Recently in God & York County Category

This photograph shows the inside of Centre Presbyterian Church in the late 1800s. Observers say the Dempwolf-designed, Fawn Township (Pa.) church looks much the same today. Also of interest: York countian ordained in country church: 'Very larger-than-life character for educated Iranians' and Hello, York, Stewartstown, Pa., no longer calling and 'Yesteryears' southern York County sites - Part II.

Some things change slowly in York County, and other things change scarcely at all.

Take the interior of the beautiful and stately Centre Presbyterian Church in southeastern York County, standing for 125 years just north of the Mason-Dixon Line.

The Stewartstown Historical Society's Doug Winemiller e-mailed a photograph of the church's interior that was provided to the historical group by Kathryn Jordan . The photo shows the church circa late 1880s.

Here are edited excerpts from Doug's note:

This U.S. postage stamp, issued in 2005, shows famed singer Marian Anderson. Ceremonies observing the stamp's issue were held at the Daughters of the American Revolution's Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. In 1939, the contralto was denied the opportunity to perform there because she was black. She then sang before thousands at the Lincoln Memorial. Two years later, she performed in York. Also of interest: When York County rolled up its red carpet to people of color and What did Tiny Tim and Richard Nixon have in common? and York's 221 E. Princess St. home to telling ironies.

Still on the theme that there are York County tie-ins to most anything that is in the news - or has been part of America's past.

Here is more on that topic gleaned from a recent York concert honoring famed singer Marian Anderson. It's a column set to run the York Sunday News on Sunday (3/7/10):

To promote York, Pa.'s, Weaver Organ and Piano Co., marketers turned to poetry, of a sort. The company went out of business in the late 1950s, but its organs and pianos have become collector's items. The company's big brick building stands empty on North Broad Street in York. Additional fliers can be seen here. Also of interest: Junior Curators exhibit: The name of Lefty York of York, Pa., lives on and The organ: 'It is a whole orchestra in itself' and All Made in York posts from the start.

A Towson, Md., church, Babcock Presbyterian, has a 1908 Weaver pump organ, style Favorite Oak 30, #57513, that we would like to sell.

A commenter on a recent York Town Square post about the venerable York musicmaker asked that anyone interested in purchasing the instrument should contact him via the following email: rwwaters@comcast.net.

I commented back urging him to be patient and avoid large trask pickup. Someone will want it... .

The Rev. Thomas Montouth, seen here in a photograph from 1946, and Dr. George Bowles, were leaders in York, Pa.'s, black community in the first 50 years of the 20th century. The Rev. Montouth pastored the now-demolished Faith Presbyterian Church on North Duke Street. The pastor and physican are among 18 community members shown on the mural: "Civil Rights Heroes -- Barrier Breakers". Also of interest: All black history posts from the start and All Underground Railroad posts from the start and 20 questions and answers to prove your York County, Pa., smarts.

The three-panel Civil Rights Heroes mural, an exhibit that has traveled around the community for five years, will serve as the backdrop for an evening designed to inform visitors about the York, Pa., community.

A panel of achievers from the 300 block of West Princess Street will begin and end the evening. That predominantly black neighborhood will provide a sense of place in discussion about growing up in York in the mid-20th century

The panel will bracket a presentation by York City Human Relations exec Stephanie Sechrist about the mural. The colorful panels were created in 2005 by Bradley Academy graphics design instructor Brett Greiman, with assistance from his students.

Here is information about the evening followed by a brief quiz about one of the neighborhood's notable figures:

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Rudy Art Studio produced this stained-glass window at York's First Moravian Church, one of series made by this noted turn-of-the-20th century York art studio. This window was given in memoriam of George Small, who bore a common York-area name. Who was this particular George Small? Read below. Also of interest: Beautiful York, Pa., church known for neat features, as in 31 stained glass windows and Beautiful First Moravian Church in York, Part II and York County enthusiasts could find historical event, site to visit every day

The most-prominent branch of the massive Small family of York, Pa. goes like this, according to my "East of Gettysburg":

Lorentz Schmahl came to American in 1743.

Killian, Lorentz's son, had seven sons.

George was the most prominent of Killian's seven sons, all carpenters.

George's family included sons, P.A. and Samuel, who were the most successful businessmen in 19th-century York.

P.A. had three sons - George, William Latimer and Samuel - who became prominent in the York business community.

The last George Small in this particular Small family line died in 2002... .

York countian Elmer Q. Gleim: At 93, he continues his prolific writings. Also of interest: Mother Codorus has long served as leading light in obscure Dunkard Valley and People of varying religious groups founded York County - 13/31 iconic images and All God and York County posts from the start.

Dianne Bowders e-mailed a short biography on her father Elmer Q. Gleim, introduced to Yorktownsquare.com readers in a recent post. That post tied Dianne's precise captions of her photo work capturing historic scenes around York County, Pa., to her father's teaching of that rich history over the years.

Dianne's short bio, titled 'A Brethren Treasure,' is so insightful that I've included it below, with a partial list of Elmer Gleim's work.

It's fortunate that Dianne's has compiled such a history of her historian father's work:

York County, Pa., resident Dianne Bowders is posting delightful photographs of scenes around her home county on ydr.com's Your Photo site. And she provides detailed caption information, such as the following for this scene from York's Quaker Meeting House. "Light streams through the windows of the Society of Friend's Meetinghouse located on West Philadelphia Street. Quaker meeting begins when one is led by the Spirit, or the Light, to speak. This older, east section of the building was constructed by William Willis in 1766, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The west room was built in 1783 to accommodate the women's meeting." Also of interest: Postcards tell story of York County community and My Capture photo book available (containing additional photos by Dianne Bowders) and York County book 'All in One Room' ready for readers.

I've enjoyed Dianne Bowders' photos of York County's landscape and historic sites for many months and have further noticed the detail of her captions.

Turns out she gets her historical knowledge from her father, Elmer Q. Gleim, a retired public school history teacher and Church of the Brethren minister. The 93-year-old is noted for his historical work on his denomination and genealogy of German families.

In an e-mail, she gives some insight into her father's influence on her work: ... .

'It was necessity the mother of Inventions that brought the York Hospital into existence.' So read advertisement copy accompanying this photograph of old York Hospital along College Avenue in the hospital's Women's Auxiliary's 'Benefit' Cookbook, issued circa 1916. Today, the reprinted cookbook is sold for $10 in the hospital's and York County Heritage Trust's gift shops. The ad also states that noted York architect J.A. Dempwolf designed the hospital, incorporated in 1880. Crispus Attucks Community Center occupied the hospital after it moved to its current campus in 1930. Today, the old buildings stands as an apartment complex. Also of interest: Doctor wrote about oxygen use to aid 'average country practitioners' and Spanish flu epidemic in York: 'People died one right after the other' and Civil War hospital: A master's thesis waiting to be written and West Side Sanitarium, later West Side Osteopathic and later Memorial Hospital born in The Avenues in York.

Baseball in January?

In a farmers markethouse?

The Penn Street Farmers Market is zigging while others are zagging in a "Celebrate York Baseball" event set for 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 16.

(The market is urging members of the public to come to the celebration, where people can view a display of vintage photos of York baseball, presumably showing the White Roses... .

The fire that destroyed most of 111-year-old Shenberger's Chapel United Methodist Church in February was one of the top news stories in York County. Also of interest: Major York County historical moments through the centuries and York County's top 10 news stories in 2006 and Who were most prominent 20th-century sports heroes in York and Adams counties?

Members of the York Daily Record/Sunday News staff have put forth a list of top 10 York County news stories from last year.

And they've provided an interactive page for readers to record their own most memorable moments of 2009.

"Create a keepsake before 2009 is forgotten," a headline states.

Here's the list:

This stained-glass window is another at York, Pa.'s, First Moravian Church from Rudy Art Studio. This window, expressing Jesus' name, is given in memoriam of William H. Yost. Also of interest: York County enthusiasts could find historical event, site to visit every day and York native Steve Zirnkilton's 'Law & Order' voice known to the world and York Moravian's Putz is an unsung, well-sung annual attraction

First Moravian Church member Terrence Downs has embarked on a congregation newsletter series that explains the John H. Rudy-made stained glass windows in that beautiful North Duke Street Church.

The series is enhanced by Terrence's explanation of the windows' sponsors, often prominent York-area residents of the early 20th-century, when the windows were made.

A short history of the windows on First Moravian's Web site gives some insight into the artist as he gazed particularly upon the chancel window: ... .

Workers raise a beam as they build a barn in remote Washington Township in northwestern York County, north of East Berlin. A York Daily Record/Sunday News story (12/12/09) captured the barnraising, a replacement for a century-plus-old bank barn that burned after a lightning strike last summer. (For an additional photo by Daily Record photogapher Bil Bowden, see below.) How many Amish have crossed the Norman Wood Bridge from Lancaster to York County? and Horse, buggy, one-room school make York County comeback and Amishman: 'We are making a commitment to forgive' and Widely circulated Amish newspaper: 'Awhile ago Steve was up at Sam Peachey's for some lumber'

Ella Jane Hess responded to my recent column about a tour around southeastern York County with some insightful information.

She focused on my comments about the Conservative Brethren Church near Winterstown.

Here are excerpts from her letter:

Shrewsbury (Pa.) Township's Leon Saubel shows a bottle of Foust whiskey, still filled with whiskey, from his collection. He collects Foust products because they were distilled near where he lives and the items are attractive, according to a York (Pa.) Daily Record/Sunday News story. The William Foust distillery, which started operating outside Glen Rock, was a village in itself. Only a smokestack, deteriorating superstructure and houses remain of this once-bustling company town. It is perhaps York County's best-known ghost town. The stack serves as a reminder that the whiskey-making industry was a major cash producer in 19th-century agricultural York County. Also of interest: With all those stills, the York County hillbillies? and Cigarmaking Red Lion on top of York County and Brewer Hannes' bout with an aged hermit.

Alcohol and tobacco use, the sin taxes they produce and the goofy state store system and other such government intervention often makes headlines.

So I pulled together several past blog posts into a York Sunday News column that explores the topic of whiskey, beer and tobacco production in York County throughout history.

In my research, the date 1907 kept appearing.That was the date Carrie Nation came to York decrying alcohol and tobacco use.

That was about the high point of cigarmaking in the county, as well as whiskey making. The onset of Prohibition dampened the distilling of spirits in large quantities about a dozen years later.

So, here's an advance look at Sunday's piece:

The transom symbol is one of many John H. Rudy-made stained glass windows at York, Pa.'s, First Moravian Church. Terrence Downs, who has researched the church's windows, writes that the window bears an ornate Crown 'encrusted with filigree that, when brilliant light shines through, the tracery glints.' He goes on to write: 'The basic cross, alabaster colored - symbolized to be the Cross before us, and is centered within the jeweled base band of the Crown. Transfixed within the crossbar is a faceted diamond shaped jewel - on sunny days that capture sunlight. A perfect square is an element by the artist which is an 'arts and crafts' technique within the rococo motif; a technique used often by J. Horace Rudy.' Also of interest: York County enthusiasts could find historical event, site to visit every day and York native Steve Zirnkilton's 'Law & Order' voice known to the world and York Moravian's Putz is an unsung, well-sung annual attraction.

York's First Moravian Church is home of the Putz, a sight-and-sound show telling the Christmas story.

It's the home church of pastor-turned-entrepreneur S. Morgan Smith, whose industrial legacy includes at least four ongoing York County companies - Johnson Controls, Voith Hydro, American Hydro and Precision Components.

A descendant of S. Morgan Smith and no stranger to First Moravian, Stephen Zirnkilton, has one of the most famous voices in the world. His is the voice introducing the TV show "Law & Order."

And those are just a few of the beautiful church's assets.

Now Terrence Downs is informing church members - and many others with this post - about another unsung feature of the North Duke Street building: its 31 "sizable" stained glass windows... .

An Associated Press reporter and photographer recently caught up with York, Pa.'s Mayor-elect Kim Bracey as she prepared to assume office in January. Here's an excerpt from the AP story: A little girl who trembled in her house as a National Guard tank rumbled past during York's chaotic 1969 race riots has grown up to become the first black mayor of the central Pennsylvania city. Kim Bracey, 45, an energetic veteran of the struggling manufacturing city's improvement efforts will take office in January, to the delight of many African-Americans who thought they would never see a black mayor. "President Obama was one thing, but here in York where few people vote ... I really didn't think I would live to see this take place," Bracey said in a recent interview at her transition office. (To read more about the interview and to view another photo of Bracey, see below.) Also of interest: Former York, Pa., police chief Tom Chatman ranks high on list of local pioneering minorities and Mattie Chapman's barrier-breaking legacy apparent in York County 30 years later and A short test of your York black history knowledge - Part III.

Visitors to Washington, D.C., looking to see a piece of York County there have more to visit than just the National Christmas Tree, with its roots in Shiloh.

A painter captured Special Olympian and York native Loretta Claiborne in a portrait of Eunice Shriver at the National Portrait Gallery. Her work is a must visit... .

