USA > Pennsylvania > Franklin County > Chambersburg > Historical sketch of Franklin County, Pennsylvania : prepared for the centennial celebration held at Chambersburg, Penn'a, July 4th, 1876, and subsequently enlarged by I. H. M'Cauley John M. Pomeroy, publisher. To which is added a valuable appendix by J. L. Suesserott, D. M. Kennedy and others, and embellished by over one hundred lithographic illustrations, drawn by W. W. Denslow > Part 1
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c 74.801 ₹85m 1865664
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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01204 5453
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historicalsketch00mcau 0
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
FRANKLIN COUNTY,
PENNSYLVANIA.
Prepared for the Centennial Celebration held at Chambersburg, Penn'a, July 4th, 1876, and Subsequently Enlarged
BY I. H. M'CAULEY.
" Incompleteness pervades all things human."-DRYDEN.
CHAMBERSBURG, PA : JOHN M. POMEROY, PUBLISHER.
TO WHICH IS ADDED A VALUABLE APPENDIX BY J. L. SUESSEROTT, M. D., D. M. KENNEDY AND OTHERS, AND EMBELLISHED BY OVER ONE HUNDRED LITHOGRAPHIC ILLUSTRATIONS, Drawn by W. W. DENSLOW. D. F. PURSEL, PUBLISHER.
CHAMBERSBURG, PA. : ISSUED BY D. F. PURSEL. 1878. F. A. DAVIS, Manager Pub. Dep't.
THOMAS HANTHR. Lithographer.
1865664
F8543105
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Copyright, 1877, by John M. Pomeroy. Additional Matter Copyrighted, 1878, by D. F. Pursel.
198862
FIRST COURT HOUSE FRANKLIN CO., BUILT IN 1794, REMOVED 1842.
PRESENT COURT HOUSE FRANKLIN CO.PA.
CHAMBERSBURG ACADEMY. Page 219
PUBLISHERS' PREFACE.
We do not present this as a perfect work to the reader. It is unneces sary to remind the intelligent thinker that perfection is not one of the human attributes, and, in our opinion, imperfection is in no place more common, and at the same time more excusable than in a volume like this. Not only is the publisher of the local work liable to the usual typographi- cal and other errors which will creep into the most carefully prepared general volume, but handling a variety of manuscript, each handwriting different, some written so carelessly as to be liable to almost any interpre- tation, it becomes impossible that errors, in proper and family names, also names of places and dates, should not occur. We have endeavored as much as in our power by careful reading and proofing, to avoid and cor- rect such errors, and where they now exist we can only say in excuse, that we have not at any time claimed a perfect book, and would ask where is the similar work in which such errors do not exist. We are proud of the volume we present to our readers, and particularly proud of the artis- tic portion. . On the pages of this publication, were there not one page of letter press, posterity could form a very fair idea of Franklin County, as it existed in 1878. Of its Churches, Court House, Educational Institutions, Mercantile, and Manufacturing Establishments, and particularly of the many delightful farm houses, which, scattered over the length, and breadth, of the county, and numbered by the thousands, cannot fail to impress the stranger with its agricultural importance, and the enviable lot of its farmers. The sketches are all from the pencil of Mr. W. W. Denslow, a young, and it is unnecessary to say talented artist, and are drawn on stone at the mammoth lithographie establishment of Thomas Hunter. In the appendix we have gathered more or less data relating to nearly all of the subjects of illustration.
Arrangements were originally made with D. M. Kennedy, Esq., to edit this appendix, but after about one third of the matter was printed, Mr. Kennedy assumed the editorship of the Daily Herald, and being unable to spare the necessary time he resigned the position, and subsequently arrangements were made with Dr. J. L. Snesserott, under whose able supervision the work has been completed. Thanks are to be rendered in this connection to Rev. J. C. Caldwell, Rev. A. J. Hesson, A. D. Mor- ganthall, Miss R. H. Schively, Dr. A. H. Strickler, Dr. I. N. Srively, J. M. Cooper, B. F. Mentzer, G. A. Shryock, Wm. Heyser, I. H. McCauley, J. C. Burns, S. H. Eby, and many others for valuable information or finished articles.
