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 7
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West End of Hanover-1756.
Mathew Snoddy, Joseph Willson, John McCormick, Henry McCormick, Adam Ham- aker, Widow Parks, Lorance Ralican, David MeClenaghen, Sr., David MeClenaghen, John McNeely, James Finney, Thomas Finney, Robert Snodgrass, Robert Love, Samuel Young, Daniel Shaw, John Woods, Charles MeClure, John Taylor, John Hutchinson, Daniel Brown, Widow Rodgers, Seth Rodg- ers, Samuel Stewart, Hugh Rogers, Wm. Rog- ers, Joseph Mcknight, James Baird, William Thompson, William Truesdell, Matthew Thornton, Franeis McClure, William Rogers, John Brown, Alexander McElhenny, Sam- uel Robinson, Thomas French, James Finney, James French, Thomas Sharp, John Sharp, John Cooper, William Cooper, John Thomp- son, David Furgison, William Allen, John McClure, James Wright, Thomas Robinson (miller), Michael McNeely, James Robinson, John Stuart, Thomas McMullin, John Mil- ler, Robert Martin, Samuel Stuart, Gyon Strain, James Rippeth, Robert Wallace, James Willson, Matthew Taylor, Hugh Will- son, Antoney Ealor, William Galbraith, Ben- jamin Wallace, Samuel Barnett, Robert Por- terfield, Joseph Hutchinson, Robert Mont- gomery, Philip Ambrister .- FRANCIS Mc- CLURE, Collector.
Hanover Assessment-1769.
Samuel Sterret. 150 a .; John Shergs, 100 a .; Archibald Sloan, 150 a .; Samuel Sloan, 150 a .; John Stuart, 200 a .; James Stuart, 200 a .; Lazarus Stuart, 200 a .; George Shever, 130 a .; James Ripeth, 100 a .; Hugh Ripeth, 100 a .; William Ripeth, 50 a .; James
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HISTORICAL REVIEW
Robinson, 200 a .; E. Rosenbery, 100 a .; Effey Robinson, 260 a .; James Riddel. 150 a .; James Riddel, Jr., 150 a .; Ketren Rogers, 100 a .; John Rogers, 100 a .; Adam Rogers, 100 a .; Adam Rogers, SO a .; Philip Robin- son, 190 a .; Joseph Ripeth, SO a .: George Rogers, 100 a .; James Rogers, 200 a .; Jacob Richer, 100 a .; Thomas Robinson, 100 a .; Adam Reed, Esq., 290 a .; Christian Ramberey, 100 a .; Robert Iluston, 150 a .; Joseph Hutchison, 120 a .; Joseph Hutchison, 150 a .; John Hay, 100 a .; Robert Hume, 190 a .; Bartholomew Ileans, 100 a .; John Hutchison, 200 a .; Adam Harper, 320 a .; Peter Hetrick, 150 a .; Joseph Huff, 150 a .; Ruddy Hooke, 100 a .; John Henderson, 100 a .; John Hill, 200 a .; Thomas Hume, 100 a .; John Halo- back, James Beard, 100 a .: Robert Bell, 255 a .; William Brown, 150 a .; William Barnet, 150 a .; Andrew Brown, 100 a .; Will- iam Brandon, 100 a .; Daniel Brown, 100 a .; Thomas Bell,. 100 a .; Thomas Bell, 180 a .; Martha Barnet, 200 a .; Samuel Brown, 100 a .; John Brown, 200 a .; John Brown, 100 a .; William Brown, 100 a .; George Brightbill, 218 a .; Barnet Besore, 100 a .: Mathias Besor, 100 a .; Jacob Besor, 100 a .; William Cooper, 100 a .; Adam Clemar, 50 a .; John McCol- lough, 150 a .; William Clark, 150 a .; Will- iaın Clark ; Benjamin Clark, 200 a .: James Clark, 90 a .; John Campbell, 200 a .; William McClure ; Mary Conyngham, 100 a .; Elizabeth Conyngham, 200 a .; John Crawford. 