USA > Pennsylvania > Cumberland County > Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of the Nineteenth Congressional District, Pennsylvania > Part 4
USA > Pennsylvania > Adams County > Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of the Nineteenth Congressional District, Pennsylvania > Part 4
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NINETEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
in perserverance and plowing; another in peace and persuasion; the Scotch-Irish in pluck and power. They all believed in prayer and Providence."
Development Periods. From the time when this territory was yet a wilderness down to the present day the counties of the Nineteenth Congressional district have made their history one of progress and de- velopment. The history of the district may be divided into the following twelve periods, of which nine are development and tliree are war periods:
I. Pioneer Period. 1720-1736
2. Early Settlement Period. . . . 1736-1754
3. French and Indian War Period
1754-1763
4. Backwood's Period. 1763-1775
5. Revolutionary War Period. . 1775-1783
6. Iron Manufacturing Period. 1783-1809 7. Pike Period. 1809-1831
8. Canal Period 1831-1840
9. Early Railroad Period. 1840-1861
IO. Civil War Period. 1861-1865
II. Improvment Period. 1865-1876 12. Progressive Period 1876-
The pioneer Period, although but six- teen years in duration, was one of priva- tion, danger and suffering. There were no roads or mills and but few wagons or bridges west of the Susquehanna. In- dians and wild beasts were numerous and communication with Lancaster was main- tained chiefly by pack horse travel over paths blazed through the woods. There were no physicians but two or three preachers, and neither meeting nor school houses. The single story log cabin, and the small clearing were the prominent land marks of the period. The Indians ob- jected to settlements being made and the Maryland authorities threatened to drive the settlers away. Toward the close of the period stone houses were built, pedlars came out with their packs and John Day
built his grist mill twelve miles north of the site of York. These pioneers, Eng- lish, German and Scotch-Irish, were the advance guard of civilization west of the Susquehanna, and their clearings consti- tuted the most of the settlement centers between the river and the North and South mountains.
Following the pioneer came the early settler, and the Early Settlement Period extended from 1736 to 1754 when all pro- gress was checked by war with the French and Indians. The period commenced most auspiciously as the Indians sold their claim to the land and Maryland agreed to refrain from further invasion. Hundreds of immigrants came with each year; farms were increasing in number and size; better houses, and a few churches and school houses were built, and the different com- munities became connected by dirt roads. the first of which was surveyed and laid out in 1735 from Harris' Ferry to Ship- pensburg, while the first road in York county was the Monocacy road laid out in 1739 over a trader's route from Wrights- ville past the sites of York and Hanover to the Maryland line and the earliest road in Adams county was laid out in 1742 from the site of Gettysburg to York. The main events of this period were the opening of dirt roads; the erection of York (1749), and Cumberland (1750) counties; and the founding of York (1741), Shippensburg (1749) and Carlisle (1751); and the stop- ping of Penn's survey in the Marsh Creek settlement by the Scotch-Irish settlers there. The settlement centres of the Pioneer Period-often marked by a mill. church or fort, were beginning to be suc- ceeded by the town germs of the Early Settlement Period. In the great Kittoch- tinny, North or Cumberland valley and the Conococheague, Letort, Conedoguinet, Big Spring, Yellow Breeches and Ship-
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND PORTRAIT CYCLOPEDIA.
pensburg settlements had grown so fast as to found the towns of Carlisle and Ship- pensburg; while the Kreutz Creek, Cone- wago, Newberry, Codorus, Lewis, Wright's Ferry and York Barrens settlements, only had one town germ-York; and the Marsh Creek and Little Conewago settle- ments were represented by Woodstock now Hunterstown.
The French and Indian war came in 1754 and interrupted all settlement and progress during the nine years of its continuance, except the founding of Abbottstown in 1755. This period was principally dis- tinguished for frontier fort building, the origin of the Associator companies and the erection of Dick's bloomary (1756) in York county, while it is marked by numerous Indian incursions whose sorrowful memo- ries of inhuman murders will be handed down unto the latest generation.
