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.
Collection of Ellmaker family papers, including original papers of the first immigrant, John Leonard Ellmaker of Germany. Papers include correspondence, genealogy charts, deeds and legal papers. newspaper clippings, photographs, articles on Jacob Eichholtz, and a diploma and teachers' certificate. There is also a blank book with paper made at Ephrata Cloister in 1796.
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. Please 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.
Classification
MG0071
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Cataloged prior to 1997. Added to database 23 October 2018.
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.
The General Thomas Welsh Family Papers is a collection of original correspondence, official documents, and ephemera. Many of the papers were created by or directed to Thomas Welsh between approximately 1843 and his death in 1863. They provide glimpses into his youth, his experiences in the Mexican War, his life in Columbia between the wars, and his rise in rank to Brigadier General during the Civil War.
The collection contains correspondence with his wife and family from 1861-1863. There are also official correspondence and documents related to Welsh's military service, autobiographical pieces, correspondence following his death, obituaries, and family papers into the early twentieth century. Other items in the collection include genealogy pages from the family bible, photographic images of Thomas Welsh and family members, two scrapbooks, newspaper issues and newspaper clippings, written notes from recollections of one of Welsh's daughter, and a biographical sketch of Welsh written by his son.
Admin/Biographical History
Thomas Welsh (1824-1863) was a Lancaster County native (born and raised in Columbia), who rose from hardscrabble origins to local fame, first as a Mexican War hero, and then as a brigadier general during the Civil War. He was well known and well respected as a no nonsense officer, for his leadership and gallantry in battle, for his dedication to the service of his country, and for his concern for the welfare of his men.
Welsh lost his father at the age of 2, and went to work to support his family at age 8. He had very little formal schooling, and was largely self-educated. In 1843, at age 19, he left Lancaster County for Washington City, then went west as an itinerant carpenter/laborer to Cincinnati, Little Rock, and Fort Smith.
When the Mexican War broke out in 1846, he enlisted in a Kentucky regiment, and was severely wounded at the battle of Buena Vista (1847) from which he never fully recovered. Returning home to Columbia, he re-enlisted as a second lieutenant, assigned to the 11th U.S. infantry regiment in Mexico City. Within days of his arrival in Mexico City, he was declared unfit for service on account of his battle wound, and sent home again.
Back in Columbia as a civilian, he dabbled in politics, and received a patronage job in the Pennsylvania Main Line of Public Works (the rail and canal system connecting Philadelphia and Pittsburgh). After several years, he opened up a grocery and dry goods store in Columbia's canal basin. He also became an insurance agent. In 1857, he was elected Justice of the Peace, and his reputation grew as a community leader. By 1860, he was president of the Borough Council, a founding member of the Columbia Board of Trade, Vice President of the Columbia Cricket Club, and a canal boat operator, in addition to a dry goods merchant, insurance agent, and Justice of the Peace. He had a wife, 5 surviving children, and legal guardianship of his sister's 4 children.
When Confederate forces shelled Fort Sumter, marking the beginning of the Civil War, Thomas Welsh raised and organized the first company of volunteers from Lancaster County, and took them into the field as their Captain. Within days, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment, which served out its 90-day enlistment in the Shenandoah Valley.
Returning to Harrisburg, he was appointed Commandant of Camp Curtin, the problem-plagued processing center for new recruits. In short order, Welsh cleaned up the camp's poor sanitary conditions, improved the health of the camp, and implemented soldierly discipline and training.
In October 1861, he resigned from his camp duties, and as Colonel of the 45th Pennsylvania, led his regiment into the field. After brief service outside of Washington, they were sent to South Carolina in December, where they were posted to Otter Island. After the battle of James Island, they were recalled to Newport News, in July 1862, then sent to guard Aquia Creek.
In September, now in brigade command in Burnsides' 9th Corps, Welsh chased Lee's Confederate army west into central Maryland. His brigade broke the enemy line in Fox's Gap, on Sept. 14, then 3 days later achieved the furthest Union advance at Antietam, reaching the edge of Sharpsburg, and nearly cutting off Lee's only avenue of escape. Welsh's gallantry earned him a field promotion to brigadier general, which Congress confirmed on March 13, 1863.
