Extra Ordinary Give helps preserve Lancaster area history

Today is Lancaster County's Extra Ordinary Give. This is a day on which area non-profits participate in a 24 hours online marathon giving marathon sponsored by the Lancaster County Community Foundation. Many historical societies and venues are included today!

The Lancaster Historical Society (which now goes by LancasterHistory.org) focuses on the history of the entire county and maintains Wheatland, home of President James Buchanan. Buchanan is the only president from Pennsylvania and the only bachelor president.

The Lititz Historical Foundation is also participating today. The Foundation focuses on the history of the Lititz area. The Foundation also maintains the Lititz Museum and the Johannes Mueller House. The Lititz area received her first settlers - the Moravians - as early as the 1740s.

The Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society preserves the culture of Anabaptist communities connected to Lancaster County.

The Conestoga Area Historical Society aims to preserve the history of the Penn Manor area. This includes Conestoga, Pequea, Manor, and Martic Townships, as well as Millersville Borough. The Society was formed in 1990. While any donation amount is appreciated, the Society notes that $25 can provide one archival storage box; $50 can pay for one newsletter mailing; and $100 could assist with the heating bill.

The Historical Society of the Cocalico Valley focuses on the heritage of the Northern Lancaster County municipalities. The Society's focus areas are: East & West Cocalico, Clay, Ephrata, West Earl and a portion of Earl Townships, as well as Akron, Adamstown, Denver & Ephrata Boroughs.

Ephrata Cloister Associates maintain the historical site and offer many education programs relating to the Ephrata Cloister. The Cloister was founded in 1732 by German settlers who sought religious freedom and a more spiritual way of life. Today, the site is a National Historical Landmark.

History comes alive at the Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum. This living history villages takes visitors back to the late 1700s. Administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Landis Valley preserves the history and culture of the Pennsylvania Germans who founded Lancaster County.

The Rock Ford Plantation is the home of Revolutionary War General Edward Hand. Hand served as Adjutant under George Washington. The museum offers many living history education programs.

The Friends of the Railroad of Pennsylvania supports the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. The Museum preserves railroading history and offers various educational programs throughout the year related to railroading and the effect it has - and still has - on America.

The Historic Preservation Trust does so many behind the scenes kind of events to preserve historical structures of Lancaster County. Among those structures are houses, barns, bridges, and mills.

All total, there are more than 300 non-profit organizations in Lancaster County that are participating today. To participate in the Extra Ordinary Give go to http://extragive.org.

Coatesville's First Serial Killer

Young Alexander Meyer was a disturbed and angry young man with some major issues. He had failed sixth and seventh grade, and instead of having to repeat eighth grade again, he finally gave up on school. At age 16 he quit Downingtown Junior High. Meyer is not a relative, nor are his victims (that I am aware). I stumbled upon young Alex while reading Tortured Minds: Pennsylvania's Most Bizarre - But Forgotten - Murders by Tammy Mal. On 11 February 1937 Alexander Thweatt Meyer killed young Helen Moyer as she walked home from school in Coatesville along Modena Road. She was not his first. The jury was out only three minutes after hearing Dr. Michael Margolis' testimony on the death of Helen Moyer. The jury determined Meyer had murdered Moyer and should be held for first degree murder. The jury also condemned the parole system which had released Meyer back into the public, after having served just 14 months in Huntingdon Reformatory, for the murder of two other girls - Anna Blasc...

Thaddeus Stevens at the Lancaster Convention Center

Within the Lancaster Convention Center (Lancaster, PA) is a small section dedicated to Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith. The section is known as the Stevens & Smith Historic Site. It is scheduled for development this year. At the moment one can only get a glimpse of it through the Convention Center or by peeking in from the outside. Here at Queen and Vine Streets in Lancaster City, Pennsylvania, Thaddeus Stevens had his law office. Stevens was an abolitionist. An abolitionist is a person who favors the abolition of a practice or institution, especially capital punishment or (formerly) slavery. Stevens was born 4 April 1792 to Joshua Stevens and Sarah (Sally) Morrill in Danville Vermont. One of four children, he attended Vermont University from 1810 to 1812 when the War prompted its closure. He then went to Dartmouth, where he graduated in 1814. He then studied law and found himself set up in Gettysburg, PA in 1816. He practiced law there until 1828 when he...

52 Ancestors: Remembering the King

Today is Elvis’ birthday. He would have been 80 today. I was only eight when he died so obviously I am too young to have seen Elvis perform. However, when I hear his music, I go back in time. I am once again that young girl dancing in the living room to Elvis and other greats with my father. Back then girls learned to dance by dancing with their fathers not some video of scantly dressed people doing all sorts of things young ladies should not be doing in public! What is YOUR favorite memory - either of your father or of Elvis? 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is a weekly genealogical challenge issued by Amy Johnson Crow, of No Story Too Small . Look for my weekly posts each Thursday! © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

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