Wrightsville has always occupied an important location in the transportation network. The Monocacy Trail, orginally a Native American path, became one of the first roads for the European settlers to York County and beyond. That road crossed the Susquehanna River at Wrightsville, first by ferry and then over bridges covered and modern.

The Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal, opened in 1840, followed the west bank of the river from the Chesapeake Bay to Wrightsville. Then the mules, working from towpaths on the covered bridge, pulled the canal boats across the river to Columbia to continue on their journey up the east bank.

Railroads soon replaced canals as movers of people and freight, again crossing the bridge at Wrightsville. The excerpt below from the November 20, 1877 Gazette shows the hazards passengers could face and the volume of products shipped out from Wrightsville.

Posted in 1870s Columbia, PA Susquehanna River Universal York Wrightsville York County business canals commerce highways railroads roads transportation

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William Holmes McGuffey (1800-1873) was a professor of languages at Miami University in Ohio when he developed a series of enduring readers for children.

Truman and Smith, a small Cincinnati publishing firm, brought out the First Reader in 1836, followed by the Second Reader in 1837. The Third and Fourth were published in 1837. These volumes were used to teach untold numbers of children the basics of reading, writing, arithmetic, and other subjects up through the end of grammar school. McGuffey's brother Alexander was the compiler of the Fifth Reader (1844) and the Sixth (1855) for students of a higher level.

Posted in 1790s 1830s 1840s Adams County Marsh Creek Ohio Universal York York County books education schools teachers

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In the past I have written about some of the outrageous claims for cures made by York County manufacturers of tonics and by animal doctors.

Click here to read about Caldwell's cure-all tonic.

And click here to read about Heffner's medicine for your cattle, horses, and swine.

Doctors practicing on humans weren't any less immoderate in their claims, as shown by the ad below from the April 18, 1816 York Gazette. At least Dr. Delasell had long office hours.

Posted in 1810s Dover Universal York York County advertising cures doctors medicine

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Lewis Miller drawing of York jail on George Street

York County has had four prisons in its nearly 260 year history. The present one certainly seems to be the most secure. But reading the newspaper accounts of past jailbreaks, you have to wonder if anybody was watching.

At least in the 1857 Christmas night jailbreak the prisoners had to hack through a wall of the almost-new second jail on Chestnut Street. Click here to read about that escape.

In 1829, when the jail was on the northeast corner of George and King Streets, it was apparently much easier. The May 26, 1829 York Recorder tells the story:

Posted in 1820s Universal York York City York County crime prisons

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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.

Posted in 1860s Civil War Hanover Universal York York County horses

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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.

Click here to read about a Confederate sword left in Hanover in 1863.

See below for my recent York Sunday News article based on Mrs. Stair's recollections:

Posted in 1860s Civil War Hanover Universal York York County soldiers

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William Wagner drawing of Newberry St. at Philadelphia St. Buildings in background at Upp vineyard, now Farquhar Park.

I posted a couple of blogs lately on brewers in 19th century York County. That fits right in with the majority of Pennsylvania Germans settling the area. Click here to read about the Barnitz family brewers.

So does viticulture (growing grapes) and viniculture (making wine). Most of those settlers came from the Rhineland, still a center of grape cultivation and wine making.

As far as I know, there are no breweries right now in York County, but there are several successful vineyards. From the York Gazette ad below, it seems like George Upp was having a good year growing grapes in 1828:

Finish reading 'Wine Making Goes Back a Long Way in York County' »

Posted in 1800s Pennsylvania Germans Universal York York County agriculture vineyards wine making

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