Power Library - Pennsylvania's Electronic Library Pennsylvania's Electronic Library PA's
Electronic
Library

The Hopedale Moravian Church letters are the only known first-person accounts of life in the early settlement of Newfoundland in northeast Pennsylvania. When a small group more of German immigrants arrived in the Wallenpaupack Valley in the 1820s, the region was a pristine wilderness, as yet undiscovered by the tanners, mill owners and lumber manufacturers that would arrive a decade or two later. The letters shed light on a period in our rural history about which little is known and for which little documentation exists. The letters not only document the challenges of establishing a mission church along Pennsylvania’s northern frontier, they also give insight into the struggles of the families to survive in the face of so many hardships—poverty, language barrier, illness, lack of agricultural skills, seasonal floods, harsh winters, unreliable harvests, internal conflicts, absence of schools for their children—and create a thriving community. The pastors were a lifeline for the early settlers. In many ways they instrumental in guiding the settlers through those early perilous years, and these efforts are described in their correspondence. In addition, the letters include membership lists, annual reports and annual budgets which are helpful in documenting family histories and genealogy, as well as other details that may open up new possibilities for further research. As the first and only church in the Wallenpaupack Valley, the Hopedale Moravian Church pastors ministered to all who settled there, regardless of their religious affiliation. The letters also reveal connections between the German-speaking Moravian settlers and the surrounding English-speaking community. less

Photo album put together by John Blair Linn (1831 – 1899) consisting of 72 black and white images of his immediate family, his extended family, and more his friends from his days in Lewisburg, PA, and Bellefonte, PA. less

Bellefonte has been home to seven governors, five of whom were Governors of Pennsylvania. This collection features correspondence, documents, and manuscripts of their authorship as well more as other artifacts connected to their respective terms of office. The collection is held by Centre County Library & Historical Museum. less

Original handwritten version of John Blair Linn's trip with new transcription; each of the 19 objects collected on the battlefield, with a description of what the more object shows or represents (and its connection with the John Blair Linn journal) with explanatory notes giving the other story, and with transcriptions of letters (with proper recognition of the original creator). less

History of the Miles-Potter-Humes House in Bellefonte, PA from 1815 to the present and of its owners through photographs, other images, and documents.

The digitized papers of Charles J. Pennock consist of a small number of letters, most by or addressed to Charles J. Pennock; two bird log books; more a manuscript copy of a bird book by Charles L. Bonaparte; and a notebook of geology notes. Materials date from 1791 to 1927, with the bulk of the collection dating from 1860 to 1927. Charles John Pennock was an ornithologist who lived most of his life in Kennett Square, Chester County, Pennsylvania. Pennock was born to a Quaker family in 1857, the son of Deborah Yerkes and Samuel Pennock. He was married twice, and had two sons and two daughters. He was a tax collector, magistrate, and businessman in Kennett Square, but his chief love was for birds. Pennock collected specimens and took notes on the birds he spotted around Chester County. He was a member of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club, serving as president 1901-1903; the American Ornithologists’ Union (A.O.U.); and the West Chester Bird Club. He also studied birds in Delaware and was named its state ornithologist. He amassed a significant collection of books about North American birds, and his collection of birds and eggs was given to the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. After attending an ornithological meeting in Philadelphia on May 15, 1913, Pennock did not return home. Police were alerted and a search for him was instigated, but he was not located. However, in 1919, Dr. Witmer Stone, curator of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, believed that notes various ornithologists were receiving from a John Williams in St. Marks, Florida were similar to notes Pennock had written. Stone’s suspicions were enough aroused that he alerted one of Pennock’s relatives, Dr. Richard J. Phillips. Phillips journeyed to St. Marks to investigate and discovered that John Williams was indeed Pennock. With his identity discovered, Pennock returned to his wife in Kennett Square and died there in 1935. less

This collections represents all extant records of the Chester County Board of Relief from 1861 through 1865. The Chester County Board of Relief was set up more by the Act of May 15, 1861 P.L. 749, entitled "An Act to Create a Loan and to Provide for Arming the State" to aid local families of Civil War soldiers. Funded by state appropriations, its members included the County Commissioners and Court of Common Pleas Associate Judges. Township boards of relief were set up individually without legal precedent when townships felt the County Board did not meet the need for aid. Townships could petition the Board to assist their families although the Board did not always agree to help and the township boards assisted families without assistance from the county. The materials in this collection document the actives of the Board of Relief and provides detailed information on the families who sought its assistance. This collection is divided into four record series: account books, applications, correspondence, and administrative records. A full index to the account books, applications, and correspondence can be found here: https://www.chesco.org/1702/Board-of-Relief-1861-1865. less

This selection of digitized diaries by David Evans dates from 1835 to 1879. In these diaries, Evans notes his early studies in school; his experiences as more a teacher, farmer, and surveyor; his interests in geology, botany, and history; his attendance at Quaker and Anti-Slavery Society meetings; and the daily lives of his family and friends. From the late 1830s to the early 1850s, many of Evans’ entries provide names and details of aid he provided as a member of the Underground Railroad. There is also one volume by David’s brother, Josiah Evans, dating from March to December 1838, which documents Josiah’s time in Ohio. Early entries describe the passing environs en route to Ohio, and, once there, focus on daily life, visits with family and friends, and his attendance at Quaker and Anti-Slavery Society meetings. David Evans was born in 1818, the son of Nathan and Zillah Maule Evans of Willistown Township, Pennsylvania and died, age 80, on July 4, 1898. He had one brother and four sisters: Josiah, Catharine, Anne, Elizabeth, and Mary. Evans married Eliza W. House on March 21, 1861. Eliza died, most likely of breast cancer, in 1875, age 45; David did not remarry. Although young family members resided with David and Eliza, the couple was childless. In addition to living in Willistown, Evans resided in Malvern, Pennsylvania, a town he helped develop from the 1860s into the 1890s. Primarily an off-and-on school teacher and a farmer, Evans followed many interests, including his Quaker faith, the abolition of slavery, reading, farming, surveying, temperance, architecture, traveling, and rock formations. He was a member of the Willistown Library and the Willistown Literary Society. In March 1853, Evans was elected to a three year term as a Willistown Township school director. Six years later he was appointed township auditor. As a businessman, Evans operated a lumber yard. He wrote in his diary that he had “commenced business in the line of lumber coal feed flour etc. at the W. Chester Intersection R.R. January 1, 1866.” In Willistown, David Evans, with his father, Nathan, was part of a network of sympathizers who organized stations in the Underground Railroad. Additionally, he was involved in the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, serving as a delegate after the organization had been re-established in 1837. Even though Evans was a staunch abolitionist, he refused to serve in the Union army, instead registering as a conscientious objector. less

The digitized reminiscences recorded by John Hill Brinton consist of five volumes (three original and two typed transcripts) and date from 1856 to 1868. Found within more the collection are descriptions of early Chester County people, places, and historical events dating back to the late 1600s. John Hill Brinton (1811-1893) was born in Thornbury, Pennsylvania on June 2, 1811, the son of Thomas Hill and Catharine Odenheimer Brinton. He attended Strode’s Academy, West Chester, Pennsylvania and Germantown Academy in Philadelphia. Brinton then studied law for three years with William H. Dillingham and was admitted to the Chester County bar on October 6, 1832. He practiced law in West Chester, and was the oldest member of the county bar at the time of his death. Active in politics and a self-identified Jacksonian Democrat, Brinton was a compelling speaker. Though he was never elected to office, he was appointed Deputy Attorney General—the equivalent of District Attorney—for Chester County, serving from April 1847 until July 1848. Brinton was also a local historian interested in his family genealogy, as well as early Chester County history. In 1873, he traveled to Europe in part to learn about his family’s origins. Additionally, beginning in the 1840s, he interviewed Chester County residents about their families and recorded their memories about the county’s past. Brinton died, aged 81, unmarried and childless, after a brief illness on February 5, 1893. The collection consists of three handwritten volumes and two volumes of transcriptions that document the history of Chester County, Pennsylvania from the late 1600s to the mid-1800s through the reminiscences of residents interviewed by Brinton. After Brinton’s death, the original manuscript was held by the Ogier family for many years before being returned to the Brinton family at which point handwritten indexes were added. In 1915, Francis D. Brinton underwrote the manuscript’s typed transcription and the two volumes of transcripts were bound by Fahr and Johnson of Philadelphia in 1950. The only typed index is in the first transcribed volume, leaving readers to refer to the original manuscript volumes for handwritten indexes to Book 2 and Book 3. Book 1 is described by Brinton as “Conversations held with old people respecting former times—some of them relatives, some of them friends, some acquaintances—and residing generally in Chester and Delaware Counties and Birmingham and Thornbury Township.” The volume begins with a 23 page index followed by 240 pages of Brinton’s handwritten synopses. These recollections include many members of the Carr, Darlington, Dilworth, Downing, Hickman, Hoopes, Mendenhall, Sharpless, and Taylor families. Brinton notes that these conversations were recorded as soon as they took place, though in cases of multiple conversations with single individuals, manuscript notations were consolidated into a single record. Topics discussed include the Revolutionary War and the Battle of Brandywine, the growth and development of Chester County, the changing appearance of the county’s land and trees, house and road construction, Quaker meetings, family genealogies, local mills, property ownership, politics, legal precedents, and etc. In addition, Brinton family members and the building, renovation, and general appearance of the 1704 Brinton House are discussed at length. Book 2 begins with a 32 page index followed by 231 pages of handwritten recollections, which cover topics similar to those in Book 1. In addition, Brinton records his visit to Europe, which he undertook in part to trace his family’s history and origins. Book 3 begins with a 14 page index followed by 174 pages of notes. The first section, “Notes of Conversations held by me with old inhabitants about the early settlement in Penn’s Colony,” covers events relating to Chester County’s earliest European inhabitants. The second section, “Some account of William Brinton one of the early settlers in Penn’s Colony of Pennsylvania and of His Descendants,” is an essay on the life of William Brinton, who settled in America in the 1600s. less

