USA > Pennsylvania > Cumberland County > Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of the Nineteenth Congressional District, Pennsylvania > Part 1
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND PORTRAIT
CYCLOPEDIA
OF THE
Nineteenth Congressional District PENNSYLVANIA
CONTAINING
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS OF THE DISTRICT
TOGETHER WITH AN
INTRODUCTORY HISTORICAL SKETCH
EDITED BY
SAMUEL T. WILEY, Esq.,
Author of Histories of Niagara and Washington Counties, New York; Preston and Monongalia Counties, West Virginia; Somerset, Middlesex and Mon- mouth Counties, New Jersey; Pensacola City, Florida; and Fay- ette, Westmoreland, Blair, Indiana, Armstrong, Schuyl- kill, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties, Pennsylvania.
23350 Storage
FIRST EDITION.
PHILADELPHIA : C. A. RUOFF COMPANY, 1897.
PRESS OF YORK DAILY, YORK, PA.
157 A18 W5
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PREFACE.
H ISTORY and biography-the life of the nation and the story of the indi- vidual-are inseparably connected, for history is the synthesis of biog- raphy and biography is the analysis of history. That department of his- tory to which is accredited most value for the intelligent study of national life is biography, because it affords the most potent means of historical generalization.
Biographical history is now popular because important. It secured national recognition in the Centennial year of the American Republic, when Congress recom- mended to every city, town and county of the United States the necessity and duty of securing for preservation and future use their local history and the biographies of their prominent and worthy citizens. Biography teaches the highest good by pre- senting worthy examples, has become an indispensable element of all branches of history and largely aids in the study of social philosophy. In its earlier stages of growth, biography was only the story of the lives of heroes and great men often but partly and partially told, but in its later development it is the more impartial and satisfactory record of the influential, the deserving and the useful men and women in every walk of life. It also preserves the names of thousands remarkable for wisdom, virtue, intelligence and ability, who only lacked opportunity to have won something of fame and distinction.
History and biography have ceased to be ponderous and pompous; have ceased to be the story of monarchy and the record of kings, and are now the life of the nation through the chronicle of individual effort. The old idea that the history of a country is contained in the records of its kings and conquests is being supplanted ; the real history of a country or a State or a community is a history of its people, their fortunes, enterprises, conditions and customs. To the last quarter of a century we are indebted for the introduction of the admirable system of local biography, through the medium of which the present generation is enabled to leave a record that will be perpetuated while books last and men read. Surely and rapidly our common progenitors are passing to their graves. The number remaining who can relate the incidents of the first days of settlement is becoming small indeed, so that an actual necessity exists for the collection and preservation of personal records
4
PREFACE.
without delay. It is imperative that we perpetuate the names of these pioneers- their struggles, their obstacles, their fortunes and the story of their progress. No less important is a chronicle of the lives of those persons who have impressed them- selves upon their respective communities, whether through philanthropic, profes- sional, industrial, political or civic relations. The civilization of our day, the enlightenment of the age, and the duty that men of the present time owe to their ancestors, to themselves and to their posterity, demand that such a record be made.
The foregoing principles and sentiments form the principal justification for the following pages. Whatever of merit they contain is due to the plan and purpose of the work satisfactorily consummated; whatever of failure to meet our fullest ex- pectations, is due to the lack of intelligent cooperation which inust in every instance be accorded in order to produce the highest results.
The Nineteenth Congressional District occupies an important and honorable position in the Keystone State and demands the best work upon the part of historian, biographier and publisher. Neither time, labor nor expense have been spared in the preparation of this volume, and it is placed before the public with the belief that it will be found equal to any work of similar character published in the State. No originality is claimed either in plan, method or material, but a judicious re-arrange- ment of much valuable historical and biographical data it is hoped will meet with a fair, if not hearty, commendation.
The geology and mineralogy given is taken largely from the volumes of the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania ; for the historical chapters as well as for a number of historical biographies the excellent histories of York county, edited re- spectively by Hon. John Gibson and Hon. Adam J. Glossbrenner have been freely consulted; the recent histories of Cumberland and Adams Counties have likewise contributed their share. For special contributions the publishers are indebted to Prof. Charles F. Himes, Ph. D., John A. Hoober, Esq., Prof. E. S. Breidenbaugh, Sc. D., Bennett Bellman, Esq., and Dr. J. C. Davis.
