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RoseMarie Swanger (R)

• From March 1966 to 1972 served as clerk-stenographer in the Mayor's Office of the City of Lebanon (also served as Mayor's secretary)
• In 1972 promoted to Assistant City Clerk
• From May 1974 to 1984 served as the first female City Clerk (city administrator & personnel officer) for the City of Lebanon, the fifth to hold that office since the city's incorporation
• In 1983 ran for County Commissioner seat
• In January 1984 took office as Lebanon County's first female County Commissioner; served as commissioner from 1984 to 2004 (did not run for reelection)
• In 2006 defeated incumbent Peter Zug in primary; elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, the first female to represent the 102nd District; served from December 1, 2006 through November 30, 2014
• Retired in 2014 and not accepting state pension

Paraphrased from Beers' Biographical Annals of Lebanon County (1904), p. 328-330: Andrew Kreider was president of the Annville National Bank.  Son of David Kreider, Andrew grew up on a South Annville farm and attended country schools and Annville Academy (now Lebanon Valley College).  Andrew began a career in lumber and real estate before helping to establish the Annville Savings Bank, which became the Annville National Bank.  On May 29, 1866, he married Emma L. Miller of North Annville.  He was heavily involved in nurturing the growth of Lebanon Valley College, which all of his children (Sallie, Raymond, Edwin, Anna E.) attended.  He was "very justly regarded as the town's leading and most useful citizen."

Mary C. Fox was born July 10, 1876 in Lebanon, Pennsylvania to John and Martha Edkins Fox. Mary became a music teacher in the city and married Harry G. Louser on November 12, 1902.  She died November 10, 1914. John Fox was born near Stuttgart, Germany, January 12, 1840. He was raised on a farm in Lycoming County and arrived in Lebanon, Pennsylvania in the 1860s. He began operating a saw mill by 1868 and entered into two successful partnerships operating as Fox and Embich and after 1885 Fox and Graeff. He was regarded as a leading businessman in the town and died in 1917.

John Ley was a farmer near Myerstown, PA.

Walter L. Nagle was born November 11, 1886 in Cornwall, Pa. The details of his early life and music education are unknown, but his paternal grandfather, Frank, was apparently a musician in Lebanon County. Nagle served during World War I as a clarinetist in the 316th Ifantry Band of the 19th Division. He returned to Lebanon, Pa. after the war and would spent most of his remaining life there. Nagle composed and arranged music for several orchestras, played clarinet in the Perserverance Band and directed and played violin in the Academy of Music Orchestra. William Nagle died on March 11, 1969 at the Lebanon Veterans' Administration Hospital.

The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was founded on April 6, 1866 as a national organization with membership open to honorably discharged Union veterans of the Civil War. The GAR served as a fraternal, social and patriotic association for its members but also was politically active in advocating for federal pensions, founding soldiers' homes and supporting Republican party candidates. At its height in 1890, the GAR had over 400,000 members. The national organization was divided into Departments by state and into posts at the community level. Posts in Lebanon County belonged to the Department of Pennsylvania established in Philadelphia in 1867. Each post was generally named in honor of a deceased person and assigned a sequential number by its Department. At least eight posts were active in Lebanon County from 1866-1923: General John Sedgwick Post No. 42 (Lebanon), 1867-ca. 1923; Post No. 76 (Annville), 1867-1869 and reformed as George D. Coleman Post No. 467 (Annville) 1874-ca.1922; Captain William Tice Post No. 471 (Myerstown), disbanded ca.1911-1912; John A. Wiemer, Sr., Post 494 (Lebanon), disbanded ca. 1919; Post No. 82 (Jonestown), 1867-ca.1874 and Post No. 85 (Palmyra) that disbanded prior to 1870. Annual national and department encampments were multi-day events featuring social and formal activities. Representatives from posts and departments met at encampments to create and modify the organization's rules and governance. The 1893 Department of Pennsylvania encampment was held in Lebanon, Pa. The final national encampment of the GAR was held in 1949. Lebanon County posts appear to have disbanded during the mid to late 1920s. The Sons of Veterans of the United States of America began as a Cadet Corp created by the Grand Army of the Republic in Philadelphia in 1878 and formed as an organization in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on November 12, 1881. Initially a military organization, the Sons of Veterans trained and served along with state militia units during the Spanish American War. In 1925, the Sons of Veterans was designated the succesor organization to the Grand Army of the Republic and changed its name to the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War. The Woman's Relief Corp was formed as an auxilliary organization to the Grand Army of the Republic in July 1883. Both the WRC and the SUVCW remain in existence.

