USA > Maryland > Washington County > Leitersburg > History of Leitersburg District, Washington County, Md.: Including Its Original Land Tenure. > Part 3
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EARLY LAND TENURE AND SETTLEMENT.
Durboraw and Charles B. and Levi B. Wolfinger; the "steep hill" referred to in the patent for Deceit is therefore embraced princi- pally in the property of Jacob B. Stoner and the Forbush planta- tion doubtless included the adjacent meadows.
Joseph Perry purchased Deceit from John Darling in 1754. He secured a resurvey thereon, whereby its area was increased to 658 acres; the patent was issued on the 17th of February, 1761, and the tract received the name of The Resurvey on Deceit. It embraced, wholly or in part, the farms of Oliver F. Lantz, William H. Stevenson, Charles B. and Levi B. Wolfinger, C. L. G. Ander- son, Jacob B. Stoner, Mrs. Elizabeth Stoner, and others. This ex- tensive tract continued in Perry's possession until 1779, when he sold it to Daniel Hughes, from whom it was purchased by Benja- min and John Crockett of Baltimore. In 1783 they sold it to Martin Barr, of Lancaster County, Pa., by whom the improve- ments on the Anderson farm, the mill, etc., were built. In 1801 he sold 193 acres to John Stoner and in 1823 Daniel Winter pur- chased from Colonel John Barr 310 acres, embracing the Ander- son and Lantz farms, etc.
DARLING'S SALE.
Captain John Charlton was a contemporary of Forbush. His principal landed estate in Leitersburg District was the tract called Darling's Sale, which he purchased from John Darling, by whom its acquisition from the Proprietaries was initiated. The survey in Captain Charlton's favor was returned under date of February 1, 1739, and describes the tract as bounded by a line "Beginning at a bounded white oak standing on the southeast side of Little Antietam creek, near the plantation of one George Forbush." The patent was issued on the 14th of October, 1743. The area of the tract was 420 acres. It was situated in the vicinity of Mar- tin's school house and is now embraced in the farms of Daniel Durboraw, Curtis Fogler, John B. Newcomer, and others. After Captain Charlton's death it was divided into seven tracts of sixty acres each, which were apportioned by lot among his children.
In 1792 lots Nos. 4 and 6 became the subject of litigation. It was claimed by Richard Right that Thomas Charlton had leased to him for a term of ten years "part of a tract of land called Dar- ling's Sale, known and distinguished by lot No. 4, containing sixty
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HISTORY OF LEITERSBURG DISTRICT.
acres of land, forty whereof is arable land and twenty acres of woodland, and one other part of said tract of land called Darling's Sale, known and distinguished by lot No. 6, containing in the whole sixty acres of land, forty-five whereof is arable land and fif- teen in meadow, and also two dwelling houses, a barn, and malt-kiln," from which he was ejected by Poynton Charlton. For this he entered suit for damages; the case was tried at April term, 1794, resulting adversely to the plaintiff. Captain Charlton's descendants are still residents of Washington County, although the family name long since ceased to be familiar in the locality where its first representative settled more than a century and a half ago.
LAMBERT'S PARK.
George Lambert was also an early settler in close proximity to Forbush and Charlton. On the 18th of November, 1742, he se- cured a patent for two hundred acres of land under the name of Lambert's Park, the boundaries of which are described as "Begin- ning at a bounded white oak standing on the north side of a branch of Antietam near the mouth of a run that comes from Captain Charlton's and falls into the aforesaid branch." This tract is partly embraced in the lands of Joseph Martin, the heirs of Jacob E. Bell, and John Wishard. Lambert was also the original owner of several other tracts in this vicinity. His direct descendants resided in the District for several generations and are still represented at Hagerstown.
DOWNING'S LOT.
A short distance south of the present District line near the Hagerstown and Waynesboro turnpike stands a substantial stone house on the farm of Daniel N. Scheller inscribed in one of the gables with the date 1750. Here Robert Downing resided until his death in 1755. He had a hundred acres of land surveyed here in 1739, but his first acquisition appears to have been a tract of fifty acres, Downing's Lot, surveyed on the 1st of October, 1742, with a boundary "Beginning at a bounded walnut standing in a glade about a quarter of a mile from the said Downing's house." The patent was issued on the 13th of July, 1743. In the follow- ing year the tract was resurveyed and its area was increased to
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EARLY LAND TENURE AND SETTLEMENT.
319 acres. In the return of this survey the "beginning tree" is de- scribed as "standing in the marsh that leads from Captain Thomas Cresap's to Antietam creek." A second resurvey was made in 1754, by which the tract attained an area of 754 acres; the patent was granted on the 4th of April, 1755. It extended from the turnpike to Antietam creek at Trovinger's mill and embraced the site of Antietam church, one of the earliest places of worship in Washington County.
