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Collection
Bushong Diary Collection
Title
Bushong Diary Collection
Object ID
MG0278
Date Range
1850-1862
Collection
Bushong Diary Collection
Title
Bushong Diary Collection
Description
This collection contains the diaries of Gilbert and Edith Bushong.
The first diaries in this collection (Folder #1), written by Gilbert Bushong who is 14 years old, are dated from 3m 17 1850 - 5m 29 1852 and April 20, 1853. The topics covered are the everyday events of family life and farming activities. He also writes about school life, and butchering hogs, and trips to visit family and friends.
The second part of this collection (Folder #2-5) was written by Edith Paxson Bushong and dates from December 31, 1858 - April 5, 1862, after Gilbert presents her with a new diary journal on his return from a trip to Lancaster. Edith writes mostly about the welfare of her family and friends, including news of marriages, births, illnesses, and deaths.
She also writes about life on the farm, her housework routine, and news of the Civil War, including the battle at Gettysburg.
Admin/Biographical History
Gilbert Bushong was the son of Henry Bushong and Esther Valentine. He was born on 2 December 1836 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and died on 10 December 1911 in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He was a farmer in Eden Twp., Lancaster County. Gilbert was a member of the Society of Friends (Quakers) and an abolitionist who helped, with family members Henry and Jacob Bushong, to run the Underground Railroad for runaway slaves during the Civil War at Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania.
Edith D. Kinsey Paxson was born on 14 January 1836 and died 2 December 1914 in Chester County, Pennsylvania. She was the second daughter of Elwood H. Paxson and Elizabeth Moore White. She married Gilbert Bushong on 20 December 1855. The Bushongs owned a farm along what is now Valley Road, Route 372, on the eastern side of Eden Twp. and received their mail at May Post Office. They are buried together at Sadsbury Meeting Cemetery in Chester County.
Children of Gilbert and Edith Bushong:
1. Dr. Charles Henry Bushong (1 October 1856-20 December 1903). He was married twice, to sisters who were twins, Anna W. Keene and Nora E. Keene. One died and he married the other.
2. Frances E. Bushong (18 May 1858-16 November 1861).
3. Marion E. Bushong (20 March 1860-March 1937). She married Sanders M. Collins on 20 December 1884. Their children were Edith Bushong Collins (1886-1966) and Wallace Collins (b. 1899). Edith never married. She kept house for her father and was a school teacher. Wallace married Marion Chandler.
4. Marvin E. Bushong (7 June 1878-27 October 1936). He married Lydia Rakestraw on 10 September 1903. Their children were Henry Rakestraw Bushong (b. 28 July 1904) and Gertrude (b. 4 August 1909). At 21, Marvin was appointed a Justice of the Peace of Eden Twp. and in 1908 was elected Clerk of Quarter Sessions at Lancaster County. Later, he was associated with the Pennsylvania Water and Power Company, and in 1933 was vice-president of the Safe Harbor Water Power Corp.
Date Range
1850-1862
Year Range From
1850
Year Range To
1862
Creator
Bushong, Gilbert, 1836-1911
Storage Location
LancasterHistory, Lancaster, PA
Storage Room
Archives South
Storage Wall
Side 08
People
Albright, Esther
Alexander, James
Alexander, Rachel
Bacon, Martha
Bacon, Tom
Baer, Joel
Baily, Rachel
Bair, David
Barnhouse, Pusey
Barton, Mavis
Beatol, Ely
Beecher, Henry Ward
Bernard, Louisa
Bolton, Mary
Bolton, Sallie
Bolton, Susanna
Bonsall, Daniel
Bower, Hiram
Bowers, H.
Bromell, Isaac
Brown, Elas
Brown, John
Bushing, Francis Elwood
Bushong, Jesse G.
Bushong, Anna W. Keene
Bushong, Charles Henry
Bushong, Edith D. Kinsey Paxson
Bushong, Edith K.
Bushong, Edwin
Bushong, Esther Valentine
Bushong, Frances E.
