LBA History

Our History

We trace our roots to the post-Revolutionary period, in 1792, although there were lawyers shaping a young Lancaster County long before then.  The local bar has played a vital role in our growth from a pre-Revolutionary farming region, which exemplified the complimentary American promises of individual liberties and strength in community, to today's flourishing center of commerce and culture.

Notable, early Lancaster Bar Members:

• George Ross, a signer of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, was a member of the First Continental Congress. He was admitted to the Lancaster bar in 1750.
• John Hopkins served in the legislature supporting the call for a Constitutional Convention.
• Two Lancaster attorneys, Jasper Yeates and John Hubley, were delegates to the Pennsylvania Convention and voted to ratify the Constitution.
• James Buchanan served as President of the United States, preceding Abraham Lincoln.
• General Daniel Strickler was Lieutenant-Governor of Pennsylvania.

The Lancaster Bar Association in its modern form was incorporated in 1945.

LBA HQ

We owned our first headquarters at 11 North Duke St., then made a brief stop at 28 Penn Square while renovating 28 East Orange Street, the former Orange Street Opera House, which has been our home since 1992.

LBA Presidents

Hon. Charles I. Landis (1917-1932)
John E. Malone (1932-1941)
F. Lyman Windolph (1945)
Martin E. Musser (1946)
Charles G. Baker (1947)
Martin M. Harnish (1948)
William C. Rehm (1949)
Charles W. Eaby (1950)
S. V. Hosterman (1951)
Paul A. Mueller (1952-1953)
H. Clay Burkholder (1954-1955)
W. Hensel Brown (1956-1957)
Henry R. Bruner (1958-1959)
Harris C. Arnold (1960-1961)
Daniel B. Strickler (1962-1963)
Joseph B. Wissler (1964-1965)
J. H. Geisenberger, Sr. (1966-1967)
Louis S. May (1968)
Bernard M. Zimmerman (1968-1969)
Richard M. Martin (1971-1972)
Alexander T. Stein (1973-1974)
Roberts T. Appel (1975)
Ralph M. Barley (1976)
John B. Rengier (1977)
S. R. Zimmerman, III (1978)
Thomas R. Wentz, Sr. (1979)
K. L. Shirk, Jr. (1980)
William C. Storb (1981)
David R. Eaby (1982)
Bruce P. Ryder (1983)
John Milton Ranck (1984)
Jacques H. Geisenberger, Jr. (1985)
Hon. Wilson Bucher (1986)
Sen. Richard A. Snyder (1987)
Hon. Ronald L. Buckwalter (1988)
Christopher S. Underhill (1989)
Roger S. Reist (1990)
Gregory Paulson (1991)
James W. Appel (1992)
Caroline M. Hoffer (1993)
David E. Alspach (1994)
Dan A. Blakinger (1995)
Jeffrey Gonick (1996)
J. Elvin Kraybill (1997)
J. Richard Gray (1998)
John S. May (1999)
Hon. Leslie Gorbey (2000)
James Kearney (2001)
Hon. Lawrence F. Stengel (2002)
Kim R. Smith (2003)
Matthew J. Creme, Jr. (2004)
Robert C. Wee (2005)
Samuel M. Mecum (2006)
Jeffrey J. Reich (2007)
Richard C. Low (2008)
James H. Thomas (2009)
Bernadette M. Hohenadel (2010)
J. Dwight Yoder (2011)
Bruce J. Wolstoncroft (2012)
Patricia L. Dunlevy (2013)
Melvin E. Newcomer (2014)
Jeffrey P. Ouellet (2015)
Terry A. Warco (2016)
John H. May (2017)
Jennifer L. Mejia (2018)