USA > Pennsylvania > Dauphin County > Centennial : the settlement, formation and progress of Dauphine County, Pennsylvania, from 1785 to 1876 > Part 15
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Captain Smith's company, on the expiration of their term of service, re-enlisted in the First Pennsylvania
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(Col. Hand,) with Captain Michael Simpson, December, 1776, who retired from the army January 1, 1781. Da- vid Harris commanded a company in this regiment July 1776 (resigned October, 1777,) of which also James Hamilton, formerly lieutenant in Capt. John Murray's company, was promoted major (retiring January 1, 1783.) Major Hamilton was captured at the battle of Brandy- wine.
In the Tenth Pennsylvania (Colonel Joseph Penrose) were Captain John Stoner's company, December 4, 1776; and Capt. Robert Sample's, December 4, 1776, (retired January 1, 1781.) John Steel, First Lieutenant of the former company, was killed at Brandywine September II, 1777.
In the Twelfth Pennsylvania. (Col. William Cook) was the company of Capt. John Harris, October 14, 1776; First Lieutenant, John Reily, October 16, 1776 (subse- quently promoted to Captain, and mustered out with the regiment November 3, 1783;) Second Lieutenant, John Carothers, October 16, 1776, (killed at Germantown.)
The foregoing were the different companies raised in this part of the country at the outset of the Revolution- ere the thunder-tones of the Declaration of Independ- ence sounded along the corridors of time. Following those in succession were the Associators, the brave min- ute-men,
"Who left the ploughshare in the mould, Their flocks and herds without a fold, The sickle in the unshorn grain, The corn, half garner'd on the plain, And muster'd, in their simple dress, For wrongs to seek a stern redress,
To right those wrongs, come weal, come woe, To perish, or o'ercome the foe."
At one period the entire country was so bare of men that the old men, the women and the lads of ten and
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twelve years not only done the planting and harvesting, but took up arms to defend their homes in the threatened invasion by Indians and tories after the massacre of Wy- oming.
At Trenton, at Princeton, at Brandywine and German- town, at the Crooked Billet and the Paoli, the militia of Dauphin fought, and bled, and died. With over one hun- dred and fifty commissioned officers, of whom my friend, Mr. Hamilton, has so well referred to, there certainly must have been a powerful force. After what has been said, I need scarcely refer to the gallant Burd, Crouch, Green, Weir, Cox, Boyd, Graham, Forrest, Allen and Lee; or the chivalric Stewart, Murray, Wilson, Wiggins and Rogers-and that long line of heroes whose brilliant achievements shed an undying glory on the patriotism of Dauphin county in the Revolution. What was once said of the men of New England can more truthfully be said of our own county, and of Pennsylvania especially:
** * On every hill they lie,
On every field of strife made red By bloody victory. Each valley, where the battle pour'd
Its red and awful tide, Beheld "Old Dauphin's bravest" sword
With slaughter deeply dyed. Their bones are on the Northern hill
And on the Southern plain, By brook and river, lake and rill,
And by the roaring main.
"The land is holy where they fought, And holy where they fell,
For by their blood that land was bought, The land they loved so well. Then glory to that valiant band, The honor'd saviours of the land!"
When liberty shall have been crushed to earth-then, and then only will their deeds and their sweet memories be effaced from the hearts of their descendants.
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With the dawn of peace, the people of the county returned to their usual avocations. Civil affairs were taken cognizance of, and movements were at once made to secure the formation of a new county, with Harrisburg as the seat of justice. By the act of Assembly of March 4, 1785, the county of Dauphin was separated from Lan- caster, its name derived from the eldest son of the then king of the French-France at that period, in conse- quence of its efficient aid to the Colonies, being upper- most in the affections of the people. The enthusiasm was unbounded, and, as we shall refer to hereafter, car- ried to extreme lengths. The name was suggested by the prime movers for the formation of the new county. The seat of justice was fixed at Harris' Ferry, then a village of about one hundred houses, although the town was not actually laid out or surveyed until after the pas- sage of the ordinance referred to. In the commissions of the officers of the new county, the town was named Louisburgh, in honor of Louis XVI., suggested by Chief Justice Thomas M'Kean, not only on account of his French leanings, but to show his petty spite against Mr. Harris, to whom, somehow or other, he held political opposition.