Bushong, Gilbert
Bushong, Henry
Bushong, Henry Rakestraw
Bushong, Israel
Bushong, Jacob
Bushong, John
Bushong, Lydia Rakestraw
Bushong, Margaret
Bushong, Marion E.
Bushong, Marvin E.
Bushong, Mary
Bushong, Nora E. Keene
Bushong, Gertrude
Carter, Benjamin
Carter, John
Carter, Tish
Cato, Jesse
Chanley, Hannah
Clarkson, Mary Ann
Coats, Simmons
Colfax, Schuyler
Collins, Edith Bushong
Collins, Marion Chandler
Collins, Marion E. Bushong
Collins, Sanders M.
Collins, Wallace
Cooper, Elwood
Cooper, H. W.
Cooper, Mary
Cramer, Cyrus
Cramer, Sheldon
Davis, Abner
Dewberries, Nathan
Dickinson, Annie
Dingee, Hannah
Dubell, Lydia Ann
Dubree, Nathan
Eavensen, Mary
Eavensham, Alvin
Eavensham, Martha Ellen
Eavenson, Albin
Eavenson, Alvin
Eavenson, Elwood
Eavenson, Emily
Eavenson, Jones
Eavenson, Mary
Eckhart, William
Eckman, Isaac
Evenson, Pierce
Everett, Hamilton
Everett, Rebecca
Everson, Reese
Ferguson, Annie
Field, Mary
Fisher, Conrad
Garrettson, Oliver
Garrison, P.
Garrison, William Lloyd
Gauge, Elizabeth
Gilbert, Abama
Gilbert, Alben
Gilbert, Amos
Gilbert, Bell
Gilbert, Catherine
Gilbert, Emily
Gilbert, Florence
Gilbert, Hannah
Gilbert, Harding
Gilbert, Howard W.
Gilbert, Jesse
Gilbert, Joshua
Gilbert, Mary
Gilbert, Newton
Gilbert, Omar
Gilbert, Sallie
Gilbert, Sarah
Gillton, Theodore
Gockley, Annie
Gockley, Sebastian
Grant, Ulysses S.
Green, Louisa
Griest, Ellwood
Hanna, Edie
Harding, Isaac
Haslem, William
Hauches, Phebe
Hauser, Edie
Hawkes, Joseph
Hayes, Mrs. William
Hayes, Nathaniel
Heaslem, William
Heidelbaugh, Margaret
Heidlebaugh, Albert
Heidlebaugh, Milton
Heidlebaugh, Samuel
Heidlebaugh, Susan
Hensel, George
Herr, Anna
Hicks, Rachel
Hobson, Jane
Hobson, Phebe
Hobson, Thebe
Hobson, Thomas
Hodson, John
Holson, Irene
Hood, James
Hopkins, Hannah
Hopkins, Maria
Hopkins, Samuel
Hopkins, Stanton
Hoskens, John
Houston, Joseph
Hunt, John
Hunter, Joe
Hunter, John
Hunter, Mary
Jackson, James
James, Harriet
Johns, John
Johns, Scott
Johns, Susan
Johnson, Hannah
Johnson, Henry
Johnson, Jacob
Johnson, Martha
Johnson, Mattie
Johnson, Moses
Johnson, Rachel
Johnson, Sarah
Johnston, Henry
Johnston, Moses
Jones, Emerson
Jones, Emma
Jones, Jael
Jones, Mary
Kauffman, Lewis
Kennedy, Hal Patterson
Kent, Nancy
Kent, Vince
Kern, Frank
King, Anna
King, Jerry
King, Samuel
Kirk, Benjamin
Kirk, Sarah
Kuhn, Lizzie
Lamborne, Alicia
Livingston, John B.
Love, Alfred H.
Lyle, William
Marsh, Mary
Marshlands, Belle
Massey, Isaac
Massey, Mary
Massey, Samuel
Matthew, Lydia
Matthews, Thomas
McClintick, Martha
McGill, Eliza
McGill, Sarah
Mercer, Rachel
Miller, Frank
Miller, Joseph
Minnich, Isaac
Moore, Gainer
Moore, Isaac
Moore, Mary
Morrison, Caroline
Morrison, Emma
Morrison, Henry
Morrison, Joseph
Moses, Thomas
Murry, Harvey
Neal, Susan
Newswanger, Joseph E.
