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Gc 974.802 L22kl 1492473
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
L
7 ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02222 8958
LANCASTER'S GOLDEN CENTURY
1821-1921
A Chronicle of Men and Women who Planned and Toiled to Build a City Strong and Beautiful
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY H. M. J. KLEIN PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN FRANKLIN AND MARSHALL COLLEGE
PUBLISHED BY HAGER AND BRO. TO COMMEMORATE ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF THE HOUSE OF HAGER APRIL, 1921
ERECTED 1783 -- 1785. TAKEN DOWN MAY, 1853.
OLD COURT HOUSE
COPYRIGHT, 1921 HAGER & BROTHER
Wickersham Printing Company Lancaster, Pa. 1921
1492473
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGE
The First Hundred Years I
CHAPTER II
The Lancaster of 1821
24
CHAPTER III
A Period of Development
46
CHAPTER IV
James Buchanan, the Citizen
62
CHAPTER V
Lancaster and the Civil War .
80
CHAPTER VI
Notable Men and Women .
91
CHAPTER VII
Centenary Firms .
105
CHAPTER VIII
The Spirit of Lancaster 122
TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH
LANCASTER'S GOLDEN CENTURY
CHAPTER I
THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS
HE story of Lancaster is the narrative of the rise and growth of a quaint old in- land colonial town, and of its develop- ment into a prosperous American city. It is the story of a community whose roots and springs run deep into the soil of the past, whose influences reach far and wide in the shaping of a larger life for the Commonwealth and the Nation.
So far as is known the first white man to set foot on Lancaster County soil was a young Frenchman by the name of Brulè who acted as guide and interpreter of the great explorer, Samuel Champlain. Early in the eighteenth cen- tury, French traders came to what is now Lan- caster County in order to carry on barter with the Shawanese Indians, located near the mouth of Pequea creek.
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LANCASTER'S GOLDEN CENTURY
In the days when there was trouble between the French and English in America, the governor of the province of Pennsylvania, John Evans, made several visits to the Indian settlements in Lancaster County in order to ascertain the loyalty of the Shawanese to the province of Pennsylvania and to the interest of Queen Anne.
In 1709 a colony of Mennonites from the moun- tain regions of Switzerland occupied the rich lands along the Conestoga under the leadership of Hans Herr and began to make Lancaster County the richest agricultural region in the United States. Then came the Huguenot families-the Ferree, LeFevre, DuBois-strong men and women who located in the Pequea valley and who became the forebears of some of our most distinguished citi- zens. They were speedily followed by the Scotch- Irish and the Quaker, and still later by the Palatine.
The three original counties of Pennsylvania were Philadelphia, Bucks, and Chester. By an Act of May 10, 1729, Lancaster County was separated from Chester, and was given its name by John Wright, a native of Lancaster, England, one of the first settlers in this region. When originally formed, Lancaster County included a very large area. It has since been gradually re- duced to its present limits by the establishment of York, Cumberland, Berks, Northumberland, Dauphin and Lebanon counties. To-day it in- cludes 928 square miles, its greatest length from
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THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS
north to south being 40 miles, and from east to west about 45 miles. There is perhaps no county in Pennsylvania possessing such an amount and variety of the sources of natural wealth. It is indeed a land flowing with milk and honey. There are no waste lands ; no worn-out fields. One must travel far in order to find a more picturesque spot or a region touched with such a diversity of physical wealth and beauty or such rich historical associations as are to be found in this Garden Spot of the United States.
The radiant loveliness of the country immedi- ately around Lancaster renders it the most de- lightful of cities. The beauty of the past goes with you at every step. Lancaster is a town that has real claims to antiquity and yet space enough for nature to flourish at ease. She has long borne in the history of the State and of the Nation a distinct position. On her streets has been heard for well-nigh two centuries the busy hum of men.
Just when the first settlement on the site of Lancaster City was made is not known. We do know that Andrew Hamilton owned a large plot of land which he divided into town lots and sold on easy ground-rent terms to purchasers. We do know that some of those who had taken up land were living here in 1721-two hundred years ago -and formed an embryo village called " Hickory Town " or " Gibson's Pasture". It is said that George Gibson kept a tavern in front of which stood a large hickory tree-after which the town
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was named. The town site was said to have been covered with woods and two swamps known as " Dark Hazel Swamp " and " Long Swamp " oc- cupied the lowest ground.
