Recently in Continental Congress Category

Lewis Miller drawings of James Smith, Sr. and James Smith, Jr.

In my recent York Sunday News column I addressed how little we know about York's signer of the Declaration of Independence, James Smith.

There are even differences among the few illustrations we have of what Smith may or may not have looked like. The images shown here, original watercolors by Lewis Miller and copies of later engravings, are from the York County Heritage Trust collections. Why are there two distinct types of images? My theory is that the Signer, Colonel James Smith, was sometimes confused with his son, Captain James Smith.

York folk artist Lewis Miller would have been familiar with both men. Granted, he was only 10 when James Smith Sr. died, but judging by other verified contemporary likenesses, Miller had a phenomenal memory and the ability to capture the image of persons and scenes that he saw when he was quite young. Later artists and engravers may have even based their images, which have been repeated many times in books and on the internet, on Miller drawings, but did they get the right Smith? There are a couple of other supposed images of Smith--I'll post them later.

Engravings of James Smith, but which one?

Students from grades three through twelve are invited to enter the Third Annual Articles of Confederation Essay Contest, sponsored by the York Daily Record/York Sunday News and York County Heritage Trust. They can write on James Smith or any of the other delegates, the Articles of Confederation or what it would be like to live in York during 1777-78 when Continental Congress was meeting here. The deadline is October 16 and cash awards will be given. Click here for more information or email education@yorkheritage.org.

See below for my York Sunday News column on James Smith:

Masthead of a York-printed Pennsylvania Gazette.

The Pennsylvania Gazette newspaper is an extremely important source of information on the Revolutionary War era. Besides carrying general news of the war, the Gazette disseminated official proceedings of Continental Congress. The publishers, Hall and Sellers, were also authorized by Congress to issue broadsides of acts and to print U.S. currency.

Congress fled Philadelphia, just ahead of British occupation, and ended up meeting in York, starting on September 30, 1777. Congress was soon frustrated by the lack of a handy printing press.

A lottery, to help finance the American Revolutionary War, was held by the Second Continental Congress while they met in York. The Pennsylvania Gazette, also printed in York during that time, published several ads concerning lost lottery tickets.

Click here for more information on the York-printed Pennsylvania Gazette.

Philip Jacob King placed the ad below in the May 23, 1778 Pennsylvania Gazette. I suppose the newspaper notice was akin to cancelling your credit card when it is lost or stolen.

March, 1961 Gazette & Daily photos of Thanksgiving statues.
(See end of post for current photos of the sculptures.)

Some years ago my husband or I picked up a rectangular glass paperweight at a local antique mall. The label pasted on the back reads: "Compliments of A. L. CLAY, Dealer in General Merchandise, Coal, Sewer Pipe &c. Two Stores: YOE and DALLASTOWN, Pa."

The paperweight itself, however, commemorates a monumental building of which the whole county was proud. It reads:

That's what some excavators though in 1911, jumbling some history and jumping to conclusions. The York Dispatch reported the story:

One reason that historical research is so intriguing is because the facts may be objective and verifiable but the interpretation is subjective, influenced by the perspective of the interpreter.

Even the "facts" themselves might not be a factual as you think. The first rule in research is to use as many primary sources as you can. A primary source is usually defined as a document or other evidence, either contemporary with what you are researching or created by someone involved in the event. The same event, however, is often recorded differently by different eyewitnesses, and an involved individual's perceptions of events can change as time passes.

History is being rewritten all the time. Sometimes it is because new primary sources come to light. More often, it is reinterpretation of an event, which is influenced by the perceptions and biases of the writer. And that's o.k. It doesn't make it right or wrong, as long as verifiable facts aren't changed. New insights may be gained, but that doesn't make the older texts wrong either if they differ.

Whether or not the proclamation issued by Continental Congress in York on November 1, 1777 was the First National Thanksgiving Proclamation is a case in point.

Congratulations to the students who participated in the recent essay contest sponsored by the York Daily Record/Sunday News and the York County Heritage Trust.

It was my pleasure to help judge the entries. All the students who entered, as well as their teachers and parents who encouraged them, are to be commended for taking time to dig into national history with a local twist.

The students in grades 6-8 and 9-12 were to write a letter home as if they were one of the delegates to Continental Congress meeting in York in 1777-78. They could tell about the problems of living in York Town as well as the heavy challenges they faced in molding one nation out of 13 diverse colonies.

Those in grades 3-5 could choose to write a biography of one of the delegates who served here.

See below for links to the winning essays as well as a link to the Library of Congress online transcriptions to the original Letters of Congress.

First National Thanksgiving Marker, East Market Street, York

Have you passed by the marker above, tucked into a mini-park in downtown York, PA, and wondered about the story behind it?

The marker reads: "THE FIRST NATIONAL THANKSGIVING WAS PROCLAIMED FROM YORK BY THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS ON NOVEMBER 1, 1777 TO BE CELEBRATED ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18. IT WAS WRITTEN BY SAM ADAMS OF MASSACHUSETTES, 'THE FATHER OF THE REVOLUTION,' WHO ADVOCATED FOR THE FIRST TIME 'ONE PUBLIC DAY OF THANKSGIVING' FOR ALL OF THE STATES AFTER THE BATTLE OF SARATOGA 'THAT WITH ONE HEART AND ONE VOICE THE GOOD PEOPLE MAY EXPRESS THE GRATEFUL FEELINGS OF THEIR HEARTS.' BY VARIOUS HISTORICAL AND PATRIOTIC SOCIETIES AND THE NATIONAL THANKSGIVING FOUNDATION."

If you are reading this, you are probably interested in York County history and know that York was the capital of the United States from the end of September 1777 through June 1778. The Revolutionary War was in full swing, and the British were occupying Philadelphia, which had been the capital of the new nation.

Congress moved west and settled in York for the duration, putting nearly a hundred miles, including the mile-wide Susquehanna River, between them and British General Howe and his troops.

It seems that many Americans of the time, when they heard Congress was meeting in York, said "York? Where's that?" John Adams wrote wife Abigail that he had to take a circuitous route of 180 miles to avoid the British on his way to York, which he estimated was not more than 88 miles from Philadelphia.

Abigail was confused and wrote James Lovell, friend of both Adamses who was also serving in Congress at York, for clarification. She said that John said they were 88 miles from Philadelphia, but she didn't know which way. Were they closer to Boston or further away? Lovell drew her a map.

Lotteries have always been alluring--wager a little for the chance to win a lot. Continental Congress attempted to raise funds to finance the Revolutionary War through a lottery, with a one of the drawings held in York in May 1778. From colonial times lotteries were conducted to raise money for public works, for churches and for colleges.

Two advertisements in a December 1826 York Recorder show that even out-of-state lotteries competed for Yorkers' cash: