Area History: Warner-Beers' History of Franklin County, PA, 1887 -- Part II: Chapters I & II
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA
ILLUSTRATED
CHICAGO:
WARNER, BEERS & CO., 1887
Chicago:
JOHN MORRIS COMPANY, PRINTERS
118 and 120 Monroe Street.
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - Part II
CHAPTER I. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION.
The Great Eastern Valley -- The Path of a Probable
Gulf Stream -- The Mountain Ranges and Their
Appendages -- Systems of Drainage -- Geological and
Mineralogical Aspects -- Character of Soil --
Vegetation -- Climate
The beautiful valley, of which Franklin County forms but a small
part, sweeps along the entire eastern coast of the United States, extend-
ing under different names, from the southern extremity of Vermont across
the Hudson at Newburgh, the Delaware at Easton, the Susquehanna at
Harrisburg, the Potomac at Harper's Ferry, the James at Lynchburg, the
Tennessee at Chattanooga, and losing itself in Alabama and the southwest.
By some it is claimed to have been the path along which an ocean current,
possibly the beneficent Gulf Stream, whose influence changes the natural
and social conditions of both American and European civilization, flowed
long prior to the present order of things, in either the old or the new
world. It is bounded on either side by a chain of the great Appalachian
Mountain system, running from the northeast to the southwest, and is of
nearly uniform width, from twelve to twenty miles -- the whole distance.
It is broken into fertile agricultural sections by the beautiful streams
already mentioned, apparently to meet the diversified wants of its future
occupants.
The section lying between the Susquehanna and the Potomac is usually
designated as the Cumberland Valley. The valley west of "Harris Ferry,"
as Harrisburg was originally known, was called by some "Kittochtinny," by
others "North" Valley. The northwestern boundary is known in Pennsylva-
nia as North Mountain, or the Kittatinny Mountain, the latter name,
signifying endless, being an euphonic change from Kekachtannin, by which
the Delaware Indians called it. The southwestern boundary is South Mount-
ian, a beautiful range, parallel with the Kittatinny. From the Susque-
hanna to the Potomac, the Kittatinny maintains an almost uniform summit
line, ranging from 700 to 1,200 feet above the valley beneath. Several
picturesque points or projections, known as Clark's, Parnell's, Jordan's
and Casey's Knobs, and Two-Top Mountains, give fine relief to the range.
Of these, Parnell's and Casey's were used, during the civil war, as union
signal stations. Between Kittatinny and Tuscarora, lying still farther
to the west, are several beautiful and productive valleys; Path Valley,
terminating at the extreme north end in Horse Valley, and sending off to
the right of Knob Mountain, another known as Amberson's Valley; Bear and
Horse Valleys, elevated and of smaller extent, having a trend northeast-
ward; Cove Gap, a picturesque opening, through which packers in the olden,
and vehicles in modern times, pass across the mountain westward, and
Little Cove, a long narrow valley, that slopes southwestward toward the
Potomac. In the southwestern part of what is now Franklin County, formed
by Kittatinny on the west, Cross Mountain on the south, and Two-Top
Mountain on the east, lies a relic of the mythical days, when the giants
piled Ossa on Pelion, and known as the Devil's Punch Bowl. From its
spacious receptacle the gods, in their Bacchanalian revelry, quaffed their
intoxicating drinks.
South Mountain, less picturesque in its scenery, is covered with a
good supply of valuable timber. Like Kittatinny range, its table lands
are valuable for the fuel supplies they furnish to the inhabitants of the
valley, as well as for the diversified scenery they afford to the
passers-by. The richness of view afforded by these two mountain ranges
is calculated to inspire a remarkable love for the beautiful in nature,
and to develop the poetic sentiment in man.
The drainage of Franklin County is most perfect, and consists of two
systems. The first, flowing northeastward in a tortuous course, and
emptying into the Susquehanna River at West Fairview, two miles above
Harrisburg, embraces the Conodoguinet and its tributaries, viz.: Spring
Creek and its branches, Furnace and Main's, Keasey's, Lehman's, Paxton's,
Clippinger's and Trout Runs. The northern portion of the county, par-
ticularly Southampton, Letterkenny, Lurgan, and portions of St. Thomas,
Peters, Metal and Fannet, is thus provided with good drainage and the
means of preserving animals and plants against drouth.
The second system, embracing all those water-courses which flow
southward, and finally discharge their contents into the Potomac River,
includes the following streams:
1. The Conococheague with two distinct branches, East Conococheague
and West Conococheague, which unite near the southern part of the
county on the farm of Mr. LAZARUS KENNEDY, empties into the Potomac
at Williamsport. East Conococheague receives from the central por-
tion of the county the contributions of Rocky Creek, Falling Spring,
Back Creek, Campbell's Run and Muddy Run. Several of these streams
are supplied with abundant mill power, which is utilized to the best
advantage. West Conococheague, traversing the whole extent of Path
Valley, leaps into the broad open valley from between Cape Horn and
Jordan's Knob, and gathering in the waters of Broad and Trout Runs,
Licking Creek, Welsh Run and other small streams, hastens to join
its twin sister at their junction on the KENNEDY place.
2. Marsh Run, which divides, a part of the way, the present townships
of Antrim and Washington.
3. Little Antietam, which with its two branches, East Antietam and
West Antietam, thoroughly drains the southeastern part of the
county, carrying its sparkling waters finally into the Potomac
River near Sharpsburg, Md.
All these streams are fed by beautiful springs, whose sparkling
waters come gushing forth from mountain and hillside, and many of them,
in addition to supplying pure cold water for man and beast, are richly
provided with an excellent quality of fish. They supply a water-power,
which has long been utilized for milling and manufacturing purposes.
Chambersburg and Waynesboro supply their own citizens with the clear
refreshing water found in these mountain streams.
An observing traveler will notice that the ledges or beds of rock
trend from northeast to southwest, corresponding with the course of the
mountain ranges; likewise that the various layers have positions one above
another at different angles to the horizon. They have been broken up by
some disturbing element beneath, and have left their edges outcropping at
various angles from a level to a perpendicular. Along the range of South
Mountain he will find the rocks of a different character from those in
the valley, being a hard, compact, white sandstone, which rings when it
is struck, and when broken has a splintery and sometimes discolored
appearance. At the northern base of South Mountain he encounters the
great limestone formation, which obtains throughout the whole length of
Cumberland Valley. "It is usually of a bluish but occasionally of a grey
and nearly black color, generally pure enough to yield excellent lime,
but not unfrequently mixed with sand, clay, and oxide of iron. Flint
stones and fossils are also occasionally met with in some parts of this
formation. In the soil above it, iron ore is sometimes abundant enough
to be profitably worked; and indeed some of the most productive ore banks
in the State are found in it and its vicinity. Pipe ore and kindred
varieties of that material have been obtained of good quality in several
localities in this limestone region. About the middle of the valley,
though with a very irregular line of demarcation, we meet with a dark
slate formation extending to the foot of North Mountain; though its usual
color is brown or bluish, it is sometimes reddish and even yellow. Lying
between the great limestone and the grey sandstone, it is sometimes inter-
mingled with sandstone which contains rounded pebbles forming conglomerate
but this is too silicious to receive a good polish. The rocks of Kitta-
tinny or North Mountain consist almost exclusively of this massive grey
limestone of various degrees of coarseness. They are not valuable for
either building or mineral purposes." (State Geological Survey.)
Iron ore in extensive, and copper in limited quantities have been
found; "beneath the surface ore, inexhaustible deposits of magnetic iron
conveniently near to valuable beds of hematite, which lie either in
fissures between the rocky strata or over them in a highly ferruginous
loam. This hematite is of every possible variety and of immense quanti-
ties. When it has a columnar stalactite structure it is known under the
name of pipe ore. It usually yields a superior iron, and at the same
time is easily and profitably smelted. It generally produces at least
fifty percent of metallic iron."
The nature and fertility of soil are determined by the character of
the underlying rocks by whose disintegration it is produced. The lime-
stone lands are very productive. The slate lands, well improved by lime
and other fertilizers, and properly cultivated by skilled labor, yield
abundant crops. These two kinds of soil, the limestone and the slate,
are both rendered productive. In fact, the entire belt of land in the
valley is susceptible of the highest cultivation, the only unproductive
land lying along the sides of the mountain. And even this is prized
highly for its timber; or, when cleared, for its grazing and fruit-growing
qualities.
Says DR. WING: "The natural productions of the soil, when it was
first discovered by white men, awakened admiration quite as much as he
meadows and the fields of grain have done at a later period. A rich
luxuriance of grass is said to have covered the whole valley, wild fruits
abounded, and in some parts the trees were of singular variety. Of the
trees there were many species of oak, white and black walnut, hickory,
white, red, and sugar maple, cherry, locust, sassafras, chestnut, ash,
elm, linden, beech, white and scrub pine, dogwood and iron-wood. The
laurel, plum, juniper, persimmon, hazel, wild currant, gooseberry,
blackberry, rasberry, spice bush, sumac and the more humble strawberry
and dewberry and wintergreen almost covered the open country; and their
berries, in some instances, constituted no small portion of the food of
the Indians and the early settlers."
The climate of Cumberland Valley does not differ esentially from
that which prevails in the southeastern portion of the State. Hedged in
by mountains the keenness and force of the Atlantic winds are necessarily
somewhat broken and modified; and yet strong mountain storms occasionally
break in upon its peaceful habitations. The statements of careful
observers induce the belief that perceptible changes in climate have
occurred in the valley since its first settlement. Owing, it is thought,
to the disappearance of forests and the consequently increased drainage
of the lands, many streams are less copious and violent, the averages of
cold and heat are decreased and the moisture of the atmosphere is percept-
ibly diminished. DR. RUSH, of Philadelphia, a close observer of the
climatology of the State from 1789 to 1805, remarked that a material
change had taken place since the days of the founders; the cold of winters
and the heat of summers were less uniform than they had been forty or
fifty years before. * * "The variableness of weather in our
State," he continued, "is found south of 41 degrees of latitude, and
north of that the winters are steady and in character with the Eastern
and Northern States; but no two successive seasons are alike, and even the
same months differ from each other in different years. There is but one
steady trait, and that is, it is uniformly variable."
What DR. C. P. WING wrote in 1879, concerning Cumberland County,
may be applied with equal force to its daughter, Franklin County. Hear
him: "Within the past thirty years, there have not been more than a score
of days when the thermometer fell below zero, and about as many when it
rose above ninety-seven.
"The summers more nearly resemble each other than do either of the
other seasons; most of the days are hot and clear, but interrupted by
violent thunder gusts, heavy rains from the northeast, and warm showers
from the south. Snow sometimes covers the ground in winter for months,
and at other times there is scarcely enough for sleighing. The prevail-
ing winds are, in summer, from the northwest and southwest, the former
bringing clear and the latter cloudy weather; in winter, the northwest
winds bring clear, cold weather, and the northeastern, snow, storms and
rain. The winter seldom sets in with severity until the latter part of
December and commonly begins to moderate in February. (The compiler
of this history spent the time from February 11 to December 14, 1886, in
Franklin County, during which he did not find it necessary to wear an
overcoat.) Near the close of this latter month, or early in March, the
snow disappears, and in the beginning of April the fruit trees blossom
and vegetation commences. At this season, however, the atmosphere is
often damp, chilly, and stormy, and until the beginning of May, there are
frequent returns of wet and disagreeable weather. Owing to these changes,
vegetation advances very unequally in different years, and the promising
blossoms of the early spring are often blasted by the frosts of April and
May. The average of rain and snow fall for three years was found to be,
for the spring, 9.05 inches; for the summer, 9.67; for the autumn, 7.68;
for the winter, 7.61, and for the whole year, 34.01. The autumn is
usually the most agreeable season. The mornings and evenings become
cool about the middle of September, and soon after the equinoctial rain
and after the first frosts of November commences that remarkable peculia-
rity of our climate, the 'Indian Summer.' The name is probably derived
from the Indians, who were accustomed to say they always had a second
summer of nine days just before the winter set in. It was the favorite
time for their harvest, when they looked to gather in their corn, and
when, from accident or design, on their hunting excursions, the woods and
grass of the mountains and prairies were burned and their game was driven
from concealment. Certainly a more delightful climate, all things con-
sidered, it would be difficult to find in the United States. A stagnant
pool or swamp, sufficient to produce malarious disease is probably not
known, and is scarcely possible on account of the peculiar drainage of
the soil.
CHAPTER II. -- PIONEER SETTLERS
Two Classes: Scotch-Irish, their Origin, Arrivals, Character and Locations --
Germans, Sketch of Persecutions, Arrival, Trials, etc. --
Trend of Settlements in Cumberland Valley Westward --
Shippensburg a Distributing Point -- Settlements at Falling Spring --
Sketch of Benjamin Chambers --
Other Settlements and Settlers in Various Parts of the Country --
List of Taxable in 1751-52 -- Mason and Dixon's Line.
Two general classes of people constituted the early settlers
of Cumberland Valley, viz: the Scotch-Irish and the Germans.
The Scotch-Irish were a numerous but honorable class who Migrated
to Pennsylvania and other Eastern States at an early day. The origin of
the term is traceable to events that occurred early in The seventeenth
century. James I, of England [reign 1603-1625] Was very desirous of
improving the civilization of Ireland. The Irish Earls at Tyrone and
Tyrconell having conspired against the English Government, and been
compelled to flee the country, their estates, consisting of about
500,000 acres, were confiscated. These estates the king divided into
small tracts, and induced many Protestant people from his own country
(Scotland) to locate upon Them on condition that possession should be
taken within four years.
A second revolt occurring soon after, another large forfeiture of
the six counties in the Provience of Ulster followed, the confiscated
property being seized by Government officials. The King, being a
zealous Protestant, aimed to root out the native Irish who were all
Catholic, hostile to his government and incessantly plotting against
it. Their places he intended to supply with people concerning whose
loyalty he had no doubt, the sturdy inhabitants of his own land,
Scotland. Encouraged and aided by the Government, these Scotch went in
great number across to the near Province of Ulster, and took possession
of the lands, which had been hitherto neglected and almost ruined by
their indolent occupants. They addressed themselves, at once, with
intelligence and industry, to reclaim the country and introduce a
higher material and social order of things. The counties of Antrim,
Armagh, Caven, Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, Monaghan and
Tyrone-names familiar to all intelligent Pennsylvanians-soon became
prominent because of the new blood and brains introduced.
Thus Protestantism was planted in Ireland. Its Scotch advocates,
like the Jews, have maintained a separate existence, refusing to
intermarry with their Irish neighbors. Protestant in religion, they
have steadily refused to unite with the Irish. Celtic in origin and
Roman Catholic in faith. This marked isolation has continued through a
period of more than 250 years.
In the succeeding reign of Charles I (1625-49), a spirit of
bitter retaliation was engendered, on the part of the native Irish,
against this foreign element, resulting in a most deplorable condition
of affairs. Incited by two ambitious and unscrupulous leaders, Roger
More and Philim O'Neale, the Irish Catholics began, October 27, 1741, a
massacre which continued until more than 40,000 victims were slaughtered.
Owing to these persecutions and others of similar nature during the
succeeding century, owing to the want of religious toleration by the
reigning powers, owing to their inability to renew their land rents
with satisfactory terms and owing to the general freedom offered them
by William Penn in his new American colony-free lands, free speech,
free worship and free government--these Scotch settlers left the north
of Ireland and came to America by thousands, where they are known as
Scotch-Irish.
