USA > Pennsylvania > Dauphin County > Middletown > The chronicles of Middletown : containing a compilation of facts, biographical sketches, reminiscences, anecdotes, &c., connected with the history of one of the oldest towns in Pennsylvania > Part 1
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Gc 974.802 M584h 1281043
M.L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02220 8182
1
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/chroniclesofmidd00hutc 0
LEVYTYPE CÓ PHIL.
C. H. HUTCHINSON COMPILER
THE
C
CHRONICLES OF MIDDLETOWN
CONTAINING
A COMPILATION OF FACTS, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, REMINISCENCES, ANECDOTES, &c.
CONNECTED WITH
THE HISTORY OF ONE OF THE OLDEST TOWNS 1.1
IN
1
PENNSYLVANIA
ILLUSTRATED
BY
C. H. HUTCHINSON
1906
Copyrighted, 1906, by C. H. HUTCHINSON
10/13/64
Goodspeed- $ 12:50
1281043
AN OPEN LETTER TO MR. C. H. HUTCHINSON FROM REV. GEORGE WHITMAN.
BUFFALO, N. Y., Oct. 18, 1904.
MY DEAR SIR: Through the kindness of good friends in dear old Middletown, I have been permitted to read the articles published by you in the JOURNAL, entitled "Chronicles of Middletown." To say that I have been interested, is to state very mildly the feeling of happi- ness that I have experienced, in common with many others of the readers of the JOURNAL. We all owe you a debt of gratitude for your labor in searching out the old records, that will be but incompletely paid by the purchase of your forthcoming book. Human nature is sometimes slow in expressing its appreciation, and on this account I am all the more anxious to assure you of our gratitude for the good work you have done, and will continue to do. My residence in Middletown run from 1846 to 1862, and thus the most impressible years of my life were spent in association with Middletown people. A person remem- bers the associates and scenes of youth long after he has forgotten those encountered in after years. During the early days of the War of the Rebellion, I was the only newsboy in the town, and was the first to carry papers from house to house, and to sell them on the streets ; and in this way I came to know more than half the people in the town. I flatter myself that people liked to see me, in those days, not that they cared much for me, but they were anxious to get the papers, filled as they always were with news of the great war. If suggestions are in order, I should advise that your "Chronicles" include a history of the newspapers of the town.
Many people await with eagerness the issue of your book, and every Middletowner of the past or present, ought to assist in making it a paying enterprise to the energetic and scholarly editor and publisher.
Gratefully yours,
GEO. WHITMAN.
Pineford Farm, Home of George Fisher, Founder of Middletown.
INDEX.
..
Chapter.
Page.
I. William Penn proposes to locate a city here, . ..
9
III. History of an old trading post,
IV. Churches established by the Presbyterians nearly two hundred years ago,
I4
V. Swiss and German immigrants come here, 22
VI. Copy of deed from sons of William Penn to John Fisher, in 1747, for site of town,
24
VII. Settlement of Middletown. Town laid out,
27
VIII. Indian depredations in vicinity. A parallel. Re- wards for Indian scalps. Paxton boys organ- ized. Indian massacres,
3I
IX. Sketch of Col. James Burd,
37
X. Building of old Lutheran Church in 1767, . . 4I
45
XI. Title deed to Royalton by Thomas and John Penn, XII. Protest of Middletown settlers in 1774, against ag- gressions of British government. Names of volunteers in Revolutionary army, .
48
XIII. A shelter for Wyoming Valley fugitives from In- dian massacre in 1778. Tax lists of 1778 and 1782,
53
XIV. Oath of Allegiance. Northern boundary line sup- plies, etc. Navigation of Susquehanna. Slaves held here,
59
XV. Sketch of George Frey and his mill. Litigation over. Stubbs' Furnaces,
63
XVI. History of Union Canal. William Penn's proposals for a water-way,
XVII. Turnpike. Main street. Conestoga Wagons, . . XVIII. Whiskey Insurrection. . Major George Fisher, .....
67 69 7I
XIX. Town over a century ago. Taverns. John Penn stops here, .
77
XX. Biography of George Fisher, founder of Ports- mouth,
80
XXI. Proposed location of U. S. Capital. Address to President Adams. His reply. Middletown ad- vertisements. Prices current in 1800. Proces- sion and services on death of Washington. Wages,
87
II. Indian tribe located here. Scotch Irish settle, and build churches, II I2
vi
Index.
