Lancaster, Pennsylvania

“ The traditional stability and prosperity of Lancaster industrial and commercial enterprises form a sound economic base upon which to build a fine community. This becomes apparent as the visitor views the excellent schools and hospitals, the recreational and cultural facilities, the beautiful residential areas and other community assets which are a hallmark of the good living in Lancaster County. ”

“ Lancaster has long been noted for its unusually stable economy. The factors which contribute to this stability are numerous but perhaps can best be summarized by pointing out that in this historic area one finds a unique balance between agriculture, commerce and industry. Lancaster County ranks in the first five of the 3,073 Counties in the United States in the value per acre of its agricultural production; more than 600 industrial plants provide employment for approximately 55,000 industrial workers ”

“ The view from the front of the house, looking to the west of north, ranges over a broad expanse of the county of Lancaster, one of the richest of Pennsylvania’s lovely domains, spread out in a map of highly cultivated farms, and dotted by the homesteads of a wealthy agricultural population. Behind the house stands a noble wood, which is reached through the gardens; and from the crown of the hill, in a southerly direction, the eye ranges over another fine valley of smaller extent. Coolness and peace pervade this attractive old place, and it is not singular that a man of Mr. ”

“ When Robert was thirteen, the citizens of Lancaster wished to light up the town on the evening of July 4. It was in the midst of the Revolution and candles were as scarce as money. The demonstration was given up until Robert thought out a plan for skyrockets and the lad made possible the celebration.
565In Lancaster lived a clever man named William Henry, who had made some experiments with a steamboat. Robert often visited the Henry home, and there saw some pictures painted by Benjamin West, a former Chester County boy, who had gained great fame as an artist. ”

“ In consequence of the possession of the city of Philadelphia by the British army, from the latter end of September, 1777, until the beginning of the ensuing summer, the session of the state-legislature which intervened, was held at Lancaster. The compulsory removal from the capital, not only of the government of Pennsylvania but of congress also, and all the offices attached to the seat of the national government, produced an high degree of agitation and resentment in the public mind ”

“ Only two of its townships are in contact with Maryland, Fulton and Little Britain, and the last named barely touched the edge of the Southland of Slavery. In its citizenship Lancaster County represented all the principal elements which enter into our composite commonwealth. The more numerous and important strain of blood, occupying the wider and richer upper domain, was composed very largely of the so-called Pennsylvania German sect and church people, who had little fellowship with the negro race, little interest in or sympathy with its cause and very slight personal contact with its members. ”

“ The oldest turnpike in the United States terminates at Lancaster, connecting that city with Philadelphia. It has now something more than twenty-five thousand inhabitants, largely descended from the early Dutch settlers, whose names are still borne, and whose language, corrupted into "Pennsylvania Dutch," is still a most familiar one in that region.
The city is principally a manufacturing one, producing locomotives, axes, carriages and cotton goods, and being particularly celebrated for its rifles. It has many fine buildings, both public and private. ”

“ Lancaster County settlers, thus, chose Biblical names for their communities in the spirit of the Pilgrim Fathers before them, as a way of expressing thanks to God for leading them safely to these shores of freedom; as a way of affirming faith that unless God built a house of liberty, they labor in vain that build it, and as a way of making a promise to labor mightily to preserve that freedom and bequeath it unsullied to their descendants. ”

“ Soldiers from Lancaster County were found in sixty regiments of Pennsylvania. The well-known seventy-ninth regiment commanded by Colonel Hambright was composed wholly of volunteers. Shortly before 8 the battle of Gettysburg, when General Early reached York and the brigade was sent to hold the bridge at Columbia, and the bridge was set on fire in order to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Southern Army, long lines of refugees passed through Lancaster. ”

“ Much of the cultural life of Lancaster has been influenced by its educational institutions. Franklin and Marshall College, established in 1787, is one of the outstanding liberal arts colleges in the East, and provides many educational opportunities to the community in addition to its regular program of studies. Lectures, musical programs, and the facilities of the North Museum and Planetarium are available for the public. Other colleges in the area include Millersville State College, one of the state’s finest teacher training institutions ”

“ Accordingly, in December, 1799, the Legislature met in Lancaster, continuing to do so until the spring of 1812, when the seat of Government was removed to its present location in Harrisburg.
The provisions of the Constitution now require that no removal can hereafter be made without the consent of the people at a general election, and, although there have been many attempts made to relocate at Philadelphia and elsewhere since 1812, it is hardly probable that any other city or section will ever be acceptable to the citizens. ”

“ Since the days prior to the American Revolution, Lancaster has been famed for its skilled industrial workers and the wide diversity of precision products manufactured in its factories. With its workers largely drawn from fourth and fifth generation Lancaster families of English and German origin, local industry has established a far-flung reputation for the uniformly high quality of its labor. ”

“ He was recorder of Lancaster in 1841-'5, judge of the Philadelphia district court in 1845-'51, and president of the 3d judicial district of Pennsylvania in 1857-'62. After this he practised his profession in Philadelphia. ”

“ Lancaster is the chief city of Lancaster county, and contains about six thousand inhabitants. It is built on a hill; the streets cross each other at right angles, and are generally paved and supplied with side-walks, shaded by Italian poplars. The houses are principally of brick, though some are also quite massive; here and there a frame building may be seen. A square place stands in the middle of the city, in whose centre the court-house is erected. ”

“ The proud city of Lancaster,
Still perpetuate her warriors,
Still preserve her men of valor.
They are resting on their laurels,
In an everlasting quiet;
They have passed the rolling river,
To the arméd hosts of heaven;
They have joined another Captain,
While we linger in the rearguard. ”