Produced by a vast amount of careful and diligent labor, the Cyclopedia sup- plies a general and permanent want, and contains no information that will become obsolete through the advance of knowledge. It seeks to preserve all of value in the past and yet includes the contemporary actors who are performing the work and inoulding the present thought of their respective communities in the various lines of progress and development.
THE PUBLISHERS.
HISTORICAL SKETCH
OF THE
Nineteenth Congressional District, PENNSYLVANIA.
CHAPTER I.
GEOGRAPHY-TOPOGRAPHY-GEOLOGY-MINERALOGY-BOTANY-ZOOLOGY-POLITICAL DIVISIONS-NATURAL RESOURCES.
Geography. The present Nineteenth Congressional district of Pennsylvania, consisting of the counties of Cumberland, Adams, and York, is situated in the south- ern part of the State, and lies between the thirty-ninth and forty-first parallels of north latitude, and the seventy-sixth and seventy-eighth meridians of west longitude from Greenwich, England, or the first mer- idians of east and west longitude from Washington city As the nineteenth of the twenty-eight Congressional divisions of Pennsylvania, this district is bounded on the north by Perry and Dauphin coun- ties of the Fourteenth district; on the east by Lancaster county constituting the Tenth district; on the south by Harford, Baltimore, Carroll and Frederick counties, Maryland; and on the west by Franklin county of the Eighteenth Congressional district. The Nineteenth Congressional contains two thousand six (2006) square niiles of area, while its geographical center
is south of York Springs in Adams and its center of population near York in York county. It comprises the Twenty-eighth and Thirty-second senatorial, and the Ninth, Nineteenth and Forty-second judi- cial districts, and is entitled to eight repre- sentatives; two from Cumberland, two from Adams and four from York county. It is a part of the Second and Seventh State normal school districts, York county being in the former and Cumberland and Adams in the latter district.
Topography. The Ninteenth district lies in the western part of the great Atlantic plain and stretching fifty miles westward from the Susquehanna to the Blue or Kittatinny mountains, is divided by the South Mountain of the Blue Ridge chain into a northern part embraced in the far-famed Cumberland valley and a larger southern part consisting of alternate hills and valleys. The northern part consti- tutes the county of Cumberland, while the
6
BIOGRAPHICAL AND PORTRAIT CYCLOPEDIA.
southern part is divided into the counties of York and Adams.
Cumberland county lies between the North and South mountains and in the Cumberland valley which is a part of the great limestone valley extending from Canada through New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Ten- nessee to Alabama. The north or Kitta- tinny mountain, whose Indian name of Kautatinchunk signifies "endless moun- tains," like a vast wall of regular height makes the northern boundary of the county and extends from northeast to southwest with a few gaps through which highways have been constructed to northward coun- ties. The South Mountain, the northern terminus of the Blue Ridge of Virginia, bounds the county on the southeast. Between these mountain boundaries lies the valley which comprises the larger part of the county and whose surface is gener- ally undulating except along some of the streams where it is more or less broken.
York county the eastern and larger divi- sion of the southern part, has a hilly but not mountainous surface. From the South Mountain range, a spur is thrown off across the northern part of the county and southeast along the Susquehanna, where it is known as Priest's Hills or Haldeman's Mountains, and having the Hellam River Hills south of it. Further southward are several outlying or isolated ridges, the principal of which are the Conewago Hills extending toward York Haven, and the Pidgeon Hills terminating within eight miles of York. In the southeastern part are several slate ridges, one of which, the Martic Ridge, crosses the Susquehanna river from Lancaster county, and extends westward to Jeffersonville. Numerous beautiful and fertile valleys lie between these ridges and along most of the creeks and runs.
Adams county, the western and smaller division of the southern part of the Nine- teenth Congressional district, is moun- tainous in the extreme western and north- ern parts, but rolling and level in the re- mainder of the county. Southward from the South Mountains are the Conewago Hills in the extreme east, and the Pidgeon Hills in the southeastern part.
The drainage of the district with the ex- ception of the southern part of Adams county, is to the east and into the Susque- hanna by means of five arteries: Conedo- guinet, Yellow Breeches, Conewago, Co- dorus and Muddy creeks. The southern part of Adams is drained by Marsh Creek, and Cumberland county has its drainage to the northeast by Conedoguinet in the northern part and Yellow Breeches in the southern part, while York county is drained in the northern part by Yellow Breeches creek, and contains three entire drainage or water basins within its boundaries-Con -- ewago and Codorus creek basins depressed to the northeast and Muddy creek basin to the southeast.