According to Watson, these "immigrants did not come to Pennsylvania as
soon as the Germans," few, if any arriving prior to 1719. The first
arrivals usually settled near the disputed line between Maryland and
Pennsylvania. James Logan (an intelligent and influential
representative of the Penn government, and though of Irish extraction
thoroughly in sympathy with the Quaker principles) complains, in 1724,
to the proprietaries of these people as 'bold and indigent strangers"
because they had taken up lands near the disputed line without securing
proper authority from him as the representative of the Government. In
1725 he stated that at least 100,000 acres of land were possessed "by
persons (including Germans) who resolutely set down and improved it
without any right to it," and that he was "much at a loss to determine
how to dispossess them." In 1728, 4,500 persons, chiefly from Ireland,
arrived in New Castle. In 1729, Logan expressed his gratification that
parliament was "about to take measures to prevent the too free
emigration to this country," intimating that the prospects were that
Ireland was about "to send all her inhabitants hither, for last week not
less than six ships arrived." "It is strange," continued he, "that they
thus crowd where they are not wanted. The common fear is that if they
continue to come, they will make themselves proprietors of the
province." In 1730 he again complains of them as "audacious and
disorderly" for having, by force, taken possession of the Conestoga
Manor, containing 15,000 acres of the "best land in the country." Of
this they were, by the sheriff, subsequently dispossessed and their
cabins burned. About the same time, he says, in another letter, "I must
own, from my own experience in the land office, that the settlement of
five families from Ireland gives me more trouble than fifty of any
other people."
The captious spirit manifested by Logan against both German and
Scotch-Irish settlers, and especially the latter, and which was
subsequently shared, to some extent, by Peters, Dickinson and Franklin,
is readily accounted for by his fear of losing his position in the
Government, should any other than the Quaker influence prevail.
From 1730 to 1740 the influx was great. Settlements were commenced
in Cumberland (then Lancaster) County in 1730 and 1731, the Chambers
brothers having crossed west of the Susquehanna about that time. After
1736, during the month of September, in which year alone 1,000 families
are said to have sailed from Belfast, the influx into the Kittochtinny
Valley, west of the Susquehanna, increased rapidly; for in 1748, the
number of taxables, not counting the fifty Germans, was about 800.
Soon after the erection of Cumberland County (1750), "in
consequence of the frequent disturbances between the governor and Irish
settlers, the proprietaries gave orders to their agents to sell no lands
in either York or Lancaster counties to the Irish; and also to make to
the Irish settlers in Paxton, Swatara, and Donegal Townships
advantageous offers of removal to Cumberland County, which offers being
liberal were accepted by many."
Injustice has been done to the Scotch-Irish settlers of these early
days by two classes of writers: first, those who were actuated by
jealousy, as was Logan, in his inability to see good in any classes not
directly connected with the original Friend or Penn element; secondly,
those who have failed to study carefully the circumstances which
surrounded the Scotch-Irish immigrants in their settlements and conduct
toward the Indians. Under these circumstances we are not surprised to
hear Mr. Sherman Day, in his Historical Collections of Pennsylvania,
call them "a pertinacious and pugnacious race," "pushing their
settlements upon unpurchased lands about the Juniata, producing fresh
exasperation among the Indians." "As the result of this," he
continues, "massacres ensued, the settlers were driven below the
mountains, and the whole province was alive with the alarms and
excitements of war."
In reply to these serious charges, Judge George Chambers, in his
"Tribute to the Principles, Virtues, Habits and Public Usefulness of
the Irish and Scotch Early Settlers of Pennsylvania," a carefully
written and most admirable little book, enters a most emphatic protest.
Without attempting to present in detail the facts which enable his to
reach his conclusions, we give a brief summary of his argument:
Admitting the aggressive character of the early Scotch-Irish settlers
in pushing into the forests and occupying lands, the outrages and
massacres by the Indians were, nevertheless, not the direct result of
these encroachments, but a retaliatory protest against the unjust
manner in which their lands and hunting grounds have been taken from
them by so-called purchases and treaties with the government. By the
cession of 1737, the Indians were to convey lands on the Delaware to
extend back into the woods as far as a man can go in one day and a
half. By the treaty of Albany, in 1754, between the Proprietary of
Pennsylvania and the Six Nations, nearly all the lands claimed by them
in the province were ceded for the small sum of 400 Pounds. The
dissatisfaction produced by this cession, which the Indians claim they
did not understand, was fanned by the French into open hostility,
manifesting itself in the indiscriminate and wholesale devastation and
massacres following the Braddock campaign. The wrongs of the
government, and not the encroachments of a few daring settlers, it is
claimed by Mr. Chambers, produced these destructive Indian outrages.
Gov. Morris, in his address to the Assembly, on November 3, 1755,
clearly reminds them "that it seemed clear, from the different
accounts he had received, that the French had gained to their interest
the Delaware and Shawnese Indians, under the ensnaring pretense of
restoring them to their country."
The Assembly, in their reply to Gov. Denny, in June, 1757, say: "It
is rendered beyond contradiction plain that the cause of the present
Indian incursions in this province, and the dreadful calamities many of
the inhabitants have suffered, have arisen, in a great measure, from
the exorbitant and unreasonable purchases made, or supposed to be made
of the Indians, and the manner of making them - so exorbitant, that the
natives complain that they have not a country left to subsist in."
--Smith's Laws.
A careful study of these people clearly shows that, while they
were aggressive, they moved along the line of a higher civilization;
while they were firm in their convictions, they advocated the rights of
man to liberty of thought and action; while they cherished many of the
institutions and beliefs of the old country, they were intensely
patriotic and loyal to the new; and while they possessed what they
regarded the best lands, they were just in their dealings with the
untutored red man. These were the people who laid broad and deep the
foundations of social, educational and religious liberty in America.
The German immigrants, as a class, were hardy, industrious, honest
and economical, retaining, to a great extent, the prejudices,
superstitions, manners, language and characteristics of the fatherland.
Like the Scotch-Irish, their migration to America was the result of a
deprivation of certain religious rights in their native countries, and
a desire to improve their physical condition in the new world.
Like the Scotch-Irish, they, too, were Protestants, belonging to
different denominations: (1) The Swiss Mennonites were among the
earliest to come about the beginning of the last century, and settled
in the neighborhood of Philadelphia and at Pequea and other points in
what is now Lancaster County. They were orderly, honest, peaceable and
advocates of non-resistant or peace principles. (2) German Baptists
(Dunkards), Moravians, Seventh-day Baptists. (3) Lutherans and German
Reformed, the latter two constituting the great body of the arrivals,
and furnishing the aggressive elements of the new settlers. They came
later than the others and entered new fields.
Many of these early Germans, having first located in the State of
New York, were dissatisfied with the unjust treatment received at the
hands of the authorities, and therefore came to Pennsylvania. They
wrote messages to their friends in Europe, advising them to shun New
York and come direct to the province of Penn, which afforded superior
inducements.
Their arrivals in the province were, briefly: Henry Frey came two
years earlier than William Penn and one Platenbach a few years later.
In 1682 a colony arrived and formed a settlement at Germantown; and in
1684-85, a company of ten persons was formed in Germany, called the
Frankfort Land Company, of which F. D. Pastorius was appointed
attorney. They bought 25,000 acres of land from Penn, in addition to
other tracts. From 1700 to 1720, the Palatines, so called because they
sprang principally from the Palatinate in Germany, whither they had
been driven by persecutions in various parts of Europe, came in vast
numbers. They suffered great privations. In 1708-09, more than 10,000
went to England, where, in a sickly and starving condition, they were
cared for by the generous Queen Anne who, at an expense to herself of
£135,775, alleviated their sufferings in that country and assisted them
to come to New York and Pennsylvania. Their number was so great as to
draw from James Logan, secretary of the province of Pennsylvania in
1717, the remark: "We have, of late, a great number of Palatines
poured in upon us without any recommendation or notice, which gives the
country some uneasiness; for foreigners do not so well among us as our
own English people." In 1719 Jonathan Dickinson said: "We are daily
expecting ships from London, which bring over Palatines, in number
about six or seven thousand."
