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==History== The area that became Lancaster County was part of [[William Penn]]'s 1681 charter.<ref>[http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/pa01.htm The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405015459/http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/pa01.htm |date=April 5, 2015 }}. Yale.edu. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref> John Kennerly received the first recorded deed from Penn in 1691.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.padutchcountry.comLancaster|title=County}}{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Although Matthias Kreider was said to have been in the area as early as 1691, there is no evidence that any Europeans settled in Lancaster County before 1710.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20000919040838/http://www.horseshoe.cc/pennadutch/places/pennsylvania/lancasterco/townships/marticprov/martic.htm Martic Township]. Horseshoe.cc. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref> Lancaster County was part of [[Chester County, Pennsylvania]], until May 10, 1729, when it was organized as the colony's fourth county.<ref name="counties">{{cite web|url=http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/counties/county.asp?secid=31|title=Counties of Pennsylvania|access-date=October 4, 2006|format=Index of 67 Pennsylvania County Histories|publisher=Pennsylvania State Archives|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306043554/http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/counties/county.asp?secid=31|archive-date=March 6, 2009}}</ref> It was named after the city of [[Lancaster, Lancashire|Lancaster]] in the county of Lancashire in England, the native home of [[John Wright (businessman)|John Wright]], an early settler.<ref>[http://www.docheritage.state.pa.us/documents/lancasterpetition.asp Petition for the Establishment of Lancaster County] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060807113052/http://www.docheritage.state.pa.us/documents/lancasterpetition.asp|date=August 7, 2006}}, 6 February 1728/9</ref> As settlement increased, six other counties were subsequently formed from territory directly taken, in all or in part, from Lancaster County: [[Berks County, Pennsylvania|Berks]] (1752), [[Cumberland County, Pennsylvania|Cumberland]] (1750), [[Dauphin County, Pennsylvania|Dauphin]] (1785), [[Lebanon County, Pennsylvania|Lebanon]] (1813), [[Northumberland County, Pennsylvania|Northumberland]] (1772), and [[York County, Pennsylvania|York]] (1749).<ref name="counties"/> Many other counties were in turn formed from these six. ===Indigenous peoples=== Indigenous peoples had occupied the areas along the waterways for thousands of years, and established varying cultures. Historic Native American tribes in the area at the time of European encounter included the [[Shawnee]], [[Susquehannock]], [[Gawanese]], [[Lenape]] (or Delaware), and [[Nanticoke people]]s, who were from different language families and had distinct cultures.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/19990203143240/http://www.willowvalley.com/wvlancasterinfo.htm A Brief History of Lancaster County]. Web.archive.org (February 3, 1999; retrieved December 23, 2010.)</ref> Among the earliest recorded inhabitants of the [[Susquehanna River]] [[valley]] were the [[Iroquoian languages|Iroquoian]]-speaking Susquehannock, whose name was derived from the Lenape term for "Oyster River People". (The Lenape spoke an Algonquian language.)<ref>Brinton, Daniel G., C.F. Denke, and Albert Anthony. ''A Lenâpé – English Dictionary''. Biblio Bazaar, 2009. {{ISBN|978-1103149223}}, pp. 81, 85, 132.</ref> The English called them the Conestoga, after the name of their principal village, ''Gan'ochs'a'go'jat'ga'' ("Roof-place" or "town"), anglicized as "Conestoga."<ref>Zeisberger, David. ''Indian Dictionary: English, German, Iroquois—The Onondaga and Algonquin—The Delaware'', Harvard University Press, 1887. {{ISBN|1104253518}}, p. 161. The Conestoga never developed a writing system for their language; by 1700 they were defeated and absorbed by larger tribes of the [[Iroquois Confederacy]]. Their language is close to that of the [[Onondaga people]] of the Iroquois. They are believed to have migrated south from the [[Great Lakes]] region centuries before, as did the Cherokee, who occupied areas further to the South.</ref> Other places occupied by the Susquehannock were ''Ka'ot'sch'ie'ra'' ("Place-crawfish"), where present-day Chickisalunga developed, and ''Gasch'guch'sa'' ("Great-fall-in-river"), now called Conewago Falls, Lancaster County.