Ophelia Chambliss' art has been widely exhibited at York, Pa.'s, Crispus Attucks Community Center, the York County (Pa.) Heritage Trust and elsewhere around York County. Here, her art is available for all to see in Murals of York-fashion outside York County borders - in Harrisburg. The mural, titled "Mending Hearts, Minds and Communities" is part of neighborhood revitalization and community projects. The wall space was donated by Christina and Bluett Jones on the side of their gallery (Gallery Blu) at 1633 North Third St. This is the debut mural for the Susquicentennial Commission's "Painting the Town" project, as part of Harrisburg's 150th anniversary celebration in 2010. Also of interest: Civil rights heroes stand out at Bradley exhibit and Linked in with neat York County history stuff - Oct. 15, 2009 and If you want to see the Murals of York up close ... .

From the mailbag and Web: A mixed bag of links to a bit of everything around York County:

A tiny group of Episcopalians converged on a tiny chapel in the tiny Adams County town of York Springs.

"They prayed and meditated on Scripture in a one-room brick chapel on Main Street -- the parent church for Episcopalians west of the Susquehanna," York Daily Record/Sunday News reporter Melissa Nann Burke, wrote. "A rotting sign out front reads: 'Christ Church Episcopal, Colonial English Parish founded 1746.'"

The congregation dates back to the 1740s, and the structure standing today in York Springs dates to the 1830s. Read more at Episcopalians take pilgrimage to past.

- More neat stuff below. -

York County, Pa., native Samuel Jordan is known as the father of modern education in Iran. He will be honored at events at the Samuel Jordan Foundation in Califorrnia in October. Background posts: Three Rhodes Scholars call York County their boyhood home and Fawn Township's magnificent Centre Presbyterian Church worthy of a looksee and Church's story links up with U.S. religious history.

About 10 family members of York native Samuel Martin Jordan will soon travel to University of California,
Irvine.

The university's Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture is honoring Jordan and his family as part of an October conference:The Alborz School: An International Conference. Jordan was part of the genius and energy behind that school, which grew into a college... .

The original part of the Friends' meeting house in Warrington Township, Pa., was erected in 1769. The Northern York County congregation doubled the building's size in 1782. It's one of three such Quaker-built structures standing today across York County's northern tier. Background posts: Of Pennsylvania's conscientious objectors: The 'other side' of the Civil War and Quaker horticulturalist Jonathan Jessop was 19th-century York County Renaissance man and Gladys Rawlins, 'Black History Profiles.'

"Welcome to those attending our meeting for the first time," the church bulletin said.

Well, it wasn't exactly a bulletin, but a half-page explanation of what transpires at the Warrington Friends Monthly Meeting at this northwestern York County building.

And it wasn't exactly a church either. It was a meeting house, or meeting, home of the Warrington Friends Monthly Meeting. That would be a Quaker Meeting, a lovely stone structure visible to all amid beautiful scenery on Route 74 between Wellsville and Dillsburg.

The term "Meeting" is used by Friends to designate their place of worship as well as the worship service itself," the explanation or statement said.

For those who wonder what Quakers do in their service, here's the order of the Warrington service:

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Thousand of worshippers have heard sermons in this outdoor pavilion, the tabernacle, at Penn Grove Campground in southwestern York County. The camp meeting was a rite of summer for thousands of York countians. Also of interest: Mining a rich vein of southwestern York County's religious history, Part I, Part II and Abe Lincoln, Gwyneth Paltrow passed through Porters Sideling and Billy Graham: 'I do remember him being here and what a thrill it was'.

Roy Flinchbaugh is one of a host of York countians who attended Penn Grove Campgrounds in Smith Station, Heidelberg Township.

Fond memories of those days prompted him to reflect on the camp in the 1930s, after reading my recent York Sunday News column on that topic:

" When I was growing up my parents took me up to Penn Grove Camp almost every Sunday evening in the summer... .

St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Hanover, Pa. also serves as a mini-museum. One exhibit is this beautiful 19th-century altar. Other posts of interest: Abe Lincoln, Gwyneth Paltrow passed through Porters Sideling and Dutch vs. English? York County debate still perking in 1920s and People of varying religious groups founded York County.

"The 10-mile line between York County's Spring Grove and Adams County's Edgegrove bears a rich vein of history."

That's how my last York Town Square post about a long tour of southwestern York County sites began.

Here are some specifics about that visit in question-and-answer format, which showed great diversity in the religious sites visited: ... .

The United Brethren Church built two-story cabins when it opened the Heidelberg Township (Pa.) campground in 1896 for churchgoers to stay overnight or weekly. Penn Grove Campground later operated as Camp Pamaveda and is known today at Penn Grove Retreat. All but one of the wooden structures, sometimes called tents, have been torn down, and campers to this southwestern York County facility now sleep in newer cinderblock cabins. The corner of the tabernacle, an open air pavilion for worship services, is seen at right. The campground was a stop on a recent tour of religious sites in York and Adams counties. Other posts of interest: Abe Lincoln, Gwyneth Paltrow passed through Porters Sideling and Conewago Chapel steeple worker wondered if he'd ever get up there: Now, 'Here I am' and Pamadeva. Get it? Pennsylvania. Maryland. Delaware. Virginia..

The 10-mile line between York County's Spring Grove and Adams County's Edgegrove bears a rich vein of history.

Spend five hours mining that vein with three knowledgeable students of history, and you come away with a clarity about how much you don't know about this fascinating region.

Actually, those students are longtime teachers about York County's history: Jim Rudisill, Luther Sowers and June Lloyd.

On a recent Saturday, Rudisill served as tour guide, equipped with his 14-stop itinerary neatly handwritten on lined notebook paper... .

The New York Times obituary about York native Ernest W. Lefever gave insight concerning a controversy involving Lefever during the Reagan administration. Other posts of interest: York County high school grads teach lessons in achievement on national stage and York County home to national pro-life leader and In recent years, York County presidential endorsements a mixed bag.

Another case in which all roads seem to lead to York... .

Native son and York High grad Ernest Lefever died at the age of 89 recently, and his local obituary noted his leadership of internationally known The Ethics and Public Policy Center.

His accomplishments were such that he earned a New York Times obituary, which stated in part:

Ammon Stolzfus, 37, of Quarryville, Pa., picks up the latest issue of Cruise Letter, a newsletter made 'By Cruisers For Cruisers,' outside the Markets at Shrewsbury in southern York County. In this 2007 York (Pa.) Daily Record/Sunday News file photo, Stolzfus was working at the outside booth for Penn Dutch Kitchen during Friday Cruise Nights. When asked if he ever checks out the cars himself, he told the newspaper there's never any time. Background posts: Who was Norman Wood (of bridge fame)?, Horse, buggy, one-room school make county comeback, Amish: 'We are making a commitment to forgive'

The Amish, commonly associated with the east bank of the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County, are seen more and more in southeastern York County. They also can be seen at the Markets at Shrewsbury, a house of vendors along the Susquehanna Trail in Hametown, Shrewsbury Township.

The so-called Pennsylvania Dutch church people - German Reformed and Lutherans - mostly pioneered in York County. The Amish, different from the church people in their practice of baptizing adults among other doctrinal distinctions, settled among similar believers in Lancaster County.

So, many York countians, even Pennsylvania Dutchmen, are not that familiar with the Amish... .

A rescuer holds a Chinese passenger by his pants as he tries to transfer to a small boat from the grounded freighter Golden Venture June 6, 1993, off New York City. About 40 passengers were detained in York County Prison for more than three years awaiting disposition of their cases (Associated Press photo). A dozen years after their release, a book discusses their plight. Background posts: 'York: A Key City in the Keystone State' and York's Chestnut Street fortress bad symbol of York's past and All famous York visitor posts from the start and .

Reviewer Alex Kotlowitz got it right in assessing Patrick Radden Keefe's "The Snakehead, An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream:"

He notes that Keefe writes that America has suffered a kind of bipolarity when it comes to immigration throughout history... .

In 1926, York, Pa.'s Union Evangelical Lutheran Church hired J.A. Dempwolf to design a new sanctuary. That would be his last church design, according to a church spokesman. In 1929, the new sanctuary was dedicated. "The shape of the ceiling is that of an inverted ship's hull; hand-carved oak figures of Moses and Luke flank the altar; and art-glass windows line the nave, choir loft and clerestory," the spokesman said. Interestingly, the first building the Dempwolf firm designed was a Lutheran church - First St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church on West King Street, according to a York Daily Record article. Background posts: Dempwolf windmill graced north bank of York's Codorus Creek in 1870s and Fawn Township's magnificent Centre Presbyterian Church worthy of a looksee and Dempwolf architects built York's skyline, history.

Brothers John A. and Reinhardt Dempwolf designed more than 400 schools, churches and other architecturally significant buildings.

Just in York County alone.

Eleven of those buildings will be on display during Historic York Inc.'s "Discovering Dempwolf" on Sunday, Oct. 11.

Some facts about the Dempwolfs and the tour:.. .

A fun thread under way on The Exchange, a York Daily Record/Sunday News community bulletin board, is exploring topics relating to Springwood Park and Pool and Camp Betty Washington.

The conversation is exploring the old Springwood pool, which operated along Springwood Road between Chapel Church Road, and Yoe and the old Camp Betty Washington Pool. That complex was operated along the road of the same name, about a half mile south of the Mount Rose intersection in Spring Garden Township.

The camp was started and used by York's St. John the Baptist Episcopal congregation from the 1920s to 1940, which generally overlapped with the heyday of the Springwood Park... .

York County native Samuel Jordan is known as the father of modern education in Iran. He was ordained into the ministry in southeastern York County, and went overseas as a missionary. He is buried in Centre Presbyterian Church's cemetery, New Park. Background posts: Three Rhodes Scholars call York County their boyhood home and Fawn Township's magnificent Centre Presbyterian Church worthy of a looksee and Church's story links up with U.S. religious history.

All roads do lead to York.

This road includes New Park, in southeast York County; Persia, now Iran; and University of California, Irvine branch.

And it involves a minister named Samuel Martin Jordan.

The tie that binds these places comes from an e-mail written by Stewartstown's Kathryn Jordan. Samuel Jordan is Kathryn's late husband's uncle - Uncle Mart.

Here are the links:

James O. Lehman and Steven M. Nolt published "Mennonites, Amish, and the American Civil War." The 2007 book explored the Mennonites and Amish response to the Civil War. Background posts: Stack of books on York County's Civil War past getting higher and 'One of the shells found its mark' and Unsung farmhouse loud symbol of a shaping moment for York.

York County resident Jonathan R. Stayer, who is also head of the reference section of the Pennsylvania State Archives, has called on local Civil War researchers to remember those who sought exemption from military service on grounds of conscience.

York County's conscientious objectors numbered 156 in 1862, he e-mailed, sixth highest among Pennsylvania's counties.

"Even tiny Adams County was home to at least 129 conscientious objectors," he wrote. "The reason? Both counties were (and are) home to significant communities of Mennonites and Dunkards (Brethren), and to a lesser extent, Quakers."

He called attention to James O. Lehman and Steven M. Nolt's "Mennonites, Amish, and the American Civil War," which local Civil War blogger Scott Mingus has since reviewed.

Here are excerpts from Stayer's e-mail:

Daniel K. Noell served as York's first mayor. While gaffe-prone, he loved the city. Background posts: Once pulled down, York's market sheds won't go back up and York community leader: 'We didn't have equal opportunity to achieve' and Pastors denounce first Sunday newspaper publication.

York City's first mayor, Daniel K. Noell, was no war hero, in the mold of York borough's first chief burgess, Henry Miller.

He was not a member of York's ruling family in the 1800s, in the mold of Civil War-era chief burgess David Small.

And after he took over as mayor in 1887, he bumbled and fumbled.

He came under fire for his role in tearing down York's Centre Square market sheds.

The former printer backed York's first Sunday newspaper, whose Sabbath publication was denounced by many York-area pastors.

But Daniel K. Noell loved York, a quality the successful candidate in today's primary election must emulate... .

June Lloyd wrote the book on a form of fraktur used to illustrate York County, Pa., birth and baptismal certificates in the 1700s and 1800s. A sample is found on the her book's cover. "Faith and Family" is available at the York County Heritage Trust. Background posts: PS Harrisburg grad school: 'Set my feet even more firmly on the path into the world of Fraktur' and The Four YorkBloggers write and Nature had its way with short-lived York Furnace Bridge in southeastern York County

Former York County Heritage Trust Archivist June Lloyd is looking for folks who have early American birth and baptismal certificates.

She compiling a database of these works of fraktur, known as taufscheine.

June told an audience at the Heritage Trust's Second Saturday program over the weekend that she has records of 1,500 such certificates and regularly adds to that total as she learns of them.

The following is a sampling of the points she made on this Pennsylvania Dutch (German) practice of commissioning such art to mark these important passages:

Glenn Grove of Delta is a member the Welsh choir Cor Rehoboth and a tour guide of Welsh burial markers made of slate. Here, he walks through the Slateville Presbyterian Church cemetery. 'Er Cof' is Welsh for 'In Memory.' Background posts: Stone structures tell York countians how their ancestors lived and Delta-Peach Bottom slate shingles: 'Nothing works as good as this' and Old York County town jails: 'They're kind of hidden history'.