The arrivals from 1720 to 1730 were so numerous as to produce some
alarm lest the colony should become a German one. Says Rupp: "To
arrest in some degree the influx of Germans, the assembly assessed a
tax of twenty shillings a head on newly arrived servants; for as early
as 1722 there were a number of Palatine servants and Redemptioners sold
to serve a term of three or four years at £10 each to pay their freight."
From 1730 to 1740, about sixty-five vessels were filled with
immigrants , having with them their own preachers and teachers, landed
at Philadelphia, from which they scattered in various directions; many
of these located in York County.
From 1740 to 1755, more than a hundred vessels arrived, some of
them, though small, containing from 500 to 600 passengers. In the
summer and autumn of 1749, not less than 12,000 came. This period -
1740 to 1755 - witnessed many outrages upon the unsuspecting
passengers. Within the State were certain Germans known as neulaenders,
who, having resided in this country long enough to understand the
business, profited by the ignorance and credulity of their own people
abroad. Going to various parts of Germany and presenting the new world
in glowing colors, they induced, by misrepresentations and fraudulent
practices, many of their friends and kinsmen to sell, and in some cases
even to abandon their property and forsake their firesides in order to
reach this new land of promise. Many, starting with inadequate means,
were unable to pay their passage, and on arriving were sold for a
series of years as servants, to liquidate their claims. These were
called redemptioners or Palatine servants.
The number of Germans in Pennsylvania about 1755 was from 60,000
to 70,000. About nine-tenths of the first settlers of York County,
then including Adams, were Germans. The great influx into Cumberland
County which, with the exception of a few English, was settled almost
exclusively by Scotch and Scotch-Irish, began about 1770; though as
early as the period from 1736 to 1745, there were found in the
Conococheague settlements, the Snivelys, Schneiders, Piscackers,
Liepers, Ledermans, Haricks, Laws, Kolps, Gabriels, Ringers, Steiners,
Senseneys, Radebachs, Reischers, Wolffs, Schneidts, Rupp. Rev. Michael
Schlatter, a German reformed minister, in a letter dated May 9, 1748,
thus describes a visit through the valley: "On the Conogogig we
reached the house of an honest Schweitzer [supposed to be Jacob
Snively, of Antrim Township,] where we received kind entertainment
with thankfulness. In this neighborhood there are very fine lands for
cultivation and pasture, exceedingly fruitful without the application
of manures. Turkish corn (Indian maize) grows to the height of ten feet
and higher, and the grasses are remarkable fine. Hereabout, there still
remains a good number of Indians, the original dwellers of the soil.
They are hospitable and quiet, and well affected to the Christians
until the latter make them drunk with strong drink."
The original German has, by imperceptible changes, been gradually
transformed into a being very unlike the original, known as the
Pennsylvania Dutch. The latter has in him more of the democratic
spirit, which ignores the clannishness of the olden time and forms
friendships and alliances with people of other nationalities. The
dialect, Pennsylvania Dutch, is sui generis an anomaly in the domain of
language. Its possessor is a cosmopolitan, fond of social life,
ambitious and industrious, and in these latter days quite fond of
public office and other "soft places." He is destined to take the land.
The three original counties of Pennsylvania, established by William
Penn in 1682, were Chester, Philadelphia and Bucks. Chester County
included all the land (except a small portion of Philadelphia County,
southwest of the Schuylkill to the extreme limits of the State.
Lancaster County was formed and taken from Chester May 10, 1729; York
was taken from Lancaster August 9, 1749. Cumberland County remained a
part of Lancaster until it was itself erected a separate county,
January 27, 1750. Franklin County, the then southwestern part of
Cumberland, and known as the "Conococheague Settlement," was
established September 9, 1784. To understand the early history of this
country, the reader will need therefore, to bear in mind two facts:
1. Prior to January 27, 1750, its territory (with the exception
of Warren township) was found in the county of Lancaster.
2. From January 27, 1750 to September 9, 1784, it belonged to
Cumberland County. Since the latter date (September 9, 1784) it has had
a distinct organization of its own.
Long prior to Greeley's famous advice, "Go west, young man," or
Bishop Berkley's oft-quoted "Westward the course of empire takes its
way," the tide of migration was toward the setting sun. Since the race
began, the line of movement has been along the parallels, and in the
direction of the receding darkness. The early settlers of the
Kittatinny or Cumberland Valley came from the older eastern countries,
where they located soon after their landing on the Atlantic coast. No
record exists of those who may have wandered through this region on
prospecting or hunting tours, if any such adventurers ever did make
these hazardous trips. As early as 1719, John Harris had commenced a
settlement near the present site of Harrisburg, and for many years
afterward ran a ferry across the Susquehanna at that point known as
Harris' Ferry. On either side of the river were Indian villages, the
one where Harris lived being known as Peixtan or Paxtan. On the western
side of the river, at the mouth of the Conodoguinet, at the present site
of Bridgeport, and at the mouth of the Yellow Breeches, were three
Indians towns, at which trading posts were established. At the
last-named place, James Chartier, an Indian trader, had a store and
landing place. It is claimed by some that James Le Tort, one of these
traders, after whom the beautiful stream in Cumberland County was
named, lived at a very early period at a place called Beaver Pond, near
the present site of Carlisle.
What is now Cumberland County had settlements at various points
away from the river. Richard Parker and his wife settled three miles
north of Carlisle in 1724. His application at the land office in 1734
was for a warrant to land on which he "had resided ye ten years
past." George Croghan, an Indian trader, whose name occurs frequently
in early records, lived about five miles from the river on the north
side of the Conodoguinet. He owned tracts in various parts of the
county, a large one being north of Shippensburg. He did not cultivate
all these, but changed about as his convenience and trade demanded. He
was an Irishman of common education, and in later years lived at
Aughwick or Old Town, west of the North Mountains, where he was trusted
as an Indian agent. In the settlement commenced by James Chambers near
Newville, then known as Big Spring, a group of inhabitants, so numerous
as to form and support a religious society as early as 1738, was found,
consisting of David Ralston, Robert Patterson, James McKehan, John
Carson, John Erwin, Richard Fulton, Samuel McCullough and Samuel Boyd.
Robert Chambers, brother of the preceding, as well as of Benjamin, who
located at Falling Spring, formed a prosperous settlement near Middle
Spring, about two miles north of Shippensburg. At the same early date.
The first settlers were such men as Hugh and David Herron, Robert
McComb, Alexander and James Young, Alexander McNutt, Archibald, John
and Robert Machan, James Scott, Alexander Sterrett, Wm. And John Piper,
Hugh and Joseph Brady, John and Robert McCune, and Charles Morrow. In
asking that the State road, which was laid out in 1735-36 might be
directed through that neighborhood rather than through Shippensburg,
the petitioners claimed that theirs was the more thickly settled part.
By some (footnote: Historical discourse of Rev. S. S. Wylie at the
Centennial celebration in Middle Spring. This claim, however, is
incorrect. Blunston's license to Benjamin Chambers at Falling Spring
was dated March 30, 1734.) it is claimed that in the Middle Spring
settlement the first land in the Cumberland Valley taken under
authority of the "Blunston Licenses" (footnote: Samuel Blunston of
Wright's Ferry (now Columbia) was authorized by the proprietaries to
make a partial survey of land and to grant to settlers permission to
take up and improve, or continue to improve, such lands as they
desired, with the promise that a more perfect title should be given
them when the Indian claims should be extinguished. The Indians were
also assured that these claims would be satisfied as soon as the
pending Indian treaties should be completed. The first of these
licenses was dated January 24, 1733-34 and the last October 31, 1737.
Appended is a copy of one of these: "Lancaster County, ss.- By the
Proprietary: These are to license, and allow Andrew Ralston to continue
to improve and dwell on a tract of two hundred acres of land on the
Great Spring, a branch of the Conedoguinet, joyning to the upper side
of a tract granted to Randle Chambers for the use of his son, James
Chambers; to do hereafter surveyed to the said Ralston on the common
terms other lands in those parts are sold; provided the same has not
been already granted to any other person, and so much can be had
without prejudice to other tracts before granted. Given under my hand
this third day of January, Anno Domini 1736-7. Pennsylvania, ss. Sa.