Oran, James
Parke, William
Paxson, Alice
Paxson, Alvin
Paxson, Elizabeth Moore White
Paxson, Elwood H.
Paxson, Frankie
Paxson, James
Paxson, Matilda
Paxson, Mavis
Paxson, Tillie
Peart, Lewis
Peart, Rebecca
Peart, Roland
Pennock, Maggie
Pickering, M. H.
Pickering, Elias
Pierce, Edith
Pierce, George
Pierce, Levi
Proctor, Caroline
Rakestraw, Abraham
Rakestraw, Carrie
Rakestraw, Connie
Rakestraw, Eliza
Rakestraw, Ester
Rakestraw, Henry
Rakestraw, Liddy
Rakestraw, Mary
Rakestraw, Sarah
Rakestraw, William
Resh, James
Reynolds, John F.
Rich, Sallie
Risk, James
Risk, Mary
Ritz, Jack
Roberts, Anna
Roberts, Henry
Roberts, Martha
Robinson, Moses
Rockey, Mrs. Jacob
Royer, Hannah
Rusel, James
Russell, Mary B.
Scott, Barbara
Scott, John
Sheldon, Hannah
Sheldon, William
Slate, Henry
Slater, John
South, Benjamin
Sprecher, Jonathan
Sproul, Anne
Stauffer, Jacob
Stauffer, John
Stauffer, Mattie
Stauffer, Mrs.
Stauffer, Peter
Stevens, Thaddeus
Stowe, Mrs.
Stuart, Mary
Sutter, Joe
Swisher, Patrick
Taylor, Jacob
Taylor, Joseph C.
Thomas, Ann
Thomas, Callie
Thomas, Caroline
Thomas, John
Thomas, Orza A.
Thompson, George
Thompson, Harriet
Valentine, Anna L.
Valentine, Emmaline
Valentine, Francis
Valentine, Joseph
Valentine, Rachel
Valentine, Rebecca
Valentine, Thomas
Walker, John
Walker, Washington
Walter, Jesse
Walters, George
Watson, Matilda
Way, Martha
Webb, John P.
Webster, Elizabeth
Webster, Ezra
Wells, Gilbert
Wells, Joseph
Wells, Mary
Westley, Ellen
Westley, Joseph
Westly, John
Whinney, Sarah Pusey
White, Addie
White, Clara
White, Lettie
White, Oliver
Whitson, Ester
Whitson, George
Whitson, Jacob
Whitson, Matilda
Whitson, Merce
Whitson, Micah
Whitson, Moses
Whitson, Thomas
Whitson, Webster
Whitson, William
Wilhelm, Mrs.
William, Henry
Williams, Carrie
Williams, Edwin
Williams, Frank
Williams, Henry
Williams, Sue
Wilson, Tillie
Winston, George
Withers, Anna
Withers, Augustus
Withers, William
Zook, Morris
Other Creators
Bushong, Edith K., 1836-1914.
Subjects
African Americans--History
Agriculture
Bereavement
Canning and preserving
Enslaved persons--Emancipation
Farms
Health
Housekeeping
Mental health
Quakers
Seances
Slavery
Spiritualism
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Search Terms
Agriculture
Barr's Bookstore
Bereavement
Births
Canning and preserving
Civil War
Columbia - Wrightsville Bridge
David Bear's Dry Goods
Death
Diaries
Emancipation
Farming
Funerals
Gardening
Health
Housekeeping
Illnesses
Lancaster County Mutual Insurance Company
McGlaughlin's Auction
Mental health
Octoraro Relief Association
Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind
Persons of color
Quakers
Quarryville Aid Society
Sadsbury Friends Meeting
Seances
Slavery
Spiritualism
Travel
York Furnace
Extent
1 box, 5 folders, .25 cubic ft.