This act of injustice was subsequently remedied, when, on the 13th of April, 1791, the town was created a bor- ough, by the name of Harrisburg. It was undecided for awhile whether to call the place Harris' Ferry or Harris- burg. The latter, fortunately, was adopted.
On the organization of the county, Middletown was the largest village in the county, and strenuous efforts were made by its citizens and the inhabitants of the townships subsequently forming Lebanon county, to make it the seat of justice; while similar claims were
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made for the town of Lebanon, on account of its central location.
The machinery of the new county was soon put into motion, the earliest record of whose courts reads thus:
"At a court of quarter sessions, holden near Harris' Ferry, in and for the county of Dauphin," &c., on the "third Tuesday of May, in the year of our Lord 1785," before "Timothy Green, Samuel Jones and Jonathan M'- Clure, Esqrs., justices of the same court."
We may imagine the scene, in a small room in a log house near the "lower ferry," at Front and Vine streets, with a jury particularly intelligent-an excellent set of county officers, and such a bar as Ross, Kittera, Cham- bers, Hubley, James Biddle, Hanna, Andrew Dunlop, Reily, Collinson Reed, Jasper Yeates, John Joseph Henry, Thomas Duncan, and Thomas Smith, most of whom rose to occupy the highest positions at the bar or in the Sen- ate-quite a show of famous men to start the judicial engine of the new county, with the net result of convicting William Courtenay, a descendant of one of the proudest houses of England, and sentencing him to eighteen lashes, fifteen shillings fine, and "to stand in the pillory." This instrument of judicial vengeance stood about sixty yards below the grave of John Harris, the elder, or just above the ferry house, at the junction of Front and Paxtang streets. This, doubtless, was the exact position, as two or three of the first courts were held in a building on what is now the southern corner of Front street and Washington avenue. There was no citizen of Harris- burg on the first jury, except, perhaps, Alexander Berry- hill, but that is not certain. Colonel James Cowden, of Lower Paxtang township, was the foreman of this grand jury.
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Historical Sketch of Dauphin County.
The sheriff of Lancaster county exercised the same of- fice in Dauphin county. The names of the jurymen were James Cowden, (foreman,) Robert Montgomery, John Gilchrist, Barefoot Brunson, John Clarke, Roan M'Clure, John Carson, John Wilson, Wm. Crane, Archi- bald M'Allister, Richard Dixon, John Pattimore, James Crouch, Jacob Awl, William Brown, Andrew Stewart, James Rogers, Samuel Stewart, John Cooper, Alexander Berryhill. Alexander Graydon was the first prothonota- ry, and Anthony Kelker the first sheriff.
The minutes of the second court held in the town are dated at "Harrisburgh," and on the 3d of August, 1786, the following endorsement appears on the docket: The name of the county town, or seat of the courts, is altered from "Harrisburgh" to "Louisburgh," in consequence of the Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth, so styling it in the Commissions of the Justices of said town."
The courts were held for several successive years in the same locality, but subsequently in the log house re- cently demolished on the south-east corner of Market street and Dewberry alley. From here it was removed to its present location, except during the sessions of the Legislature from 1812 to 1822, when the court occupied the brick building built by the county commissioners on the corner of Walnut street and Raspberry alley. The present edifice was erected in 1860.
The act of Assembly erecting Harrisburg into a bor- ough defined its limits as follows:
"Beginning at low-water mark on the eastern shore of the Susquehanna River; thence by the pine-apple tree north 60 14 degrees, east 79 perches, to an ash tree on the west bank of Paxton Creek ; thence by the several
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corners thereof 323 perches, to a white hickory on Wil- liam Maclay's line; thence by the same south 6734 de- grees, west 212 perches, to a marked chestnut-oak on the eastern bank of the Susquehanna; thence by the same course to low-water mark to the place of begin- ning."
The borough limits were extended by the act of the 16th of April, 1838, as follows: "The north-western boundary line of the borough of Harrisburg shall be and the same is hereby extended and enlarged as follows: Extending it along the river line to the upper line of the land of the late William Maclay, on said river; thence to Paxton creek, and thence along said creek to the north- western corner to the present boundary." Thus annex- ing Maclaysburg, or all the territory included in the bor- ough then lying north-west of South street.