Blunston.") and assigned to Benjamin Furley, was located. According to
the record in the county surveyor's office at Chambersburg, this tract,
embracing some 1094 acres and allowances, warranted December 18, 1735,
and surveyed April 15, 1738, was situated on the Conodoguinet Creek in
what was then Pennsborough Township, Lancaster County, but now
Southampton Township, Franklin County. It was subsequently occupied by
William, David, James and Francis Herron, William Young, and John Watt.
Where Shippensburg now stands, a settlement was made as early as
1730. In June of that year, according to Hon. John McCurdy, the
following persons came to that locality and built their habitations:
Alexander Steen, John McCall, Richard Morrow, Gavin Morrow, John
Culbertson, Hugh Rippey, John Rippey, John Strain, Alexander Askey,
John McAllister, David Magaw and John Johnston. They were soon followed
by Benjamin Blythe, John Campbell and Robert Caskey. From this
settlement ultimately sprang a village older than any other in the
Cumberland Valley. It was a distributing point for settlers, and hence
important, as will be shown by the following letter written therefrom:
(dated May 21, 1733)
Dear John: I wish you would see John Harris, at the ferry, and get
him to write to the Governor, to see if he can't get some guns for us;
there's a good wheen of ingns about here, and I fear they intend to
give us a good deal of troubbel, and may do us a grate dale of harm. We
was three days on our journey coming from Harrisses ferry here. We could
not make much speed on account of the childer; they could not get on as
fast as Jane and me. I think we will like this part of the country when
we get our cabbin built. I put it on a level peese of groun, near the
road or path in the woods at the fut of a hill. There is a fine stream
of watter that comes from a spring a half a mile south of where our
cabbin is bilt. I would have put it near the watter, but the land is lo
and wet. John McCall, Alick Steen and John Rippey bilt theirs near the
stream. Hugh Rippey's daughter Mary (was) berried yesterday; this will
be sad news to Andrew Simpson, when it reaches Maguire's bridge. He is
to come over in the fall when they were to be married. Mary was a verry
purty gerl; she died of a faver and they berried her up on rising groun,
north of the road or path where we made choice of a peese of groun for a
graveyard. She was the furst berried there. Poor Hugh had none left now
but his wife, Sam and little Isabel. There is plenty of timmer south of
us. We have 18 cabbins bilt here now, and looks (like) a town, but we
have no name for it. I'll send this with John Simpson when he goes back
to Paxtan. Come up Soon; our cabbin will be ready to go into a week and
you can go in till you get wan bilt; we have planted some corn and
potatoes. Dan McGee, John Sloan, and Robert Moore was here and left
last week. Remember us to Mary and the childer; we are all well. Tell
Billy Parker to come up soon and bring Nancy with him. I know he will
like the country. I forgot to tell you that Sally Brown was bit by a
snaik, but she is out of danger. Come up soon.
Yr. Aft. Brother, James Magraw.
The first settlement, in what is now Franklin County, was made in
1730, at Falling Spring, (now Chambersburg)-the confluence of the two
streams, Falling Spring and Conococheague-by Col. Benjamin Chambers and
his older brother, Joseph. Between 1726 and 1730, four brothers, James,
Robert, Joseph and Benjamin Chambers, emigrated from the country of
Antrim, Ireland, to the province of Pennsylvania. They settled and
built a mill shortly after their arrival, at the mouth of Fishing
Creek, in what is now Dauphin County, where they occupied a tract of
fine land. These brothers were among the first to explore and settle
the valley. James made a settlement at the head of Great Spring, near
Newville; Robert, at the head of Middle Spring, near Shippensburg, and
Joseph and Benjamin at Falling Spring, where Chambersburg now stands.
By an arrangement among the brothers, Joseph returned to supervise
their property at the mouth of Fishing Creek, and Benjamin remained to
develop the settlement at Falling Spring. He built a one-storied
hewed-log house which he covered with lapped cedar shingles secured by
nails-an innovation upon the prevailing style of architecture, which
consisted of round log structure covered with a roof of clapboards,
held in position by beams and wooden pins. Having completed this, the
finest residence in the settlement, he addressed himself to clearing
land, erecting necessary buildings and planning the future growth of
the colony. Some time after this, Benjamin had occasion to visit his
former homestead at Fishing Creek. Returning, he found his house had
been burned by some avaricious person for the "sake of the nails," which
were a rarity in those days.
Subsequently Mr. Chambers received what was then the only authority
for the taking up and occupying of land. The following is a copy of
the interesting instrument, which was a narrow strip of common writing
paper, the chirography on which would not stand the crucial test of
modern straight lines, ovals and right and left curves.
PENNSYLVANIA. SS
By order of the Proprietary. These are to License and allow
Benjamin Chambers to take and settle and Improve of four hundred acres
of Land at the falling spring's mouth and on both sides of the
Conegochege Creek for the conveniency of a Grist Mill and plantation.
To be hereafter surveyed to the said Benjamin on the common terms other
Lands in those parts are sold. Given under my hand this thirtieth day of
March 1734.
LANCASTER COUNTY SAMUEL BLUNSTON
A mill-wright by occupation, he at once erected a saw-mill and
subsequently a flouring-mill. These were both indispensable tot he
comfort and growth of the settlement, and were evidently heralded as
strong inducements for others to cast in their lot with this growing
colony. The saw-mill stood on what is known as the "Island," a few rods
northwest of where the woolen-mill now stands; the flouring-mill,
constructed mainly of logs, stood near the residence of its owner. It
was shortly destroyed by fire, but its place was occupied by a new one,
whose walls were made of stone.
BENJAMIN CHAMBERS was upward of twenty one years of age when he
settled at Falling Spring. His death occurring February 17, 1788, in
his eightieth year, he must have been born about 1708 or 1709. Shortly
after (1741), he married a Miss Patterson, residing near Lancaster, who
was the mother of his eldest son, James. She lived but a few years. In
1748, he married a second time, his choice being a Miss Williams, the
daughter of a Welsh clergyman living in Virginia. She bore seven
children, viz: RUHAMAH, married to DR. CALHOUN; WILLIAM; BENJAMIN; JANE,
married to ADAM ROSS; JOSEPH, GEORGE and HETTY, married to WM. M. BROWN,
ESQ.
He used his influence with his acquaintances to settle in his
neighborhood, directing their attention to desirable locations for
farms. He was early commissioned a justice of the peace, and later a
colonel of the militia organized. He served as a daysman to adjust many
controversies between his neighbors, and thus became a general counselor
in the community. During the controversy between LORD BALTIMORE and the
PENNS, concerning the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland, he
went to England to assist, by his evidence and advice, in the
adjustment of the difficulties involved. From England he went to
Ireland, his native soil, where he induced many acquaintances with
their families to remove to his new settlement.
In 1764 COL. CHAMBERS laid out the town of Chambersburg, whose
history is sketched elsewhere in this volume. The history of this
sturdy early settler is the history of the country and of the
commonwealth for more than half a century. From the time he landed at
the Falling Spring till his declining health rendered further activity
impossible, he was the acknowledged leader of the people in all civil,
military, and religious movements.
We have no means of determining the exact order of settlements in
other parts of the country.
In what is ANTRIM TOWNSHIP there must have been settlers as early
as 1734. In the JOHNSTON GRAVEYARD, near SHADY GROVE, is a tablet
bearing the name of JAMES JOHNSON, who died in 1765. "From documents
still extant," says the inscription "he settled on the land on which he
died as early as 1735 and was probably the first white settler in what
is now ANTRIM TOWNSHIP, Franklin County." He had two sons, JAMES and
THOMAS, both of whom were colonels in the Revolutionary war. About the
same time settlements were made near the present site of GREEN CASTLE,
by JOSEPH CRUNKLETON, JACOB SNIVELY, AND JAMES RODY. SNIVELY was the
progenitor of a large and respectable family, many of whom still live
in the township, concerning whom much will be said in the township and
biographical sketches. (Footnote: Some of the earliest warrants found
in the surveyor's office bear date as follows: 1737, JOHN MITCHELL.