<ref>Zeisberger (1887), ''Indian Dictionary'', pp. 48, 222</ref> Other Native tribes, as well as early European settlers, considered the Susquehannock a mighty nation, experts in war and trade. They were beaten only by the combined power of the Five Nation [[Iroquois Confederacy]], after colonial Maryland withdrew its support. After 1675, the Susquehannock were totally absorbed by the Iroquois. A handful were settled at "New Conestoga," located along the south bank of the Conestoga River in Conestoga Township of the county. They helped staff an Iroquois consulate to the English in Maryland and Virginia (and later, Pennsylvania). By the 1720s, the colonists considered the Conestoga Indians as a "civilized" or "friendly tribe," having been converted in large part to Christianity, speaking English as a second language, making brooms and baskets for sale, and naming children after their favorite neighbors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hsp.org/files/barberpaxtonexcerpt.pdf#search=%22paxton%20boys%22|title=Recollections written in 1830 of life in Lancaster County 1726–1782 and a History of settlement at Wright's Ferry, on Susquehanna River|access-date=October 9, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110330013256/http://www.hsp.org/files/barberpaxtonexcerpt.pdf#search=%22paxton%20boys%22|archive-date=March 30, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> The outbreak of [[Pontiac's War]] in the summer of 1763, coupled with the ineffective policies of the provincial government, aroused widespread settler suspicion and hatred against all [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indians]] in the frontier counties, without distinguishing among hostile and friendly peoples. On December 14, 1763, the [[Paxton Boys]], led by Matthew Smith and Capt. [[Lazarus Stewart]], attacked Conestoga, killing the six Indians present, and burning all the houses. Officials sheltered the tribe's fourteen survivors in protective custody in the county jail, but the Paxton Boys returned on December 27, broke into the jail, and massacred the remaining natives. The lack of effective government control and widespread sympathy in the frontier counties for the murderers meant they were never discovered or brought to justice.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The March of the Paxton Boys|last=Hindle|first=Brooke|journal=[[William and Mary Quarterly]]|series=3rd|volume=3|date=October 1946|pages=461–486|doi=10.2307/1921899|issue=4|jstor=1921899}}</ref> ===Maryland-Pennsylvania boundary dispute=== {{main|Cresap's War}} [[Pennsylvania]] had a longstanding dispute with [[Maryland]] about the southern border of the province and Lancaster County. Nine years of armed clashes accompanied the [[Maryland-Pennsylvania boundary dispute]], which began soon after the 1730 establishment of [[Wright's Ferry]] across the [[Susquehanna River]]. [[Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore|Lord Baltimore]] believed that his grant<ref>[http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/ma01.htm The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050305173720/http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/ma01.htm |date=March 5, 2005 }}. Yale.edu. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref> to Maryland extended to the 40th parallel.<ref name=cecil>[http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads/Homelands/cecil.html CECIL COUNTY MARYLAND: Where Our Mothers and Fathers Lie Buried]. Freepages.history.rootsweb.com. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref> This was about halfway between present-day Lancaster and the town of [[Willow Street, Pennsylvania]]. This line of demarcation would have resulted in Philadelphia being included in Maryland. New settlers began to cross the Susquehanna. In 1730, the Wright's Ferry services were licensed and officially begun. Starting in mid-1730, [[Thomas Cresap]], acting as an agent of Lord Baltimore, began confiscating the newly settled farms near present-day [[Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania|Peach Bottom]] and [[Columbia, Pennsylvania]], which at the time this was not named but was later called Wright's Ferry. Believing he controlled this land under his grant, Lord Baltimore wanted the income from the lands. He believed he had a defensible claim established on the west bank of the Susquehanna River since 1721, and that his demesne and grant extended to forty degrees north. If he allowed Pennsylvanians to settle his lands without reacting, he believed, their squatting would constitute a counter claim. Cresap established a second ferry in the upper Conejohela downriver from [[John Wright (businessman)|John Wright's]], near Peach Bottom. He demanded that settlers either move out or pay Maryland for the right-bank lands. Settlers believed they already had rights to these under Pennsylvania grants. Cresap drove off settlers by vandalizing farms and killing livestock; he pushed out settlers from southern York and Lancaster counties. He gave the abandoned lands to his followers. If a follower was arrested by Lancaster authorities, the Marylanders would break him out of the lockup. Lord Baltimore negotiated a compromise in 1733, but Cresap ignored it and continued his raids. A deputy was sent to arrest him in 1734, and Cresap killed him at the door. The Pennsylvania governor demanded that Maryland arrest Cresap for murder; the Maryland governor instead commissioned him as a captain in the [[militia]]. In 1736, Cresap was finally arrested; he was jailed until 1737 when the King intervened.