The 9th Corps (Welsh now in command of the 1st Division) was sent west in the spring of 1863, then dispatched south to support Grant's investment of Vicksburg. After Vicksburg fell, they turned east and defeated Confederate General Johnston at the Battle of Jackson. Welsh contracted malaria in the southern swamps, and died in Cincinnati upon their return north. One of his men later recalled, "Had he lived, Welsh would undoubtedly have attained a much higher command. 1
1. Beauge, Eugene, in Albert, Allen D., Ed., History of the Forty-Fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865, Williamsport, PA: Grit Publ. Co, 1912, p. 79.
System of Arrangement
The collection is arranged in series:
Series A Thomas Welsh before the Mexican War
Series B Mexican War, 1846-1848
Series C Between the Mexican War and the Civil War, 1848-1861
Series D Civil War
Series E Post-Civil War
Series F Miscellaneous Family Papers
Series G Papers from the families of Gen. Thomas Welsh and Blanton C. Welsh
Please use digital images and transcriptions when available. Original documents may be used by appointment. Please contact archives@lancasterhistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
Copyright
Images have been provided for research purposes only. Please contact archives@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.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pa.
Classification
MG0828
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Almost all of the papers have been passed down through successive generations of Welsh's descendants, from Thomas Welsh's wife and children to his granddaughter, Emilie Benson (Welsh) Wiggin, to her daughter Nancy Jane (Wiggin) Townsend. After Nancy Townsend's death, her son Charles Townsend passed them on to his cousin, Richard Wiggin (grandson of Emilie Benson Wiggin) in 2015.
A few papers passed out of the family's possession and found their way into other collections. Richard Abel of Columbia, PA began collecting Welsh papers and artifacts some years ago, and subsequently transferred this collection of Welsh materials to Richard Wiggin in 2012.
Muddy Creek Lutheran and Reformed Church Collection
Description
The Muddy Creek Lutheran and Reformed Church Collection contains church records, property records, legal documents, a songbook, and a liturgy book.
Admin/Biographical History
Peace United Church of Christ was formed in the late 1960s by the joining of St. Paul's United Church of Christ in Adamstown and Muddy Creek United Church of Christ. Muddy Creek UCC is one of the earliest German Reformed churches in the area, its founding marked with the first recorded baptisms in January of 1731.
The Linden Hall Seminary Collection contains school catalogs and Linden Hall Echo, the school yearbook. Other items include financial records, fundraising information, school workbooks, and a diploma from 1886.
Admin/Biographical History
Linden Hall Seminary is a girls' school located in Lititz, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1742 by the Moravian community, it is the oldest continuously operated girls' school in the United States.
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Linden Hall Seminary Collection (MG0010), 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.
Other Numbers
MG-10
Classification
MG0010
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
This collection was cataloged prior to 1997; added to database 8 Febraury 2018.
The Hubley Collection contains legal documents, case papers, family and military papers, wills, deeds, bills and receipts, indentures for servants and enslaved persons, correspondence, petitions, and church-related information.
Admin/Biographical History
John Hubley and Joseph Hubley were Lancaster attorneys.
System of Arrangement
The legal papers are arranged chronologically. Case papers are arranged
alphabetically by surname of the plaintiff or defendant. Family papers are grouped by the family member's name and chronologically within that name. Box 6 is arranged chronologically.
Collection includes waste books and an account book from the Salisbury Store, Justice of the Peace dockets, child's school exercise books, receipts, summons, letters, and other papers.
Collection contains the research materials of R. Harold Barton on the mills and bridges of Lancaster County. Included are field notes, working papers, photographer's negatives, and postcards. Indexes are available listing mills by name and location, and bridges by name.
Four notebooks are the finished product of the mills and bridges research of R. Harold Barton. These notebooks are in the library under Barton, R. Harold on the online catalog (LC621.85, B283, v.1-v.4). The notebooks constitute 1 cubic ft. of the collection.
The remaining six boxes are located within the manuscript collection. These boxes house working papers, field notes, worksheets, notebooks, photographs, negatives, additional albums of photographs and other miscellaneous material relating to Lancaster County bridges and mills.