DAVID McGAW; 1738, DAVID SCOTT, GEORGE REYNOLDS; 1740-42, DAVID
KENNEDY, HUMPHREY JONES; 1743-50, JOHN POTTER, SAMUEL MCPHERREN, JOHN
BROTHERTON, ROBERT WALLACE, WILLIAM MAGAW, THOMAS POE, GEORGE GIBSON,
WILLIAM SMITH, JACOB SNIVELY, WILLIAM ALLISON, ABRAHAM GABLE, and JOHN
DAVISON.
At that time the settlement in the county were known in the
aggregate as the "Conococheague Settlement." Owing to the peculiar
condition of land arrangements, settlers occupied certain tracts by
virtue of a sort of "squatter possession," each one choosing a site
according to his taste. Hence, families lived, often for a series of
years on tracts before they received proper legal authority for the
same.
On the west bank of the Conococheague, near the present site of
Bridgeport, in PETERS TOWNSHIP, settled WILLIAM McDOWELL in 1730 or
1731. He had a large family of sons and daughters, who became prominent
in the subsequent development of the country. The records of the
surveyor's office show that warrants for land were held in what is
PETERS TOWNSHIP, as early as 1737, by REV. JOHN BLACK and SAMUEL
HARRIS; 1738 ANDREW McCLEARY; 1742, HENRY JOHNSTON and JOHN TAYLOR;
1743, JAMES GLENN, WILLIAM BURNEY and JAMES McCLELLAN; 1744, ROBERT
McCLELLAN. By McCAULEY it is claimed that some of these were settlers
as early as 1730. They were mainly Scotch-Irish, as will be seen by the
names.
PATH VALLEY had early settlers, likewise. The records of the
surveyor's office show that SAMUEL BECHTEL had a warrant in what is now
FANNETT TOWNSHIP, for 176 acres, which bore date January 24, 1737, and
was surveyed the 24th of the following may by ZACH. BUTCHER, deputy
surveyor. At that time, it was in HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP, LANCASTER COUNTY.
The same records show that THOMAS DOYLE had a warrant in the same
region for 530 acres, dated November 29, 1737, and surveyed December 30
following. Neither of these men had neighbors immediately adjoining
them, showing the settlements to be sparse. Settlements must have been
made quite rapidly in the valley, notwithstanding its ownership by the
Indians; for in 1750 RICHARD PETERS, secretary of the commonwealth, in
a letter to the governor dated July 2, in which he gives an account of
the removal of certain citizens because of their encroachments on
interdicted territory, says: "On Wednesday, the 30th of May, the
magistrates (footnote: MATTHEW DILL, GEORGE CROGHAN, BENJAMIN
CHAMBERS, THOMAS WILSON, JOHN FINDLAY, AND JAMES GALBREATH, ESQS.,
justices of the county of CUMBERLAND. And company, under-sheriff of
Cumberland County, being detained two days by rain, proceeded over the
Kittochtinny Mountains, and entered into TUSCARA (TUSCARORA) PATH or
PATH VALLEY, through which the road to ALLEGHANY lies. Many settlements
were formed in this valley, and all the people were sent for and the
following persons appeared, viz: ABRAHAM SLACH, JAMES BLAIR, MOSES
MOORE, ARTHUR DUNLAP, ALEXANDER McCARTIE, DAVID LEWIS, ADAM McCARTIE,
FELIX DOYLE, ANDREW DUNLAP, ROBERT WILSON, JACOB PYATT, JACOB PYATT,
JR., WILLIAM RAMAGE, REYNOLDS ALEXANDER, SAMUEL PATTERSON, ROBERT
BAKER, JOHN ARMSTRONG, and JOHN POTTS, who were all convicted, by their
own confession to the magistrates, of the like trespasses with those at
SHERMAN'S CREEK and were bound in the like with all their families,
servants, cattle and effects, and having all voluntarily given
possession of their houses to me, some ordinary log houses, to the
number of eleven, were burnt to the ground, the trespassers, most of
them cheerfully and a very few of them with reluctance, carrying out
all their goods. Some had been deserted before and lay waste."
JOHN HASTIN was one of the early settlers on the line of LURGAN
and LETTERKENNY TOWNSHIPS. He may have radiated from SHIPPENSBURG as a
center. The statement of his survey, made by ZACH. BUTCHER, D. S.,
November 4, 1736, says: "By virtue of a warrant from the honorable
proprietaries, bearing date ________, I have surveyed and laid out unto
JOHN HASTIN, in the township of HOPWELL, in the county of LANCASTER, on
the west side of the Susquehanna River, six hundred and three acres of
land with allowance of six per cent." The warrant, it seems, though no
date is given, was of prior time. FRANCIS and SAMUEL JONES are
represented as neighbors.
JOHN REYNOLDS had a warrant for land, in what is now LURGAN
TOWNSHIP, dated October 6, 1738, and surveyed May 16,1743. His
neighbors at the time were ROBERT EDMONSON, SAMUEL REYNOLDS and EDWARD
SHIPPEN, ESQ. In what is now HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, warrants were issued in
1737 to MATTHEW PATTON and GEORGE LEONARD; in 1738 to DAVID BLACK and
SAMUEL MOREHEAD. Their neighbors at the time were SAMUEL JONES,
NATHANIEL NEWLINS, ROBERT PATTON, JAMES BROTHERTON, ADAM HOOPS,
BENJAMIN GASS, JAMES YOUNG, THOMAS MOREHEAD and THOMAS PATTERSON. In
MONTGOMERY, as it now exists, was PHILIP DAVIS in 1737; JAMES HARLAND
and JOHN DAVYRICH were his neighbors; in 1749 THOMAS EVANS, with DAVID
ALEXANDER, JOHN DAVIS and AARON ALEXANDER as neighbors; in 1743,
WILLIAM MAXWELL, with JOHN McLELLAND and ROBERT McCOY as neighbors; and
in same year, ROBERT CULBERSON, with WILLIAM and THOMAS DINWIDDY and
JAMES GARDNER as neighbors. About the same time, also, ALEXANDER BROWN,
THOMAS SELLERS, JOHN McCLELLAN, WALTER BEATTY, ALEX WHITE, WILSON
HALLIDAY and MARTHA HOWRY were settlers. In the present SOUTHAMPTON,
REV. JOHN BLAIN and THOMAS EDMUNDSON had warrants as early as 1743.
In ST. THOMAS were, 1738, THOMAS ARMSTRONG; in 1742, JOHN HOLLIDAY;
1743 and 1744, ROBERT CLUGADGE, JAMES CAMPBELL, GEORGE GALLOWAY,
MICHAEL CAMPBELL, WILLIAM CAMPBELL, GEORGE CUMING, JOHN McCONNELL,
SAMUEL McCLINTOCK, ROBERT RITCHEY.
In GREENE the oldest warrant found was that of JOSEPH CULBERTSON
in 1744. ALEXANDER CULBERTSON had one dated 1749. Their neighbors at
the time were JOHN NEAL, WILLIAM CARR, REUBEN GILLESPIE, JOHN STUMP.
This settlement was known as CULBERTSON'S ROW.
At the early period we have thus far borne in mind, Little Cove
seems not to have been settled, it being greatly exposed to Indian
depredations. As a rule, warrants date from 1755, the earliest one
found, to 1769, between which dates are found ENOCH WILLIAMS, REES
SHELBY, WILIAM SMITH, WILLIAM PINDELL, EVAN PHILLIPS, SAMUEL OWENS,
JAMES McCLELLAN, HUGH MARTIN, JOHN MARTIN, DAVID HUISTON, LEWIS DAVIS,
and DAVID BROWN.