Chapter.
Page.
XXII. Portsmouth, founding of. Lots offered for sale. Navigation of Susquehanna Rafts. Boats. Lumber traffic, etc., 93
XXIII. Fairs in Middletown Swatara Bank. Middletown as it was over a century ago, . 96
XXIV. Looking backward continued. Post Office. Doc- tors. School teachers, etc.,. 98
XXV. Looking backward continued. Charlie Ross, 103
XXVI. Looking backward continued,
107
XXVII. Frey's Will. History of Emaus Orphan House. Litigation over. Scholars in 1841-47, II3
Mount Joy
XXVIII. Pennsylvania Canal. Breakwater. Railroad. First locomotive (The "John Bull"). The Pennsylvania Railroad, . I24
XXIX. The Mud Pike. The Middletown Furnace. The Slab Mill. The Lath Mill. The Furnace Saw Mill. The Feeder-dam,
I27
XXX. Middletown advertisements in I802. Coal-oil. Fourth of July celebration, I30
XXXI. Lafayette here. Advertisements a century ago.
I33 Yearly market. First Steamboat Line, · XXXII. Turnpikes laid out. Cameron Furnace. Cameron Grist Mill. Arnold ferry-house, I35
XXXIII. History of Methodist Episcopal Church and Sunday Schools, I39
XXXIV. History of Bethel Church and Sunday School; list of scholars in, I44
XXXV. Soldiers in War of 1812. Incorporation of Bor- ough. Mexican War Volunteers,
I48
XXXVII.
History of St. Mary's Catholic Church,
XXXVIII.
Petition for road from Pineford to Harris' Ferry in 1745. Middletown Militia Companies, . I57
XXXIX. History of United Brethren Church. The Aymish. The Dunkards. The Mennonites, I60
XL. History of St. Michael's Protestant Episcopal Church. Old Saw-Mills,
I64
XLI. Burgesses and Councilmen of Borough, I66
XLII. Water-right from Frey's Mill-race,
170
XLIII. Citizens' Meeting at opening of Civil War, 1861. Extracts from Dauphin Journal, I72
Fire Companies, 178
XLIV. XLV. War Record of Company G, Thirty-fifth Regiment,
Pennsylvania Volunteers. Roll of Company, .. I82
XXXVI.
Middletown proposed as County-seat, 15I I54
vii
Index.
Chapter.
Page.
XLVI. Middletown Volunteers in Eighty-seventh Regi- ment, Pennsylvania Volunteers ; in Ninety- second Regiment, Ninth Cavalry, . 196
XLVII. Middletown Volunteers in Ninety-third Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers,
207
XLVIII. Middletown Volunteers in Thirty-sixth Regiment, in Company G, Forty-first Regiment, Twelfth Reserve, 212
XLIX. Middletown Volunteers in Forty-third Regiment, First Artillery, 215
L. Middletown Volunteers in Eightieth Regiment, Seventh Cavalry. In Eighty-third Regiment. In One Hundred and First Regiment. In One Hundred and Thirteenth Regiment, Twelfth Cavalry. In One Hundred and Seventeenth Regiment, Thirteenth Cavalry, . 218
LI. Middletown Volunteers in Company H, One Hun- dred and Twenty-seventh Regiment, .
222
LII. Middletown Volunteers in One Hundred and Eighty- seventh Regiment. In One Hundred and Ninetieth Regiment. In One Hundred and Ninety-first Regiment. In Company C, One Hundred and Ninety-second Regiment. In One Hundred and Ninety-fourth Regiment. In Two Hundredth Regiment. In Two Hundred and First Regiment, 229
LIII. Middletown Volunteers in Twenty-second United States Colored Regiment (Company G, Fifth Massachusetts Cavalry), 238
LIV. Middletown Volunteers in other Regiments. In
Quartermaster's Department, U. S. A., 240
LV. Roll of Militia Companies in 1862 (Guards, Cav- alry),
243
LVI. Roll of Militia Companies in 1863.
panies ), (Three Com-
247
LVII. Secret Orders organized in Middletown, 250
LVIII. Musical Organizations in town. G. A. R. Post, . 257 LVIX. Middletown Cemetery. Banks. Newspapers, 261
LX.
