USA > Pennsylvania > Dauphin County > Centennial : the settlement, formation and progress of Dauphine County, Pennsylvania, from 1785 to 1876 > Part 13
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served for long or short periods during the revolution. William Maclay, one of the first United States Senators from Pennsylvania, was a provincial officer and also one in the revolution. Andrew Lee, long a respected citizen, was at Yorktown, with Joshua Elder.
Most of these gentlemen had been officers during the revolutionary contest, and many of them held high mili- tary rank after the revolution. Especial pains was taken to secure their experience in the Whisky insurrection, and in the militia organizations of which they were the lead- ing spirits. May we all cherish the boon of freedom they were so instrumental in securing, before they laid
"Mortality's raiment softly aside."
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William H. Egle, M. D., delivered the following ad- dress :
HISTORICAL REVIEW OF DAUPHIN COUNTY.
At what eventful era the footsteps of the white man trod the green sward of this locality there is no certain- ty, but from the description of Capt. John Smith, of the Virginia Company, who ascended the Susquehanna as far as the Great Falls (Conewago,) there can be no doubt some of his hardy adventurers explored the country as far as the first range of the Kittochtinny hills. At that period (1608,) the brave Susquehannas reigned here-they yielding subsequently to the conquering Iroquois. Fi- nally (1695-8,) the Shawanese, from the Carolinas, driven from thence by the Catawbas, located at the mouths of the different tributaries of the great river, as high up as the Forks of the Susquehanna.
Although, after the founding of Philadelphia, William Penn planned the laying out of a city on the Susque- hanna, it is not certain that the Founder, in his several visits to our majestic river, ever came farther north than the Swatara. The first persons to spy out this goodly heritage of ours were French traders, one of whom lo- cated at the mouth of Paxtang creek, towards the close of the seventeenth century. Of this individual, Peter Beza- lion, little is known, but until the period, when the in- trigues of the French and especially the encroachments of Lord Baltimore began to be feared, he acted as chief interpreter at the principal Indian conferences. He sub- sequently went to the Ohio, as also the other French traders, and after 1725-6 he is lost sight of. At this pe- riod there were Indian villages at Conestoga, at Conoy,
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at the mouth of the Swahadowry (Swatara,) Peshtank (Paxtang,) Conedoguinet, and Calapascink (Yellow Breeches.) The Cartlidges were located at Conestoga, after the removal of the Le Torts, Bezalion at Paxtang, and Chartier at the village opposite, while roving traders supplied the other Indian towns.
It becoming absolutely necessary to license English traders so as to prevent communication with the French on the Ohio, among the first was John Harris, who per- chance entered this then lucrative field, the Indian trade, at the suggestion of his most intimate friend, Edward Shippen, Provincial Secretary.
Of the John Harris, who thus located permanently at Harrisburg, and who gave the name to our city, it may not be inappropriate to refer. "He was as honest a man as ever broke bread," was the high eulogium pronounced by Parson Elder, of blessed memory, as he spoke of the pioneer in after years. Born in the county of Yorkshire, England, although of Welsh descent, about the year 1673, he was brought up in the trade of his father, that of a brewer. Leaving his home on reaching his majori- ty, he worked at his calling some time in the city of Lon- don, where he joined, a few years afterwards, a company from his native district, who emigrated to Pennsylvania two or three years prior to Penn's second visit to his Province. Watson states that John Harris' "entire capital amounted to only sixteen guineas."
We first hear of him after his arrival in Philadelphia as a contractor for clearing and grading the streets of that ancient village. In 1698 his name is appended to a re- monstrance to the Provincial Assembly against the pass- age of an act disallowing the franchise to all persons owning real estate less in value than fifty pounds. The
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memorial had its effect, and the objectionable law was re- pealed. By letters of introduction to Edward Shippen, the first mayor of Philadelphia, that distinguished gentle- man became his steadfast friend, and through his influ- ence, no doubt, were secured those favors which induced him eventually to become the first permanent settler in this locality.