The soil of the district consists princi- pally of limestone, red sandstone and slate varieties. The limestone lands extend through the central parts of Cumberland and York counties and the eastern part of Adams county; the red lands comprise the northern part of York and the northern and central parts of Adams counties, and the slate lands constitute the northern part of Cumberland, and the southern parts of York and Adams counties.
From different parts of the North and South Mountains beautiful and extensive views can be obtained. From the crest of the historic Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg a grand natural panorama spreads out be- fore the spectator over the Marsh Creek valley horizon bound to the west by the South Mountain wall. Another beautiful
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NINETEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
view is obtained in Adams county from a mountain near Caledonia Springs. In York county, Round Top, rises one thous- and one hundred and ten feet above sea level and from its summit the visitor can gaze into several counties of the State of Pennsylvania and Maryland. Limestone regions contain many caves, some of which are noted for size, depth or beauty. The most extensive caves so far discovered in the Nineteenth district are two on the banks of the Conedoguinet creek in Cum- berland county, the one, a mile north of Carlisle, has been explored for some five hundred feet, and the other, two miles north of Greason, consists of several rooms over fifteen feet in height and abounds in stalactites.
The average elevation of the Nine- teenth district above ocean level is placed approximately at 500 feet. In the northern district, or Cumberland county, we have the elevations of the following places along the Cumberland Valley railroad furnished by J. B. Dougherty, of Chambersburg: Mechanicsburg, 436 feet; Dillsburg Junc- tion, 427; South Mountain Junction, 533; Carlisle, 477; Newville, 533; and Shippens- burg, 654. In the southern part of the district some of the Adams county levels are: Conewago bridge, 546; Littlestown, 619; Bridge, 623; State Line, 540; above mean tide at Baltimore and Gettysburg, 535 feet; Cashtown, 800; Rock Top, 1012; Newman's, 1355; Hilltown, 780; Graeffen- burg, 1020; Caledonia Springs, 1450; and highest point on South Mountain, near Caledonia Springs, 2110; while of the num- erous elevations of York county above mean tide at Philadlephia, the following are given: York, 385 feet; Hanover, 601, Emig's Mills, 550; Dillsburg, 540; Lewis- berry, 601 ; Logansville, 734; Jefferson, 600; Franklintown, 580; Wellsville, 489; Longs- town, 637; Innersville, 680; Rossville, 501;
Mount Royal, 547; Dover, 431; Wrights- ville, 257; Hellam, 348; Spring Forge, 455; Glennville, 701 ; Delta, 435; Muddy Creek Forks, 366; Red Lion, 900; Dallastown, 657; Spring Garden, 431; Brogueville, 478; York Haven, 291 ; Goldsboro, 304; Mount Wolf, 376; New Freedom, 827; Hanover Junction, 422; Conewago Hills, highest point, 800; and Round Top, IIIO.
Geology. Not alone of interest to the student is the physical history and growth of the earth, for it is a subject of great importance alike to the farmer, the miner and the manufacturer. ,Although the geolo- gist in his line of work has need of aid from the botanist, the zoologist, the chemist the mineralogist and the mathematician, yet he requires no special preparation and has no use for expensive apparatus Althoughi the subject of geology looks difficult to the general reader, yet it needs but common sense, observation and the common names of its Greek and Latin nomenclature, to render the greater part of the science plain and useful. A practical everyday knowl- edge of geology would save many a farmer expensive experiments for enriching the soil; would prevent the manufacturer from erecting a costly plant near mineral beds in formations that never carried them to any extent ; and would save the miner from sinking a mineral shaft in a class of rocks which never yield paying minerals.
Geology like all other sciences has been progressive, and the early classification of Primary, Secondary and Tertiary groups of rocks, was found to be defective. Succes- sive attempted classifications of the age of the rocks by their order of superposition and their mineral characters failed, and then came the present division of the rocks according to the fossils or the types of life they exhibit as compared with our present orders of life. The classification most gen- erally accepted now is as follows:
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND PORTRAIT CYCLOPEDIA.