100 a .; Frances MeClure, 100 a .; James McClnre, 100 a .; John Craw- ford, Jr., 50 a .: Henry Counts, 80 a .: James MeClure, 150 a .; James Parke, 100 a .; Thomas Price, 65 a .; Mary Price, 120 a .; Robert Por- terfield, 100 a .; Matthew Snodey, 120 a .; Robert Snodgrass, 120 a .; Joseph Snodgrass, 140 a .; John Stren, 100 a .; John Smiley, 100 a .; George Smiley, 100 a .; Daniel Shaw, 150 a .; Samuel Stuart, 150 a .; John Stuart, 100 a .; Jolin Swan, 100 a .; Jolm Tibney, Sr., 100 a .; John Tubs, 100 a .; Jacob Tubs, 200 a .; George Tittel, 150 a .; William Thompson (weaver), 100 a .; William Ferguson, 200 a .; Thomas French, 100 a .; John Foster, 211 a .; Walter McFarland, 200 a .; Ruddy Fray, 200 a .; Joli Fox, 200 a .; Thomas Finey, 50 a .; James Finey, 100 a .; James Finey, Sr., 180 a .; Thomas Finey, 50 a .; James French, 50 a .; James Low, Samuel Young, 50 a .; William Young, 230 a .; Jolm Yonng, 295 a .; Robert Martin, 100 a .; Robert Mont- gomery, 80 a .; John Montgomery, 250 a .; Thomas McMullen, 150 a. Frcemen-John
Parke (weaver), James Petticrew (weaver), George McMullen (weaver), William Clark, John McCInre (weaver), George Shanklen (weaver), David Stren (shoemaker), Wilham Dermond (weaver), Samuel Robinson, Robert Hill, John Wilken (schoolmaster), Hugh Willson, James Andrew (blacksmith), James Andrew, John McFarland (carpenter), Will- iam Willson; William MeElheney 200 a .: Samuel Endsworth, 100 a .; Doctor John Letes ; Sebastian Kinsner, 150 a .; Will- iam Allen, 200 a .; Joseph MeNutt, 100 a .; Matthew Gelor, 100 a .; Robert Brown, 100 a .: Mary Dermond, 200 a .; James Wright, 100 a .; Matthias Poor, 100 a .; Patrick Brown, 90 a .; William Diver (tailor); John Dixon, 250 a .; James Dixon, 200 a .; John Andrew, 150 a .; John Andrew, 200 a .: Tim- othy McGuire, 200 a .: James MeQuown, 265 a .; John McQuown, 299 a .; Brice Innis, 229 a .; William James, 190 a .; John Gettey; William Graham, 111 a .; Edward Me- Glanigen, 100 'a .; William Graham, 130 a .; John Gililand, 100 a .; James Greenlee, 100 a .: John Graham, 100 a .; Hugh Glenn. 50 a .; James Todd, 200 a .; John Thompson, 200 a .: James Taggert ; John Thomson, 130'
a .; William Thornton, 100 a .; William Thomson, 80 a .; William Trousdal, 200 a .; John Thomson, 100 a .: John Tibens, 100 a .; John Taylor, 150 a .; James Willson, 199 a .; Hugh Willson, 199 a .; Robert Wallace, 200 a .; Joseph Willson, 100 a .; Samnel Walkers, 150 a .; John Woods, 100 a .; James Willson, 100 a .; Joseph Willson, 103 a .; Andrew Woods, 190 a .; Thomas Willson (weaver); Peter Walmer, 130 a .; James Williams, 9S a .; John Weaver, 100 a .; James Willson, 200 a .; William Wattson, 100 a .; Henry Me- Cormick, 150 a .; John McCord, 100 a .; David MeClanochan, 150 a .; John MeClanochan, 150 a .; John McCormick, 100 a .; Anten Mc- Creight, SO a .; William McClure, 90 a .; Thomas McClure, 90 a .; John McClure, 100 a .; Eleanor MeClure, 150 a .; William Me- Clintock, 390 a .; Alexander MeColm, 100 a .; John Cameron (one cow), William Gargin (one cow), John Glenn (one cow).
Hanover Assessment-1782.
Capt. William Allen, Joseph Allen, James Andrew, Widow Andrew, Francis Alberthal, Nicholas Alberthal, Michael Boughman, John Brown, Sr., William Brown, Esq., Samuel Bell, Widow Baird, William Brown, Samuel Brown, Jr., Philip Brand, John Brown, Joseph Barnet, William Branden, Jacob Bowen,
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. DAUPHIN COUNTY.