Mr. Barton uses a numerical system to locate bridges and mills by township or by the names of the streams, rivers, runs and creeks. Three indexes have been prepared: one lists the bridges by name, one the location by town or townships, and one the names of the mills.
There are a few notes related to Lancaster County gunsmiths, missionaries, and Indian traders.
System of Arrangement
Collection is arranged by township, number, and index.
Appraisements of real estate for inheritance tax. Some personal property appraisals are also included. Appraisals include: name of decedent; location and description of real estate; description of personal property; valuation of real estate and personal property; and assessed tax. May also include names of heirs. Arranged chronologically by year, then alphabetically by first letter of decedent's last name. Handwritten; from 1886, handwritten on printed forms.
System of Arrangement
Arranged chronologically by year, then alphabetically by first letter of decedent's last name.
A writ of habeas corpus is a procedure for obtaining a judicial determination of the legality of an individual's custody. This collection includes petitions for writs of habeas corpus and the writs themselves, showing the names of petitioners, persons to be brought to court, nature of dispute or alleged crime, dates of writs and accompanying documents, names of judges, and names of persons that the writs are filed against. Petitioners include indentured servants, Freedom Seekers, free persons of color, convicted prisoners, those awaiting trial, relatives of prisoners, parties in child custody disputes, and relatives of army recruits and draftees. Handwritten, handwritten on printed forms, and a very few typewritten.
Petitions from landowners to the Court of Common Pleas requesting an order to the sheriff to issue deeds for property purchased at the previous sheriff's land sales. Petitions show names of petitioner, former owner, and former sheriff; signature of petitioner; a brief description of the property; location; purchase price; and date. Arranged chronologically by year, then alphabetically by purchaser's name. Most are handwritten on printed forms.
System of Arrangement
Arranged chronologically by year, then alphabetically by purchaser's name.
The Christiana Resistance, commonly referred to as the "Christiana Riot," occurred in September of 1851 in Christiana, Pennsylvania, a borough in Lancaster County. The events known as the Christiana Resistance include an attack from slaveholders in Maryland on the inhabitants and home of William Parker (1821-1891), a free Black man living in Christiana, Pennsylvania. The slaveholders crossed the state border, and attempted claim and return the Freedom Seekers as their property, under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
The violent confrontation resulted in the death of Edward Gorsuch, a slaveholder, and the escape of William Parker to freedom in Canada. Edward's son, Dickinson Gorsuch, was
wounded and taken to the farm of Levi Pownall, where the Pownall family nursed him back to health. Historically, this event challenged the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and is considered a
precursor to the Civil War.
The collection contains 2 distinct series: documents and photographs, from 1803-1971. Documents include: land drafts and deeds, correspondence to and from the Pownall family regarding the incident, notes regarding kidnappings in the area from 1850-1851, photocopied pages of Dickinson Gorsuch's diary, and published accounts of the event, memorializations, announcements and a radio drama related to or inspired by the Christiana Resistance event of 1851.
Contained in the photograph series are photographs of: the event place and places related to the Christiana Resistance, the Pownall farm, event monuments, daguerreotypes of key figures and survivors of the resistance.
Moores Memorial Library (Christiana, Pa.) owns some of the most significant manuscript material relating to the Christiana Resistance. The staff of Moores Memorial Library, part of the Library System of Lancaster County, and the Lancaster County Historical Society worked together to arrange and preserve the collection and create a finding aid to make the materials accessible to the public.
Funds for this project were provided by the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) in 2001.
Admin/Biographical History
The Christiana Resistance, commonly referred to as the "Christiana Riot" occurred in September of 1851 in Christiana, Pennsylvania, a borough in Lancaster County. The events known as the Christiana Resistance include an attack from slaveholders in Maryland on the inhabitants and home of William Parker a free Black man living in Christiana, Pennsylvania. The slaveholders crossed the state border, and attempted claim and return the freedom seekers as their property, under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
The violent confrontation resulted in the death of Edward Gorsuch, a slaveholder, and the escape of William Parker to freedom in Canada. Edward's son, Dickinson Gorsuch, was wounded and taken to the farm of Levi Pownall, where the Pownall family nursed him back to health. Historically, this event challenged the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and is considered a precursor to the Civil War.