During the so-called Whisky Insurrection, 1794, Har- risburg became quite prominent, it being on the great thoroughfare to the Western counties. The court house was then building, and some of the sympathizers with the anti-excise men beyond the mountains hoisted a French flag on that structure. Of course this gave offense and it was quietly removed. Several arrests were made of individuals who expressed sympathy for the Western in- surgents-one of whom, Major Swiney, was confined in prison for nearly a year, when he was released without trial. Governor Mifflin, who was an excellent stump- speaker, made one of his characteristic addresses here, and in two days time no less than three companies from the town were on their march to Carlisle. When Gov. Howell, of New Jersey, and his brilliant staff remained over night, they were so hospitably entertained by the citizens that he returned his thanks in special orders.
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On Friday, the 3d of October, when the President, the great and good Washington, approached the town, he was met by a large concourse of the people and the en- thusiasm was unbounded. The worthy burgesses, Con- rad Bombaugh and Alexander Berryhill, presented the address of the town, to which the chief magistrate briefly replied, bearing "testimony to the zealous and ef- ficient exertions" they had made. That evening he held a reception at his head-quarters, where the principal citi- zens embraced the opportunity of paying their respects to the venerated chieftain. On the morning of the 4th he crossed the river at the upper ferry, which was fifty yards above the present Harrisburg bridge.
About this period came the fever of 1793-5 and the mill-dam troubles. For two years previous a disease of a malignant type prevailed during the summer season in the borough. Its origin was proved beyond doubt to be due to a mill-dam located in what is now the First ward of the city, on Paxtang creek. In 1793, during the preva- lence of the yellow fever in Philadelphia, it was thought and even pronounced such .. Quite a number of Irish emigrants died, and although many of the inhabitants were attacked there were no fatal cases among them. This was proof positive that the endemic was due to the damming up of the Paxtang creek, which was always "dead water," (its Indian significance,) producing mala- rial poisoning. Our ancestors, reasoning rightly, their next move was to get rid of the nuisance. Meetings were held, committees appointed, funds raised and ten- dered to the owners of the mill, Peter and Abraham Lan- dis, the amount demanded by them the previous year for their property. The impecunious millers now required a greater sum, but the citizens positively refused, and at
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a public meeting they resolved that a further tender be made the Landises and in case of refusal to "prostrate the dam" and pay, if necessary, the "proportionable parts of all legal expenses and damages that might accrue on any suits or indictments which might be brought or prosecuted in consequence of such acts." Our fore- fathers were not to be trifled with, and suiting the action to the word, met at a given hour and opened the dam. Eventually the parties compromised-the Landises ac- cepted a certain sum and the town secured the mill right. The valuable papers relating to this interesting epoch in the history of Harrisburg are in the possession of the Dauphin County Historical Society and being prepared for publication. The entire transaction was creditable to the ancient Harrisburger, and the descendants of the men who then stood up for the rights of the people are among the most prominent of our citizens to-day.
In 1798, when a war with France was imminent and a call made by the general government on Pennsylvania for troops, an unusual excitement was created, and sev- eral companies tendered their services to the Governor. ยท The storm blew over, and as in 1807, when a war was threatened with Great Britain-no occasion for troops were required, until five years after-when the second struggle with England took place. Among the promi- nent military organizations which armed for the conflict were the companies of Captains Thomas Walker, Rich- ard M. Crain, John Carothers, Jeremiah Rees, Thomas M'Ilhenny, Peter Snyder, John B. Moorhead, James Todd, Richard Knight, John Elder, Isaac Smith, Philip Fedder- hoff and Gawen Henry, quite a formidable array. Some of these marched as far as Baltimore at the time of the British attack on that city, while others went no farther
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than York. None of these companies had an opportu- nity to meet the enemy on the sanguinary field-but Dauphin county men composed the major portion of two companies which joined the Canada expedition. The heroes of this conflict are nearly all passed from off the stage of life. Following in the footsteps of the fathers of the Revolution, they emulated their heroism and devo- tion to the liberties of their country.
