The word "Shireman" is of English origin meaning "the official or steward of a shire, a sheriff." "Shire" or "Shires" also is of English origin and means "dweller in the shire or county; one who came from Shere (bright), in Surrey."
As many are probably aware, Carlisle was chosen to be the County seat of Cumberland County after much debate in 1751. The Penn family had plans for the town drawn up that same year. The Penn plan for Carlisle "consisted of 312 lots, each sixty feet by two hundred and forty feet. The original boundaries of the town were North, South, East and West Streets.
Discontent and resistance against royal authority was found throughout the frontier and urban centers of pre-Revolutionary America. In an attempt to examine the defiant Pennsylvania frontiersmen, this paper will investigate a small portion of the life of one Pennsylvanian, James Smith, during the years he spent as leader of the rebellious "Black Boys."
Cumberland county, which forms the eastern portion of the great Cumberland Valley, is made up, as we ordinarily know it, of three geological formations, viz: the slate on the north, the limestone in the center, and the sand or pinelands on the south. It is drained lengthwise by the Conodoguinet and the Yellow Breeches creeks.
Local legend reported that a lone caller for the telegraph tower which stood in the area, across the river from Harrisburg, made the suggestion that "Alone" might be an apt name. In reverse, this is "Enola" and this could well have been the derivation of the town's name, but, further research into the matter, revealed that Enola is named after a little girl called Enola Miller.
This is an oral history conducted by Steven Burg with Catharine MacCaffray at her home in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on June 20, 2002 as part of the Cumberland County Women During World War Two Oral History Project. MacCaffray discusses her experience as a volunteer nurse's aid for the American Red Cross in various hostitals in Carlisle. MacCaffray further talks about other various experiences including working at C. H. Masland's, seeing German POWs, and rationing.
Interview with Winifred Kegris at her home in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, on June 5, 2002, with Jennifer Elliott as part of the Cumberland County Women During World War Two Oral History Project.
Interview with Phyllis Hershey at her home in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania on July 30, 2002 with Jennifer Elliott as part of the Cumberland County Women During World War Two Oral History Project. Hershey discusses how students would assist the community during black outs and other civil defense drills, working at the Middletown Air Service Depot selling war bonds and collecting health insurance premiums for Blue Cross and later as a teletype operator. Hershey also talks about how German Prisonsers of War would clean the depot each night.
Interview with Mary Merris at the Mechanicsburg Area Senior Adult Center on July 19th, 2002 with Heather Egan as a part of the Cumberland County Women During World War Two Oral History Project. Merris discusses postponing her wedding due to the outbreak of the war and the difficulty of raising small children on rations. Merris further talks about her life after her husband was drafted and life at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Interview with Marian Mundorff at her home in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania on July 17, 2002 with Jen Elliott as part of the Cumberland County Women During World War Two Oral History Project. Mundorff discusses her family's efforts during the war including her own as a messenger during blackouts, making bandages at the hospital through Girl Scouts, and the scrap drives and bond sales at school.