Biographical Sketch of Col. James Young,
264
OLD MIDDLETOWN
In the year 1690 William Penn published in London, England, the following, which I give in its entirety, as it is of special interest to the citizens of Middletown :
SOME PROPOSALS FOR A SECOND SETTLEMENT IN THE PROVINCE OF PENNSYLVANIA.
"Whereas, I did, about nine years past, propound the selling of sev- eral parts or shares of land, upon that side of the Province of Pennsyl- vania next Delaware river, and setting out of a place upon it for the building of a city, by the name of Philadelphia; and that divers per- sons closed with those proposals, who, by their ingenuity, industry and charge, have advanced that city, from a wood, to a good forwardness of building (there being above one thousand houses finished in it) and that the several plantations and towns begun upon the land, bought by those first undertakers, are also in a prosperous way of improvement and enlargement (insomuch as last year ten sail ships were freighted there, with the growth of the province, for Barbadoes, Jamaica, &c., be- sides what came directly for this kingdom). It is now my purpose to make another settlement upon the river Susquehannagh, that runs into the bay of Chesapeake, and bears about fifty miles west from the river Delaware, as appears by the common maps of the English Dominion in America. There I design to lay out a plan for the building of another city, in the most convenient place for communication with the former plantations on the East; which by land is as good as done already, a way being laid out between the two rivers very exactly and conveniently, at least three years ago; and which will not be hard to do by water, by the benefit of the river Scoulkill; for a Branch of that river (the Tul- pehocken) lies near a branch that runs into Susquehannagh river (the Swatara)* and is the Common Course of the Indians with their Skins and Furrs into our Parts, and to the Provinces of East and West Jer- sey, and New York, from the West and Northwest part of the conti- nent from whence they bring them. "And I do also intend that every one who shall be a Purchaser in this proposed settlement, shall have a proportionable Lot in the City to build a House or Houses upon; which Town-Ground, and the Shares of Land that shall be bought of me, shall be delivered clear of all Indian Pretensions; for it has been my way from the first to purchase their title from them, and so settle with their consent.
*The distance between the two creeks (connected by the Union canal in 1827) is about six miles.
IO
CHRONICLES OF MIDDLETOWN.
The Shares I dispose of, containe each Three Thousand Acres for £100 and for the greater or lesser quantities after that rate: The acre of that Province is according to the Statute of the 33rd of Edw. I. And no acknowledgment or Quit Rent chall be paid by the Purchasers till five years after a settlement be made upon their Lands, and that only according to the quantity of acres so taken up and seated, and not other- wise ; and only then to pay but one shilling for every hundred acres for- ever. And further I do promise to agree with every Purchaser that shall be willing to treat with me between this and next spring, upon all such reasonable conditions as shall be thought necessary for their ac- commodation, intending, if God please to return with what speed I can, and my family with me, in order to our future Residence.
"To conclude, that which particularly recommends this Settlement, is the known goodness of the soyll and cituation of the Land, which is high and not mountainous; also the Pleasantness, and Largeness of the River, being clear and not rapid, and broader than the Thames at Lon- don bridge, many miles above the Place intended for this Settlement ; and runs (as we are told by the Indians) quite through the Province, into which many fair rivers empty themselves. The sorts of Timber that grow there are chiefly oak, ash, chestnut, walnut, cedar and poplar. The native Fruits are papaws, grapes, mulberries, chestnuts, and several sorts of walnuts. There are likewise great quantities of Deer, and especially Elks, which are much bigger than our common Red Deer, and use that River in Herds. And Fish there is of divers sorts, and very large and good, and in great plenty.