When Andrew Hamilton laid out Lancaster in 1730 on the 500-acre tract of land he owned, there were two hundred inhabitants in the town. It was through his son, James Hamilton, that the village was turned into a borough in 1742. James Hamilton was a man of considerable prominence in his day, a member of the provincial assembly, mayor of Philadelphia, and governor of the province. That he was wide-awake and liberal is evidenced by the fact that he donated building lots to at least eight religious organizations in Lancaster.
Thomas Cookson, the first Chief Burgess came from England. In the robing room of St. James' Episcopal Church is a stone with the following in- scription upon it : " Here are interred the Remains of Thomas Cookson (Late of Richmond, in York- shire, Great Britain), Esquire. He held and dis- charged with integrity several of the first offices in this county of Lancaster and thereby, and by his generous Benefaction to this Church, as well as many good offices to his Neighbors, he de- servedly acquired the esteem of mankind. He died the 20th day of March 1753 aged 43 years."
In the same year in which Lancaster was in- corporated as a borough, Count Zinzendorf the great Moravian missionary came to this vicinity
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THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS
to help the Shawanese Indians. They at first were alarmed when Zinzendorf and his little com- pany set up their tents on the banks of the Sus- quehanna. But his kindly manner and the ar- rival of Conrad Weiser soon afterward won the friendship and confidence of the Indians for the great Zinzendorf.
A Treaty was made in 1744 at Lancaster be- tween the Chiefs of the Six Nations and the governors of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Mary- land. It appears that a Delaware Indian Chief who had murdered a certain John Armstrong and his two servants, was arrested and imprisoned at Lancaster. All disputes between the whites and the Indians came up for discussion.
During the French and Indian War, Benjamin Franklin was commissioned to secure hundreds of wagons and pack horses in order to oppose the French invasion of Pennsylvania. Many of these wagons and pack horses were obtained in Lan- caster and were sent to General Braddock at Will's Creek. When after Braddock's defeat the whole frontier was exposed to Indian molestation, and the savages began to ravage both sides of the Susquehanna, a block house or wooden fort was built in Lancaster, and the cloisters of Ephrata were used as shelter for the white settlers whom the Indians drove from home.
So indignant were the people of Lancaster for a time over the neglect of the Provincial As- sembly to adopt measures which would put a stop
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LANCASTER'S GOLDEN CENTURY
to Indian outrages, that at a public meeting it was resolved that "they would repair to Phila- delphia and compel the provincial authorities to pass proper laws to defend the country and oppose the enemy." It is said that the dead bodies of some of the victims of Indian massacre were sent to that city and hauled about the streets with placards announcing that these were victims of the policy of non-resistance. A mob surrounded the House of Assembly, placed the dead bodies in the doorway and demanded immediate relief for the people of the frontiers.
After a period of renewed Indian outrages, Gov- ernor Denny of Pennsylvania held another Coun- cil with the Indian Chiefs of the Six Nations at Lancaster in 1757. During the general alarm felt in the days of the French and Indian War people from all parts of Lancaster rallied under arms for the general defense and performed their duty on the border, many serving as officers and soldiers in the battalions which marched with Forbes and Bouquet to the Ohio. In this list of Lancaster County men who served in the French and Indian War are found the names of Shippen, Grubb, Atlee, Hambright, Reynolds, and a roll of five Presbyterian clergymen serving as chaplains.
The Scotch Irish settlers in the Paxton and Donegal townships had suffered terribly from Indian outrages during the whole period of the French and Indian War. The Conestoga Indians
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THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS
however had not been at war with the whites. They were considered rather friendly. Bill Sock, a well-known Conestoga Indian, was probably an exception. In any case the Paxton boys after vainly asking protection from the governor and provincial authorities determined to strike terror into all Indians by exterminating the Conestoga tribe. On December 27, 1763 a band of sixty men called the Paxton boys came into Lancaster, stormed the jail and workhouse located at the northeast corner of West King and Prince streets, and mercilessly massacred the fourteen Indians confined there for protection.