The three diaries kept by Phebe Ann Sharpless (now digitized) span 1849 to 1855, a time when Sharpless was in her twenties. Phebe Sharpless was born more August 16, 1829, the daughter of Samuel Sharpless (1804-1872), a farmer, and his wife, Abigail Garrett Ashbridge Sharpless (1808-1857). Phebe Sharpless had two younger brothers: Thomas Ashbridge Sharpless (1831-1875) who married Margaretta Tucker Evans; and Theodore Sharpless (1835-January 18, 1870). The family resided in East Goshen township and later in West Chester. They attended Goshen Friends Meeting. Phebe Sharpless died in the home of her nephew, Clarence D. Sharpless, in Germantown, Pennsylvania. In the diaries, Sharpless records family news, plus thoughts on her Quaker faith and practice as well as issues of the time including temperance, abolitionism, women’s rights, and the death penalty. She wrote about a talk by William Lloyd Garrison and her support of the African colonization movement in August 1851. As she approached her 25th birthday, Sharpless wrote about her thoughts on marriage for herself and whether other marriages were happy. Domestic activities such as cleaning, sewing (including quilting with her mother and some embroidery work), baking, and other food preparation are discussed. Much of this was Sharpless’s responsibility because her mother was in poor health, and she notes that girls (some immigrant, primarily Irish, and some African American) were employed at times in the household. Sharpless also planted and tended vegetable and flower gardens. She wrote about her appreciation of nature, opining that cutting down forests seemed to lead to milder winters and that native wildflowers were dying out. She attended lectures on a variety of subjects including a series on physiology which she found informative and useful. Leisure time was spent reading (Jane Eyre and Uncle Tom’s Cabin are mentioned), drawing (a small pencil sketch of a flower is in volume 3), attending concerts and picnics, visiting art exhibits, and shopping in West Chester and Philadelphia. Visits to family in Philadelphia and Wilmington are noted, along with travel to New York City, Maryland, and Cape May, New Jersey. The earliest diary is a small paper-bound volume, “Lipman’s Diary” with pre-printed dates. Regular entries ended in 1850, but the following family deaths were noted at the end of the volume: Sharpless’s aunt Hannah G. Ashbridge in 1860, her grandmother Phebe Garrett Ashbridge in 1870 and her brother, Theodore, also in 1870. The second and third diaries were blank volumes. The second volume includes poems written by Sharpless between 1856 and 1876. The third volume includes a partial index in the front of the volume, referencing entries in that diary. less