System of Arrangement
Series 1 Manuscript and Printed Material, 1803-1955
The digital images of the manuscript and printed material are 300 dpi JPGs; the photographs are 600 dpi JPGs.
Object Name
Archive
Language
English
Object ID
CHRISTIANA RESISTANCE
Location of Originals
Moores Memorial Library
9 West Slokom Avenue
Christiana, PA 17509
chrlib@christianalibrary.org
610-593-6683 or 610-593-6687
Access Conditions / Restrictions
The attached images have been provided for research. The original items are restricted for preservation purposes.
Copyright
The attached images may be used for research purposes only.
Please contact Moores Memorial Library for high resolution images and permission to publish:
Moores Memorial Library
9 West Slokom Avenue
Christiana, PA 17509
chrlib@christianalibrary.org
610-593-6683 or 610-593-6687
Credit
Christiana Resistance Collection, Series #, Folder #, Moores Memorial Library
Classification
CHRISTIANA RESISTANCE
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Moores Memorial Library (Christiana, Pa.) owns some of the most significant manuscript material relating to the Christiana Resistance. The staff of Moores Memorial Library, part of the Library System of Lancaster County, and the Lancaster County Historical Society worked together to arrange and preserve the collection and create a finding aid to make the materials accessible to the public.
The collection contains correspondence to and from the Pownall family regarding the incident, notes regarding kidnappings in the area from 1850-1851, photocopied pages of Dickinson Gorsuch's diary, and published accounts. An 1896 photograph shows Peter Woods and Samuel Hopkins, survivors of the riot. There are also photographs of the Christiana Riot House, the Pownall farm, and key figures in the riot and at the Treason Trials of 1851.
The staff of Moores Memorial Library, part of the Library System of Lancaster County, and the Lancaster County Historical Society worked together to arrange and preserve the collection and create a finding aid to make the materials accessible to the public. Funds for this project were provided by the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) in 2001.
Collection contains information on the Haverstick family, and includes wills, estate papers, genealogies, greeting cards and memorabilia. Large number of photographs and negatives transferred to Photograph Collection on 21 June 2016.
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
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
Collection of items relating to the Society of Seventh Day Baptists and Ephrata Cloister. Legal papers deal with a dispute concerning the election of trustees and mismanagement of the estate. There are brief histories of the Cloister, poems, publications, programs, tourist brochures, and a booklet describing treatments for various ailments.
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
Restrictions are noted at the item level. Original documents may be used--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.
Classification
MG0081
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Originally cataloged prior to 1997. Added to database 01 November 2018.
Series 1 contains invoices, arrest warrants, and tax collector books for the city of Lancaster. Invoices that were approved by the city council in 1878, 1883 and 1884 for payroll and supplies include road and bridge maintenance, water works, fire departments, clerk and inspection work, and costs incurred by the city during an outbreak of small pox. Arrest warrants for 1918-1919 show names of defendant(s) and police officer, the charge, date and case number. There are also tax collector records for 1860-1889, incomplete.
Series 2 contains documents regarding the market houses, waterworks, lamps, roads, railroad and city ordinances. Petitions support a candidate for night watchman, seek to repeal an ordinance for hanging signs and regulations for public scales, and request a reward for the apprehension of a murderer. There is an 1815 naturalization certificate for James Williams and a resolution regarding a visit of Gen. Andrew Jackson.
Series 3 contains miscellaneous items related to the Borough of Lancaster (1742 to 1818) found in the Document Collection. Items include an act regulating the buildings and keeping in repair the streets, lanes, and alley of Lancaster, passed 14 January 1774; oaths of office sworn by various men from 1764 to 1769; and an extract of Lancaster Borough laws enacted 22 January 1774 reporting the regulations and fines of this borough.
George and Rhonda Andreadis Collection of Lancaster City Records (MG0545)
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
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 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.
Bonds posted by constables, showing names of constable and surety; date and amount of bond; conditions of obligation; signatures of constable, surety, and witnesses; and date filed. 1809-1924. Arr. chron. by date filed. No index. Hdw. and typed on ptd. fm.
Admin/Biographical History
The County of Lancaster has given LancasterHistory.org custodial responsibility of this collection.
System of Arrangement
Arranged by year; alphabetical by surname with in year.