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The articles contained in the appendix of places illustrated, and also the family histories therein contained, are not to be attributed in their present form to the persons now occupying the places or representing the families. Whatever of eulogy, praise, or commendation, may have been predicated to the dead or living, our authors are solely responsible for. We have, 89 a matter of principle, allowed no individual to write his, or her own biography, yet at the same time as it is to be hoped the work, we now have the pleasure of presenting to our readers, is for posterity, as well as those now in the flesh, to read and glean therefrom such lessons as, it may teach by the lives and achievements it chronicles, we have urged our historians, in no wise to omit, to record the virtues of the living men, and women whose names must necessarially appear therein. We have also had noted the present state of advancement in manufactures, and farming operations, as well as the degree of improvement that has been attained in the pro- duction of farm stock, and implements.
We shall no doubt meet with more or less criticism from those persons who, living on the ideal, overlook the substantials of life, on account of having embodied references to, and, to a certain extent, descriptions of blooded stock, yet, how, we ask, could we have done justice to the agricul- tural interests of the county, and have overlooked, this most important branch of the industries and prosperity of "Old Franklin ?" an industry, which, notwithstanding its distinguished, and to be honored patrons, is as yet but in its infancy, and is destined, within the next fifty years, to be developed into proportions which few at present can comprehend All · honor, we say, to the noble pioneers in this good work. and it is with heart- felt pleasure and pride that we accord them a place on our pages.
Some articles which from their general importance should not have been overlooked by Mr. McCauley in his "Sketches," have been added, having escaped his searching eye. Among such, can be mentioned "the burning of Chambersburg," "flood of 1877," "murder of school children," and others. We think, however, Mr. McCauley is entitled to much credit for his arduous labors, and the errors or omissions of his first M. S. S., are to be overlooked, in consideration of his inexperience. The more so, as his recently published second edition, gives evidence of an effort to overcome the above mentioned deficiencies. With this constant improve- ment, there is no doubt, but some future edition, may be as perfect, as human frailty will allow, and we fondly hope and believe, that Mr. McCauley's fellow citizens, will unite in bestowing on him, such high honors as he may be considered entitled to. Thanking our numerous patrons for their kind patronage we remain
THE PUBLISHERS.
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PREFATORY.
The undersigned, in the following "Sketch," has not attempted to give a complete History of our county. He has sought, chiefly, to bring. to notice those matters which have escaped the attention of former writers. In doing this, his labors have been greatly aug- mented by the loss of the Public Records of the county, and the destruction of private papers, in the great fire of July 30th, 1864. He trusts, however, that he has brought together many things con- nected with the Past, that cannot fail to interest the general reader ; and in the Lists of Congressional, Judicial, and other Public Officers of past times, he believes the people will find a Record both useful and interesting.
The undersigned hereby returns his sincere thanks to Hon. John B. Linu, Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth ; Thomas M'Cam- mant, Esq., his Chief Clerk ; and B. F. Chandler, Esq., of the same office : O. H. Miller, Esq., State Librarian, and J. R. Orwig, Esq., his assistant ; B. M. Nead, Esq., of the Auditor General's Office ; Dr. Win. H. Egle, of Harrisburg ; Robert M. Agnew, Esq., of Lan- caster; Hon. Edward M'Pherson, of Gettysburg ; Dr. C. T. Maclay, Dr. Win. C. Lane and Dr. Wm. H. Boyle, and the various gentle- men of the local committees of our county, and others of our citi- zens, for the valuable aid given by them in furnishing information and materials needed in the prosecution of his labors.
November, 1876.
I. II. M'CAULEY, CHAMBERSBURG, PA.
INTRODUCTORY.
For several years the thoughts of the people of this great Republic have been turned towards the appropriate celebration of this the Centennial Anniversary of the birth of these United States as one of the nations of the earth. A retrospect of the century presents so much that is astonishing and unprecedented in everything that pertains to national prosperity and greatness, that our people can well be excused for entertaining those feelings of personal pride and national exultation which have caused this large assemblage.
Nowhere in the history of nations has any thing been recorded comparable with the brief career of this free, and happy, and mighty people ; and the desire that this year, and this day, should not be allowed to pass without some appropriate recognition of them by those who are enjoying the liberties and privileges of our Union, has penetrated every part of the land, gained a lodgment in every patriotic bosom, brought into existence the vast Centennial Exposi- tion now in progress at Philadelphia, and found expression in the following resolution, passed by the Congress of the United States on the 13th of March last, viz. :
"Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled --
That it be and is hereby recommended by the Senate and House of Representatives to the people of the several States, that they assemble in their several counties or towns on the approaching anniversary of our national independence, and that they cause to be delivered on such day a historical sketch of said county or town from its formation, and that a copy of the said sketch be filed, in print or manuscript, in the clerk's office of the said county, and an additional copy, in print or manuscript, be filed in the office of the Librarian of Congress, to the intent that a complete record may thus be obtained of the progress of our institutions during the first cen- tennial of their existence."