Succeeding the French and Indian war came a Backwood's Period of twelve years, stretching from the last colonial war to the great Revolutionary struggle. The Back- wood's Period was noted for town growth. York, Carlisle and Shippensburg increased rapidly in size and population, and became such important places on the great high- ways of travel from Philadelphia to Balti- more and the west that York contained eighteen licensed taverns in 1765, while Carlisle and Shippensburg each had sev- eral taverns. New towns were also founded. Hanover and Dover were laid out respectively in 1763 and 1764; McSher- rytown in 1763, and Lisburn in 1766, while a few other towns would likely date back about 1765 if their history had been written a few years ago. The peddler of the l'io- neer Period with his packhorse, and the small cross roads store room were largely superseded by the town store of respectable dimensions for that day. Settlements were widening out, frame, stone and brick
houses were being built and saw and grist mills were going up at different points, while churches and school houses were in- creasing rapidly, and permanent physicians came into the district. The "Conestoga" wagon was introduced about 1770, and the horse travel for the west from Carlisle and Shippensburg called for horses by the hundred. The fires of the first forges and furnaces in the district were lighted up be- tween 1763 and 1770, and immigration poured into every county, adding to old and forming new settlements; but growth and prosperity were a second time arrested by the ruthless hand of war, when the news of Lexington swept like a flame of fire over hill and dale, and awoke a spirit of independence in every breast.
The Revolutionary war lasted eight years and while it checked settlement, stopped immigration and 'stayed pursuit and industry, yet it gave political indepen- dence and the soldier life of the hundreds who went from the district into the Conti- nental armies broke down the clannish spirit of the Scotch-Irishman and the Ger- man alike, leading to more homogeneous relations between those antagonistic races.
The Revolution was succeeded by the Iron Manufacturing Period of thirty-six years, during which forge, furnace and rolling mills were actively operated in Cumberland and York counties, and con- stituted the predominant interest of the district. Distilling, wool carding, fishing and lumbering were active industries, while agricultural interests were greatly advanced by the introduction of clover in 1800 in the northern part of York county. Between 1790 and 1800 Gettysburg and several other towns were founded, and in 1800 Adams county was formed from York, while in the next nine years town-founding and town-building were still prominent features. Between 1800 and 1809 there
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NINETEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
was a considerable stream of emigration from the district to Kentucky and Ohio. In 1785 the first college-Dickinson-and the first newspaper-the Carlisle Gazette- were established. In 1789 Wright's Ferry came very near being selected as the site of the national capital. Postoffices were established at York, Carlisle and Shippensburg about 1790, the Conewago canal, the first canal in the United States, was built around the Conewago Falls, be- tween 1792 and 1796, and the old Columbia bridge was erected in 1809.
As manufactures and farm products in- creased there was a demand for good roads for transportation and travel, and the Pike Period came in the history of the district where it held place for twenty-two years. In 1809 the Susquehanna and York Bor- ough, the Hanover and Maryland Line, turnpikes were commenced. The next year the State Road from Harrisburg to Gettysburg was surveyed. The Hanover and Carlisle road was commenced in1812; the York and Maryland Line, in 1814; the Harrisburg and Chambersburg, in 1816; the Berlin and Hanover in 1818; and the York and Gettysburg in 1819. Over these roads passed great numbers of carriages and stages and long lines of wagons. Dur- ing the Pike Period, Free Masonry was introduced by the institution of St. John's Lodge at York in 1810, and Gettysburg Theological Seminary was established in 1826, but the great event of the period was the war of 1812 which did not however arrest public enterprise or private effort although the district was threatened by in- vasion when the British attacked Balti- more. Some paper towns were laid out on expected results of the Susquehanna lum- bering and fishing industries.
The Canal Period opened in 1831 when the public demanded a trial of canals as cheaper routes to city markets than were
afforded by turnpikes. The Conewago canal allowed lumber and boats to pass the Conewago falls on the Susquehanna river, which was the great water-front of the dis- trict, and the Codorus canal of three miles with eight miles of slack water connected York with the river, but no canal route to the cities was offered until 1831 when the great Pennsylvania canal was constructed past the eastern part of the district offering a water route from Philadelphia to Pitts- burg. The packet boat supplanted the stage coach but this route was too long, and a demand was made in 1836 for the building of a canal from Columbia down the Susquehanna and tide water canal. This canal was built at a cost of $4,000,000 and opened to the public in 1840. The opening of the Pike Period was marked by the founding of Pennsylvania College and its closing year witnessed the introduction of the reaper.