“ A merchant gild existed here, which was ratified by Edward III.’s charter (1362) , and in 1688 six trade companies were incorporated. The chief manufactures used to be sailcloth, cabinet furniture, candles and cordage. The borough returned two members to parliament from 1295 to 1331 and again from some time in Henry VIII.’s reign before 1529 till 1867, when it was merged in the Lancaster division of north Lancashire. A church existed here, probably on the site of the parish church of St Mary’s, in Anglo-Saxon times, but the present church dates from the early 15th century. ”

“ And the monarchs of the forest,
Of the forest bought with bloodshed,
Fell with echoes loud and startling,
’Mid the lonely hills and valleys.
And the white man built a city,
In the woodland once so peaceful,
In the woodland once so warlike,
Built a fair and goodly city,
’Twas the city of Lancaster,
Yes, a stranger travelled westward,
From the land of trade and commerce,
Of William Penn and “loving brothers,”
And the stranger’s name was Paulding.
With his compass, chain, and log-book,
He marked out this modest city,
[9] On the pattern of his birthplace,
And they christened it Lancaster. ”

“ Goodchild concedes Lancaster to be a pleasant place. A place dropped in the midst of a charming landscape, a place with a fine ancient fragment of castle, a place of lovely walks, a place possessing staid old houses richly fitted with old Honduras mahogany, which has grown so dark with time that it seems to have got something of a retrospective mirror-quality into itself, and to show the visitor, in the depth of its grain, through all its polish, the hue of the wretched slaves who groaned long ago under old Lancaster merchants. ”

“ Finds the city of Lancaster,
In praiseworthy competition
With the spirit of the present.
Still the waxing, waning moonlight,
Sees her changing with the cycle.
Now the light’ning wires unite her
With the world in speedy transit ”

“ In 1826 Maryland instituted a state system of Lancastrian schools, with a Superintendent of Public Instruction, but in 1828 abandoned the idea and discontinued the office. A state Lancastrian system for North Carolina was proposed in 1832, but failed of adoption by the legislature. In 1829 Mexico organized higher Lancastrian schools for the Mexican State of Texas. In 1818 Lancaster himself went to America, and was received with much distinction. Most of the remaining twenty years of his life were spent in organizing and directing schools in various parts of the United States. ”

“ He laid down his useful manhood,
In the dust of lasting greatness,
At his home in Boyle county.
Long his psalm of life be chanted,
Long his earnest work remembered,
Long the sand retain his footprints,
Dust of dust, to earth returning.
R. P. Letcher was a lawyer,
In his native county, Garrard,
In the city of Lancaster,
Till the year of eighteen forty,
When he rose up by election
To the Governor’s high office. ”

“ No sooner had the plantation attained the dignity of a township under the classic name of Lancaster, than its founder bent all his energies towards those enterprises best calculated to promote the comfort and prosperity of its then inhabitants, and to attract by material advantages, a desirable and permanent immigration. His practical eye had doubtless long before marked the best site for a mill in all the region round about, and on the slope, scarce a gun shot away, he set up a new home, afterwards well known to friend and savage foe as Prescott's Garrison. ”

“ Does she think she will capture an earl or a duke?" she sneered, and De Vere answered, coldly:
"I do not believe that she has any matrimonial designs on any one, Lady Lancaster. She returns to America in a very few days."
Lady Lancaster was so surprised that she gave vent to her relief in a hasty exclamation:
"Thank Heaven! And I devoutly wish that she had remained there."
"There are more persons than one who will agree with your ladyship there," he said, betrayed into a laugh at her naïveté. ”

“ And the city of Lancaster,
Ever foremost in her duty,
Gave her mite of men and warriors
To the ranks and to the hardships,
Gave her fighting men to suffer
[90] In the civil war that deluged
All this mighty West Republic
In eighteen hundred one and sixty. ”

“ I didn't. I thought he was nothing but a soldier. He—he told me that he was as poor as—as a church-mouse!" faltered Leonora, as red as a rose, and with a lump in her throat. She was just on the point of breaking down and crying with vexation. How had he dared chaff her so?
"Well, so he is poor—not as poor as a church-mouse, of course, for he has Lancaster Park and five thousand acres of woodland; but then he has no money—it was all squandered by the dead-and-gone lords of Lancaster. ”

“ The first settlers of all this tract were English, Irish, and German, but the latter have gradually purchased from the others, and have got the best lands generally into their possession. They {15} are [Pg 31] frugal and industrious, are good farmers, and consequently a wealthy people.
Lancaster is supposed to be the largest inland town in the United States. It is in a healthy and pleasant situation, on the western slope of a hill, and consists of two principal streets, compactly built with brick and stone, and well paved and lighted, crossing each other at right angles. ”

“ You are not at the beck and call of a relative who gives you the most troublesome commissions to execute without so much as saying 'by your leave,'" growled Lancaster.
The young lieutenant laughed lazily.
"You have had a letter from my lady?" he said.
"Yes. Look here, De Vere, I wonder if she thinks I belong to her wholly? Must one be a white slave for the sake of coming into twenty thousand a year?"
"It is worth lots of toadying," declared De Vere, emphatically.
"I used to like Aunt Lydia—rather—before my uncle died," said Lancaster, reflectively. "She was always tart and waspish. ”

“ New Lancaster is the principal town of Fairfield county, and is handsomely situated on the side of a hill on the Hockhocking river, not far distant from its source; it contains nearly two thousand inhabitants, living by retail commerce, farming, and cattle raising. ”

“ She was more than pretty, this girl—she was rarely beautiful. She was of medium height and size, and her figure was symmetry itself, all its delicious curves and slender outlines defined at their best by the close-fitting black jersey waist she wore buttoned up to the graceful white throat that had a trick of holding itself high, as if innocently proud of the fair face that shone above it—the face that Captain Lancaster gazed at in wonder for a moment, and then in the most lively and decided disapprobation. ”