An Amish farmer works in his Lower Chanceford Township field in June 2008. In recent years, Amish from Lancaster and elsewhere have moved to this remote part of York County. Background posts: Who was Norman Wood (of bridge fame)?, Horse, buggy, one-room school make county comeback, Amish: 'We are making a commitment to forgive'

With Amish moving to less crowded quarters west of the Susquehanna in recent decades, it raises the question about how many of these newcomers now call York County home.

York Daily Record/Sunday News religion writer Melissa Nann Burke has come as close as can be determined without actually counting heads... .

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Teachers in one-room schools in the 1870s had tall orders inside and outside of their classroom. Background posts: Interesting Web site dedicated to country schools, Can you identify this mystery school, believed to be in York County? and Two tales of four schools teach about change in York County education.

Bob Weaver has done a lot of research on York/Adams one-room schools, those ubiquitous boxy buildings that dotted this region's countryside before World War II.

And somewhere the East Berlin-area history enthusiast dug up a list of teacher expectations from 1872.

The list is so demanding - and intrusive - that I've often wondered if it might be a spoof.

For example, getting shaved in a barber shop could bring frowns from school directors?... .

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A large crowd listens to big band music over the weekend at Dills Tavern, part of Dillsburg's175th anniversary festivities. The tavern serviced the plentiful passengers on the Harrisburg and Baltimore Turnpike, as they passed through the notch in the mountains. Background posts: Franklintown second cousin to neighboring Dillsburg, Flag expert: 'I was interested in my nation's heritage', Dillsburg's Jane Alexander pioneering county woman in state politics

The York Daily Record/Sunday News story (8/23/08) called Dillsburg York County's
"wild child."

The 175th-anniversary celebration over the weekend was, indeed, a bright moment in the northwest York County borough.

The wild child comment brings to mind the most celebrated wedding of a townsman - or townswoman.

Anne Dill, 24 years old and the beautiful widow of a descendant of the town's founder, married the distinguished clergyman and Declaration of Independence signer John Witherspoon... .

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The 2,000-pound bell Conewago Chapel bell as contractor measures the church belfry. The steeple of the mother church for Roman Catholics in York and Adams counties is undergoing renovations. (See additional photo below). Background posts: People of varying religious groups founded York County, Abe, Gwyneth passed through Porters Sideling and In bucolic countryside, royal body sat in the sun.

York's Christ Lutheran is the mother church for worshippers in that Protestant denomination in York and Adams counties.

The Codorus Church of the Brethren near Loganville is the founding church of Brethren in York County.

But the hearth for York/Adams' United Churches of Christ, United Methodists and Roman Catholics Catholics came further west in present-day Adams County. Adams was part of York at the time these first churches were planted.

Here are some facts on those early, out-west churches, according to "Never to be Forgotten":

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Codorus Church of the Brethren in Dunkard Valley is the mother church for members of that denomination in York County. Background posts: Potosi, Pa., linked to mining, Northern York strawberry part of Neapolitan county, People of varying religious groups founded York County.

The stats say that the Church of the Brethren has grown from one congregation - Springfield Township's Codorus church - planted in the fields of a quiet valley 250 years ago to 15 churches in York County today

The figures also show that the number of churches of that Protestant denomination in the county is down by three between 1990 and 2000.

That is probably the reason Codorus and other Brethren groups are trying new things - like this past weekend's Dunkard Valley Live, a Christian music festival with rap groups and such. Surely, this was the loudest moment in this agricultural valley since the introduction of the gasoline-fired combine.

But here's the question that is often asked about the Brethren and their Amish and Mennonite cousins: Why aren't there as many of those groups west of the Susquehanna as there are in Lancaster County? ...

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Local architectural expert and blogger Scott Butcher chose Gethsemane Hall as the cover image of his new book, "York's Historic Architecture." Butcher writes that Freemasons constructed the 111 N. Beaver St. building in 1912. It was built after the Masons acquired the next-door, former York Post Office. Background posts: When did York's square turn from Centre to Continental?, The Four Bloggers write and Virtual York offers colorful tour of York's past.

Scott Butcher's newest book will serve as a resource for countless people interested in York County's architectural significant buildings.

The 157-page book is packed with photos and descriptions of private residences, houses of worship, commercial buildings and some structures that have seen many uses.

"From early Colonial taverns and ornate Victorian homes to the postmodern office towers of today, York's streetscape features almost every style and era of American architecture," Scott wrote in a news release.

Here's how I'll use the book: ...

