USA > Pennsylvania > York County > A Brief History of York County > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
A delegation of York citizens went several miles west to meet him and escort him to town. Rev. Mr. Roth, pastor of the Moravian Church of York, made the following interesting entry in his diary: "Upon the arrival of the President all the bells in the town rang in honor of the event, as if the voices of the arch-angels were sounding in harmony and commanding attention. I could not repress my tears at the thought of all this. Indeed, I cried aloud, not from a sense of sadness, but from a feeling of joyfulness. In the evening there was a gen- eral illumination, and at the Court House in each pane was a light, forty-nine pounds of candles being used. The Inde- pendent Light Infantry, commanded by Captain Hay, paraded, and, being drawn up in front of his Excellency's stopping place, fired fifteen rounds in honor of the fifteen states now in the Union."
The following morning Washington was called upon by
35
a deputation of citizens including Colonel Hartley, then a member of Congress, who delivered a lengthy address in the course of which he said: "The citizens of York cordially join in the general satisfaction and joy, which all the people of America feel in seeing you, the nation's chief executive. We feel that there is a universal sentiment of regard, esteem and veneration for you. May the Supreme Governor of the uni- verse long continue a life, so eminently distinguished in se- curing and preserving the best rights and happiness of the citizens of this highly favored country."
The President afterward handed the committee the fol- lowing response :
"TO THE CITIZENS OF YORK:
"Gentlemen :- I receive your congratulations with pleas- ure and I reply to your flattering and affectionate expressions of esteem with sincere and grateful regard. The satisfaction which you derive from the congeniality of freedom with good government which is clearly shown in the happiness of our highly favored country at once rewards the patriotism that achieved her liberty, and gives an assurance of its duration. That your individual prosperity may long continue among the proofs that attest the national welfare, is my earnest wish." Washington made this entry in his diary: "After receiving and answering an address from the inhabitants of York, I de- cided to go to church. There being no Episcopal minister in the place, I went to hear morning service in the Reformed Church, which being in the German language, I did not un- derstand a word. There was no danger of the eloquence of the preacher causing a proselyte of me. After service, accom- panied by Colonel Hartley and half a dozen other gentlemen, I set out for Lancaster, and the following day, July 4, was present in that borough at the celebration of the fifteenth an- niversary of American Independence."
There is no record of any other visit of Washington to York except that he dined in the town in 1794, on his way to Philadelphia upon his return from Western Pennsylvania. The boat in which he then crossed the Susquehanna River at Wrightsville caught in the rocks and remained there two hours.
In 1825, Lafayette, who was making a tour of this coun- try as the "Guest of the Nation," arrived in York from Balti- more, January 29. He proceeded to Harrisburg accompanied by Dr. Adam King, who the next year was elected to Con- gress from York County; Colonel M. H. Spangler, who so gallantly commanded the. York Volunteers at the battle of North Point in 1814, and Jacob Spangler, then Surveyor-
36
.
-
General of Pennsylvania. They returned to York on Wed- nesday, February 2, and upon their arrival at the turnpike gate at 4 P. M., were met by a battalion of volunteers com- posed of Captain Nes' artillery, Captain Smith's rifle com- pany, four other companies under Captains Small, Barnitz, Freysinger and Stuck, and a vast multitude of people from the town and county. The tour of Lafayette of all the twenty-four states then in the Union had caused a wave of patriotism to pass over the entire land such as had never before been known, and the enterprising editor of the York Gazette, in the issue of February 8, 1825, says :
"The people of York County poured forth overflowing
EIN
The McGrath Inn
hearts of gratitude and welcome to him whose name is a pass- port to the heart of every American."
General Lafayette entered York in a barouche drawn by four gray horses, and as the procession passed through the principal streets, all the bells of the town were ringing and all the sidewalks, windows, doors and porticoes were filled with people, shouting their "Welcome, thrice welcome, Lafayette." The general stopped over night at McGrath's Inn, at the southwest corner of Center Square, where he held a reception, after which 100 persons sat down to a sumptuous banquet. Among the many toasts was the following :
37
"Lafayette: We love him as a man, hail him as a deliv- erer, revere him as a champion of freedom and welcome him as a guest."
To which he responded: "The town of York, the seat of our American Union in our most gloomy time. May her citi- zens enjoy a proportionate share of American prosperity."
The next day he reviewed the military and left for Balti- more. Some of the old soldiers of the Revolution "could not receive the last adieu of the aged general without testifying their emotions in tears."
John Adams, who was one of the leading spirits of Con- gress while its sessions were held in our colonial Court House, visited York in June, 1800, while he was President of the United States. He was met on his approach by the cavalry commanded by Lieutenant John Fisher and Captain Philip Gossler's Light Infantry, and escorted to town, where he was received by the inhabitants with ringing of bells and other demonstrations of respect. He remained here over night and the following day the borough authorities waited upon him and presented him with an address of welcome. President Adams responded with the following address:
"To the Corporation and Inhabitants of the Borough of York : "Fellow Citizens :- I received with much satisfaction this friendly address. In revisiting the great counties of Lan- caster and York, after an interval of three and twenty years, I have not only received great pleasure from the civilities of people, which have deserved my grateful acknowledgments, but a much higher delight from the various evidences of their happiness and prosperity. The multiplication of inhabitants, the increase of buildings and utility, commerce and ornament, and the extensive improvements of the soil have everywhere given to the appearances around us a polish in some measure- resembling those countries where art, skill and industry have been exhausted in giving the highest finishing and the cultiva- tion of the lands for many hundred years.
"In return for your kind wishes, I pray for the confirma- tion and extension to you and your posterity of every blessing you enjoy. "JOHN ADAMS."
Shortly afterwards the President proceeded on his jour- ney, escorted by the same military corps which met him on his arrival.
General Andrew Jackson, accompanied by several officers of the army, arrived here in February, 1819, stopping one hour for supper at Hammersly's Hotel. The same evening the party proceeded to Lancaster and the following day started for the United States Military Academy at West Point. The
38
general and his associates had been appointed by President Monroe to visit that institution.
General Zachary Taylor, the hero of Buena Vista, came to York, August 10, 1849, arriving hiere from Baltimore on a train which stopped at West Market and Water Streets. He was enthusiastically received by the people of all political parties and escorted by the Worth Infantry, commanded by Captain Thomas A. Ziegle, a soldier of the Mexican War, and a dele- gation of citizens in carriages, passed up Market Street to the Washington Hotel. After taking dinner at this noted hos- telry, he held a reception and made a brief speech. He then proceeded on his journey to Philadelphia. General Taylor made his visit to York about six months after his inauguration as President of the United States.
Among the other men of fame and distinction who hon- ored York with a visit were Charles Dickens, the English novelist ; Black Hawk, the famous Indian chief; Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Lewis Cass, James Buchanan, Admiral Far- ragut, and General Ulysses S. Grant. There were many inci- dents relating to the visits of these distinguished men which cannot be told in this brief story of historic York.
Though Abraham Lincoln was never a visitor at York, he passed across the county from Hanover Junction to Gettys- burg in November, 1863. While the train stopped for a few minutes at Hanover, President Lincoln walked to the platform of the rear car, and in response to the enthusiastic calls for a speech, addressed a large assemblage of people for about three minutes. It was the following day that he made his great speech at Gettysburg during the ceremonies when the battle- field was consecrated.
Two interesting and important facts of history can only be referred to in this brief story. The first iron steamboat designed in America was made at the shops of Davis and Gardner, at York, in 1826. It was the invention of John El- gar, of York, who afterward won distinction as an inventor in the employ of Ross Winans, of Baltimore. At the same shops in the year 1831, Davis and Gardner made the first locomotive in America that burned anthracite coal. It was put into suc- cessful operation on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad and won a prize of $4,000. The inventor of this locomotive, called "The York," was Phineas Davis, a noted citizen of York, who afterwards moved to Baltimore.
Notable Men of York County.
The most notable man of the early colonial period in York County was Colonel Hance Hamilton, a native of Scotland, who came with the early Scotch-Irish settlers, first to New- berry Manor, then to the Marsh Creek country, near Gettys- ,
39
burg. He was chosen the first sheriff of York County in 1750 ; next he became one of the justices of the Court of Com- mon Pleas. In 1756 he led a company in the French and In- dian war, and in 1758, commanded a battalion of the First Pennsylvania regiment, under General Armstrong, against the Indians at Kittanning. He died at the early age of fifty-one, just before the Revolution.