Object Name
Archive
Language
English
Object ID
MG0278
Location of Originals
LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Associated Material
Family Papers, 1833-1872 at Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Restrictions are noted at the item level.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please contact Research Staff or Archives Staff with questions.
Credit
Bushong Diary Collection (MG-278), Folder #, LancasterHistory.org
Classification
MG0278
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Processed, finding aid started by PK, Spring-Summer 2010; Finding aid completed by NS, RS, 2013.
Less detail
Collection
Frank E. Witmer's 1879 Diary
Title
Diary of Frank E. Witmer
Object ID
MG0847
Date Range
1879, 2020
  1 document  
Collection
Frank E. Witmer's 1879 Diary
Title
Diary of Frank E. Witmer
Description
This collection contains Frank E. Witmer's original 1879 diary, as well as a transcription and index prepared by Dr. David H. Wallace. The diary provides a detailed record of the daily activities of all members of the family. He primarily records the work involved in running a truck farm--planting, maintaining, and harvesting crops, and preparing for market. Other entries of interest include helping a neighbor move a carriage house; building a hog pen; canning; attendance at several Mennonite churches in the area; the process of moving from one house and barn to a new house and barn on the property; frequent visits between relatives and neighbors; and a few mentions of school and the leisure activities of the young men.
Admin/Biographical History
In 1879, Franklin E. Witmer (1855-1931), at age 23, was the eldest son of Aaron L. Witmer, farmer of West Lampeter Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and his wife Mary Ann (Herr) Witmer. The household also included his younger brothers Abraham (Abram), 21, and Jacob Elam (Elem), 19; two school-age girls Sarah Dunlap, 13, an apprentice servant, and Hettie Fritz, 8, a ward of Mr. and Mrs. Witmer; and for part of the year a teen-age boarder-farm hand , Thaddeus (Thad) Brackbill. In Frank's diary, each person's activity was recorded daily, almost as if he had set himself a deliberate project to do so.
Mr. Witmer's truck farm embraced fields of grain (wheat, oats and rye), several acres of tobacco, a varied fruit orchard, a large truck garden, and a greenhouse for vegetables and flowering plants, a small herd of dairy cattle, some hogs and chickens; enough variety to make year-round weekly visits to market in Lancaster. During the year the family moved into a new house, raised a new barn, stables, hog-pen and chicken-house, and rented the old house and barn to a tenant farmer, Jacob Dieter.
The Witmers were Mennonites, regularly attending church in Lampeter Twp. and Strasburg, and occasionally in New Providence and Lancaster. Sarah and Hettie and briefly Elam, attended the Lampeter School. Their chief source of entertainment seems to have been visiting among their extended Witmer and Herr families and neighbors, although Abram and Elam sometimes attended "singing school" and the Lampeter Lyceum and did some "driving about" of an evening. Only Abram seems to have had a special girlfriend.
Although all the men of the family did everything in the way of farm chores, each of the boys also had a specialty. Frank, the oldest, had his own corn and tobacco patches to tend and market, Abram tended to concentrate on the greenhouse and truck-garden, and Elam helped his father provide veterinary services to other farmers in the area.
Frank Witmer married Mary Ann Herr on November 30, 1881; he continued general farming in West Lampeter Township, died there on December 10, 1931, and was buried in the Mennonite cemetery in nearby Willow Street, Pennsylvania.
This history was prepared by Dr. David H. Wallace.
Date Range
1879, 2020
Creation Date
1879, 2020
Creator
Wallace, David H.
Storage Location
LancasterHistory, Lancaster, PA
Storage Room
Archives South
Storage Wall
Side 19
People
Brackbill, Thaddeus
Dunlap, Sarah
Fritz, Hettie
Wallace, David Harold
Witmer, Aaron L.
Witmer, Abraham Herr
Witmer, Franklin Elmer
Witmer, Jacob Elam
Witmer, Mary Ann Herr
Other Creators
Witmer, Franklin Elmer, 1855-1931
Subjects
Truck farming
Diaries
Agriculture
Indexes
Search Terms
Truck farming
Diaries
Farming
Agriculture
Transcriptions
Indexes
Finding aids
Manuscript groups
Extent
3 items, 146 pages to scan
Object Name
Archive
Language
English
Object ID
MG0847
Location of Originals
LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Please use transcription and index, MG0847_F002 and MG0847_F003.