In the war with Mexico, consequent upon the annexa- tion of Texas, among the troops which went out to that far-off land to vindicate the honor of our country and preserve its prestige, was the Cameron Guards, under command of Captain Edward C. Williams. They made a good record, their heroic conduct at Cerro Gordo, Chapultepec and the Garreta de Belina, won for them high renown and the commendation of their venerated commander-in-chief. Scarce a corporal's guard remains of that gallant band.
Coming down to later times, when the perpetuity of the Union was threatened, and the great North rose up like a giant in its strength to crush secession and rebel- lion, the events are so fresh in the remembrances of all that we shall only refer to them in brief. The first pub- lic meeting held after the firing upon Fort Sumter in the State of Pennsylvania, and in fact the first in any northern city, was in the court house at Harrisburg, General Simon Cameron being chairman thereof. Dauphin county, fore- most in tendering men and means to the government for that bitter, deadly strife, furnished her full quota of volun- teers. Twice Harrisburg was the objective point of the Confederate troops, and at one time (June, 1863) the enemy's picket was within two miles of the city. Active preparations were made for its defense, and fortifications
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erected on the bluff opposite, and named "Fort Washing- ton." This was the only fortification deserving a name erected in any of the Northern States. Rifle pits were dug along the banks of the river, in front of Harris Park, and every preparation made to give the enemy a warm reception. The Union victory at Gettysburg checked the further advance of the Confederates, and with it the last attempt to invade the North. It would take vol- umes to rehearse not only the heroism of the sons of Dauphin county on the battle-field, but the deeds of mercy and charity and love of the noble-hearted women. Need we speak of the gallantry of the lamented Sim- mons and the six hundred brave dead-stricken down on the field of battle, in the hospital or in the loathsome prison, or yet of the living-Knipe and Jennings, the Awls, Porter, Williams and Jordan, Witman and Davis, Detweiler, M'Cormick and Alleman, Savage and Hum- mel, and many others-a long line of illustrious names- officers and privates of that immense force which Dau- phin county sent out from her midst for the preservation of the Union.
The location of the first and greatest military camp in the Northern States was within the limits of Harrisburg- named, by Generals Knipe and Williams in honor of the Chief Magistrate of Pennsylvania, Camp Curtin, which with being the central point of communication, especially with the oft-beleagured Federal Capital, made it a prominent rendezvous. Our citizens were equal to any emergency, and a community which fed gratuitously 20,- 000 returned soldiers, repel with disdain the insinuation made by a malicious correspondent of a New York news- paper, that our people charged soldiers ten cents for a glass of water. This statement is equally reliable with that at the outset of the war, when the same newspapers
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ignorantly displayed at the head of their columns "Har- risburg protected by the Federal gunboats."
From the commencement of the war, the charity of the citizens was unbounded and without stint, the doors of hospitality freely opened, and to our honor be it said, two citizens, Messrs. John B. Simon and Eby Byers, es- tablished the Soldiers' Rest, where the sick and wounded patriot, on his way homeward, found rest, and refresh- ment, and gentle care. Thousands were kindly minis- tered to, and until the "boys came marching home" the good work went on unabated. In every cemetery and graveyard within the borders of Dauphin county lie the remains of her brave and true sons, while in the cemetery at Harrisburg the grass grows green over the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers from far-off States. In all the struggles for life, for liberty, for right and for the Union, Dauphin county has been in the van. But these dark days of our country have passed like "a dream that has been told." May the lesson taught be heeded by those who come after us-that the Union of States is not a rope of sand which may be broken at the will of any section.
The first newspaper enterprise in the county was by Major Eli Lewis, but even its name and date of issue are lost. The first permanent effort, however, in that line of which copies are extant, was The Oracle of Dauphin, and Harrisburg Advertiser, the initial number bearing date October 20, 1792, John Wyeth, editor and proprie- tor. Its forerunner was probably The Harrisburg Ad- vertiser. The history of newspaperdom at Harrisburg is eventful as it is interesting. When the town became the capital of the State, which it did in 1812, unnumbered ventures were made in that line. Nearly all tell the
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same story-premature decay. In 1830, with a popula- tion of a little over 4,000 inhabitants, Harrisburg con- tained twelve printing offices, six book binderies, pub- lishing eleven newspapers and one periodical, with an in- vested capital of over seventy-three thousand dollars. Of course that was not the era of railroads and tele- graphs, and newspapers could spring up, and live a while and be extinguished without serious loss. The en- tire circulation of all these papers was not equal to either one of the daily issues of the Telegraph or Patriot.
The subject of internal improvements was one which early commanded the attention of the citizens of Penn- sylvania, and one hundred years ago, as now, communi- cation with the western country was the great aim of the business men of Philadelphia. The first effort was the removal of obstructions in the various streams, and especially that of the Susquehanna river; and although a considerable amount of money was eventually spent in improving the navigation thereof, the result was far from satisfactory. Previous to the Revolution, (1.774,) the at- tention of the Provincial Assembly was called to this matter, and as a preliminary, it was proposed to lay out a town or city on that stream. John Harris, the founder of our city, immediately gave notice of his intention of laying out a town, which seemed to quiet the movement of undoubted land speculators. The Revolution coming on, such enterprises, if ever seriously considered, were abandoned. No sooner, however, came peace, than the business activity of the people sought out new channels- roads were made, attempts at slackwater navigation ven- tured on-until finally the Pennsylvania canal, from Co- lumbia to Pittsburgh, opened up an avenue to trade, and brought prosperity to all the towns on its route. On none had it better effect than Middletown and Harris-
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burg, and the former place at one period was destined to retain a supremacy in population, enterprise, wealth and influence. It was a great lumber mart; the Union ca- nal, and its admirable location, always made it a rival to the Capital City.
Previous to the opening of the Pennsylvania canal, the transportation facilities of the town were confined to Troy coaches or stages for passengers, and Conestoga wagons, great lumbering vehicles with semi-circular tops of sail-cloth, drawn by six stalwart horses, for goods of various descriptions. This was expensive-and the com- pletion of the public improvements was an eventful era in the progress and development of this locality. Real estate advanced, commission and other merchants estab- lished themselves on the line of the canal, rope and boat manufactories were erected and various enterprises inau- gurated, giving new life to the town and thrift and pros- perity to the people. Several lines of passenger packets were established, and it was considered a wonderful thing when four packet boats arrived and departed in a single day. The consuming of three days and a half to go to Pitts- burgh began to be deemed slow, and the building of rail- roads opened up another era in the development of the country. In September, 1836, the first train of cars entered the limits of Harrisburg over the Harrisburg, Portsmouth, Mount Joy and Lancaster railroad. Following this effort, other rapid transit enterprises were carried forward to com- pletion until at the present time-when no less than one hundred trains of passenger cars arrive and leave Har- risburg daily for different points. We give these facts to show not only how great the travel, but the wonderful pro- gress made in transit.
Previous to the year 1841, the pump or well was the only source of water supply, for drinking purposes, and
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the rain-barrel or cistern for other uses. When this is contrasted with the present abundance of that fluid, and the old fire engines of that day with the ponderous steam apparatus of the present, we wonder how the goodly cit- izens of forty years ago managed to get along. They were not as wasteful as we are; the river was nigh, it is true, but water carriage cost considerable in large families when re- quired for laundry purposes. The most serious difficulty was in cases of fire, and frequently the pumps giving out the lines were formed to the river, of men, women and chil- dren, and the supply secured from thence. In those days every one went to the fire; there was work for all, old and young-the leathern buckets were required to be on hand, and all business was suspended while a conflagra- tion was in progress. Far different now. The alarm sounds, and we listen to count the stroke-find out the location-and, should it be at a distance, we quietly re- sume our duties, knowing our presence is not required, for the brave and disinterested firemen with their engines are there and no fears are awakened as to the result. This feeling of security actuates us all, and yet how seldom do we think to whom we are so deeply indebted. It is the brave fireman who is fighting the mad flames, who is endangering his life for our property, and the safety, perchance of our little ones. To him is due the highest meed of praise-surpassing the valor of him who treads the wine-press of the battle-field. All honor to the ever-ready, intrepid fireman !
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