On November 25, 1858 the Newville weekly newspaper, The Valley Star, published the first installment of a history and description of the village. It was entitled "Newville as it Was, and as it Is," and its author was identified simply as "A Citizen of Newville." The first essay, on early history, was received with so much interest and applause that the entire printing of the issue was quickly sold out, and the printer had to reprint it. Each week thereafter another chapter in Newville's history appeared, drawn from such published works as I. Daniel Rupp's History ... of Dauphin, Cumberland, Franklin, Bedford, Adams and Perry Counties (Lancaster, 1846), the published Colonial Records and Pennsylvania Archives, and from local tradition and memory. These historical chapters continued through February 17 under the sub-heading of "Newville as it Was," and on February 24 the author published the first of several chapters on "Newville as it Is," that is, in 1858-59. "Citizen of Newville," without comment or farewell, ended his account of the village in the issue of March 31, 1859. Three month later, on July 26, "Subscriber" in a letter to the editor asked what had become of the history of the churches of Newville that the historian had promised. "I for one would very much like to peruse the sketches to the end," he wrote; and suggested that all the sketches be published as a book-which "will command a handsome price," as every citizen of Newville would buy one or two copies. This suggestion was warmly seconded by the editor of the paper as "the only proper way to preserve the early history of our town and neighborhood." He hoped that the citizens of Newville would "insist" that the author publish the sketches in book form.
Whether the author resisted these urgings or expense was prohibitive or for some other reason, "Newville as it Was and as it Is" was never published as a book. In this issue of Cumberland County History, however, "Newville as it Is" [in 1858] is reprinted, and a future number of the journal will offer the historical chapters of"Newville as it Was."
Typographical errors and redundant punctuation have been silently corrected or eliminated.
Small "hometown newspapers" mean different things to different people. On vacation recently, I bought a copy of the local weekly newspaper-published in a quaint beach town for the past 142 years-and the store owner jokingly said, "You gonna go fish? That is the only thing people do with that paper! "
Charles A. Henneberger was the proprietor of the Eagle Hotel on Main and High streets in Newville. A collector of taxidermy, among his specimens of birds and beasts were a wild-cat and a snow-white squirrel from the North Mountain. He also collected reptiles.