Original diary may be used by appointment--contact research@lancasterhistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
Copyright
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. 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.
Accession Number
2021.011
Other Numbers
MG-847
Other Number
MG-847, Folder 1
Classification
MG0847
Description Level
Item
Custodial History
PDFs of the transcription and index are attached to the correlating records.
Documents
Less detail
Collection
Frank E. Witmer's 1879 Diary
Title
Diary of Frank E. Witmer
Object ID
MG0847_F001
Date Range
1879
  1 document  
Collection
Frank E. Witmer's 1879 Diary
Title
Diary of Frank E. Witmer
Description
This diary provides a detailed record of the daily activities of all members of the family, such as farm work (planting, maintaining, and harvesting crops); building a hog pen; helping a neighbor move a carriage house; washing the buggies; canning; preparing for market; attendance at several Mennonite churches in the area; the processes involved in moving from one house and barn to a new house and barn on the property; frequent visits between relatives and neighbors; and a few mentions of school; and the leisure activities of the young men. Daily Journal for 1879, published annually for the trade, from I. B. Seeley's Truss & Bandage Establishments, 1347 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia and No. 737 Broadway, New York. The volume also contains a counting-house calendar, rates of postage, and interest tables.
Admin/Biographical History
In 1879, Franklin E. Witmer (1855-1931), at age 23, was the eldest son of Aaron L. Witmer, farmer of West Lampeter Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and his wife Mary Ann (Herr) Witmer. The household also included his younger brothers Abraham (Abram), 21, and Jacob Elam (Elem), 19; two school-age girls Sarah Dunlap, 13, an apprentice servant, and Hettie Fritz, 8, a ward of Mr. and Mrs. Witmer; and for part of the year a teen-age boarder-farm hand , Thaddeus (Thad) Brackbill. In Frank's diary, each person's activity was recorded daily, almost as if he had set himself a deliberate project to do so.
Mr. Witmer's truck farm embraced fields of grain (wheat, oats and rye), several acres of tobacco, a varied fruit orchard, a large truck garden, and a greenhouse for vegetables and flowering plants, a small herd of dairy cattle, some hogs and chickens; enough variety to make year-round weekly visits to market in Lancaster. During the year the family moved into a new house, raised a new barn, stables, hog-pen and chicken-house, and rented the old house and barn to a tenant farmer, Jacob Dieter.
The Witmers were Mennonites, regularly attending church in Lampeter Twp. and Strasburg, and occasionally in New Providence and Lancaster. Sarah and Hettie and briefly Elam, attended the Lampeter School. Their chief source of entertainment seems to have been visiting among their extended Witmer and Herr families and neighbors, although Abram and Elam sometimes attended "singing school" and the Lampeter Lyceum and did some "driving about" of an evening. Only Abram seems to have had a special girlfriend.
Although all the men of the family did everything in the way of farm chores, each of the boys also had a specialty. Frank, the oldest, had his own corn and tobacco patches to tend and market, Abram tended to concentrate on the greenhouse and truck-garden, and Elam helped his father provide veterinary services to other farmers in the area.
Frank Witmer married Mary Ann Herr on November 30, 1881; he continued general farming in West Lampeter Township, died there on December 10, 1931, and was buried in the Mennonite cemetery in nearby Willow Street, Pennsylvania.
This history was prepared by Dr. David H. Wallace.
Date Range
1879
Creation Date
1879
Creator
Witmer, Franklin Elmer, 1855-1931
Storage Location
LancasterHistory, Lancaster, PA
Storage Room
Archives South
Storage Wall
Side 19
People
Witmer, Franklin Elmer
Witmer, Aaron L.
