The house on this property, Lot #47, was built in the 1820s by Joshua Osman who purchased the lot from Simon Gratz in 1818. Some time around 1824, Peter Crabb (1787-?), a blacksmith, purchased the property from Osman, and probably built the small building in the rear which he used as a blacksmith shop. Peter […]
This is the fourth in a series of posts on Gratz during the Civil War. Lot #19 and the house on it was purchased by Jeremiah Crabb (1826-?), a blacksmith, in 1854. Previously, the property had been owned by Adonjah Mathias who sold it to Crabb. Mathias, a wheelwright and turner, was the original purchaser […]
Veterans of the Civil War identified as having some connection to the Lykens Valley area and included in the Civil War Research Project. Updated 12 April 2011. ++++ Updated 19 April 2012. A Nicholas Adams (1843-1927)—- William Adams (18xx-xxxx) —- Joseph J. Alleman (1847-xxxx) —-William Alleman (1844-1894) —- John Allman (1838-xxxx) —- David Alspach (1839-1864) […]
The Underground Railroad was the name given to a 19th century hidden network of routes by which African-Americans escaped from slavery to freedom – for the most part, to the north and to Canada. Abolitionists aided the escaping African-Americans and established a series of safe-houses or hiding places along the way as well aiding the […]
Early in the nineteenth century, perhaps at the very beginning of the settlement of Gratz, a militia was formed to protect the area from intruders and from hostile Indians, of which there were some. At the beginning of settlement, Gratz was on the frontier and had a “well regulated militia.” The early settlers of the […]
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