The President of the United States, and the Governor of this Commonwealth have, by their respective proclamations, called the attention of the people to this resolution in the hope that its objects may meet with their approval; and at the request of a committee
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Historical Sketch of Franklin County.
appointed by a publie meeting of the citizens of this county, held on the 11th day of last May, I have undertaken the preparation of a brief sketch of the early history of this county.
In consequence of the shortness of the time allowed me, and because of the destruction, in the great fire of the 30th of July, 1864, of so many of the records of our county, I have found my labors much more difficult than I had imagined; and I will there- fore have to erave your indulgence if you shall find what I have prepared less full and complete than it otherwise would have been, or than you may have expected it to be.
I.
BEFORE THE COUNTY'S FORMATION.
The discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in 1492, was of the greatest value to the rulers of Europe, in that it furnished to them a means of getting rid, for the time at least, of many of the restless, unruly, and dangerous spirits frequenting their Courts, by sending them off on voyages of discovery to the New World. Such enterprises always possessed attractions of the mo-t alluring charac- ter to such persons, as they promised rich rewards in plunder and untold increase of honor.
The mode of acquiring title to the unknown lands of the West, then in vogue, had in it more of form than of fact- more of might than of right. It consisted in authorizing some bold navigator, or renowned warrior, to seize upon and claim for the sovereign under whose authority he was acting, any and all unsettled countries he might find, and the mode of operation, as is well known, was to land upon the coast, or in some bay or river, plant a cross emblazoned with the insignia of his nationality, unfurl his flag, and claim all the regions around for his own monarch, to the exclusion of all other claimants. In this consisted the vaunted " Right of Prior Discovery "-a kind of kingly "squatter sovereignty"-a term much known to and quarreled over by the people of these free States in years not long since passed away.
It seems as if the discovery of America was made in advance of the necessities of the world, for near two centuries passed away before the vast territories thus opened up to settlement and cultiva- tion became available for any real good to the mass of mankind. During these long years the New World witnessed many a scene of rapine and bloodshed, committed by the followers of those knights of the sword and pistol, the musquetoon and the cannon, by whom the discoveries were made. The French, the Spanish, the Germans, and the English contended for the supremacy all along the coast
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Historical Sketch of Franklin County.
from Labrador to the Gulf of Mexico, and their monarchs lavishly granted away princely domains to favorite courtiers, or to trouble- some subjects. sometimes for friendship, and at other times for money, of which latter they were always in great need.
GRANT TO WILLIAM PENN.
Acting upon both these principles, Charles II. of England, on the 4th day of March, 1681, primarily for a debt of £16,000 (or abont $80,000 of our money) owing by his father, Charles I., to Admiral Sir William Penn, deceased, the father of William Penn, granted to the latter a district of country lying west of the Delaware river, and corresponding very nearly to the territory embraced in the present State of Pennsylvania-or " Penn's Woods" -- which name the King bestowed upon it in honor of the father of the new proprietor, and against his protestations. Thus our whole Commonwealth, con- taining over twenty-eight millions of acres, (28.362,880) of the most beautiful aud valuable land on the continent of America was bar- tered away by King Charles for a sum not equal to the present price of half a dozen farms in our valley.
The Duke of York, afterwards James II. of England, was then the owner of the territory now embraced in the State of Delaware, wider a grant from his brother, King Charles II., made in 1664, and Penn, who wished to have free access to the sea from his new pos- sessions, purchased it from him in the succeeding year. Thus it came that for many years after the establishment of Penn's govern- ment here, Delaware, or the three lower counties of "New Castle, Kent and Sus-ex," were included in and formed part of the territory of Pennsylvania.
William Penn, at the time he received his grant from King Charles II., was about thirty-seven years of age. He was a man of elegant presence, of large wealth, of fair education, and deeply imbued with the principles of his religious seet. He had been persecuted time and again because of his religious opinions; had been imprisoned and fined, and had appealed, without success, to Parliament for tol- eration and protection for his co-religionists and for himself.
