USA > Pennsylvania > Dauphin County > Commemorative biographical encyclopedia of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania : containing sketches of prominent and representative citizens and many of the early Scotch-Irish and German settlers. Pt. 1 > Part 31
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agreed to raise a company of mounted men. All were young men, with younger families, but they did not hesitate. They agreed to march. Hamilton pledged himself to start immediately, then McAlister and Sharon. The former was chosen captain, the latter lieutenants, and in two days they were off, more than eighty strong, riding the first day to the mouth of the Swatara, over snow many inches in depth. They reached camp, on the Pennsylvania side, below Trenton, the day after the Hessians were captured." None but men with their whole hearts in the cause would have made such a dreary march in a most inclement winter, unless thoroughly in earnest. This was the sentiment that actu- ated all the frontier settlers. In 1793 Har- risburg was scourged by a pestilence resem- bling yellow fever, an epidemic that then prevailed at Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York. One of its victims was Mr. Ham- ilton. He married, in December, 1772, Mar- garet Alexander, born March 17, 1754, in Shearman's Valley, Cumberland, now Perry county, Pa .; died August 22, 1835, at " Fer- managh," Juniata county, Pa .; daughter of Hugh Alexander and Martha Edmeston.
LEWIS, ELI, was a native of York county, Pa., born about 1750, and the first settler of the town of Lewisberry. He was a printer by profession, and had the honor of estab- lishing the first newspaper in Harrisburg- the Harrisburg Advertiser-in 1789. This was purchased by Mr. Wyeth in 1792 and changed to The Oracle of Dauphin and Har- risburg Advertiser. Major Lewis was a soldier of the Revolution, and a gentleman of con- siderable literary acquirements. He was the author of a poem entitled "St. Clair's Defeat," printed in a small 32mo. at his office, copies of which are exceedingly rare. He died at his residence at Lewisberry on Sunday, February 2, 1807, aged 57 years. He was the father of Chief Justice Ellis Lewis of the Supreme Court of Pennsyl- vania.
-Cox, COL. CORNELIUS, son of Jolm Cox and Esther , was born about 1750 in the city of Philadelphia. His father was a na- tive of England, a physician of prominence in Philadelphia, in which city he died. He laid out Estherton, on the Susque- hanna, in 1761, supposing at the time it would become an important place. Dr. Cox
was twice married-first to Sarah, widow of William Edgell, of Philadelphia ; second to Esther - , of the same place. We know nothing further, save that their son was the subjeet of this sketeh, Cornelius Cox re- ceived a good education in his native city. Some time prior to the Revolution we find him at Estherton in management of the estate left him by his father. He early espoused the eause of the Colonies, was pres- ent at the meeting at Middletown which passed the patriotic resolutions of June, 1774, and when the people were called to arms was commissioned major of Col. James Burd's battalion of Lancaster county associators. Was appointed assistant commissary of par- chases, and also issuing commissary July 7, 1780. Until the close of the Revolution he was actively engaged, whether it was in the collecting of flour for the French fleet, the gathering of blankets for the half-clad army at Valley Forge, or the superintending of the erection of bateaux for the use of General Sullivan in his expedition against the Six Nations. In 1792 he was chosen one of the State eleetors for president in favor of Gen- eral Washington. Governor Mifflin ap- pointed him one of the associate justices of the courts of Dauphin county, but preferring quiet, he declined the honor. He died Feb- ruary 3, 1803, at Estherton, aged about 53 years. Colonel Cox married Mary Foster, born 1767; died August 2, 1810; daughterof Jolin Foster and Catherine Diekey.
