HISTORICAL SOCIETY ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER November 1999 jrzane@bigfoot.com issue 7 editor, J.R. Zane 1890 CENSUS CENSUS GOES TO THE PRINTER! Over 250 people have paid in advance for the reprint of the rare 1890 census of Schuylkill County. It is anticipated that 350 will be available. Therefore you better act quickly as once the 350 are sold then they will be unavailable again. Windmill Publications, Inc. has promised a delivery date of December 1, 1999. CHARLES BABER APPRECIATION DAY HELD OCTOBER 3rd It was a beautiful fall day to listen to the legendary Pottsville Third Brigade Band entertain at the west end of Charles Baber Cemetery. After the concert a tour of the Chapel and the grounds was conducted. Dr. Thomas Graves and Mark Major co-hosted the tour which drew a crowd of over 130. It is believed that a Friends of Charles Baber Cemetery Association will be formed to raise funds to replant trees and maintain the Chapel. Plans are underway to have the bulk of the cemetery declared a national historical site. Graves and Major continued the theme of cemetery appreciation by leading a tour of the Orwigsburg cemeteries on behalf of the Orwigsburg Historical Society. Your editor had hoped to be there but due to personal problems was unable to attend. The Pottsville Republican was extremely supportive of th Charles Baber Appreciation Day. It was an afternoon of music, history, genealogy and discussion. It started at 1 PM with the Band concert with a nice crowd sitting on lawn chairs or blankets. From 2:30 to 3:30 the tour occurred. Mark Major focused on the biographies of notables buried in the cemetery while Graves focused on the history, style and symbols of the cemetery. Afterwards Andrew Tokarczyk from Ashland performed on keyboard. Charles Baber had been a wealthy water-company owner who died in 1884. The cemetery was designed in accordance with the rural cemetery movement. Next year a horticultural tour may be held. HSSC BUILDING UPDATE Believe it or not, progress is being made. The Architect has completed 85% of his work and the design work should be completed by the end of November. Donations are still welcome. Try to remember the HSSC this upcoming holiday season. Perhaps you had a good year on the stock market and wish to become a donor and get a tax break this year. The HSSC would be most appreciative and honored to be remembered. POTTSVILLE MAROONS TO BE HONORED The Legendary Pottsville Maroons Football team was honored by a state historical marker this November 10th. The Marker was placed in front of the Old Female Grammer School (a misnomer as only young females attended school there) which is the future home of HSSC. WAS GRANDPA REALLY A HORSE THIEF? Since many of the viewers of this page are genealogists, an often overlooked source of material to research are the Clerk of Courts records in the Schuylkill County Courthouse. Criminal records can be a fascinating look at the disputes and unrest that occurred years ago. Ancestors may turn up, not only as defendants, but as witnesses and victims. Many of the ‘crimes’ were, actually family disputes. Many of the old criminal records are now on microfilm in the Schuylkill County Archives. Just think, in about 70 years, ou descendants will be looking up the Protection From Abuse records to read about the social unrest at the end of the twentieth century. WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE MICROFILM MACHINE? So far this year the microfilm machine has generated $273. In revenue. However the expense of operating the Canon microfilm machine has been $789.60 this year. The major problem is the cost of the toner. Any suggestions are appreciated. INDIAN ATTACKS From the History of Schuylkill County , published by the Pottsville School District, 1950, it was stated that one of the first massacres occurred near Pine Grove, when Peter Grafe's wife and two children were killed on October 28, 1755. Two days later Henry Hartman who lived west of Pine Grove was scalped. In a massacre at the inn of Valentine Baumgarten, where Rest Haven stands today, a woman and a boy were killed and another boy wounded. Many of the settlors then fled eastwardly deeper into Berks County after these early Indian raids. One of the Indian hiding places was "Red Hole", a deep gap between Klingerstown and Fort Henry, four miles east of Pine Grove.