Results tagged “Quakers” from York Town Square

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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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... .

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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... .

A crawl space is hidden behind a pantry shelf at the Dobbins House in Gettysburg, Pa. Manequins demonstrate how fugitives might have hidden there as part of the Underground Railroad. Background posts: Amanda Berry Smith: 'God's image carved in ebony', York/Adams' interest in Underground Railroad grows, and Living historians bring spotlight to York's Civil War story.

A local historical group's e-mail recently posed a good question: What is known about the Underground Railroad in Southern York County?

I answered that not a lot is known about the Underground Railroad anywhere in York County. It's an area that begs research with academic rigor... .

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 ... .