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!
the url for this post is http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2012/09/on-to-lancaster.html
Friday, September 21, 2012
Thursday, September 20, 2012
The Flight 93 Memorial
Thursday - September 6, 2012 - - The small town of Shanksville, a few miles south of U.S. 30 in the rolling 'hills' of central Pennsylvania, made headline news eleven years ago on 9/11. In the midst of so much confusion, disbelief, and all of the horror of that day a group of courageous people stood up and prevented what could have been an even greater disaster.
Knowing that their lives were likely already lost, they forced the plane down before it could do further damage to our nation. To them we will be eternally grateful and for them and their families this memorial has been created on the site of their deaths to honor and remember them. It is a very simple memorial but very moving and profound at the same time.
Exhibits depicting the events on the site on 9/11/2001 are displayed in the front 'courtyard' and the entrance to the Memorial area is along a long walkway through a portal. The black, sloping wall along the left side extending into the background marks the northern boundary of the greater crash site.
The walkway extends about a quarter mile to the wall of names, shown in the background.
Within the wall are several niches where visitors can leave mementos of remembrance, if desired.
Beyond the gate, off in the distance, is a boulder marking the location of the crater and the approximate location of the impact site. After the crash investigation was complete, the crater was filled in. The remains of the flight crew and passengers are buried in a small cemetery just beyond the boulder. I believe this area is off limits except to family members.
The wall of names begins to the right of the gate. The names are engraved on individual panels and are listed in alphabetical order. Family members and friends sometimes leave memorial bouquets as shown in front of the memorial for Lorraine G. Bay. to the right of her is the memorial to Todd M. Beamer.
There are 40 panels inscribed with the names of the flight crew and passengers who died in the crash. We remember few of their names individually, but we will always remember them collectively.
The wall of names approximately follows the direction of the flight path... on top of the hill to the far right there was a huge tent. They were preparing for ceremonies to take place on 9/11, just five days after my visit.
The memorial is still a work in progress, but a diagram of the completed area can be viewed on the National Park Service Flight 93 Memorial Website.
Knowing that their lives were likely already lost, they forced the plane down before it could do further damage to our nation. To them we will be eternally grateful and for them and their families this memorial has been created on the site of their deaths to honor and remember them. It is a very simple memorial but very moving and profound at the same time.
Exhibits depicting the events on the site on 9/11/2001 are displayed in the front 'courtyard' and the entrance to the Memorial area is along a long walkway through a portal. The black, sloping wall along the left side extending into the background marks the northern boundary of the greater crash site.
The walkway extends about a quarter mile to the wall of names, shown in the background.
Within the wall are several niches where visitors can leave mementos of remembrance, if desired.
At the end of the bordering wall and to the left of the wall of names is a gate.
Beyond the gate, off in the distance, is a boulder marking the location of the crater and the approximate location of the impact site. After the crash investigation was complete, the crater was filled in. The remains of the flight crew and passengers are buried in a small cemetery just beyond the boulder. I believe this area is off limits except to family members.
The wall of names begins to the right of the gate. The names are engraved on individual panels and are listed in alphabetical order. Family members and friends sometimes leave memorial bouquets as shown in front of the memorial for Lorraine G. Bay. to the right of her is the memorial to Todd M. Beamer.
There are 40 panels inscribed with the names of the flight crew and passengers who died in the crash. We remember few of their names individually, but we will always remember them collectively.
The wall of names approximately follows the direction of the flight path... on top of the hill to the far right there was a huge tent. They were preparing for ceremonies to take place on 9/11, just five days after my visit.
The memorial is still a work in progress, but a diagram of the completed area can be viewed on the National Park Service Flight 93 Memorial Website.