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.
“I fear I shall never arrive at the point where a letter from you doesn't cause the sun to shine brighter upon its arrival." So wrote a corporal in the American Expeditionary Forces in France to his wife at home in 1919.
In 1978, Cumberland County Government and Cumberland County Historical Society (CCHS) entered into a formal agreement to transfer older government and court records. The records, officially on long-term loan to the Society according to the agreement, are housed at the Society in an archival environment. Acid free supplies are used to store the records and the Society's archives provide a temperature and humidity controlled environment to better preserve these early documents.
In October of 1859 the well-known raid by John Brown and his men occurred at Harper's Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia). Most members of the Brown group were captured at the time of the raid, but several men escaped including John E. Cook and Albert Hazlett who fled into Pennsylvania. These facts serve as the backdrop for events that occurred in Carlisle later in October.
At 10:30 a.m. on Memorial Day, May 28, 2007, representatives of the Locust Grove Cemetery Committee, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the Shippensburg Historical Society, and Shippensburg University unveiled an official blue and gold Pennsylvania Historical Marker at Locust Grove Cemetery on North Queen Street in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania.
The need for a dormitory to house Dickinson School of Law students was recognized as early as 1898, twenty years before the Law School moved from its original home in Emory Hall, located at the corner of South West and West Pomfret Streets, into its current home in Trickett Hall on South College Street in Carlisle.
The following is a reminiscence of the World War I military experiences of my grandfather, Ralph Ray Watts. His memory of those experiences was recorded by my grandmother, Laura Mae Wakefield Watts. I suspect some of the "editorial" comments were added by my grandmother. Her handwritten summary was later transcribed by a cousin, Cindy Pricker.
One of the Hamilton Library's oldest 18th century manuscripts provides a unique glimpse into what life was like for Pennsylvania's soldiers serving in America's French and Indian War, the 250th anniversary of which is now being commemorated.