The Women’s Suffrage and Civil Rights Collection measures 0.3 linear feet and dates from 1852 to 1933, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1893 more to 1917. Found within the collection are published materials, letters, manuscripts, and ephemera related to women’s suffrage. Materials document the Pennsylvania Woman Suffrage Association (PWSA) at the state and chapter levels, as well as the larger National Woman Suffrage Association. The Chester County Equal Suffrage Association is also represented. Some organizational materials for men, sympathetic temperance materials, and anti-suffrage materials are also included. When Elizabeth Cady Stanton introduced a suffrage resolution at the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention in New York, equal suffrage became a central part of the national woman suffrage platform. Just a few years later, West Chester’s Horticultural Hall became the host location for the Pennsylvania Woman’s Rights Convention in June 1852. In the first afternoon session, voting rights was the first resolution debated and adopted in West Chester. In 1869, the National Woman Suffrage Association was founded in response to the 15th amendment. By the early 20th century, auxiliary chapters of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, as well as similarly focused organizations for men, existed in Chester County. The collection includes correspondence regarding the planning of the 1894 PWSA Convention in West Chester, including letters between Lucy Anthony and her aunt Susan B. Anthony. A notebook by Mary Heald Way details women’s suffrage events, club activities, and quotes from publications related to women’s rights. Printed materials include flyers, tracts, and publications promoting suffrage activity dating from 1893 to 1917. In some cases, only the cover, title page, and individual relevant pages have been scanned from published materials. The entirety of the Women’s Suffrage and Civil Rights Collection is housed and available for research use at the Chester County History Center. less

Minutes of the Town Council of the Borough of Conshohocken, Volume 1, July 1850 - March 1874 Collection.

Elizabethtown College was founded by members of the Church of the Brethren, one of the original "peace churches" to spread from Europe to the United States. more This peace pamphlet collection contains pamphlets that focus on peace issues and conscientious objectors' movement. Pamphlet dates range from 1775 to the 1970's. less

One of the Erie area's earliest, substantial newspapers, The Erie Gazette was printed and published by Joseph M. Sterrett. It was printed weekly and had a more republican slant. less

Grand Army of the Republic: Personal War Sketches of the Members of Strong Vincent Post No. 67 is a two volume collection of large format single-page more biographies. Each sketch is an interview with a Civil War veteran that provides enlistment information, service locations, and injury and/or discharge information. These unique accounts comprise an invaluable record of Erie County’s role in the Civil War. This collection was made possible through a collaborative effort with the Hagen History Center and was funded by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission’s Historical and Archival Records Care Grant program. less

The Agentur Records Collection consists of 72 volumes of handwritten ledgers, indexes, logs, reports, and letter books spanning the years 1847 to 1947, recording the efforts more of the German Society of Pennsylvania’s Agency to help needy German immigrants and Philadelphia residents of German origin. The collection contains valuable biographical information for local history, social history, labor history, immigration research, and genealogy. less

Welcome to the Indiana University of Pennsylvania - Indiana Pennsylvania in the Civil War Collection, a part of the POWER Library: PA Photos and Documents. The Indiana more Pennsylvania in the Civil War Era project involves the digitization of primary sources including letters, diaries, and modern and historical photographs that document the experience of men and women of Indiana County, PA during the Civil War era which are now held in the collections of Indiana University of Pennsylvania's Special Collections or the Historical and Genealogical Society of Indiana County. Central to the collection will be the papers of the White family, including a diary kept by Pennsylvania State Senator Harry White, who fought for the North during the Civil War and was imprisoned in Libby Prison and a number of other prisons across the South, the letters of his father Thomas White, a prominent judge who was involved in the organization of the Republican Party in Pittsburgh, Richard White, a brother who also served in the Union Army during the Civil War, and letters to them from the Pennsylvania governor and high ranking representatives of the federal government. Also included will be other diaries of Civil War soldiers from the Indiana County area. Together these primary sources will provide a glimpse into the experience of Civil War soldiers and their families at home and political life during the war and hopefully making it easier for researchers to form a better understanding of the Civil War in Indiana County. Currently, access to the original resources is very limited. The HGSIC is open from 9 am to 4pm Tuesday through Friday and Saturday from 10am to 3 pm. and the hours of the Special Collections section of IUP Library are similarly restrictive. This project will make these materials available 24/7 to researchers with access to the lnternet. less

Welcome to the Keystone College Local History Collection, a part of the POWER Library: PA Photos and Documents. This collection a large number of photos and more documents from and about the local communities and personalities present in Factoryville, PA; Nicholson, PA; Dalton, PA; and other smaller communities dating from 1868 to the present. less

This collection consists of Lancaster City and County residential and commercial directories, 1843-1900. These directories provide valuable information regarding the population of Lancaster City and County, more as well as the growth and development of the community and the evolution of Lancaster commerce and industry. less

