Blog

Mill Monday 01 – Compass Mill

Welcome to Mill Monday! Each Monday morning I will feature a water-powered grist mill located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Today's featured mill is the Compass Mill in Warwick Township. When the Moravian Brotherhood began laying out the new town of Lititz in 1754, landowner George Kline purchased...

Peter Bezaillon

This is the third installment on the topic of the early fur traders that operated in Lancaster County. The first article introduced Jacques LeTort, who with his wife, Anne, and son, James traded on the Schuylkill and later on the Susquehanna. The second article told the story...

Martin Chartier

  This is the second installment on my series about the fur traders that had some connection to the area of Pennsylvania that would later become Lancaster County. These traders were the frontiersman that explored the territory and interacted with the native Americans that inhabited the area...

Jacques LeTort

   During the seventeenth century continuing into the eighteenth, the fur trade was big business among the Swedish, Dutch, French, and English traders. Many people wanted to get in on the action. There was intense competition between the governors of New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, each wanting...

Henry Leman

Henry Leman Rifle works

Henry E. Leman was born in Lancaster on March 8, 1812, the eighth child of Jacob and Catherine Leman. Jacob served with the Pequea Rangers during the Revolutionary War. Jacob’s father, Henry’s grandfather, was Daniel Leman who was a...

Paddling the Conestoga

On Saturday, April 10, I had the opportunity to participate in a kayaking trip on a portion of the Conestoga at the invitation of Todd Roy, president of the Conestoga River Club. One of the goals of this trip was to scout out some locations for an...

Seneca George

The Story of Seneca George

  During Pennsylvania’s colonial period, the colony’s magistrates relied heavily upon a small group of people who could act as translators and help to negotiate agreements between Pennsylvania and the original occupants of the land, principally the Lenape (Delaware)...

A Portage Reenactment

During the 17th century, the North American fur trade was big business. Fur-lined coats with fur collars were highly prized in the European markets. Beaver fur was especially desired because the underside of the coat was waterproof. This lining of tightly packed hairs was used to make...

Natives of Lancaster County

Susquehannock

  November is designated as “Native American Heritage Month”. On Thanksgiving Day, many Americans remember the story of the Pilgrims and Native Americans sharing a feast together. Today, some Native Americans observe Thanksgiving Day as...