GROUPS OF ROCKS. SYSTEMS OF STRATA.
ERAS OF TIME. GEOLOGICAL AGES. ZOOLOGICAL AGES.
IV. Neozoic,
Tertiary,
§ Quarternary, Age of Man. Age of Mammals.
III. Mesozoic,
( Cretaceous, Jurassic,
Age of Reptiles.
(Triassic,
Carboniferous, Devonian,
Age of Amphibians. Age of Fisbes.
1I. Palæozoic,
Upper Silurian, Age of Mollusks. Lower Silurian, Cambrian, Age of Trilobites,
I. Archæan,
f Huronian.
Laurentian.
Professor Frazer calls the first group, Eozoic, and fourth, Cainozoic, while Professor Rogers, gave the ages of the Mesozoic as Primal, Auroral, Matinal, Sur- gent, Cadent, Umbral, and Vesper, and the New York geologists, some years ago, gave to each formation a geographical name or a lithological definition.
The great floor rocks of Pennsylvania were originally sandstone and limestone, but have been changed by heat pressure and chemical action into granite, gneiss, mica, slate and marble, and are the founda- tions upon which rest from one to twenty thousand feet of later formations.
The northern part of the Nineteenth Congressional district comprising Cumber- land county, is geologically of great age. Commencing on the southern border we find a bed of Primary or Achean rocks in the South Mountains, overlaid by a silicious white sandstone. From the base of the South Mountain a great belt of limestone occupies the lower half of the valley and extends clear across the county, while the upper part of the valley lies in a slate belt, and the North Mountain region rocks.are grey and reddish sandstone. A small de- tached area of limestone is in Penn town- ship, and a dyke of trap rock or greenstone extends north and south through the east- ern part of the county.
In the southern part of the district we notice first, York county whose geology is given fully by Prof. Persifor Frazer in the "History of York County." The "Bar-
rens" or slate lands commence in the southeast with a small area of chlorite schists crossed by the narrow belt of Peach Bottom roofing slates, and extending northward embraces a large area of Azoic slate, a long belt of chlorite schist, and a somewhat wider belt of hydro-mica schists. The Siluro-Cambrian limestone extends across the central part of the coun- ty in the valley of Codorus creek, enclosing a considerable area of quartzite or Pots- dam sandstone, between York and the Sus- quehanna river. The northern part of the county or the "Red Lands" is in the new red sandstone formation, which in that sec- tion encloses numerous narrow belts and several considerable areas of trap rock. In the extreme northern part is a small area of marl and two larger areas of Siluro-Cam- brian limestone, while a trap dyke crosses the limestone belt, another passes across the Azoic slate belt and a short one is in the southeastern part of the county. A considerable calcareous area is enclosed in the southwestern part of the limestone belt. Professor Frazer says that York county is a partial imitation of the United States geo- logically, having Archean rocks on the north and the south, and its intermediate portions made up of fossiliferous and newer formations, while portions of its valleys have successively formed the ocean bottom of four or five different geological epochs. He states that the Ezoic (Azoic) slates be- long to the Huronian age and the York county area of those rocks form an arch or anticlinal and is a part of a broad belt reaching in all probability from New Eng- land to Alabama. He calls the chlorite schists as Upper Ezoic, speaks at length of difficulties of placing properly Hellam quartzite (Potsdam sandstone) and the hydro-mica schists, which are the real iron- bearing formation of the county, and gives 4,400 feet as the thickness of the Siluro-
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NINETEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
Cambrian limestone including the schists down to the quartzite, from measurements made on Kreutz creek. Professor Frazer discusses some of the puzzling questions arising from the study of the new red sandstone formation of the Mesozoic rocks, and states that its coal, copper and other valuable metals are not in paying quanti- ties. He says the trap rock is not as old as the Triassic, but appeared at no great length of time after the formation of the latter. Of the Cainozoic, (Neozoic) he gives as the sole representatives, the marl bed north of Dillsburg and the gravels, fluviatile deposits on the banks and islands of the Susquehanna river. Professor Frazer does not agree with some of the opinions of the chief geologist of the second survey.