Lancaster's Examiner and Herald was published weekly in Lancaster, Pa., during the middle years of the nineteenth century. By digitizing the years 1834 - 1872, patrons more are provided with a view of politics and events of this tumultuous period from a liberal political slant, providing balance to the more conservative perspective of the Intelligencer-Journal, which was recently digitized by Penn State. less

Our Historical Documents Collection features a monograph of the college's history from its beginnings to 1955 and manuscripts of importance to the colleges almost two-hundred year more history. less

Williamsport Women: Voices, Images, Actions Source material related to the history of women in Lycoming County from Lycoming College, the Lycoming County Historical Society, and the J.V. more Brown Library.  Documents selected highlight the history of local women in volunteer and reform organizations, education, the arts, the workplace, and private lives. The first part of the collection will cover the time period 1875-1925. "This material will have national, perhaps international, significance as it relates to women's history and studies during a time period when there is a scarcity of materials about women's contributions to local communities. All three cooperating facilities are very limited in staffing and available hours, so the materials will reach users who either cannot physically come to the collections or did not previously know of their existence. This collaborative project is funded through an LSTA grant. less

This digitized collection of eighteen student publication spans the life of the College from its inception as the Dickinson Seminary, through its years as a junior more college, to its present standing as a four-year undergraduate institution. It provides a graphic picture of campus life from the mid-1850's to 2004. The most current issues will be added shortly. These publications vary widely in their content and presentation styles. Student efforts at publishing works to be distributed to the campus began in the form of a literary magazine, and changed to simple mimeographed newsletters, an "underground" newspaper, and finally to our present conception of student coverage of campus events with editorial comments on issues affecting their lives. less

Founded in 1761 by Frederick Stump, Fredericksburg (formerly Stumpstown) is situated in northern Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. Formerly a predominantly rural, farming community with a substantial German more heritage, the town has become increasingly diverse and suburban due to its proximity to Fort Indiantown Gap and New York City. Historically the home of up to seven churches, numerous main street businesses, and Schuylkill Seminary/College (1886-1902), Bell & Evans, the poultry raising and processing giant headquartered in Fredericksburg, is now the town's main employer as it continues expansion of its operations. This collection contains vintage postcards and photographs depicting various local street scenes and local organizations, including local businesses and the local baseball team. Images chronicle Fredericksburg localities, businesses, and citizens ranging from the late-nineteenth century to mid-twentieth century. less

Millgrove School District operated out of a schoolhouse in Bushkill Township, Pennsylvania from about 1860 to 1956. The house was torn down in 1967. It was more part of a collection of schoolhouses that served the different villages of Bushkill Township, until the township joined Nazareth School District in 1950. Millgrove was named after the nearby Aluta Mill, and was built on land donated by Paul Siegfried, Adam Heckman, and Daniel Schlabach. These documents, including recordings of district trustees meetings, daybooks of expenses from those who worked in relation to Millgrove, and some photographs and ephemera, covers the years 1848 to the last recorded reunion of Millgrove students and teachers in 1985. less

William D. Bailey, from Dillsburg, Pa., served as a surgeon with the 78th Pennsylvania Volunteers, under Colonel Sirwell. He enlisted March 14, 1863, was promoted from more Assistant Surgeon, July 26, 1864; he was discharged November 4, 1864 due to the expiration of his term. This diary covers the period of March 27 to October 3, 1863. Later pages include some home remedy recipes, accounts, and miscellany. less

As part of the 150th commemoration of the Civil War, the Pennsylvania Highlands Community College has digitized a diary and personal letters associated with Cambria County more soldiers who fought in the war. The Quartermaster for General Grant’s army in the west wrote the letters from 1852-1865; the letters have not been transcribed and are only available in .jpg format. less

This ongoing collection consists of finding aids created for the archival holdings of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (1827- ). Included are guides to historical materials such more as the PHS minute books, administrative records, and PHS initiatives and programs for events including the Philadelphia Flower Show and Philadelphia Green. Finding aids also cover the extensive image file collections, glass slides, and ephemera connected with the activities of the Society. less

