Recently in 1870s Category

When I was a child my mother always made sure I was dressed for the weather. In winter my coat was buttoned, a hat or scarf covered my head, mittens were on my little hands and my shod feet stuffed into boots. If it was raining, I couldn't go out the door without a hooded plastic raincoat (remember how hot they were) and rubber overshoes.

I guess she just came from a long line of York County worriers about the dire consequences of getting damp or chilled. For example, the item below, from the March 12, 1878 York Gazette admonished adults to be careful of the perils of outdoor vendues [public auctions].

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:

There was a lot going on in the Delta area in October 1877, as reported to the York Press by their Delta correspondent. For example, temperance meetings were flourishing there.

Sad news was received from the Black Hills that Dr. P. A. Dinsmore, of Peach Bottom, had passed away. The correspondent doesn't say what Dinsmore was doing in South Dakota, but it was the height of the gold rush in the Black Hills, so perhaps he had gone there to seek his fortune. (Did you know engineers with Custer, in 1874, are credited with discovering and spreading the word about the gold in those hills?) Click here for more on the Black Hills gold rush.

The difficult excursion of local citizens to the York Fair got the most coverage:

Fires occur all too often, whether they are accidental or deliberately set. Even with the immediate communications and speedy response today, fires are still scary. Just think how frustrating the wait for the arrival of the firefighting apparatus was 130 years ago, such as at the scene described below, from the December 24, 1878 York Gazette.

Dallastown to Red Lion, 1876 and 1928

A recent post related the troubles motorists had traveling from Dallastown to Red Lion in the fall of 1928 because of road construction and deep mud on the detour. I was asked exactly where those roads were.

Click here to read that post.

The state road that was being reconstructed was probably the short stretch of Route 74 that runs between Red Lion and Dallastown today. I don't think the path of that road changed much over the years, so it still pretty much follows the red line on the map.

As for the detour and the alternate route mentioned in the newspaper--I tried to reconstruct them using the 1876 Pomeroy, Whitman and Co. Atlas of York County, a present-day ADC atlas and the advice of a friend who knows the area.

It's the season of the year for fund-raisers to really ramp up. Even though worthy organizations raise money for their causes throughout the year, it seems like the coming holiday season really brings them out. Church bazaars, craft shows, musicals, plays, basket bingos--the community newspapers are full of them.

Finding novel ways to raise funds has a long history. The York Daily newspaper of October 30, 1909 reports on how the ladies of Princess Street Evangelical Church successfully carpeted their church.

Henry Fortenbaugh didn't figure he would be elected Sherriff of York County in 1877. Besides, he didn't want to run anyway.

The York Gazette ran excerpts from a "long letter" to the York Press concerning his extreme displeasure with the York Republican and his not-good chances in the upcoming election.

The Gazette article of October 30, 1877 reads:

Welsh's Store in 1902 With Dollar Bible Sign.

I still don't understand why some people get upset when notices are published or signs posted in English and another language, usually Spanish nowadays. They seem to think that English is the only language all of us should use. If public notices hadn't been bilingual in Pennsylvania in the past, the ancestors of a great many of the people complaining wouldn't have known what was going on.

A few months ago I listed the publishers of York newspapers in 1837, with more German than English editions. Click here to read that post.

Below are a few more examples, illustrating the prevalence of the German language in York County for over 150 years.

Wrightsville has always occupied an important location in the transportation network. The Monocacy Trail, orginally a Native American path, became one of the first roads for the European settlers to York County and beyond. That road crossed the Susquehanna River at Wrightsville, first by ferry and then over bridges covered and modern.

The Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal, opened in 1840, followed the west bank of the river from the Chesapeake Bay to Wrightsville. Then the mules, working from towpaths on the covered bridge, pulled the canal boats across the river to Columbia to continue on their journey up the east bank.

Railroads soon replaced canals as movers of people and freight, again crossing the bridge at Wrightsville. The excerpt below from the November 20, 1877 Gazette shows the hazards passengers could face and the volume of products shipped out from Wrightsville.

York County, Pennsylvania people were having bell trouble, according to the November 20, 1877 issue of the York Gazette. Dillsburg's St. Paul's Lutheran Church had a cracked bell, and Mary Mayer of York broke her arm trying to ring a door bell.