Colonel Richard McAllister, the founder of Hanover, was a very conspicuous personage in colonial days, as well as dur- ing the Revolution. He led a York County regiment in sev- eral engagements, then was appointed to organize all the militia west of the Susquehanna. He was the first president justice of the county courts under the constitution of 1776, and later was vice-president of the Supreme Executive Coun- cil of Pennsylvania.
James Smith, member of Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence, was one of the earliest members of the York County bar. He was born in Ireland, and when quite young came with his parents to America, set- tling in the lower end of York County. When the Revolu- tionary sentiment was gathering force, he was an ardent pa- triot and soon became the most influential man west of the Susquehanna. He died in York at the age of 93, and his re- mains rest in the Presbyterian church yard. The ablest statesman west of the Susquehanna, immediately after the Revolution, was Colonel Thomas Hartley, a lawyer by pro- fession, who served with high honor and distinction as an of- ficer in the Revolution. He was chosen a member of the First Congress of the United States in 1789, and proved himself to be a fine orator and a useful legislator. The first speech in favor of a protective tariff ever made in Congress was deliv- ered by him during Washington's administration. Colonel Hartley was the first member of the Pennsylvania bar to be admitted to the Supreme Court of the United States. He died in York December 21, 1800, and his remains were buried in the Episcopal church yard on North Beaver Street, where a monument has been erected to his memory, through the efforts of the Yorktown Chapter of the Daughters of the Revolution.
General Henry Miller, the first burgess of York at the time of the incorporation in 1787, was a man of note and dis- tinction. He was born near Lancaster, and came to York in 1760. At the opening of the Revolution he became a lieuten- ant in Captain Doudel's Rifle company, which on June 1, 1775, began the march from York to Massachusetts soon after hear- ing of the battle of Bunker Hill. Although still a young man he was promoted from one post to another until he received the commission of a brigadier-general. He took an active part in many battles, including White Plains, Trenton, Monmouth, Brandywine and Germantown. He received high commenda-
40
-
tion from General Washington for his bravery in the battle of Monmouth, where two horses were shot under him. After the war he served as a member of the State Constitutional Convention in 1790, then removed to Baltimore and subse- quently to Carlisle, where he died in 1824. .
Ellis Lewis, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Penn- sylvania, was born in Lewisberry, which town was named in honor of his ancestor, Eli Lewis, who wrote the famous poem, entitled "St. Clair's Defeat."
Major John Clark, of York, who as a young man of 24, became an aid to General Greene in the Revolution, won the highest commendations from General Washington for his ser- vice in the army. He was a lawyer of exceptional ability.
General Henry Miller
Colonel David Grier was a member of the York bar in 1771. When the Revolution opened he was chosen captain of a company of volunteers, and later was lieutenant-colonel of the Seventh Pennsylvania Regiment. He was wounded at the battle of Paoli, and became one of the original members of the Society of Cincinnati.
General James Ewing, of the Revolution, resided at his country seat in Hellam Township, near Wrightsville, and died there in 1806. He was a soldier in Braddock's army in 1755, and three years later, held the commission of a lieutenant in Forbes' expedition against Fort Duquesne. He was a briga- dier-general of York County militia before the Revolution, and at the opening of hostilities commanded the first brigade of the Flying Camp.
No soldiers of the Revolution gained more lasting fame
4I
for their daring courage and bravery, than General Richard Butler and his brothers, who were born in the western part of York County. They were known as "a gallant band of patriot brothers." Richard Butler, for whom one of the leading coun- ties 'of the state was named, served under Colonel Bouquet in his western expedition before the Revolution. He com- manded a regiment at the surrender of Burgoyne, led the Pennsylvania troops at Monmouth under Washington, and at Stony Point under Wayne. In 1781 he was second in com- mand under General Wayne in the famous march from York, Pennsylvania, to Yorktown, Virginia, where they took a prominent part at the surrender of Cornwallis. General But- ler's three brothers were officers in the Revolution.
