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.
This collection contains letters, correspondence, research notes, documents, tourist maps, and other ephemera collected in the course of William Byron Hornberger's research in to his family's genealogy. Includes information about the Hornberger, Weaver, Goldthwait and other allied families compiled during the 1980s and 1990s.
Admin/Biographical History
William Byron Hornberger was born in Lancaster County and lived in Lititz where he was a graduate of the 1961 class of Warwick High School. He was accepted into the Navy Enlisted Scientific Education Program and was a graduate of Perdue University's electrical and computer engineering program. He served in the United States Navy for more than 20 years and went on to a post-active duty civilian career with Lockheed-Martin. He was the son of William Buch Hornberger and Charlotte Naomi Weaver, both of Lititz.
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).
This collection has been given in memory of William Byron Hornberger.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions.
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
Class photograph of Lancaster Girls' (Stevens) High School, 1919 (4-02-01-56)
Class photograph of Lancaster Boys' High School, 1919 (4-02-01-55)
Badge of Frank D. Miley to Lancaster City Council from the 6th Ward, 1921 (Curatorial Collection)
Notes
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
Original documents may be used by appointment--request at Reference Desk or 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
On 10 January 1950, Marian L. Baker was brutally murdered by Edward Lester Gibbs. This collection contains W. Hensel Brown's copies of the clerk's file, transcripts, appeal briefs, and other court records from the murder trial of Edward L. Gibbs, 1950. Newspaper articles report on the 1950 trial and his 1951 electrocution.
Admin/Biographical History
Edward Lester Gibbs (1924-1951), veteran (98th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force) and husband of Helen Woodward, was from Gloucester County, NJ. In 1950, he was a student at Franklin and Marshall College. (1)
Marian Louise Baker (1928-1950), the daughter of Walter M. Baker and Helen Beatrice Soule Britcher, was originally from New Bloomfield, Perry County, PA. (2) She had spent much of her childhood in Conestoga, PA with her aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. LeRoy O'Donel. (3) In 1950, she worked as a cashier and secretary in the treasurer's office at Franklin and Marshall College (4) and was engaged to Edward Rankin. (5)
W. Hensel Brown was the attorney chosen to defend Gibbs.
"On January 10, 1950, Marian Louise Baker was brutally slain by being
beaten to death with a lug wrench. Eight days later Edward Lester
Gibbs, defendant, confessed the killing. Thereafter, he was indicted in
Lancaster County, tried by a jury, and convicted of murder in the first
degree with the penalty fixed at death. Prior to his bringing this appeal, his motion for new trial was denied and sentence was imposed in accordance with the verdict.
At the time of the killing, defendant, a married war veteran twenty-five years of age, was a student at Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. *185 In the early afternoon of January 10, 1950, he was in downtown Lancaster when he saw Miss Baker, an employee of the college. He offered to drive her back to the campus in his car and she accepted. However, instead of returning directly to the college, they rode out of town and into the open country. When they reached an isolated spot several miles from the city she commented on the view and defendant stopped the car so that they both might enjoy it. While sitting there he suddenly reached over and began choking her. She broke away and got out of the car. He followed her and after choking her again, he returned to the car, unlocked and opened the luggage compartment, removed the lug wrench, and beat her over the head with it until she was dead. He then left but later returned to hide the body and remove any incriminating evidence. The body was not discovered until four days later.
On January 18, 1950, defendant admitted committing the crime and on that same day he signed a statement setting forth the facts as we have synopsized them here. Neither at the trial nor at any other time did he deny the truth of that confession and substantially all of the facts contained in it were verified by the independent investigation of the Pennsylvania State Police." (6)
1 "Edward Lester Gibbs," Find A Grave, accessed November 27, 2018, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/76555590/edward-lester-gibbs.
2 "Marian Louise Baker," Find A Grave, accessed November 27, 2018, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/76632108/marian-louise-baker.
3 "Vintage photos, the 1950 murder of an F&M secretary," PennLive.com, last modified January 8, 2016, https://www.pennlive.com/news/2016/01/vintage_photos_the_1950_murder.html.
4 "Marian Louise Baker," Find A Grave, accessed November 27, 2018, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/76632108/marian-louise-baker.
5 "Vintage photos, the 1950 murder of an F&M secretary," PennLive.com, last modified January 8, 2016, https://www.pennlive.com/news/2016/01/vintage_photos_the_1950_murder.html.
6 "Opinion by Mr. Chief Justice Drew, November 20, 1950," Justia, accessed November 27, 2018, https://law.justia.com/cases/pennsylvania/supreme-court/1950/366-pa-182-0.html.
The Falk Brothers Records contain correspondence between Falk Brothers, a retail meat business in Lancaster, and vendors of spices, cutlery, and equipment. Some of the letters enclose catalogs and price lists, recipes or formulas, and instructions on how to use products. Falk Brothers did business with vendors on the east coast and in the Midwest and these records show the products and formulas used by retailers and meatpackers at that time.