Andrew Brown, George Brouse, Michnel Brown, Philip Bomgartner, Peter Bridbile, John Bridbile, Capt. Daniel Bradley, Balzer Bomgartner, John Bear, Robert Bell, John Backer, John Bomgartner, David Caldwell, Jacob Cook, Esq., Andrew Cooper, James Cal- hoon, Richard Crawford, John Cooper, Widow Crawford, Joseph Crain, William Cathcart, George Crain, Patrick Cunningham, Capt. Ambrose Crain, Widow Campbell, Benjamin Clark, Jr., Michael Cunkle, Andrew_Carvery, Henry Clover, John Craig, James Caldwell, James Dixon's widow, Richard Dixon, Sankey Dixon, Richard Dearmond. John Dollinger, Peter Ebersole, Robert Ewing, Christian Earley, Josias Espy. John Entsworth, Eman- uel Tuye, Samnel Ferguson, Michael Finlaw, Adam Firebough, Thomas Finey, Robert Fleoman, John Ferguson, Widow French, Anthony Fox, Richard Finley, Samuel Finey, Casper Freeman, Thomas Frederick, Robert Folten, Timothy Green, Esq., Joseph Green, John Graham, Hugh Glenn, James Graham, Capt. William Graham, Henry Graham, Henry Graham in trust, Robert Greenlee, Curtis Grubb & Co., Christian Hu- ber, John Herring, Andrew Horner, Adam Hamaker, John Hume, Leonard Humbarger, Joseph Hutchison, Abraham Host, James Hamble, John Harper, Conrad Helin, Henry Hess, William Hedrick, Peter Hedrick, George Hedrick, Thomas Hume, Widow Hill, Isaac Harrison, David Hoy, John Huber, George Haynes, Joseph Hutchison, Sr., Rich- ard Johnson, James Johnson, Israel Low, Andrew Kerr, Robert Kenaday, Thomas Ken- nedy, Andrew Killinger, Samuel Kearsley, Ludwig Kleck, Peter Kingrey, Daniel King, Maj. Abraham Latcha, Widow Leidy, Jacob Lose, John Lose, Henry Lowmiller, Widow Low, John MeClintock, William Montgom- ery, Esq., William Montgomery, Capt. Will- iam Mccullough, William Miskimons, James McMullen, John McCown, John McCown in trust, William Michael, John McCormick's widow, Robert Moody, Thomas McNear, Widow McCormick, James McClure, Conrad Moyer, George Minig, Jacob Mover, Killian, Mark, George Mease, Jacob Millen, John Mc- Cord, Daniel Musser, William McFarland, Michael Moura, John McCallen, John Mc- Callen in trust, Capt. James McCreight, Thomas McCord, David McGuire, Martin Miley, Barnard McNutt, Daniel Miller, James Porter, James Parks, Robert Porterfield, Mi- chael Polse, Joseph Pirkey, Nicholas Poor, Frederick Peasore, Mathias Peasore, George
Peasore, George Peasore, John Bruner, John Pickel, James Pet, Col. John Rogers, Jacob Righard, William Robinson, Jacob Ram, James Ripeth, James Robinson, William Ripeth, James Rogers, Widow Ram, Jere- miah Rogers, William Riddle, William Rog- ers, John Robinson, John Rouck, Samuel Robinson, George Rumberger, Peter Rambol, Peter River, John Raver, David Ramsey, William Ramsey, Philip Rank, Martin K-, George Ramsey & Co., John Romatch, John Righard, John Righard in trust, Jacob Road, Adam Stone, Balzer Stone, John Snodgrass, Samuel Sturgeon, Widow Swan, Samuel Siew- art, John Snyder, Robert Sturgeon, Peter Spelsbough, William Snodgrass, John Ster- ritt, Henry Sharp, Jacob Sant, Jacob Sprecher, John Simmerman, Ulrey Sach- ery, William Suody, Henry Sigler, Widow Stewart, John Shuby, Michael Seltzer, Arch- ibald Sloan, Widow Stewart, William Stew- art, Q. M., Philip Seidensticker, Nicholas Snyder, Peter Smelzers, William Sloan, Henry Shue, Abraham Stine, John Sy- mon, Alexander Sloan, Widow Strean, John Shue, Ludwig Searing, Valentine Shouffler, John Tod, David Tod, Robert Templeton, James Tagart, William Trous, John Thompson, John Thompson, Sr., George Title, William Thome, Jacob Tups, John Tubbin, Jacob Tubbins, James Tod, Capt. James Wilson, Thomas Walker, Widow White, Andrew Waler, George Ward, James Waller, Andrew Wilson, Hugh Wilson, James Wilson, Sr., George Wallmore, John Weaver, Jacob Wolf, Deobald Wentling, Christian Wingard, Abraham Wingard, Peter Walmore, Sr., Peter Wallmore, John Winter, Bartholmew Wentle, William Young, Jr., James Young. Inmates-Benjamin Fulton, Jacob Houck, Jolin Martin, Robert Fulton, . Neal Matten, John Elder, Alexander Foster, John Patterson, David Moffett, Francis Fer- guson, David Kingrey, William Clockey, James Wilson, Robert Lues, Hugh Morris, Valentine Spelsbough, George Bruner, Fred- erick Bickel, John Stover, Michael Moyer, John Moore, Patrick Gallent, James Bradden, Robert McFarland, William Fleeman, John Dunlay, Robert Strain, David Hays, Alex. ander Mc-, James Johnson, Alexander Hechet, William Cunningham, Charles Mc- Elroy, Hugh Jolly, Henry Menig, George Maura, John Pitre, John McBride, John Young (smith), Smith, Andrew Young, Henry Bruner, John Wallmore, James Robin- son, Jacob Creamor, Peter Weiry, John Arm-
1
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HISTORICAL REVIEW