Despairing of snecess at home, Penn was the more anxious to se- cure a home for his persecuted brethren in the New World, to which considerable numbers of them had already emigrated. Of the terri- - tory granted to him he was made absolute proprietor. Its people were secured in the right of self-government through representatives elected by their own votes; religious equality was guaranteed to all ; no taxes were to be imposed save by their own legislatures, or by act of Parliament, and the power to annul their laws was only to be exercised by the King and his Council, when those laws were con- trary to the laws of England.
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Historical Sketch of Franklin County.
William Penn, and those colonists who came with him, reached New Castle, Delaware, on the 27th of October, 1682. In the presence of the Swedish, Dutch and English settlers whom he found there, he pledged himself to the people that they should ever have "liberty of conscience, and the full and free enjoyment of all their civil rights. "I propose," said he, "to leave myself and my successors no power of doing mischief, that the will of no one man may hinder the good of the whole country."
PENN'S TREATY.
One of the first acts of the new proprietor was to eall together the chiefs of the neighboring tribes of Indians and enter into the cele- brated treaty of peace and friendship with them, under the spreading elm at Shackamaxon-now Kensington, in the city of Philadelphia - a treaty that was confirmed by no oaths, aud had for its basis simply a promise of peace and good will, fair dealing and fair treatment in all the relations of the future. It remained unbroken for fifty years, and well would it have been for those who in after times succeeded the upright and peace-loving Quakers, if they had always practiced towards the red men of the land the teachings of William Penn. Had they done so hundreds of valuable lives would have been saved, and many years of war, rapine and bloodshed averted from the hardy, industrious and fearless settlers of the hills and valleys of our magnificent State.
FIRST COUNTIES.
The first counties erected in the State were Philadelphia, Bucks and Chester, in 1682. The latter extended westward to the western boundary of Penn's territorial claim, and northward I know not exactly how far. It, however, ineluded the territory embraced in this county. On the 10th of May, 1729, the county of Lancaster was erected out of the western part of Chester county, and this sec- tion of country was embraced within its limits, and there remained until the erection of Cumberland county, on the 27th of January, 1750, a period of over twenty years.
SETTLEMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND VALLEY.
There were no white settlers in this region that I have been able to hear of, in the year 1729. There may have been occasional visits made by hunters and scouts, but if so we have no records of them. The land lay open in all its virgin beauty, its sole occupants being scattered bands of the Susquehanna and Shawanese tribes of In- dians, who held a nominal possession of it under the protection of the Iroquois, or Six Nations.
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Historical Sketch of Franklin County.
Neither William Penn nor his sons, John, Thomas and Richard, who succeeded to his rights as proprietors of the colony after his death, in 1718, were ever willing that settlements should be made anywhere in their new possessions without the consent of the Indians, until their claims to the soil had been extinguished by purchase. Thus for nearly seventy years the best state of feeling existed between the settlers' and the Indians. The latter were pleased to have the former come amongst them, pointed out volun- tarily the most desirable locations for settlement, encouraged the making of improvements, and lived in peace with those who thus became their neighbors.
The lands in the " Kittochtinny," or present Cumberland Valley, were not purchased from the Indians until October, 1736, and were not, therefore, before that time open for sale. But for several years prior to that period the agents of the proprietors, knowing the feel- ings of the Indians to be favorable, had encouraged settlers to come hither, and had issued to them special licenses for the settlement and securing of such tracts of land beyond the Susquehanna, or " Long, Crooked river, " as might please their fancy. The lands embraced in Amberson's Valley, Horse Valley, Path Valley, and the present counties of Bedford, Fulton, Blair, Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata and Snyder were not purchased from the Indians until October 23d, 1758.
History says that Benjamin Chambers was the first white man who made a settlement in what is now known as the county of Franklin. He was a native of the county Antrim, Ireland, of Scotch descent, and between the years 1726 and 1730 emigrated, with his brothers James, Robert and Joseph, to the Province of Pennsylvania. At that time neither, Lancaster, York, Harris- burg or Carlisle had any existence. Harris' Ferry was the most prominent place in the interior of the State, and to that point the Chambers brothers made their way. Having heard of the beauty of the location upon which our town now stands, Benjamin boldly pushed out into the wilderness, was kindly received by the Indians, and obtained permission to settle on the place of his choice and make it his own. This was about the year 1730 ; and on the 30th of March, 1734, Thomas Blunston, the agent of the proprietaries, gave him a license " to take and settle and improve four hundred acres of land at the Falling Spring's mouth, and on both sides of the Cono- cochege Creek, for the conveniency of a grist mill and plantation." Such licenses were given by the agents of the proprietaries in advance of the extinguishment of the Indian title to the land, in order to fill up the valley speedily as far south as possible with those taking title from them, and thus crowd out and prevent the encroachments of settlers under Maryland rights, whose frontier posts, because of 2
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Historical Sketch of Franklin County.
the disputes and long delay in determining the boundary between the two colonies, were creeping too far westward and too much north ward to suit the views of the Pennsylvania authorities.