Those intrigued by the Welsh in southeastern York County will have a chance this weekend - May 2-3 - to worship and sing with these actual and spiritual sons and daughters of slateworkers.

Homecoming this weekend will be centered in and around the Rehoboth Welsh Chapel.

"Twice a year a Gymanfa Ganu, or Welsh singing festival, is held - on the first Sunday in May and the second Sunday in October," the Delta Welsh Heritage Web site states.

"Visitors come from all over North America." ...

State police horses separate a woman yelling at white supremacists during a January 2002 disturbance in York. Neo-Nazis and other racists traded insults with city residents, anarchists and anti-racist protesters in the aftermath of race riot trial verdicts. Police largely kept the two groups separated. (See related photo below.) Background posts: York's 221 E. Princess St. home to telling ironies and York mayor Brenner brought order during tumultuous times and Images capture hope for racial harmony.

YorkCounts' recent report of quality-of-life indicators assessed one category simply and aptly: "Bias-related incidents are a concern in York County."

The report showed that such incidents are trending down since 1998, but the county average is twice the state's numbers.

For example, the average number of bias incidents reported per 100,000 residents from 2004-2006 in York County totaled 5.5. The state average was 2.6 percent.

Here's a quick assessment of this thorny problem that has long plagued the county... .

Clair Good worships during a Stony Brook Mennonite Church Easter service at sunrise at Lower Windsor Township's Samuel S. Lewis State Park overlooking the Susquehanna River. Background posts: Easter stories of sacrifice & selflessness and Pre-World War II Thanksgiving holds lessons for York countians today and Henry Laurens' Christmas in York Town: 'I will not quit my post, although I ... fear that I may perish on it'.

I penned an editorial in today's (4/12/09) York Sunday News tying themes of Easter with world events during difficult times 90 years ago.

Interested in your thoughts:

A York newspaper story headlined "Joyful Observance of Easter Festival" on Saturday, April 19, 1919, set the stage for services the next day.

It was full of meaning to Gazette and Daily readers.

And for readers 90 years later... .

The original Outdoor Country Club stands in The Avenues in this photo from the publication, "Northwest York, 1884-1984." Background posts: On Eisenhower's Country Club of York golf round: He turned in a 'commendable score' and Exploring ornate Springdale, sunken ballroom, golf course and all and Why is Hanover Country Club in Abbottstown? and 'Lady Linden', of York's Avenues neighborhood, gets full makeover

Many people know that the Country Club of York grew on fertile land now covered by York College of Pennsylvania.

But where did the York-area's other major country club - the Outdoor Country Club begin? Some might think its was birthed when it took over the Country Club of York's property when that group moved to its current location.

Actually, the Outdoor Country Club began in 1892 in the trolley suburbs now called The Avenues, according to the booklet "Northwest York" ... .

In 1949, the Rev. Dr. C. Guy Stambach works on a painting that now hangs in Dallastown's Bethlehem United Methodist Church. A similar painting survived a devastating fire at Shenberger's Chapel, another United Methodist congregation, in Chanceford Township in southeastern York County. (See below for Paul Kuehnel's video and still photos on the fire and the painting.) Background posts: Church's landmark: 'A man named Beech carving a beech tree, it seemed too perfect' and People of varying religious groups founded York County and York's worst blaze struck 150 years ago.

In inspecting their burned out church, chagrined Shenbarger Chapel members are marveling that a painting behind the pulpit survived the blaze.

The painting of Jesus is one of many brought to area churches via the hand of pastor/artist C. Guy Stambaugh.

Coincidentally, the York Daily Record/Sunday News (1/30/09) had run a feature on the Rev. Stambaugh just last week... .

This is a closeup of the Shenbarger chancel painting that survived the blaze.

Georg Sheets' 'York County: To the Setting of the Sun' includes this Bill Schintz photograph of Jimmy Carter's visit to Lewisberry in 1974. (To see a list of other visits by presidents or presidental candidates, click here.) Background post: Former York countian has hand on Lincoln dollar, too and Abe Lincoln stopped at Hanover station:"We want to preserve history ... so it doesn't disappear' and York-area woodcarver made life-size JFK statue. But where is it now?.

Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter visited Lewisberry in northern York County in 1974.

York photographer Bill Schintz recalls Carter attended a rally at a barn... .

York artist J. Horace Rudy's stained glass window oversees Easter flowers at York's First Moravian Church in 2006. Background posts:York Moravian's Putz is an unsung, well-sung annual attraction, New York Wire factory whistle concert: 'We'd stand out on our driveway to hear it' and St. Mary's Church product of 19th-century York County language wars.

If someone wanted to, he or she could visit a local museum, attend a lecture or cultural event or take a tour virtually every day in York County.

I make that point in a York Sunday News column, in which I point out a recent Saturday that First Moravian's Putz was open for viewing and whistemaster Don Ryan gave a lecture on his New York Wire Cloth factory whistle prowess.

What are some pieces of historical information one brings away from such visits? ...

First Moravian Church brought S. Morgan Smith to York as its pastor and his prominent family lived here for years. Steve Zirnkilton, a descendant and York County native, is known to millions. Background posts: How come few in York know about S. Morgan Smith anymore? , Samuel Small tops York, Pa. community contributor list, Cameron Mitchell, Craig Sheffer, Dixie Chick born here.

Pastor-turned-entrepreneur S. Morgan Smith left a world-wide legacy by spawning the forerunners of Johnson Controls, Precision Components, Voith Siemens Hydro and American Hydro.

But a member in his family line, Steve Zirnkilton, is known to many more.

Or at least his voice is.

That's the voice of York native Zirnkilton that is spoken at the beginning of the TV show "Law & Order." ...

The lights of the Christmas Putz at York's First Moravian Church are lit one by one as church members narrate the annual show. The entire Putz is illuminated here in 2004. Background posts: How come few in York know about S. Morgan Smith anymore?, John Adams: 'Yesterday the greatest question was decided' and Henry Laurens in York Town: 'I will not quit my post, although I ... fear that I may perish on it'.

In modern American, the word putz brings to mind many things.

But for centuries in Europe, the word Putz meant decoration, a specific Christmastime decoration.

As York's First Moravian shows its Putz, it's the largest manger or nativity scene, or creche, that you've probably ever seen.

The local display includes 15 different scenes telling about the birth of Jesus, highlighted by beautiful choral music, varied narrative voices and lights that walk viewers through the story.

In addition to its size, three other points about the Putz stand out... .

Henry Laurens, president of Continental Congress, was one of a handful of candidates to serve in that body for the entire nine-month period it spent in York County. That service exacted a heavy toll on the South Carolinian. Background posts: Where was Thomas Jefferson when Congress met in York?, Laurens believed to be the first American to be cremated, Who were these congressional visitors to York Town, anyway?

I've written about the sacrifices of Continental Congress president Henry Laurens before.

But for some reason, they seem particularly acute this time of year when his bout with gout during Congress' visit in York was particularly intense.

So I made them part of today's Christmas Day editorial appearing in the York Daily Record/Sunday News:

Ben Shank, a timber framer from Orrtanna in Adams County, stopped at York's Golden Plough Tavern in the summer of 2008 to study the building's framing. The window at waist height is a soul or spirit window. Background posts: Truck driver delivered broadside to Golden Plough, but left scarcely a scratch, Proposed 'Creation of a Nation' museum name glib, but lacks grounding and Stone structures tell York countians how their ancestors lived.

A small window is cut into the wall of a small room behind the old bar area of York's Golden Plough Tavern.

If tour guides didn't point it out, this so-called soul window would scarcely be noticeable.
Indeed, its function as an outlet for the spirit of sick or dying people to escape to heaven may be mythical.

The York County Heritage Trust's Linda Neylon said visitors to the Golden Plough from Germany have heard of these soul windows:

For years, this marker designated the site where Jonathan Jessop developed the York Imperial Apple. With construction of Apple Hill Medical Center on that site, the state Horticultural Association-sponsored marker has been moved inside the medical complex. It sits in obscurity today in the area, quite naturally, of the center's coffee shop. Background posts: Who were York County's most influential citizens?, Research needed to unearth Underground Railroad in York County and 20 questions and answers to prove your York County smarts.

The 1968 book "Greater York In Action" tells the oft-repeated story about how the York Imperial Apple came into being.

In the 1820s, Quaker orchardist/clockmaker Jonathan Jessop received a seedling from a Hallam-area tree that had produced apples that kept all winter on the ground under a blanket of snow.

Jessop grafted a stem from this seedling onto another tree on his Springwood Farm in York Township.

He carried the tree to the Friends' Yearly Meeting in Baltimore and from there members brought the tree to Virginia.

The apple original was known as Jonathan's Fine Winter and later was changed to "Imperial of Keepers" and "York Imperial."

So Jessop became largely known for his role in development of Imperial apples.

That's where this story, which no doubt needs verification and corroboration, has stood for years... .

.

Cyrus Griest, an agent in the Underground Railroad and his wife are buried with other abolitionist Quakers in the Menallen Friends Meetinghouse, Adams County. Quakers in Adams and York counties were known to aid fugitives traveling along the Underground Railroad. Background posts: York's Goodridge House listed as site on Underground Railroad network, Research needed to unearth Underground Railroad in York County, Part II and Amanda Berry Smith: 'God's image carved in ebony'.

Debra Sandoe McCauslin is doing much to put facts behind Underground Railroad legends.

Her most recent efforts have produced a book exploring Yellow Hill, a black community in Adams County that served as a destination point for fugitives who had crossed the Mason-Dixon Line in an attempt to gain their freedom... .

Welsh miners from the southeastern York County village of Coulsontown worshipped at the nearby Slate Ridge Presbyterian Church. Clearly, some of the slate they mined found its way into the church's cemetery as headstones (the darker markers), rather than the primary use for the stone - roofing shingles. (See additional photos below.) Background posts: Delta-Peach Bottom slate shingles: 'Nothing works as good as this' , Southeastern York County made for Sunday drive and Site filled with wealth of York County geological info.

When settlers legally moved into York County after 1730, they often constructed their homes out of the most-readily available building product.

Mostly, that was wood, and many of the log homes still standing around the county have long been covered with protective siding. But of course, most 1700s and 1800s log structures are long gone or are disappearing even today.

Jim Marsteller took this photo of Centre Presbyterian Church in New Park. Fawn Township residents believe that the church is an accurate gauge of life in the town. 'Things are going on all the time, every night of the week,' he was quoted in a caption for this photo appearing in the Weekly Record in 2007. 'Always something to do at church to spend time with others in our town and praise the Lord at the same time, together as a group, as a community.' Background posts: Stewartstown Railroad: 'Truly a unique entity in the state, and possibly, the nation' , Old Shrewsbury house disappearing hand-hewn log, square nail at a time and 'Yesteryears' southern York County sites - Part II.

Local architectural expert Scott Butcher knew for some time about the wonderful style of Centre Presbyterian Church, within a literal stone throw from the Maryland Line in New Park.

So he made the long trip from York to see the Dempwolf-designed, 1880s-era rural church building and received a treat... .

Anglican William White (1748-1836), rector of Christ Church in Philadelphia, and Presbyterian George Duffield served as chaplains to Congress during that body's stay in York Town. Here, William White is seen in a panel painted in connection with the 150th anniversary of the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in 1927. He stayed with a Lutheran pastor named Kurtz in York. Background posts: Research topic: 18th-century helicopter could have aided pastor, Declaration signer's marker mounted in obscurity and York church gained new cupola by 'stealth' .

Anne Eckert Johnson was born in Gettysburg but lives in Richmond, Va.

She is seeking information on the Kurtz family that goes back generations in York County.

Here's a recent request: ...

Mary Breighner discusses a body found in a Peach Bottom quarry in 2004 with her boss, Coroner Barry Bloss. In 2008, Breighner said she retiring. Background posts: York's Wonder Women: The stories of four more movers and shakers, Witman murder among York County's most notorious crimes and Hex murder house visit offers surprises.

York County's Chief Deputy Coroner Mary Breighner talked about her pending retirement recently.

In so doing, she brought up a case that many have forgotten. But the longtime assistant coroner - she assisted Kathryn Olewiler before current coroner Barry Bloss - obviously remembers it well... .

Adamsville United Methodist Church's Jon Butcher promotes the church's annual apple festival in this 2007 file photo. The church serves as the center of the York Township village of Adamsville. Background: Red Lion's towering Fairmont Park off the beaten track, York County cigars: 'They contained a vast amount of nicotine' and LBJ's, Lady Bird's visit a high point in Dallastown's history.

The village of Adamsville also has been called Pinch Gut and Arbor.

Its location, like its name, is also hard to pinpoint. Maybe it's near Red Lion. Maybe Dallastown. It's actually in York Township, somewhere between Route 24 and Route 214.

One hundred years ago - perhaps because it was near a lot of places - it was bustling with cigar factories and a dairy and a ballfield... .

This stained glass window from St. Mary's Catholic Church in York was removed in March 2008 for restoration. A historical program on this landmark church is set for Sunday, Nov. 2. (See additional York Daily Record/Sunday News photos below). Background posts: Conewago Chapel steeple worker wondered if he'd ever get up there: Now, 'Here I am' , People of varying religious groups founded York County and St. Pat's: A church without a steeple ... by design .

