More Info on Binkley's Mill Covered Bridge

Self-described covered bridge buff Thomas Kipphorn found an old blog post of mine with stereoviews (below) by William Gill showing Binkley's Mill and Bridge on the New Holland Pike where it crosses over the Conestoga. He kindly sent me some of his research on the site, offering it for publication on this blog.

"Binkley's Mill and Bridge" (vws)

"Conestoga at Binkley's" (vws)

"Binkley's Bridge" (vws)

PA/38-36-80x Christian / Milo / David Binkley's Mill / Printer's Paper Mill Bridge- Was Big Conestoga #17, and then state owned. The site is now abandoned. It was a two span Double Burr Truss 306' long, with a clear span of 295'8", a 16' roadway, a 12'6" clearance and at 25', this was the highest built above water in the county except for Susquehanna River intercounty structures. The covered bridge had replaced an earlier multi-arch stone bridge that had been washed away. It was built in 1869 by Elias McMellen at a cost of $1,650.00.

It was located between East Lampeter and Manheim Townships, oriented east-northeast to west-southwest on what is now called Pennwick Road on the East Lampeter Township (east) side and Papermill Road on the other (T555 both sides), but formerly an old section of what is now Route 23, SR0023 or the New Holland Pike. On Saturday, November 25, 1882, the adjoining mill caught fire. Flames spread to the bridge and both were destroyed.

The Columbia Iron Bridge Company built a new two span wrought iron Pratt through truss bridge on the old abutments and center pier and that lasted until an overweight truck dropped one of the spans, killing the driver, on Thursday, September 29, 1929. After this, the road was relocated about 550' downstream (south), mainly to eliminate two right angle bends set in opposite directions of each other on the Pennwick Road end, which put the new road on the downstream side of the former Lancaster to New Holland trolley bridge (empty abutments now gone), in 1930, to a new two span steel pony truss bridge. This bridge was replaced in 1989 -1990 by the present four span concrete bridge at the same site. The two right angle bends of Pennwick Road, which can be seen in a Penn Pilot aerial photo dated to April 29, 1940, still exist behind a barricade, but there is no trace of the old abutments or center pier of the covered bridge.

A local resident says the stonework from the abutments and pier were used to build cofferdams to lay the foundations for the 1930 steel bridge. However, the foundation of the center pier can still be seen in low water. Coordinates are taken off the pier foundation: 40° 4.4723'N, 76° 15.5693'W.

Horse and Buggy CDV from Gap, Pa

CDV of Horse and Buggy by W. H. Heiss taken in Gap, Pennsylvania (vws)

CDV Backmark

For the second time in a week, an interesting transportation-related photograph from Lancaster County appeared on Ebay.  First, there was a carte-de-visite of a locomotive built at the Norris Locomotive Works in Lancaster City in 1867, which I wrote about in a post earlier in the week.  Then, an image of a horse and buggy carrying two men in front of a barn appeared.  Fortunately, I was able to purchase both, and I look forward to doing more research about them and using them to tell the story of life in Lancaster County during the 1860s.

The horse and buggy image was taken by an itinerant photograph named W. H. Heiss, who took pictures at of his "Mammoth Photograph Wagon"  in the Lancaster County towns of Strasburg and Gap during the mid-1860s.  Because the photograph does not have a tax stamp, it was almost certainly taken before summer 1864 or after summer 1866.  A couple of his images pop up on Ebay every year.  Several that I have seen are of children with the same hoop rolling toy props as seen in the image below.

The image is also remarkable simple because it was taken outside.  I don't know if I can think of an earlier CDV taken in Lancaster outside of a photography studio, although there were some earlier daguerreotypes of Lancaster and photographer William L. Gill started making stereoviews of outdoor scenes sometime around 1866.

CDV of Two Children
by W. H. Heiss, Strasburg, 1865
(David Claudon Collection)

Unlike the "Bee" locomotive photo, it's difficult to guess what message the photograph is trying to convey.  Is the focus on the horse or the buggy, or both?  Where is the farm?  Are these Quaker farmers making a show of their prosperity?  Where type of buggy is it, and where was it made?  And, of course, who are the men in the photo?

Sypher Dispatches: From Lancaster to Louisville

Another company from Lancaster--Company B, 1st Penna. Reserves--in 1863
I suspect the civilian on the right of the picture is J. R. Sypher, who traveled with the Army of the Potomac as a journalist.  (Mathew Brady via Fold3.com)

The following post is the first in a series of a dozen or so letters by Lancaster lawyer, journalist, and civilian adventurer J. R. Sypher during his travels through the Western Theater as a sort of "embedded reporter" in May and June 1862.  

J. R. Sypher (suspected)
(Enlargement of above photo)

On May 2, 1862, former Daily Evening Express assistant editor Josiah Rhinehart Sypher left Lancaster for a two-month tour of the Western Theater, where he had spent time as a correspondent before the war.  I've written about Sypher--and brother James Hale Sypher of Standard's Ohio Artillery Battery and brother A.J., Armorer on the USS St. Louis ironclad--several times before on this blog, including his letter after having been chased out of Memphis in June 1861 and a quarrel with the Democratic Intelligencer in August 1861 over dueling rallies in Drumore Township (which Sypher coincidentally refers to in the opening to his letter below).