CHESTER.
Robert Downing was also the original owner of Chester, a tract of one hundred acres, for which he was granted a patent on the 23d of August, 1744. Its boundary began "at a bounded black oak tree standing on the east side of Antietam about a mile and a half below the sugar bottom"-evidently the same sugar bottom referred to in the survey of Neal's Bottom (1747). In 1752 it was resurveyed and enlarged to 388 acres. This tract includes the lands of Simon Clopper and others in the southern part of the District.
WELL TAUGHT.
George Poe was another of the pioneers of the District of whom but little is known beyond his name and the fact of his residence here. On the 10th of February, 1748, he secured a warrant for the survey of one hundred acres of land, the return of which was certified to the land office under date of July 4, 1749, and on the same day a patent was issued in his favor. The tract received the name of Well Taught and its boundaries are described as "Be- ginning at a bounded white oak standing on the east side of An- tietam near the creek and over against the said Poe's plantation." It is difficult to identify the site of Poe's plantation. Well Taught was subsequently embraced in Rich Barrens, an original tract patented to Peter Shiess; it was also adjacent to the Antietam on the west side and the only farms adjacent to the Antietam into which Rich Barrens enters are those formerly owned by Jo- seph and William Gabby and now by Hiram D. Middlekauff and the heirs of the late Joseph Strite. Here there are extensive meadows on the west side of the creek, and there can be little doubt that George Poe resided there in 1749.
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HISTORY OF LEITERSBURG DISTRICT.
THE RESURVEY ON WELL TAUGHT.
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After Poe had resided here about four years he conceived the design of extending his landed possessions a procedure by no means unusual at the period when large tracts were secured and held solely for speculative purposes and the only limit to indi- vidual acquisition was the ability to pay the nominal price re- quired by the provincial authorities. Accordingly, on the 16th of March, 1752, he secured a warrant for the survey of "some va- cant land" that he had discovered contiguous to Well Taught. Not having been executed within the time required the warrant was renewed on the 28th of August following, in pursuance of which twelve hundred acres of vacant land were added and the tract received the name of The Resurvey on Well Taught, with a total area of thirteen hundred acres. The patent was issued on the 14th of March, 1754. This tract embraced the site of Leitersburg; its principal extent was east and southeast of the vil- lage, although it also extended north as far as the mill that for- merly stood on the land of Samuel Martin.
That Poe secured this extensive tract for speculative purposes is shown by the fact that in the following year he disposed of eight hundred acres, nearly two-thirds of its area. The respec- tive purchasers were Michael Miller, 409 acres; William Hall, 115 acres; Michael Leatherman, 52 acres; Robert Hartness, 51 acres, and Christopher Burkhart, 173 acres; to all of whom deeds were executed on the 17th of March, 1755. Of The Resurvey on Well Taught the original owner eventually retained 362 acres, but be- fore disposing of this he initiated proceedings for a second re- survey. The first resurvey was principally cast of the Antietam; west of that creek he discovered an extensive tract of vacant land, for the survey of which he secured a warrant in 1761, but before completing the title he sold his landed interests here to Jacob Leiter. About this time he purchased land on Fishing creek in Frederick County, in which at a later date there was a a large connection of Poes near the town of Jefferson, although the family is no longer represented there.
George Hartle was a resident of Leitersburg District in 1760 and perhaps earlier; it was in 1760 that he purchased from Leatherman the fifty-two acres the latter had bought from Poe in
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EARLY LAND TENURE AND SETTLEMENT.
1755. By the acquisition of several original tracts and the pur- chase of others he owned at his death in 1776 350 acres of land, now embraced in the farms of Samuel Hartle, Henry and Freder- ick Hartle, and Alveh L. Stockslager. It is believed that he built and occupied the present dwelling house on the farm of Samuel Hartle. His descendants are more numerous in the District to- day than those of any other of its pioneer settlers.
In 1797 Jacob Miller purchased 162 acres of land, now em- braced in the farm of Samuel Hartle, part of which was formerly owned by Martin Hartle and constituted his part of his father's estate. Here Jacob Miller lived until his death in 1822. His son, Jacob Miller, from whom Miller's church derived its name, was born and reared here.
THE RESURVEY ON POE'S PART OF WELL TAUGHT.
