Adams County: Tranquility Regained

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Adams County: Tranquility Regained One of Pennsylvania’s smaller counties, both in size and population, Adams County developed much the same as similar settlements along the Atlantic Seaboard. Its growth during the past two and a half centu­ries has been governed by its own particular circumstances, including location, terrain, soil, climate, vegetation, min­eral resources and the accom­plishments of the immigrants and...
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Blair County: Center of Transportation

Posted by on Nov 28, 2013 in | Comments Off on Blair County: Center of Transportation Blair County was among the last counties created by the Pennsylvania General Assembly. One factor which delayed the establishment of an additional county in the southern portion of central Pennsylvania was geography. The rugged, eastern slopes of the Appalachian Mountains, in which Blair County was eventually located, diverted settlers to other areas. Only after the discovery of iron ore...
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Currents

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Currents Both Sides Now A decade in the making, Harrisburg’s newly opened National Civil War Museum boasts nearly thirty thousand square feet of exhibition space. Situated high atop a knoll in a city park, with a commanding view of the capital city below, the museum – described by the re­gion’s press as “a world-class museum for a world-class collection” – is the first...
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Letters

Posted by on Nov 24, 2013 in | Comments Off on Letters Boom Town Thank you for the fine article “Survival of an American Boom Town” by Gregory DL Morris in the Summer 2005 issue about Bradford in McKean County. My father was born in Kendall, McKean County, in 1884. That community apparently no longer exists and has become part of Bradford, although there remains a Kendall Creek and a Kendall Avenue, as well as mention in the article of...
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Supporting the Troops: Soldiers’ Right to Vote in Civil War Pennsylvania

Posted by on Nov 24, 2013 in | Comments Off on Supporting the Troops: Soldiers’ Right to Vote in Civil War Pennsylvania As the presidential election of 1864 neared, the eyes of politicians in the North turned warily towards the armies of the Union. During the previous two years, nineteen northern states had passed legislation permitting volunteers to vote in the field, and many politicians believed that the soldiers’ votes would determine whether President Abraham Lincoln would be reelected in November....
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The Pennsylvania Civil War Muster Rolls Project

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on The Pennsylvania Civil War Muster Rolls Project Imagine, nearly a century and a half ago, an entire company of soldiers mustering out at the end of their service. A hundred or more war-wearied men line up and, one-by-one, give a personal accounting to field clerks as they leave the army to return home. Company officers sitting at a makeshift table huddle over a huge sheet of heavy ruled paper and list each soldier and record what happened to...
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Pennsylvania Copperheads: Traitors or Peacemakers?

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Copperheads: Traitors or Peacemakers? Panic swept through Philadelphia in 1860, gripping manufacturers and merchants in its throes as southern slave states threatened to leave the federal union. The South had grown into an enormous market for Philadelphia’s merchants, and the city’s textile manufacturers depended on Dixie to supply the cotton they needed. Fears of secession and resulting massive unemployment prompted Mayor Alexander...
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Pennsylvania Heritage Recommends

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Heritage Recommends Searching for George Gordon Meade: The Forgotten Victor of Gettysburg General George Gordon Meade (1815–1872) should be remembered as one of the American Civil War’s most important generals, but he is not. Instead, history has relegated him to minor status. President Abraham Lincoln gave the hot-tempered Meade command of the Union’s dysfunctional Army of the Potomac only three days before he...
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William C. Kashatus: Bringing History to Life

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on William C. Kashatus: Bringing History to Life A Man for All Centuries “Freedom hath been hunted round the globe. Asia and Africa hath expelled her. O, receive the fugitive and prepare it for all mankind!” exclaims William C. (Bill) Kashatus with fists stabbing the air. In this instance, Bill is passionately portraying Thomas Paine (1737–1809), the bellicose British radical who advocated the American Revolution. Much of Bill’s passion...
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An Interview with Richard C. Saylor: The Impact of the Civil War Legacy in Pennsylvania

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on An Interview with Richard C. Saylor: The Impact of the Civil War Legacy in Pennsylvania Richard C. “Rich” Saylor, an archivist with the Pennsylvania State Archives, has been deep within the treasures that are the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) collections for nearly twenty years. He has become a highly respected expert on Pennsylvania Civil War history, research, and artifacts on behalf of the Commission. With a master’s degree in American Studies from Penn...
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