In the mid-1800s, language wars hit York County's churches.

For example, the debate over whether services would be conducted in English or German caused St. Paul's Lutheran (English) to separate from mother church Christ Lutheran and Trinity German Reformed (English) to separate (at least in part) from what is today called Zion German Reformed or Zion United Church of Christ.

York's Catholic congregation dealt with the language issue in the opposite fashion. The mother church (English) is called St. Patrick's today, but St. Mary's Church was built in 1852 to accommodate German-speaking Catholics... .

Springettsbury Township's Clair E. Wentz provided this photo of Newberry school students in 1946. Wentz started a school reunion in 1998 and the former classmates plus their counterparts from Roxbury and Beshore schools have been meeting every other year at Paddletown (St. Paul's) United Methodist Church's Christian Education Center. Background posts: Stetler Dodge transition indicative of other York-area changes , Smoketown a popular York County name a century ago and York County libraries offer serendipity - and have done so for decades.

My conversation with the woman scheduling me to speak at a Newberry Township one-room school reunion went something like this.

Reunion contact: Do you know where Paddletown is?

Me: I know about Paddletown Road, near Newberrytown.

Contact: It's at the Paddletown Church hall.

Me: What's the name of the church?

Contact: It's just known as the Paddletown church.

It was as if, everybody knows where that is. No further explanation needed... .

An Amish farmer works in his Lower Chanceford Township field in June 2008. In recent years, Amish from Lancaster and elsewhere have moved to this remote part of York County. Background posts: Who was Norman Wood (of bridge fame)?, Horse, buggy, one-room school make county comeback, Amish: 'We are making a commitment to forgive'

With Amish moving to less crowded quarters west of the Susquehanna in recent decades, it raises the question about how many of these newcomers now call York County home.

York Daily Record/Sunday News religion writer Melissa Nann Burke has come as close as can be determined without actually counting heads... .

Teachers in one-room schools in the 1870s had tall orders inside and outside of their classroom. Background posts: Interesting Web site dedicated to country schools, Can you identify this mystery school, believed to be in York County? and Two tales of four schools teach about change in York County education.

Bob Weaver has done a lot of research on York/Adams one-room schools, those ubiquitous boxy buildings that dotted this region's countryside before World War II.

And somewhere the East Berlin-area history enthusiast dug up a list of teacher expectations from 1872.

The list is so demanding - and intrusive - that I've often wondered if it might be a spoof.

For example, getting shaved in a barber shop could bring frowns from school directors?... .

A large crowd listens to big band music over the weekend at Dills Tavern, part of Dillsburg's175th anniversary festivities. The tavern serviced the plentiful passengers on the Harrisburg and Baltimore Turnpike, as they passed through the notch in the mountains. Background posts: Franklintown second cousin to neighboring Dillsburg, Flag expert: 'I was interested in my nation's heritage', Dillsburg's Jane Alexander pioneering county woman in state politics

The York Daily Record/Sunday News story (8/23/08) called Dillsburg York County's
"wild child."

The 175th-anniversary celebration over the weekend was, indeed, a bright moment in the northwest York County borough.

The wild child comment brings to mind the most celebrated wedding of a townsman - or townswoman.

Anne Dill, 24 years old and the beautiful widow of a descendant of the town's founder, married the distinguished clergyman and Declaration of Independence signer John Witherspoon... .

The 2,000-pound bell Conewago Chapel bell as contractor measures the church belfry. The steeple of the mother church for Roman Catholics in York and Adams counties is undergoing renovations. (See additional photo below). Background posts: People of varying religious groups founded York County, Abe, Gwyneth passed through Porters Sideling and In bucolic countryside, royal body sat in the sun.

York's Christ Lutheran is the mother church for worshippers in that Protestant denomination in York and Adams counties.

The Codorus Church of the Brethren near Loganville is the founding Church of Brethren in York County.

But the hearth for York/Adams' United Churches of Christ, United Methodists and Roman Catholics Catholics came further west in present-day Adams County. Adams was part of York at the time these first churches were planted.

Here are some facts on those early, out-west churches, according to "Never to be Forgotten":

Codorus Church of the Brethren in Dunkard Valley is the mother church for members of that denomination in York County. Background posts: Potosi, Pa., linked to mining, Northern York strawberry part of Neapolitan county, People of varying religious groups founded York County.

The stats say that the Church of the Brethren has grown from one congregation - Springfield Township's Codorus church - planted in the fields of a quiet valley 250 years ago to 15 churches in York County today

The figures also show that the number of churches of that Protestant denomination in the county is down by three between 1990 and 2000.

That is probably the reason Codorus and other Brethren groups are trying new things - like this past weekend's Dunkard Valley Live, a Christian music festival with rap groups and such. Surely, this was the loudest moment in this agricultural valley since the introduction of the gasoline-fired combine.

But here's the question that is often asked about the Brethren and their Amish and Mennonite cousins: Why aren't there as many of those groups west of the Susquehanna as there are in Lancaster County? ...

Local architectural expert and blogger Scott Butcher chose Gethsemane Hall as the cover image of his new book, "York's Historic Architecture." Butcher writes that Freemasons constructed the 111 N. Beaver St. building in 1912. It was built after the Masons acquired the next-door, former York Post Office. Background posts: When did York's square turn from Centre to Continental?, The Four Bloggers write and Virtual York offers colorful tour of York's past.

Scott Butcher's newest book will serve as a resource for countless people interested in York County's architectural significant buildings.

The 157-page book is packed with photos and descriptions of private residences, houses of worship, commercial buildings and some structures that have seen many uses.

"From early Colonial taverns and ornate Victorian homes to the postmodern office towers of today, York's streetscape features almost every style and era of American architecture," Scott wrote in a news release.

Here's how I'll use the book: ...

Camp Ganoga athletic director Don Roehm leads Boy Scouts in exercises in 1921. Scouts trooped about three miles into the isolated camp on the bank of the Big Conewago Creek near Strinestown after disembarking from the trolley in Manchester. This York County Heritage Trust photo was published in the book "On My Honor, 70 Years of Scouting in York & Adams Counties." The Big Conewago is the symbolic divide between northern York County and the other two-thirds of the county. Background posts: Monica Goodling proves that all roads lead to York, Part of Elm Beech still visible and Northern York area strawberry part of Neapolitan county.

Monica Goodling, in the news recently for her practices in hiring federal prosecutors, lived in a region where northern York County met southern York County.

In a forthcoming York Sunday News column, I tell about the Conewago Creek region where she lived and how at least intra-county cultures met on its banks.

The column follows:

The York County Heritage Trust archives' genealogy section offers resources for families to search out their ancestors. Background posts: Genealogists find mother lode in York County, Unsung "York County history in print" touted and Peeking into Pennsylvania's attic .

Mabel Lou Brown's request for family members is among scores that flood York County in a month.

She's looking for a family members of a relative named Miller who died in 1879 and is buried in York County.

At least she has a year of death and location of his burial.

This one seems solvable, although any researcher will tell you that a common name like Miller complicates things... .

Voni Grimes greets a small crowd standing in a pouring rain at a diversity and peace rally in April 2006 in York. During the event, York Mayor John Brenner praised Grimes for his efforts to unite the community. Background posts: Two 'connectors' would make York County's list of most influential, A short test of your York black history knowledge and 10 tips to write a book-length project.

This photo did not make it into Voni B. Grimes just-published memoirs, but it typifies the man, who perhaps knows more York countians than any other person.

There's the Bamberg, S.C., born/World War II vet/retired Penn State administrator standing in the rain on a Saturday morning. Only a few turned out for this diversity rally.

A few here and a few there and pretty soon you change hearts. That's how Voni Grimes would see it.

So via his memoirs "Bridging Troubled Waters," this man, who knows so many people, can himself be known... .

This image, from Aldersgate United Methodist Church's Web site shows the concrete image of Jesus, standing at the location of the congregation's longtime prized copper beech tree. Holocaust statue a must-see, Memorial honoring DUI victims should be visited and AIDS memorial at York's Albemarle Park .

While attending the viewing of longtime York Daily Record columist Jim Hubley at York Township's Aldersgate United Methodist Church, I saw the landmark cement monument depicting Jesus.

It reminded me of the church's copper beech tree.

Or rather, it reminded me of Mike Argento's story on the tree, later carved into a wooden rendition of Jesus and later a cement image.

Well, we'll let Mike tell the story (11/29/01), published in the York Daily Record before the cement image went up:

Theresa Krout with New Hope Fissel's United Church of Christ holds a petrified, severed human finger and several teeth found during renovations in 2002 of an old stone home located on church grounds. Many items were unearthed during renovations of the Shrewsbury Township farmhouse: Egg cartons store old belt buckles and girdle clips, baby food jars hold nails, yogurt containers carry broken china and a coffee can has pottery pieces. 'We kept looking for that pot of gold, but it never came,' Krout says of the items found. Background posts: Two York County union churches vestiges of bygone era, Parade Music Prince Roland Seitz: From Shrewsbury to Friday Night Lights and The things you learn reading local history.

The discovery of the interesting photo of Fissel's one-room school places a spotlight on that area surrounding Susquehannock High School.

Where did name Fissel's, as nearby New Hope United Church of Christ is called, come from?

And what is the story of the severed pinkie finger founds during renovations to an 1823 house about six years ago?... .

William C. Goodridge, a former slave who became a respected York businessman, was an influential 19th-century figure in York County. He is on a short list of top newsmakers in York County in the past 250 years. Background posts: List of luminaries from Dover lengthens, How come so few in York know about S. Morgan Smith?, Samuel Small tops community contributor list.

On Sunday, we'll post a sampling of 25 of York County's most influential residents. Actually, there are 26.

The suggestions came from members of the public, York Daily Record/Sunday New staff and the newspaper's editorial board.

As a warm up, we post here a list from "Never to be Forgotten" of a group of 30 influential residents from York County's past... .

The sparkling, renovated war memorial in Hallam reflects George Eyler, past commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart Chapter 390, dedication services on Monday. Such monuments dot small towns across York County. Background posts: York County Vietnam marker funding at half-way mark; looking for more, Lorann Jacobs sculpts York County legacy and York on its knees as men hit the beach.

A favorite pastime of mine when I drive through York County towns is to search for the war memorial.

Most towns have them. Some have more than one.

Here are some leads on several such memorials and monuments:

Voni B. Grimes plays his trademark harmonica at a York Revolution game in the team's inaugural season in 2007. Background posts: Richard Nixon's visit to his namesake park sparks memories, At the blind center: 'The bees have been enjoying this garden, too.' and Articles of Confederation don't get no respect.

Borrowing from Time magazine, the York Daily Record/Sunday is compiling a list of York County's most influential people.

The names of philanthropic industrialists and businessmen no doubt will make the list.

Borrowing from Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point," I put forth in my Sunday column the names of two 'connectors' - Luther B. Sowers and Voni B. Grimes - for that list... .

Ginny Lehr will raffle off a quilt to raise money to refurbish the Center Square School in Roundtown. The century-old Manchester Township schoolhouse is in need of repairs, estimated at $50,000. Background posts: Interesting Web site dedicated to American country schools, Roundtown. Where did that come from? and Pottery put the other Foustown - the one in Manchester Township, Pa. - on the map.

Many York County public schools began in church or Sunday school buildings before they moved to the one-room schools that thousands of county residents remember today.

Some schools were built for religious and public education. For example, the "Spring Grove Years, 1882-1982" states that the log Spring Grove school, built before 1850, was constructed "for the only use as a school house and for school purposes, of holding religious worship in the building by members of the Methodist Episcopal Church ... ."

And, of course, some churches met in schools before building their own houses of worship. That is happening today... .

As the military hit the beaches of Normandy in northwestern France on June 6, 1944, many York/Adams residents supported those in uniform by going to houses of worship. The services were brief to allow workers to return to their jobs, where the demands of immense war contracts awaited them. Here, worshippers enter Union Evangelical Lutheran Church on York, Pa.'s West Market Street. (This image comes from York Corporation's "Shop News.) Background posts: Nazis murdered downed airman from York County, Part IIII, Book gives positive view of forgotten Gen. Jacob Devers and York/Adams residents contributed to 'The War'.

Continuing in this series of iconic photographs from York County's past... .

This turbine, also known as a runner, was manufactured at Voith Siemens Hydro's West Manchester Township plant in 2006. (See related photos below.) Background posts: Glatfelter, Smith top industrial legacy list, Voith turbine runner legacy of former pastor/entrepreneur, York made big, heavy things - and was immensely proud of it.

A student in my OLLI class at Penn State York wondered why S. Morgan Smith, an industrial giant in the late 1800s, isn't better known today.

The short answer is that no company with Smith connections bears the name of the Moravian-minister-turned-entrepreneur today... .

Tim Smith, middle right, narrates the Battle of Gettysburg from the vantage point of the cupola above Schmucker Hall during the Adams County Historical Society's tour of the hall. Standing in the cupola, Union Gen. John Buford surveyed troop movements before the battle began and during the early stages of fighting. Background post: 18th-century helicopter could have aided pastor, Dover's uneven history runs deep in fertile soil and Gettysburg Human Interest Stories scores sequel.