A man of great note and distinction in his time, a de- scendant of sturdy Scotch-Irish ancestry, was Hugh Henry Brackenridge, of Hopewell Township. He was first a chap- lain in the Revolution; afterward a distinguished lawyer in Western Pennsylvania, and a justice of the Supreme Court of the state. He wrote a brilliant satire entitled "Modern Chiv- alry" after the order of "Hudibras," which attracted wide at- tention.
On the fertile plains of Lower Chanceford Township; near the village of Airville, the ancestors of William Mckinley set- tled with the early Scotch-Irish immigrants west of the Sus- quehanna. After taking an active and honorable part in the struggle for independence, the President's ancestors migrated to Western Pennsylvania and from there to Ohio.
The most distinguished lawyer York County has pro- duced was James Ross, who was born near Delta, in Peach- bottom Township, in 1762. Early in life he migrated to the city of Pittsburg, where he won national fame as an advocate, taking the highest rank at the bar, with no superior in the state. He was a close and intimate friend of Washington, and managed the estates of the first president in Western Penn- sylvania: Mr. Ross served two terms in the United States Senate. In 1802 he attracted the attention of the whole coun- try by an eloquent speech in the United States Senate, favor- ing war with Spain or the purchase of Louisiana territory, which included nearly all the land west of the Mississippi. This speech created a deep interest on the subject, and led to President Jefferson sending Monroe to France, which mission resulted in the purchase of Louisiana. Senator Ross was an orator and statesman, ranking with the leaders of the great Federalistic party, of whose policy and principles he was an ardent advocate.
In Hopewell Township, not far west from the birthplace of Senator Ross, the eminent jurist John Rowan was born, in 1773. He became a great criminal lawyer in Kentucky, served six years in the United States Senate from Kentucky, was
42
commissioner of claims against Mexico, and first president of the Kentucky Historical Society. He attracted wide attention in 1827 by a speech delivered in the United States Senate against imprisonment for debt.
The third of the trio of United States Senators from York County is Matthew Stanley Quay, whose father was pastor of the Presbyterian church at Dillsburg from 1830 to 1839. It was in that borough that this distinguished Pennsylvanian was born, in 1833, and was graduated from Washington and Jefferson college at the age of 17. In 1861 he enlisted as a lieutenant in the Pennsylvania Reserves, and later was chosen colonel of the One Hundred and Thirty-fourth regiment, which he led in a famous charge at the battle of Fredericks- burg. Soon afterward Governor Curtin made Colonel Quay his military secretary. He afterward filled many important public positions, including two terms in the United States Senate. He was recognized as one of the ablest political lead- ers this country has ever produced.
The city of York was the birthplace of Rear Admiral Franklin, who won honor and fame in the Civil war as a naval commander. His brother, General William B. Franklin, also born in York, commanded a division in the battle of Antietam ; the First and Sixth corps of the Army of the Potomac, and was second to General Banks in the Red River expedition He was made a major-general in 1865. General Edmund Schriver, a native of York, rose from the position of lieutenant- colonel, in 1861, to that of major-general in the regular army in 1865.
General Horatio Gates Gibson, a grandson of Dr. David Jameson, of York, and brother of the late Judge Gibson, gradu- ated at West Point in 1847, took part in numerous engage- ments and was promoted to a brigadier-general in. 1865 for "gallant and meritorious service during the war." General M. P. Small, of York, a graduate of West Point in 1855, was first an officer in the artillery service, became a brigadier-general of volunteers in 1865 "for faithful and meritorious services."
Valentine Meisheimer, known in scientific circles as the "father of American entomology," lived many years in Han- over as pastor of the Lutheran church. Thomas. Barton, the famous missionary, and father of Benjamin Barton, the first teacher of botany in America, founded the Episcopal church at York. For thirty years or more Jeremiah S. Black, one of the greatest jurists of his time, resided at his country seat near York, afterward the home of his honored son, Chauncey F. Black.
Court Houses.
The County Courts were held in the houses of the jus- tices, or at some public inn, at York, from 1749 to 1756. In
43
1754 the County Commissioners entered into an agreement with William Willis, an intelligent Quaker of York, to build the walls for the court house in center square. Henry Clark, of Warrington, contracted to furnish the lumber, and John Meen and Jacob Klein were the carpenters. Robert Jones, of Manchester, was to furnish seven thousand shingles. This court house was completed in 1756 and stood until 1840, a period of eighty-four years. It was in this building that Con- tinental Congress held its sessions for nine months of 1777-78.