Boundary lines are hard to draw be- tween the Pike and Canal Periods and the terminal limit of the latter is closely blended with the initial line of its successor. The Early Railroad Period which seems to stretch from 1840 to 1861 is a distinctive part of the history of the district. Although the Northern Central, the York and Mary- land Line and Cumberland Valley railroads were built by 1838 yet they did not gener- ally effect the canal trade until two years later. The York and Wrightsville road was completed in 1840, the York and Cum- berland, in 1850, and the Hanover and Littlestown in 1858. During this period Odd Fellowship was introduced into the district in 1843 when - - Lodge was instituted at Shippensburg, the Cumber- land Agricultural Society was formed in 1854, and the Shippensburg State Normal school organized in 1857. All progress was arrested by the late Civil War in the gloomy spring days of 1861.
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND PORTRAIT CYCLOPEDIA.
Following the late Civil War came an Improved Period reaching form 1865 to the Centennial Exhibition, during which every industry was quickened into new life and increased production, the old and some new railways were important factors of de- velopment in this period which was distin- guished by improvements in every field of human industry where comfort, conven- ience or usefulness were matters of consid- eration. Improved conditions of life seem- ed to be among the predominant ideas of this period of II years, which recorded the recovery of this nation from the depressing effects of the greatest war of modern times.
The Centennial year was alike a century and a period mark, ushering into existence an era unequaled in the world's advance- ment and opening the twelfth historical or the ninth development period of the Nine- teenth Congressional District. The visit of hundreds from the district to the Cen- tennial at Philadelphia had mnuch to do with calling into existence the present Pro- gressive Period. Viewing the exhibits of every land in every department of industry and education they came back with broad views and new ideas of mental and material progress whose consummation became
their life-work. Thus the wonderful re- sults of industry and invention were brought prominently before the people whose taste was farther educated by the Columbian Exposition, the latest and greatest of internation exhibits. The im- proved service of railway and telegraph, the introduction of the telephone, phono- graph and electric light and motor power, and of labor-saving machinery in mine, shop and factory and on field and highway has rendered splendid the record of mater- ial progress in the celebrated old counties of the Nineteenth District.
Cities and Villages The only city so far in the district is York, an important railroad, manufacturing and educational center in York county. The most popu- lous and important boroughs are men- tioned in the preceding chapter, while the numerous pleasant and prosperous villages will be described in Chapter X. These boroughs and villages nestle beneath the mountains, sleep in the green valleys or stand upon the highways of travel and commerce in the Nineteenth Congressional District which holds high and worthy place in the great Commonwealth.
CHAPTER III.
FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR-THE REVOLUTION-CONTINENTAL CONGRESS-FRONTIER DEFENSE-NATIONAL CAPITAL SITE-WHISKEY INSURRECTION-WAR OF 1812 MEXICAN WAR-WAR OF THE REBELLION- SUBSEQUENT MILITARY HISTORY.
T HE MILITARY history of the Nineteenth District is one of in- terest and event, and attained to national importance in the Revolutionary struggle and the war for the preservation of the Union. Soldiers of the district have served in six wars of the Republic against foreign foes, savage Indians and domestic enemies.
French and Indian War. Unjust treatment of the Indians by the Whites roused the savages to resistance and led to invasions and cruel murders along the western frontier from the Hudson to the Delaware. The just and peaceful policy of the Quakers preserved peace on the western frontiers of Pennsylvania for nearly seventy years, and then their power was not sufficient to control their own or influence the legislation of adjoining pro- vinces.
There was an Indian alarm on the west- ern border of Cumberland and Adams county in 1745 and another in 1748, when an associated regiment of ten companies was raised in the Cumberland valley, but no Indian depredations were committed. The first measure of protection taken for the benefit of the exposed settlements was the building of frontier forts, which were mostly stockades. This fort building con- tinued pretty actively from 1753 to 1764, and of these forts in Cumberland county we have account of the following: Letort
and Louther forts built in 1753: Fort Crog- han, in 1755; Forts Franklin and Morris, at Shippensburg, in 1755; and Forts Fer- guson and McAllister, in 1764. After Braddock's defeat in 1755 the Cumberland valley and part of Adams county was al- most deserted by the settlers, and the In- dians threatening from the north four forts of some size were built above the North Mountain in the Susquehanna valley. In the ensuing spring Shingis and Captain Jacobs led large bands of Delawares into the Cumberland valley and in one in- stance at the Great Cove killed and cap- tured 50 whites. Settlers were killed and captured almost in sight of Carlisle and Shippensburg, the two main fortified posts along the North Mountain. Captain Cul- bertson followed the Great Cove raiders and was killed with II of his men in a fight west of Sideling Hill, and Captain Hance Hamilton who followed an other war party lost seven men in a fight with them. Col. John Armstrong led an expe- dition in 1757 against the Indian town and headquarters at Kittanning, on the Alle- gheny river which he destroyed, and thus gave rest to the Cumberland Valley from Indian raids for a couple of years. Then in 1759 followed a few raids, one of which penetrated York county and killed two men, while several were killed in Adams and a number killed and captured in Cum- berland, but the next four years passed
3
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND PORTRAIT CYCLOPEDIA.