Adams county, the western part of the southern half of the district, consists largely of Mesozoic soft sandstone, of sedimentary formation, and belongs to the Reptilian age of Zoology. The chlorite schist of York county passes through the southeastern extremity of the county and borders the hydro-mica schist belt which extends west to the south Mountain foot hills, and forms the southern boundary line of the Siluro- Cambrian limestone that spreads over Con- ewago township and parts of Oxford and Union townships. An area of Potsdam sandstone is in Berwick township and the mountain ridges north of the Chambers- burg turnpike in Franklin and Menallen townships are largely of that formation. The South Mountain is in the Laurentian age of the Archaean or Azoic group, and con- sists chiefly of a gneiss sandstone forma- tion.
It is said that each system has its lime- stone, its sandstone or arenaceous rocks, and its clay bed or argillaceous rocks, and limestone, sandstone and clay are all found in different parts of the district.
The paleontology of the district seems to
have been a subject in the past that awak- ened but little interest, and received but lit- tle attention. The fossils of the district in - cluding petrifactions, casts, and impressions are abundant, yet the names of but few of them are to be met with in print. Pro- fessor Haldeman first recognized the Sco- lithus linearis, one of the few widely dis- tributed fossils of the Potsdani sandstone, but beyond this sea boring worm we find no record of any other important fossil.
The geologic record of the district is one that goes back into the very dawn of the creation of the world, and its rock-written chapters when properly interpreted will constiute a history of startling and won- derful past changes.
Mineralogy. The science of mineralogy is of practical value to civilized man teaching him how and where to find in the different classes of rock those mineral products nec- essary to his welfare and the development of his agricultural and manufacturing in- dustries. Without classifying the minerals of the Nineteenth Congressional district as to native elements or compounds, or record- ing their relative hardness by Mohl's scale, we shall state the main mineral products found in the rock groups in the district and present the names of the minerals given by the different historians and scientists who have written of its territory or mineral wealth. £ Commencing with the Azoic rocks we have slates and traces of marble; in the Palaeozoic systems are found sand- stones, limestones, slates, copper, iron ore and traces of gold and silver; while the Neozoic rocks furnish gravels, clay, sand and traces of bituminous coal. Cumber- land county is credited with magnetic and brown hematite iron ores, sulphuret of cop- per, red and yellow ochre, alum, copperas, Epsom salts, manganese, marl, marble, limestone, fireclay sand, marl and porcelain and stoneware clay. To York county is
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND PORTRAIT CYCLOPEDIA.
given limestone, copper, magnetic, limonite and micaceous iron ores, sandstone, clay, roofing slate, pyrite, chalcopyrite, damour- ite, ripidolite, quartzite, magnetite, calcite, chert, hornblende, prasilite, and dolerite. Adams county is assigned the same iron ores and sandstones as York county; also is given copper, roofing slate and brick clays, besides sand, orthofeldsite, calcite, asbestos, dolerite, malachite, mica, gravel and trap.
Botany. No classification of the plants of the district or any of its counties, has been made by any author or botanist. In the geographical distribution of plants the Nineteenth Congressional district lies in the warm temperate or the fourth of the eight plant zones of the world whose boun- daries are not parallels of latitude, but is- othermal lines. The flora of the district is one of importance, as well as of extent. It is characterized by forests of deciduous trees, including some evergreens, while the peach and other fruit trees are abund- ant, and the cereals, the potato, and various grasses, as well as dye and medicinal plants are found in each of the counties.
In the Cumberland Valley, when the first white man came "the grass was rich and luxuriant, wild fruits were abundant, and there was a great variety of trees in places, including numerous species of oak, walnut, butternut, hickory, maple, cherry, locust, sassafras, chestnut, ash, elm, linden, beech and white pine. There was also a shrub growth of laurel, plum, juniper, persim- mon, hazel, wild currant, gooseberry, blackberry, raspberry, spice bush and sumach, while in the open country the strawberry, dewberry and winter green made à luscious carpeting and furnished to the Indians in their season a tempting and welcome partial supply of food."
In Adams county most of these trees and shrubs grow, and in addition may be
mentioned the gum, poplar, sycamore, birch, tulip, dogwood, and hemlock among trees, while of shrubs is the rhododendron.
York county in early days contained nearly all the trees and shrubs common to Cumberland and Adams counties, although Prowell says that "A large forest of primi- tive trees is now (1886) almost a curiosity to the prosperous York county farmer." And while speaking of the useful plants, another class-the weeds-must not be overlooked, especially such pests as the daisy and the thistle.
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