In 1762 Jacob Leiter became a resident of the locality that per- petuates his family name. From George Poe he purchased 362 acres of land, embracing the site of Leitersburg, the Barkdoll and Summer farms, etc., and here he resided until his death two years later. It is not improbable that the oldest part of the present house on the farm of Joseph Barkdoll was built and occupied by him. Poe also assigned to Leiter his interest in a resurvey on Well Taught then pending; Leiter completed the title and se- cured a patent, which was issued in his favor, April 19, 1763. Nearly a thousand acres of vacant land were added, increasing the area of the tract to 1,294 acres. It was called The Resurvey on Poe's Part of Well Taught, and embraced some of the finest farms in the central part of the District, including, wholly or in part, those of the late David and Joseph Strite, Henry L. Strite, Noah E. Shank, William H. Kreps, John F. Strite, W. Harvey Hykes, Mrs. Mary A. Hykes, Henry M. Jacobs, John C. Miller, Edward M. White, and others.
Previous to his death Jacob Leiter had arranged for the sale of nearly a thousand acres of The Second Resurvey on Well Taught, and in his will he gave the following instructions to his executors: "I empower my executors to convey to the several [parties] hereafter named all that tract of land which was as- signed to me by George Poe according to the agreement and com- pact between the parties, viz., to Christian Leiter, Jacob Good,
32
HISTORY OF LEITERSBURG DISTRICT.
John Reiff, Jacob Ritter, Philip Reinall, and to Henry Fore." Accordingly, in October, 1765, Andrew Hoover and John Reiff, the executors referred to, deeded to Christian Leiter 107 acres, to Jacob Good 145, to John Reiff 144, to Jacob Ritter 216, to Philip Reinall 119, and to Henry Fore 233. Another clause of Jacob Leiter's will read as follows: "I give and bequeath unto my two youngest sons, Jacob Leiter and Peter Leiter, the place of land whereon I now live, containing 362 acres more or less." Thus the extensive landed estate of the testator was divided among nearly a dozen individuals the year after his death.
Christian Leiter's land was northwest of Leitersburg on the Greencastle road. In 1793 he sold it to Michael Wolfinger, a native of Germany, who located here and was engaged in farming, dis- tilling, blacksmithing, and hotel-keeping until his death in 1816. He has numerous descendants in the District.
Jacob Ritter's part of the Leiter lands is now embraced prin- cipally in the farms of Henry M. Jacobs and Mrs. Mary A. Hykes. On the line between these two farms is a well, referred to in old deeds as "Jacob Ritter's well." The line of division was run across the well in order that the occupants of both farms might have access to it. Here Jacob Ritter resided until his death in 1804.
Henry Fore's purchase of 233 acres was embraced in Collier's Amendment, a tract of 448 acres granted by patent to Frederick Nicodemus, October 8, 1768. In 1779 Nicodemus also pur- chased Reinall's part of the Leiter lands.
ALLAMANGLE.
Peter Shiess was an extensive land owner in Leitersburg Dis- trict at the period to which this chapter relates. His first acqui- sition was Allamangle, a tract of one hundred acres, for which he secured a warrant, August 22, 1750. The boundaries are de- scribed as "Beginning at a bounded wild cherry tree near a marked rock about three poles from Antietam creek on the west side thereof." This tract is principally embraced in the farm of Lewis Lecron, although it also included the channel of the creek for some distance above the mill that formerly stood on the land of Samuel Martin. In the patent, which was granted October 9, 1752, Shiess is described as "a German Protestant." There can
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EARLY LAND TENURE AND SETTLEMENT.
be little doubt that he became a resident of the District at this time, as he is known to have resided here for many years.
ALL THAT'S LEFT.
The area of this tract was 597 acres; it was granted to Peter Shiess by original patent, May 4, 1765, and adjoined The Resur- vey on Well Taught.
In 1767 two brothers, Peter and Anthony Bell, purchased land from Shiess, the former 248 acres, the latter 105 acres, parts of All That's Left. Peter Bell's land is embraced principally in the farms of Joseph M. Bell and Daniel S. Wolfinger; Anthony Bell's, in that of the heirs of John Eshleman. Anthony Bell resided here until his death in 1812; Peter Bell died at Hagerstown in 1778. He was a member of the County Committee of Safety in 1776.
RICH BARRENS.
The most extensive tract acquired by Peter Shiess was Rich Barrens, the area of which was 1,154 acres. The warrant for its survey was issued on the 4th of May, 1765; the patent, April 27, 1767. The preamble to the latter instrument states that he "was seized in fee of and in a tract or parcel of land called Well Taught, * originally on the 4th day of July, A. D. 1749, granted unto a certain George Poe for one hundred acres," contiguous to which he had discovered some vacant land, etc. Rich Barrens included, wholly or in part, the farms owned by Mrs. Abraham Strite, the heirs of Joseph Strite, John S. Strite, Franklin M. Strite, Daniel Hoover, Mrs. Martha H. Leiter, Daniel W. Martin, and others; it also extended into Pennsylvania, where it enters into the farms of Henry Barkdoll, Upton W. Harshman, and Joseph Shank.
