July 2007 Archives

Still on York New Salem, officially known as New Salem Borough.

While looking at a list of those killed in World War II a few years ago, I notice several from that borough on the list.

OK, many towns sustained heavy losses in World War II, as did York County overall with a count of 570 or more.

But the names coming from York New Salem did not strike me as the German names generally found in that part of York County... .

John Robinson, the York New Salem, who e-mailed with several queries reminded me of one of his borough's most interesting stories.

In the early 1900s, some folks discovered oil in their well water.

Some conjectured that New Salem might be sitting on a pool of black gold... .

E.A. Wise acquired this classic view of York's western entrance in a New York City antique shop in 1960.

E.A. Wise of York sent in a lithograph of York's western entrance circa 1845. His image tells an interesting story.

The Centre Square courthouse is gone, moved to the East Market Street location occupied by its successor today. That suggests that agrarianism still ruled for the borough to keep a bustling market place at its center.

The market sheds came down in 1887 when the city's powers believed the need to transport people and product, spawned by the Industrial Revolution, outweighed these venerable, but tottering sheds... .

Charles Rudisill’s service station in Spring Garden Township opened 50 years ago. He continues a tradition of independently owned service stations.

He's been at it for 50 years.

So Charles K. Rudisill, one of the area's last independent service station owners, was featured in a York Daily Record story this week.

Now, his story is part of the historical record.

It begins like this: ... .

Esther Paules

Esther Paules , of Windsor Township, can remember horses hitched around York's Continental Square - then Centre Square - when it was unpaved.

Unpaved roads weren't unusual in the city in those days. Even in 1942, only 35 miles of York's 90-mile road system were paved.

Sunday she celebrated 100 years during a party at Locust Grove United Church of Christ.

And on the topic of animals on Continental Square, consider this story of a wayward cow, according to "In the Thick of the Fight:" ...

The centerpiece on this front page tells about the return of the longtime baseball rivalry between York and Lancaster to the west bank of the Susquehanna after a 50-year absence.

The series between York and Lancaster's baseball teams has been tagged The War of the Roses.

Some people believe this ties into the American Revolution, in which America gained its independence and from which the York Revolution takes its name.

York, the White Rose City, and Lancaster, its Red Rose counterpart, actually take their nicknames from cities in 15th-century England.

It was no revolutionary war in England, but a civil war .... .

Bill Schintz, York photo studio owner, captured The Del-Chords during a reunion about 10 years ago.

Memories about the 1960s local rock band The Del-Chords continue to pile up.

Jim Isenberg is the latest to comment on a past Del-Chords' post about all those who made up the band over the years:

As Dave Bupp has said, The Del-Chords were comprised of a "host of characters". If memory serves, they included Dave Bupp, Bill "Cheeks" Schlosser, Jeff Hildebrand, Jere Hetrick, Edward "Buck" Generette, Otto "Spike" Sexton, Edward "Ike" Bowers, Allen "Jap" Shue, Don Sponsler, Dale Saxon, Ernie Banks, Ron Searle, and Adrian "Buddy" King. Does anyone out there have any additions or corrections?

Local ace photographer Bill Schintz e-mailed a note about the band titled "Del-Chords unfair!" ...

Chad Whitcraft of New Freedom unloads his 1935 John Deere B off the back of his truck in Manchester in preparation for Old Tyme Days in 2004.

A Norwich (Conn.) Bulletin article
about a York County couple who sell models of old-time construction equipment brings to mind a past rite of summer in York County.

That was Old Tyme Days in Manchester borough.

That annual event was just an old-time fair held about this time every year. Home-made food. Antique farm machinery. Tractor pulling competition. An old-fashioned prayer meeting.

Several years ago, the owners of the land where the fair was held for years sold the property to be used as a housing development.

What a symbol for a York County in change. A fair priding itself in the display of farm equipment giving way to sprawl. As I write, the housing development is going up on the old fairgrounds.

The York Daily Record explored this and other examples of perhaps less-than-desirable change in a 2004 editorial:

The YLT archives has many treasures including the program for the theater group's first full-length production 'Lady Windermere's Fan.'

The York Little Theatre is one of the community organizations that grew from the Great Depression.

As a sidebar to a news package on YLT in the York Sunday News says, the theater group has produced many stars who have gone on to bigger stages.

