The Paul A. Mueller, Jr. Collection contains a deed for property in Lancaster Borough, an early collection of recipes, a receipt book for the Hamilton Lots, a valentine, stock certificate books for the New Process Steel Corporation, and Civil War letters. The Honorable Paul A. Mueller, Jr. is a descendant of the Zahm, Shreiner, and Cochran families on his mother's side. The items in this collection were passed down through the family for several generations.
Admin/Biographical History
Klein, Huffnagle, and Mussertown
The deed shows the sale of property in Mussertown by innkeepers Leonard and Rosina Klein to Peter Huffnagle. Leonard (1725-1793) married Amalia Rosina Waidlin (1732-1795) at Warwick, Lancaster County in December 1749. At that time he was a saddler in Lancaster. Although they did not have children, they were sponsors at several baptisms at the Moravian Church and Trinity Lutheran Church, both in Lancaster. Peter Huffnagle (1746-1806) and his wife, Charlotte, had their children baptized at the First Reformed Church in Lancaster. They were also buried in that churchyard. Mussertown was laid out in 1760 by John Musser, and was later added onto by Henry Musser. Its original boundaries were the streets now called Church, Strawberry, Locust, and Rockland.
Hamilton Lots
In 1730, Andrew Hamilton, a skilled lawyer, purchased a tract of land in the newly incorporated Lancaster County and convinced the commissioners to place the county seat within his holdings. Queen Street and King Street run through that tract. James Hamilton (1710-1783) acquired 500 acres of land from his father in 1734, and started selling lots by 1735. Although Hamilton sold the lots, he imposed ground-rents so tenants had to pay for the right to occupy and improve the land that they owned. Tenants were also required to build dwellings on their property within two years and to meet certain building specifications. He continued to acquire and sell lots until 1773. Ground-rents were still being collected on the Hamilton Lots after World War II.
Zahm and Shreiner
Godfried Zahm was a brushmaker in Lancaster. His son, Michael (d.1883), learned the brushmaking business from his father and then learned the watchmaking and jewelry business from his brother-in-law, Martin Shreiner, Jr. (1767-1866). Godfried's daughter, Maria, married Martin Shreiner who is best remembered as a Lancaster clockmaker. Maria kept a trimming shop on North Queen Street in Lancaster.
Cochran and New Process Steel Corporation
Harry B. Cochran, great-grandfather of Paul A. Mueller, Jr., was the president of New Process Steel Corporation in 1916. New Process Steel Co. began as New Process Steel Wire Manufacturing Co. and was renamed in 1907. This manufacturer of drill rods and special steel shapes became a subsidiary of General Motors Corporation in 1919. It is significant that Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. owned stock in the New Process Steel Corporation in 1916. Sloan was president of Hyatt Roller Bearing Company when it merged with the United Motors Corporation in 1916. He then became president of United Motors which merged with General Motors Corporation in 1918. Sloan was president and CEO of General Motors from 1923-1946.
Shand, William and Dean Keller. 1965. "Twentieth Century Industrial Development of Lancaster." Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society 69: 151-162.
Wood, Stacy B. C. 1994. "Martin Shreiner: from Clocks to Fire Engines." Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society 96: 114-137.
Notes
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Paul A. Mueller, Jr. Collection (MG0360), 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-360
Other Number
MG-360
Classification
MG0360
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Folders 1-9 cataloged in 2005. Folder 10 cataloged in 2009. Added to database 7 September 2017.
Yeates School Alumni Reunion at Slaymaker Lodge, June 23, 1951. All persons are identified in a list attached to the back of each photo. Front row, left to right: Jack Locher, William Barton Bard, John H. Girvin, Walter McGovern, J. M. Brenneman, Kirk Galbraith, W. J. L. Walker, Frank Reynolds, Clyde Shissler, Lyman Windolph, Samuel Herman, A. J. Kline, Ephraim Shue, S. C. Slaymaker. Second row, left to right: Clarence Wohlsen, Jess Butz, Dudley Brown, Howard Herr, William Drachbar, Owen Bricker, Charles Snyder, Frank Everts, William Gardiner, H. P. Smith Sr., Paul Sutton, Paul Denckla, Willing Foulke, Edwin Roland, William Heitshu. Third row, left to right: Robert Hartman, John Bausman Jr., Henry Hopkins, John Pfister, Reynolds Hopkins, Donald Brown, Max Kramer, John Woods, John R. C. Boyer, Alfred Burt, Henry H. Nolt III. Fourth row, left to right: William Klein, James Locher Jr., Lester Kurtz, Herbert Leman, John Hartman, Morton Rosse, William Brown, Holmes Carson, Charles Perot, Nevin Schroeder, Edwin Scovel, Thomas J. Brown Jr. Back row, left to right: Truxton Brodhead, Robert Smith, Arthur Herman, Andrew Rote, Robert Locher, Frank Gunzenhauser, Jan Claxton, John Watson and Leon Herman.
First Junior Bal Masque held at the Iris Club, December 23, 1914 or 1916. Names listed on the back of photo are: ? Weaver, Katherine Bidlack; ? Smith, Caroline Steinman; ? Schroeder, Dorothy Miller; ? Slaymaker, Katherine Evans; ? Rohrer, Elizabeth Long; ? Schutte, Laura Watt;? Barry, Mary Brown; Hayward Smith, Alice Barry; William Brown, Levit Wickersham; Donald Brown, Kitty Brown; James Schutte, Rhoda Becker; Eddie Weaver, Margaret Crawford; John Hartman, Loenita Straub; Lewis Hartman, Julia Straub; Bob Rohrer, Dorothy Hartman; Billy Kinzer, Dorothy Livingston; Robert Willer, Margaret Shertzer; Carrel Willer, Deldie Groff; Henry Porterfield, Margaret Sneider; Bill Brown, Max Craymon ? and Rodney Eshelman
Yeates School, group of twelve costumed students. Those identified are: Aubrey Huston, Morton Rosse, Bill Gardiner, and John Hartman. Others in cast list are Robert MacMurdy, Kenneth Morton, Berkeley Reed, Ralston Grant, William Brown, Robert Clay, and John Donaldson.
