Book Review: Railroads of Pennsylvania: Fragments of the Past in the Keystone Landscape
Lorett Treese, Railroads of Pennsylvania: Fragments of the Past in the Keystone Landscape. Mechanicsburg PA: Stackpole Books, 2003. Photos, 256 pps., $18.95.
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Book Review: Breaking the Backcountry: The Seven Years' War in Virginia and Pennsylvania, 1754-1765
Matthew C. Ward, Breaking the Back country: The Seven Years' War in Virginia and Pennsylvania, 1754-1765. Pittsburgh PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2003. Maps, photos, 329 pps., $34.95.
Book Review: The Most Learned Woman in America: A Life of Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson
Anne M. Ousterhout, The Most Learned Woman in America: A Life of Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2004. Photos, 394 pps., $35.00.
Etahdleuh Doanmoe: From Prisoner to Missionary
Author's note: The Trout Gallery at Dickinson College presented an exhibit entitled "The Carlisle Indian School: 1879-1918" from January 30 to February 28, 2004. Visitors to this exhibit were able to see several pictographs that were once part of an album of drawings presented to Mason D. Pratt by his father, Richard Henry Pratt. The front cover of that album is embossed in gold letters "A Kiowa's Odyssey", and the Kiowa whose drawings formerly rested inside the red covers was Etahdleuh Doanmoe, the subject of this article.
Canals, Railroads, Philadelphia, and the Struggle for Internal Improvement in the Cumberland Valley, 1825-1837
In April 1825, the Pennsylvania General Assembly authorized the construction of the "Public Works," a state-built system of canals and railroads designed to provide improved transportation throughout the Commonwealth. The most vital portion of the Public Works was the "Main Line," a 395-mile long series of canals and railroads built to link the state's largest city, Philadelphia, with the important western city of Pittsburgh.
Return of a Native: Holmead Phillips Returns to Cumberland County
When the Cumberland County Historical Society purchased a painting and an oil sketch by Holmead Phillips in September 2003, the society became the first area organization to invest in an artist's work that will eventually be recognized as important both here and in the larger world of art.
Ambush at Willis Church
In January of 1861, State Representative Thomas N. Crumpler announced in the North Carolina House of Commons that Ashe County was not likely to support secession. Crumpler's estimation of his voters' opinion proved correct. In February, his constituents gathered in Jefferson to participate in what was described as a "lively debate" on the merits of leaving the Union and voted down a North Carolina secession convention by a count of758 to 144.
Cumberland County Stone and Monument Carvers Prior to 1900
Lying broken on the ground in the underbrush of a neglected Cumberland County burying site is the only known stone carved by Jacob Heneman. Who was he? Who were the other carvers of Cumberland County? There are 228 Cumberland County burying sites listed in Cemeteries of Cumberland County by Bob Davidson (Carlisle, PA: Cumberland County Historical Society, 2000). After removing the sixty-four that are identified as leveled, moved, or unknown, 164 are still in existence.
The Estate of Peter Helbron
Beneath Saint Patrick's Church on East Pomfret Street in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, are the mortal remains of Peter Helbron. He was a German Capuchin priest, his parish being in Westmoreland County. His subterranean presence in Cumberland County raises obvious questions, and those questions lead to a glimpse into the daily life of a country priest in early nineteenth-century America. This paper will look at Father Helbron's life, with special attention to the inventory of his estate.
The Works of Henry Ganss
For twenty years, from 1890 to 1910, Father Henry Ganss served as pastor of Saint Patrick's Catholic Church in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. During that time he produced historical and musical works achieving international appreciation. He has merited entries in two prominent works of reference-The Dictionary of American Biography and The New Catholic Encyclopedia-rare for one whose activities one would assume deserved only parochial notice.