During the American Revolution Lancaster took an earnest and patriotic part. With the en- forcing of the Boston Port Bill which closed the port of that city, the resentment of every colonist in America was aroused. Among the first to take concerted action in response to this outrage were the people of the borough of Lancaster. A meet- ing of the inhabitants of the borough took place at the Court House on June 15, 1774. Though still professing firm allegiance to His Most Gracious Majesty, George the Third, they passed strong resolutions to unite with all the other colonists to use the most effectual means to pro- cure a repeal of the unjust acts of Parliament against the town of Boston. A committee of correspondence was appointed, consisting of Edward Shippen, Esq., George Ross, Esq., Jasper Yeates, Esq., Matthias Slough, Esq., James Webb,
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LANCASTER'S GOLDEN CENTURY
Esq., William Atlee, Esq., William Henry, Esq., Mr. Ludwig Lauman, Mr. William Bausman, and Mr. Charles Hall.
At a later meeting held July 9, 1774 at which George Ross presided, the right of Parliament to tax the colonies without their consent was denied, and a call was issued for a close union of all the colonies to resist the oppressive acts of the British Parliament. The sum of 153 pounds was col- lected for the relief of the people of Boston.
The people of Lancaster were dead in earnest in their determination to refuse importation of British goods. When two merchants were charged with violating the agreement made at that meeting by bringing in tea on which the duty had been paid, the committee at once began in- vestigation and acquitted the men only after it was proved that no duty had been paid on tea, but that it had been seized at the Philadelphia custom house.
On December 15, 1774 a Committee of Obser- vation consisting of 76 members was elected at a meeting of the Freeholders of the County held in the Court House at Lancaster. The object of the Committee was to see that the agreement not to import or export British goods was fully observed.
Six days after the battle of Lexington, news of the first bloodshed of the Revolution reached Lan- caster. At once a meeting of the borough com- mittee was called at the Grape Tavern. By May I, 1775, it was resolved by the community that
9
THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS
military companies be formed to defend our rights and liberties with our lives and fortunes. With- in a week the formation of companies called "Associators ", began. These troops fought throughout the whole War of Independence, in the battles of Long Island, White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown and Mon- mouth. Col. Thompson's Battalion of Riflemen joined Washington's army at Cambridge, Mass. in August, 1775. In this Battalion were three officers from Lancaster Borough, Colonel Edward Hand, Lieuts. David Ziegler and Frederick Hubley. Capt. Matthew Smith's Company of Lancaster took part in the invasion of Canada in
I775. Many of Lancaster's troops endured the hardships of the encampment at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777-1778. Lieut .- Col. Adam Hubley of Lancaster and the new IIth Penna. Regiment formed part of Sullivan's fam- ous expedition against the Indians in 1779.
On July 4, 1776 a military convention was held at Lancaster composed of delegates from many Pennsylvania battalions of Associators for the purpose of forming a Flying Camp as directed by the Continental Congress. When the defeat of the Army of the Americans at Brandywine, September II, 1777 made it evident that General Washington could not prevent the victorious forces of Gen. Howe from occupying Phila- delphia, Continental Congress and the Executive Council of Pennsylvania took measures looking to
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LANCASTER'S GOLDEN CENTURY
an immediate removal to a place of safety. The British army under Gen. Howe entered Phila- delphia on the 27th of September. The last session of the Council prior to that event was held on the 23rd. Its next meeting was on Wed- nesday, October Ist at Lancaster where its ses- sions continued to be held for nearly nine months, during which time the President of the Council, the Hon. Thomas Wharton, Jr. died. His body was interred in the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
The Continental Congress remained in session in Philadelphia after the battle of Brandywine until the 18th of September when it adjourned upon receiving a letter from Col. Hamilton, one of Gen. Washington's aids, which intimated the necessity of Congress leaving their place of deliberation. The members resolved at once to come to Lancaster where they arrived on the 27th of September, the very day on which Gen. Howe entered Philadelphia. The records and treasury were removed to Lancaster by way of Reading. One session of Congress was held here but the members believing that they might be interrupted by the enemy resolved to remove Congress to York.
