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 In order to maintain the historical integrity and context of collection items, LancasterHistory does not censor historical documents or edit language, titles, or organization names when transcribing original content.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.
This collection contains information and materials relating to Milton Thomas Garvin, his department store and the Garvin Lecture Series. The scrapbooks were complied by him through the years of 1899-1936. Other items in this collection include letters to family and business partners, several pamphlets from the Garvin Lecture Series, M. T. Garvin & Co. store information, receipts, invoices, banquet programs, and a sampling of financial records from the store.
Admin/Biographical History
Milton Thomas Garvin was born in Fulton Township around 1860. In 1874, at the age of fourteen, Garvin quit school and moved to Lancaster City. He worked various odd jobs before he was hired to work as an errand boy for R. E. Fahnestock's dry goods store in December of 1874.
At the age of sixteen, Fahnestock promoted Garvin to a salesman for the store. He continued to work there through his adolescent years and was promoted to manager at the age of twenty-one, when Fahnestock was in failing health. Garvin assumed that responsibility for twelve years and then bought the store when Fahnestock was ready to retire. Garvin renamed the store M. T. Garvin & Co.
Over the next ten years, Garvin bought the rest of the building and several surrounding buildings to expand his store to a four story and three lot property. He prospered in business and was a philanthropist throughout Lancaster County.
Other than a prominent businessman, Garvin served as a board member, trustee, director or president of the following organizations: The Shippen School for Girls, Lancaster General Hospital, Lancaster Chamber of Commerce, Meadville Theological Seminary, A. Herr Smith and Mechanics' Libraries, Lancaster Charity Society, Joseph Priestly Conference, and People's Octoraro Meeting House.
Samuel E. Dyke was a noted authority on the Pennsylvania rifle and wrote on this subject. Collection consists of articles, correspondence, photographs, research notes, and working papers on firearms. Also included is information on gunsmiths, the Rockford Foundation, the Heritage Center, cabinetmakers, grandfather clocks, and the Armstrong Cork Company. 1670-1985
Collection consists largely of information on the descendants of Edward Hand and on the Hand Family Reunion. Contains correspondence, genealogical materials, family charts, photographs, and commemorative booklet 1912, on Lancaster County in the Revolutionary War. Also, three documents concerning the settling of the Hand estate.
This collection contains financial and legal papers of Joseph Simon, including a mortgage, his will, and a bill of exchange. There is also a 1768 letter of introduction from Thomas Barton, rector of St. James Episcopal Church to William Johnson, First Baronet.
Admin/Biographical History
Joseph Simon was a successful trader and owned enormous tracts of land in the West. As the head of one of the earliest Jewish families in Lancaster County, he was also a religious leader in Lancaster,Pa. See Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society. Volume 3, number 7 (1899), p. 165-172.
This collection contains the papers of Robert C. Price. Examples of school assignments and teaching-related ephemera include geometry, poetry, and a preamble to a teachers' society constitution. He was involved with several arbitrations with the Court of Common Pleas of Lancaster County. The personal and business correspondence contains political and religious references.
Admin/Biographical History
Robert C. Price taught at Millersville Normal School.
This Reigart family collection contains family papers and items related to Adam Reigart's business. The business items include licenses to sell wines and spirits, postage accounts, financial and legal documents, orders for wines and spirits, and correspondence. Receipts represent payments for direct tax, household furniture tax, water rent, and watch and lamp tax. An item of note is the 1795 stock certificate for the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Road Company.
This collection contains letters, family papers, deeds, diaries, and mill records from three generations of the Gibbons family. The collection starts with documents focused on James Gibbons, then contains papers central to Daniel Gibbons, and finally end with the third generation papers surrounding Joseph Gibbons. The letters in this collection span from 1783 until 1865. The contents within the letters describe the daily happenings within the family and on their property which was located in Lampeter Township, Lancaster County. The family deeds in the collection detail the exchanging of property to and from the Gibbons family mostly within Lampeter Township and Upper Leacock Township, Lancaster County. The deeds span from 1727 to 1879. Also included are some miscellaneous family papers that span from 1799 to 1871. The content of these family papers ranges from anonymous stories about the Gibbons family, an independent order of Good Templars of Joseph Gibbons, to a land draft of James Gibbons' Land. This collection also contains diaries from various members of the Gibbons family, spanning the three generations. These diaries detail the day to day lives of the Gibbons family and also include historical anniversaries of important events or detail the passing of members within the Gibbons family and the surrounding community. The Mill Records in the collection contain information about [ ]. Overall, the Gibbons Family collection includes the regular happenings over the family's three generations in both business and secular life.
The Diffenderffer Family Papers collection contains items that have been passed down through generations of the Diffenderffer family. Deeds for tracts of land in New Holland date back to the creation of New Design, the village that preceded New Holland. Correspondence and some manuscripts pertain to J. P. McCaskey's life and accomplishments. F. R. Diffenderffer's manuscripts on Easter Day and Conrad Weiser are preserved with this collection, as well as poems, a program for the C. Elvin Haupt School, and a claim of F. R. Diffenderffer & Co. against the State of Texas.
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).
Deeds in folders 1-18 were a gift of Fianna Diffenderffer and the Diffenderffer family, 4 November 2006.
Items in folders 19-23 were a gift from her nephew, David Diffenderffer, 14 August 2006.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Restrictions are noted at the item level--please use photocopies or transcriptions for those items. Other 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 collection 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
2006.MG0410_NOV
Other Numbers
MG-410
Classification
MG0410
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Cataloged by HST, November 2008. Added to database 28 July 2021.
This collection contains records of the Wheatland Diner, including correspondence, advertising, menu, recipe cards, blueprints and documents for the sale of the property. Newspaper articles report the plan for and delivery of the diner ,fires, 1956 fatal accident, problems with teenage customers and the sale of the property.