In January, 1705, John Harris received his license from the Commissioners of Property, authorizing and allowing him to "seat himself on the Sasquahannah," and "to erect such buildings as are necessary for his trade, and to en close and improve such quantities of land as he shall think fit." At once he set about building a log house near the Ganawese (Conoy) settlement, but the Indians made complaint to the government that it made them "un- easie," desiring to know if they encouraged it. As in nu- merous instances when the Provincial authorities were taken to task, they disavowed their own acts. Neverthe- less, the "trader" continued his avocation, making fre- quent visits to the Shawanese villages at the Conewago and Swatara. It is doubtful if John Harris came farther west until after the permanent removal of all the French traders.
It was during one of his expeditions that Harris first beheld the beauty and advantages of the location at Pax- tang. It was the best fording place on the Susquehanna, and then, as now in these later days, on the great high- way between the North and South, the East and the West. Annually the chiefs of the Five Nations went to the Carolinas, where were located their vast hunting grounds, and these, returning with peltries, found need of a trading post. The eye of that hardy pioneer, look- ing out over the vast expanse of wood, and plain, and
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river, saw and knew that it was the place for the realiza- tion of that fond dream of the founder of Pennsylvania, the great and good Penn-"a city on the Susquehanna." At the period referred to, the lands lying between the Conewago or Lechay Hills, and the Kittochtinny or Blue Mountains, had not been purchased from the Indians. Of course neither John Harris nor the Scotch-Irish set- tlers could locate except by the right of squatter sover- eignty or as licensed traders. As a trader, it could only be with the permission of the Indians.
Harris' first move was the erection of a store-house, which he surrounded by a stockade. It was located on the lower bank of the river, at about what is now the foot of Paxtang street. A well dug by him still exists, al- though covered over about twenty-five years ago, the old pump stock having become useless and the platform dan- gerous. A mound or hillock about one hundred feet south-east of the graveyard denotes the spot. "For al-
most a century," in the language of the present David Harris, "this well supplied a large neighborhood with water, which was exceedingly cool and pleasant to the taste." Adjoining his cabin were sheds for the housing of peltries obtained by traffic, which at stated periods, were conveyed to Philadelphia on pack horses.
About the year 1718 or '19, an incident took place in the life of John Harris which has received all sorts of ver- sions, and even doubts of its truthfulness. We shall give · it as we believe it, and as traditionary and other facts in our possession supply the material therefor. All the French traders having "gone over Sasquahannah," John Harris monopolized the business at Paxtang. In glanc- ing over the records of the Province of Pennsylvania, fre- quent allusions are made to the excursions of the north-
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ern Indians, either to hunting grounds in the South or to a conflict with a deadly foe. At one time the Ononda- goes, on a predatory excursion against the Talapoosas, in Virginia, descending the Susquehanna, left their ca- noes at Harris', proceeding thence to the scene of strife. Situated as he was, at the best ford on the river, he com- manded an extensive trade. His Indian neighbors (Shawanese) were very friendly, and of course would not allow any strange or predatory bands to molest him. The deadly foe of the red race is Rum, and although the selling of it was expressly forbidden by the Provincial au- thorities, yet there was scarcely a treaty or conference without this potion being a part of the presents made by the refined white man to his ignorant red brother. Of a consequence liquor was sold, and we are told by Conrad Weiser that on one occasion "on the Sasquahannah," the Indians whom he was conducting to Philadelphia became so drunk that he was fearful of them and left them. At the period first referred to, it seems, a predatory band of Indians, on returning from the Carolinas, or the "Patow- mack," naturally halted at John Harris'. In exchanging part of their goods, probably rum-for this seems to have been the principal beverage drunk at that period -- was one of the articles in barter. At least we have it by tra- dition that the Indians became riotous in their drunken revelry, and demanding more rum, were refused by Mr. Harris, who began to fear harm from his visitors. Not to be denied, they again demanded liquor, and seiz- ing him, they took him to a tree near by, binding him thereto. After helping themselves to whatever they wanted of his stores, they danced around the unhappy captive, who no doubt thought his death was nigh.
Prior to this, the Indian village of Paxtang had been deserted, and the inhabitants removed to the west side
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of the Susquehanna. On the bluff opposite John Har- ris', as also at the mouth of the Yellow Breeches, there were lodges of Shawanese, and these held our Indian trader in high esteem. Information was taken them by Mr. Harris' negro servant, when at once were sum- moned the warriors, who crossed the river, where, after a slight struggle with the drunken Indians, they rescued from a death of torture their white friend.