<!--Explain - and did what? pardoned him?--> In 1750, a court decided that, by failing to develop the land with settlers, Lord Baltimore had forfeited his rights to a twenty-mile (32 km) swath of land.<ref name=cecil /> In 1767, a new Pennsylvania-Maryland border was officially established by the [[Mason-Dixon line]]. ===Diversity of settlers=== [[File:ThaddeusStevens.gif|thumb|Lithograph of [[Thaddeus Stevens]]]] The names of the original Lancaster County townships reflect the diverse national origins of settlers in the new county:<ref>[http://www.pa-roots.com/~lancaster/maps/townships.html Lancaster County Townships] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061018185257/http://www.pa-roots.com/~lancaster/maps/townships.html |date=October 18, 2006 }}. Pa-roots.com. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref> two had Welsh names ([[Caernarvon Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania|Caernarvon]] and [[East Lampeter Township, Pennsylvania|Lampeter]]), three had Native American names ([[East Cocalico Township, Pennsylvania|Cocalico]], [[Conestoga Township, Pennsylvania|Conestoga]] and Peshtank or Paxton), six were English ([[Warwick Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania|Warwick]], [[Lancaster Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania|Lancaster]], [[Martic Township, Pennsylvania|Martic]], [[Sadsbury Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania|Sadsbury]], [[Salisbury Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania|Salisbury]] and [[East Hempfield Township, Pennsylvania|Hempfield]]); four were Irish ([[East Donegal Township, Pennsylvania|Donegal]], [[East Drumore Township, Pennsylvania|Drumore]], [[Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania|Derry]], and [[Leacock Township, Pennsylvania|Leacock]]), reflecting mostly [[Scotch-Irish Americans|Scots-Irish]] (or [[Ulster Scots people|Ulster Scots]]) from [[Ulster]], a [[Provinces of Ireland|province]] in the north of Ireland; [[Manheim Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania|Manheim]] was German, [[South Lebanon Township, Pennsylvania|Lebanon]] came from the Bible, a basis of all the European cultures; and [[Earl Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania|Earl]] was a translation of the German surname of [[Graf]] or Groff.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080105062438/http://www.lancasterhistory.org/education/lancastercounty.html Lancaster County Historical Society]. Web.archive.org (January 5, 2008; retrieved December 23, 2010.)</ref> ===19th-century statesmen=== Lancaster County's native son [[James Buchanan]], a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]], was elected as the 15th President of the United States in 1856,<ref>[https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/history/presidents/jb15.html James Buchanan | The White House]. Whitehouse.gov (December 17, 2010; retrieved December 23, 2010.)</ref> the first Pennsylvania native to hold the presidency. His home [[Wheatland (Lancaster)|Wheatland]] is now operated as a house museum in Lancaster.<ref>[http://wheatland.org/ Welcome to LancasterHistory.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060820165625/http://www.wheatland.org/ |date=August 20, 2006 }}. Wheatland.org. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref> [[Thaddeus Stevens]], the noted [[Radical Republicans|Radical Republican]], represented Lancaster County in the [[United States House of Representatives]] from 1849 to 1853 and from 1859 until his death in 1868.<ref>[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=S000887 STEVENS, Thaddeus – Biographical Information]. Bioguide.congress.gov. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref> Stevens left a $50,000 (~$1,000,000 in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) bequest to establish an orphanage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stevenstech.org/services/library/Pathfinder+Stevens.htm|title=Pathfinder on Thaddeus Stevens|date=December 10, 2004|access-date=October 9, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041210064027/http://www.stevenstech.org/services/library/Pathfinder%20Stevens.htm|archive-date=December 10, 2004}}</ref> This property eventually was developed as the state-owned [[Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology]]. Stevens and Buchanan were both buried in Lancaster.