Eri Meyer (1845-1863) was born in North Annville Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, on February 8, 1845. He received an education in business at Annville Academy. Meyer left Lebanon for Chicago, Illinois in March 1862 and worked as a book keeper there until enlisting in the 14th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry on October 21, 1862. He served as the regimental quartermaster and died of disease near Knoxville, Tennesee on December 18, 1863. Meyer's immediate family reinterred his remains in Kauffman Cemetery in North Annville Township in 1864.

John Patton (1745-1804) was born in Ireland, resided in Philadelphia and became a major in Samuel Miles' Battalion in 1776. He was promoted to Colonel of an Additional Contiental Regiment in January 1777. He resigned in November 1777 and was employed to purchase flour for the Continental Army. Patton later founded Centre Furnace (Centre County, PA) in 1792. Sebastian Graff (1744-1791) was a landowner near the borough of Lancaster, Pa. He was elected to the Committee of Observation for Manheim Township in 1774 and served until November 1775. Graff became 1st Lieutenant of Captain Andrew Graff's Company in July 1776. Ephraim Blaine (1741-1804) served as a Commisary General for the Continental Army.

Giovanni Battista Lombardi (1822-1880) trained as a sculptor at the Brera Academy and began work in 1852. His monument to the Ten Day Revolt of 1849 was erected in Brescia in 1864 and several sculptures in the Vantiniano in the cemetery in Brescia are attributed to him. Edward Burd Grubb (1810-1867) was born in Mount Hope (Lancaster County), Pennsylvania to Henry Bates and Harriet Grubb. Edward Burd, with his brother Clement Brooke Grubb, inherited the family iron business in 1833. He married Euphemia Brown Parker in November 1837 and moved to Burlington, New Jersey apparently due to poor health in 1840. Edward Burd Grubb died August 27, 1867.

Jacob Karch (1743-1819) was born in Germany and emigrated to America in 1764. He began work as a bookbinder in Lancaster County by 1765 and resided in the town of Lebanon prior to 1770. Karch was appointed the first postmaster of Lebanon in 1792-1793 and served as treasurer of the Salem Lutheran Church. After the death of Jacob Karch, Sr. on August 19, 1819, his son Jacob Karch (1779-1834) was appointed to fill the vacant postmaster position. Jacob Karch died in 1834 and his widow, Catherine Karch, then became postmaster until 1845. Joseph Karch (1808-1880), son of Jacob and Catherine Karch, also served as postmaster in Lebanon, operated a merchantile business, and worked as a teller for the Lebanon Bank and cashier for the Valley National Bank. He also served as county treasurer for Lebanon County for several years in the early 1850s.

The Flying Camps were battalions of volunteers from Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey that enetered into service in conjunction with the Contiental Army for six months from May-November 1776.

Adam Grittinger was born in Londonderry Township, Lebanon County on January 1, 1800. Apprenticed to a carpenter at a young age, Grittinger secured the education necessary became a school teacher in Hummelstown (Berks County, Pa.) by 1825 and continued as a teacher and merchant in Lebanon City after marrying in 1829. In 1836-1837 he was employed as assistant engineeer of the State canal designed to connect the Allegheny and Susquehanna Rivers and would continue to work as a surveyor in different capacities throughout his life. Grittinger served as a town clerk for Lebanon borough in 1835 and continued in public service as Clerk of the Orphan's Court for Lebanon County from 1839-1845, State Representative for 1847-1848, Deputy Surveyor for the county in 1853, and secretary and burgess for Lebanon borough in 1861-1865. Adam Grittinger died September 16, 1874.