Only a week before leaving, Sypher was admitted to practice law, passing a "highly creditable examination."  He studied under none other than Thaddeus Stevens--with whom he shared many political beliefs--although it's unclear how much Sypher personally interacted with Stevens.  As a progressive-minded Republican, Sypher seems to show up in just about every reform movement and civic activity in Lancaster, such as the Lancaster County Bible Society and Temperance picnics. Just several weeks earlier, he was one of six founding members of the Linnaean Society of Lancaster City and County, a very active science and natural history society whose collection formed the basis of what is now the North Museum near Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster. [DEE 4/26/1862]

The Express sent Sypher off with the following announcement published on May 3, 1862:  

J. R. Sypher, Esq., formerly our Southern and Western correspondent, and more recently our editorial assistant, started for the seat of war in the department of the Mississippi, on Friday morning.  He goes as special correspondent of the Express, being provided with a military pass from the War Department, authorizing him to go anywhere within the lines of the armies of the United States.  For this we are indebted to the kindness of Secretary Stanton and Col. Sandford.  The conditions of the parole attached to the pass are very stringent, but the Express has no cause to fear them, as we have never yet published a line involving the censure of the war department, although important information has been frequently in our possession in advance of its publication elsewhere.

Mr. Sypher intended going direct to Corinth, and thence with Gen. Halleck's army to Memphis.  Being familiar with the country in the southwest, and having a pretty extensive acquaintance with the people there, his letters will no doubt be as interesting as valuable.  

George D. Prentice
Editor, Louisville Journal(Source)

Sypher penned his first letter in Louisville, the gateway to the Western Theater for Lancasterians during the Civil War.  Lancaster maintained a strong patriotic and logistical connection to Louisville, cheering on border state warriors like Louisville Journal editor George D. Prentice and relying on the soldiers' aid infrastructure there to distribute goods to Lancaster soldiers and others in need.  

From the May 8, 1862, Daily Evening Express: (alternate link)

The Accident at Pittsburgh

From Ballou's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion, 2/21/1857 (Source)

As mentioned in recent soldiers' letters, the Lancaster County Regiment took its first casualties before even leaving the Keystone State.  Soldiers from Negley's Brigade, which included Col. Hambright's Regiment, had already been packed onto five steamboats, and waited only for an artillery battery with its guns and horses to leave Pittsburgh and travel down the Ohio River.

From Harper's Weekly, November 2, 1861

In the middle of the afternoon on Friday, October 18, an artillery horse being led up the gangway fell off, causing much excitement.  The ensuing commotion led to the collapse of the hurricane deck of one of the steamers and serious injuries to a couple members of the 79th Pennsylvania. The accident was described in detail in the October 21, 1861, Daily Evening Express: (alternate link)



Bearing the brunt of the blame for the accident was "Commodore" William J. Kountz, who was in charge of coordinating the river fleet.  Kountz went on to work with General Grant and apparently continued to infuriate everyone around him, including the boat captains he was appointed by the government to oversee, and getting himself kicked out of General Grant's office in the lead-up to the Fort Henry and Donelson campaigns of early 1862.  From the October 22, 1861, Daily Evening Express: (alternate link)



Of the three most-seriously injured soldiers--Adjutant Charles Frailey, Band Leader Daniel Clemens, and Priv. Daniel Landis--both Clemens and Landis recovered from their injuries to rejoin the regiment.  Frailey's injuries caused him to resign a week later.

The Voyage Down the Ohio, Part II: 'E.H.W." and F.J. Bender Letters

"Passage Down the Ohio River, of General James S. Negley's Brigade" (FLI 10/14/1861)

On October 20, 1861, Gen. Negley's Brigade continued on its journey down the Ohio River toward Louisville, Kentucky.  Soldier-correspondents E. H. Witmer and F. J. Bender documented that portion of a journey whose sights left a deep impression upon the six steamboats' passengers for readers of the Daily Evening Express and Church Advocate, respectively.

Their letters give a sense that they had finally left home and were in the process of determining who they were going to be as soldiers.  A false alarm, although rather unrealistic in retrospective, gave the men of the 77th and 79th Pennsylvania at least the chance to think about combat.  Also, since October 20 was a Sunday--the first Sunday for which attending church was not a possibility--both Witmer and Bender naturally turned to the soldiers' religious world and what faith would look like privately and publicly in the army.

From the October 29, 1861, Daily Evening Express: (alternate link)

From the November 14, 1861, Church Advocate, noting that the October 30 dateline is a typo that should read October 20: (alternate link)

'E.H.W.' Letter: The Voyage Down the Ohio

Steamboats near Cincinnati, Ohio, in a photo from the late 1860s (Source)

Today's letter was written by Corp. Elias H. Witmer of Company E, 79th Pennsylvania, on October 19, 1861, as Col. Hambright's regiment traveled down the Ohio River to a destination of Louisville, Kentucky, with two other Pennsylvania regiments that made up Gen. James Negley's brigade.  The almost 3,000 men occupied six steamboats, and you can visit the site "Georgetown Steamboats" to learn more about the boats and the mode of transportation. I'll have more about the accident and the fallout from the accident in another post.

From the October 28, 1861, Daily Evening Express: (alternate link)