This collection contains ephemera related to Alice Potter Fordney, antiques dealer and rugmaker. Items in the collection include business correspondence with Armstrong, F. Schumacher & Co., and the Montclair art museum; personal correspondence with friends and family; hooked rug patterns; and antiques sale flyers from the early 20th century. Also included in the collection are newspaper clippings, including the obituary of Fordney's sister Ellen Franklin; reference material for rug making and interior design (informational sheets, books and patterns); several items related to the Yeates School, which Fordney's brother William Bush Fordney attended; several photographs of unidentified persons; and a statement related to the will of William J. Fordney, her uncle.
Admin/Biographical History
Alice Potter Fordney was born June 21, 1887 in Lancaster, the daughter of Ida Cox and Thomas Potter Fordney. A prominent antique dealer from the late 1920s to her retirement in 1965, Fordney also made and sold hooked rugs.
Fordney's family features prominently in Lancaster County history. Her maternal great-grandfather was John Michael, who owned the historic Grape Hotel from 1805-1839. Fordney's paternal great-grandfather William Jenkins built Wheatland in 1828 and later sold the property to President James Buchanan. Colonel William Bush Fordney, her paternal grandfather, was a prominent lawyer in Lancaster. He served as district attorney from 1839-1845 and negotiated for the loan that enabled Lancaster city to build the "water works" in the 1830s. Sarah Cox, her maternal grandmother, was a known philanthropist and for years helped to manage the Home for Friendless Children in Lancaster. Her sister, Ellen Fordney Franklin, was a "pioneer" in the industry of women's knit suits, opening her first shop in 1929 in Philadelphia.
Fordney never married. She kept in contact with her nieces and nephews, as evidenced by letters in the collection. According to notes provided by Wendell Zercher, Sarah Ellmaker McIlvaine Muench, her niece and the donor of the collection, recalled her as "warm and artistic," and "a character." She died April 17, 1973, at the age of 85.
Works Cited:
"Mrs. Franklin, pioneer of women's knit suits, dies." Daily Intelligencer Journal [Lancaster, PA], 10 May 1963, p. 2.
"Accident Fatal to Mrs. Sarah A. Cox." Daily Intelligencer Journal [Lancaster, PA], no date, page unknown.
"Miss Fordney, Antique Dealer, 85, Succumbs." Daily Intelligencer Journal [Lancaster, PA], 18 April 1973, p. 2.
"One of Lancaster's Most Prominent and Venerable Citizens Passes Away." Daily Intelligencer Journal [Lancaster, PA], 29 July 1889, p. 1.
3 boxes, 37 folders, 333 items, 1,015 pages to scan, 4.5 cubic ft.
Object Name
Archive
Language
English
Object ID
HC0001
Location of Originals
LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Associated Material
Sarah McIlvaine Muench Family Papers, MS 44 at Archives and Special Collections, Shadek-Fackenthal Library, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA.
Related Item Notes
See photograph collection.
See curatorial collection for examples of rugs.
Fordney Family Diaries (MG0539)
Notes
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Archive of Alice P. Fordney (HC0001), Box #, Folder #, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
The kraft paper patterns in Folders 33-37 are restricted. Please make an appointment with the Director of Archival Services to view these items.
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
G.04.23.52
Classification
HC0001
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
From the Heritage Center of Lancaster County collection, G04.23.52.
Processed and finding aid prepared by MJ, June 2018.
Documents relating to the county courthouse in Lancaster. Consists mostly of proposals and bids for the construction in 1852. Also included are booklets, newspaper clippings from additional construction in the 1970s, court calendars and original affidavits of witness testimony in the investigation of the burning of the courthouse in 1784.
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Collection Title (MG#), Series #, Box #, Folder #, (or Object ID), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL if applicable. Date accessed (day, month, year).
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions. Please request at the Reference Desk or by contacting 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
Lancaster County Court House Collection (MG-80), Folder #, LancasterHistory.org
Contains pamphlets, booklets, and annual reports from various water and power companies on the Susquehanna River. They include information about dams, hydroelectric projects, and how electricity is generated; maps and history of the region; and pictures of the river and hydroelectric stations.
