Lawrence Knorr

Who is the winningest left-handed pitcher in Philadelphia baseball history? Who is the winningest left-handed pitcher in American League history? Who is third in wins all-time among left-handed starters? Who threw more shutouts than any left-handed pitcher in baseball history? Few know the answer is Edward Stewart Plank, also known as "Gettysburg Eddie." Born in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, only a dozen years after the bloody Civil War battle, Eddie grew up on a farm and was a late-bloomer. By his early twenties, he was a local star on the town ballteam and enrolled in the Gettysburg Academy in order to pitch for Gettysburg College. Soon after, Connie Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics in the newly-formed American League came calling and the rest is history. Eddie Plank was the mainstay of Connie Mack's early success from 1901 through 1914. Plank's unorthodox delivery and pinpoint control brought him consistent results. While others out-pitched him during individual seasons, "Steady-Eddie" provided Mack excellence year after year while others came and went. Gettysburg Eddie chronicles the life of this clean-living baseball superstar who worked hard, saved his money, and was always the perfect gentleman. Said Mack upon hearing of Eddie's premature death in 1926, "I feel like a father must feel who has lost a son."

Dorothy Elaine Hackman Grace compiled the original version of "The Hackman Story" in 1976 for her cousins, neices, nephews and children. Lawrence Knorr was a recipient of one of these comb-bound volumes, triggering his interest in genealogy and family history. 'Elaine' passed in 1999, and Lawrence has since updated the book based on correspondence between the two and Lawrence's subsequent research. This book details the history of the Hackman family, Mennonites who emigrated from Ibersheim, near Worms, Germany, and settled in Lancaster County near Lititz and Manheim. Much more than just genealogical information, this book contains many anecdotes, including early farm life, the first airplane and automobile seen in Millport, near Manheim, life at Elizabethown College from the 30's to the 60's, and events at various Churches of the Brethren.