Adams Sentinel in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Fire and Loss of Life in Lancaster County Mill

Fire at Samuel Ranck’s flour mill on the Cunestuza burned the mill to ruins. Abram Ranck, age nineteen, perished asleep in the office as crews from Union Friendship and American engines fought the blaze. The fire destroyed thousands of bushels of grain and family property, with repairs estimated after investments of around $2,000. Nearby drought reports from Texas, Wisconsin anomalies, and odd earth-fire in Polk County add to the era’s wider peril and wonder.