-AYRES, JOHN, son of William Ayres and his wife, Mary Kean, was born February 9, 1754. At the age of twenty-one years, ae- companied his father and family in their movement to Paxtang township, Lancaster, now Dauphin county, Pa. ; subsequently be- came the owner of the homestead there established, and added thereto a certain tract of land ealled " Ayresburg." In 1775, on the first call for volunteers for the Revolu- tionary army, he enlisted in Capt. Matthew Smith's company of riflemen, formed in Lancaster county, and detailed on the expedi- tion against Quebee under Arnold, but whilst the army lay before Boston, he took sick and was invalided. On March 13, 1776, he again enlisted in Captain Manning's company Fourth battalion of Lancaster county, com- manded by Col. James Burd. His father and several of his connections belonged to the same company. The Oracle of Dauphin, in announcing his death, August 17, 1825,
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remarks that "he was the last of the Revolu- tionary patriots in his neighborhood." John Ayres was twice married; married, first, in 1781, Mary Montgomery, daughter of Gen. William Montgomery, of Mahoning, now Danville, P'a., who died at the age of twenty- three years, without issue. He married, secondly, in 1786, Jane Lytle, eldest danghter of Joseph Lytle, of Lytle's Ferry, in Upper Paxtang township, Danphin county, Pa. Jane Lytle was born near Anderson's Ferry, March 1, 1767 ; died in Harrisburg, Pa., May 7, 1831. The old burying-ground, one mile above Dauphin, contains the remains of this branch of the Ayres family.
- REILY, JOHN, was born at Leeds, England, on the 12th of April, 1752. His father, Benjamin Reily, emigrated soon after, and was a gentlenian of some note in the Prov- ince of Pennsylvania. Receiving a elassieal education, the former began the study of law, and was admitted to the bar on the eve of the Revolution. Accepting a commission as captain in the Twelfth regiment of the Pennsylvania Line, subsequently (1778) transferred to the Third regiment, he served with valor and distinction, and was severely wounded at Bonhamton, N. J., being shot through the body. Returning home he slowly recovered, when he resumed the prac- tice of his profession. He was present and took part in the first term of the Dauphin county court, in May, 1785. In 1795 he published at Harrisburg "A Compendium for Pennsylvania Justices of the Peace," the first work of that character printed in Amer- ica. Captain Reily died at Myerstown, May 2, 1810. He married, at Laneaster, on May 20, 1773, by Rev. Thomas Barton, of the Episcopal Church, Elizabeth Myer, the daughter of Isaae Myer, the founder of Myerstown, Lebanon county, born April 2, 1755; died April 2, 1800. They had a large family. Captain Reily was not a brilliant orator, but was perfectly reliable as a lawyer, and had an extensive practice at the Lancas- ter, Berks and Dauphin courts. He was a tall, courtly gentleman, and an ardent Whig of the Revolutionary era; was a polished writer, and a manuscript book of literary excerpts in the possession of his descendants shows a refined and cultivated taste.
BARNETT, JOHN, the fourth in descent from John Barnett, who came from Londonderry, Ireland, to Pennsylvania, prior to 1730, and
settled near the North mountain, then Han- over township, Lancaster county, was born Angust 18, 1752, in IFanover township. He was a farmer by occupation. At the ontset of the Revolution he was appointed a lieu- tenant in the Hanover battalion of associa- tors, commanded by Col. Timothy Green. He served with distinction at Long Island, August 27, 1776, and through the campaign of 1777 was in constant active service. Dur- ing the remainder of the war he was in command of a volunteer company, which was formed for the protection of the frontiers from the encroachments of the Tories and their allies, the savage Indians of New York. The sword which he carried through the war is now in possession of William Barnett, of Dayton, Ohio. Major Barnett died May 12, 1823. He married, April 29, 1784, Mary McEwen, of Hanover, a very estimable lady. She was born September 9, 1762; died March 10, 1806, and is interred by the side of her husband.