CUMBERLAND VALLEY IN 1730-60.
We all know what this part of our valley now is, with its thou- sands of large, well-improved and well-tilled farms, and its hundreds of thousands of acres of elegant and valuable timbered lands. But if the reports which historians give us of its characteristics in 1730-35 be true, it must have then presented a very different appearance. Day, in his " Historical Collections of Pennsylvania," says: " It is a tradition, well supported, that a great part of the best lands in the Conococheague Valley were, at the first settlement of the country, what is now called in the Western States prairie. The land was without timber, covered with a rich, luxuriant grass, with some scattered trees, hazel bushes, wild plums and crab apples. It was then generally called ' the barrens,' The timber was to be found on or near the water courses, and on the slate soil. This accounts for the preference given by the early Scotch-Irish settlers to the slate lands before the limestone lands were surveyed or located. The slate lands had the attractions of wood, water courses and water meadows, and were free from rock at the surface. Before the intro- duction of clover, artificial grasses, and the improved system of agriculture, the hilly limestone land had its soil washed off, was disfigured with great gullies, and was sold as unprofitable, for a trifle, by the proprietors, who sought other lands in Western Penn- sylvania."
Rupp, in his history of this county, says that the Reverend Michael Schlatter, a German Reformed minister, passed through this section of country in the year 1748, and in a letter dated May 9th, 1748, says: "On the Cono-go-gig we reached the house of an honest schweitzer, (supposed to be Jacob Snively, of Antrim town- ship), 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. The Turkish corn (Indian maize) grows to the height of ten feet, and higher, and the grasses are remarkably fine. Hereabouts there still remain a good number of Indians, the original dwellers of the soil. They are hospitable and quiet, and well affected to the chris- tians until the latter make them drunk with strong drink."
When we look at the immense bodies of fine timber in the lime- stone regions of our county, and compare the productiveness of our limestone lands with that of our slate lands, we cannot but think that "tradition" must have been in error in this report. But, whether correct or incorrect in this regard, the fact is undeniable
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Historical Sketch of Franklin County.
that the country was very rapidly settled. The Seotch-Irish, that "pugnacious and impracticable race," as one of the early governors called them, flowed into the valley in vast numbers, and from 1730 to 1735, settled upon and improved large tracts of land at various points, from the Susquehanna to the southern line of the province, and by their presence and well-known attachment to Protestant modes of thought and government, forever put to rest all the fears of the proprietaries that the adherents of Catholic Maryland would ever take away from them their rights along the southern boundaries of their possessions.
MASON AND DIXON'S LINE.
And here it may not, perhaps, be out of place to devote a few minutes to the consideration of the facts connected with a question long since settled, but one which for eighty years occupied the attention of the authorities of Pennsylvania and Maryland, which led to much bad feeling between the citizens of contiguous territo- ries, to riots, and even to bloodshed; which, after many unavailing attempts at settlement here in the New World, was adjourned to the presence of the King and his Lords in Council in the Old World, and which, long after the death of the original parties in interest, the Quaker Penn and the Cavalier Calvert, Lord Baltimore, was on this day (the 4th of July, 1760) one hundred and sixteen years ago, amicably settled by their descendants. I refer to the boundary line between the colonies of Pennsylvania and Maryland, a line for the past one hundred and nine years known as " Mason and Dixon's Line," because it was run and marked upon the ground by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, two English astronomers, in 1767, under appointment from the Penns and Lord Baltimore. It forms the southern boundary of our county at 39º, 43', 26.3" of north lati- tude. For one hundred and thirty-two miles, or to the eastern base of Sideling Hill mountain, at the end of every fifth mile a stone was planted, on which were engraven the arms of the proprietors on the sides facing their possessions, respectively, the intermediate miles being noted each by a stone having M on the one side and P on the other. I have no doubt many of you have seen these stones seat- tered along the southern boundary of our county.
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