THE SOLANCO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Robert Fulton Birthplace Museum & Garden 1932 Robert Fulton Highway (Route 222) Quarryville, PA 17566
-Tours of the camp & conversations with the participants, food vendor all three days, authors and book signings
-Blacksmith, signal cops, Civil War medicine, sutlers, Christian Commission, Black Confederate with books for sale, and more
-Tactical demonstrations, firearms and artillery demonstrations, battle reenactments, US Colored and Confederate Zouave troops
-Visitors’ conversations with Lincoln, Grant, Lee, and their generals; – both armies to be encamped in the military camps
-Visitors’ conversations with Lincoln, Grant, Lee, and their generals; – both armies to be encamped in the military camps
-A family event with opportunities to meet and talk with boy soldiers from the war – Union Sergeant John Lincoln Clem and Confederate boys – artillery powder boy and VMI cadet, top generals from both armies including Grant and Lee, plus many photo opportunities, including the chance to have a tintype made by a period photographer
Historic White Chimneys 300th Anniversary Gala, Gap, Pennsylvania
Saturday, July 3, 2021, 12-‐9pm
Due to the ongoing concerns about the pandemic, this event will be a public Masked Event with social distancing.
White Chimneys is located at 5117 Lincoln Highway, Gap, Pennsylvania 17527. It can be reached by phone at 717-442-1037 and found on line at https://whitechimneys.com/.
Atleast 800 people are expected at this historic event which will include speakers, musicians, food, house tours, crafts, carriage rides/display, dancers, an encampment, fireworks and even William Penn and other historic characters will make an appearance!
Moore’s newest titles, will be available along with all his books, including Civil War and Native American historic fiction, all from the boy’s point of view. West to Freedom, a story about a best friend’s effort to gain freedom for his best friend, born into slavery, released in September. Summer at Stewart Creek, a railroad themed novel featuring photographic illustrations of its setting, reproduced in miniature on the author’s model railroad, released in December. Twelfth Winter, the sequel to Summer of Two Worlds, a white boy’s emotional journey as he returns to the world of his birth having lived his whole childhood as the son of a Sioux warrior, released June 1, 2021. Be sure to check out his Civil War artifacts display and purchase one or more books of your choice, while you are there.
The sales of his books help to fund a Civil War living history encampment eventthat is yet to come over Labor Day weekend.
Columbia Railroad Day - Saturday, May 1, 2021, Riverside Park, Columbia, Pennsylvania
Columbia Railroad Day, Saturday, May 1, 2021, is located at Riverside Park in Columbia, Pennsylvania, with an encampment on the grounds and lectures on the back deck of the Columbia Crossings Building. The event runs from 9am until 4pm. A Civil War Encampment [including Lancaster Fencibles, Invalid Corp, 30th PA Infantry, and Joel Moore- Civil War Author (new train book available)], Rose’s Deli, Auntie Ann’s , National Railroad Historic Society, and John Mowery (Railroad Memorabilia) are among those that will be located on the park grounds.
Moore’s newest title, Summer at Stewart Creek, a railroad themed novel for middle grade readers through adult, will be available along with all his books, including Civil War and Native American historic fiction, all from the boy’s point of view. Additionally, there will be information about his ‘coming soon’ book, Twelfth Winter, the sequel to currently available Summer of Two Worlds, in its 1st and 2nd editions, a Native American historic fiction set in the summer of 1882. Those who wish can preorder Twelfth Winter. Summer of Two Worlds, 3rd edition, can also be preordered. Prepaid orders will be shipped upon arrival.
Lincoln Funeral Train – Friday and Saturday, April 23-24, 2021
Take a step back in history to April 1865 as we commemorate 156 years since the Lincoln Funeral Train crossed Stone Gables Estate! Witness and participate in this one-of-a-kind living history event.
Civil War Event Grows Again - Quarryville, Pennsylvania, July 2019
The Civil War Living History and Tactical Exercises Event at the Robert Fulton Birthplace Museum and Gardens, six and a half miles south of Quarryville, continues to expand. This
year’s event has just ended. In spite of some powerful thunderstorms on Friday and Saturday afternoons, over 1,500 visitors ventured out over the course of the weekend. Event participants helped each other stabilize tents and flies and reset that which blew down. This year brought an additional camp area featuring the Christian Commission, the Black Confederate, Billy Meehan with his hats, and sheep and wool from Fair Winds Farm. A period tintype photographer set up on the upper lawn along with the Patriot Daughters of Lancaster, Wheat’s Tigers Zuave, CSA and US Colored Troops, added to the military camp. This year also adds Atomic Hog Barbeque as food service over the weekend, with a savory
menu of pork and brisket.