MURRAY, PATRICK, was born March 17, 1755, in county Donegal, Ireland; died July 23, 1854, in Orange township, Ashland county, O. He came to America at the out- set of the struggle for independence, and we find that on the 3d of June, 1776, he enlisted in Capt. James Parr's company, of the First regiment of the Pennsylvania Line, for three years or during the war. He was discharged in 1782, and shortly after settled at Harris' Ferry, on the Susquehanna, and when, two years after, the town of Harrisburg was laid out, established himself in business as a " clothier and fashioner." In the year 1800 he removed with his family to Greens- burg, Westmoreland county, Pa., remaining there until 1809, when he located in Stark county, Ohio. In 1812 he and his son James volunteered in the brigade of Gen. Reasin Beall, organized for the defense of the border settlers in the Northwest. While quartered at Fort Meigs the army became much dis- tressed for want of provisions; the roads to the settlements were long, rough, and in poor condition, passing mostly through dense forests, and across marshes and bogs. The quantity of forage consumed by the cavalry as well as the supply of the quartermaster's department for the troops made it diffienlt to furnish the necessary rations at the proper time. On more than one occasion the troops were on the point of starvation, and this, with the inclemency of the weather, made their
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sufferings almost unbearable. Several remi- miseences of this period, in Mr. Murray's his- tory, have been preserved to us which show that under the most adverse circumstances his mother wit and his indomitable energy never forsook him, while his patriotismn was none the less enthusiastic by his many depri- vations. After General Beall returned, the father and son served a second enlistment, and were at the battle of Fort Meigs. In that contest the elder Murray was separated from his company, and the grass being very tall it was presumed by his comrades that he had been killed and scalped by the Indians. After a few hours he appeared in the camp amid the cheers of his companions at his safe return. Upon the expiration of his terni of service he returned to his home in Stark county, where he remained to 1812, when he removed to what is now Orange township, then Richland county, Ohio. It is said of him that, althoughi liis education was defective, he had a very retentive memory, and enjoyed at the close of his long life the relation of the exploits and border achievements of hin- self and other early pioneers in that section of Ohio, In many respects he was a remark- able man, and was all his life-time active, energetic and industrious. On the 4th of July the year he was ninety-nine years of age he rode to Ashland in a buggy, waked about one mile during the day and returned home some three miles, in the evening. He voted for ten different Presidents of the United States. Mr. Murray married, September 2, 1786, at Harrisburg, Pa., by Rev. John Elder, of Paxtang, Mary Brereton Beatty, born 1769, in county Down, Ireland; died March 2, 1853, in Ashland county, Ohio; with her hus- band buried in Orange graveyard ; daughter of James Beatty and Alice Ann Irwin.
MITCHEL, ANDREW, a native of Dublin, Ireland, born November 1, 1754, emigrated to America in 1774, on the eve of the Revo- lution. Espousing the cause of the Colonies, he took position as an officer among the de- fenders of his adopted country. He was a gentleman of finished education and excel- lent moral training, having been destined for a clerical life, adopted teaching as an avocation, and in the dearth of preceptors after the peace of 1783 had gratifying suc- cess as an educator. He came to Harrisburg in 1791, and in June, 1795, married Mar- garet, the widow of Capt. John Hamilton. He was one of the burgesses of the borough
in 1799, and served a number of years in the town council. Mr. Mitchel was an of- ficer and early member of the Presbyterian church, and greatly assisted in iis first or- ganization. He died December 21, 1825, at his residence on Front street, now Mrs. Dr. Rutherford's. His daughter, Jane Alexan- der, wife of Dr. Thomas Whiteside, was the only child who survived him.
FLEMING, ROBERT, the fourth son of Robert Fleming and Jane Jackson, was born in Chester county, Pa., June 6, 1756. His parents were natives of Argyleshire, Scot- land, who subsequently removed to Ireland, and from thence emigrated to America, about 1746, settling near Flemington, Ches- ter county. Prior to the Revolution they located within the limits of the " New Pur- chase," on the West Branch of the Susque- hanna, but during the "Great Runaway." in 1778, they sought refuge among some friends in now Dauphin county. About 1784 they removed to Hanover township, Washington county, Pa., locating on Har- mon's creek, where they resided at the time of their death, Robert Fleming at ninety-six and his wife at ninety-four. Robert Fleni- ing, the subject of this notice, remained in Dauphin county ; purchased land in. Han- over township, on which he resided during his lifetime. On the 6th of February, 1783, he married Margaret, daughter of John Wright. He was one of the founders of the Harrisburg Bank, and instrumental in the erection of the Harrisburg bridge. He was an officer in the volunteer force of 1812, and filled acceptably various local offices. IIe was an elder in the Hanover church during the ministrations of Rev. James Snodgrass. He died February 4, 1817, and his wife De- cember 12, 1813, aged fifty-nine years.
