On to Lancaster...

Thursday - September 6th - - After leaving the Flight 93 Memorial, I continued eastward on U.S. 30 stopping for the night at Caledonia State Park, about 15 miles west of Gettysburg. I didn't get as far as I had wanted because of the late start from Greensburg and the stop at the memorial. It was another hot and humid day but a bit too buggy to leave the windows open. The air cooled down somewhat after the sun went down and it was rather comfortable.

 Friday - September 7th - - It was a pleasant drive through Gettysburg in the morning. As I got closer to Lancaster, the traffic grew heavier. I stopped for an early lunch and to confirm the directions to the Lancaster County Historical Society Library, which is in temporary facilities at 4 West King Street in downtown Lancaster. Arrived there at about 11 am. The staff was very helpful, showing me around and explaining procedures.

On one of my visits to the family history library in Salt Lake City last year I found a record of the will of Hans Jacob Brubaker II that stated the will was written in German so was not transcribed in the record book. Luckily for me, the Historical Society has translations and transcriptions available for the "German" wills. Other records obtained were the estate inventories of Hans Jacob I (1755) and Hans Jacob II (1802). These are the men who lived in Martick Township, which is now Providence township - not the ones who lived in Hempfield Township.

The library also has photocopied the original records of the "Evangelical Lutheran Church of Holy Trinity" of Lancaster, which include baptisms, marriages, and funerals. Some of the copied pages are difficult to read but I was able to find the 1763 marriage record of John Georg Steinweeg and Veronica Danerin. Among other things, I learned that the surname Daner was not only spelled Danner and Tanner (as I already knew) but also Dohner (and likely other variations also).

After leaving the Historical Society at 4:30 and successfully making my way through the city traffic while heading south, I drove by the lands of the two Jacobs. The campground where I was staying was an hours drive away so I was unable to spend much time in that area.

Saturday - September 8th - - I stopped for several hours in the morning at the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, located at 2215 Millstream Road in Lancaster. First off, I purchased a copy of the Mennonite Heritage Magazine that had the article on Hans Jacob Brubaker II - the Fraktur artist then made my way downstairs to the library. Once again the staff was very nice and helpful. I only spent about 2 hours there but it was long enough to know that I need to return. And really, that was my goal during this visit - to get some idea of the resources that are available.

My visit to Lancaster was very productive and, yes, it was much too short but if I was going to make it to Maine by Monday (the 10th) to meet up with my friend, I had to get back on the highway!

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