The Garden Club of Philadelphia was established in 1904 by Mrs. J. Willis Martin and Miss Ernestine Goodman to promote an interest in gardens, their design, more and management. The garden club held meetings, conducted horticultural research, attended lectures, and participated in civic endeavors. In 1913, several members of the Garden Club of Philadelphia joined with several women from other local gardening associations to form the larger Garden Club of America. This collection, comprised of more than 300 views on glass, most hand-tinted, focuses on individual private gardens in and around Philadelphia, eastern Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The images provide unique documentation of gardens that are either “lost” or have been significantly altered during the last half of the 20th-century and include multiple views of the estate gardens of Andalusia, Stenton, Highlands, and Ludington among many others. This digital project is supported by a grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. less

This is a collection of posters of varying size, color and medium pertaining to the U.S. and Pennsylvania from before the start of the Civil War more Period to the present. Subjects include business advertising, public announcements, broadsides, political cartoons, campaign posters, World War II, world travel, and civic duties. Manufactured for many different businesses, institutions, and government agencies, the artwork is by famous, obscure, and unknown commercial illustrators. less

The Schuylkill Navigation Company was incorporated in 1815 for the purpose of making the Schuylkill River navigable. In the State Archives of Pennsylvania Manuscript Group 110 more there are copies of the legislative acts, minute books, correspondence, reports, and other documents of the company from 1815 until 1947 when the property was contributed to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In the 1947 report Appraisal Schuylkill Navigation Company Canal for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania a "Brief History Of The Property To Be Appraised" is included. The "canal" or navigation system was constructed between Port Carbon and Philadelphia and covered a distance of 108 miles. Harry L. Rinker in his book, The Schuylkill Navigation: a Photographic History, points out that this "canal" was more properly a "navigation system" because it consisted of 18 dams, 23 canals which covered 57.73 miles, 120 locks, 17 stone aqueducts, one 450 foot long tunnel, 50.50 miles of slack water pools, 23 canals covering 57.73 miles, and 31 houses for toll and lock keepers when it was completed in May 1825. After 1825 efforts to improve the navigation system were ongoing, so the above number of structures changed over the years. There are photographs of some of the dwellings still in existence in 1947 in the Appraisal Schuylkill Navigation Company Canal for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Schuylkill Navigation Company collection at Reading Area Community College also includes drawings of reach profiles, canal boats, bowstring bridges, mechanical parts and scows. less

Amos A. Yeakel was born February 26, 1843, in West Greenville, Mercer County, Pennsylvania and died June 25, 1912, in Vineland, New Jersey. The diary is more a two-volume pocket diary written during the American Civil War between August 19, 1862, and March 14, 1865. It covers the entire period of Yeakel’s service in Company G, of the 145th Pennsylvania Volunteers. Following his mustering into service, the diary deals with Yeakel becoming a soldier, including a prolonged time in a military convalescent camp and a military hospital where he suffered from a vague collection of non-life-threatening illnesses that nonetheless kept him from front line duty for nearly a year. He is then re-mustered into service and is involved in some of the heaviest fighting of the war at various skirmishes and battles, including Spotsylvania Court House and Petersburg, during Ulysses S. Grant’s Spring campaign of 1864. Yeakel was taken prisoner on June 22, 1864 at Petersburg and spent his time as a prisoner in the notorious Andersonville Prison (Camp Sumter) prisoner-of-war camp and other Confederate prison camps. He talks about the terrible ordeal of being held prisoner under appalling conditions, where a number of his comrades died died from malnutrition and disease. Yeakel managed somehow to survive this ordeal, and the diary ends as he is finally paroled in a prisoner exchange in early 1865. less

Funded by a grant from the Willary Foundation, this collection contains letters, books, paintings, photographs, and other artifacts from the era when the Lackawanna Valley emerged more from its agrarian beginnings to become an industrial center that powered the torn nation's war effort. Contributing agencies include the Scranton Public Library, the Lackawanna Historical Society, the Steamtown National Historic Site, and the Anthracite Heritage Museum. This collection relates to Scranton's early history and its importance in politics and history of the United States. less

A representative sampling of valuable items on Abraham Lincoln in the State Library's collection that have been digitized to commemorate the Lincoln Bicentennial in 2009. Items more include the address of Honorable Edward Everett at the consecration of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg on November 19, 1893 with the dedicatory speech of President Lincoln; and the hanging of the Lincoln conspirators in Washington DC in 1865. less

Items include a report on the 1907 Dar Mine Disaster relief efforts; the Twin Shaft mining disaster investigation, 1986, Early Indian history along the Susquehanna River, more Problem of the Irish in America speech, 1886, American Freeman, 1867. less

This collection contains miscellany from various exhibitions and expositions of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Capitol Centennial Collection Historic descriptions, explanations, and illustrated visitors' guidebooks to the State Capitol Complex in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in recognition of the 100th anniversary of more the dedication of the Pennsylvania Capitol Building. less

Selected Pennsylvania Regimental Histories in the Civil War, with histories of Pennsylvania units from other wars to be added.