EGLE, VALENTINE, was born October 27, 1756, in Bern township, Berks county, Pa. ; died November 23, 1820, at Harrisburg, Pa. At the age of nineteen he enlisted in Captain Ross' company, Col. William Thompson's battalion of riffemen, subsequently enlisting for one year in the First regiment of the Pennsylvania Line of the Revolution, and subsequently was lieutenant in Eighth bat- talion, Lancaster county militia. He learned the trade of a hatter, and settled in Harris- burg, Pa., where he established himself in business and was a gentleman universally respected and esteemed. IIe died suddenly
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from nervous shock and over-exertion, caused by the complete destruction of his property by fire a few months prior. He married, in 1796, by Rev. Anthony Hautz, pastor of Frieden's Kirche, in Cumberland county, Pa., Elizabeth Thomas, born May 2, 1772, in Londonderry township, Lancaster, now Lebanon county, Pa .; died August 5, 1867, at Harrisburg, Pa. She was the daugh- ter of Martin Thomas and Ursula Muller. Her father was a soldier of the Revolution, and her mother's father, John George Muller, was a lieutenant, subsequently captain, in the Provincial army, serving in the Forbes and Bouquet expeditions to the westward. Said a contemporary at the time of her decease : " During her long and eventful life she was highly esteemed by all who knew her. She was an eye-witness of many interesting seenes, not only in frontier times, at a period when the red man was occasionally to be seen revisiting his old hunting grounds, but during the struggle for liberty-the war of the Revolution." She was indeed a remark- able woman, and the incidents of her life were such as few persons have experienced. She was a devoted Christian, and her good deeds are the heritage of her descendants.
KUNKEL, CHRISTIAN, son of John Christian Kunkel, was born July 10, 1757, in the Palat- inate, Germany; died September S, 1823, in Harrisburg, Pa. His father arrived in Penn- sylvania September 23, 1766, subsequently locating at or near York. Christian was brought up to mercantile pursnits. In the war of the Revolution he was commissioned an ensign in Colonel Slagle's battalion of associators, and was in active service during the campaign around Philadelphia in 1777 and 1778. In 1786, in company with his brother-in-law, George Hoyer, he located at Harrisburg. There he at once entered into business, which, with his indomitable energy and industry, proved highly successful. He was one of the prime movers and contributed toward the organization of the first German church in Harrisburg. He was burgess of the borough in 1796, and frequently a mem- ber of the council. He was elected, in 1809, one of the directors of the branch bank of Philadelphia at Harrisburg, and the same year appointed by Governor Snyder one of the commissioners for erecting a bridge over the Susquehanna, and was interested in other enterprises. His life was an active and busy one. Mr. Kunkel was twiee married; mar-
ried, first, on May 4, 1779, at York, Pa., Catharine Hoyer, born October 31, 1758, in the Palatinate, Germany ; died August 27, 1796, at Harrisburg, Pa.