Although no mention of these facts is made in the Provincial records, there may possibly have been good reason therefor, and it is well known that many inci- dents, well authenticated in later years, have not been noted in the documents referred to. By tradition and private sources alone are they preserved from oblivion. It was no myth, this attempt to burn John Harris, and al- though the pen and pencil have joined in making there- from a romance, and heightened it with many a gaudy coloring, yet accurate resources have furnished us with the details here given.
The remains of this tree, which in the memory of the oldest inhabitant bore fruit, stands within the enclosure at Harris park, a striking memento of that thrilling inci- dent, and in this place and in this connection we propose to erect a substantial monument to the memory of that brave pioneer, that as the years roll on and that old stump crumbles into dust something may tell that story of frontier times. Let subscriptions of one dollar each be the limit, and 2,500 or 3,000 persons in a city of 30,- 000 can readily be found with patriotism enough in their bosoms to contribute to this laudable design. Before the year closes I can assure my hearers, that the monu- ment to the memory of those who fell in the war for the
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Union will be completed. After that, the duty for which I speak will properly suggest itself.
Harris' trade with the Indians continued to increase, and Harris Ferry became known far and wide, not only to the red men, but to the white race in foreign coun- tries.
During John Harris' frequent visits to Philadel- phia he met at the house of his friend Shippen, Miss Es- ther Say, like himself not over young, from his native Yorkshire, and in the latter part of the year 1720 mar- ried her. The wedding took place either at the Swedes Church, Wicaco, or at Christ Church, both being mem- bers of the Church of England. Among the early colo- nists who settled in Philadelphia were a number of the name of Say, but to which family Esther Harris was con- nected is not to be ascertained with certainty. She was kinswoman to the Shippens, and of course respectably connected. A remarkable woman, she was also well cal- culated to share the love, the trials, the hardships and the cabin of the intrepid pioneer.
In 1721-22 their first child, Elizabeth, was born; in 1725 their second, Esther Harris, and in October, 1727, their first son, John Harris. This was the founder of Harrisburg. The statement that he was the first white male child born west of the Conewago Hills is not cor- rect. There were settlers beyond, along the Swatara, as early as 1718; and it is natural to suppose that in many a log cabin the sunshine of boyhood gladdened the hearts of the hardy pioneer, and who also attained mature age. The parents carried their child when nearly a year old to Philadelphia, where he was baptized on the 22d of Sep- tember, 1728, as they had previously done with their other children. That of Esther Harris took place Au-
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gust 31, 1726, according to the parish register of Christ Church, but we have not been able to ascertain the date of the baptism of the eldest child.
Until this period (1728) the country lying between the Conewago Hills and the Kittochtinny Mountains was owned, or rather claimed, by the Five Nations. It is true, the Scotch-Irish settlers had been pushed within these bounds ten years previously by the very Provincial authorities who destroyed their cabins on land already purchased. The treaty of 1728 opened up this vast and rich valley to the adventuresome. Filling up rapidly, on May 10, 1729, the Assembly passed "An act for the erect- ing the Upper Part of the Province of Pennsylvania ly- ing towards the Sasquehannah, Conestogoe, Donnegal, etc., into a county," to be called Lancaster. At the first court in and for said county, November. 3, 1730, at Posthlethwaite's, a petition was presented by John Har- ris, among others, "praying that he may be recom- mended to the Governor as a suitable person to trade with the Indians," and was allowed per curiam." This, of course, was necessary in the change of counties ; here- tofore the application passed through the court of Ches- ter county, and in this connection we may remark that among the Chester county records as early as 1722 is to be found the name of John Harris, "on the Sasquahan- nah." Subsequently he made application to the same authority to "sell rum by the small," which was granted.
In 1732, with the desire of establishing an additional trading-post, Harris built a store-house at the mouth of the Juniata. The last purchase (1728) not extending this far, the Indians objected to it, especially Sassonan and Shickalamy, who wrote through their interpreters to the Governor, informing him of the fact, and also to John
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Harris, commanding him to desist from making a planta- tion at the point referred to. The authorities made no objection.
By virtue of a warrant from the Proprietaries of Penn- sylvania, bearing date January 1, 1725-6, five hundred acres of land were granted to John Harris, father of the founder of Harrisburg; and subsequently, on the 17th of December, 1733, by a patent, three hundred acres of al- lowance land, upon which he had commenced a settle- ment, on the present site of the city, about the year 1717. The land included in the latter patent extended from what is now the line of Cumberland street some distance south of the present north boundary of the city, and in- cluding also a part of the present site of the city, with its several additions.
