William Wagner Drawing of 1830 York County Courthouse.

I'm certainly not advocating crime, but when you think of it, salaries for all those policemen, jailers, judges, and attorneys do add to the economy. Building and upkeep of the prisons and courthouses, feeding the prisoners, and all the other fees associated with the justice system also supply work for a lot of people.

I haven't checked the probably astronomical costs today, but take a look at the crime and court related expenditures below from the 1825-1826 York County budget report, as published in the York Recorder. They make up quite a chunk of the costs for that year.

Posted in 1820s Universal York York County courthouse courts crime lawyers local government police prisons

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“ARREST MAN AFTER TEN MILE CHASE--FIND HATCHET AND SEARCHLIGHT.” So screamed front page headlines in the April 20, 1908 York Gazette.

What was the crime?

Posted in 1900s Red Lion Universal York York agriculture burglary chickens crime farming police

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One of the subjects that I have been know to rant about is the “Good Old Days.” I say that in most cases, comparatively speaking, they weren’t that great.

Not that I want to spread gloom and doom. I’m an optimist and I believe that most people are good and decent. That doesn’t mean, however, that there aren’t some really bad eggs out there.

Crime, however, certainly isn’t a new phenomenon in York County. Spend some time reading old newspapers and you will see what I mean. The York Gazette article of March 17, 1908 below illustrates my point. It reads:

Posted in 1900s Universal York York crime police weapons

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An Earlier View of Market and Beaver Streets by William Wagner with National House on Left.

I recently wrote about a rowdy York citizen swinging a Civil War cavalry sword around a local cigar store in 1877.

Click here to read about the sword incident.

That York Gazette article referred to even more excitement the previous week in the same neighborhood at Market and Beaver Streets.

Posted in 1870s Universal York York crime drunkenness guns hotels liquor police weapons

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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?)

Posted in 1870s Civil War Universal York York City crime drunkenness liquor police retail stores weapons

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York County Prison, built 1853

The December 29, 1857 Gazette reported a Christmas night prison excape at the York County jail, which had been built only four years before. The escapees of 150 years ago used a method similar to that used just recently. The account follows below:

"PRISONERS ESCAPED AND RECAPTURED.

On the night of the 25th inst., two prisoners, names William Cook and James A. Quinland, made their escape from our new jail in a most adroit and skillful manner. They both, it appears, occupied the same cell on the second floor of the prison and were locked up, as usual, at about 5 o'clock in the evening.

Posted in 1850s Universal York York County crime history police prisons

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York Mayor Ephraim Hugentugler had his hands full in the fall of 1917. He hauled many locals into his police court for furnishing liquor to soldiers stationed at the temporary training camp at Gettysburg. The soldiers also got themselves arrested for drunkenness or being disorderly, a charge that sometimes meant consorting with the local young women.

Excuses flew liberally: The Gazette reported that one soldier got off with just a $10 fine by explaining that "he never drank before and that the booze went to his head and he did not know what he was doing."

A 24-year-old soldier "caught spooning" with a 13-year-old girl in Penn Park said he didn't know she was under 18 because "he did not ask her age." The mayor didn't quite believe a group of women, aged 15 to 24, rounded up at Penn Common when many of them said they couldn't get away from the soldiers. "Huggy" told the girls they should be home after nine and "declared that if they are not permitted to take their soldier friends home to entertain them, they certainly will not be allowed to do so on the streets and public parks."

The Mayor and Police Chief Kottcamp were both upset when the U.S. District Judge Witmer, who had jurisdiction over the liquor furnishing cases, let seven of what Hugentugler called the "worst characters in York" off with a warning. Hugentugler decided to take matters into his own hands. See my Sunday News column below:

Posted in 1910s Army Universal York World War I York City courts crime history liquor mayors men police soldiers women

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Ninety years ago York Mayor Hugentugler presided over a frequently lively police court: One case involved a “near murder” with a hatchet on the 500 block of Vander Avenue. The York Gazette reported the husband

Posted in 1910s Republicans Universal York York York City courts crime history local government mayors men police women

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One hundred and fifty years ago this week the following letter appeared in the York Gazette under the heading “Borough Police and Watchmen.”

Posted in 1850s Universal York York City crime history local government police

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