Christopher Marshall's interesting diary gives us a delightful picture of war conditions in Lan- caster during Revolutionary Days. Under August 24, 1777 he writes: " Wife and I stayed at home to keep the boys out of the orchard. (His home was on East Orange St.) After
Edw Land
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THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS
dinner I took a walk with Capt. Markoe to the barracks; stayed there till the English, Scotch and Irish prisoners, to the number of two hun- dred, marched out under a strong guard to Reading." August 25th: "To the barracks; waited till our division of Hessian prisoners, con- sisting of three hundred and forty-five, marched out under a strong guard (with some women and baggage wagons, as the prisoners yesterday had done) for Lebanon. August 26th : " News that Gen. Washington with half his army and light horse, passed through Philadelphia on First Day morning on their way to Wilmington, and that Howe with his fleet was seen off Eagle Point, but had not landed. On First Day morning the bell- man went round this town, calling upon the in- habitants that had Hessian prisoners, to take them to the barracks and receive receipts for them, but very few obeyed." September 12th: "I went into town, an alarm being spread that some of Howe's Light Horse had been seen at Pequea Church, about 18 miles from Lancaster. This set sundry people to pack up their goods and some sent them out of town into the country. Later we learned that the news of the morning was the lie of the day." September 17th: " It is said that James Rankin who ran away last week from his habitation in York County on account of his being accused of forming a scheme to destroy all our magazines of ammunition, arms, tents, baggage, provisions, etc. in Lancaster,
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LANCASTER'S GOLDEN CENTURY
Carlisle, York, Reading, etc. was taken about six- teen miles from our enemies' camp, and secured, but where I could not learn." September 20th : " We sat late conversing on these melancholy times." September 25th: " Came into town President Hancock, and some others of the Dele-
gates." September 29th : " Took leave of sundry of the Congress, who were setting off for York- town. Many of the inhabitants of Philadelphia came (to Lancaster) to-day and yesterday, as did our President or Governor, the Executive Council and the members of Assembly, who met here this day in the Court House."
Many of the Hessians captured by Washing- ton at Trenton, and many others made prisoners by Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga were con- fined at Lancaster. Among the prisoners here was the unfortunate Major Andre. While here he signed a parole which read : " I John Andre, being a prisoner in the United Colonies of America do, upon the honor of a gentleman promise that I will not go into or near any sea- port town, nor farther than six miles distant from Lancaster without leave of the Continental Con- gress or the Committee of Safety of Pennsyl- vania, and that I will carry on no political cor- respondence whatever on the subject of the dis- pute between Great Britain and the Colonies so long as I remain a prisoner." On these condi- tions he became a member of the household of Caleb Cope, on North Lime St. on the north side of Grant.
I3
THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS
Not only prisoners of war, but a great many wounded American soldiers were brought to Lan- caster from the battlefield of Brandywine. Over 500 were taken to Ephrata where 150 of them died.
The story of Lancaster's part in the American Revolution would not be complete without refer- ence to Lancaster's signer of the Declaration of Independence, George Ross. This son of an Episcopal clergyman, born in New Castle, Dela- ware, settled in Lancaster in 1751 and became prosecutor for the King. He became a repre- sentative in the Pennsylvania Assembly and later was elected to the first Continental Congress. That Lancaster appreciated the services of George Ross is evidenced by the fact that at a public meeting held in the borough it was resolved that one hundred and fifty pounds be presented to George Ross, and that he use the same to purchase " a genteel piece of plate, ornamented as he thinks proper, to remain with him as a testimony of the esteem this county has for him, by reason of his patriotic conduct in the great struggle for Ameri- can liberty." Mr. Ross graciously and modestly
declined this liberal and honorable present. A few months after he signed the Declaration of Independence, ill health compelled him to leave Congress. He died in Lancaster in 1779.
When the Ross farm, now known as Rossmere was laid out into town lots, the old Ross mansion was torn down. It stood on Ross street between
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LANCASTER'S GOLDEN CENTURY
Shippen and Plum streets. The site is marked by a pillar and tablet erected by the pro- prietors of Rossmere, and presented to the Lan- caster County Historical Society on June 4, 1897. The tablet bears the following inscription, " Here stood the house of George Ross, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, born 1730, died 1779, Lawyer, Statesman, Patriot." A stained glass window in St. James' Church also com- memorates his memory.
Another son of Lancaster who brought dis- tinction to his native soil in Revolutionary Days was David Ramsay, the historian. Born in Lan- caster County in 1749 he began the practice of medicine in South Carolina, where he ardently espoused the cause of the patriots, became active in the provisional free government and when the Revolutionary War broke out he became a sur- geon in the military service. He was among the prisoners captured in Charleston in 1780, and was closely confined in the fort at St. Augustine. Dr. Ramsay was a member of Congress from 1782 to 1786 and was president of that body for a year. Both his "History of the Revolution in South Carolina " and his "History of the American Revolution " were translated into the French lan- guage and published in France. He also wrote and published a "Life of Washington " and a " History of the United States" to the close of the colonial period. Dr. Ramsay because of his intimate associations with General Green, Ben-
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THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS
jamin Franklin, and George Washington pos- sessed greater facilities for procuring materials for the history of the Revolution than any other individual in the United States. Dr. Ramsay was shot in the back and slain by the bullet of a maniac, within sight of his own door in Broad Street, Philadelphia, in 1815.
