Results tagged “Lewis Miller” from Universal York

Lewis Miller drawing of Polly Waltemyer Opening Oysters

Ah--fall, when York County thoughts turn to--Oysters. On Sunday, October 18, York County Heritage Trust will hold the 35th annual Oyster Fest at the Colonial Complex, W. Market St. and Pershing Ave. Oyster lovers can have them fried, stewed, or raw. Non-oyster eaters, like me, won't go hungry. Pulled pork sandwiches and steamed shrimp will tempt, along with the traditional apple fritters. Beverages include soft drinks, cider and beer.

The family event with free colonial activities runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Click here for the full schedule.

To get back to Polly Waltemyer, pictured above with a giant oyster--Polly was the cook, and possibly the owner of a York tavern in the early 1800s. Artist Lewis Miller's caption of the drawing reads:

As I have pointed out before, York County, Pennsylvania wasn't as isolated a century or two ago as some might imagine. Early roads, and then railroads, made travel relatively easy to Baltimore, Philadelphia and beyond. York County people go where they wanted, and visitors found it just as easy to get here.

York was a regular stop on the entertainment circuit. Yorkers seemed to have always been a good market for performances and exhibitions from menageries to balloon ascensions to internationally know personalities, such as the diminutive Tom Thumb.

Lewis Miller drawing of the Confederate invasion of York, June 1863.

Cassandra Small's vivid letters to cousin Lissie Latimer, describing the Confederate invasion of York during the end of June 1863, are often quoted. Cassandra was the daughter of Philip A. Small, a leading businessman or York at the time, and his wife, Sarah Bartow Latimer.

In one letter Cassandra relates: "George Latimer was with General Gordon's Division; happily we didn't see him, as we should not have spoken to him. Some of his Copperhead friends shook hands with him, and he begged them not to tell us, but they couldn't keep it to themselves. We all respect him a great deal more than we do them."

Cassandra's first cousin, James William Latimer of York, wrote to his brother Bartow Latimer that, during the occupation, "Most ladies had sense to stay home. Men went about freely. I spoke to one of the Rebs once. Others talked and questioned them, but I did not feel like it. Heard nothing of Geo. Latimer or Tom."

Who were George and Tom?

Lewis Miller drawing--Dr. Kennedy waxenate (vaccinate) 1799.

Concern about the recent "Swine" N1H1 flu, and the precautions taken against it remind us of the days before many once virulent diseases were tamed by vaccines. About the only way to try to halt an epidemic was strict rule of quarantine.

As the notice below, which is from an 1872 York newspaper, shows that municipalities often stepped in to with ordinances to protect their citizens:

Lewis Miller Drawing of the California Company

Gold was discovered in California in early 1848. By the beginning of 1849, more adventurers from York County than you might think were headed for the gold fields, never mind the grueling voyage by sea around the tip of South America. The January 23, 1849 Democratic Press reports:

"Our young townsman, Mr. Joseph McAleer, son of Thomas McAleer, Esq., left this place yesterday for the "Gold Diggings" in California. He intends joining a party which is to set sail in a vessel from New York during the present week, consisting of one hundred persons. Each member has advanced $160.00, and they go supplied with necessities to last them for two years. They are accompanied by a physician, and well provided with rifles, fowling pieces, &c. We understand the route they intend taking is by way of Cape Horn, which is a distance of nineteen thousand miles to San Francisco. They will be gone six or seven months on their way"

The article goes on to say that McAleer has promised to write back to the paper about his voyage and sojourn in California. George Laumaster of Burlington, N.J., son of Jacob Laumaster is said to also be a member of the party.

By April 1849, sixteen other York County professionals and craftsmen had organized themselves into "The California Company" and were equipped and ready to sail on the ship Andalusia from Baltimore. For more on their voyage, see my recent York Sunday News column below:

York Young People Warned about Sleighing Parties

Lewis Miller drawing of a sleighing party.

You think our great-great-great-grandparents just sat around and played checkers? Yeah, right!

The article below, from the January 22, 1850 York Peoples' Advocate, gives you an idea as to what they were really doing.

We didn't know how bad smoking was for our health 90 years ago, when cigar factories were springing up everywhere. In York County, we knew cigars were very good for our economy. For well over 150 years, processing tobacco into cigars kept many York Countians gainfully employed.

Lewis Miller illustrated a group of youths, himself among them, making cigars in 1811 at the shop of "William Spangler, Tobacconist." They were Henry Sheffer, John Lehman, Jacob Weiser, Lewis Miller, Daniel Masse, Daniel Wolf, Emanuel Sheffer, John Jones, and Henry Wagner. Miller would have been around 15 at the time. Some of the boys look quite a bit younger.

According to the Red Lion Area Historical Society webpage, in the month of October 1929, 15 million cigars were shipped out of the Red Lion train station on the Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad. This wouldn't have included the millions more made each month in factories large and small in York and just about every community in the county.

My grandfather, Edwin Shelley, converted a three-story house into a cigar factory in Lucky, Chanceford Township. Grandpa wasn't alone as shown in the following Gazette article from the fall of 1917:

A few days ago I wrote about York County's continuing love affair with the oyster. Many people will tell you that with good oysters you need good beer.

Breweries abounded over the years in York, as evidenced by the following 1857 advertisement from the Gazette. One hundred fifty years ago, brothers D. W. Barnitz and A. M. Barnitz were turning good York County barley and rye into equally good York County beer.

Click here to read more about the Barnitz family of brewers.

The Lewis Miller drawing above shows a previous generation of the Barnitz family at their brew house with a crowd of Yorkers, carrying empty pitchers, advancing on them. Miller captioned it "The Old Brew house in the year 1801. The[y] made Good Beer."

The ad reads: