Volume 42, Number 5 October 2010 Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society

Preserving and popularizing Mennonite and Pennsylvania German heritage, history and faith for over 50 years. Government and religious leaders to honor Hans Herr House to Native Americans dedicate longhouse site ennsylvania government officials According to a committee state- n Saturday, October 9, at 2:00 Pand representatives from ment, all First Nations People held a OPM, the 1719 Hans Herr House Lancaster County’s Amish, common view that life and land were in Willow Street, Pennsylvania, will Mennonite and Presbyterian church- interconnected and shared by every- dedicate the site of a Native es and Quaker meetings will honor one, and so they resonated with American longhouse—a log-frame, Native American cultures and William Penn’s vision of Pennsylvania bark-covered multi-family home com- acknowledge the historic wrongs as a place of peace and sanctuary. mon in North America for hundreds committed against the local Native But not all immigrants held to of years before Europeans arrived. people at a 10:00 AM program at Penn’s ideals. Settlers broke treaties The replica longhouse, construct- First Presbyterian Church, Lancaster, Penn made with Native tribes and ed with synthetic bark to reduce on Saturday, October 9. ignored Pennsylvania law when it maintenance, will join a historic com- Their statements will be formally applied to Native grievances. In two plex that includes three Pennsylvania received by a wide cross-section of separate incidents in 1763, an immi- German farmhouses, including the local and regional Native Americans grant militia from Paxton Township 1719 House itself—the oldest building and Native groups representing the destroyed the last village of the in Lancaster County and the oldest Haudenosaunee, Lenape, Conestoga tribe and massacred its Mennonite meetinghouse in the Susquehannock, Shawnee and other inhabitants. Western Hemisphere. tribes who once lived here, as well as Christians were complicit in these Adding an example of Native Native people from other regions offenses, the statement continues, American architecture to a Mennonite who now call this area home. not responding effectively to injus- historic site may baffle some Admission is free, but tickets are tice, encroaching on Native land pro- Mennonites who trace their roots to required. Contact the 1719 Hans tected by treaty, participating in a Russia, Switzerland or Germany. But, Herr House at (717) 464-4438. land grab following the Conestoga for years, indigenous groups called “This is a Lancaster County event massacres, and more recently, remov- the Conestoga and Shawnee were the on the occasion of the 300th ing Native children from their families closest neighbors of the Mennonites anniversary of the first European set- to enroll them in boarding schools. who settled Lancaster County. tlers arriving here,” said Bob Doe, “In my opinion, they were hyp- According to a Herr family story chair of the planning committee that ocrites,” said Mary Ann Robins, a set at the 1719 Herr House, on one includes Native and church groups. Native American committee member bitterly cold morning, Christian and “It’s a first step toward understanding representing Circle Legacy, a Lancaster Anna Herr came downstairs to find our shared history and beginning to non-profit created to support and several Indians sleeping around the set things right between Native peo- empower indigenous people. fire in their hearth. ple and European immigrants.” - Continued on page 5 All told, archeologists have identi- fied over 1,200 Native American sites in Lancaster County, more than any other county in Pennsylvania. Some of them, like the Murray Site in Washington Boro, show evidence of thousands of people living in close proximity for hundreds of years. Currently, the State of Pennsylvania - Continued on page 3

What’s Inside • Lancaster Roots Events • October Field Trips • Community Events • Rusty Sherrick • Director’s Reflections William Penn’s Treaty with the Indians when he founded the Province of Pennsylvania in North America. Painting by Benjamin West, 1771. 1 www.lmhs.org [email protected] (717) 393-9745 “Lancaster Roots 300” to Bowman (Bauman), Funk, Hauri, Houser, Herr, Kendig, LeFever, Calendar of Events Miller, Mylin, Tschantz and Weber Public Acknowledgement and surnames. Members $40; nonmem- Commemoration of Native bers $50. American Legacy Both tours depart from and return Saturday, October 9 to Lancaster Mennonite Historical 10:00 AM event at First Presbyterian Society. For reservations, contact Church, Lancaster; 2:00 PM dedica- Peggy Erb: (717) 393-9745 or tion of Native American longhouse [email protected]. site at the 1719 Herr House, with multicultural celebration continuing there until 5:00 PM. All events are free. Other Historical Society Community Events Historic West Lampeter Township Events A four-session harmonica workshop Driving Tour with folk musician Sharon Saturday, October 16, 10:00 AM– Juniata and Snyder County Fall Hunsberger will be held Tuesday 4:00 PM Foliage Trip evenings from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Self-guided driving tour to historic Saturday, October 16, 2010, 8:30 October 12, 19, 26, and November sites in the vicinity of the 1719 Herr AM–5:00 PM 2, 2010 at the Mennonite Heritage House with interpretive guides at Join Henry Benner on a genealogy Center, 565 Yoder Road, each stop. Adults $8; children 7-12 and history tour of sites to which Harleysville. No previous experience $4; children under 7 free. Begin at Pennsylvania Germans migrated in needed. Registration $30 ($25 mem- the Herr House. the 18th century, including the bers); harmonicas available for $5. Native Americans of Lancaster newly restored Joseph Hochstetler Contact (215) 256-3020, County homestead. Learn about the history [email protected] or www.mhep.org. Monday, November 1, 7:00 PM of the rivers, their role in logging, Join us for Frazer Mennonite A panel of experts will discuss the canals, and other colonial transporta- Church’s Centennial Celebration, history of Native Americans in and tion. Visit the restored 1869 October 15-17, 2010 in Frazer, Pa. around Lancaster three hundred Richfield (“Brick”) Mennonite We will release a commissioned years ago. A free public meeting at Meetinghouse and the adjoining book on our first 100 years, hear Lititz Moravian Church. Juniata Mennonite Historical Center, from former pastors and bishops, as well as a museum of restored record memories, view videos and John Deere tractors. Members $85; displays, sing and fellowship. See nonmembers $95; lunch included. www.frazermennonite.org for a detailed schedule of events. For 1710 Pequea Settlement Tour questions or additional information, Saturday, November 6, 2010, 8:00 contact Harry King at info@frazer- am–noon mennonite.org or 610-644-3397. Follow in the footsteps of the first permanent European settlers in Palatines to America National Opening reception, Pennsylvania Lancaster County, visiting sites of Conference—co-hosted with Western German Folk Art Show and Sale Pennsylvania German historic and Pennsylvania Genealogical Society— Friday, November 19, 6:00–9:00 PM genealogical interest in Strasburg will be held June 9, 10 and 11, 2011 Show of quality reproduction folk and Willow Street. This half-day at the Sheraton Station Square Hotel art at Lancaster Mennonite tour, led by Martin Keen, stops at in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For more Historical Society continues, related points of ancestral interest information, go to www.palam.org. Tuesday-Saturday, 8:30 AM–4:30 PM, through December 31. Admission is free; all art is for sale. Christmas Candlelight Tours at the 1719 Hans Herr House Friday, December 3, 6:00-8:30 PM; Saturday, December 4, 5:00-8:30 PM Theme: “Three Hundred Years of Christmas Traditions.”

The Mirror (ISSN 0738-7237) is a bimonthly newsletter published by the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, at www.lmhs.org, phone: (717) 393-9745, fax: (717) 393- 8751, e-mail: [email protected]. POSTMASTER, please send address changes to The Mirror, c/o Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, 2215 Millstream Road, Staff from the 1719 Hans Herr House set up an information table and Lancaster, PA 17602-1499. announced prize winners to the crowd at a Lancaster Barnstormers base- ball game during “History Day” at Clipper Stadium on August 21.

2 www.lmhs.org [email protected] (717) 393-9745 Hans Herr House to dedicate longhouse site- Continued from page 1 does not recognize any local indige- nous groups. “It’s time to talk about Native histo- ry,” said Rusty Sherrick, who identifies himself as both Mennonite and Native American. “A longhouse is just what we need. We need it as much as the Hans Herr House.” “As I’ve gone out and done school programs I’ve asked the kids, ‘What Indians are you studying?’ There’s a minimal amount that anyone learns about Indians from this area.” Representatives of Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society and the 1719 Herr House have been planning the longhouse with local Native American advi- sors since 2008. One Longhouse Committee member, Harold Mast, has visited more than a dozen replica longhouses in Pennsylvania, New York, Ontario, Virginia, Michigan and even Alaska. “It sparked an interest,” Mast said. “I just started trying to find stuff.” Northern longhouses were made by bending tall saplings and lashing them Historically, longhouses varied across a pole frame. Raised platforms against the walls were used for sleeping according to when, where and by and storage. whom they were built, but they were generally twenty or more feet wide and equally tall, Mast said. In northern areas, they were made by bending tall saplings and lashing them across a pole frame, then covering the outside with grasses or tree bark. Longhouses could be hundreds of feet long and house dozens of fami- lies. Mast’s favorite replica longhouse was in Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons in Ontario, Canada. “It felt like you were going into something real,” he said. “They had a fire going in the middle, and even though there were smoke holes, the smoke hung down just above my head. Everything smelled of smoke and the ceiling was black with soot.” It’s an example that Mast and Sherrick hope the 1719 Herr House will follow. The inside of a longhouse in Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons in Ontario, “Visitors that come to the long- Canada, captures the look proposed for the future longhouse at the 1719 Herr house will be able to touch, smell and House. feel the 18th century,” Sherrick said. “They’ll be able to feel the dirt floor House. To make the site more histori- Construction will begin in 2011, in and see animal skins on the wall and cally accurate, the museum has the spring when saplings are the most smell the fire pit with a fire burning.” received a grant to plant native trees pliable. The longhouse at the 1719 Herr in an adjacent pasture. Donations may be sent to House will be 20 feet high, 20 feet The building itself will cost approxi- “Longhouse Project” care of the Hans wide, and 62 feet long, Mast said. mately $100,000 to build and furnish. Herr House, 1849 Hans Herr Drive, It will be constructed near a stand The museum is seeking an additional Willow Street, PA 17602. of trees by a small stream across $250,000 as an endowment for main- For more information, call the Hans Herr Drive from the 1719 Herr tenance and interpretative costs. 1719 Herr House at (717) 464-4438.

3 www.lmhs.org [email protected] (717) 393-9745 Director’s Reflections: Living History Rusty Sherrick: By Rolando L. Santiago Mennonite Native American n one occasion, family history by airing, OJesus pointed out in three segments, her t a June fundraiser for the to a scribe the most own family ancestry in ANative American longhouse important purpose in the county. These her- at the 1719 Herr House, Rusty life: to love God and to itage segments, and Sherrick was hard to miss. love one’s neighbor. As I announcements for Among fam- begin my duties as new other inspiring Lancaster ilies eating director of the Lancaster Roots 300 events can sandwiches Mennonite Historical be viewed at our LMHS and ice Society (LMHS), I like to website: www.lmhs.org. cream, he think that at LMHS we Telling our stories in was dressed serve to remind our- new and life-giving ways like an 18th- selves, and you as our loyal support- is part of the living history we seek century ers, to love God and neighbor. to promote at LMHS and the Hans Delaware Ultimately, this is what our personal Herr House. In an article in the July warrior, car- and communal life journeys are all issue of LMHS’s Pennsylvania rying a long about. Mennonite Heritage magazine, rifle and In our life journeys we engage Darvin Martin discusses recent wearing leg- daily in creating our own stories as breakthroughs in genealogical gings well as the stories of the communi- research among Mennonites through designed to look like they had ties to which we belong. Creating a the growing use of DNA testing. been taken from a fallen English story is enriched when we remem- Then, at the Hans Herr House army officer’s coat. ber and tell aspects of One half of his face was the story that are mean- “At LMHS, we want to support you as painted a livid red and the other ingful to us. I call this you create, remember and tell your an icy blue. living history. At LMHS, own living history” “Mennonites don’t know we want to support you what to do with me because I as you create, remember and tell (www.hansherr.org), staff, board keep my Christian and my Indian your own living history, which may members and Native Americans side together,” Sherrick said. be about your own personal, family from Lancaster County and beyond “My grandmother was or community life story. have been partnering to build a Shawnee. My grandfather was Creating my own personal story, longhouse that replicates how Delaware. I grew up in the or the story of my family or my com- Native people lived in the Eastern Mennonite Brethren church. I munity, is exciting to me. For over Woodlands. I believe we must join didn’t learn about my Indian side five years, I have devoted 10 to 15 all communities of Lancaster County until I was in my 40’s.” minutes each day to write down the to create a respectful space for all In recent years, Sherrick has events of my day. Then, about four people to tell their stories. In this immersed himself in Native years ago, my father and I took two way, we will point toward new ways American culture. A leatherwork- or three days to call his sisters and of celebrating the diverse cultural er by trade, he has painstakingly cousins to begin developing a heritages of Lancaster County. recreated Native American tools genealogical chart for my Puerto I invite you to become a member and ceremonial items, some of Rican great grandfather, Fidel of LMHS and join us in helping to cre- which are displayed at the 1719 Santiago Mendoza, which currently ate, remember and tell each other’s Hans Herr House. does not exist. For about 20 years, living histories! Send us your thoughts He also has found and visited my mother and I have been building at [email protected] on how we can members of the Sherrick family a list of over 100 United States best fulfill our mission to promote his- in northeast Oklahoma, where Mennonites who went to Puerto tory and to educate and inspire. many Delaware Indians settled Rico beginning in the 1940’s and after being displaced from their married Puerto Rican spouses. I am ancestral land in eastern one of the offspring that resulted Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and from these bicultural liaisons. These southeastern New York. are just a few examples of how I “Indians didn’t worship nature. have found meaning and enjoyment They didn’t worship idols. But in creating my own living history. they believed that everything has Remembering significant events a spirit,” Sherrick said. in the years since the first European “So I’ve had to wrestle with my settlers arrived in Lancaster County Indian background, not throwing in 1710 is the goal of Lancaster out my Christian belief. We are all Roots 300 this year. Over 900 peo- God’s children, and the Indians ple attended the interdenomination- A banner year for the Bookworm are God’s children, too.” al kick-off “Festival of Roots and “My relationship with the st Frolic: From August 18-21, volun- Music” on January 31 at Strasburg teers and staff maintained over Lord is strong. I read my Bible Mennonite Church to remember every day. I pray every day. Jesus 40,000 books in the front parking and celebrate the diverse cultural lot of the Historical Society. The is my best friend and I’m not heritage of Lancaster County. In July, throwing him away.” sale grossed nearly $45,000 for the Kim Lemon of WGAL promoted Society—its best year ever.

4 www.lmhs.org [email protected] (717) 393-9745 Government and Religious Leaders Honor Native Americans - Continued from page 1 “This acknowledgment is a The systematic displacement of For their part, Lancaster chance for those groups to say ‘We Native groups from their homes and Mennonite Conference hopes that should have done a better job. We land left families and tribes fragment- the Native American longhouse had the same kind of problems as ed. planned for the 1719 Hans Herr you, but we had no regard for when And forced assimilation has House can be a symbol of they happened to you. We did what stripped many Native people of their Mennonite commitment to learn benefitted us at the time,’” said shared culture. from Native peoples and to repair Robins. “I cannot blame people for what some of the damage their ancestors Lloyd Hoover, who represents their ancestors did,” Robins said. caused. Lancaster Mennonite Conference on “But hopefully they are learning A dedication for the replica long- the committee, said, “We, as something from their history, and I house will take place at 2:00 PM at Europeans, basically annihilated the can hold them accountable for their the 1719 Herr House in Willow Susquehannocks who were here and treatment of Native people going Street on Saturday, October 9, after to the rest of the tribes we commit- forward.” the service of Acknowledgment and ted acts that scattered them across “This history is a scar on their Commemoration. A multicultural cel- the nation. We divided lands and descendants, too, and by acknowl- ebration will also be held at the 1719 divided peoples and got involved in edging these wrongs they will begin Herr House, from 1:00–5:00 PM. matters that weren’t our business.” to heal themselves,” she said. Robins acknowledged that “Any way that I connect to that Committee members agree that Mennonites can do good work. past as an European and a actions as well as words are neces- “The Mennonite Central Committee Mennonite and a Christian, I ask for sary to bring true healing. Two out- does a lot for many Indian nations,” forgiveness. I want to lay my hatchet comes that the committee states will she said. down,” he said. “give tangible form to attitudes and “One thing I really respect is But coming together, even for rec- gestures of reconciliation” are col- that they say they don’t want to onciliation, has been difficult. It took lecting data on Native people in enable people, they want to help months for the group to agree on a Pennsylvania and securing formal people learn to help themselves. mission statement, and some meet- recognition for Native tribes in the They’re not forcing their religion on ings have resulted in misunderstand- state. anyone. They’re helping, living ings, power struggles, anger and hurt. According to Doe, Lancaster was hand in hand with people that As the project gained momen- one of two main treaty-making loca- need help,” she said. tum, new participants also have tions in the United States, and was On a recent Tuesday, Apache, asked to be heard and integrated particularly the site of the treaties Cherokee, Haudenosaunee, Lenape, into the planning process. that opened the West which gave Mennonite, Presbyterian, Quaker “It doesn’t surprise me that we start to the French and Indian War. and other committee members sat would end up in conflict at this Yet Pennsylvania is the only state around tables in the Lancaster point, because of the nature of the with no tribal reserve and no tribal Mennonite Conference Offices in history we’re dealing with,” said recognition, Doe said. Lancaster. After one tense exchange, Doe. “I really believe this acknowledg- an Apache man known as Gray Wolf Hundreds of years of tension will ment is a start for something positive spoke up. not be healed overnight. to go forward,” Robins said. “I think if our forefathers heard Doe looked to William Penn’s “Pennsylvania is the Keystone State. what we were talking about here vision as a rallying point. “We need Other states look to it and it makes a tonight they’d be dancing with joy,” to allow for different streams of difference to the rest of the country.” he said. thought to be represented so that we can honor every- body,” he said. The group has also strug- gled with feelings of futility. What good is it to talk about events that happened hun- dreds of years ago? Shouldn’t we just forget the past and move on? To a great extent, both Native and immigrant com- munities have moved on. But their difficult history also asserts itself in modern life. The rum that Pennsylvania immigrants gave and sold to Native people created lifestyles of addiction that persist today. The poaching of deer and fur animals on Native lands more than two hundred years ago began a struggle with poverty that still haunts Massacre of the Indians of Lancaster by the Paxton boys in 1763. Lithography by Thomas Native communities. Sinclair. Published in Events in Indian History by John Wimer, 1841. 5 www.lmhs.org [email protected] (717) 393-9745 LANCASTER MENNONITE Periodicals HISTORICAL SOCIETY (USPS 882-020) Postage 2215 Millstream Road PAID Lancaster, PA 17602 Lancaster, PA

See inside for • Churches To Honor Native Americans • Longhouse Site Dedication

Driving Tour to Give Taste of Old Pequea Settlement he “Historic West Lampeter The late Sam Wenger first began TTownship Driving Tour”, scheduled assembling information about the sites for 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Saturday, for his popular 1710 Lancaster October 16, will become a tour of his- Settlement bus tour, which he led for toric sites within Lancaster’s original the last time in May 2010. Pequea settlement, thanks to a new In anticipation of that tour and the book published by Lancaster 300th anniversary of the settlement Mennonite Historical Society this this year, local historians Mary Lou spring. Weaver Houser and Joanne Hess Pequea Settlement 1710: Self- Siegrist collaborated with Wenger to Guided Tour includes nearly 40 his- update and expand his information toric locations within a 6,000-acre into a booklet. That partnership has tract granted to nine Mennonites in seemed particularly valuable since October, 1710. The driving tour on Wenger’s sudden death on May 15. A new tour book includes nearly 40 October 16, which can also be fol- “We wanted to expose people to historic locations within a 6,000-acre lowed by bicycle or on foot, will visit the oldest tracts that we know about, tract granted to Mennonites three six of those sites in Lancaster, and also the oldest dwellings still in hundred years ago this October. Strasburg and Willow Street, existence,” said Weaver Houser. Pennsylvania. “It was exciting to get into homes Properties will include homes, cur- and interview people about what they could be hiding underneath,” Weaver rent and former Mennonite meeting- know about their property,” she said. Houser said. houses and a spring. One house, on At one site along Penn Grant Road, For that reason, the authors invite Miller Street in Strasburg, was original- no one knew where the original log updates, corrections and new informa- ly a horse stable. Another, on Beaver cabin had stood. But, when Hess tion. Valley Pike outside of Willow Street, Siegrist was shown inside an 1818 It was new information about her still bears the faint outline of an early brick house on the property, she got a personal history that propelled settler’s cabin. surprise. Weaver Houser to work on the Docents will be available at each In the lower level of the home, a Pequea Settlement book in the first stop to answer questions, but partici- spring gushes between 300 and 400 place. pants will be responsible for their own gallons of water per minute, year- She grew up outside of itinerary and transportation between round. On the west wall is a long, Philadelphia, but married a man from sites. Tourists will start at the 1719 wide water trough for food storage, Lancaster County, born on one of the Hans Herr House in Willow Street and nearby, a walk-in fireplace with original Pequea Settlement tracts. where they will receive street address- markings that indicate a “beehive” While researching her own home- es and a map. bake oven. stead in Lampeter Township, she dis- The Pequea Settlement book, avail- It’s likely that the existing brick covered her Weaver ancestors and able in the gift shop at the 1719 Herr house was built around the first home her husband’s Houser ancestors had House as well as at the Historical of Jacob and Magdalena Miller and been next-door neighbors for years. Society, provides additional informa- their three children, who immigrated Pequea Settlement 1710 sells for tion about each site, including to Pennsylvania in 1710. $14.95. The October 16 tour tickets addresses for GPS use, full-color pic- “So many houses get covered over cost $8 for adults; $4 for children 7- tures and maps showing owners of with clapboard or vinyl siding and you 12. To reserve, contact the 1719 Hans the original land patents. just don’t realize the structures that Herr House at (717) 464-4438. 6 www.lmhs.org [email protected] (717) 393-9745