Until the year 1735-6, there was no regularly con- structed road to the Susquehanna, but at a session of the Provincial Council held in Philadelphia January 22, 1735-6, on the petition of sundry inhabitants of Chester and Lancaster counties, "setting forth the Want of a High Road in the Remote parts of the said Counties where the petitioners are seated, and that a very commo- dious one may be laid out from the Ferry of John Har- ris, on Susquehannah, to fall in with the High Road lead- ing from Lancaster town at or near the Plantation of Ed- ward Kennison, in the Great Valley in the County of Chester," it was ordered that viewers be appointed who shall make a return of the same, "together with a Draught of the said Road." Subsequently this was done, and the highway opened from the Susquehanna to the Delaware, and in years after continued westward to the Ohio. As a matter of course, the laying out of this road increased greatly the business at Harris Ferry, and it became at a
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very early period the depot of trade to the western and northern frontiers of the Province, a position which it has held for over a century and a half.
Well advanced in life, at the age of about seventy-five, after having for several years intrusted his business to his eldest son, still in his minority, in December, 1748, the first pioneer quietly passed away from earth, having previously made a request that his remains be interred underneath the shade of that tree so memorable to him. There his dust lies at rest on the banks of our beautiful river-within the hearing of its thundering at flood-tide, and the musical rippling of its pellucid waters in its sub- dued majesty and beauty.
The oldest son, John Harris, who succeeded to the greatest portion of his father's estate, and who, in 1785, laid out the Capital City of Pennsylvania, married first Elizabeth M'Clure and second Mary Reed, daughter of Captain Adam Reed, of Hanover, an officer of the Pro- vincial service, was a prominent personage during the In- dian wars, and the principal military storekeeper on the frontier. His letters to the Governors of the Province and other officials are of intense interest, and deserve to be collated by our antiquarians. Not models of style, it is true, but they give vivid descriptions of the perilous times in which our ancestors dwelt who made the then out-bounds of civilization flourish and "blossom as a rose."
By a grant from Thomas Penn and Richard Penn, Esqs., proprietaries, to John Harris, Jr., bearing date of record "ye 19th February, 1753," that gentleman was al- lowed the right of running a ferry across the Susquehan- na, from which originated the former name of the place, which previous to the organization of the county, was known far and near as Harris Ferry.
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It appears from letters of John Harris, written to Gov- ernor Morris, that an Indian named Half-King, also called Tanacharisson, died at his house on the night of the Ist of October, 1754. Rupp says that "he had his residence at Logstown, on the Ohio, fourteen miles below Pitts- burgh, on the opposite side. George Washington vis- ited him in 1753, and desired him to relate some of the particulars of a journey he had shortly before made to the French Commandant at Fort Duquesne." We find this note among the votes of Assembly, 1754: "Dec. 17, Post Meridian, 1754 .- The Committee of Accounts re- ported a balance of £10 15s. 4d. due to the said John Harris for his expenses, and £5 for his trouble, &c., in burying the Half-King and maintaining the sundry In- dians that were with him."
They had considerable trouble at Harris Ferry during the French and Indian war, which extended over the period from 1754 to 1765. A petition from the inhabit- ants of the townships of Paxtang, Derry and Hanover, Lancaster county, bearing date July 22, 1754, and setting forth their precarious condition, was presented and read in the Council on the 6th of August following. It bore the signatures of Thomas Forster, James Armstrong, John Harris, Thomas Simpson, Samuel Simpson, John Carson, David Shields, William M'Mullin, John Cuoit, William Armstrong, William Bell, John Dougherty, James Atkin, Andrew Cochran, James Reed, Thomas Rutherford, T. M'Carter, William Steel, Samuel Hunter, Thos. Mayes, James Coler, Henry Rennicks, Richard M'Clure, Thomas Dugan, John Johnson, Peter Fleming, Thomas Sturgeon, Matthew Taylor, Jeremiah Sturgeon, Thos. King, Robert Smith, Adam Reed, John Crawford, Thomas Crawford, Jonathan M'Clure, Thomas Hume,
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Thomas Steene, John Hume, John Creige, Thomas M'Clure, William M'Clure, John Rodgers, James Patter- son, John Young, Ez. Sankey, John Forster, Mitchel Graham, James Toalen, James Galbraith, James Camp- bell, Robert Boyd, James Chambers, Robert Armstrong, Jno. Campbell, Hugh Black, Thomas Black.
