Our Quarryville

The general business of the village (it wasn’t incorporated as a borough then) was represented by one large general store, which transacted a large trade in the place and also in the surrounding country, two blacksmith shops, two tailors, one tinsmith, one wagon and carriage shop, two harness shops, one cigar manufacturer, two shoe stores, three hotels, and one restaurant.

Postmaster was George Hensel. The Franklin Telegraph Co. operated in Quarryville. The town was the southern terminus of the Lancaster and Quarryville Railroad, which had just been completed. According to an atlas of county municipalities in the 1890’s “With the increasing facilities for easy transportation of the vast amount of lime made here, and the products of the surrounding country, Quarryville gives great promise of ultimate importance and success.

There was a small settlement around May and Camargo post offices in 1890, which were the only post offices of settlements besides Quarryville in Eden Township (and its how May Postoffice road got its name). Martin Mowrer was postmaster at Camargo, and J.H. Gilbert at May.

There were large beds of iron ore in Eden, and mines were opened and operated about two miles north, and two miles west of Quarryville.

The atlas described the land in Quarryville 100 years ago as: “the land is generally high and rolling, except in the valley or basin extending across the township where it is level and remarkably fertile. Most of the soil is rich limestone, and very productive. All of the cereals and many varieties of fruits are produced abundantly.”

Prominent farmers of the time were Henry Keen Sr., James Creswell, Jacob Eckman, Robert Hamill, James Isaac, Robert Montgomery, Jacob and Gilbert Bushong, J.H. Gilbert, James Risk, Jacob Myers, and William Dungan.
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From Special Supplement to The Ledger Newspapers, Wednesday, October 16, 1991

But one of Hensel’s unusually organizations has stood the test of time since its birth on February 2, 1908. The slumbering Groundhog Lodge of Quarryville is alive and well with approximately 260 overall members whose sole purpose of meeting is to further the lore of the groundhog.

This is a very exclusive organization where a very select few are taken in each year. A fraternity is probably closer to defining it than anything else<: lodge member Doug Groff said. “We are very narrow in our observances. We’re not a service organization and we aren’t looking to see how many members we can get.”

Indeed, according to a lodge brochure, the membership is limited to “ninety and nine members” and the petitioners to become baby groundhogs may not exceed the number of members deceased in the preceding year. The lodge has four different membership statuses to maintain the original rules as closely as possible.

Groff said there are always plenty of people trying to get into the club, but none have ever been women. “We don’t get many strangers.” Groff said. “I don’t know what would exclude someone from getting in or what they do to get in. It’s hard to say.” “It’s who you know. Obviously if you know someone, it’s easier to get in,” Groff said. “My father was a groundhog and my grandfather.” Back then, the club members were meeting in what was then the Royal Hotel and is now the Rhoads Restaurant. In 1951, the members purchased the Slumbering Groundhog Lodge located on the banks of the Octoraro At White Rock.

Groff said, “We are one of the only groundhog lodges in the United States that has a spot on the map that can be identified as a groundhog lodge. With the lodge came their honorary resident, Octoraro Orphie, who has been doing the job even the weatherman can’t for nearly 20 years. “We don’t know who has been around for longer, whether it’s Orphie or Punxsutawney Phil, but we don’t argue about it,” Groff said.

The local lodge boasts of world famous honorary members, including Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, and [Congressman] Robert Walker. Groff said, “Bob Walker said he was pleased to be inducted into the Slumbering Groundhog Lodge because he never felt he had a mandate to predict if the groundhog would see his shadow. Now he can predict with authority.”

Local celebrity members include Bill Saylor, Dick Hoxworth and Keith Martin of WGAL News fame who give Orphie plenty of publicity on his day every year. Although Groff said the Lodge does not actively seek publicity, the media cannot seem to resist. “They’ve been coming down for years to cover us.” Groff said. When the time draws near, the members of the Groundhog Lodge keep vigils at active groundhog holes until Orphie is seen. Dressed in white robes and black top hats, Groff said Orphie is worth waiting for. “It’s the only animal in the animal kingdom to have a day named in his honor.” Groff said.

Furthermore, according to the Lodge’s brochure, the groundhog legend has been around since the 18th century when Germans believed a similar tale about the dachs, an animal resembling the American badger. When the German settlers came to Lancaster County, they found no dachs, the brochure states; therefore, they substituted the groundhog in the exalted position of forecaster.

Groff said the other 364 days of the year are spent initiating ’little groundhogs’ “yes, we really call them little groundhogs.” Groff said. Part of initiation is meticulous seven year surveillance according to the brochure. Once inducted, each member has their specific duty. Some of these are Nottingham Hole Checker, Faulty Fuse Finder, and Groff’s own title, Magistrate of Marble and Garble. Whatever else the slumbering Groundhog Lodge stands for, aside from the preservation of groundhog lore, it is with a grain of salt and a sense of humor. As the Groundhog Creed States: The hilarity and pageantry of the Groundhog Day observance is heralded…At the break of dawn, the Lodge brothers turn out in tall silk hats and long night shirts, carrying Shepherd’s crooks and wearing heavy chains and huge keys around their necks and on their chests. Behind that façade, it’s hard to recognize doctors, lawyers, industrialists, bankers – the sober side of a workaday world.
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From Special supplement to The Ledger Newspapers, Wednesday, October 16, 1991 by Susan Lindt