Mr. Raphael Hays,
I read the book that you published for the 250th Anniversary of Cumberland County about your grandfather and from what I read, he did the town of Carlisle a lot of good in the positions that he had as a soldier, lawyer and businessman. I used to work at your plant but I never knew the background of the man that owned it.
The two oldest church buildings still standing in their original locations in Carlisle are the First Presbyterian Church on the Square and the Associate Presbyterian “Seceder” Church on South West Street, currently the West Street A.M.E. Zion Church.
On Saturday evening, February 27, 1836, a number of Irishmen and their descendants living in Carlisle and the surrounding area met at the Mansion House on West High Street to plan a St. Patrick’s Day celebration to honor the birth of the patron saint of Ireland.
The 19th and 20th century memories of Blanche Lightner Dum and her niece Margaret Anne “Peggy” provide personal glimpses of life in Landisburg and Carlisle. Blanche was born in 1886 to George Billow Dum/Thommen and his wife Annie Simons Spotts/Spatz, both born 1863. Thus, Blanche was a granddaughter of Samuel Spotts and his 2nd wife Mary Jane Baker, and of John Dum and Mary Catherine Tressler/Dressler.1 Blanche wrote of her knowledge of her mother’s preparations for marriage as follows:
Our subjects were among butchers and grocers in Carlisle who largely predated or experienced a variety of innovations, including refrigerated and frozen cases.
John Armstrong was born in County Fermanagh, Ireland about the year 1717 or 1720. A surveyor, he settles in Pennsylvania, first in York County and then in the recently created county of Cumberland.
On 29 April 2022, Emsad Cickusic discussed his life and experience surviving the siege of Sarajevo with students in the class Oral History of the Bosnia Diaspora in Carlisle. Emsad Cickusic was born in 1973 in Tuzla, where he spent his childhood and attended elementary school. In 1988, he applied for and attended military high school in Sarajevo.
Mersad Sejmenovic was born in the town of Cerska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1982. He talks about his family, some of which live near him in Carlisle, PA, and some of which still live in Bosnia.
Muamer Avdic was born in Bosnia in 1991 and left the country with his family not long after that, immigrating to Germany. They eventually made their way to the United States in 1998, settling first in Washington D.C. and then moving to Carlisle.
Almedin Salkic is a Bosniak member of the Carlisle community who emigrated from Bosnia in 2002. Born in Dimnici, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1985, Almedin and his family lived within the country for the entirety of the war.