<ref>see [[:File:Thad Stevens grave.JPG]] and [[:File:Buchanan grave.JPG]]</ref> ===Slavery and the Christiana incident=== {{Main|Christiana Riot}} Pennsylvania passed its [[An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery|gradual abolition law]] in 1780.<ref>[http://www.millersville.edu/~ugrr/christiana/introduction.html Introduction] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107103602/http://www.millersville.edu/~ugrr/christiana/introduction.html |date=November 7, 2007 }}, Millersville University. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref> The law, which freed the children of duly registered enslaved women at the age of twenty-eight, was a compromise between anti-slavery conviction and respect for white property rights.<ref>[http://www.slavenorth.com/pennsylvania.htm "Slavery in Pennsylvania"], ''Slavery in the North'' website. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref> By the time the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]] passed the [[Fugitive Slave Law of 1850]], Pennsylvania was effectively a free state, although it did not formally abolish slavery completely until the ratification of the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Thirteenth Amendment]]. It did, however, pass a [[Personal liberty laws|personal liberty law]] in 1847 that made it difficult for southerners to recover any enslaved persons who made their way into Pennsylvania.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Turner|first=Edward Raymond|url=https://archive.org/details/negroinpennsylv01turngoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/negroinpennsylv01turngoog/page/n251 238]|title=The Negro in Pennsylvania: Slavery—servitude—freedom, 1639–1861|date=1911|publisher=American historical association|language=en}}</ref> Lying just north of the [[Mason-Dixon line]] and bordered by the [[Susquehanna River]], which had been a traditional route from the [[Chesapeake Bay]] watershed into the heart of what became Pennsylvania, Lancaster County was a significant destination of the [[Underground Railroad]] in the antebellum years. Many residents of [[Germany|German]] descent opposed slavery and cooperated in aiding fugitive slaves. Local Lancaster County resident Charles Spotts found 17 stations.<ref>[http://muweb.millersville.edu/~twstproj/HIST272/1999F/pilpath.html pilpath] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060701182512/http://muweb.millersville.edu/%7Etwstproj/HIST272/1999F/pilpath.html |date=July 1, 2006 }}. Muweb.millersville.edu. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref> They included hiding places with trap doors, hidden vaults, a cave, and one with a brick tunnel leading to [[Octoraro Creek]], a tributary of the Susquehanna.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}} As a wealthy Maryland wheat farmer, Edward Gorsuch had [[manumission|manumit]]ted several slaves in their 20s. He allowed his slaves to work for cash elsewhere during the slow season. Upon finding some of his wheat missing, he thought his slaves had sold it to a local farmer. His slaves Noah Buley, Nelson Ford, George Ford, and Joshua Hammond, fearing his bad temper, fled across the [[Mason–Dixon line]] to the farm of [[William Parker (abolitionist)|William Parker]], a [[mulatto]] free man and abolitionist who lived in [[Christiana, Pennsylvania]]. Parker, 29, was a member of the Lancaster Black Self-Protection Society and known to use violence to defend himself and the fugitive slaves who sought refuge in the area.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}} Gorsuch obtained four warrants and organized four parties, which set out separately with federal marshals to recover his property—the four slaves. He was killed and others were wounded. While Gorsuch was legally entitled to recover his slaves under the [[Fugitive Slave Act]], it is not clear who precipitated the violence. The incident was variously called the "Christiana Riot", "Christiana Resistance", the "Christiana Outrage", and the "Christiana Tragedy". The [[Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society]] helped provide defense for the suspects charged in the case.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}} The event frightened slaveholders, as black men not only fought back but prevailed. Some feared this would inspire enslaved blacks and encourage rebelliousness. The case was prosecuted in U.S. District Court in [[Philadelphia]] under the Fugitive Slave Act, which required citizens to cooperate in the capture and return of fugitive slaves. The disturbance increased regional and racial tensions. In the North, it added to the push to abolish slavery.