A newspaper published by the American Sunday-School Union, and organization rooted in the First Day Society. Both organizations were missionary in nature, with the First Day more Society formed to found and promote Sunday Schools in churches. The American Sunday-School Union was also a missionary organization. Reports on the founding and running of Sunday Schools, and contains advice on the studying of scripture. Reports from missions around the world are common. These issues are from the Civil War years, and include battlefield and battlefield hospital and missionary reports. Issues from January 4, 1862 to December 2, 1868, though not all issues are present. less

A wide variety of Civil War literature, including a report on the battle of Gettysburg, preparations for the internment of the remains of the dead at more Gettysburg, testimony of deplorable conditions in Confederate prisons, speeches for and against Reconstruction, and more. less

This handwritten historic collection contains over 2,800 pages of entries documenting the operations necessary to produce iron and iron products. It holds seven Isaac Meason Union more Furnace Ledgers covering the years 1801-1822, with the years 1803-1808, and 1818-1820 missing. In addition, there is a Union Forge Time and Team Ledger for 1809-1811, an original index book, and ledgers for the Union Grist Mill and the Mount Vernon, Centre, Mount Braddock, Dunbar, Warren, and Pallofax Durance operations. These records are unique, unpublished primary documents of the iron furnace industry. Isaac Meason built Union Furnace, the first successful iron furnace west of the Alleghenies in 1791, also operating a foundry and grist mill in connection with the furnace. The associated forge provided iron sugar and salt kettles, Dutch ovens, and other wares that were shipped by local keelboats for Lousiana. These ware were purchased by both western Pennsylvania businesses and families, and by settlers traveling west down the Ohio River. The furnace and forge passed through several hands until the company failed in 1922. Meason also sponsored the first suspension bridge in Pennsylvania, and financed and collaborated with Thomas Lewis on the rolling mill producing bar iron in 1817. At his death, Isaac Meason owned interests in the Mount Vernon Forge, Maria Forge, Union Forge, Union Furnace, Grist Mill, and the Middletown Iron Works. The Meason ledges provide a broad history of the iron industry in Western Pennsylvania. This collection is dedicated to the memory of Joan Peake a long-time genealogist and volunteer at the Uniontown Public Library. Her dedication to this project, along with Linda Jennings and Mary Patterson, helped make it possible. less

A collection of handwritten lectures on Conchology, consisting of an Introductory lecture followed by 15 topical lectures. They were written and delivered by William Wagner, founder more of the Wagner Free Institute of Science, between 1852 and 1884. Conchology was one of Wagner's favorite topics and this was the first lecture series he wrote. He delivered it for the first time in 1852, prior to opening the Institute in 1855. The lectures' inconsistent paginations and paper sizes, along with many notations throughout, are signs of the many alterations he made to his lectures throughout the years. less

A collection of handwritten lectures on Mineralogy, consisting of two Introductory lectures and 24 topical lectures. The lecture series was written and delivered by William Wagner, more founder of the Wagner Free Institute of Science, between 1853 and 1884. Wagner delivered this lecture series for the first time in 1853, prior to the founding of the Institute in 1855. The lectures contain many notes and alterations throughout the text; evidence of his continued revisions over the years. less

Welcome to the West Pittston Library's Pittston Gazette Collection, a part of the POWER Library: PA Photos and Documents. The Pittston Gazette Collection includes more the first 58 years of publication from 1850 through 1908. The Gazette's circulation covered the Greater Pittston area of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The news was focused on personal interests and the everyday life of residents in the area. Spanning 115 years, the Pittston Gazette newspaper gives the reader a view into how national and world events affected small town America. Through the pages of the Gazette, one can understand how events such as the Civil War, Spanish Influenza and the Depression influenced local residents on a personal level. The reader is transported back in time and is left with a sense of being there. The collection will be an invaluable resource to both historians and genealogists. less