census data Archives - Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine

Celebrities Discover Who They Are at the Pennsylvania State Archives

Posted by Sean Adkins on Oct 30, 2019 in | Comments Off Archivist Aaron McWilliams smiles and shifts his gaze toward the floor when asked about his brush with TV stardom. Every so often, a patron visiting the Pennsylvania State Archives in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, where he works, will ask him what it was like to appear alongside veteran Hollywood actor Steve Buscemi on a 2011 episode of Who Do You Think You Are? a reality series in which...
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Paesano: The Struggle to Survive in Ambridge

Posted by Frank Serene on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off For nearly three-quarters of a century, Lucy Derochis, my grandmother, has struggled successfully to preserve and convey her Italian heritage while living in Ambridge, Pennsylvania. Her cultivation of familial closeness was rewarded when family members gathered to celebrate her eighty-ninth birthday on March 13, 1980. The durability of the tight and close structure of an Italian-American...
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Clearfield County: Land of Natural Resources

Posted by George Scott on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off Clearfield County, believed named for the cleared fields found by early settlers in the area, belies its name; 83 percent of the county’s 1,143.5 square miles is still forested today. Its present timber, however, is second and third growth. Although its forest lands support some lumbering, the county’s economic life depends mostly upon coal and clay industries and the manufacture of...
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Transportation in Pennsylvania in 1776

Posted by Homer Rosenberger on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off During the Revolution, Pennsylvania was a central stage from the standpoint of geography, leadership, manpower, and supplies. Therefore, its transportation facilities were of special significance. The southeastern part of the State produced large quantities of the very materials needed by the Continental Army. A modest network of roads made possible the transporting of those materials to Valley...
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Historical Sketch of Greene County

Posted by Louis Waddell on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off Greene County lies in the southwestern corner of the state. Its many hills, the distinguishing feature of the countryside, grow more pronounced as one travels from the eastern to the western areas. The old Washington Waynesburg Railroad, traveling through the hills, was famous for its 178 sharp turns, each of which jolted the passengers. There were some who took the trip just for the roller...
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History is Alive and Well in Beaver County

Posted by Joseph Makarewicz on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off On June 6, 1824, the steamboat Ploughboy with the first contingent of Harmony Society members came around the bend in the river at Legionville; the skipper gave a cannon salute. After dropping anchor, the passengers disembarked and made camp. The following day, Father Rapp, leader of the Harmonists, wrote to the remaining members at New Harmony: “I consider this place the most healthful in...
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The African-American Clan

Posted by Ed Sims on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off Recent publications and media presentations have spurred an unusual interest in genealogical research. This enthusiasm extends from the academic community to large numbers of lay people who are attempting to retrace their roots. As is well known, genealogical research in its simplest form results in the ability to construct a blood-line tree that presents the kinship relationships between people...
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Frankford, Philadelphia: A 19th-Century Urban Black Community

Posted by Henry Williams on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off In the last two decades, American historians interested in Black history have focused increasingly on both the slave and free Black communities. These scholars have sought to explain how, in the face of white hostility and, at times because of it, Blacks have managed to create a viable setting for themselves and their children. By examining the web of social relationships and cultural traditions...
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Black Harrisburg’s Resistance to Slavery

Posted by Mary Houts on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off In April 18, 1825, a fugitive slave from Maryland was found by his owner in Harrisburg and was imprisoned in the Dauphin County jail. A hearing on the matter was held in the courthouse that day, with Judge Bucher presiding. It took most of the day to convince the Judge that the slave should be returned to the custody of the slaveholder, during which time, according to the Pennsylvania...
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Toward Freedom: Pittsburgh Blacks, 1800-1870

Posted by Ann Wilmoth on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off Throughout the antebellum period in the United States, two of the most volatile issues were the abolition of slavery and Blacks’ civil rights. Conventions, meetings, and written memorials to state and federal governmental bodies regarding these concerns abounded. Both Black and white residents of cities and towns became involved in the slavery question, while Black residents, primarily,...
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