<ref>Clayborne Carson, Emma J. Lapsanskey-Werner, Gary B. Nash, ''The Struggle for Freedom: A History of African Americans, Volume 1 to 1877'' (Prentice Hall 2011), p. 206.</ref> In September 1851, the [[grand jury]] returned a "true bill" (indictment) against 38 suspects, who were held at [[Moyamensing Prison]] in Philadelphia, awaiting trial. U.S. District Judge [[Robert Cooper Grier]] ruled that the men could be tried for [[treason]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Christiana Treason Trial (1851) |url=https://housedivided.dickinson.edu/ugrr/case_1851.htm |access-date=June 8, 2022 |website=housedivided.dickinson.edu}}</ref> The only person actually tried was Castner Hanway, a European-American man. On November 15, 1851, he was tried for liberating slaves taken into custody by U.S. Marshal Kline, as well as for resisting arrest, conspiracy, and treason. Hanway's responsibility for the violent events was unclear. He was reported as one of the first on the scene where Gorsuch and others of his party were attacked, and he and his horse provided cover for Dickerson Gorsuch and Dr. Pearce, who were wounded. The jury deliberated 15 minutes before returning a ''Not Guilty''. Among the five defense lawyers, recruited by the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, was U.S. Congressman [[Thaddeus Stevens]], who had practiced law in Lancaster County since at least 1838.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.masthof.com/bookstore/bookstore_viewbook.php?id=1619|title=Description of ''Treason at Christiana: September 11, 1851'' by L.D. "Bud" Rettew based on contemporaneous news clippings|publisher=Masthof.com|access-date=October 9, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011221625/http://www.masthof.com/bookstore/bookstore_viewbook.php?id=1619|archive-date=October 11, 2011}}</ref> ===Religious history=== The oldest surviving dwelling of European settlers in the county<ref>[http://www.hansherr.org/ Hans Herr House – Lancaster, PA – Hans Herr House Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060815131820/http://www.hansherr.org/ |date=August 15, 2006 }}. Hansherr.org. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref> is that of [[Mennonite]] Bishop [[Hans Herr]], built in 1719. In 1989, [[Donald Kraybill]] counted 37 distinct religious bodies/organizations, with 289 congregations and 41,600 baptized members, among the [[plain sects]] who are descendants of the [[Anabaptist]] Mennonite immigrants to Lancaster County.<ref>{{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20061023083314/http://www.adherents.com/adhloc/Wh_274.html By Location]}}. Adherents.com. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref> The Mennonite Central Committee in [[Akron, Pennsylvania|Akron]] supports relief in disasters<ref>[http://www.mcc.org/news/ News| Mennonite Central Committee] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060821185839/http://www.mcc.org/news/ |date=August 21, 2006 }}. Mcc.org. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref> and provides manpower and material to local organizations in relief efforts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MCC Service Opportunity: Canner Operator #1 |url=http://mcc.org/sites/mcc.org/files/media/hr/documents/canneroperator1.pdf |access-date=December 28, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141228192935/http://mcc.org/sites/mcc.org/files/media/hr/documents/canneroperator1.pdf |archive-date=December 28, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The town of [[Lititz]] was originally planned as a closed community, founded early in the 1740s by members of the [[Moravian Church]]. The town eventually grew and welcomed its neighbors. The Moravian Church established Linden Hall School for Girls in 1746; it is one of the earliest educational institutions in continuous operation in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lindenhall.org/content_09.aspx?cat=History|title=Lititz PA|publisher=Linden Hall|date=July 28, 2007|access-date=October 9, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002160747/http://www.lindenhall.org/content_09.aspx?cat=History|archive-date=October 2, 2011}}</ref> In addition to the [[Ephrata Cloister]], the United Brethren in Christ and the [[Evangelical United Brethren]] (EUB) trace their beginnings to a 1767 meeting<ref>[http://www.mcusa-archives.org/historicalmarkers/1767_Issac_Long_Barn.html 1767 Isaac Long Barn] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070811032620/http://www.mcusa-archives.org/historicalmarkers/1767_Issac_Long_Barn.html |date=August 11, 2007 }}. Mcusa-archives.org (June 16, 1960; retrieved December 23, 2010.)