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, it seems, was not settled so early as some of
the eastern and southwestern districts. It and QUINCY TOWNSHIP became
largely the homes of the Germans, who crossed South Mountain from YORK
and ADAMS COUNTIES. Warrants from 1743 to 1750 embrace MICHAEL LEGATE,
JOHN MARKLEY, JOHN MORHEAD, JAMES JOHNSTON, JACOB BEESECKER, EDWARD
NICHOLS, MICHAEL RAUMSAWHER, MATHIAS RINGER, JOHN STONER, JOHN STEINER,
JOHN SNOWBERGER, JAMES WHITEHEAD and JOHN WALLACE.
In QUINCY, between same dates, GEORGE COOK, WILLIAM PATRICK, JOHN
LEEPER, JAMES JACK.
It is much to be regretted that the names of these early pioneers,
who struggled so heroically against the wilds of the forest and the
depredations of the savages, have not been more carefully preserved. We
append, however, a list of taxable names in 1751 and 1752. From it may
be learned the general locations of these settlers:
TAXABLES' NAMES, 1751 and 1752
In ANTRIM TOWNSHIP - which embraced the territory now in ANTRIM,
WASHINGTON, and QUINCY TOWNSHIPS - the taxables' names were as follows:
William Allison
Widow Adams
Joshua Alexander
Thomas Brown
Jacob Batterly
William Brotherton
John Chambers
George Cassil
William Clark
William Cross
Joshua Coal
Josh. Crunkleton, Jr.
Peter Craul
John Crunkleton
William Dunbar
Thomas Davis
John Davies
Henry Dutch
David Duncan
William Erwin
Robert Erwin
James Finley
William Grimes
Nicholas Gulp
John Gyles
Lorance Galocher
Thomas Grogan
George Gordon
Abraham Gabriel
Paulus Harick
Robert Harkness
William Hall
Nath. Harkness
Christian Hicks
Robert Hamilton
Adam Hoops
James Jack
James Johnston
Peter Johnston
Henry Kefort
James Kerr
David Kennedy
Widow Leiper
Peter Leiper
Kath. Leatherman
Dietric Lauw
James Lilon
Thomas Long
William McGaw
Samuel McFaran
John Mitchel
William McAlmory
William Mearns
William McLean
George Martin
John Monk
John Moorhead
John McMath
William McBriar
David McBriar
James McBride
Josh. McFaran
David McClellan
James McClanahan
Hugh McClellan
Patrick McIntire
Arch. McClean
Samuel Monagh
William McClellan
John Moor
John McCoon
John McDowell
Alexander Miller
James McKee
Patrick McClarin
Edward Nichols
Thomas Nisbit
Jacob Pisacker
Thomas Patterson
John Pritchet
Thomas Poa
Henry Pauling
John Potter
James Paile
William Patrick
James Pattro
John Reynolds
William Rankin
William Ramsey
James Ramsey
John Roass
Mathias Ringer
Joseph Roddy
John Roal
Samuel Smith
John Scott
Robert Southerland
John Smith
James Scott
Daniel Scott
John Staret
Henry Stall
Jacob Snider
William Shanon
Jacob Snively
John Stoaner
Katharine Thomson
Anthony Thomson
Moses Thomson
Joseph Walter
John Willocks
John Wallace.
FREEMEN:
E. Alexander, Alex. Cook, W. Campbel, Jacob Gabrial, Hugh Galocher,
Adam Murray, Hugh McKee, Daniel McCoy, Daniel McCowan, Wm. McGaughey,
James McGowan, Joseph Morgan, James Ross, John Snively, Charles White,
James Young -128
In GUILFORD - including what is now CHAMBERSBURG -
John Anderson, Wm. Adams, Thomas Baird, George Cook, Benjamin
Chambers, Frederick Croft, Peter Coaset, James Crawford, Edward
Crawford, Mayant Duff, John Forsyth, Benjamin Gass, John Henderson,
James Jack, Patrick Jack, James Lindsay, John Lindsay, Charles McGill,
Wm. McKinney, John Mushet, John Nobel, William Nujant, John O'Cain,
Solomon Patterson, Robert Patrick, Nathaniel Simpson, Henry Thomson
Freemen:
Archibald Douglass, Henry Black, Alexander McAlister, Robert Uart, 31
In HAMILTON - which then included the present township of HAMILTON and
about one-half of the present township of ST. THOMAS -
Joseph Armstrong, Matthew Arthur, Josh. Barnet, James Barnet, Thomas
Barnet, Jr., James Boyd, Thomas Barnet, Andrew Brattan, John Blain, Wm.
Boal, Robert Barnet, John Campbell, Adam Carson, James Denny, Robert
Donelson, John Dixon, Matthew Dixon, John Eaton, Josh. Eaton, James
Eaton, Robert Elliot, Johnston Elliot, Wm. Eckery, John Galaway, James
Hamilton, John Hindman, Alex. Hamilton,
Edward Johnston, Patrick Knox, William McCord, Samuel McCamish, Samuel
Moorehead, Thomas Patterson, Joshua Pepper, George Reynolds, William
Rankin, John Swan, Widow Swan, Edward Thorn, Aaron Watson
Freemen;
Dennis Kease, Josh. McCamish, 42
In LURGAN - which then included the present townships of LURGAN,
LETTERKENNY, SOUTHAMPTON and GREEN -
Benjamin Allworth
James Allison
Thos. Alexander
Andrew Baird, Jr.
James Breckenridge
John Boyd
James Boail (or Boall)
James Boyd,
Laird Burns
Robert Boyd
Samuel Buckenstos
William Barr
William Baird (turner)
William Baird (at Rocky Spring)
John Burns
Francis Brain
William Breckenridge
Alexander Culbertson
Archibald Campbell,
Dennis Cotter
Joseph Culbertson
John Cessna
James Caldwell
John Crawford
John Cumins
James Culbertson
Nathaniel Cellar
Oliver Culbertson
Samuel Culbertson
Samuel Cochran
Steven Colwell
William Cox
William Cochran
William Chambers
David Carson
Wm. Devanner
Jacob Donelson
William Erwin
John Evans
John Erwin
Andrew Finley
John Finley, Sr.
John Finley, Esq.
John Finley (sawyer)
James Finley
Robert Finley
George Ginley
John Graham
Robert Gabie
Thomas Grier
William Greenlee
William Guthrie
John Grier
Arthur Graham
Isaac Grier
John Gaston
David Heron
Francis Heron
Gustavus Henderson
James Henderson
Joshua Henderson
James Henry
John Hawthorn
Christian Irwin
William Jack
Samuel Jordan
John Jones
Nathaniel Johnson
David Johnson
John Johnson
Thomas Jack
John Kirkpatrick
John Kirkpatrick, Jr.
John Kerr
John Kennedy
James Kirkpatrick
John Lowrie
John Leckey
James Lawder
Robert Long
Samuel Laird
William Linn
William Linn, Jr.
David Linn
Archibald Machan
Arthur Miller
Andrew Murphey
Alexander Mitchell
Alexander McNutt
Charles McGlea
David McCright
George Mitchell
Gavin Mitchell
Humphrey Montgomery
Henry Machan
John Miller Esq.
James McCamant
John McKeany
John McCall
James McCall
John McCrea
John McKee
John Mitchel
James Mitchel
John Mitchel, Jr.
John McCrea
John Machen
Joseph McKibben
John McNaught
John McCappin
John Montgomery
John McCombs
Machan McCombs
Mat. McCreary
Robert McConnel
Robert Miller
Robert Machan
Thomas McComb
Thomas Miner
William McConnell
William Mitchell
William McNutt
William McCall
Charles Murray
Joseph Mitchell
Andrew Neal
James Norrice
Thomas Neal
James Ortan
David Paxton
George Pumroy
James Patterson
Mr.______Riley (at Mr. Hoops')
John Rippie
Josiah Ramage
James Reed, Sr.
James Reed, Jr.
