Day 8

Our treasure hunt continued today. We started by looking for some flowers to take to the cemetery in Camp Hill. We found what we wanted and the florist said she would deliver flowers to the grave site anytime we wanted them.

We visited the library in Camp Hill to see if we could find an old address for any of the family. We could not find an address but we did see the 1920 census report. It showed James and Charlotte Erb and their six children. James was listed as working for the railroad (the same as Linwood's gd on his mother's side of the family). Charlotte was a listed as a housewife.


The we drove north for about an hour and a half to Lewisburg, PA to see if we could see the orphanage where Linwood's dad, Oscar, and his brother,Robert lived. Everything went better than we thought possible. We visited the Slifer House which was built by the third owners of the large parcel of land. Later the owners sold the property to the Evangelical Church. They stared with a home for the elderly and then added the orphange in 1923. Peter Geschwindner, who is vp of the headquarters of the Albright Care Service (senior living & assisted livine), showed us around. He was so helpful. The orphange is now called the Gamber House.

The orginial kitchen floor is now in a storage room.

The next two pictures show what was two study rooms. One side for the girls and one for the boys. They even had two different doors to the balcony and two separate fireplaces. There was a wall in the middle of the room separating the rooms.

We were able to go to the area where the boys lived and we also went to the top floor that has not been redone. It originally was where the matron lived and another lady who ran the infirmary.

Linwood's dad and his brother entered the orphanage on June 21, 1924. Oscar left in August, 1929 to live with one of his sisters in Lemoyne. Robert, the other brother, stayed until 1935. The two boys were about 4.5 years apart.

Peter made us a copy of two pictures of the Boys Band. Linwood thinks he can pick out his dad in one of the pictures. He would have been about 13 years old. We alos took pictures of the Elementary School that was on the property.

The boys also attended Lewisburg High School.

The next picture is one showing the boy's side of the orphanage. They lived on the top floor of the brick area.We drove on the Hersey, PA for the night and decided we will stay two nights here. We are physically tired but also emotionally tired. We are going to enjoy the indoor pool and rest up for the reminder of the trip. It is 58 degrees here tonight. The weather was been so nice.