Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo (Fifth of May), a holiday that had its origins during the American Civil War. It commemorates the Mexican army’s victory over the French forces of Napoleon III at the Battle of Puebla. The holiday was actually created by Mexicans living in California who supported the cause of Mexican freedom. […]
Christopher Gist, an immigrant from England around 1682, settled in the Baltimore area of Maryland in 1691. His marriage to Edith Cromwell had connected him to one of the prominent lines of English descent, that of Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector. The son of this marriage, Richard Gist (1684-1741), was the father of western explorer […]
John Peter Crabb was born in Gratz, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, in October 1843, the son of Peter Crabb and his wife Mary Magdalena Crabb. The Peter Crabb family arrived in Gratz in the early part of the 19th century and purchased land from Simon Gratz. John Peter Crabb, like his father, was a skilled blacksmith. […]
The row of houses on the south side of Market Street in the first block east of Centre Street (formerly Chestnut Street) now appears as abandoned and partially boarded-up. During the Civil War, this was the property of two Gratz businessmen, Philip W. Keiter and Cyrus Snyder. The original buildings were built some time before […]
The heirs of Simon Gratz sold this corner property, Lot # 31, in 1852 to Daniel K. Ossman. The house on the lot was built some time before the sale. From its appearance, it originally was a double house and was indicated as such in the will of Daniel K. Ossman, which was written in […]
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