William Henry was another of Lancaster's dis- tinguished sons in Revolutionary Days. For many years he conducted a gun factory at the southeast corner of Centre Square. He became one of the most active men of Lancaster to espouse the cause of the colonies. He was engaged by the general committee of safety to manufacture and repair arms for the continental army. During the Revolution the house of Mr. Henry was a place of resort for men of culture and prominence. While the British held Philadelphia, David Rittenhouse, the philosopher, then State Treas- urer, Thomas Paine, author of the "Rights of Man," John Hart, a member of the Executive Council were guests at the house of Mr. Henry. It was during the time that Thomas Paine was stopping at the house of Mr. Henry that he wrote No. 5 of his celebrated political treatises, the " Crisis ". Mr. Henry was commissary of the regiment of troops raised in Lancaster County and was destined to reinforce Arnold at Boston. He was a member of the Continental Congress from 1784 to 1786. It was said of him that he first recognized in the youthful Benjamin West a
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LANCASTER'S GOLDEN CENTURY
genius of high order, and that he suggested to West his first masterpiece " The Death of So- crates." When West confessed that he knew nothing of Socrates, Mr. Henry went to his library and took down a volume of the English trans- lation of Plutarch and convinced the artist of the fitness of the theme which afterwards made West famous.
Judge John Joseph Henry was the son of Wil- liam Henry. In the fall of 1775 he secretly joined a regiment raised in Lancaster County for the purpose of joining Arnold, who at that time was stationed at Boston. When the boy was but seventeen years of age, his regiment entered Canada and endured hardships there which young Henry has immortalized in his history of the cam- paign against Quebec. He was later appointed by Governor Mifflin Judge of the Second Judicial District of Pennsylvania, and held the position for seventeen years.
The greatest military hero of Lancaster during the Revolution, however, was General Edward Hand. This native of Ireland, surgeon in the Royal Irish regiment, sailed with his regiment from Cork in 1767 and arrived at Philadelphia. In 1774 he came with a recommendation to Lancaster in order to practice his profession. In 1775 he en- tered the Continental service. In 1777 he was chosen Colonel of the first regiment of Pennsyl- vania riflemen, famous for its exploits during the Revolution. He was raised to the grade of
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THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS
Brigadier General and subsequently to that of Adjutant General. He fought in the Battles of Trenton and Long Island. He succeeded Gen- eral Stark in command at Albany in 1778 and accompanied General Sullivan in the expedition against the Six Nations in 1780. He was a mem- ber of Continental Congress in 1784 and 1785. A man of soldierly presence, a fine horseman, an able commander, General Hand was a distin- guished figure. His home " Rockford " still stands on the Conestoga river in the southeastern part of the city. Under the roof of this hospitable mansion, many of the soldiers and civilians fam- ous in the early annals of our nation found shelter and congenial companionship.
Edward Hand was elected chief burgess of Lancaster in 1789. It is from a famous letter that he wrote during this period that we get our real light on the status of Lancaster at the time our national government came into existence. He put forth the claims of Lancaster for the honor of the nation's capital. It must be born in mind that Lancaster in 1789 was the largest inland town in the United States.
General Hand wrote to Congress, " Should the general interests of the Union point out an inland, central situation as preferable to a seaport for the future residence of your Honorable Body, We humbly offer ourselves as candidates for that dis- tinguished honor. As an inland town, we do not consider ourselves inferior to any within the
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LANCASTER'S GOLDEN CENTURY
Dominion of the United States. The Borough of Lancaster is a square encompassing a portion of ground one mile in length from the centre (the court house) by the main streets which inter- sect at right angles. We have five public build- ings, including an elegant court house, fifty by forty-eight feet. There are several places of wor- ship besides a temporary synagogue, belonging to the respective societies of Episcopalian, Pres- byterian, Lutherans, Reformed Church of Heidel- berg, Moravian, Quakers and Catholics. Within the compass of the borough an enumeration of dwellings was actually taken in 1786 and the number then built was 678. Many of the houses are large and elegant, and would in our idea, ac- commodate Congress and their suite at this period without inconvenience. Boarding and lodging are to be had at very easy rates. According to the best computation we can make there are with- in this borough about 4200 souls."
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