Some Gettysburg fans became familar with the cupola on Schmucker's Hall via the film "Gettysburg."

They saw John Buford, played by Sam Elliott, peering at approaching Union troops from that high point.

What isn't as well known is that the hall gained its name from York native Samuel Simon Schmucker... .

York Fairgoers give presidential candidate John F. Kennedy a warmer reception than York County, Pa., voters in 1960. Richard M. Nixon outpolled Kennedy in the county by 16,000 votes. His younger brother, Ted, is scheduled to appears in York today on behalf of Dem presidential candidate Barack Obama. Background posts: Ted Kennedy's visit to York comes almost 50 years after JFK's, U.S. Army Field Band: Live at Farquhar Park and Hillary Clinton's rally site in York a little odd.

Confronted with an opportunity to buy a brick for the York Salvation Army's new building, John F. Kennedy reached for his wallet.

As nearby newsmen covering the presidential candidate at the York Fair looked on, the multi-millionaire Kennedy searched his wallet for a $10 bill.

But he found it empty, a common occurrence, according to his aides... .

This Four Chaplains stamp, issued in 1948, was designed by Louis Schwimmer. The Army Chaplain Center and School, according to the Chapel of the Four Chaplains site, quoted Schwimmer's son as saying that "this may be the first stamp commemorating a Jew. It is undoubtedly, the first US postage stamp designed by a Jew that commemorates a Jew." But the stamp has significance in yet another way, according to a recent bestseller. Rabbi Alexander D. Goode of York, Pa., one of the chaplains, is pictured at right. Background posts: 'Chaplains: The Calm in the Chaos', Often forgotten: Achievements of people named on building facades and And now starring actor ... Jakie Devers?.

A York County link popped up in Newsweek editor Jon Meacham's bestselling book "American Gospel."

Indirectly, but it was there... .

The two presidential candidates meet at Messiah College, only a few hundred feet from York County. At least two bridges connect York and Cumberland counties on the Messiah campus, a relocated covered bridge (the last of its kind in York County) and a pedestrian bridge, successor to a swinging bridge. Background posts: Picturesque steel bridges going way of covered predecessors and When the bridge over the Codorus moved.

When Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama spoke at Messiah College Sunday night, I wondered if they would unwittingly bring their campaigns to York County.

All it would have taken was for either candidate to walk across the covered bridge connecting the Cumberland County part of the campus to the York County part... .

Three churches of three different Protestant denominations crowd the Freysville crossroad in eastern York County, Pa. Background posts: Two York County union churches vestiges of bygone era, 'Chaplains: The Calm in the Chaos' and Abe, Gwyneth passed through Porters Sideling.

Continuing the series of telling York County, Pa.'s, history through images: ... .

Salvador Cabrera, portraying Jesus, is led by soldiers William Rodriguez, right, and Julio Rivera during a performance of the Stations of the Cross Friday by St. Mary's Church in York. The annual event is one of scores of Easter celebrations in York County. Background posts: Amish: 'We are making a commitment to forgive', 'Sandpaper Sisters' rubs readers right way and Retiring pastor: 'I'll miss the people',

Easter has long been widely observed in York County - everything from emotional Stations of the Cross performances, bone-numbing outdoor sunrise services and solemn church altars adorned with sweet-smelling flowers.York County has about 500 houses of worship that celebrate Jesus' resurrection that day.

It's a big deal for all kinds of sacred and secular reasons, so for years the York Daily Record/Sunday News has worked hard to be thoughtful in its editorials published on Easter (and Thanksgiving and Christmas).

I've had the privilege of writing most of them and am constantly on the lookout for appropriate stories.

My favorite Easter editorial came last year with a piece titled, "Easter moment fired activist's work."

That one tied together Easter and slavery - yesterday and today - and human trafficking and reformer William Wilberforce and ... .

The Quakers were a large group settling York County's northern tier from York County's earliest days. The original part of this Friends' meeting house in Warrington Township (seen here) was erected in 1769. The congregation doubled the building's size in 1782. It's one of three such Quaker-built structures standing today across York County's northern tier. Background posts: Gladys Rawlins, 'Black History Profiles,' Part III and Thousands discover formerly unheralded Howard Tunnel.

After seeing several recent posts on railroading, Joe Stein (jstein3@comcast.net), a York Town Square reader, wondered why so many lines ran in the southern and central parts of York County.

"What about the northern portion?" he asked.

York and Baltimore were rail destinations in the South, but surely Harrisburg was attractive in the North.

Here are some thoughts in response ... .

Anna Dill Gamble, one of York County's most accomplished 20th-century women, is the topic of a question in a women's history quiz put forth by the York Daily Record/Sunday News. Read on to learn more about her. Background posts: OLLI's theme song: 'Don't stop thinking about learning' and York County Civil War hero grandmom of Gore Vidal.

Test your history knowledge on this quiz about women who achieved on the local and national level (answers below, too):

Carrie Nation visited York County for a week-long campaign against drinking and smoking in 1907. She addressed a large gathering at Highland Park in West York. Her address might have taken place in the park theater, pictured above. The park, located at the south end of Highland Avenue, was demolished early in the 20th century. Background posts: Growing off-peak trolley ridership: Build a park and Church's story links up with U.S. religious history.

York resident F.H. Hartley recalled years after Carrie Nation's visit to West Manchester Township's Highland Park in 1907 that a young man stoutly stood in front of her puffing on a cigarette.

He blew smoke directly at the reformer.

At one point, she turned to him and said: "Young fellow, if you keep on smoking those things, you'll have as little brains in your head as you have moisture now."

Perhaps the young man's hard-headed presence that day at Highland Park was appropriate.

The park is gone, covered by rock quarry... .

Steve McKee's "My Father's Heart, A Son's Story" is a multi-faceted book that is more than a memoir about heart disease. It explores the complex relationship between father and son and the painful aftermath of a loved one's death. And it's a story about growing up in the York area in the 1960s. McKee, a York Catholic graduate, will sign his book at 7 p.m., March 13, at Borders on Whiteford Road in York. Background posts: East Yorker David Levin became exemplary elder and Upcoming events should attract York/Adams history buffs.

I had the good fortune of reading part of "My Father's Heart" manuscript, specifically the sections that touch on York and its history.

Author Steve McKee and I have a lot in common. Pretty much the same age. Grew up in the same years. Both newsmen. Steve is an editor at the Wall Street Journal.

In reading the manuscript, I thought how this work mirrors a chapter in David Levin's "Exemplary Elders," a story about growing up in the 1920s and 1930s. Levin thrived as a Jewish boy in Lutheran old East York. About three decades later, McKee moved to nearby Haines Acres, a Roman Catholic outsider in a Protestant community... .

Don Warner, left, and his wife, Ruth, of 70 years are seen near his 40-year-old Conn organ. Warner stars in the weekly "Don Warner at the Organ' on WGCB in Red Lion, Pa.. Background posts: The organ: 'It is a whole orchestra in itself' and Research topic: 18th-century helicopter could have aided pastor.

There's something about keyboard players that brings recognition.

Everyone, for example, knows Sam Keeney.

And Don Warner. (See video of Don in action:)

Maybe it's because they play so many gigs in such varied places ... .

Don Miller, St. Jacob's Church historian, walks through the cemetery where members of the union church, Lutheran and Reformed (United Church of Christ), are buried. The cemetery, a beautiful church building, a nearby picnic grove and bandstand and scenic setting encourage a Sunday afternoon stroll, a longtime York County custom. St Jacob's, also known as Stone Church, is one of two remaining union churches in York County. Background posts: York County's own Civil War - Part IV and The things you learn from reading local history.

The union church arrangement in York County was not a case of congregations banding together for collective bargaining with God or anyone else.

But the movement gave a nod to York County and Central Pennsylvania congregations developing a practical solution to a thorny problem.

The movement, stemming back to the 1700s, saw German churches - usually Lutherans and German Reformed congregations - sharing buildings and maintenance of those structures... .

A steeplejack works on the tall tower of York's Christ Lutheran Church in York during restoration in 2006. The steeple's shadow is cast to the right. (See photo of tower's interior below.) The church is celebrating its 275th anniversary this year, although one researcher dates the founding of the congregation about a decade later. Background posts: Christ Lutheran is oldest York church - but how old? and The organ: 'It is a whole orchestra in itself'.

York's Christ Church was the first Lutheran congregation on the Susquehanna's west bank.

The congregation traces its founding date to Sept. 23, 1733, the moment the first baptism was recorded in official church paperwork.

A register contains baptisms performed by the Rev. John Casper Stoever in 1733. Thus, the congregation is celebrating a key birthday.

Not necessarily so, says Charles H. Glatfelter, professor emeritus of history at Gettysburg College... .

Katharine Beecher Candies has moved its decades-old manufacturing operations from Manchester to Cumberland County. The owner and namesake was one of the top businesswomen in York County in the 20th century, and her accomplishments will be part of an upcoming course of county history. Background posts: Katharine Beecher: 'Legacies,' Part I and York author's works adapted to the big screen: 'Legacies,' Part Last.

Question 1: This York countian's sculpture brought $23.6 million at auction in New York.

Question 2: This woman was so sweet her candy circulated to all parts of the world.

Question 3: This York countian met a friend 3 different times on 3 different beaches in the South Pacific in World War II. Who was the York countian and who was the friend?

I used these three questions (answers below) to introduce a course I will be teaching on famous people from York County ... .

The Rev. Leslie Lawson, friend of Dr. Martin Luther King, retired after 23 years of service at York's Small Memorial AME Zion Church in 1992. Background posts: Mildred and Russell Chapman, Part I, Roy Borom, Part II, Gladys Rawlins, Part III.

The Rev. Leslie Lawson was jailed with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1962.

When reaching York in 1969, he immediately acted as a peacemaker during the race riots that summer.

"He invested his talents in the marketplace of human needs," a bishop said in eulogizing Lawson at the pastor's funeral in 1998... .

Gladys Rawlins demonstrates the Green Circle Program. It is used in some York County schools. She is buried in Lebanon Cemetery in North York. Background posts: Mildred and Russell Chapman, Part I and Roy Borom, Part II

Gladys Rawlins is internationally known as the founder of Green Circle, the educational program that promotes racial understanding.

But it's not as widely known that she stayed in York County for extensive periods and is buried here... .

Finding relics around Gettysburg was common in the post-Civil War years? But finding artifacts of the the Battle of Hanover, site of 300 casualties? Blogger June Lloyd tells about one such find in: Civil War Confederate Sword Plowed Up in Hanover. Background posts: The four bloggers write, Skinny dipping for web readers and Best of yorktownsquare.com, 2007 .

York County's other three local history bloggers regularly come up with surprising findings about the county's past.

Here are some examples of some topics from June Lloyd's Universal York, Scott Mingus' Cannonball and Scott Butcher's Windows into York that may enlighten and intrigue local history enthusiasts:

Paul Schenck, right, takes on a protester on this July 10, 1992, Life cover. The nationally known York County resident heads the National Pro-Life Action Center (NPLAC), an advocacy group in Washington, D.C. Background post: York County 1st Amendment case list grows.

Since 2005, York County has been the home of well-known pro-life advocate Paul Schenck.

Schenck moved his family from Washington, D.C., to less congested, less expensive Manchester Township.

He now lives in a county in which the primary pro-life organization, Human Life Services, has its headquarters in a former abortion clinic... .

Members of the Jewish Community Center participate in the lighting of the first candle to recognize the beginning of Hanukkah in December 2006. "The Six Million" sculpture can be seen at rear. Background posts: Holocaust sculpture a York County must-see and Images capture hope for racial harmony.

Did you know? ...

- That before its move to Hollywood Drive, the Jewish Community Center met in the former YWCA building at 120 E. Market Street York.

- That building had a rooftop playground. ("You can tell you're a long-time member of the Jewish community if you thought the East Market Street rooftop playground area was the neatest place in town," Gordon Freireich, 2000.)

The caption for this newspaper photograph tells the story. Penn Grove Camp at Smith Station in southwestern York County attracted Billy Sunday and other popular evangelists to audiences numbering in the thousands. (See photograph below of the road, now abandoned, as it appears today.) Since 1999, the restored campground has played host to day campers and retreats for church and community groups. Background posts: Billy Graham: 'I do remember him being here and what a thrill it was', Retiring pastor: 'I'll miss the people' and Tomb of unknown soldier in York, too.

Penn Grove Camp, host of hordes of campers in its heyday, sits somewhat forgotten in southwestern York County.

Parts of the camp have been restored (see story below), and it still operates as a day camp... .

The York Gospel Center, which brought Billy Graham to York in 1940, operated Penn Grove Camp for years. There, evangelists preached in the open air, and families took an annual vacation. In this photo, campers talk outside a cabin in the early 1900s. Background posts: Retiring pastor: 'I'll miss the people' and German vs. English ... York churches disputed language.

The York Gospel Center was the York-area's best known non-denominational church from about 1940 to the early 1990s.