Witmer, Mary Ann Herr
Witmer, Abraham Herr
Witmer, Jacob Elam
Dunlap, Sarah
Fritz, Hettie
Brackbill, Thaddeus
Subjects
Truck farming
Diaries
Agriculture
Search Terms
Truck farming
Diaries
Farming
Agriculture
Finding aids
Manuscript groups
Extent
1 item, 146 pages to scan (26 pages are loose), 13.75 x 4.25 inches
Object Name
Diary
Language
English
Object ID
MG0847_F001
Location of Originals
LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Related Item Notes
Transcription: MG0847_F002
Index: MG0847_F003
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Please use transcription and index, MG0847_F002 and MG0847_F003.
Original diary may be used by appointment--contact research@lancasterhistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
Copyright
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. 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.
Accession Number
2021.011
Other Numbers
MG-847, Folder 1
Other Number
MG-847, Folder 1
Classification
MG0847
Description Level
Item
Documents
Less detail
Collection
Frank E. Witmer's 1879 Diary
Title
Index to the diary of Frank E. Witmer
Object ID
MG0847_F003
Date Range
2020/11
  2 documents  
Collection
Frank E. Witmer's 1879 Diary
Title
Index to the diary of Frank E. Witmer
Description
Index to the diary of Frank E. Witmer, 1879.
Admin/Biographical History
In 1879, Franklin E. Witmer (1855-1931), at age 23, was the eldest son of Aaron L. Witmer, farmer of West Lampeter Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and his wife Mary Ann (Herr) Witmer. The household also included his younger brothers Abraham (Abram), 21, and Jacob Elam (Elem), 19; two school-age girls Sarah Dunlap, 13, an apprentice servant, and Hettie Fritz, 8, a ward of Mr. and Mrs. Witmer; and for part of the year a teen-age boarder-farm hand , Thaddeus (Thad) Brackbill. In Frank's diary, each person's activity was recorded daily, almost as if he had set himself a deliberate project to do so.
Mr. Witmer's truck farm embraced fields of grain (wheat, oats and rye), several acres of tobacco, a varied fruit orchard, a large truck garden, and a greenhouse for vegetables and flowering plants, a small herd of dairy cattle, some hogs and chickens; enough variety to make year-round weekly visits to market in Lancaster. During the year the family moved into a new house, raised a new barn, stables, hog-pen and chicken-house, and rented the old house and barn to a tenant farmer, Jacob Dieter.
The Witmers were Mennonites, regularly attending church in Lampeter Twp. and Strasburg, and occasionally in New Providence and Lancaster. Sarah and Hettie and briefly Elam, attended the Lampeter School. Their chief source of entertainment seems to have been visiting among their extended Witmer and Herr families and neighbors, although Abram and Elam sometimes attended "singing school" and the Lampeter Lyceum and did some "driving about" of an evening. Only Abram seems to have had a special girlfriend.
Although all the men of the family did everything in the way of farm chores, each of the boys also had a specialty. Frank, the oldest, had his own corn and tobacco patches to tend and market, Abram tended to concentrate on the greenhouse and truck-garden, and Elam helped his father provide veterinary services to other farmers in the area.
Frank Witmer married Mary Ann Herr on November 30, 1881; he continued general farming in West Lampeter Township, died there on December 10, 1931, and was buried in the Mennonite cemetery in nearby Willow Street, Pennsylvania.
This history was prepared by Dr. David H. Wallace.
Date Range
2020/11
Creation Date
2021
Creator
Wallace, David H.
Storage Location
LancasterHistory, Lancaster, PA
Storage Room
Archives South
Storage Wall
Side 19
People
Wallace, David Harold
Witmer, Franklin Elmer
Witmer, Aaron L.
Witmer, Mary Ann Herr
Witmer, Abraham Herr
Witmer, Jacob Elam
Dunlap, Sarah
Fritz, Hettie
Brackbill, Thaddeus
Subjects
Truck farming
Diaries
Agriculture
Indexes
Search Terms
Truck farming
Diaries
Farming
Agriculture
Indexes
Finding aids
Manuscript groups
Extent
1 item, 10 pages
Object Name
Index
Language
English
Object ID
MG0847_F003
Location of Originals
LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Related Item Notes
Original diary: MG0847_F001
Index: MG0847_F003
Access Conditions / Restrictions
A PDF has been provided for research purposes.