with but few Indian depredations. The French who had urged on the Indians to these raids were dispossessed of Canada and 1763 when Indian troubles were sup- posed to be nearly over the mighty war- chief Pontiac commenced his daring war of extermination against the English forts and settlements and the Delawares and Shawnees from Ohio burst like a whirlwind on the Cumberland valley. The settlers again fled by hundreds to the forts and to points east of the Susquehanna river and the Cumberland valley and the western part of Adams were in a manner deserted until Boquet's victory at Bushy Run broke the power of the Indians east of the Ohio river and restored some confidence, but as- sociate companies were kept under arms as late as 1765. Col. John Armstrong, Capt. Hance Hamilton, the Bradys and Butlers and the mysterious hunter scout and In- dian slayer Captain Jack were the leaders of the settlers, and while numbers of the savages were killed yct many whites were murdered and taken prisoner and different settlements almost ruined.
The Revolution. The French and In- dian war was the special training school in which the thirteen colonies prepared them- selves for their oncoming and successful struggle for independence from England. From weight of numbers andaggressiveness of character, three elements of American population-the Puritan, the Cavalier and the Scotch-Irish, were predominant factors in opposing parliamentary usurpations and carrying on the Revolutionary struggle to a successful termination. The Dutch of New York, the Germans of Pennsylvania, the Catholics of Maryland and the French Huguenots of Georgia and the Carolinas, in proportion to their numbers, bore well their parts in the great struggle. The Puri- tan of New England received the first shock of the contest that was carried south-
ward to its termination in the land of the Cavalier. The Cavalier like the Puritan fought mainly in his own territory, but the Scotch-Irish from their center in western North Carolina spread both northward and southward along the Allegheny mountains and fought from Bennington to King's Mountain, at which places they turned the tides of war that led to the surrender of Burgoyne and Cornwallis.
Resistance to Parliamentary oppressions was roused west of the Susquehanna, nearly a year before Lexington and Con- cord called the colonies to arms. On June 12, 1774, the citizens of York county were called to meet at Yorktown, where on that day resolutions in favor of Boston's resist- ance to commercial restrictions were passed and a committee of thirteen members ap- pointed as a committee of correspondence. A call was also issued in the Cumberland valley, and on July 12th, a meeting was held at Carlisle and a committee of corres- pondence appointed of thirteen members in- cluding Cols. John Armstrong and Eph- raim Blaine, the latter being popular on ac- count of his brave defense of Fort Ligonier during Pontiac's war. In 1775 aid was raised for Boston in Cumberland and York counties, the latter of which contributed, £246 8s. Iod.