Non-denominational meant that it was not affiliated with the predominant Protestant churches mostly with German backgrounds so apparent for decades in towns throughout York County - Methodists, Lutherans and United Churches of Christ.

As such, the Gospel Center drew attention and developed a large congregation... .

Larry Katz, pastor of Grace Fellowship church in North Codorus Township, is pastor of one of York County's largest churches. He plans to retire but has yet to determine a date. His church is an indicator of the suburbanization of the county. Background posts: Christ Lutheran is oldest York church - but how old? and Sandpaper Sisters rubs readers right way.

Larry Katz, retiring pastor of Grace Fellowship and one of York's best known ministers, has led two historic York County churches.

He was pastor the the Gospel Center in the late 1980s. That Leader Heights church was one of the first - perhaps the first large suburban non-denominational church - in the York area... .

Wikipedia lists several luminaries hailed from Hanover, including Academy Award-winning costume designer Ann Roth. Background posts: Actor John Baer among achievers in York High's Class of 1941 and And now starring actor ... Jakie Devers?

About 90 people with links to York have gained a national profile as listed on Wikipedia, the Web's free encyclopedia, number about 90.

A similar search for those in the national spotlight from Hanover comes in at eight.

But many luminaries are missing... .

Terry Cox leads other members of the Glen Rock Carol Singers in their annual Christmas stroll around the streets of Glen Rock in 2004. Background posts: Legendary Glen Rock Carolers to publish history and Glen Rock singers salute English caroling custom.

The revised edition of the history of the Glen Rock Carol Singers bears all kinds of interesting information.

And it answers a question I've long wondered.... .

This was the first graphic or photograph to appear with a York Town Square post, accompanying York Market House No. 5 - Carlisle Avenue Market, revisited in April 2006. Incidentally, that the present-day Dreamwrights building was built as a farmers market still surprises folks. Background posts: There were 5, count 'em, 5 York markets and Don't know much about (York market) history?.

The year 2007 saw visitors to this blog increase exponentially over the previous two years we've been posting.

We hope you are enjoying each day's history lesson. The numbers, increased commenting and e-mails suggest you are.

A list of best, first and most popular posts at this blog follows:

Eulamae and David Orr started with little and ended with lives of achievment - owning a refusing company and a restaurant among other business interests. David Orr also served as a pastor. Background posts: The Cassimatises, The Yeagleys and The Grumbachers.

Many prominent black families today came here in the 1920s from Bamberg, S.C. - the Bamburgers.

David and Eulamae Orr are part of that group that includes black families with the names of Green, Nimmons, Jones, Kearse, Saxon and Varnes... .

Dr. Maulana Karenga, widely known as the creator of Kwanzaa, graduated from York's William Penn High School. The widely published author was known as Ron Everett during his York days. Kwanzaa is an African American and Pan-African holiday celebrating black unity. Background posts: Amanda Berry Smith: 'God's image carved in ebony' and Black playwright earning place in history.

Families gathering during the holidays sometimes like to show off their York smarts.

So we've included a quiz on York County's black history, followed by some inspirational quotes from achievers with York roots.

Look for an additional post on general history in York County on Monday:

Good luck in stumping your loved ones!

William Penn High School grad Chris Doleman was one of several York countians to score success in the NFL. Background posts: Lineup full of sports stars with York County links and Hinkey and the Babe teamed up in '23 and Names of stars from York County with pro sports links just keep increasing and A journey from Delone Catholic to the Super Bowl .

Dover's John Kuhn is part of a short list of York County athletes who have made the NFL in recent years.

A sampling of former NFL players born in York County to join Kuhn, the former Pittsburgh Steeler and current Green Bay Packer into professional football, according to a York Daily Record report:

This advertisement in The Ripplet, a weekly newspaper in Spring Grove, touts a longtime York County product. The Ripplet is the only newspaper to publish from Spring Grove, operating from 1897 to 1922. The present-day Historical Ripplet, newsletter of the Spring Grove Area Historical Preservation Society Spring Grove Area Historical Preservation Society, was founded in 1987 and is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Background posts: Spring Grove Museum display horse gas mask and more and 'Persons should not be too modest'.

York countians fought culture and language wars through most of the 19th century.

That was probably not surprising to many people who know that the Pennsylvania Dutch language vs. English debate encompassed homes, schools, churches and communities.

German speakers gradually died off, although some people alive today in York County can speak the dialect.

But what might surprise some is that the debate through the first quarter of the 20th century, as I detailed in a recent York Sunday News column, Language wars nothing new
... .

Rivertownes PA USA helps promote Wrightsville, Pa.'s many attractions. Here, Claire Storm, Rivertownes' president in this 2003 photograph, surveys one of the town's stone kilns. Background posts: York County, Pa., Civil War hero grandmom of Gore Vidal, Wrightsville's overlooked attractions and Absorbing photo and overlay shows locations of six Susquehanna bridges.

Wrightsville is a lot like Dover.

More goes on in those turnpike towns than one would think... .

The Samuel Runkle house is shown in this photo from the new publication "Yesteryears in Southern York County." The caption notes that this photograph shows six people. Can you find them? Background posts: Southeastern York County made for Sunday drive and Yesteryears, Part II.

A new book, "Yesteryears in Southern York County," is well worth its $20 cost.

The pictorial book contains more than 200 photos of life from the past in Fawn Grove, Gatchelville, New Park, Stewartstown, Rinely, Cross Roads and Winterstown.

The photos have a lot to say about yesteryears in those parts ... .

Nineteenth-century evangelist Amanda Berry Smith is profiled in a recent book "More Than Petticoats: Remarkable Pennsylvania Women." (For details, see below.) Before the Civil War, her family purchased its freedom, and she resided in York County. Background post: Autobiographies contain valuable golden nuggets.

The historical monument for noted evangelist Amanda Berry Smith is out of the way for most York County travelers.

It's on the by-passed Susquehanna Trail in Shrewsbury. It's not far from the Mason-Dixon Line, the same boundary that spelled freedom for Smith as youngster... .

This 6-foot-high Ten Commandments monument has stood in Hanover's Wirt Park since the 1950s. In 2003, the marker was challenged in court. The matter was resolved when a non-profit group purchased a 15-foot plot. It is one of several First Amendment cases in York County in the past 50 years. Background post: A refresher on Dover ID case and For years, York countians part of major court cases and Witman murder among York County's most notorious crimes.

Albert Snyder's federal lawsuit against the Westboro Baptist Church covered such issues as privacy, freedom of speech, freedom of religion and the right to assemble. That all stemmed from the religious group's picketing the funeral of Albert Snyder's son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, the Marine who was killed in Iraq in March 2006.

It was one of many high-profile court cases in York County or involving county residents in the past 50 years that explored First Amendment issues, particularly the freedom of religion clause... .

J. Ross McGinnis portrays Harvey A. Gross in the York County Bar Association's presentation "A Spell to Remember," based on the Hex Trial Background post: 'Powwowing was done for good'.

Jim Hubley, York Daily Record columnist, recently mused about the famous Hex Murder of Nelson Rehmeyer and the subsequent trial of his three assailants.

Hubley called for a repeat of the York County Bar Association's "A Spell to Remember," a 1999 re-enactment of the murder trial. The Daily Record will pick up his call in an upcoming editorial.

Almost in passing, Hubley revealed an interesting moment from that time: ...

Members of the South Central Pennsylvania Genealogical Society look on as J. Ross McGinnis gives a tour of the Nelson Rehmeyer house, where the famous Hex murder occurred in 1828. The group is standing over the spot where Rehmeyer was killed. McGinnis is referencing a copy of a photograph of the kitchen depicted after the murder. (See video tour of Hex house below.) Background post: Hex book: How powwow doctors plied their craft.

It was a perfect story.

The plot brought J. Ross McGinnis, the foremost authority on the Hex murder of 1928, to the site where it occurred, the Nelson Rehmeyer house in North Hopewell Township.

Not only did McGinnis write an authoritative and readable book on the murder, but he's a master story teller to boot.

"I feel like I'm walking here on hallowed ground," McGinnis told members of the South Central Pennsylvania Genealogical Society.

A wonderful fund-raiser for some group would bring McGinnis to the Strand-Capitol in York to tell a similar story before a showing of "Apprentice to Kill," the 1988 film inspired by the Hex murder.

On second thought, given McGinnis' storytelling ability, forget the film. The Strand would be filled.

The York Daily Record reported on McGinnis' visit to the house in a story headlined: "The scene of the crime:"

Frank Shaffer works at the annual York County Heritage Trust oyster festival, a moment that places the spotlight on that seafood delicacy. A local church serves oysters regularly, but in combo with hog maw. Background post: Search Joan Concilio's Only in York blog for "hog maw."

Oysters are a York County delicacy, but some people think you have more of a good thing when served in combination with hog maw?

Two iconic county delicacies served side by side.

And add to that meat loaf.

That's what's on the table at regular Mount Royal United Methodist Church fund-raising dinners.

"Hog maw, oysters and meat loaf are the specialty meals and are prepared by cooks with years of experience," a history of the Dover Township church states. "The dinners constitute a unique Mt. Royal church dining experience topped off with homemade pies and cakes and a refreshing drink."

What is hog maw?

Arthur Lewis' "Hex," the first book on the famous York County Hex Murder of 1928 and subsequent trail is said to be out of print. But Ross McGinnis' "Trials of Hex" are still available at York County booksellers. Both paint an intriguing picture of the practice of powwowing in York County. Background post: 'Powwowing was done for good'

The casting of spells and witchcraft are themes behind the story of York County's famous Hex murder of 1928.

The murder of witch Nelson Rehmeyer by three young assailants is a case where the related practice of powwowing - the use of witchcraft for healing purposes - went amok.

But how did the widespread practice of powwowing really work?

It seems like a story from the Middle Ages, but here's how powwow doctors worked in 20th-century York County, as described by Arthur Lewis in his 1969 book "Hex":

Philip Livingston is one of two Declaration of Independence signers to be interred in York County. His marker stands in Prospect Hill Cemetery. The monument for the other signer, James Smith, rests in the First Presbyterian Church's Cemetery. This painting of Livingston, exhibited from time to time at the York County Heritage Trust, came as part of the 150th anniversary of the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in 1927. It was posted outdoors, in Continental Square, with 15 other paintings. Background post: Declaration signer James Smith gains moment of fame.

So we find that a plaque feting Declaration of Independence signer Philip Livingston is available for public view in York's Zion United Church of Christ. And his tombstone stands in Prospect Hill Cemetery.

But that's small recognition for a member of one of America's most powerful families - a venerable family perhaps with fame and fortune comparable to the Kennedys today.

The delegate from New York was not feeling well in the days before his departure to York in 1778. In fact, it was believed he would not return to his native soil.

Here's what happened in York, excerpted from "Nine Months in York Town":

For years, shoppers at Woolworths in York could observe this marble marker. But where did it go? Also of interest: John Adams: 'Yesterday the greatest question was decided'.

Zion United Church of Christ, the York church with the 'stealth' steeple, plays host to a once-popular York landmark that has blended into obscurity... .

A steel and fiberglas cupola is guided onto its base at the top of the tower of Zion UCC in York in 2002. The reproduction of a cupola removed from the church in 1974 houses antennas for PCS One. The original cupola (see photograph below), taken down after a structural analysis, had open windows and a bell, which is now inside the church.

Did you know the tower of a venerable York church hides all kinds of high-tech gadgetry?

It's a bit of a story so read on.

A recent post featured four towers from the 1800s captured by artist Lewis Miller.

One of those steeples, that on the German Reformed church, went down wihen the church was demolished in the early 1900s. Its successor, Zion United Church of Christ, went up facing Penn Park. (Trinity United Church of Christ is the other direct successor to the German Reformed church's, but that's another story, actually a Civil War tale.)

A cupola sat atop the church's tower until it a lightning strike prompted its removal in 1974.

Move ahead 30 years. ...

This Lewis Miller drawing shows Christ Lutheran Church's steeple, second from left, among four dominating York's skyline in the 1800s. The steeples and construction dates, from left: German Reformed, 1799-1800, no longer standing; Christ Lutheran, 1815; first court house steeple, 1815, no longer standing; second courthouse steeple, 1849, no longer standing. (Courtesy, York County Heritage Trust.)

York's Christ Lutheran Church - the church with the renovated steeple - is one of the two oldest in present-day York County.

No disagreement there.

The first church building went up in 1744.

No disagreement there.

Its replacement - the current South George Street structure - was dedicated on May 1, 1814.

No disagreement there.

But when was the church actually founded?

Some disagreement there... .

Hundreds of people gathered outside Christ Lutheran Church in downtown York recently for a rededication ceremony of the building's steeple.

Another towering York steeple has been rehabbed and restored.

Last year, St. Paul Lutheran's steeple received a facelift.

Now comes mother church Christ Lutheran, just north on George Street, and its 177-foot steeple.

Renovation of the 1815 steeple cost about $267,000.

And it didn't come off without a hitch.

The project was delayed by nesting kestrels (see story and photograph below). But the Christ Lutheran congregation was patient with the small falcons. The steeple had been there from just after the War of 1812 ended. It could hold up a little longer.