"If any Persons please to apply themselves to me by letter in relation to this affair, they may direct them to Robert Ness, Scrivener in Lumber street in London for Philip Ford, and suitable answers will be returned by the first opportunity.
"But that which recommends both this Settlement in particular, and the Provinces in general, is a late Pattent obtained by divers Eminent Lords and Gentlemen for that Land that lies north of Pennsylvania up to the 46th degree and a half, because their Traffic and Intercourse will be chiefly through Pennsylvania, which lies between that Province and the Sea. We have also the comfort of being the Centre of all the English colonies upon the Continent of America, as they lie from the North East parts of New England to the most Southerly parts of Caro- lina, being above 1000 miles upon the Coast.
There are also Instructions printed for information of such as intend to go, or send servants, or families thither, which way they may pro- ceed with most ease and advantage, both here and there, in reference to Passage, Goods, Utensils, Buildings, Husbandry, Stock, Subsistence, Traffick, &c., being the effect of their expence and experience that have seen the Fruit of their Labors.
"WM. PENN."
II
CHRONICLES OF MIDDLETOWN.
II.
In 1676 the remnant of the Susquehannas, a once powerful Indian nation, worn out by long contests with the Iroquois, and decimated by pestilence, finally disappeared.
In 1678 the Shawanese, a southern tribe, by permission of the Six Nations and of the proprietary Government of Pennsylvania removed from Carolina and planted themselves on the Susquehanna. At that time "so desolate was the wilderness that a vagabond tribe could wan- der undisturbed from the Cumberland river to the Alabama; from the headwaters of the Santee to the Susquehanna." The Conoys or Gana- wese, the Nanticokes from Maryland, and the Conestogas all located in this vicinity, that is from Pequea creek to the Conodoguinet.
There was an Indian town at Dekanoagh (about the site of Bain- bridge), near the mouth of Conoy creek, and another near the mouth of the Swadahara. (Swatara.) This latter creek seems to have been a favorite one with the Indians. In the meadow immediately north of the bridge where the old turnpike, the king's highway, crosses it, flint arrow and spear heads, and stone axes used to be frequently picked up.
In 1701, at a council held in Philadelphia, "on the 22nd of 2nd month," the "Susquehannagh" Indians made a treaty with Wm. Penn. Among the chiefs present was Weewhinjough, chief of the (Conoy) Ganawese.
In 1705, James Logan, with several others, visited the Ganawese set- , tled some miles above Conescoga, at a place called Conojaghera, above the fort, to learn the news among them, give them advice, and exchange presents.
July 22nd, 1707, Governor Evans laid before the Council an account of his journey among the Susquehanna Indians. He speaks of "Dekanoa- gah about nine miles distant from Pequehan." Here the Governor was present at a meeting of Shaois, Senequois, and Canoise Indians, and the Nanticoke Indians from seven towns.
At that time this part of the State was much more densely wooded than the eastern; in this immediate vicinity was the belt of pine that gave its name to the ford which now the turnpike bridge spans, and from which the first settlers of Middletown drew their supplies of build- ing material. Tradition says that in the neighborhood of the present centre square stood the Indian town marked on old maps as Swaha- dowri.
The first white men who visited these parts were probably French Indian traders, who came down from Canada near the close of the seventeenth century, as the colonial records allude to them in the be- ginning of 1700.
The English and Irish were probably the first settlers here; there is no record fixing the exact date of their coming, but it must have been
12
CHRONICLES OF MIDDLETOWN.
early in the century, for in 1720 they were numerous enough to erect churches .*
These Irish, better known as the "Scotch-Irish," were descendants of those Scotch Presbyterians, who, to avoid the persecutions of the Epis- copal church, had fled to the north of Ireland about the sixteenth cen- tury ; and who, becoming dissatisfied there, and hearing of the religious toleration guaranteed by Penn, sought a home in this country.
