Hanover: December 2007 Archives

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.

The image of Liberty is very familiar to present-day U.S. Mint sculptor and engraver Don Everhart, whose Statue of Liberty design graces the back of the mint’s presidential dollar coins.

We also recently learned that Everhart, a York County native, had the honor of meeting the Dalai Lama. Everhart was selected to create the Dalai Lama’s likeness on the face of a gold medal, authorized by an Act of Congress and presented to the Tibetan leader in recognition of his work for world peace.

Everhart has sculpted and engraved many coins, calling to mind Hanover native Christian Gobrecht, who was also employed in a similar capacity by the U.S. mint and created the famous Seated Liberty image used on several coins, starting with the dollar in 1836.

See below for my 2005 York Sunday News column on Gobrecht:

I guess it is human nature to want to have the biggest and the best. We are always impressed by the tallest buildings and the most gigantic pumpkins.

Our forebears were no different, as we can see by the Lewis Miller drawing above of a huge pumpkin. Miller captioned it: “1809. Christian Leaman, big and large pumpkin grown in his garden. It was as large as a barrel and more in circumference around. Old Dr. John Fisher bought it and sent it to Baltimore to let them see what old York can raise and examine it. No man could lift it from the ground.”

The citizens often made sure the local newspapers knew about their accomplishments. Short items from all over the county in the York Gazette in the autumn of 1877 list several examples: