USA > Pennsylvania > Dauphin County > Centennial : the settlement, formation and progress of Dauphine County, Pennsylvania, from 1785 to 1876 > Part 5
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"LEBANON TOWNSHIP, 1729.
".Lebanon township, beginning under the aforesaid hill at the northeast corner of Peshtank, thence by the
Historical Sketch of Dauphin County. 61
said hill easterly to the meridian of the west line of Tol- pohocken Manor, thence southerly and by the said line to the hills bounding Warwick township, thence by the said hills and township westerly to the corner of Derry on Conowago, thence northerly by Derry and Peshtank to the place of beginning.
"Assuming the 'Kohtohtoning hill,' mentioned in the above records, to be the lower or southmost of the range of mountains, the three townships of Derry, Peshtank and Lebanon, at their organization in 1729, embraced all the territory south of that mountain, which subsequently became part of Dauphin county, except that portion of Heidelburg township, which was thrown into Dauphin on the division of Dauphin from Lancaster county. The northeast corner of Lebanon township, as described above, was afterwards cut off by the division line be- tween Berks and Lancaster counties. The Lebanon township record above given calls for the Kohtohtoning hill, from the northeast corner of Peshtank to the meri- dian of the west line of the Tolpohocken manor; that point at the hill has been assumed to correspond with the east line of Lebanon township, as given on Smith's map, and is found by examination of drafts in the Sur- veyor General's office to correspond in position and course with the west line of Tulpohocken manor.
"HANOVER TOWNSHIP, 1739.
"At February Sessions, 1736-7, a petition was pre- sented to the court of Lancaster county, stating that many of the inhabitants of Derry township, living on the northwest side of the Swatara creek, labored under incon- veniences by reason of the largeness of the township, and asking to be divided from the other part thereof, and that their bounds might be as follows: 'To be divided on the west from Peshtank by Beaver creek, from its mouth to the mountain ; from Lebanon on the east and Derry on the south, by Swatara creek from Beaver creek mouth to the forks, and thence by the north branch thereof to the mountain,' which was allowed by the court
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Historical Sketch of Dauphin County.
and ordered to be recorded, and that the said township be called 'Hanover.' The boundaries of this township are all natural and therefore cannot easily be mistaken; but there is an evident mistake in stating the petitioners to be inhabitants of Derry township, residing northwest of the Swatara creek, and that their prayer was for a division of Derry township. A glance at the boundaries of Der- ry will show that there was no part of that township on the northwest side of Swatara creek, and the division lines asked for and granted did not touch upon the terri- tory at all. The mistake is not of any practical import- ance, but seems evident that the petition was from inhab- itants of Peshtank, and for a division of that township. Hanover as thus laid off, embraced parts of what was be- fore Peshtank and Lebanon townships.
"BETHEL TOWNSHIP, 1739.
"The Court of Quarter Sessions of Lancaster county in May, 1739, on the application of inhabitants of Lebanon township, setting forth that they labored under several disadvantages by the largeness of the township, and pray- ing the same may be divided into two townships, and one of them be called Bethel; 'Ordered by the Court that the division line begin at Swatara creek, at a stony ridge about half a mile below John Tittler's and continuing along the said ridge easterly to Tulpohocken township, to the north of Tobias Pickle's, so as in its course to leave John Benagle, Adam Steel, Thomas Ewersly and Mathias Tice to the southward of the said line; that the norther- most division be called the township of Bethel, and the southern division continue the name of Lebanon.' This division was made by a single line run across the town- ship of Lebanon from the Swatara creek to the original east line of that township, consequently that portion of the territory which was afterwards cut off by the Berks county line, was a part of Bethel township from this divi- sion in 1739 until the Berks county line was run, which was in the year 1752.
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Historical Sketch of Dauphin County.
"BERKS COUNTY, 1752.
"The Legislature of the Province, by an act passed March 11, 1752, erected the county of Berks, separating the new county on the southwest from Lancaster by the line which subsequently continued to be the dividing line between Dauphin and Berks counties, and the same which at present divides Lebanon from Berks, and Dauphin from Schuylkill counties. This line, as before stated, cut off a portion of Bethel township, and will be referred to hereafter in relation to the boundaries of townships.
"At the time the county of Berks was erected, the townships of Warwick, Heidleburg and Cocalico had ex- istence in Lancaster county: they either adjoined the south and east sides of Lebanon township, or were lo- cated in that neighborhood. At February sessions, 1757, the inhabitants of the township of Heidleburg peti- tioned the court, stating their difficulties arising out of the largeness of their township, and that there was a consid- erable body of land laying between the townships of Heidleburg, Lebanon, Warwick and Cocalico, that had not before then been erected into or annexed to any township, and praying for a reconstruction of said town- ships: upon which the court ordered and designated the boundaries of several townships, among which was Hei- dleburg, as follows:
"HEIDLEBURG TOWNSHIP, 1757.
"'Beginning at the south side of Joseph Cratzer's land, bounding upon Lebanon and extending by the same northerly to Bethel township; thence easterly along Bethel to Tulpohocken township, in Berks county ; thence by the same to Cocalico township, to Valentine Feeman's ; thence by the same and by Elizabeth town- ship to the place of beginning.' This gives the boundal ries of Heidleburg township as they were when Daupi is county was subsequently taken from Lancaster, and the they remained so long as Heidleburg township stream portion of Dauphin county. .ra creek
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Historical Sketch of Dauphin County.
"UPPER PAXTON TOWNSHIP, 1767.
"At a Court of Quarter Sessions, held at Lancaster in August, 1767, a petition was presented from inhabitants of Lower Paxton township, stating that some time ago Upper Paxton, above the Narrows, was a separate town- ship from Lower Paxton, and had their annual officers; James Murry and William Clark served as constables in said Paxton above the Narrows, and they had their own inspectors, &c .; and learning that the inhabitants of Up- per Paxton, above the Narrows, had petitioned the court for a road from the Narrows to James Reed's, and ob- tained an order for a view of the same as in Lower Pax- ton, which alarmed the petitioners, and they therefore prayed the court to grant them relief by confirming a di- vision line of said townships. Whereupon the court 'ordered that the partition line between Upper and Lower Paxton be made from the mouth of Fishing creek, where it empties into Susquehanna, and from thence along the top of Kittatenia mountain, next to Lower Paxton, to Beaver creek.'
"There does not appear to be any record of the court previous to the date of the above, establishing, or in any way recognizing the existence of Upper Paxton town- ship. The minutes of the Court of Quarter Sessions, which usually exhibit the townships and the names of the constables for each at the commencement of each ses- sion, does not notice either the name of Upper Paxton township, or any constable as from such township, until after the date of the order of 1767; that order is the only record found creating this township at all, and as it has in that order no northern limit assigned, it may be taken that from August, 1767, Upper Paxton embraced at least all the territory subsequently assigned to Dauphin county, from eae lower mountain to the Mahantongo creek, subject, the ever, to a debatable question whether Hanover count;hip extended northward by the second mountain; a sion in n which is noticed more at large under the head was in th-, East and West.'
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Historical Sketch of Dauphin County.
"LONDONDERRY TOWNSHIP, 1768.
"February Sessions, 1768 .- 'The court, taking into consideration a petition preferred to them by the inhab- itants of Derry township, setting forth that the bounds of the said township were very extensive and large, and the inhabitants thereof labored under several inconveniences by reason thereof, and praying the said court to divide the said township into two parts, according to a bounda- ry line agreed upon by the said inhabitants, to wit:
"'Along a certain road leading from Conewago creek, by the widow Hall's; thence to Felix Landis, senior, at Swa- tara creek, which said road is to fall into the east part of the said township, and that the said part be known by the name of Londonderry, and that the west part of said township retain the name of Derry. It is considered and ordered by the court that the said township be divided agreeable to the prayer of said petition, and that the said part to the east be known by the name of Londonderry, and the west end be known by the name of Derry, which said division line is hereby confirmed to be and remain firm and stable forever, and as such to be entered of record.' The reasons for adopting the Quittopohilla creek, &c., as the castern boundary, are stated under the head of Derry township, and need not be repeated here. For subsequent alterations in the lines of this township, see 'Derry and Londonderry Re-formed.'
"DIVISION OF HANOVER INTO EAST AND WEST HANOVER, 1785.
"February Sessions, 1785 .- 'The court, taking into consideration the limits of the township of Hanover and great difficulties of the several officers therein in dis- charging their respective duties, on due consideration and advisement, do direct a division thereof by a small stream of water running through the same, which is called the West Branch of Priest's run, and rises on the lands of Philip Rank, and from thence by the said stream or run of water until it empties itself into Swatara creek
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Historical Sketch of Dauphin County.
at Michael Brown's mill ; and do further denominate that division which is next to Jonestown, by the name of East Hanover, and the other division thereof by the name of West Hanover.' The stream of water called Priest's run in the foregoing record, is not found by that name on Mr. Smith's map, nor is any one now living in that section of the county who knows of a stream by that name; but from the best information which has been obtained, that marked on Smith's map and now generally known as Raccoon creek, was the dividing line between East and West Hanover townships down to the year 1813, when Lebanon county was taken from Dauphin, the northwest line of which runs in the neighborhood of Raccoon creek, and, indeed, the head of that creek is made one of the points of that line, and the running of that line so near the dividing line of East and West Hanover townships, made it of but little practical importance where the sep- arating line of the two townships was; it may, however, be assumed with reasonable certainty that Raccoon creek was the line.
"There is another question which it seems proper, and in place here to refer to, it is as to the true boundary on the north of East and West Hanover townships; in point of what may be called practice, it seems those town- ships were held to extend to the second mountain at least from an early day; if the records are consulted it by no means is certain that the practice was in accordance with them, or that there was any authority until a later day, for supposing those townships extended beyond the first mountain, other than long usage. When the township of Peshtank was erected, in 1729, it extended from Swa- tara creek to Kohtohtoning hill, above Peter Allen's; where Peter Allen's was, or whether the first mountain of the range was the only one known by the name of Kohtohtoning, it is now impossible to know; the proba- bility is that start from below and running up the river, if it had been intended to pass the first mountain and adopt the second, it would have been so stated; this, however, is but conjecture. The next matter of record
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Historical Sketch of Dauphin County.
bearing on the question, occurs when Hanover township was erected in 1737: Beaver creek from its mouth to the mountain, was made the dividing line between Hanover and Peshtank; Beaver creek had its source at the south- ern base of the first mountain, and the division line was extended no farther. It should have been stated before, when referring to the boundaries of Peshtank, that when the Kothtohtoning hill was reached, the line run eastward by the south side of said hill to the meridian of the mouth of Quittopohilla creek. Again, in the year 1767, the court ordered the division line between Upper and Lower Paxton townships to be made from the mouth of Fishing creek; thence along the top of Kittatinia moun- tain, next to Lower Paxton, to Beaver creek. Hanover township was divided into East and West in the year 1785; the dividing line was a run, having its source on the south side of the first mountain. In this case, like that of the division of Peshtank and Hanover, the record provides no line extending beyond the first mountain. The practice of treating the territory between the first and second mountains as within the Hanovers, probably originated soon after the organization of Dauphin coun- ty, in the year 1785. The question whether East Han- over township extended beyond the first mountain in the year 1796, occurred in the trial of the case of Gloninger vs. Goddard, in the Common Pleas of Lebanon county, and which is reported in 5th Watts, 221. The under- standing and practice before mentioned was fully proved on that trial ; in the Supreme Court, however, although it was not thought necessary to the question, the Judge who delivered the opinion of the Court clearly intimated that the records showed the first mountain to be the true boundary. This question and these matters relating to it are here merely referred to as a part of the history of township boundaries, and not to be understood as sug- gesting any existing difficulty; incidently the second mountain has become the record line of West Hanover, as may be seen on reference to the records establishing
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Historical Sketch of Dauphin County.
Rush township, in 1820, and the division of West Hano- ver township in 1842.
" DAUPHIN COUNTY.
"By an act of Assembly passed on the 4th March, 1785, Dauphin county was erected, the entire territory of which was taken from the county of Lancaster, according to the following boundaries, viz: 'Beginning on the west side of the river Susquehanna, opposite to the mouth of the Conewago creek; thence up the middle of the said creek to Moore's mill; and from thence to the head of said creek; and from thence by a direct line to the southeast corner of Heidleburg township, where it strikes the Berks county line; thence northwest, by the line of Berks county, to the Mahantango creek; thence by the same, by the line of Northumberland county and cross- ing the river Susquehanna, to the line of Cumberland county; thence down the Susquehanna, on the west side thereof, by the line of Cumberland county and that part of the line of York county, to the place of beginning, on the west side of the river Susquehanna.' These boundaries embrace the whole bed of the Susquehanna river, to low water mark on the western shore, and it seems to have followed as a consequence, that all township lines pre- viously butting on the river, were extended to the west- ern shore."
The county derives its name from the dauphin of France, (the eldest son of the King,) as a token of re- gard for the assistance rendered by his father, Louis XVI., to the Americans during the Revolution.
"MIDDLE PAXTON TOWNSHIP, 1787.
"At a Court of Quarter Sessions, held in Dauphin county in the month of August, 1787, an order was is- sued to commissioners to take into consideration the ne- cessity and propriety of dividing Upper Paxton township, who reported a dividing line, 'Commencing at the river
Historical Sketch of Dauphin County. 69
Susquehanna, at the mouth of a run emptying into the said river and running from Jacob Strickler's spring, and thence along the different courses of the said run to the place where the said spring extracts out of the earth, and from thence by a direct line to the dividing ridge; thence along the said ridge to the extremity thereof, to the line of Berks county.'
"The court directed the township to be divided, agree- ably to this report, from the said line to the upper boundary of Lower Paxton, to be called Middle Paxton.
" HARRISBURG BOROUGH, 1791.
"The town of Harrisburg was incorporated and made a borough by an act of Assembly passed on the 13th of April, 1791, with the following boundaries, viz:
"' Beginning at low water mark on the eastern shore of the Susquehanna river; thence by the pine apple tree north 6014 degrees, east 79 perches, to an ash tree on the west bank of Paxton creek; thence by the several courses thereof 323 perches to a white hickory in Wil- liam Maclay line; thence by the same south 6734 de- grees, west 212, to a marked chestnut oak, on the east- ern bank of the Susquehanna; thence by the same course to low water mark; and from thence by the low water mark to the place of beginning.'
"This act of 1791 was repealed by the act passed Feb- ruary 1, 1808, but the first section of the latter act pro- vided that the boundaries of Harrisburg should continue as fixed by the act of 1791. By the 17th section of an act of Assembly passed April 16, 1838, it is provided that from and after the passage of the act 'the northwestern boundary line of the borough of Harrisburg, as incorpo- rated by the act of 13 April, 1791, shall be extended and enlarged, as follows, to wit:
"'Beginning at the southwest corner of the present boundary line on Susquehanna river; thence extending along the same, at low water mark, to the upper corner and line of the land of the late William Maclay on said
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Historical Sketch of Dauphin County.
river, in Susquehanna township, and thence by a parallel line to Paxton creek; thence along said stream to the northwest corner of the present boundary line of the said borough of Harrisburg, so as to include the whole village or town of Maclaysburg within the limits of the aforesaid borough of Harrisburg.'
"The position of the new line from the river to Paxton creek was established in 1847, in proceedings, to deter- mine that line of Susquehanna township which is given under the head of that township."
Further reference to Harrisburg will be found in our description of the towns in the county.
"ANNVILLE TOWNSHIP, 1799.
"An order of the Court of Quarter Sessions of Dau- phin county was issued at June Sessions, 1799, to com- missioners to examine and report a line dividing the township of Lebanon, as nearly as might be for the con- venience of the people, into two equal parts. To this order the said commission reported the following line of division, to wit:
"'Beginning at the line between Bethel township and Lebanon township; thence by lands of Jacob Boltz, John Miller, Adam Heylman, John Heylman, junior, John Heylman, Michael Krider, Christian Long, Abraham Long, Herman Long, Peter Forney, John Gingrich, Martin Carmony, Jacob Hegea, John Heiss, Michael Urich, Christian Bachman, and Robert Coleman, Es- quire, south four degrees, east 2,520 perches, to a marked black oak, at the line between Londonderry township and the township of Lebanon aforesaid.'
"This report was confirmed by the Court at September Sessions, 1799, and it was ordered that it be thereafter designated upon the records of the court by the name of Annville township.
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Historical Sketch of Dauphin County.
"SWATARA TOWNSHIP, 1799.