James Reed
Samuel Rippie
Wm. Reed
Robert Reed (cordwainer)
Charles Stewart
James Sharp
Robert Scott
Ranald Slack
William Turner
Alvard Terrence
Joseph Thomson
James Tait
Robert Urie
Thomas Urie
Abm. Wier
David Watson
Hugh Wier
Johnn Weyley
John Weir
James Waid
John Wilson
Nathaniel Wilson
Oliver Wallace
Wm. Withrow
Wm. Woods
Wm. Walker
Alexander Walker
William Young.
Freemen:
James Hawthorne, Morgan Linch, Geo. McKeaney, William Milrea, Charles
Moor, George Ross, John Tait -176.
In PETERS TOWNSHIP - which then included the present townships of PETERS
and MONTGOMERY, and that part of ST. THOMAS TOWNSHIP west of CAMPBELL's
RUN -
Daniel Alexander
Andrew Alexander
Wm. Armstrong
Hezekiah Alexander,
Adam Armstrong
Arthur Alexander
John Baird
James Blair
Alex. Brown,
Thomas Barr
Ann Black (widow)
Thomas Boal
Samuel Brown
Wm. Barnett,
Joshua Bradner
John Black
John Baird
James Black
Widow Brown,
Robert Barnet
David Bowel
John Blair
George Brown
Wm. Clark
Robert Clugage
Wm. Campbell
Michael Carsell
Samuel Chapman
Thomas Calhoun,
Michael Campbell
Robert Crawford
Patrick Clark
Wm. Campbell
Robert Culbertson
Charles Campbell
Thomas Clark
John Dickey
James Dickey,
Widow Donelson
Wm. Dunwood
John Docherty
Samuel Davis
David Davis,
James Davis
Widow Davis
Philip Davis
Joseph Dunlop
Arthur Donelson
David Davis
Nath. Davis
Josh. Davis
Thomas Davis
James Erwin
Widow Farier
John Flanaghin
James Flanaghin
Moses Fisher
James Galbreath,
John Gilmore
Widow Garison
Samuel Gilespie
James Galaway
Josh. Harris
John Harris
Jeremiah Harris
Charles Harris
Widow Huston,
James Holland
John Huston
John Hamilton
Joseph How
John Holyday,
Wm. Holyday
Wm. Hanbey
David Huston
John Hill
James Holiday
Alex. Hotchison
Mesech James
Hugh Kerrell
Wm. Lowrie
Henry Larkan
Wm. Maxwell
James Mitchell
John Morlan
John Martin
James Mercer
John Mercer
Wm. Marshall
Wm. Moor
Widow McFarland
Andrew Morison
John McDowell
Alex. McKee
Robert McClellan
Wm. McDowell, Jr.
Wm. McClellan
John McClellan
Andrew Moor
Wm. McDowell
James McConnell
Robert McCoy
Wm. McIllhatton
James McMahon
James Murphy
Wm. Morrison
James McClellan
Robert Newell
Victor Neely
James Orr
Thomas Orbison
Thomas Owins
Nathan Orr
Matthew Patton
John Patton,
Francis Patterson
David Rees
James Rankin
Alex. Robertson
Wm. Semple
James Sloan
Richard Stevens
Andrew Simpson
Wm. Shannon
Hugh Shannon
Widow Scott
Alex. Staret
Collin Spence
John Taylor
James Wright
Wm. Wilson
John Wilson
John Winton
James Wilkey
James Wilson
Matthew Wallace
Moses White
John Wasson
Joseph Williams,
John Wood
Joseph White
Thomas Waddle.
FREEMEN:
Robert Anderson, David Alexander, Robert Banefield, James Brown, James
Blair, Gavin Cluggage, James Carsswell, James Coyle, William Gueen,
Alex. Hutchison, Ed. Horkan, John Laird, Alex. McConnell, Samuel
Templeton, Wm. Tayler, James Wilson, James Wallace, Andrew Willabee,
Oliver Wallace, David Wallace - 162.
One of the complications in earlier times, along the southern
portion of the county, was the difficulty which settlers had in
determining whether their possessions were in Pennsylvania or Maryland.
This involved the famous Mason and Dixon's line.
This remarkable line, alluded to by political writers and
speakers through the whole period of our national existence, and even
anterior to it, is named in honor of its surveyors, and marks the
boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland. Since 1820, when John
Randolph was continually harping on the words "Mason and Dixon's Line",
as Felix Walker of North Carolina, was on "Buncombe," one of the
counties of his district, it has been the line of demarkation between
two distinct schools of politicians, the representatives of two
opposing sections of territory.
The original controversy between the States, thus lying side by
side, was waged with great spirit and varying results between the Lords
Baltimore and the Penn family, from 1682 to 1767. These various phases,
interesting and exciting in themselves, cannot here be given. The
reader is referred to the special works which trace the controversy. It
needs simply to be stated briefly that "on the 4th of August, 1763, the
Penns - Thomas and Richard, and Frederick Lord Baltimore, then being
together in London, agreed with Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, two
mathematicians and surveyors, to mark, run out, settle, fix and
determine all such parts of the circle, marks, lines and boundaries, as
were mentioned in the several articles or commissions, and were not yet
completed; that Mason and Dixon arrived in Philadelphia, November 15,
1763, received their instructions from the commissioners of the two
provinces, December 9, 1763, and forthwith engaged in the work
assigned them; that they ascertained the latitude of the southernmost
part of the city of Philadelphia (viz.: 39 degrees 56 minutes 29.1
seconds north - or more accurately, according to Col. Graham, 39
degrees, 56 minutes, 37.4 seconds), which was agreed to be in the north
wall of the house then occupied by Thomas Plumstead and Joseph Huddle,
on the south side of Cedar Street; and then, in January and February,
1764, they measured thirty-one miles westward of the city to the forks
of the Brandywine, where they planted a quartzose stone, known then,
and to this day, in the vicinage, as the star-gazer's stone; that, in
the spring of 1764, they ran, from said stone, a due south line fifteen
English statute miles, horizontally measured by levels, each twenty feet
in length, to a post marked 'west'; that they then repaired to a post
marked 'middle,' at the middle point of the peninsula; west line running
from Cape Henlopen to Chesapeak Bay, and thence, during the summer of
1764, they ran, marked, and described the tangent line agreed on by the
proprietaries. Then, in the autumn of 1764, from the post marked "west'
at fifteen miles south of Philadelphia they set off and produced a
parallel of latitude westward, as far as the river Susquehanna; then
they went to the tangent point, and in 1764-65, ran thence a meridian
line northward until it intersected the said parallel of latitude, at
the distance of five miles, one chain and fifty links - thus and there
determining and fixing the northeast corner of Maryland. Next in 17165,
they described such portion of the semi-circle around New Castle, as
fell westward of the said meridian, or due north line from the tangent
point. This little bow, or arc, reaching into Maryland, is about a mile
and a half long, and its middle width, 116 feet; from its upper end,
where the three States join, to the fifteen-mile point, were the great
Mason and Dixon's line begins, is a little over three and a half miles;
and from the fifteen-mile corner due east to the circle, is a little
over three-quarters of a mile - room enough for three or four good
Chester County farms. This was the only part of the circle which Mason
and Dixon ran."
In 1766-67, they continued the west line beyond the Susquehanna,
extending the same to the distance of 230 miles, 18 chains and 21 links
from the northeast corner of Maryland near to an Indian war-path, on
the borders of a stream called Dunkard Creek. The hostile attitude of
the Indians prevented Mason and Dixon from continuing the line to the
western boundary of Pennsylvania. The remainder of the line, less than
twenty miles, was subsequently run (1782) by other surveyors. The
portion run by Mason and Dixon was certified by commissioners November
9, 1768, as having been properly marked by stones distant one mile from
each other, every fifth mile-stone having on the north face the arms of
Thomas and Richard Penn, and on the south face the arms of Lord
Baltimore. These stones were oblitic rock, imported for the purpose
from England.
These surveyors were paid twenty-one shillings each per day for
services and expenses, from the time they came to this country till
they reached England. The amount paid by the Penns from 1760 to 1768
was £34,200 Pennsylvania currency.