When the news of Lexington came and Congress called for troops the committee of Cumberland county acted so promptly and so efficiently that by May 6th 3000 men were formed into associator companies, having but 1,500 arms and 500 men were ordered to march when needed. The county was assessed 27,000 pounds for mil- itary purposes, and the First Rifle regi- ment of Pennsylvania was raised within its boundaries. This regiment was formed within ten days after the battle of Bunker Hill and its officers were: William Thomp- son, colonel; Edward Hand, lieutenant-col-
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NINETEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
onel; Robert Magaw, major; and James Chambers, Robert Cluggage, Michael Doudel, William Hendricks, John Loudon, James Ross, Matthew Smith, and George Nagle, captains; Dr. William Magaw was surgeon, and Rev. Samuel Blair served as chaplain. The regiment numbered 798 men all told, was raised for one year and then re-enlisted for the war. The First Rifle regiment was composed of men of splendid physique and unerring marksmen- ship, who were dressed in white rifle shirts and round hats, and its record was one of hardship and bravery from Boston to Yorktown. Smith and Hendricks com- panies were under Arnold at Quebec, and part of the regiment was captured in Cana- da. The regiment afterwards fought in every battle under Washington from Long Island to Yorktown, and then went with Wayne to the south where it was in the last battle of the Revolution at Sharon, Georgia. Of its commanders Thompson and Hand became brigadier generals, and Captain Chambers was promoted to col- onel, while Captain Wilson became major. Some men from Cumberland county were in the Second, Third and Fourth battalions. The Fifth battalion was raised chiefly in the county and left in March, 1776, under command of Col. Robert Magaw, formerly major in the First Rifles. The Fifth was in the retreat from Long Island and then with other troops were placed to garrison Ft. Washington which was so gallantly de- fended by Colonel Magaw, who was finally compelled to surrender, when the soldiers of the Fifth were made prisoners and held until the close of the Revolution. The Third regiment organized in Cumberland county was the Sixth Pennsylvania, whose officers were: William Irvine, colonel; Thomas Hartley, lieutenant-colonel; James Dunlap, major; and Samuel Hay, Robert Adams, Abraham Smith, William
Rippey, James A. Wilson, David Grier, Moses McLean, and Jeremiah Talbott, captains. A portion of the Sixth was cap- tured in Canada June 6, 1776, and in 1777 the broken Sixth and Seventh were con- solidated in one command which served until the close of the war. Of the officers of the Sixth, Colonel Irvine was promoted brigadier-general, and Captain Grier to colonel. Colonels Frederick Watts and John Montgomery commanded regiments taken at Ft. Washington, which were sup- posed to have been largely recruited in the Cumberland valley, and Capt. Jonathan Robinson commanded a company which fought at Princeton. In 1777 under a new militia organization the battalions were numbered in each county. The First bat- talion of Cumberland was successively com- manded by Col. Ephraim Blaine and Col. James Dunlap. The Second battalion was commanded successively by Cols. John Allison, James Murray and John Davis. The Fourth battalion was under Col. Sam- uel, and the Fifth was commanded by Col. Joseph Armstrong, while the Sixth had for its commander, Col. Culbertson. The Seventh battalion of Cumberland county county was under Col. William Irvine, and the Eighth was commanded by Col. Abra- ham Smith. Many of the enlistments were for six months and often a soldier served in several commands during the war. The county furnished 334 men to the Flying Camp in 1776, and in that year Capt. Wil- liam Peebles commanded a company of 81 riflemen which fought on Long Island and at Princeton. Some of the companies raised were from what is now Franklin county and it is impossible to give a full list of the officers and men who served from Cumberland county. Col. James Smith, Capt. Samuel Brady, Col. Patrick Jack, often called Captain Jack, the wild hunter of the Juniata, and the five fighting But-
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND PORTRAIT CYCLOPEDIA.
lers were among the officers of the county who distinguished themselves in the Revo- lution and afterwards on the frontier. Col. James Smith offered to raise a battalion of riflemen accustomed to the Indian metliod of fighting but Washington declined to in- troduce such an irregular element into the army. In 1777 a Tory plot was discovered to destroy public stores at Carlisle, York and other places, and the estates of several persons implicated were sold by the com- mittee on forfeited estates and the money used for the purchase of arms and provis- ions. From 1777 to 1780 wagon masters were appointed for the county which fur- nished at one time as high as 800 four- horse wagons to transport stores and sup- plies. The owners of the wagons were paid for them and the number of horses furnished. Armories were kept up at Car- lisle and Shippensburg and William Den- ning succeeded in making two cannon of wrought iron, one of which was taken by the British at Brandywine and is said now to be in the tower of London. Col. Ephraim Blaine served as assistant quartermaster- general of Washington's army, and his extensive fortune was ever at the disposal of his county. Others were equally pa- triotic with Col. Blaine, and pastors like Craighead, Steel, King, and Cooper not only preached in favor of war but enlisted and served under Washington; and the pa- triotism of the people was such that on May 23, 1776, they sent a memorial to the assem- bly in which they boldly advocated separa- tion from Great Britain if necessary for the freedom and happiness of the colonies. The assembly acted favorably on the petition and when Congress took final action on the motion for Independence, Pennsylvania was carried in its favor by the casting vote of James Wilson, of Cumberland county.
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