In keeping with this blog's series of local folks who have done great things elsewhere,
we include a story on former YLT stars Bobby Spencer and Michael Patrick Walker:

Ruthe Craley, right, presents Lady Bird Johnson with a memento from the York Symphony Orchestra. This photograph appeared in the YSO's 75th anniversary book.

A York Sunday News editorial pointed out all of the Great Depression-spawned organizations that add so much to the York community today.

We also note in the editorial that at least four other great organizations grew up in another difficult time: the post-Civil War era. The York Benevolent Association, York Collegiate Institute (forerunner of York College), Children's Home of York and York Hospital highlight that list.

Indeed, one man's name has been linked to all four - Samuel Small, the "S." of P.A. and S. Small, the great merchants of York in the 1800s... .

Is the tall man with the stovepipe hat, center background, President Abraham Lincoln at Hanover Junction? The world might never know. But a stone Abe (see below) will soon adorn a garden near the station.

For years, people have pondered the old black-and-white photograph.

Is that Abraham Lincoln standing there with the stovepipe hat at the Hanover Junction train station?

No, some say, that was A.W. Eichelberger, president of the Hanover Branch Railroad.

Well, Abe was there, no doubt... .

An Adams County Historical Society rep will return this Confederate soldier's tooth to his family.

The Electric Map is staying, but the Civil War soldier's tooth is leaving.

A recent story in the York Sunday News explained that the familiar light-bulb-laden map showing Gettysburg troop movements probably will be carved up, shrink wrapped and moved to a National Park Service barn.

No group has put forth a credible bid for the low-tech map, and it's hard to move elswhere anyway because the building that has housed it for years was built around it.

No indication about when the map will be displayed again, but at least it's not going to the landfill.

Now for the tooth... .

This photograph from the Fred Yenerall collection shows the now-demolished Detters Mill covered bridge crossing the Conewago Creek in Dover Township in 1965. The bridge support in the middle was unusual for covered bridges in York County.

Judy Thomas called to our attention a collection of photos from York County and environs in the 1960s-1980s that might interest history nuts.

Her grandfather was behind the camera... .

Donald Kraybill told Rotarians recently that though Amish forgiveness linked to Nickel Mines shocked the outside world, this is a "standard forgiveness" explained in the Lord's Prayer that is silently said often during the day in English and German by the Amish.

Amish expert Don Kraybill addressed York Rotary recently about forgiveness and the Nickel Mines schoolhouse shooting.

Kraybill spoke about an Amish man:

"It is not that we do not want justice." The Amish believe in punishment but also in "giving up feelings of retaliation. We are making a commitment to forgive, but it is a long process," the man said.

"Forgiveness is not forgetting, and this will be part of Amish history for a long time," Kraybill said.

Kraybill wasn't talking about a group - the Amish - that is unknown to York County. In fact, a considerable Amish population has settled in York County's southeastern corner, on this side of the Norman Wood Bridge... .

York Hospital's Dr. Douglas Arbittier shows a 1730s-vintage saw used to amputate limbs. He will demonstrate saws from his collection on a History Channel program. See History Channel for programming.

Douglas Arbittier has collected surgical saws and bloodletting devices for years. He even has a Web site to show off his collection.

His collection gives a poignant view of progress in medicine and the horrors of war.

York County, of course, is historically in tune with such horrors. In fact, the the U.S. Army Military Hospital operating in York during the Civil War had its own collection of surgical saws... .

John Robinson of York New Salem believes the community needs a Web site or resources that people can query with questions and at least get pointed in the right direction.

Well, we might not have a single entity with expertise to point people in the right direction, but York County has something better. We have two agencies with expertise:

With questions on architecture or buildings - what I call hardware - go to Historic York.

Queries about people, events or genealogy - software - go to York County Heritage Trust.

Of course, you can get information on people at Historic York and architecture at the Heritage Trust, but this is a good way of remembering specialties.

As I get such queries, I privately or via this blog try to point people in a direction.

Here are some responses to questions posed by our friend from York New Salem:

Bob Kerr of Madeira, Fla., visited the York County Heritage Trust library recently to research his family who lived in Adams County, from the mid-1700s until they migrated to Ohio in the early 1800s. The library is a center for local research. For additional resources, see below and also search this blog's genealogical research archives.

One count places the number of York County men in uniform during the American Revolution at more than 4,000.

That count includes present-day Adams County, then part of York County.