The Houtz family were landowners and farmers in Bethel Township, Lebanon County from the mid-eighteenth through the mid-nineteenth century. During that span, the family amassed land and wealth and intermarried with and maintained close connections to other prominent landowning families most often associated with the German Reformed congregation at St. Paul's or Klopp's Church in Hamlin, Pa. Johann Phillip Houtz  (1708-1766) emigrated to Pennsylvania prior to 1733 and warranted 190 acres of land near Hamlin in Bethel Township, Lancaster (now Lebanon) County in 1746. In 1752, Houtz had acquired another 248 acres in Bethel township for an annual quit rent. He married Anna Margaret Royer and had at least ten children. Wendell Houtz (d.1798) removed from Pennsylvania in the early 1780s and settled at Stony Creek in Shenandoah County, Virginia where he died in late 1797 or early 1798. Philip Lawrence Houtz (1740-1796) purchased 102 acres of land in Bethel township in 1761 but moved to Cumberland County, Pennsylvania prior to 1780. Henry Houtz (1745-1796) remained in Bethel township near Hamlin and became a prosperous farmer and prominent resident. He amassed two tracts of land totaling 406 acres, valued at £ 1816 17s 6d and £ 1695 3s 9d  respectively upon his death in 1796 and left an additional estate of almost £ 1200  to be divided among his widow and survivng children. Houtz served in the Lancaster County Militia 3rd Company 2nd Battalion 8th Class during the American Revolution. He married Maria Barbara Dubs in 1769 and had nine children. Philip Henry Houtz (1770-1848) continued as a farmer in Bethel township and also experienced economic success. Houtz engaged in business ventures beyond agricultre and purchased at least three patents in the first two decades of the nineteenth century. During his residence in Bethel township, he was a notably active member of St. Paul's or Klopp's Reformed Church in Hamlin. Houtz left Lebanon County prior to 1820 and settled near Germantown, Ohio. He died in Ohio in 1848. William Houtz (1803-1895) the eldest son of Philip Henry Houtz, resided in both Lebanon and Dauphin counties but maintained close economic and business interests in Hamlin and Fredricksburg.

Eve H. Brunner was the daughter of Henry and Barbara Brunner. She married William Rank (1795-1881) in Jonestown, Pa. on February 3, 1821.  Margaret Harper is not further identified.

Peter Fiant was a blacksmith in Jackson Township, Lebanon County.

Martin Meily owned three lots in Jonestown in 1798 including a corner lot in the Market Square.  There is no additional information relating to the Kippling Store.

Jacob Brower was born January 5, 1841 in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He resided in Lebanon, Pa. prior to 1860 and was employed as a woodturner. He enlisted in the 5th Pennsylvania Reserve Infantry for three months' service in April 1861 and later mustered into service as a sergeant in the 93rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Company C in October 1861. Brower was promoted to 1st Lieutenant in November 1862 and Captain in August 1864. He was wounded at Fisher's Hill, Virginia on Sptember 23, 1864 and died at his father's residence in Lebanon on December 11, 1864.

Daniel Fegan was born in Annville, Pa. on December 30, 1836 and was the tenth child of Daniel and Magdelina Fegan. He attended the Annville Academy in 1850-1852, worked as a cabinetmaker and served as sheriff of Lebanon County from 1852-1855. Fegan enlisted as a corporal in the 93rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Company K on October 21, 1861. He was wounded at the Battle of Fair Oaks on May 31, 1862 and discharged from service on a surgeon's certificate in August. Fegan reenlisted as a volunteer for the 173rd Pennsylvania Drafted Militia and served as first sergeant of Company C from October 1862 to August 1863. After his military service, Daniel Fegan became a farmer in Lebanon and Schuykill Counties, married and raised a family of ten children. Fegan died September 4, 1914 and is buried in Walmer's Church cemetery in East Hanover Township, Lebanon County.

