The Cumberland County Historical Encyclopedia is an expanding publication on the history of the Cumberland County. Covering a wide range of topics and the entire Cumberland County geographic region, the Encyclopedia seeks to be an initial entry point to those interested in the County's history. Entries seek to provide a list of resources available as well as showcasing some of the Cumberland County Historical Society's own collections.
The Carlisle Borough Charter claims that the First Lutheran Church began about 1765 when the German immigrants of Reformed and Lutheran church background worshiped together in a union church on South Hanover Street near South Street.1 In 1807, the church divided and the Lutherans built
Sometime around 1890, members of Carlisle’s First Lutheran Church decided to create a ladies’ parlor, and one of their members donated a sofa to furnish it.
Regardless of his varied titles of printer, publisher, editor, attorney or federal agent, Tom Flagg was best known about the county as a “character”.
April 1 was known as “flitting day” in Pennsylvania. It was the day when yearly leases expired, and tenant farmers, businessmen, mechanics and private citizens either renewed their leases for another year and “stayed put,” or they moved. Local newspapers usually ran a column or two about the “flittings,” noting the changes in location of hotel keepers and businessmen, and musing on the day in general. The editor of Carlisle’s American Volunteer waxed emotional about “flitting day” in his column on April 5, 1866.
Lenore E. Flower, notable genealogist and suffragette, was born on November 8th, 1883. The daughter of Mary Elizabeth Dunbar and Milton Embick, Lenore grew up in Boiling Springs. She studied writing and history at Irving College, an all-girls college located in Mechanicsburg.
In August 1859, Jacob Rheem held the Grand Opening of his new Hall in Carlisle located behind the Courthouse on Courthouse Avenue.
Tanner David S. Forney was born on November 4, 1787 to Adam Forney and his wife Rachel Shriver. David’s father Adam, a tanner, was an early settler in the Hanover, Pennsylvania area. When David was young, according to his daughter Mary Roland, he worked “in a leather store in Baltimore.
While not one of the earliest municipal components of Cumberland County, Frankford Township dates back to the 18th century. It was created from West Pennsboro Township in April of 1795, by the County Court. The court records tell us:
Intellectually, Benjamin Franklin was a very gifted person, with only a few years of academic schooling, he was a self-taught individual. Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, one of ten children of a soap and candle maker.
On Tuesday, August 19, 1884, a train left New York City with 100 children bound for the Cumberland Valley. They were “Fresh Air Fund” children; a movement started by Pennsylvania clergyman Willard Parsons in 1877.