The following article is adapted from a speech given as part of the commemoration of the role of the Union Fire Company of Carlisle, Pennsylvania in the American Civil War, read before the Union Fire Company on April 21, 2011. Much of the material is derived from research for an upcoming book, "The Union Legacy," that will be published for the 225th anniversary of the company.
Among the historical records that are included in the archives of Cumberland County, are those of the Civil War Board of Relief. These records provide an opportunity to learn how the war affected the day to day lives of military families in Cumberland County during this tumultuous period of our history.
A 30-foot stone sculpture of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is now open to the public on the Mall in Washington, D.C., to commemorate the sacrifice for freedom that defined Dr. King's life. The monument showing Dr. King emerging from stone is surrounded by walls with inspirational quotations from his speeches and writings.
An estimated 3,200 citizens of Cumberland County served in the military in the course of the Civil War. With the 150th anniversary of the Civil War upon us there is renewed interest in the war and the role Cumberland County citizens played during this crucial era of our nation's history.
The final line of the entry about Captain William E. Miller, in the 1905 Biographical Annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, ends with "Such is the record of Capt. William E. Miller, a worthy citizen and a gallant soldier." The biographer begins by telling us Captain Miller is "one of the best known and most highly esteemed citizens of Carlisle."
Merri Lou Schaumann, Plank Bottom Chairs and Chairmakers: South Central Pennsylvania 1800-1880. Carlisle, PA: The Cumberland County Historical Society, 2009. Photos, 136 pgs., $29.95.
By 1820, Mechanicsburg's founding fathers including John Gosweiler and Henry Stouffer among others had laid out a number of town building lots, so it was not surprising that by this time there were 30 to 35 houses built in the town along with a public square. In 1828 the town's leaders moved to have the site incorporated as the Borough of Mechanicsburg in Cumberland County.
This paper was originally presented at the Phi Alpha Theta National History Honor Society Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico. The paper, slightly modified for Cumberland County History, is presented here.
“Pressure of the times.” “Scarcity of money.” “Scarcity of work.” “Persistence of creditors.” “Family sickness.” “Low wages.” “Unemployment.” “Bought high and had to sell low.” Are these familiar phrases heard in the last couple of years? Yes. But they are also verbatim phrases found in petitions for insolvency to the Cumberland County courts from 1750-1860 by debtors who found themselves arrested on a judgment for debt.
Surrounded by the perfectly-aligned, white marble sentinel headstones of almost one-quarter million American war veterans, explorers, historical figures, and national leaders, Chief Warrant Officer Eugene Robert Orth's mortal remains rest in Section 35, Grave 3523 of the Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, encircled by the graves of an Army Master Sergeant from North Carolina and a Private First Class from Virginia, a Coast Guard Captain from Massachusetts and a Navy Lieutenant Commander from Pennsylvania.