A York Daily Record story on the project's completion as well as a piece about the kestrels follow:

Ernest Lefever, York native and Renaissance man.

This idea that a bit of York can be found everywhere repeatedly finds backing.

Ernest Lefever is a world-renowned scholar and founder of the Washington, D.C.-based Ethics and Public Policy Center. Lefever established the think tank in 1976 to "clarify and reinforce the bond between the Judeo-Christian moral tradition and the public debate over domestic and foreign policy issues." (Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum is a fellow with the center.)

And Ernest Lefever is a York native.

And he's a Renaissance man with a mile-long resume.

From his bio:...

A former Zion View resident, now living out west, remembered well the flyway beacon light operating in that town until 1970.

The beacon's presence in that Conewago Township community was described in the recent post Beacon helped spot whereabouts of York County town, drawn from information from a book by Norma Bear Gates.

" ... I thought my mom was speaking when Mrs Gates said 'where the beacon light
is located.' Mom would say to folks trying to find us 'turn left off the old
trail at the beacon light, we are the first house on the left.' ...

The Hex murder case in 1928 was strange to begin with, involving witchcraft and faith healing and a world-wide audience and teenage defendants and so on.

So it shouldn't be surprising that government's denial of the murder site in spooky Rehmeyer's Hollow as a museum would be strangely disappointing.

Although one could wonder whether the museum site would have been presented with historical integrity, explaining powwowing and this famous case would have heightened interest in York County history. It was a project with merit.

Perhaps something could be salvaged - an exhibit at the York County Heritage Trust or Historic York's Architectural Warehouse, as two examples.

Or perhaps the historical society in Stewartstown could become involved at the Rehmeyer Hollow site.

Two others reacting to the North Hopewell Township action are worth repeating here.

First, Ross McGinnis, author of the "Trial of Hex":

St. Patrick's Church in York as seen in 1976, the year of its 200th anniversary. Notice the base of a steeple to the right of the main entrance, left of center. To see a drawing of how the church would look with a steeple, see below. (From the book, St. Patrick's Church, York Pennsylvania)

Did you ever notice that the ornate and beautiful St. Pat's in York does not have a steeple?

The church's 200th anniversary book in 1976 handles the absence of a spire, pointing to the transcendence of God, this way:

Quickel Church in Conewago Township, built in 1857 and scene of human stampede during a 1907 funeral. (Courtesy, Norma Bear Gates)

The shooting deaths of the Hoover teens causes an overflow turn out for their funeral at Zion View's Quickel Church. (For more on those deaths, click here.)

And more misfortune.

According to "Never to be Forgotten:" ...

Plaintiff Tammy Kitzmiller, seen with fellow plaintiff Steve Stough, is the Kitzmiller in the Dover ID case caption, 'Kitzmiller v. Dover.'

The Dover Area School Board added a mention of intelligent design to its ninth-grade biology curriculum in October 2004.

About three years later, and with an exploration of the case by PBS' "Nova" on the horizon, it's easy to forget the wording of that mention.

So, as a refresher, here is the statement read to classes that caused the internationally famous Dover ID trial:

Donald Kraybill told Rotarians recently that though Amish forgiveness linked to Nickel Mines shocked the outside world, this is a "standard forgiveness" explained in the Lord's Prayer that is silently said often during the day in English and German by the Amish.

Amish expert Don Kraybill addressed York Rotary recently about forgiveness and the Nickel Mines schoolhouse shooting.

Kraybill spoke about an Amish man:

"It is not that we do not want justice." The Amish believe in punishment but also in "giving up feelings of retaliation. We are making a commitment to forgive, but it is a long process," the man said.

"Forgiveness is not forgetting, and this will be part of Amish history for a long time," Kraybill said.

Kraybill wasn't talking about a group - the Amish - that is unknown to York County. In fact, a considerable Amish population has settled in York County's southeastern corner, on this side of the Norman Wood Bridge... .

Bob Kerr of Madeira, Fla., visited the York County Heritage Trust library recently to research his family who lived in Adams County, from the mid-1700s until they migrated to Ohio in the early 1800s. The library is a center for local research. For additional resources, see below and also search this blog's genealogical research archives.

One count places the number of York County men in uniform during the American Revolution at more than 4,000.

That count includes present-day Adams County, then part of York County.

So, a Mormon church project to digitize Revolutionary War records could turn up information of interest to local genealogists doing Web research.

An LDS press release press release explains the project.

A York County-based LDS resource is described in a recent York Weekly Record story:

Baron de Beelen travels to church in York. Years later, the Belgium businessman was buried in Adams County's Conewago Chapel. (Lewis Miller drawing courtesy, York County Heritage Trust.)

Conewago Chapel surely would be near the top of any list of unsung or underrated sites in York and Adams counties.

It's in the middle of nowhere, but that makes its wonderful paintings, frescoes and architecture all the more captivating. One simply wouldn't expect to run into such artifacts in such a quiet place.

Which brings to mind a favorite story about the chapel and York history, as outlined in my York Sunday News column, a tour of York County's historic southwest (and Adams' southeast):

The Guinston Presbyterian Church, victimized by vandals this week, is one of York County's oldest. It was built in 1773.

Police are still looking for information on who have vandalized the historic Guinston Presbyterian Church.

Here's how the York Daily Record/Sunday News story about the destructive acts began:

This clock, which belonged to Nelson Rehmeyer, supposedly stopped at 12:01 a.m. on the night he was killed in 1928. The clock that stopped after Nelson Rehmeyer's death. (See video tour of Hex murder house below.)

With all the news stories about the Hex murder house opening as a museum and the release of the powwowers handbook "The Long Lost Friend" on CD , the white magic practice of powwowwing to cure maladies has been raised.

Some people believe Nelson Rehmeyer, the victim in the Hex murder case of 1928-29 was a witch. Others say he was merely a doctor practicing powwowing, popular in many York County towns in the 20th century.

The following York Daily Record story describes the practice:

This was Hex murder victim Nelson Rehmeyer's copy of "The Long Lost Friend," a target of his assailants.

Some enterprising bookshop owners are selling a CD-ROM of the book "The Long Lost Friend," that became part of the Hex murder in York County in 1928.

The assailants in the murder case of Nelson Rehmayer sought, among other things, the suspected witch's copy of the book.

That book contains such advice as:

York Daily Record/Sunday News photograph Jason Plotkin produced this still image of the laying of sod at Sovereign Bank Stadium. For Plotkin's slide show on the work, see below.

York Daily Record/Sunday News photographer Paul Kuehnel has provided two tours of the Hex murder house in East Hopewell Township. (See below)

A newpaper photographer taking video?

Our shooters are increasingly carrying their video cameras with their still cameras. Sometimes, we send two photographers to a scene, one to shoot videos and the other stills for the newspaper... .

The Nelson Rehmeyer's Hex murder house in North Hopewell Township will regain its 1928 appearance with plans for tours this summer. For developments on the plan to open the Hex murder house for tours, see 'Hex plans surprise officials'.

The southern York County house where the world-famous Hex murder occurred in 1928 will soon be open for tours.

That was the house where an assailant, seeking to end a spell cast by a powwow doctor, and two other men killed the practioner of white magic.

The burn spot where the trio set Nelson Rehmeyer's body ablaze remains on the floor of the house.

The promoter's Rehmeyer's Hollow Web site breathlessly states:

This was the site of the infamous murder of the "Witch of Rehmeyers Hollow" also known as the Hex murder. After years of whispers, mis-information and ghost stories, the home of Nelson Rehmeyer will be opened as an historical exhibit in the summer of 2007. The exhibit will tell the true and complete story of local legend and Pow Wow doctor Nelson Rehmeyer known as the Witch of Rehmeyer's Hollow. His murder in 1928 was a media sensation much like that of O.J. Simpson or Anna Nicole Smith is in our time. The exhibit will show actual items owned by Rehmeyer on the night of his death. Visitors can take the tour and turn back the clock to the night when 3 men came for a book and left with blood on their hands thus sparking the trial of the century here in York County. The exhibit will be open to the public by scheduled tours and special appointments only. An admission fee will be charged.

Equivalent to Simpson's and Smith's proceedings? Not so sure. Newspapers and occasional radio stations were the only media of that day. But the trial is referred to locally as the most noticed before the circa 2000 York race riot proceedings.

Anyway, in a story titled "Infamous home to open", the York Daily Record provided other details about the planned museum:

Monica Goodling did not leave deep, lasting memories on many in York County.

But York Daily Record/Sunday News reporters continue to develop the portrait of the former York Haven-area woman who has been part of proceedings probing the Bush administration's firing of U.S. attorneys... .

Monica Goodling, a graduate of Northeastern High School, is at the center of an international story. Background posts: Monica and 'The Bachelor' , Clinton, Obama at Messiah College: Still stopping short of stepping on county soil, About Monica Goodling: 'She'll come through this.'.

Well, we've established in the York Town Square posts on the long trumpeter at the Preakness, the woman who won "The Bachelor" and the mayor of Braddock, Pa., that all roads lead to York County.

Now, today, Monica Goodling, a former York Haven-area resident, is in the public spotlight for her testimony under immunity in the firing of federal attorneys.

Goodling might have lived for years in York County, but she left a light footprint here.

The Four Chaplains, part of the Murals of York program operated by the York County Heritage Trust, is one of 18 large panels on the side of buildings in York. For additional details on this panel, see Murals of York .

The legacy of the Four Chaplains lives on.

First, Newsweek used the heroic sacrifice by the four World War II chaplains as part of its lead-in to a story on the military chaplaincy. The magazine ran a postage stamp depicting York Rabbi Alexander D. Goode and his three colleagues who gave up their lifevests and seats on life boats to their fellow men in uniform and went down with the S.S. Dorchester in 1943.

An article headlined 'Chaplains: The Calm in the Chaos' stated: ...

This postcard shows the steeples, right, of what today is Trinity United Church of Christ and, far right, the mother church that became Zion United Church of Christ. The congregations had to address immense issues during the mid-19th century. Related posts: York County's own Civil War, Part I; Part II; Part III; Part IV.

Several previous posts have established York County churches as a battleground for differences in the Civil War. (See scores of local Civil War posts at: York's Civil War.

Simply put, York's position on the Mason-Dixon Line irritated political differences on whether the Civil War was justified. Those differences spilled into the churches.

But York County German Reformed and Lutheran churches were undergoing additional conflicts. Both churches wrestled with whether services should be conduct in English, German or both.

The German Reformed Church also was consumed with a controversy over style of worship - high church or low church. This was a national controversy in that denomination that probably impacted locally.

Consider:

Lewis Miller captured the Confederates entering York in late-June 1863. Even before the rebels stepped onto York County soil in those days before the Battle of Gettysburg, York County was divided on whether President Abraham Lincoln should prosecute the war or honor a separate peace with the South. Churches provided a local battleground.

York County's civil war amid the Civil War pitted neighbor against neighbor.

One family might support Abraham Lincoln's war policies. The next-door neighbor might support Peace Democrats who viewed the war as an affront to states rights as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

Fighting in churches represented a skirmish within the larger county battle... .

Lewis Miller shows invading rebels taking down York's Centre Square flag. The Civil War divided York, but loss of the flag was a sad event for everyone.

York County experienced a civil war within the Civil War.

That came, in part, because the county is a border county in a border state. A lot of complex political factors swirled then - and persist today.

Nowhere was that battle within county borders more apparent than in churches.

Here's an example of how from "East of Gettysburg," based largely on information from George Sheets' "Children of the Circuit Riders.")

Sheets' book primarily looks at York's largest Methodist Church, known as Asbury United Methodist today. (it's a good read, btw.) The church either had their share of Unionists or else preferred Copperheads - the Peace Democrats - to hold their tongues:

The Civil War threatened to divide many York churches.

York's Presbyterian Church was one of them. (For another example, see Civil war prompted strife in churches, too.

In fact, one dispute ended with its minister in jail.

The Rev. Thomas Street and a visiting geography book salesman squared off one Saturday in early 1862.

Zion Lutheran, now empty, will become a senior-services agency.

St. Paul's Lutheran and the former Zion Lutheran churches have been in the news recently.

St. Paul's made headlines because a daughter of one of its parishioners was believed to have delivered a bouquet of flowers bearing a note detailing strategic Union defenses to rebel general John B. Gordon during the Civil War.

The Zion building, vacant for a decade, is being turned into a center for senior citizen services. http://www.ydr.com/newsfull/ci_5074715

But the two congregations made the news in the first half of the 1800s, too... .

St. Paul's Lutheran was one of many York County churches battling their own civil wars.
The same history of St. Paul’s that brought the identity of the apparent bearer of the note to rebel Gen. John B. Gordon delivers insight into the split loyalties of York countians during the Civil War.

Charles Baum, son of the minister of York’s St. Paul Lutheran Church, wrote that his father left the pastorate in the Shenadoah Valley because of his Unionist views. His family left in a hurry with only the “clothing on our backs."

The minister ran into problems in Democratic York County, too. A majority in the county supported the Peace Democrats, the so-called Copperheads whose mantra was “The Union as it was. The Constitution as it is. The Negroes where they are."

Several influential members left St. Paul’s after guest preacher, J.H. Menges, proclaimed from the pulpit “all Democrats are rebels." ...