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Camp Ganoga athletic director Don Roehm leads Boy Scouts in exercises in 1921. Scouts trooped about three miles into the isolated camp on the bank of the Big Conewago Creek near Strinestown after disembarking from the trolley in Manchester. This York County Heritage Trust photo was published in the book "On My Honor, 70 Years of Scouting in York & Adams Counties." The Big Conewago is the symbolic divide between northern York County and the other two-thirds of the county. Background posts: Monica Goodling proves that all roads lead to York, Part of Elm Beech still visible and Northern York area strawberry part of Neapolitan county.

Monica Goodling, in the news recently for her practices in hiring federal prosecutors, lived in a region where northern York County met southern York County.

In a forthcoming York Sunday News column, I tell about the Conewago Creek region where she lived and how at least intra-county cultures met on its banks.

The column follows:

Posted in Books & reading Civil War Events Explanations/controversy Farms & fields For photo fans Genealogy/research God & York County Local journalism & Web Local landmarks Nostalgia & memories People School days Small-town life Unsung/obscure sites War Wheels of York Women's history York Town Square York sports

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The York County Heritage Trust archives' genealogy section offers resources for families to search out their ancestors. Background posts: Genealogists find mother lode in York County, Unsung "York County history in print" touted and Peeking into Pennsylvania's attic .

Mabel Lou Brown's request for family members is among scores that flood York County in a month.

She's looking for a family members of a relative named Miller who died in 1879 and is buried in York County.

At least she has a year of death and location of his burial.

This one seems solvable, although any researcher will tell you that a common name like Miller complicates things... .

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Voni Grimes greets a small crowd standing in a pouring rain at a diversity and peace rally in April 2006 in York. During the event, York Mayor John Brenner praised Grimes for his efforts to unite the community. Background posts: Two 'connectors' would make York County's list of most influential, A short test of your York black history knowledge and 10 tips to write a book-length project.

This photo did not make it into Voni B. Grimes just-published memoirs, but it typifies the man, who perhaps knows more York countians than any other person.

There's the Bamberg, S.C., born/World War II vet/retired Penn State administrator standing in the rain on a Saturday morning. Only a few turned out for this diversity rally.

A few here and a few there and pretty soon you change hearts. That's how Voni Grimes would see it.

So via his memoirs "Bridging Troubled Waters," this man, who knows so many people, can himself be known... .

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This image, from Aldersgate United Methodist Church's Web site shows the concrete image of Jesus, standing at the location of the congregation's longtime prized copper beech tree. Holocaust statue a must-see, Memorial honoring DUI victims should be visited and AIDS memorial at York's Albemarle Park .

While attending the viewing of longtime York Daily Record columist Jim Hubley at York Township's Aldersgate United Methodist Church, I saw the landmark cement monument depicting Jesus.

It reminded me of the church's copper beech tree.

Or rather, it reminded me of Mike Argento's story on the tree, later carved into a wooden rendition of Jesus and later a cement image.

Well, we'll let Mike tell the story (11/29/01), published in the York Daily Record before the cement image went up:

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Theresa Krout with New Hope Fissel's United Church of Christ holds a petrified, severed human finger and several teeth found during renovations in 2002 of an old stone home located on church grounds. Many items were unearthed during renovations of the Shrewsbury Township farmhouse: Egg cartons store old belt buckles and girdle clips, baby food jars hold nails, yogurt containers carry broken china and a coffee can has pottery pieces. 'We kept looking for that pot of gold, but it never came,' Krout says of the items found. Background posts: Two York County union churches vestiges of bygone era, Parade Music Prince Roland Seitz: From Shrewsbury to Friday Night Lights and The things you learn reading local history.

The discovery of the interesting photo of Fissel's one-room school places a spotlight on that area surrounding Susquehannock High School.

Where did name Fissel's, as nearby New Hope United Church of Christ is called, come from?

And what is the story of the severed pinkie finger founds during renovations to an 1823 house about six years ago?... .

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William C. Goodridge, a former slave who became a respected York businessman, was an influential 19th-century figure in York County. He is on a short list of top newsmakers in York County in the past 250 years. Background posts: List of luminaries from Dover lengthens, How come so few in York know about S. Morgan Smith?, Samuel Small tops community contributor list.

On Sunday, we'll post a sampling of 25 of York County's most influential residents. Actually, there are 26.

The suggestions came from members of the public, York Daily Record/Sunday New staff and the newspaper's editorial board.

As a warm up, we post here a list from "Never to be Forgotten" of a group of 30 influential residents from York County's past... .