- GRAYDON, WILLIAM, the son of Alexander Graydon and Rachel Marks, was born near Bristol, Bucks county, Pa., September 4, 1759. He was educated in Philadelphia, and studied law under Edward Biddle, of that city. He came to Harrisburg upon the organization of the county of Dauphin, and began the practice of his profession, being admitted at the May term, 1786. He was the first notary public, commissioned Sep- tember 2, 1791, and a leading man in the borough during the "mill-dam troubles " of 1794-95. He was many years a member of the town council and president thereof, and subsequently one of the burgesses. He was the author of " Forms of Conveyancing" (in two volumes), " The Justice's Assistant," and edited "An Abridgement of the Laws of the United States" in 1802. Mr. Graydon was prominent in the organization of the First Presbyterian church, and for many years an elder thereof. He died at Har- risburg, October 13, 1840, in the eighty- second year of his age. "Mr. Graydon," says Rev. Dr. Robinson, " was a man of fine literary tastes, was highly esteemed as a gentleman of the old school, in his manners refined, courteous, of unblemished integrity in the many trusts committed to him, of high and honorable principles, and in the church and walks of Christian life a man of true piety and deep devotion." H. Murray Graydon and Dr. William Graydon are his sons.
-- FLEMING, SAMUEL, was born October 30, 1761, in Cecil county, Md., died August 3, 1851, in Harrisburg, Dauphin county, Pa. Removed with his father's family to West- ern Pennsylvania, where he served as justice of the peace and surveyor for Washington county ; was captain of a ranging company on the frontiers to protect them from the Indian marauders from the Ohio; was one of the local committee to treat with the in- surgents during the Whiskey Insurrection. In 1812 he removed to West Hanover town- ship, Dauphin county, where he resided until a few years before his death. Mr. Fleming married, September 24, 1789, Sarah Becket, born 1771; d. January 21, 1831, in Hanover township, Dauphin county, Pa.
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HANNA, GEN. JOHN ANDRE, son of Rev. John Hanna and Mary McCrea, was born about 1761, at Flemington, N. J. He re- ceived a good classical education under his father, who was a most excellent tutor. He served in the war of the Revolution. To- ward its close came to Pennsylvania and studicd law with Stephen Chambers, of Lan- caster, whose acquaintance he made in the army, and was admitted to the bar of Lan- caster county at November session, 1783. He located at Harrisburg upon the forma- tion of the county of Dauphin and was among the first lawyers admitted there. He took a deep interest in early municipal affairs, and there was little transpiring looking to the welfare and development of the new town in which Mr. Hanna did not take part. His marriage with a daughter of John Harris, the founder, brought him into unusual prominence. He represented the county in the Legislature, and in 1795 elected to the United States Congress, a position he filled up to the time of his death by successive rc- elcetion. During the Whiskey Insurrection he was a brigadier general of the Pennsyl- vania force in command of the Second brig- ade, Second division. In 1800 Governor McKean commissioned him a major general of the Third division of the militia forces of the State. He died at Harrisburg on the 13th of July, 1805, aged forty-four years, and is buried in the cemetery therc. General Hanna married Mary Harris, daughter of John Harris and Mary Rcad, who died Au- gust 20, 1851, in the eighty-first year of her agc. They had nine children : Esther Har- ris, d. s. p .; Eleanor (first), d. s. p .; Saralı Eaton, married Richard T. Jacobs ; Henri- etta, died unmarried ; Caroline Elizabeth, married Joseph Briggs; Frances Harris, married John Carson McAllister ; Julian C., married. John Fisher; Mary Read, married Hon. Jolin Tod; and Elcanor (second), d. s. p.
FORSTER, THOMAS, son of John Forster, was born May 16, 1762, in Paxtang town- ship, Lancaster, now Dauphin county, Pa .; died Junc 29, 1836, at Erie, Pa. He received a good education, and was brought up as a surveyor. In the Revolutionary struggle he was a private in Capt. John Reed's company in the summer of 1776, in active service dur- ing the Jersey campaign of that year. In 1794, during the so-called Whiskey Insur- rection, he served as colonel of one of the volunteer regiments on that expedition. He
was one of the associate judges of Dauphin county, appointed October 26, 1793, by Giov- ernor Mifflin, resigning December 3, 1798, having been elected one of the representa- tives of the State Legislature that year. At the close of 1799 or early in 1800, as the agent of the Harrisburg and Presqu' Isle Land Company, he permanently removed to Erie. In the affairs incident to the early settlement of that town and the organization of that connty, he took a prominent part. He was one of the first street commissioners of the town, president of the Erie and Water- ford Turnpike Company, one of the directors of the first library company and its librarian, and captain of the first military company formed at Erie, and which in 1812 was in service at Buffalo, Captain Forster being promoted brigade inspector. In 1823 he was appointed by Governor Shulze one of the commissioners to explore the route for the Erie extension of the Pennsylvania canal, and in 1827 was chairman of the meeting organizing St. Paul's Episcopal church. In 1799 he was appointed by President Adams collector of the port at Eric, and successively commissioned by Presidents Jefferson, Madi- son, J. Q. Adams and Jackson, filling the office until his death. Colonel Forster mar- ricd, October 5, 1786, Sarah Pettit Mont- gomery, born July, 1766, at Georgetown, Kent county, Md .; died July 27, 1808, at Eric, Pa .; daughter of Rev. Joseph Mont- gomery and Elizabeth Reed.