So, a Mormon church project to digitize Revolutionary War records could turn up information of interest to local genealogists doing Web research.

An LDS press release press release explains the project.

A York County-based LDS resource is described in a recent York Weekly Record story:

John Robinson of York New Salem wrote York Sunday News columnist Gordon Freirerich remembering days growing up in a small town in Dutchess County, N.Y.

And he draws some comparisons to York New Salem - officially New Salem borough - today. (York New Salem is the post office, but that's how everyone refers to it.)

Here are some excerpts:

The town was set up perfectly. No matter where you wanted to go, or do, it was within walking distance...groceries, post office, doctor, library, the veterinarian, (he once stabled Tommy Johns horses...Tommy Johns was a NY Yankee).

The drug store was great, with one of those soda fountains with the stools you could twirl around on. I remember the tulip shaped glass and the long-handled spoon, which the guy behind the fountain would use to stir the syrup and seltzer water into a great tasting cherry coke. And these soda's had extra syrup in them.They cost about a quarter... .

Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson visited Dallastown in 1966 to help observe that borough's 100th anniversary.

Some York countians took special note of Lady Bird Johnson's recent death.

They met her when she and her husband, President Lyndon Johnson, visited Dallastown as part of that borough's 100th anniversary.

Neiman Craley, York's sole Democratic congressman in the past 50 or so years, corralled him for the ceremony... .

Well, Johnson's speech delivered that day can be accessed.

The Texan liked to visit Pennsylvania:

"We look forward to your hospitality, your friendship, and your beautiful countryside," he told Dallastownians.

And he gave those assembled a little history lesson:

Baron de Beelen travels to church in York. Years later, the Belgium businessman was buried in Adams County's Conewago Chapel. (Lewis Miller drawing courtesy, York County Heritage Trust.)

Conewago Chapel surely would be near the top of any list of unsung or underrated sites in York and Adams counties.

It's in the middle of nowhere, but that makes its wonderful paintings, frescoes and architecture all the more captivating. One simply wouldn't expect to run into such artifacts in such a quiet place.

Which brings to mind a favorite story about the chapel and York history, as outlined in my York Sunday News column, a tour of York County's historic southwest (and Adams' southeast):

There's an interesting story behind this Grand Army of the Republic photograph, with a York County twist.

Angelo Scarlato of Etters ran across a photograph of grizzled Civil War vets than piqued his interest.

"History Detectives" became involved and effectively unraveled the mystery, as reported by the Syracuse (N.Y.) Post-Standard:

The walls of an old warehouse stand in the wilderness along Michael Creek in the southeastern tip of York County. The warehouse stored agricultural products for the Cooper family before they were shipped to Baltimore on the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal.

York Daily Record/Sunday News photographer Bil Bowden will soon unveil a series of photos and stories "The Four Corners."

Bil visited the reaches of York County to find stories in its farthermost tips. The property of David and Nancy Yohn, where the above warehouse is located, is among them.

But wait, York County is more triangular than square in shape... .

The e-mails bearing memories of one-room schools continue.

Karen Van Bibber remembers the now-demolished Ore Valley school, followed by Jay Cannon's memories of the Springdale school in Foustown, standing but deteriorating:

The Guinston Presbyterian Church, victimized by vandals this week, is one of York County's oldest. It was built in 1773.

Police are still looking for information on who have vandalized the historic Guinston Presbyterian Church.

Here's how the York Daily Record/Sunday News story about the destructive acts began:

Tracey Roberts of York Myotherapy is shown with Joey McIntyre, left, of New Kids on the Block fame, and Drew Lachey, from 'Dancing with the Stars.' Lachey's mother lives in York County and is one of Roberts' patients.

Who can doubt that all roads lead to York when you learn that the mother of Drew and Nick Lachey lives in York County?

Cate Reinert is the mother of Drew, star of "Dancing with the Stars," and Nick, 98 Degrees singer.

Her name came up as a connection between a local therapist and the mom.

A York Daily Record story on therapist Tracey Roberts began this way:

Indian Steps, now a museum, was for years the home of lawyer Edward Vandersloot and a favorite gathering spot for York County Bar members. This York County Heritage Trust photograph was taken on June 4, 1915.

York City showed an uptick in population for the first time in years, according to 2006 census stats.

I surveyed what such stats have meant for the city since 1880 in a York Sunday News column 'Projects bring hope for population growth'.

