Lynn Township is situated in the northwest corner of present day Lehigh County. It is bordered on the north by the Blue Mountain. The Ontelaunee Creek drains much of this rural township. Lynn Township was established in 1732. The early settlers came from the German Palatinate, Switzerland and an area known as "Allemaengel". Many small villages still exist from the 1700's and the 1800's, including New Tripoli, Lynnport, Wanamakers, Jacksonville, Mosserville, Stine's Corner, Steinsville, and Lynnville.
The Society was organized October 5, 1999. Trustees are Carl D. Snyder, Irwin P. Hamm, Robert A. Nagle, Willard A. Snyder, and Dawn A. Straughn. The newly formed Society has a mission to collect historical artifacts and documents, preserve historical structures and landmarks, preserve Pennsylvania German Dialect and finally preserve the culture of the past, present, and future.
Today a strong westerly breeze is driving a blizzard across my little corner of Lynn Township. It is a blizzard of white blossoms from a fence row of wild cherry trees. My line of vision is directly into that breeze toward Jacksonville Church on a ridge about a mile away. Today and countless times over the years, me and my ancestors have used the Churches steeple as a reference point to guide the front of the tractor or horses and corn planter in a straight line. Hopefully by August those corn rows will be seven feet tall or taller. Like those individual kernels that I plant on this day in May, we are sowing the seeds of a new organization. Just as I hope those rows will bear grain in fall, we also hope by Autumn the Society will bear a bumper crop of programs, projects, committees, and most importantly, new members. History becomes very personal when something brings life's memories rushing back. We can see some of life's images when we close our eyes for a brief period. Perhaps the unforgettable image of father or grandfather with straw hat walking behind a team and corn planter using a reference point on the horizon to guide them and pull those rows straight and true.
As we begin the Lynn-Heidelberg Historical Society we are hoping there will be something for everyone. Something to gain and hold your interest whether your family has been in the township for two-hundred and fifty years or two-hundred and fifty days. The mere mention of a historical society will cause some to moan and cry dry as graham crackers. Of course the Society will be about all those things that are traditionally associated with a historical organization; maps, preservation projects, photographic collecting and dating, and local history presentations, to name a few. But it can and must be something more as we start the new Millennium. This like our web-site and projects by area youth will keep our historical society modern and will help propel us into the twenty-first century. How Lynn township history relates to individuals and families and gives them a sense of there own roots and there community; that will be the challenge of the Society's trusties and all its members. People of all ages who seek and understand there own family history and the history of the community of which they live will undoubtedly be very productive citizens.
The corn harvest will probably include several of those crisp October days. Those October days that are so crystal blue and clear you can almost see till November. With a vigorous society we will be able to see to 2001 and beyond. So here we go... time to start planting!
--Irwin Hamm, Vice President, Lynn-Heidelberg Historical Society |
