On January 24, 1848, a thirty-eight-year-old
carpenter from New Jersey
named James Marshall bent down
to examine some shiny flecks in a tail race
diverted from the American River
for a sawmill in Coloma, in California,
not even a wide spot in the road.
He straightened up and changed the course
of history. "Gold," he thought,
probably more accurately transcribed as
"GOLD!" and hurried off to test
it. By June 1, half the population of San
Francisco was on its way to Coloma.
By July, the population of Coloma was
estimated to be 4000. The rush
was on, soon capitalized to Gold Rush, and
confirmed in Washington by President
Polk, better known perhaps for having
started the Mexican War two years
earlier.One of the end results of the Mexican War was the defining of the Rio Grande as the US border with Mexico, and the ceding of what is now New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, California, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming for a relatively modest $15 million. Wisconsin's becoming the 30th state in May the same year didn't hurt either, and clearly showed the strength of the cheese vote.
Obviously not a result of the end of the Mexican War was Thomas Alva Edison's being one year old in 1848, as were the adhesive US postage stamp and evaporated milk, as well as Charlotte Bronte's "Wuthering Heights," and her sister Emily's "Jane Eyre." The first safety matches appeared; the first appendectomy was performed. Karl Marx and Friederich Engles issued the Communist Manifesto, and Paul Gauguin was born.
It was against this complex cultural
and sociological backdrop that Charles
Heathcote, Mark Radcliffe and George
Shaw, cautiously opting not to join
the Gold Rush, or Karl Marx and
Frederick Engles for that matter, arrived
in Glen Rock, Pennsylvania, in March 1848,
fresh from their homes in Yorkshire, in
England. They were nephews of William
Heathcote, whose decision to buy land in
1837 and build a woolen mill on the south
branch of the Codorus had led to an influx
of English relatives and the creation of
Glen Rock.
Radcliffe and Shaw had learned in England to make rope, a highly portable skill, and by the end of the year were briskly turning out 30 pounds a day, made by hand in a roofed shed in the general vicinity of what is now Glen Rock EMS, 59 Water Street, diagonally across the railroad tracks from the Glen Rock Mill Inn. It was in the mill that the rest of the relatives were making wool.
And it was at the end of 1848, reflecting
a 400-year old tradition
— “carolling” —
that Mark Heathcote,
one of William Heathcote's
brothers, the nephews Charles Heathcote,
Mark Radcliffe, and George Shaw,
along with William Heathcote's
61-year old brother James, conspicuously
lugging a bassoon, stepped into
the cold night air of Christmas Eve and
inadvertently started a 178-year-old
parallel tradition — caroling in Glen
Rock, PA.
For their decision not to
go West, but instead to make rope and wool
in Glen Rock and to grace Christmas
Eve with the richness of music, we
thank them, and all of the Carolers
who have followed.
This bassoon belonged to Oscar L. Seitz and later to his son, Sherman L. Seitz. It was used by Oscar Seitz as a member of the Glen Rock Band and of the Carol Singers. Sherman Seitz believed that it may well have been the bassoon used by James Heathcote in 1848.
David Seitz confirmed that this is the original 1848 bassoon.
Donated to Glen Rock Carolers by Richard Seigman: June 7, 2010 Now displayed in the Glen Rock Carolers Museum.
→ See letter
1837 - March 31 - William Heathcote bought 93 acres from Simon Koller for $3425.
1838 - August 23 - Regular train service began on the Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad with a stop at Heathcote’s Station.
1839 - James and Mark Heathcote arrived in town.
1843 - Post office opened. Town was named “Glen Rock” with two possible explanations:
(1) William Heathcote suggested “Glen Rock” which he remembered from Sir Walter Scott’s “The Lay of the Last Minstrel”
Canto Six:
P.S. Not to be confused to the “Rock” in Glen Rock, New Jersey (1894) |
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1859 - August 29 - Court issued the charter of incorporation of the Borough of Glen Rock.
2020 - December 24 - During the COVID-19 Pandemic, the need for the Lone Caroler was considered. However, using two groups, the Carolers were able to complete the rounds in two and a half hours while keeping with all the pandemic requirements. Ref: 2020 NOTES
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