Admin/Biographical History
Falk Brothers was a retail meat business located at 511 St. Joseph Street, Lancaster. The family business first emerged from the 1882-1883 Lancaster city directory with a listing for Charles Falk, Jr., butcher, located at 516 High St. in Lancaster. In 1892, the home and retail business were located at 509 St. Joseph Street and by 1920, they had relocated the business to 511 St. Joseph Street. The name Falk Brothers appeared in 1941 and continued until the business closed in 1980. Richard C. Falk and Robert L. Falk were the proprietors. The difficulty of accommodating Federal regulations in the later years may have contributed to the business closing.
Sources: Lancaster City Directories; Kunzler & Company, Inc.
The Lancaster Brick Company Records contain items from the Lancaster Brick Company, including meeting minutes, names of shareholders, financial information, and documentation on incorporation and dissolution.
Admin/Biographical History
Robert Horning's great-uncle, Roy A. Horning, worked in the ceramics department at the Armstrong Cork Company plant in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania and came to Lancaster to show the plant here how to make quality brick. Roy became the general manager, a position he held until he left in 1926. Robert's grandfather, Clarence Horning, came to Lancaster from Paris, Illinois and became a superintendent and then general manager and vice president until his death in 1953. At that time, his son, Roy A. Horning II was offered and accepted the position of general manager. He held that position until the plant closed in 1979. Robert Horning was also employed at the company as a teenager and for one year after graduating from high school.
The Lancaster Brick Company was founded in 1919 to provide quality brick for the new Armstrong Cork Company buildings in Lancaster. The company was successful for more than half a century before environmental concerns and the excessive cost of fuel and raw materials forced the manufactory to close in 1979.
For more information: Horning, Roy A. 1992. "The Lancaster Brick Company, 1919-1979." Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society 94 (Winter): 2-29. https://collections.lancasterhistory.org/en/permalink/lhdo328
Lancaster Brick Company, showing heavy machinery (2-08-04-20)
Notes
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Lancaster Brick Company Records (MG0364), Folder #, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Folder 5 contains restricted material and may not be used.
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 Stevens House Hotel Records include items from the Stevens House Hotel in Lancaster, PA. The hotel was considered one of the most elegant outside of Philadelphia. Two scrapbooks contain board meeting minutes, as well as menus and programs for events that took place at the hotel. The board meeting minutes record the management and modernization of the hotel. Researchers will find an example of how Prohibition affected the local economy. The second book preserves programs from New Year's Eve celebrations, balls and banquets, and class reunions, which contain menus and list entertainment.
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Stevens House Hotel Records (MG0246), Folder #, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Folders 15-16 are restricted because they contain original newspaper articles that are too fragile to handle.
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
1997.MG0246
Other Numbers
MG-246
Classification
MG0246
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Processed and finding aid prepared by KB, January-May 2014. Added to database 3 January 2022.
The D. S. Sweeton & Co. Records are made up of orders to the company for wood wheels, receipts for payments made by Sweeton, price lists of the Lancaster Polishing Factory, and personal memorabilia including invitations and a checkbook from Northern National Bank of Lancaster.
Admin/Biographical History
David S. Sweeton was born in Glassboro, New Jersey c.1827. He was a woodturner by trade and specialized in building staircases. He moved to Lancaster in 1881 and first appears in the Lancaster City Directory as a manufacturer of emery wheels in 1892. (An emery wheel has an abrasive coating that is used for buffing or grinding.) From 1897 to 1901 Sweeton is listed as the proprietor of the Lancaster Polishing Wheel Works located at 44 W. Liberty Street, Lancaster. After 1901, he is listed only as a manufacturer.
Sweeton lived at 414 W. Lemon St., Lancaster in 1886 and 1888, but by 1906 he had moved to 439 W. Frederick St., then to 33 W. Liberty St., and finally to 623 N. Shippen St.
Sources: Lancaster City Directories; Obituary, Daily New Era, 1 March 1906.
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), D. S. Sweeton & Co. Records (MG0320), Folder #, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions.
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 Henry Charles collection contains patents issued to Henry H. Charles of Manor Twp. for The Charles Brooder and an incubator. Patents include drawings, petition, specifications, and signatures of Mr. Charles, his attorneys, and witnesses. There are also copies of patent specifications filed by other inventors, correspondence, and operating instructions.
Printing blocks for the patent drawings are in the Curatorial Collection (2004.006)
Photographs of the Charles Booder are in the Photograph Collection (1-19-09-66; 1-19-09-67; 1-19-09-68; 1-19-09-69; 1-19-09-70; 1-19-09-71)
Notes
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Henry Charles Collection (MG335), Folder #, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions.
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.