A recommended New Year’s resolution is to read some of the fine books put forth by York County authors.

Such books often tell much about our county, its people and the way they interact.

Michele McKnight Baker’s “Sandpaper Sisters" is one such book. www.sandpapersisters.com.

Without disclosing her identity, the author lived at New Life for Girls treatment centers, faith-based group homes for recovering addicts, in Dover and Westminster, Md.

She tells about her experiences in her book, drawing her title from special relationships within the centers.

“It is someone who rubs you the wrong way at first but is able to sand the rough edges in a spirit of caring," Baker wrote.

Among other things, the book offers insight into women who live in the facility, visit local places during their stay and sometimes reside in York County after their successful treatment.

The book is packed with neat stories, two of which we used in the York Daily Record’s Christmas editorial:

John F. Kennedy campaigns in 1960 for the presidency in York. (See list of known presidential visits below.) Background post: Ted Kennedy's visit to York comes almost 50 years after JFK's and Hillary Clinton's rally site in York, Pa., a little odd.

There is a telling story about President James Buchanan, who regularly passed through York County on his way to his home, Wheatland, in Lancaster County.

His practice was to leave his conveyance and walk across the mile-long covered bridge connecting York County and Lancaster. One trip in 1859, he slipped, fell, got up and, unfazed, continued his walk.

Some would say there was a certain poetic justice in his fall. His inability as president, and as a particularly weak president to boot, to hold the union together ultimately resulted in the Civil War and the rebel army's visit to York County in late June 1863. The very bridge itself slipped into the Susquehanna River after Union troops torched it to stop the Confederates from crossing.

After his fall, Buchanan returned through York "in excellent health and fine spirits," a newspaper reported. Too bad, many Americans then believed, that he didn't depart from office with his country in similar circumstances.

Buchanan's links to York made his excursions through the region public, even down to coverage of his slips. But it's impossible to pin down a complete list of prospective, actual or former presidents who visited York and Adams counties.

Here is a sampling of visits to York and Adams counties from those who occupied the White House:

This turn-of-the-20th-century building was originally used to burn refuse from York city and York Hospital. It's been converted into a crematorium.

Last post told the story of Revolutionary War patriot Henry Laurens, apparently the first American to be officially cremated in the 1790s.

Two hundred years later, the practice is gaining visibility around York, where Laurens dwelt for nine months as president of Continental Congress in 1777-78.

In 2000, a small brick building with a large smokestack on Kings Mill Road became a crematorium.

For years, it had been rumored that the then-spooky building was originally used for burning bodies.

A 1955 newspaper article gives a glimpse at how that legend grew. As the story goes, a south-side neighborhood gang lurked around the building on Halloween night. Some gang members who peeked in a window reportedly saw a "job" under way.

Thus ended their sleep for a month... .

The York theater group Dreamwrights' current production contains brief historical observations about Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. http://www.dreamwrights.org/index_files/NightBefore.htm

Unless I missed it in the rapid-fire dialogue in "The Night Before Christmas," the actors covered the fact that Maulana Karenga founded Kwanzaa, but never mentioned that he was from York.

Then known as Ron Everett, Kwanzaa’s founder graduated from William Penn High School in 1958... .

Don Miller shows off the stairs to the spring
that gave York Springs its name.

Adams County's York Springs can boast of a lot of things.

Brig. General William Warren Stewart, touted as the highest-ranking Civil War officer from Adams County, hailed from this eastern Adams County borough.

It was the birthplace of John W. Bittinger, turn-of-the-20th-century York County judge.

The Rev. Daniel Batwell, rector of Episcopal churches in York and Carlisle and York Springs, went to his farm near the borough to recover his health after enduring a dipping in the Codorus Creek during the American Revolution. He got the bath and time in the slammer upon suspicions that he was a British Loyalist. Congress released him under conditions that he take a loyalty oath or return to British lines. He took the latter path, becoming a chaplain of a Tory regiment.

Robert E. McClure III

"Flags of our Fathers" was a compelling movie, as memorable as "Saving Private Ryan."

Two related things stood out in this film based on the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945: First, the film accurately captured the youth of the fighting men. And it gave a glimpse of the pain, fear and danger faced by these young men.

As the son of a soldier seriously wounded on subsequent fighting on Okinawa, the film gave a glimpse of what an 18-year-old fighting on a remote Pacific island faced. And the terror of being wounded. And uncertainties while facing evacuation.

I wrote my father's story in the foreword to my World War II book "In the Thick of the Fight." I repeat an edited version here, as a Veterans Day salute to him and all who have fought in America's wars... .

With housing growing in York Township's Ore Valley like mile-a-minute vines, Camp Betty Washington Road is getting heavier use.

What was Camp Betty Washington and who loaned her name to the camp?

An unsourced document in York County Heritage Trust archives tells the camp's story:

In 1999, Ron Hershner wrote "Cross Roads: A History and Reminiscenses," an insightful story of a York County town.

Now, the York attorney and authority on southeastern York County has turned out the best history of a single county congregation that I've seen with his "Round Hill Presbyterian Church, 250 Years of Faith." ...

After you've visited Round Hill Presbyterian Church in Cross Roads, consider other points of interest in the Chanceford Township-area of southeastern part of York County in your Sunday afternoon drive. (See previous post: "Get around to seeing ornate Round Hill church.")

-- Hershaull Park, near Round Hill church, sports a ball field that abuts a cornfield. Put in bleachers, and it's a small-scale version of that famous field from "Field of Dreams. ... "

In one well-researched book, Ron Hershner helped Round Hill Presbyterian Church celebrate its 250th anniversary this year and made a real contribution toward helping others understand the county.

Hershner, a York attorney who has authoritatively written on his native southeastern York County, worked through the Cross Roads church's long history in his 125-plus-page "Round Hill Presbyterian Church, 250 Years of Faith." He thereby raised the profile of church's architecturally significant building. (To order, see http://www.yorkheritage.org).

A recent York Daily Record story on renewed interest in learning Pennsylvania German bears all kinds of lessons for York County today.

Primarily, we're less than 100 years away from those days in which church services were regularly conducted in German. And these German wars sparked considerable conflict in area churches... .

The things you learn scanning the local interest book section on Labor Day at Borders in Lancaster:

I knew that a classical school that later became Marshall College started in York in 1834. I knew it started when the German Reformed Seminary moved here and that the seminary and classical school later moved to Mercersburg in Franklin County.

I knew that Marshall College moved to Lancaster to join with 1787-vintage Franklin College to become Frankin & Marshall College in 1853... .

Sylvia Colston-Still

Sylvia Colston-Still came home Tuesday to visit Crispus Attucks Community Center. She starred in basketball in the 1950s and participated in other programs at CA's former center at 125 E. Maple St. building. In those days, the converted church was viewed as a home away from home by many in the black community.

After a long career as a school guidance counselor, Dr. Colston-Still continues to play basketball every day at age 71... .

Earlier this year on a sunny Saturday, I visited a spot offering a view of the fields and ridge where Camp Security once operated.

The site of York County’s American Revolution camp is a wonderful piece of land, and the nearby 1730s Schultz house just adds to this prize. No wonder the Springettsbury Township property is a point of contention between preservationists and a developer.

Last year, the National Trust for Historic Preservation identified the camp as one of the nation's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. The controversy between a developer targeting McMansions on the site and local preservationists is on low simmer.

The nut of the Camp Security story:

Some prisoners from an encampment in Charlottesville, Va., moved to Camp Security in 1781 when Gen. Charles Cornwallis’ redcoats moved northward into Virginia. The Continental Army was concerned that the British would detach a unit to free the prisoners, many of whom had surrendered about four years earlier at Saratoga, N.Y. About 2,000 mostly British prisoners were housed there from 1781 to 1783. German mercenaries — Hessians — were largely assigned to farms around York County.

Here’s a tale of the camp excerpted from "Nine Months in York Town, American Revolutionaries Labor on Pennsylvania's Frontier:"

With long lives today, knowing people who knew famous people sends tingles up the spine.

I wrote about one such connection in the post "Doctor treated both Revolutionary War soldier and people alive today."

Doing some late-night reading this week, I ran across two other examples within minutes of each other:

Autobiographies should be part of a person's reading list.

Sometimes in passing, they provide memorable moments that add to understanding.

I had one of those wonderful flashes in reading Carrie H. Ford's "Service to His Glory." Ford, longtime French teacher in the York City School District, became better-known for following her late-in-life second calling -- that of a missionary to Liberia for 17 years.

In 1994, the North Carolina native wrote about graduating from York's William Penn Senior High School in 1930.

She graduated as an honor roll student, she wrote, the first black student to do so. And she was the first black person to speak at York High's commencement.

Shiny golden nuggets there... .

Let’s call it a marker marked by a marker.

Hanover’s Wirt Park, a public park, is home of a Ten Commandments marker sitting on a chunk of privately owned land.

The non-profit Gitt-Moul Historic Properties’ purchase of the land has ended a multi-year controversy. Now the monument has a nearby marker of its own... .

Popular Sunday trolley excursions to Highland Park were not the only activity that drew the ire of pastors at the turn of the 20th century. (See "Red Lion's towering Fairmont Park off the beaten track" post below or in York Town Square archives.)

The publication of York's first Sunday newspaper prompted pulpit protests, as evidenced from the following article I wrote as part of the York Daily Record's 200th anniversary in 1996:

Fairmont Park in Red Lion owes its existence to Highland Park in West Manchester Township, maybe 10 miles away.

The link was the trolley system that snaked throughout the county at the turn of the 20th century.

The Red Lion Centennial Commission's history said popular Sunday excursions to Highland Park sparked some ministers and churches to protest inappropriate activities on the solemn Sabbath... .

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church rekindled its cross atop its towering steeple Sunday night.

The illuminated cross might be visible from as far away as Interstate 83.

The lighting spotlights a church with a history that connects with many things from York's past.

The York congregation’s longtime King and Beaver Street home burned down in 1939... .

I had one of those magic moments when everything I was reading converged.

Within a short period, I read about swimming elephants in two far different types of writing.

A York Daily Record article reported speculations that the Loch Ness Monster might have been an elephant that escaped from a traveling circus that visited that area of Scotland in the 1930s. The article explained when an elephant swims, it flattens out with its trunk above water — similar to photographs of Nessie... .

In preparing for a March address to our Teen Takeover staff on writing careers, I put in few minutes on the connection between our reading and writing lives.

Reading good writing helps improve our own writing.

I'm going to share the books in my current reading stack with the teen staff -- about 20 high schoolers who write for the York Daily Record/Sunday News.

Today, that stack includes:

The major Adhesives Research fire last week leads to the question of how the nearby crossroads of Potosi got its name.

John D. Kilbourne, Historical Society of York County director, weighed in about 50 years ago after receiving an inquiry from a Wisconsin resident.

The inquirer was trying to link mining with other towns in the Americas called Potosi.

Kilbourne wrote back that Iron ore mining occurred in the 1880s in Springfield Township. The Potosi Post Office was established there in 1901.

"Circumstances seem to indicate a tie-in with the mining activities," Kilbourne wrote.

This information came from a York Daily Record article in 1995.

The newspaper further reported that in 1540, Spanish colonists discovered silver in the Potosi state of southern Bolivia. Cerro Potosi mountain was "honeycombed with thousands of mines," according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. "Legend attributes its name to "potojchi,' a Quechua Indian word meaning 'to explode,' because of rumblings inside the mountain."

The capital city of Potosi became famous for its wealth from silver mining in the 1650s.

For more on Potosi, Pa., see a York Daily Record story on the community below:

The other day, I received an interesting query from a descendant of Samuel Bacon, a prominent York County attorney from the early 1800s.

Actually, she's a descendant of Samuel's brother, Ephraim, and had run across a drawing of Samuel on the local history section of the York Daily Record/Sunday News Web site. I directed her to the York County Heritage Trust's archives, which has quite a bit of information on Samuel.

Samuel was more than an attorney, as the following entry from my "Never to be Forgotten" attests:

In covering the Scopes Monkey Trial in 1925, the Gazette and Daily in York made its first extensive use of photographs delivered via a phone line.

The daily newspaper played with its news technology by running a July 1 photograph of Santa Barbara, damaged by an earthquake two days earlier.

So when the Tennessee trial began a week later, the morning daily was ready to harvest photos from the phone wire, called "wire photos."

The Gazette and Daily ran about 10 single photos or photo packages of the trial.

When state's attorney William Jennings Bryan died shortly after the trial, the newspaper ran a photo of his funeral and a photo package consisting of at least four wire photos including a remarkable photo of the house where Bryan died. Some editor had placed crosses on the picture at the place where Bryan was "lying when the end came‿ and the porch where his wife was sitting when informed of her husband's death.

Eighty years later, technology played a major role in news coverage of the federal judge's decision in the Dover ID case... .

Serving as witnesses, two York County freelance reporters effectively fought off questions from attorneys for the plaintiffs and defendants in the Dover intelligent design trial Thursday and Friday.

To understand the long road from covering Dover meetings to becoming fact witnesses in federal court, read my column appearing in the York Sunday News on Oct. 30.