Christian Commission Chaplain Alan and Faith Farley
Black Confederate, Gregory Newson
Tintype photographer, John Bernaski
Patriot Daughters of Lancaster
Atomic Hog BBQ
Billy Meehan and his hats
Wheat’s Louisiana Tigers, CSA
Finally, a very special father-son were part of this year’s event. Captain Robert Lincoln and his father joined us this year. The captain serves on General Grant’s staff under his father, Commander-in-Chief and President Abraham Lincoln. Setup for the weekend began on Thursday with the arrival of Major Jonathan Welch, coordinator of the military camp and all military activities and his setup of the military registration station and author J. Arthur Moore and his setup of his camp representing the boys of the Civil War, where living history and sutler related participants registered. The folks from Fair Winds Farm set up their sheep and wool display and the Christian Commission arrived with their very distinct coffee wagon.
Coffee was served from the wagon beginning at 7am on Saturday. Also arriving throughout the day were officers from the Federal Generals Corps to set up their canvass flies, General John Houck with camp and artillery to set up headquarters as commander of the Confederate military camp, and General “Extra” Billy Smith, CSA. The bulk of camp arrivals came throughout the day on Friday, including Colonel Rick Brouwhuis, USA, commander of the Federal military camp.
The weekend encampment included the living history persona on the upper lawn behind the gardens where President Lincoln, the generals. The Patriot Daughters, Surgeon and Mrs. Robert Manut, the Invalid Corps with Walter Bosch, the boys of the Civil War with Author J. Arthur Moore, Confederate soldier and wife Al Avery, and photographer John Bernaski shared their stories with the public. Participants and visitors could have their tintype images made by the photographer.
A highlight of the morning was the opportunity for people to sit with President Lincoln and the generals for an open conversation reflection on questions from the gathering. Early in the day the troops of the 1st Pa. Reserves Co. D, hiked ten miles to the site, campaign style, then set their tents in the military camp. A visit to the military camp, enabled folks to see how the soldiers lived, visit with camp personnel, watch rifle and artillery demonstrations, and once each day, observe a reenactment demonstration of a skirmish between armies, an event which took place thousands of times during the war. Artillery opens the action the crowd watches and many take photos of the event as the Union troops advance in the distance cameramen from Fox 43 and WGAL TV8 record the event for evening newscasts Confederate troops advance Federal troops capture the guns ending the engagement General Houck speaks to the visitors about the history as the troops gather in formation Of special interest to the younger visitors is the presence of some of the boys of the Civil War. On the Union side is 12-year-old Sergeant John Lincoln Clem who became famous when the newspapers carried the account of his shooting a Confederate colonel from his horse when the colonel tried to capture him.
Present with the Confederate Army was a powder boy with the artillery and a young cadet from the Virginia Military Institute Plans have already begun for next year’s event with a visitor explaining that he is replicating a pharmacy wagon using the frame from an original with plans to establish a hospital including tent and multiple surgeons and staff. The sutlers who were unable to make it this year are planning to arrange their calendar for next year to give this event priority. Conversations are ongoing with additional units to place this event on their calendar. Special thanks go out to all who made this event possible – the participants within the camps and the board of the Southern Lancaster County Historical Society who host the event, with special thanks to President Stanley White and Vice President George Stiles, both of whom were on site throughout the event and have seen to it that every need was met. There were even unplanned ice runs to make sure participant coolers were stocked. This event would not be as well attended as it is if it weren’t for the media. Articles and coverage are known to have appeared in Where & When, Pennsylvania’s Travel Guide; The Cecil Whig, Jane Bellmyer, reporter; KIDS, Bob Ludwick, Page 1 Publisher; the weeklies of Engle Printing and Publishing Company; Smoke and Fire News, Vicki Johnson, editor, a monthly by Smoke and Fire Company, a period retail store; Lancaster Newspaper, Kathy Daminger, reporter and Suzette Wenger, photographer; WGAL-TV8, Stephanie Torres, Associate Producer and Mike Grimm videographer; FOX43, Stephanie Johnson, Assignment Desk and Cory McDowell, videographer. Thanks, too, to so many who passed on the event word-of-mouth, enabling even more to be aware of the event and come to be a part. If the event’s history repeats itself, next year will be even bigger and better. Mark your calendars – Friday-Sunday, June 26-28, 2020. Contact for questions is Joel Moore at joemoore3@comcast.net or 717-351-5450 and leave a message with call-back information. Messages are checked each day and calls are returned within a day.