At this period also we find an extensive correspond- ence between John Harris, Conrad Weiser and others and Edward Shippen, complaining of the insecurity of life and property owing to the depredations of the In- dians; and their tenor is a continual and just complaint of the outrages committed by the savages, and urgent re- quests to the authorities for protection, and arms, etc.
On the 8th of January, 1756, a council with the In- dians was held at the house of John Harris, at Paxtang, composed of Hon. Robert Hunter Morris, Governor; James Hamilton and Richard Peters, secretaries; Joseph Fox, commissioner, and Conrad Weiser, interpreter; two Indians of the Six Nations called "The Belt of Wam- pum," a Seneca, and the "Broken Thigh," a Mohawk. The meeting was of an amicable character, and was only the preliminary step to a larger and more important council held the week following at Carlisle. One of the reasons for holding the council at the latter place was, "that there were but few conveniences 'for the proper en- tertainment' of the Governor and his company at Harris Ferry, and Mr. Weiser gave it as his opinion that it would be better to adjourn to Carlise." A second coun- cil was held here on the Ist of April, 1757. Present : the Rev. John Elder, Captain Thomas M'Kee, Messrs. James Armstrong, Hugh Crawford, John Harris, William Pentrup, interpreter, and warriors from the Mohawks, Oneidas, Tuscaroras, Onondagoes, Nanticokes, Cayugas,
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Delawares, Senecas and Conestogoes, with their women and children. George Croghan, Esq., deputy agent to the Hon. Sir W. Johnson, Bart., his majesty's sole agent and superintendent of the Six Nations, etc., was also present. This council was removed to Lancaster, owing to the number of Indians then encamped at Conestoga Manor, where the remainder of the business was con- cluded.
The most interesting event of this period was the ex- termination of the so-called Conestoga Indians by the Paxtang Rangers. The situation of the frontiers suc- ceeding the Pontiax war was truly deplorable, principally owing to the supineness of the Provincial authorities, for the Quakers, who controlled the government, were, to use the language of Capt. Lazarus Stewart, "more solicit- ous for the welfare of the blood-thirsty Indian than for the lives of the frontiersmen. In their blind partiality, bigotry and political prejudice, they would not readily ac- cede to the demands of those of a different religious faith. Especially was this the case relative to the Presbyterians and Roman Catholics, both of whom were tolerated by mere sufferance. To them, therefore, was greatly attributable the reign of horror and devastation in the border coun- ties. The government was deaf to all entreaties, and General Amherst, commander of the British forces in America, did not hesitate to give his feelings an em- phatic expression-"The conduct of the Pennsylvania As- sembly," he wrote, "is altogether so infatuated and stupidly obstinate, that I want words to express my indignation thereat." Nevertheless, the sturdy Scotch-Irish and Germans of this section rallied for their own defense. The inhabitants of Paxtang and Hanover immediately enrolled themselves into several companies, the Rev. John Elder being their Colonel.
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Lazarus Stewart, Matthew Smith and Asher Clayton, men of acknowledged military ability and prowess, commanded distinct companies of Rangers. These brave men were ever on the alert, watching with eagle eye the Indian marauders who at this period swooped down upon the defenseless frontiers. High mountains, swollen rivers, or great distances never deterred or appalled them. Their courage and fortitude were equal to every undertaking, and woe betide the red men .when their blood-stained tracks once met their eyes. The Paxtang Rangers were the terror of the Indians-they were swift on foot, excellent horsemen, good shots, skillful in pur- suit or escape, dexterous as scouts and expert in ma- nœuvering.
The murders in and around Paxtang, notwithstanding the vigilance of the Rangers, became numerous, and many a family mourned for some of their number shot by the secret foe or carried away captive. The frontiers- men took their rifles with them to the field and to the sanctuary. Their colonel and pastor placed his trusty piece beside him in the pulpit; and it is authoritatively stated that on one occasion old Derry meeting house was surrounded while he was preaching; but their spies hav- ing counted the rifles the Indians retired from their am- buscade without making an attack.
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