York really is the center of the universe, especially when you consider its place in historical events. Local historian June Lloyd looks at how things have converged on our hometown, past and present.A 1917 newspaper account captured some reminiscences of David Sloat, who at 90 was one of the last three Civil War veterans in Wrightsville.
After the war Sloat had moved to Ohio and lived there for fifty years, but he retired back to Wrightsville. There he shared his vivid memories, as a boy of 16, of the Confederate invasion of York County. The account states:
Lewis Miller drawing of himself and friends admiring 1868 Wrightsville bridge.
Bridges make our lives so much more convenient.
We have recently been hearing about the high cost of maintaining bridges. They are, of course, much more expensive to build from scratch.
Where would we be if we didn't have the four bridges (Norman Wood in the south, two at Wrightsville in the middle, and Route 76 in the extreme north) that cross the Susquehanna River from York County?
I recently recounted the story of the rumors that swept Hanover, PA of a Confederate invasion on April 22, 1861, when the Civil War was barely a week old.
Click here to read about the Hanover incident told by eyewitness Henrietta Stroman Stair.
Captain W. H. Jenifer, then of the U.S. Army played a prominent part in the confusion. In an article written in 1927, George R. Prowell says that Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtain sent a telegram to Hanover ordering Jenifer's arrest. He too thought Jenifer was deserting and would relay information to the secessionists.
Henrietta Stroman was born in York, Pennsylvania on August 26, 1830, the daughter of Henry Stroman. At the age of 24 she married Daniel F. Stair and moved across York County to Hanover. He was probably the Daniel F. Stair that served in Company A of the Sixteenth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers during the Civil War and was a cigar manufacturer after the war.
News of the firing on Fort Sumter, igniting the Civil War, on April 12, 1861 had quickly reached southern Pennsylvania. Henrietta Stair shared her lucid memories of that tense April, and ensuing panic among the citizen of Hanover, in a York Gazette article in 1908.
See below for my recent York Sunday News article based on Mrs. Stair's recollections:
A recent newspaper article said there is a shortage of court stenographers. It reminded me of Henry Clay Demming, official York County court stenographer for nearly 45 years.
Demming was born in Geneva, NY, but came to Harrisburg to learn printing at the Patriot and Union newspaper as a young man. He served in the Civil War and eventually reached the military rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Before becoming a professional court stenographer, Demming served on the editorial staff of the Harrisburg Daily Telegraph and a verbatim reporter for the Legislative Record.
His friendship with Thomas Edison probably came about because of Colonel Demming’s interest in science, including rocks and minerals, judging by his position as State Geologist in the early 1900s. Edison’s shared interest in minerals, especially iron ore, led to the great inventor’s biggest failure.
That was the headline above the Hanover news section of the York Gazette on April 30, 1908.
Why did Civil War veteran George M. Prince write to Hanover, Pennsylvania Postmaster Hostetter asking for names of widows?
I recently wrote about a Confederate sword that a farmer plowed up near Hanover in 1882, nearly 20 years after it had fallen in a skirmish there.
Click here to read about sword on Forney farm.
There were probably a lot of swords around York County in the years after the Civil War, brought home as souvenirs of that dreadful conflict.
Drinking and weapons of any kind shouldn’t go together, as we can see in the following article from the October 30, 1877 Gazette. (The anonymous reporter had a rather droll sense of humor--a 19th century Mike Argento?)
The incident described below is possibly depicted in the background of this Lewis Miller drawing of "Old Mr. Rudyseal" offering his assistance to General Kilpatrick near Hanover.
One hundred twenty-five years ago, in 1882, the Gazette reported, under Hanover news, that a few weeks before a sword was plowed up on Karl Forney's farm, which adjoined the town.