Figure of Justice in Colonial Court House-
When it was decided to build a new court house, a great con- troversy arose as to its location. The commissioners finally selected the one where the court house now stands. Jacob Dietz and Henry Small were the builders; Charles Eppley the mason. The county commissioners then were John Reiman, William Nichols and John Beck. The granite pillars in front of the court house were brought from Maryland. The cost
44
The Second Court House
of the building was $100,000. The first court held in it was opened August 26th, 1846. The cupola was built on it and the bell placed in position in 1847.
This building was poorly ventilated, and no longer adapt- ed to the increased demands of the court business, and was re- placed in 1898-1900, by the present elegant structure, one of the most ornamental temples of justice in the state of Penn- sylvania, or anywhere in this country. The commissioners of York county at the time of the erection of this court house
Boarders wanted at this ola Yorkco. Jail
The First York County Jail
were George W. Atticks, Robert S. McDonald, and Andrew K. Straley. This beautiful building with an imposing front, sup- ported by six granite columns of Ionic architecture, is a graceful ornament to the city of York. It is surmounted by three domes, the middle one rising to a height of 155 feet. The interior, of the building is a model of architectural beauty, and every department is admirably adapted for the purposes
46
designed. The materials used in the construction of this court house are of excellent quality, which makes it both attractive and durable. The architect who designed and planned it was J. A. Dempwolf, of York.
The judges who presided over the courts of York county in the order of succession since 1790 are as follows: William Augustus Atlee, John. Joseph Henry, Walter Franklin, Ebenezer G. Bradford, Daniel Durkee, Robert J. Fisher, John Gibson, Pere L. Wickes, James W. Latimer, John W. Bitten- ger, W. F. Bay Stewart and Nevin M. Wanner.
James Ross, for thirty years leader of the Pittsburg Bar and nine years United States senator, was born at Delta, Pa., and Jeremiah S. Black, the great jurist and statesman, spent the last twenty years of his life as a resident of York.
The Judiciary.
The early courts of York County were presided over by justices of the peace, who were appointed and commissioned by the provincial authorities. This plan was in force under the first state constitution of 1776. There was one president judge and either two or four associates. Under the constitu- tion of 1790, the state was divided by the legislature into ju- dicial districts, in each of which a person of knowledge and integrity, skilled in law, was appointed and commissioned president judge ; and in each county either three or four per- sons, not learned in the law, were appointed associate judges.
William Augustus Atlee, of Lancaster, who was ap- pointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1777, under the first state constitution, in 1791, under the new con- stitution became president judge of the Second Judicial dis- trict, embracing Chester, Lancaster and York Counties. His associate judges in York County were Henry Schlegel, John Edie, Jacob Rudisill and William Scott. Judge Atlee died of yellow fever while holding court in Philadelphia in 1793. His successor was John Joseph Henry, of Lancaster, who as a young soldier of the Revolution had injured his health in the famous expedition against Canada, of which he became the historian. He was captured by the British at the storming of Quebec, and held for a year as a prisoner of war. In 1793, at the age of 35, after eight years of experience at the bar, he was appointed by his friend, Governor Thomas Mifflin, the president judge of the Second District. In 1806 Chester was separated from the Second District, and the new county of Dauphin annexed to it. January 10, 1811, Judge Henry re- signed. The state awarded him $1,600, "for his services and sufferings in the Revolution." He died in April, 1814.
4
Walter Franklin, a native of New York city, for years a member of the Philadelphia bar, and attorney-general of Penn-
47
sylvania in the administration of Simon Snyder, the first Ger- man governor of the state, was appointed president judge of the Second District January 18, 1811. It then embraced York, Lancaster and Dauphin Counties, but Cumberland and Leba- non were added soon afterward, and Dauphin placed in an- other district. Judge Franklin continued in office for the long period of twenty-seven years, until his death in 1838 at Lan- caster.
In the meantime, a district court had been established for York County, by legislative enactment in 1826, having con- current jurisdiction with the court of Common Pleas. Eben- ezer G. Bradford was made president judge of this county and Alexander Thompson associate. The latter was succeeded by Alexander L. Hayes, of Lancaster, and Lancaster County was made part of the district.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.