"The court, at their September sessions, in the year 1799, issued an order to commissioners to view Lower Paxton township, and report to the next sessions, a line dividing said township as nearly as might be for the con- venience of the people, into two equal parts; to which order the commissioners made return, that they had made a division of the said township by a line
""'Beginning at the Paxton creek, where the breast of Landis' mill dam formerly stood; thence south 85 degrees, east 192 perches, to a hickory in the land of John Neis- ley; thence south 76 degrees, east 375 perches, to a black oak in the land of Joshua Elder, Esq .; thence south 80 degrees, east 13512 perches, to the fence of the glieb land belonging to the Paxton meeting house ; thence south 85 degrees, east 667 perches, to a chestnut tree in Christian Page's field; thence 340 perches to Mi- chael Cassel's bake oven; thence 200 perches to the house of George Reese; thence 262 perches to a marked hickory on the bank of Beaver creek, on land of Jacob Siders.'
"This report was confirmed by the court, and it was ordered that it be entered of record, and that the south- ern division be designated upon the records of the court by the name of Swatara township. The foregoing shows the divsion line between Lower Paxton and Swatara townships in the year 1799; subsequently Lower Paxton township was again divided and Susquehanna township taken from it by a line from the mountain to somewhere near the centre of the line of Swatara, giving the south- ern section of the division to Susquehanna ; thus making the before described Swatara line in part the dividing line between Susquehanna and Swatara townships. In the year 1842 the court issued an order to commission- ers to view, ascertain and establish and lay out a line of division between Susquehanna and Swatara townships from the bridge over Paxton creek at the junction of
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Historical Sketch of Dauphin County.
Market and Chestnut streets, in the line of the borough of Harrisburg, to the corner between the townships of Swatara, Susquehanna and Lower Paxton. The com- missioners reported the following line, to wit:
"'Beginning at the corner between the said townships of Swatara, Susquehanna and Lower Paxton where the eastern branch of Keenbertz' mill dam crosses the same, and where a public road from said mill crosses said branch ; thence down said branch and mill dam, along the west side thereof by the several courses, 3910 perches to the forks of said dam; thence by the western fork of said dam and branch, and along the north side thereof, by their several courses, 68 perches to a point where said branch is crossed by a road leading to Keenbertz' mill, and opposite the mouth of a run entering said branch from the southwest; thence crossing said branch and up said run and ravine along which it flows by their several courses, 9410 perches to a hickory in or near the line of lands of F. Rudy; thence by said line north 8834 de- grees, west 93 perches, to the forks of a stream rising near a stone corner between lands of the heirs of Joshua Elder and Jacob Pancake, deceased, in said Rudy's line; thence down said stream, by the several courses thereof, 88 perches to its junction with Rutherford's run; thence down Rutherford's run two perches to the mouth of Hile- man's run; thence up Hileman's run, by the several courses thereof, 119 perches to the line of James Her- rington, where a road crosses said run; thence by the line of Herrington's land, south 6712 degrees, west 109 perches, to where said line strikes the head waters of a run which leads across the Downingtown and Ephrata turnpike road; thence down said run, by the several courses thereof, 153 perches to the middle of said turn- pike and a bridge across said run ; thence along the mid- dle of said turnpike road to the middle of the bridge over Paxton creek aforesaid, by the following courses and dis- tances: north 74 degrees, west 68 perches, to an angle; north 7414 degrees, west 213 perches to an angle on Al- lison's hill; north 66 degrees, west 5116 perches to the
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Historical Sketch of Dauphin County.
junction of said turnpike with the Jonestown road, and south 78 14 degrees, west 8 perches to the middle of said bridge.'
"This report was confirmed by the court on the 18th of January, 1843. The line thus run, so far as it goes, varies materially from the line of 1799 before mentioned. The first division line of Swatara township may be found recorded in Ses. Doc., 1795, 1801, page 272; the second in Road Doc. A, page 273.
"HALIFAX TOWNSHIP, 1804.
"At December Sessions, 1803, the court issued an order to certain commissioners to view and lay out a new town- ship out of parts of Upper and Middle Paxton town- ships, who reported the following boundaries of the new township, to wit:
"'Beginning on the west side of the Susquehanna river, opposite the end of Peter's mountain; thence along the top of Peter's mountain to the Berks and Dauphin county line; thence along said line to Wiconisco moun- tain; thence along the top of said mountain to the Sus- quehanna river and across said river, and thence to the place of beginning.
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