Universal York

York Water First Flowed Through Log Pipes

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:27:01 -0500

Lewis Miller drawing of the first York water pipes. (See below for Miller's detailed caption.)

Downtown York traffic was recently disrupted by a broken water pipe. Like anything else, pipes do eventually suffer from wear, whether they are made of iron, ceramic, plastic, or log. Log?

York was quite progressive, instituting a public water system in 1816.
The first piping system, which lasted for many years, was constructed out of logs. In March 1816, the York Gazette ran the following ad:

How Many Revolutionary War Prisoners Were at York's Camp Security?

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 23:35:16 -0500

Order to register prisoners paroled to Yorkers

I gave a brief overview in my recent York Sunday News column of Camp Security, the 1781-1783 Revolutionary War prisoner of war camp just east of York. The whole column is at the end of this post.

Camp Security is the last remaining prisoner of war camp in the United States that has not been swallowed up by development. The site is considered to be at the highest priority risk by the National Trust of Historic Preservation and the National Park Service. Only a few of the approximately 40 acres of the camp have been subject to full archaeological exploration.

Estimates of the number of British Prisoners interned at Camp Security vary. Records are rather sketchy in comparison with statistics we keep today, and the existing records can be interpreted differently. Some sources say many died or deserted before and after they arrived in York. Other sources say deaths and desertions have been exaggerated. As more catalogs of document collections and documents themselves become accessible online, more statistics may surface.

Bells Go Awry in Dillsburg and York

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:51:45 -0500

York County, Pennsylvania people were having bell trouble, according to the November 20, 1877 issue of the York Gazette. Dillsburg's St. Paul's Lutheran Church had a cracked bell, and Mary Mayer of York broke her arm trying to ring a door bell.

York, PA Had Its Own Wall Street

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:13:05 -0500

Wall Street, 1903

A colleague recently asked me where Wall Street used to be in York. It doesn't appear on present-day maps. A search through old maps with a magnifying glass located a tiny little Wall Street in the 1903 Atlas of York published by Frederick B. Roe.

York Cabinet Maker Invents Bedbug-Proof Bedstead

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:26:10 -0500

An ad in a 1823 York Recorder reminds us again why the good-old-days weren't so great. Cabinetmaker George Dowdel guaranteed that his improved bedstead was better than any heretofore made.

Front Window Escape from York Jail

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:28:22 -0500

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 jail breaks, you have to wonder if anybody was watching.

At least in the 1857 Christmas night jail break 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:

Panic of Hanover--What Happened to Captain Jenifer?

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:23:42 -0500

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.

More on the Princes of York

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:40:53 -0500

The Prince family, that is. A few days ago I wrote and that I thought there were two contemporary David Princes in York. I based that assumption on that two different women married David Prince, and that one David Prince moved to Baltimore and another taught at the York County Academy for around forty-five years.

Click here to read the previous Prince post.

A further search at the York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives of transcribed original records shows that they were indeed the same person, and he did all the things listed above.

Mapping York, PA's Past

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:22:20 -0500

Part of Freystown, 1876

Maps are fascinating. They document the charges in communities over the years. You can see how residential, social, and industrial patterns evolve as an area grows, or in some cases, retracts.

I recently looked at the when and where of North, South, East, and West streets in York, Pennsylvania. Click here to read that post.

Another look at 1836, 1850, 1876, and 1903 maps of York show changes in street names as well as disappearances of whole villages as they were absorbed into the city. The southeast side of town illustrates that well:

1837 York Newspaper "Takes the Cake"

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:00:25 -0500

Among the marriages announced in an April 1837 York newspaper was that of David B. Prince and Elizabeth Sandoe, on April 6th.

The editors remarked that "accompanying this notice was a liberal slice of the most delicious pound cake for the printer. It was the sweetest communication that we have received for many months, and we inserted it with as much pleasure, as we now do the sincere hope that they, who thus remembered the printer, may long enjoy undisturbed and unalloyed connubial felicity."

North, South, East, West--Where Are These York Streets?

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:14:36 -0500

East Street, 1903

Like many cities, York, Pennsylvania has a street named for each direction of the compass. I must admit, though, I had to look at a current atlas to find East Street, even though I go by it almost daily.

I assumed that these four streets made their appearance at the same time, marking the boundaries of the town as it grew. Wrong--as you can see from the information below gleaned from 1850, 1876, and 1903 maps of York.

York Woman Tells of Panic in Hanover

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 21:53:33 -0500

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:

Wine Making Goes Back a Long Way in York County

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:22:43 -0500

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:

Artificers Recruited at York

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:54:22 -0500

Just as today, during the Revolutionary War the Army needed a lot more than men who could shoot a rifle. An Army can't function without support--personnel that gathers the supplies, feeds the soldiers, and keeps the equipment running.

The following recruiting ad comes from the Pennsylvania Gazette, printed in York, PA during Continental Congress's stay here:

Crime Pays in York County

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:22:14 -0500

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.