They were soon followed (about 1740) by the Dutch, (so-called in all the colonial documents) who were no more Dutch than their prede- cessors were Irish, but came from the upper parts of Germany.
The first of this nationality who settled here also fled from re- ligious persecutions. They were Moravians (Mennonites), Dunkards, Schwenckfelders, Lutherans, German Reformed, etc.
About 1720 commenced a traffic which continued until nearly the close of the century. Agents called Newlanders were sent to Germany by prominent firms of Philadelphia, to entice emigrants to Pennsylvania by false representations; the offer of lands, free transportation, &c. They were brought over by the ship load, were known as "Redemp- tioners," and, upon arrival, put up at auction, and knocked down to the highest bidder, for a three years' term, in payment of their passage.
A class of speculators called "Soul-Drivers" soon arose, who bought them up in lots of fifty or more, and driving them through the country, disposed of them to the farmers. (For the heirs of one of those pur- chased in Middletown, who afterwards married, moved away and was lost track of, a considerable property is waiting.)
The traffic in white slaves paid better than that in black. In many instances they were treated worse, and when their time had nearly ex- pired, being accused of some misdemeanor, were sentenced by com- plaisant justices to a further period of servitude. The trade was brisk for awhile, and there were few householders who did not own one or more; it finally died out about 1785 or '90.
. III.
In this connection it might be as well to state that Susquehanna is derived from an Indian name, Sa-os-qua-ha-na-unk, meaning "long crooked river." Swatara is likewise purely aboriginal. Heckwelder supposes it to be a corruption of the Delaware name Sa-hadow-a into some other tribal dialect. In the early surveys it is written Swa-hatow- ra, later Swatorah, finally it became Swatara. Swa-ha-dow-ry, mean- ing, "where we feed on eels." Peter Bazillion and Martin Chartier, French Indian traders, were at the mouth of the Swatara previous to 1704. Later, Gordon Howard opened a trading post here. We have no data as to when he first came, but in 1718 he was "at the mouth of Swatara, in Conestoga township, Chester county," and he was one or
*See later article on the Presbyterian Church.
A Scene at the Middletown Fair Grounds.
I3
CHRONICLES OF MIDDLETOWN.
4
two seasons here with his son and his partner, James McFarland, in 1719-20 .*
Of the many who traverse South Union street, between the subway and the (now filled in) outlet lock, few can have failed to notice the quaint building that stands, isolated, on the eastern side of the thor- oughfare. Its weather-beaten appearance, old-fashioned dormer win- dows and general look of age; point it out as a relic of the past. And that old house has a history. Sixty years ago it was known as the "Ferry house," and this was one of the two points where travelers by the river road were ferried across the Swatara. But it has an earlier and more romantic record. It was a stockaded and garrisoned frontier post in the earlier part of the eighteenth century. Afterwards, during the Revolution, some of the Hessian prisoners captured at Trenton, were quartered here. To old inhabitants, some of whom have recently been gathered to their fathers, it was known as the "Barracks." It is probable that several superstructures have been erected upon its vener- able stone walls. Their record is lost. The accumulations of soil, de- posited there during the digging of the Union Canal, the basin, and by the river, have gradually encroached on and hidden them, until, on three sides, they are but a foot or two above the surface, while the fourth is entirely removed. The old loop-holes which pierced them, about a foot square in the inside, and sloping to three inches in width by a foot long on the outside, have been bricked up, but seventeen years ago some of them were as intact as when the pioneers fashioned them, and to the student of history they told the story of our forefathers. Later con- structions have materially changed the appearance of the vicinage, but one can yet see in what an admirably defensive position, against savage attacks, it was located .. What tales could those old walls tell of wild carousal and wilder forray-of savage feasts and dances-of battles and skirmishes-of besiegers and besieged. The dust of assailants and as- sailed have long since commingled-the frontier, which it once aided in defending, has disappeared. Where the war whoop once rang, is heard the whistle of the locomotive and fields of grain wave over leagues of ground, which, when this redoubt was erected, were covered by virgin forest. The historian has hitherto, failed to mention this post, and its only record is tradition.t
*He married Rachel, daughter of Robert McFarland, who lived on Little Chickies creek, near Mount Joy. In 1722, Howard resided about a mile east of Springville, and owned several hundred acres of land. Was County Commissioner in 1729, 1730, 1731. The family was a very prominent one, none of whom have descendants residing in this vicinity.