In 1770 Shiess sold 713 acres to Dr. Henry Schnebley, who gave to his purchase the name of The Forest. Several years later he sold two hundred acres to Philip Boyer, from whom it was purchased by Daniel Mowen; in 1777 this land was bought by Henry Schriver, who located thereon in August of that year. It was part of the agreement between them "that the said Daniel Mowen and family have free privilege to live in the dwelling house on said premises with the said Henry Schriver and family, and likewise enjoy the full use of his own property and equal share of stabling for and until the 1st day of April, which shall
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HISTORY OF LEITERSBURG DISTRICT.
be in the year of our Lord 1778, the summer crops, viz., oats, corn, and hay, to be divided between the said parties hereunto, share and share alike." Three generations of Schrivers, each bearing the surname of Henry, successively resided upon the land thus purchased. It is now embraced principally in the farm of Mrs. Martha H. Leiter.
Dr. Schnebley sold 142 acres to Abraham Leiter in 1774, re- serving "liberty to himself or any other person whatsoever, they, their heirs, or assigns forever to have liberty and a free passage to go and carry water of and from the spring or well now situated in the above mentioned land sold by the above Henry Schnebley, Sr., to the above named Abraham Leiter whatever is useful and necessary for the people that live at present or any other people that possess the land whereon Philip Boyer now lives on thence- forth forever; providing always that they all every one of them do no other damage or hurt to said Abraham Leiter's land and to said spring or well than carry off water for the use of their family and cattle in the summer time or when the water is low and do not run that they may have recourse by a path to said spring or well." This reservation shows the importance attached to run- ning water. The well referred to is situated on the farm of Franklin M. Strite, which embraces a large part of the land sold by Schnebley to Leiter. The latter sold it in 1782 to Melchoir Beltzhoover from whom it was purchased in 1792 by Henry Schriver, who devised it by will to his son John. Among the sub- sequent owners were George Shiess, Frederick Bell, John Horst, and Henry Funk.
That part of The Forest between the Schriver farms and Ja- cobs church was sold in 1800 by Dr. Schnebley to Albertus Haf- ner, who had probably resided thereon as tenant for some years previously. John Simpson owned this land from 1809 to 1814, when he sold it to Samuel Garver, who resided there until 1832; he then removed to Greene Township, Franklin County, Pa., where his descendants now live. This land is now owned by Daniel Hoover.
PERRY'S RETIREMENT.
Joseph Perry was also the original owner of a tract of one hun- dred acres near Leitersburg, to which he gave the name of Perry's
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EARLY LAND TENURE AND SETTLEMENT.
Retirement. The patent was granted on the 29th of September, 1755. In the following year he sold this tract to William Hall and Robert Hartness in equal parts. In 1762 Hall sold 166 acres (116 from The Resurvey on Well Taught and fifty from Perry's Retirement) to Jacob Leiter, who devised it by will to Peter Good, the husband of his daughter Anna, from whom it was pur- chased in 1769 by John Gabby. He resided here for a number of years and eventually acquired a landed estate of several hun- dred acres, which was subsequently owned by his sons, William and Joseph. The Gabby lands are now owned by Hiram D. Mid- dlekauff, John A. Bell, C. C. Hollinger, and the estate of the late Joseph Strite.
HUCKLEBERRY HALL.
Huckleberry Hall was originally surveyed for Daniel Dulany, December 5, 1742, but before completing the title he died. The patent was granted to Jacob French, September 29, 1759; its area was one hundred acres, the boundary of which was described as "Beginning at a bounded white oak standing by the side of Forbush's branch, a draught of Antietam creek." The next owner was John Schnebley, from whom this tract with other ad- jacent land aggregating 240 acres was leased by Jacob Good in 1770. It was specified that at the expiration of the lease "There will be left with the place all buildings such as it is at present, with all the improvements; likewise the table and benches in the house; also two bedsteads, with divers household goods, the iron stove excepted." The value of all "building, clearing, ditching, or damming the water" done by Good was to be appraised by four men. In 1772 he purchased the entire tract. Here he resided from 1787 until his death in 1797. Huckleberry Hall was subse- quently owned by the Barrs and Winters and is now embraced partly in the farm of C. L. G. Anderson.
DRY SPRING.
