Dover: February 2009 Archives

The old Weigle grist mill is shown in this February 2009 photograph by SLM. During the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, Confederates raided the region numerous times, taking horses from the miller and nearby farmers. In the early 21st century, this old mill housed a very nice country gifts and antiques shop, and I visited the place several times. A tattoo parlor now occupies the structure.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Weigle family was prominent in Dover Township and what later became West Manchester Township. Martin Weigle emigrated from Germany in the 1730s and built a small stone grist mill about 1739 along the Little Conewago Creek on the road from York to Dover (today's Route 74). When local Indians came to investigate, he gave them home-made whiskey and they then helped dig the millrace.

For years, his family maintained ownership of the mill. After the American Revolution, the family member who operated the mill was not very patriotic toward the new government and was censured several times for questionable remarks. In the next few decades, a 2.5-story larger mill (the one pictured) was constructed several hundred yards from the old stone mill.

By 1863, another revolution in America was in full swing, and Rebels swarmed over the Weiglestown, Dover, and Shiloh region, taking horses and mules.

The Meisenhelter / Meisenhelder family was one of the more prominent families in Dover and Conewago townships during the 19th century. The private family cemetery is dotted with the names of men and women who played a key role in the agricultural economy of the region during the Civil War years. Descendants still live in the area, and many of the old farmsteads still exist, including two on Bull Road that I will discuss briefly in today's Cannonball blog entry.

These folks were prime targets of Confederate raiding parties, as Bull Road was (and is) a quick route for people to get from northern York County to York without using Carlisle Road (State Route 74). Four members of the large family are known to have lost horses to the Southern foragers.

On June 28, 1863, nearly 3,500 Confederate soldiers of three brigades of Major General Jubal A. Early's division marched past this sturdy brick farmhouse on Davidsburg Road in Dover Township. Discipline was tight in the ranks, and no one broke ranks to raid the farmhouses along the way. Early's Division followed Davidsburg Road to Carlisle Road (today's Route 74) at Weigelstown and then headed on country roads eastward to George Street (then the Harrisburg Pike).

There is no record if the owner of the farmhouse, John F. Bowersox, was home as Early's road-weary column tramped past his home.

For Mr. Bowersox, his troubles were only beginning...

This house along South Salem Church Road in Dover Township, York County, Pennsylvania, was once a three-story grist mill owned by wealthy miller George B. Emig. The historic mill closed in the 20th century and was heavily renovated to be used as private housing, with the top two floors and roof removed and a new roof put in place. The old mill equipment is long gone, although traces of the mill creek and race may still be seen along the Little Conewago Creek.

Emig's Mill was visited on multiple times during the Gettysburg Campaign by Confederate cavalrymen. Here are at three of those stories...