</ref> at the Isaac Long barn, near the hamlet of Oregon, in [[West Lampeter Township, Pennsylvania|West Lampeter Township]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.topozone.com/viewmaps.asp?method=place&placename=oregon&statefips=42|title=www.topozone.com showing Oregon, Pennsylvania|publisher=Topozone.com|access-date=October 9, 2011}}</ref> The EUB, a German Methodist church, merged in 1968 with the traditionally English [[Methodist Episcopal Church]] to become the [[United Methodist Church]].<ref>[http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=346 History: Our Story – UMC.org]. Archives.umc.org (April 23, 1968; retrieved December 23, 2010.)</ref> The first Jewish resident was Isaac Miranda {{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}, from the [[Sephardic Jewish]] community of London, who owned property before the town and county were organized in 1730. Ten years later several Jewish families had settled in the town; on February 3, 1747, a deed to Isaac Nunus Ricus (Henriques) and Joseph Simon was recorded, conveying {{convert|0.5|acre|ha}} of land "in trust for the society of Jews settled in and about Lancaster," to be used as a place of burial. This cemetery is still used by Congregation Shaarai Shomayim;<ref>[http://www.shaarai.org Congregation Shaarai Shomayim] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181231235250/https://www.shaarai.org/ |date=December 31, 2018 }}. Shaarai.org. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref> it is considered the nation's fourth-oldest Jewish cemetery. As of 2010, Lancaster County is home to three synagogues: the Orthodox Degel Israel; the Conservative Beth El; and the Reform Shaarai Shomayim. In 2003 [[Rabbi Elazar Green]] & Shira Green founded the Chabad Jewish Enrichment Center, a branch of the [[Chabad Lubavitch]] movement, that focuses on serving the Jewish students of [[Franklin and Marshall College]], as well serving the general community with specific religious services. The Lancaster Mikvah Association runs a [[mikveh]] on Degel Israel's property. Central PA Kosher Stand is operated at [[Dutch Wonderland]], a seasonal amusement park. This area was also settled by [[French Huguenots]], who had fled to England and then the colonies in the late 1600s and early 1700s to escape Catholic persecution in France. Isaac LeFèvre and a group of other Huguenots settled in the Pequea Creek area. ===Inventions=== [[File:Frakturcertificate.jpg|thumb|A [[Pennsylvania Dutch]] Fraktur baptismal certificate from 1788]] * [[Fraktur (Pennsylvania German folk art)|Fraktur]], the artistic and elaborate 18th- century and 19th-century hand-illuminated folk art inspired by German blackface type, originated at [[Johann Conrad Beissel]]'s [[Ephrata Cloister|cloister]] of German [[Seventh Day Baptists]] in [[Ephrata, Pennsylvania|Ephrata]].<ref>[http://antiquesandthearts.com/archive/frak.htm Fraktur] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813155025/http://antiquesandthearts.com/archive/frak.htm |date=August 13, 2006 }}. Antiquesandthearts.com. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref> * The first battery-powered watch, the [[Hamilton Electric 500]], was released in 1957 by the [[Hamilton Watch Company]].<ref>[http://www.thewatchguy.com/pages/HAMILTONELECT.html Hamilton Electric Watch History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051104002157/http://www.thewatchguy.com/pages/HAMILTONELECT.html |date=November 4, 2005 }}. Thewatchguy.com (January 3, 1957; retrieved December 23, 2010.)</ref> * The [[Long rifle|Pennsylvania Long Rifle]],<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/19990222153107/http://ourancestry.com/rifle.html Story of the Pennsylvania Rifle]. Ourancestry.com. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref> otherwise known as the "Kentucky" (Long) Rifle. * The [[Conestoga wagon]],<ref>[http://www.explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=362] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022015742/http://www.explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=362|date=October 22, 2012}}</ref> which started the US practice of opposing vehicles passing each other to the right. * The [[Stogie]] cigar<ref>[http://www.pa-roots.com/~westmoreland/historyproject/vol1/chap18.html History of Westmoreland County, Volume 1, Chapter 18] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060505041608/http://www.pa-roots.com/~westmoreland/historyproject/vol1/chap18.html |date=May 5, 2006 }}. Pa-roots.com. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref> "Stogie" is shortened from "Conestoga". * The Amish [[quilting|quilt]], a highly utilitarian art form, dates from 1849 in Lancaster County.<ref>[http://www.amishloft.com/amishloft/Lancaster_County_Amish_quilts.html Amish Loft Quilts] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060819162012/http://www.amishloft.com/amishloft/Lancaster_County_Amish_quilts.html |date=August 19, 2006 }}. Amishloft.com. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref>
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