-KEAN, JOHN, was born October 3, 1762, in Philadelphia and died December 9, 1818, in Harrisburg, Pa. He was the son of John Kean [1728-1801 ] and Mary Dunlop [1728- 1819]. His father removed to what is now Dauphin county, Pa., in 1775. In 1780 he entered the Revolutionary service, and was with the army until after the capitulation of Yorktown. Upon his discharge he was placed with James Clunic, a merchant at Hummelstown, second sheriff of Dauphin county, at a salary of one hundred dollars a year and boarding. In this period he taught himself conveyancing and surveying. In 1785 he located at Harrisburg, in partnership with Mr. Clunic. In 1788 he was one of the members of the famous " Harrisburg Confer- ence." He was one of the managers of the first library company, established in 1787, and the same year elceted a commissioner of the county ; one of the trustees of the Harris- burg Academy, 1788; treasurer of the Pres-
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byterian congregation in 1790; chosen eap- tain of the first volunteer company upon the resignation of General Hanna, and president of the first fire company, and in 1792 ap- pointed an associate judge. In 1796 Mr. Kean purchased, with John Elder, Jr., New Mar- ket forge, about three miles from Palmyra, and removed thence. Was elected to the State Senate, and re-elected in 1798, serving until 1802. In 1805 he was appointed by Governor Mckean register general, serving for three years. He removed to Philadel- phia in 1810, was a merchant there, returned to Harrisburg in 1813, was again appointed justice of the peace by Governor Snyder, which office he filled until his death. Judge Kean married, first, in 1786, Mary Whitehill, daughter of Robert Whitehill, of Cumber- land county. By her he had one daughter, Eleanor, who married, first, March 24, 1808, William Patton, M. D., son of Thomas Pat- ton and Eleanor Fleming, born in 1775, in Derry township, Lancaster, now Dauphin county, Pa .; died March 30, 1816. Mrs. Patton inarried, secondly, Christian Spayd, and left descendants. By his second wife, Jean Hamilton, born June 1, 1774; died March 20, 1847, at Harrisburg ; daughter of John Hamilton, there were four children, all deceased.
- EARLY ZIMMERMANS .- The early history of the advent of the Zimmerman aneestors in Dauphin county, which at that time eom- prised what is now known as Dauphin and Lebanon counties, is very obscurc. There seem to be no records extant to give any in- formation on this subjcet. About the only knowledge that has so far come to light is the fact that three brothers, John Michael, Gottfried and Peter, and one sister, Isabella, who was married to one Rodearmel, and who died on the voyage without leaving any issue, originally came over from Holland ; and that some of them settled in Dauphin county, near Jonestown, which has since be- come a part of Lebanon county. One of these brothers, named Peter Zimmerman, passed the humble life of the hardy pioneer in what was then the frontier of Pennsyl- vania. All records as to the dates of his birth and marriage and death, and even the place of his burial, seemed to have vanished with the dim past. A son of this l'eter Zim- merman, also named Peter Zimmerman, was born March 4, 1763, in Hanover township, Laneaster county, Pa., as given on his bap-
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