
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Woodward Hill Cemetery Collection (MG0264), Folder #, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Folders 11-15 contain restricted materials.
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
This collection contains the historical records of Congregation Shaarai Shomayim, including minutes, service bulletins, financial records, Lancaster Jewish history, and property records.
Box 1: Lancaster Jewish histories
Box 2: Shaarai Shomayim Cemetery
Box 3: Other Lancaster Jewish Organizations
Box 4: B'Nai B'rith Lancaster
Box 5: Rabbis
Box 6: Board Decisions, 1963-1978
Charter and By-laws
Box 7: Minutes, 1855-1934
Box 8: Minutes, 1934-1978
Box 9: Minutes, 1978-1995
Box 10: Presidents' Reports
1997 Triple Anniversary
Box 11 & 12: Special Services
Service Programs
Celebrations
Congregation Anniversaries
Box 13 & 14: Committee Reports
Old Church Music, adapted
Box 15 & 16: Property Records
Deeds, Mortgages
Renovations
Box 17: Membership Financial Ledgers, 1892-1949
Box 18 & 19: Membership Dues Receipt Books, 1939-1970
Resolution regarding Benjamin Lurio https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/169712251/benjamin-lurio
Picture of the Simon lintel "In colonial times, when synagogues were scarce, traditional Jews in cities without synagogues conducted prayer services in their homes. This hand-carved wooden lintel was affixed horizontally above the opening of Joseph Simon's personal Torah ark in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In the lintel's center is a depiction of the two tablets symbolizing the Decalogue (the ten commandments) and below it the Hebrew saying, "Know before Whom you are standing," a phrase that often appears in synagogues on the ark lintel or above the reader's lectern." www.loc.gov/exhibits/haventohome/haven-haven.html#obj11
Digital archive (images, text, and history) by David Brenner: (accessible onsite)
"Over 7000 images related directly or indirectly to Congregation Shaarai Shomayim in Lancaster Pennsylvania. This is a file of scanned and downloaded documents, publications, newspaper articles, photographs etc. from the archives of Congregation Shaarai Shomayim, Lancaster, PA, items loaned to me and online newspapers. The goal of this collection is to have in one place as much information as possible on Lancaster's Reform Jewish community, institutions, and mid to late 19th century Jewish immigrants that populated the second Jewish community of Lancaster in the 1840s and chartered the congregation."
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
Please use digital images and transcriptions when available. Original documents may be used by appointment--contact Research@LancasterHistory.org prior to visit.
Copyright
Collection 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.
Accession Number
2023.043
Other Numbers
MG-978
Classification
MG0978
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Originally inventoried by Ellen Pike and the Archives Committee at Shaarai Shomayim.
No. 1 Analyzing cemetery data / Rosalee Oakley -- No. 2 Cemeteries listed in the National Register of Historic Places / Sybil F. Crawford -- No. 3 Guide to forming a "Cemetery Friends" organization / Sybil F. Crawford -- No. 4 Cleaning masonary burial monuments / Tracy L. Coffing -- No. 5 Gravestone rubbing for beginners / Jessie Lie Farber -- No. 6 Basic guide to Carver research / Jessie Lie Farber -- No 7 Making photographic records of gravestones / Daniel Farber and Jessie Lie Farber -- No. 8 Symbolism in the carvings on old gravestones / AGS members -- No. 9 Model legislation / Theodore Chase -- No. 10 Making replicas of gravestone designs / Roberta Halporn -- No. 11 Reading weathered marbles tombstones / John E. Sterling -- No. 12 The care of old cemeteries & gravestones / Lance R. Meyer -- No. 13 A technique for the experienced rubber / Jessie Lie Farber -- No. 14 How to create a new base / W. Fred Oakley, Jr. -- No. 15 Recommendations for the care of gravestones / Jessie Lie Farber -- No. 16 What do you do when you find a "lost" gravestone / Laurel Gabel, Jo Goeselt, Marchia Melnyk, Barbara Rotundo -- No. 17 Recording cemetery data / F. Joanne Baker and Daniel Farber -- No. 18 Discussion and research topics / Barbara Rotundo.
Monument to Ulrich Shirk I at Steinmetz Cemetery near Schoeneck, West Cocalico Twp. Written on back: "Commemorative stone for Ulrich Schurch I and family and descenedants. Steinmetz Cemetery, Lancaster County, Pa. Many early Shirks are buried here. July 1990."
Steinmetz Cemetery. Blanche Abele walks toward reunion bus after seeing early Shirk stones. Man on right is Frank Shirk, leader of the bus trip and keynote speaker at reunion banquet at Ephrata. He is a Mennonite preacher, now a bishop. His 98 year old father was the oldest Shirk at the reunion.