Frederick Fogler was the original owner of Dry Spring, a tract of 129 acres principally embraced in the farm of John S. Strite near New Harmony school. His patent was granted on the 26th of August, 1762. That he actually resided here is shown by a deed executed in his favor in 1770 by Peter Shiess for fifty-three
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HISTORY OF LEITERSBURG DISTRICT.
acres, part of Rich Barrens, the boundary of which is described as "Beginning at the beginning tree of a tract of land called Dry Spring, being the land whereon the said Frederick Fogler now lives." The "dry spring" has been identified as a shallow well near Mr. Strite's house, and in all probability Fogler's improvements were in the immediate vicinity. He sold this property in 1778 to John Johnson, from whom it was purchased in 1780 by Philip Snell. He resided here until his death in 1789 and devised the property by will to his son Henry, by whom it was sold in 1797 to John Strite, formerly of Lancaster County, Pa., the ancestor of the Strite family of Leitersburg District. It has since contin- ued in possession of his descendants.
BURKHART'S LOT.
Christopher Burkhart has been mentioned as the purchaser of land from George Poe in 1755, the boundary of which is described as "Beginning at the beginning tree of the tract of land the said Burkhart now lives on," which shows that he was a resident of the District at that date. Here he built one of the first mills, the site of which is now marked by the ruins of a similar structure on the property of Samuel Martin. He resided there in 1755, as evi- denced by the patent for Hunt for Timber, a tract now embraced in the farm near Rock Forge owned by the heirs of John Eshle- man; the original boundary of this tract was surveyed in 1755 and is described as "Beginning at a bounded black oak standing on the north side of a hill on the east side of Great Antietam about one mile above Christopher Burkhart's."
In 1759 Burkhart secured a patent for Neal's Bottom, a tract originally surveyed in 1747, the boundary of which began "at a bounded Spanish oak standing on the hillside on the west side of Antietam * * * two miles above the sugar bottom." This tract, as well as his purchase from Poe, was included in Burkhart's Lot, the area of which was 638 acres; the patent was issued in his favor, September 29, 1764. It embraced, wholly or in part, the lands now owned by Samuel Martin, Benjamin F. Baker, Isaac Needy, Daniel Oller, Joseph Wishard, Mrs. Margaret Leather, C. C. Hollinger, Upton Clopper, Henry Martin, and Im- manuel and Kate E. Martin.
That part embraced in the farms of Upton Clopper and Henry
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EARLY LAND TENURE AND SETTLEMENT.
Martin was purchased from Burkhart in 1768 by Nicholas Shafer, who sold it in 1785 to Henry Solmes. He resided here until his death in 1799 and left two daughters, Catharine and Margaret. The former married John Mentzer, who received that part of her father's estate embraced in the Martin farm, where he lived until his death; the latter married Andrew Bell, who thus acquired the Clopper farm, and resided thereon until 1834.
In 1765 John Scott purchased sixty-one acres from Burkhart; in 1770 he secured a resurvey thereon with an area of 298 acres, designated in the patent as The Resurvey on Part of Burk- hart's Lot. The boundary is described as "Beginning at a bounded white oak standing on the north side of Tipton's run, it being the beginning tree of a tract of land belonging to George Lambert." Tipton's run is the stream that crosses the Smiths- burg road near Martin's school house. A part of this resurvey with considerable adjacent land was acquired prior to 1792 by Peter Stotler, who lived near Little Antietam at the present resi- dence of John B. Barkdoll, where he died in 1835. In 1773 the larger part of Scott's resurvey (223 acres) including the site of Bowman's mill, the farms of Immanuel and Kate E. Martin, etc., came into possession of Christian Hyple, who probably resided thereon during the Revolution. After him the successive own- ers were Abraham Stouffer, Jacob Gilbert, and Abraham Moyer.
A short distance down the creek from Bowman's mill stands a substantial stone house, in one of the gables of which is this inscription: "H. B. Hockman, 1803." This property is now owned by the heirs of the late Henry G. Clopper. Hockman purchased it in 1785 from Casper Swenk and resided here until his death, May 29, 1813. In the deed to Hockman the land is described as part of three original tracts, viz., The Resurvey on Part of Burkhart's Lot, Little Valley, and Chaney's Choice. It is probable that Swenk resided here before Hockman. He pur- chased Little Valley in 1771 from John Lambert of Augusta County, Va.
After disposing of about two hundred acres from Burkhart's Lot the original owner had the remainder resurveyed under the name of Burkhart's Establishment, for which he was granted a patent on the 11th of April, 1794. Its area was 440 acres, now embraced principally in the lands of Benjamin F. Baker, Samuel Martin, Daniel Oller, Isaac Needy, and Joseph Wishard.
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