Genealogical Gems

This past weekend, we were at a show down in Solomons, Maryland. On our way back to Pennsylvania, we saw this Historic Marker along Route 2 in Harwood, Maryland. I had to turn around and come back so we could actually stop and read it. I grew up relatively near the Mason-Dixon, yet I never knew this!  A quick search led me to this site:  https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=3042 (c) 2019, Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman  

Soldiers head to Philadelphia On This Day in 1864 after a day of riots in Baltimore . A riot broke out yesterday at the Provost Marshal’s office involving some 200 men of the 23 rd Pennsylvania Regiment. Many of the men were at Soldiers’ Rest and were drunk. The PM’s guard arrested many. Others got upset and a riot broke out. Approximately a dozen men on each side were injured.    Source The Evening Telegraph. ( Philadelphia , PA ), 24 August 1864. Chronicling America : Historic American Newspapers . Library of Congress.    On This Day is a prompt to further explore historical events.                  © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

The Lancaster Daily Intelligencer tracked a murderer On This Day in 1881 through various accounts, including a burglary in Leaman Place. The home of Charles Lafferty, the station agent at Leaman Place , was broken into on 22 February 1881. A pair of pants, $40, and a valuable watch were taken. At that time, there was no reason to suspect anyone other than a recent loafer.   Samuel Clugson was murdered at his Valley Forge home when he surprised a burgler. The burglar/murder left behind his clothes, which contained a pawn ticket for an Elgin watch. The watch was pawned at Consolidated Loan office in Baltimore , Maryland .    The watch had been made, it was determined after an examination, for H. F. Andrews. Andrews is a jeweler in Strasburg, Lancaster County . The watch is described in detail. Andrews, confirmed, through his records, that the watch had in fact been sold to Lafferty on 21 December 1872.    Police continued on the trail of the murd...