This collection consists of calendars containing photographs, drawings, and prints from Lancaster County and the surrounding region. Some depict local culture, architecture, historic sites, events, or have Pennsylvania Dutch sayings. There are also backs of calendars containing information about Lancaster.
3 boxes, 14 folders, 3 oversized folders, 2 cubic ft.
Object Name
Archive
Language
English
Object ID
MG0070
Location of Originals
LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Restrictions noted at the item level. Restricted items 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.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
The Groff Family Papers contain patents issued to Frederick F. Groff, deeds and related documents for the property of Fred F. Groff, Inc. Funeral Home, and a booklet about the history of cremation in Lancaster. Patents include drawings, petition and specifications, and signatures of Mr. Groff, his attorneys, and witnesses. The property records show the purchase of lots at 234, 236, 238, and 240 West Orange Street, Lancaster.
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.
The Judge Joseph Wissler Collection documents his fifty-five year career as a lawyer and judge. He recorded and categorized criminal court cases in a handwritten volume. Two scrapbooks contain his certificate of admittance to the Lancaster County Courts, letters, photographs, and newspaper clippings about criminal cases.
Admin/Biographical History
Joseph Buch Wissler was born in Clay Township, Lancaster County on 7 August 1892. Wissler attended Lititz High School and later graduated from Franklin and Marshall College. He earned his law degree from Harvard University. Wissler became a member of the Lancaster Bar Association, of which he was president in 1964 and 1965. He returned to practicing law as a local attorney after holding the position of District Attorney of Pennsylvania from 1924 to 1928. In 1941, Wissler was elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and served in that position for twenty-nine years. Judge Wissler served in the law profession for over fifty-five years. Phi Beta Kappa of Franklin and Marshall College made Judge Wissler an honorary member in 1950 and the college presented him with an honorary Doctor of Laws in 1952. He was also a member of the Lancaster Tucquan Club from 1949 to 1969.
Collection consists of family records of Mary Leaman Schlemm. Includes Sunday school booklets, property deeds, military booklets, invitations, telegrams, flower pictures and photographs, baptismal and marriage certificates, telegrams, and a Stehli Silk Mill booklet.
Admin/Biographical History
Debra Smith, former Executive Director of the Lancaster County Historical Society, conducted an interview with Mrs. Schlemm and compiled this biographical information:
Mary Leaman Schlemm's father, Isaac D. Leaman, Sr., came from England. He had 11 children, five died at birth including two sets of twins. Her siblings who were still living at the time of the interview were Alverta Leaman Miller, Isaac Leaman, F. Pauline Leaman, and Lester Leaman.
Mary was born in 1900. Her brother, Lester, was born in 1895 and was a member of the 42nd Rainbow Lodge. She started working at the Conestoga Cotton Mill No. 1 at the age of 13. Her father let her quit school to begin working there, under the condition that she continue her education in the evenings at Wade's Business School. She was a good friend of Wade's daughter so she was able to go to school free of charge. Young workers at the Cotton Mill were required by Pennsylvania law to take a minimum of two hours of schooling until age 16. Mary took four every evening at Wade's school in order to get her high school diploma. She met her husband, Raymond A. Schlemm, at the Cotton Mill. He later worked 33.5 years at the Stehli Silk Mill, and then at Dewalt.
Mary worked at the Cotton Mill five years and then married in 1918. She left when she became pregnant and went to work at Leinbach's Department Store after the birth of her son, James. One of the pictures in this collection is of the Leinbach employees at a company picnic at Accomac Park in 1921. Mr. Leinbach is in the center of the picture with his girlfriend at his right shoulder. His wife is down the line above the "D" in Darmstaetter, the girl wearing white nylons.
Mary's son, James, served during World War II. The orientation lecture and WW II photo are his. Several pictures are of conventions of the Golden Eagle Lodge, an auxiliary which met across from the Moose Lodge on E. King Street. The family was a member of First Reformed Church in Lancaster and the Sunday School papers in this collection were her children's.
The Musical Composers of Lancaster County Collection contains sheet music written by local composers. Some local titles are "Lancaster German Waltz" and "Lancaster Theme & Gratitude Theme." Included in the collection is information about S. Becker von Grabill, composer and pianoforte teacher, and James L. Knipe of Aston, Knipe & McCarthy.
