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.Every since humans discovered fire, we have been relying on it for cooking our food, keeping us warm, and lighting our way.
We also know the destruction and tragedy accidental fires can cause. Three items, datelined Hanover, from the April 25, 1908 York Gazette illustrate why fire needs to be treated with respect.
While I was helping to sort books for the annual York County Heritage Trust Book Blast, one of the other volunteers mentioned that she recently discovered that a best-selling author of horror novels lives in York County.
(Plug for book sale: Many thousands of books of all kinds for extremely low prices, August 14 & 15 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and August 16 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. It is held at YCHT's Agricultural & Industrial Museum, 217 W. Princess Street. Everyone is welcome.)
Other nationally known authors also have York County connections. Rita Mae Brown, who writes the mysteries with the helpful cats, was born near Hanover. When he spoke here a few years ago, David McCullough mentioned that he had ancestors in the Peach
Bottom area.
One of my favorites is Hanover native John Luther Long, whose novella Madame Butterfly was the basis for the Puccini opera, as well as the play Miss Saigon. See below for more on Long from my previous Sunday News column:
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:
I was asked, in response to my recent post about the Barnitz brewers of York, if they were related to brewer J. C. Barnitz of Harrisburg. Click here to read about the York brewers.
Good question, and the answer is Yes. It turns out that brewing was a traditional occupation in the Barnitz family during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
York Railways #234 at Martin's Substation on the Hanover Line in 1927
Sometimes history repeats itself in some really nifty ways. In February 1908 local newspapers were announcing that the York Railways Company’s new Hanover Interurban line was open through Spring Grove.
I keep harping away that the “good old days” often weren’t as good as they are remembered to be. One thing that is certainly better now than it was then is medical knowledge and technology.
The article below, from the April 30, 1908 York Gazette, certainly points out how lucky we are to have the x-rays, MRIs, and various scans now, so that the surgeons can see where the problem is before they cut.
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?
It seems like every year we hear of York County connections to the premier Westminster Kennel Club dog show. Just this year a toy poodle from Dillsburg named Vikki won the best of breed to make it to the finals.
Did you know that York County dogs and their owners have been bringing home prizes from the show since its infancy? The following report is from the February 14, 1908 York Gazette:
A while ago I wrote about how we like to impress others with what we have--the biggest and best.
Click here to read about giant pumpkins and corn.
The Hanover newspapers reported on the really big black snakes seen in that part of the county in May of 1878.
