Here are some more local news items, this time from Shrewsbury in December 1889. This time I didn’t even have to go to the newspaper microfilms at York County Heritage Trust myself. Friend, relative and Dallastown native, Apyrl Zarfos Anderson, who now lives in France, has been in York County the past month researching factory history. She shared some of her finds, including this clipping, on Facebook. The news items are below along with a few explanatory notes.
SHREWSBURY ITEMS
–Zackariah Brose was buried Saturday last. He was one of the engineers at the flavine factory, which closed on the day of his funeral and the hands all attended. He was about 36 years old, leaves a wife and 4 or 5 children.–Charles Snyder, who is teaching school near Lititz, Pa., is home on a visit to his parents.
–George Glasser, of Baltimore, is at this parents’ home here for the holidays.
–Levi Snyder, who has been working at Steelton below Baltimore, is a home for Christmas.
–The Sunday School of the Reformed church had their Christmas entertainment Sunday evening. The church was entirely too small for the crowd. Everyone received a present and everyone seemed happy. The entertainment was very good.
–Mrs. George Bott, who has been ill for the past month, is able to be about again.
–There was a horse race between F.A. Hake and George Roebling Monday evening and the former came out ahead. This puts Hake in front with the fastest horse and largest hog. Can’t say whether he has the best whiskey or not, as he did not ask me in.
–The Lutheran Sabbath School held their Christmas entrainment on Christmas night, there was a large crowd. The church was decorated very handsomely and the programme was well arranged and all did well.
Did you know there was a flavine factory in Shrewsbury? Flavine is a concentrate for fabric dye ground from the eastern black oak tree, and is also known as queriton or queritron. The Young family, who had dye factories in the Hanover area, opened the one in Shrewsbury in the early 1870s.
I also wondered about “Steelton below Baltimore.” Google maps shows a Steelton Avenue in the southeast section of Baltimore. There might have been steel plants in that area.
I assume St. Paul’s United Church of Christ and Christ Lutheran, both on South Main Street, are the churches at which the Christmas entertainments were so popular.
Finally, the Shrewsbury correspondent seems a bit disgruntled that he wasn’t asked to share a celebratory drink after the horse race.