The Pennsylvania Assembly passed the Gradual Abolition Act on March 1, 1780. Under the law, any slave born before March 1, 780 would be a slave for life, but any child born to a slave after March 1 would be an indentured servant until age 28. Slave owners were required to register all slaves born prior to March 1 by November 1780. On March 29, 1788, the Assembly passed a second act further requiring the registration of all slave born children with county level officials.

Robert and George Dawson Coleman built the Lebanon Furnaces in North Lebanon Township in 1846. The furnaces were the first in the county to use anthracite coal and were supplied with ore from the Cornwall mines. Robert Coleman sold his interest in 1852 to his brother George Dawson who continued the industry until his death in 1878. Charles B. Forney served as manager of the furnaces and Maris Hoopes as ironmaster and agent under G. Dawson's ownership. After Coleman's death, Arthur and Horace Brock oversaw operations until Coleman's sons, B. Dawson and Edward Coleman, came of age. The furnace was purchased by the Pennsylvania Steel Company in 1901.

Hannah Silfus was a dressmaker and seamstress in Lebanon, Pa.

Joseph Painter was born in Berks County, Pa. in 1822 and operated an iron foundry in Bernville ca. 1850. He moved to Myerstown in Lebanon County sometime in the mid-1850s and established a foundry there shortly thereafter. The firm became known as Joseph Painter and Sons as his sons Joseph and Jacob became active in the business. Painter served as County Commissioner for Lebanon and died in 1908.

Henry Snavely was a land owner and farmer in Bethel Township, Lebanon County.

The Lebanon Courier began publication in 1819 as the first English language newspaper printed in Lebanon County.  The newspaper was published as the Lebanon County Republican from 1834-1836 and then continued as the Lebanon Courier.

George Adam Steitz claimed 313 acres of land along Quittapahilla Creek in 1737 and an additional 52 acres in 1739.  The land was surveyed and warranted on May 19, 1753.  Steitz began to lay out town lots by 1756.  The lots were 60 feet by 192 feet, separated by streets and alleys and leased for a yearly ground rent of five or six shillings.  Lessees were required to build a log house with a stone or brick chimmney.  The town became known as Steitztown but was also referred to as Lebanon prior to 1760.  Steitz sold his land interests including the town to George Reynolds in January 1761.

Lebanon Brewing Company located on North 7th Street outside the city limits in North Lebanon Township was established in 1856 by Henry Hartman.  Franz Antone Seubert rented the brewery from Christopher Ganster in 1878-1879.  Siegfried Siebert and George C. J. Ehrhorn later purchased the company in 1883.

Frank S. McDaniels was born May 7, 1924 in Lebanon, Pa.  McDaniels garduated from Lebanon High School in 1942, served in the U.S. Navy in World War II and attended Lebanon Valley College.  In 1946, McDaniels was employed by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation Cornwall Ore Mines and joined the United Steelworkers of America Local Union #2731.  He continued work in various positions at the Bethlehem Steel Cornwall Concentrator Plant until 1979. McDaniels quickly became an active member of the steelworkers union and served in different capacities as a representative or delegate and in several elecetd offices from 1952-1981: Recording Secretary, Local #2731 President, Local #2731 Chairman of the Grievance Committee, Local #2731 Member of the Steelworkers Negotiation Committee, Local #2731 Delegate to the local area United Labor Council, AFL-CIO Council COPE Director Delegate and member of the Area Labor Blood Bank, Steelworkers Strike Relief Committee, Steelworkers Legislative and Education Committee Organizing representative, United Steel Workers of America McDaniels was also a member of many fraternal organizations in Lebanon, founder of the Lebanon County Kidney Foundation and President of the Palmyra Area School District PTA.  He served as a labor representative on the executive committee of the Lebanon County Republican Party from 1958-1963 and in the same capacity for the Lebanon County Democratic Party from 1964-1981.  Frank S. McDaniels died December 24, 2006.