But one thing population growth has meant is an increase in lawyers. Or maybe the increase in population has meant more crime, which means more lawyers. Or maybe more population means more potential litigants, which means more lawyers.

Anyway, Georg Sheets' "Lawyers and Leaders" provides an interesting glimpse of the York County attorney population ratio from 1950 to 2000.

The Adams County Historical Society is making available a set of photographs of the Gettysburg battlefield at the end of the 1800s.

The historical group has digitized the William H. Tipton collection.

Here's an excerpt from a Hanover Evening Sun story on the collection:

Curly Holtzapple, center, greets Brooks Robinson on the field at Sovereign Bank Stadium, where former members of the York White Roses were honored before the Revolution took the field for Friday's opener, the first professional game in town since 1969. Curly Holtzapple (center) greets Brooks Robinson as he joins the White Roses on the field before the York Revolutions first home baseball game in the new stadium on June 15.

The York Revolution's attendance after nine home games in their new stadium is 32,336.

The turnout for the entire home season for the York Pirates, the last professional team to take the diamond in York, came in at 52,934.

So, compared to the 1969 curfew- and race-riot plagued season, the Revs are on target to surpass that last season's attendance this month. And it wasn't that th 1969 team was bad. The Pirates won the International League pennant that year.

The turnstile numbers still have caused a debate. Some, including YDR writer Jim Seip contend attendance has been hurt because the stadium was opened before it was completed. Others disagree. Weigh in on this debate at The Exchange.

The Revs attendance stats so far, as compiled by York Daily Record sports editor Chris Otto:

This clock, which belonged to Nelson Rehmeyer, supposedly stopped at 12:01 a.m. on the night he was killed in 1928. The clock that stopped after Nelson Rehmeyer's death.

With all the news stories about the Hex murder house opening as a museum and the release of the powwowers handbook "The Long Lost Friend" on CD , the white magic practice of powwowwing to cure maladies has been raised.

Some people believe Nelson Rehmeyer, the victim in the Hex murder case of 1928-29 was a witch. Others say he was merely a doctor practicing powwowing, popular in many York County towns in the 20th century.

The following York Daily Record story describes the practice:

This was Hex murder victim Nelson Rehmeyer's copy of "The Long Lost Friend," a target of his assailants.

Some enterprising bookshop owners are selling a CD-ROM of the book "The Long Lost Friend," that became part of the Hex murder in York County in 1928.

The assailants in the murder case of Nelson Rehmayer sought, among other things, the suspected witch's copy of the book.

That book contains such advice as:

Gen. Jacob L. Devers meets with President John F. Kennedy about his work as chair of the Battle Monuments Commission, one of Devers' assignments after retirement from the military in addition to creating the U.S. Army Field Band. Devers was impressed with Kennedy's astute questions after Devers submitted his final report and showed his prickly relationship with Ike Eisenhower: "Now Eisenhower, if you'd gone in there under the same conditions, he'd have done all the talking and he never would have found out what you came in for." (York County Heritage Trust photo). Background posts: Gettysburg's Ike and Manchester's Henry and York native Jacob L. Devers' name still in service at Fort Knox, Ky.

History came together at Farquhar Park on Sunday.

The U.S. Army Field Band played at the landmark bandstand in the landmark park.

Gen. Jacob L. Devers of York is sometimes called "the father of the band," according to Michael Markey's book "Jake, The General From West York Avenue."

And Jakie Devers grew up not far from Farquhar Park, on what is now known as Roosevelt Avenue.

Markey explains that Devers in the post-war period contacted military conductor Chester Whiting to direct a new musical unit that would act as a public relations vehicle for the Army... .

This six-wheel Pullman roamed York-area streets before giving way to thousands of four-wheel models. (Photo courtesy of York County Heritage Trust.)

There was a day, a little more than 100 years ago, that a strange-looking conveyance motored along York's streets.

Strange because it was self-propelled, an automobile. Strange because it had six wheels, although the American automotive industry was so new that it probably wasn't the number of wheels that caused heads to turn.

I mentoned the six-wheel Pullman automobiles here because the building where the 12,000 to 20,000 Pullmans made in York represents another attraction in the new stadium area of York. (For a sampling of other sites, see my York Sunday News column: 'A walking tour of the historic stadium area'). The North George Street building is marked with a painted sign on its side.

The six-wheeler's life was short... .