Copyright
A PDF has been provided for research purposes only.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Accession Number
2021.011
Other Numbers
MG-847, Folder 3
Other Number
MG-847, Folder 3
Classification
MG0847
Description Level
Item
Custodial History
Index prepared in November 2020.
Documents
Less detail
Collection
Frank E. Witmer's 1879 Diary
Title
Transcription of the diary of Frank E. Witmer
Object ID
MG0847_F002
Date Range
2020/11
  2 documents  
Collection
Frank E. Witmer's 1879 Diary
Title
Transcription of the diary of Frank E. Witmer
Description
Transcription of the diary of Frank E. Witmer, 1879.
Admin/Biographical History
In 1879, Franklin E. Witmer (1855-1931), at age 23, was the eldest son of Aaron L. Witmer, farmer of West Lampeter Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and his wife Mary Ann (Herr) Witmer. The household also included his younger brothers Abraham (Abram), 21, and Jacob Elam (Elem), 19; two school-age girls Sarah Dunlap, 13, an apprentice servant, and Hettie Fritz, 8, a ward of Mr. and Mrs. Witmer; and for part of the year a teen-age boarder-farm hand , Thaddeus (Thad) Brackbill. In Frank's diary, each person's activity was recorded daily, almost as if he had set himself a deliberate project to do so.
Mr. Witmer's truck farm embraced fields of grain (wheat, oats and rye), several acres of tobacco, a varied fruit orchard, a large truck garden, and a greenhouse for vegetables and flowering plants, a small herd of dairy cattle, some hogs and chickens; enough variety to make year-round weekly visits to market in Lancaster. During the year the family moved into a new house, raised a new barn, stables, hog-pen and chicken-house, and rented the old house and barn to a tenant farmer, Jacob Dieter.
The Witmers were Mennonites, regularly attending church in Lampeter Twp. and Strasburg, and occasionally in New Providence and Lancaster. Sarah and Hettie and briefly Elam, attended the Lampeter School. Their chief source of entertainment seems to have been visiting among their extended Witmer and Herr families and neighbors, although Abram and Elam sometimes attended "singing school" and the Lampeter Lyceum and did some "driving about" of an evening. Only Abram seems to have had a special girlfriend.
Although all the men of the family did everything in the way of farm chores, each of the boys also had a specialty. Frank, the oldest, had his own corn and tobacco patches to tend and market, Abram tended to concentrate on the greenhouse and truck-garden, and Elam helped his father provide veterinary services to other farmers in the area.
Frank Witmer married Mary Ann Herr on November 30, 1881; he continued general farming in West Lampeter Township, died there on December 10, 1931, and was buried in the Mennonite cemetery in nearby Willow Street, Pennsylvania.
This history was prepared by Dr. David H. Wallace.
Date Range
2020/11
Creation Date
2020/11
Creator
Wallace, David H.
Storage Location
LancasterHistory, Lancaster, PA
Storage Room
Archives South
Storage Wall
Side 19
People
Wallace, David Harold
Witmer, Franklin Elmer
Witmer, Aaron L.
Witmer, Mary Ann Herr
Witmer, Abraham Herr
Witmer, Jacob Elam
Dunlap, Sarah
Fritz, Hettie
Brackbill, Thaddeus
Subjects
Truck farming
Diaries
Agriculture
Search Terms
Truck farming
Diaries
Farming
Agriculture
Transcriptions
Finding aids
Manuscript groups
Extent
1 item, 60 pages
Object Name
Transcript
Object ID
MG0847_F002
Location of Originals
Original diary at LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, MG0847_F001
Related Item Notes
Index: MG0847_F003
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Please use the PDF.
Copyright
A PDF has been provided for research purposes only.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Accession Number
2021.011
Other Numbers
MG-847, Folder 2
Other Number
MG-847, Folder 2
Classification
MG0847
Description Level
Item
Custodial History
Transcribed in November 2020.
Documents
Less detail