Franklin Jakob Fogel Schantz was born January 8, 1836.  He graduated from the Lutheran Seminary at Gettysburg in 1857 and served as the pastor of Lutheran churches in Reading, Catasaqua and Myerstown.  Schantz became the minister of Frieden's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Myerstown in 1867 and remained until his death in 1907.  He served as president of the Lutheran Ministerium and the Pennsylvania German Society and was a founding member of the Lebanon County Historical Society, delivering its opening address in February 1898.  Schantz maintained an interest in the history of central Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Germans throughout the latter part of his life and published many historical addresses and essays.

John Penn Brock was born in Lebanon, Pa. in 1879. The only son of Horace and Deborah Norris Coleman Brock, he attended Yale University (Class of 1900) and returned to Lebanon where he became a prominent figure in iron and steel manufacturing. He served as vice-president of the American Iron and Steel Manufacturing Company and as an executive of the Bethlehem Steel Company. Brock died in Rome, Italy in 1928.

The United Service Organization (U.S.O.) formed in 1941 with the support of the Salvation Army, Young Men's Christian Association, Young Women's Christian Association, National Catholic Community Services, National Travelers Aid Association and National Jewish Welfare Board to provide programs, services and entertainment to military personnel.  The Willow Street Lebanon U.S.O. from which this collection derives opened in February 1942  in conjunction with the local Y.M.C.A. and was one of three U.S.O. clubs within the city during World War II.

The Perseverance Band formed as an organization on March 2, 1857 at the Hall of Perseverance Engine and Hose Company located at the corner of Willow Street and Liberty Avenue in Lebanon, Pa.  Initially called the Perseverance Saxe Horn Band, its first 21 members performed for the first time on May 12, 1857 in a parade for its namesake fire company.  In October 1861, the Band enlisted in the Union Army as the regimental band for the 93rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry and served in that capacity until regimental band service was ended on March 18, 1862.  Following the Civil War the Band performed for Ulysses S. Grant and for several monument dedications at Gettysburg, Pa.  The Band provided musical entertainment for holiday celebrations, social and veterans' organizations, political functions, parades, community events, and private families and individuals in the Lebanon area as well as performing at locations throughout the state during the twentieth century.  The Perseverance Band remains the oldest musical organization in Lebanon, Pa. and performed at Lebanon County's Bicentennial Celebration in February 2013.

Dr. George Ross (1821-1880) was born November 22, 1821 in Elizabethtown, Pa.  His father Robert May Ross was a merchant.  George Ross attended school in Reading and Litiz, Pennsylvania before working as an apprentice druggist in Harrisburg and Elizabethtown from 1838-1842.  Ross graduated from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia in 1849 and began practicing medicine.  He purchased property in Lebanon in 1852 and quit medicine to operate a drug store.  Ross later served as a director of the Lebanon Gas Company, Valley National Bank, the Mount Lebanon Cemetery Association, the Lebanon Mutual Insurance Company of Jonestown and president of the Board of Health of Lebanon.  He was a prominent and active member of th Chuch of God and wrote and published several works for the Church including Biography of Elder John Winebrenner SemiCentennial Sketch (Harriswburg, Pa. : George Ross, 1880).  George Ross died November 30, 1880. George Redsecker Ross (1854-1936) was the son of Dr. George Ross born in Lebanon Pa. on October 17, 1854.  He was educated at Layfayette College (1878) and th Philadelphia College of Pharmacy (1880).  He waorked as a druggist for Dr. George Ross & Co., the business begun by his father, until his death in 1936.

Founded by Dr. Andrew B. Gloninger with the support of the American Iron and Steel Company in 1904, the Lebanon Sanatorium opened as an eleven bed hosiptal in a former residential house on North Fourth Street in Lebanon. By 1906, the hospital was expanded and was served by a staff of twenty-eight physicians and fourteen nurses. The Sanatorium continued until 1968 with the further construction of a modern three store building in conjunction with the original hospital and would be renamed Lebanon Valley General Hospital.

John W. Mish, Esq. was an attorney-at-law in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.