#In the possession of Dr. D. W. C. Laverty, is an extensive collection, consisting of at least a thousand Indian relics, all (with one exception) gathered in Middle- town, and its immediate neighborhood.
NOTE .- Since article No. 4 was written the walls of the "Old Ferry House" have been repaired, and the loop-holes formed therein for defensive purposes, filled up. They were originally probably ten in number-three on the north and south sides, respectively, and two each on the east and west ends of the building. They were about five feet above the ground; 12x3 inches on the outside of the walls and I2X12 inches on the inside.
I4
CHRONICLES OF MIDDLETOWN.
There must have been settlements here then, for in an account of a "treaty held at Conestogue" in 1721, published by the Proprietary Gov- ernment, it is stated that the "village of Conestogue (Lancaster), lies about 70 miles distance (from Philadelphia), almost directly west of the city; and the land thereabout being exceedingly rich, it is now sur- rounded with divers fine plantations or farms, where they raise quanti- ties of wheat, flax and hemp, without the help of any dung." This is a very good evidence that the emigrants had made improvements of the best character some years before 1721. As the country was "very heavily wooded" much labor and time must have been expended to present "fine plantations," and it is certain that they extended further west than the present city of Lancaster.
Another proof that these settlements were of importance is, that as early as 1720, preparations had been made by the Presbyterians to erect places of worship. The population was so numerous that a demand for a State road was made in 1731. One was finally located in 1736, from Lancaster, via the Swatara, to Shippensburg, connecting with the one between Lancaster and Philadelphia.
May 10th, 1729, Lancaster county was erected. June 9th, of the same year, it was divided into townships. Of these "Derry township, begin- ning at the mouth of Conewago, thence up Sasquehannah to the mouth of Swataaro, thence up Swataaro to the mouth of Quetepehello, thence south on a direct line to Conewago, and down the same to the place of beginning." "Peshtank-beginning at the mouth of Swataaro, thence up the river to Kehtohtoning mill above Peter Allen's, thence eastward by the south side of said mill to the meridian of Quetopohello mouth, thence on a south course to the mouth of the same at Swataaro, and down Swataaro to the place of beginning." Are now both in Dauphin county.
IV. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
Within a radius of eight miles around Middletown, are the sites and remains of three churches; all organized at least forty years prior to the Revolution, and around whose crumbling and fast disappearing ruins cluster many memories of the past. In this locality the Scotch- Irish settled; and when the log cabin was built, and a few acres of forest cleared, those rigid Presbyterians erected their temples of worship, and thus arose the churches of Derry, Paxton and Conewago.
They were earnest people, those early settlers of Middletown; they kept Sunday as a holy day, and although not possessing the austerity of the Puritans, but on the contrary, jovial, generous, and hospitable; yet
15
CHRONICLES OF MIDDLETOWN.
retained enough of the old Scotch leaven, to make them observe it with a strictness, which perhaps, in these later days of latitudinarianism, ma- terialism and infidelity, it were well to emulate. Then the horse, the ox, the man servant, and the maid servant, must rest from all unnecessary labor, and church be visited at least once a day. Long rides or walks eight miles in one direction, to Derry; eight in another, to Paxton; or four in another, to Conewago, no matter for ice, sleet, hail or rain; the drifted snow or the bottomless mud; the heat of midsummer, or the cold of winter-the stern frontiersman would have deemed his chances of Heaven lessened, had he omitted this sacred duty. So with musket loaded, and bullet pouch and powder horn well filled, he set forth, either on horseback, with wife on pillion behind him, or on foot, with the whole family trudging beside. At each clearing others joined, and they trav- eled on together ; for the wild beast and wilder Indian lurked near, and the churchyard sometimes claimed precedence of the church.
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