strong, George Espy, Adam Weaver, Eave Huffnagle. Freemen-John Young, Nicholas Bruner, John Bruner, Henry Stone, Henry Peasore, Duncan Sinkler, Martine Miller, William Hume, Hugh Rippelly, Edward Striddle, John Morrison. People living over the mountain-John Smiley, Jacob Graff, Jacob Fealer, George Unger, Peter Bucher, Casper Grasson, Christian Fox, Thomas Smiley, David Petticruc, Conrad Smith, John Shups, George Sider, Abraham Alles, John Carverry, Peter Kling.
CHAPTER 1I1.
Summary of Events up to the Struggle for Inde- pendence.
Proceeding onward, with our brief history of Dauphin county and the lists of its early settlers, we find that about 1740 the influx of emigration, especially of the Seoteh-Irish, was so great that family after family re- moved down the Cumberland Valley to the Potomae and beyond, into Virginia and the Carolinas. This tide of settlers was one con- tinucd stream until the thunders of the Revo- lution checked emigration to America. They can be traced from their resting place among their relations and friends in the townships of Paxtang, Derry and llanover, to their de- scendants of the present day, who are promi- nent among the representative people of the South and West. The assessment lists, of which we have given, contain probably double the number of names found later on, showing how these people, pioneers of the wilderness, like bees swarmed out from the parent hive, and sought, perchance, more congenial localities. Limited as we must be, in this historieal sketch, we find it impossi- ble to dwell fully upon the important events which transpired in the carly days of the hardy pioneers. Volumes could be written upon their trials, upon their endurance, and upon the remarkable events in which they were prominent actors in Pennsylvania his- tory. A summary of the most important phases of that history is all that can be given in this connection, reference being had to other works which furnish not only a fuller, but a better insight into the beginnings of Dauphin county history.
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 countries.
During John Harris' frequent visits to Philadelphia he met at the house of his friend Shippen, Miss Esther Say, like him- self not over young, from his native York- shire, and in the latter part of the year 1720 married her. The wedding took place cither at the Swedes church, Wicaco, or at Christ church, both being members of the Church of England. Among the early colonists who settled in Philadelphia were a number of the name of Say, but to which family Esther Ilarris was connected is not to be ascertained with certainty. She was kinswomen to the Shippens, and of course respectably con- nected. A remarkable woman, she was also well calculated 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 Harris- burg. The statement that he was the first white child born west of the Conewago hills is not correct. 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 babyhood gladdened the hearts of the hardy pioneer, and who also attained mature age. The parents car- ried their child when nearly a year old to Philadelphia, where he was baptized on the 22d of September, 1728, as they had pre- viously done with their other children. That of Esther Harris took place Angust 31, 1726, according to the parish register of Christ church, but we have not been able to ascer- tain the date of the baptism of the eldest child.
Until this period (1728) the country lying between the Conewago hills and the Kittoch- tinny mountains was owned, or rather claimed, by the Five Nations. It is true, the Scoteh-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 venturesome. Filling up rapidly, on May 10, 1729, the Assembly passed " An act for the crecting the upper part of the Province of Pennsylvania lying towards the Susquehanna, Conestogoe, Don- negal, etc., into a county," to be called Lan- caster. At the first court in and for said
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DAUPHIN COUNTY.
county, November 3, 1730, at Posthleth waite's, a petition was presented by John Harris, among others, "praying that he may be recommended 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 ; hereto- fore the application passed through the court of Chester county, and in this connec- tion we may remark that among the Chester county records as early as 1722 is to be found the name of Jolin Harris, " on the Susqua-, hannah." Subsequently he made applica- tion 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 (172S) 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 Harris, com- manding him to desist from making a plan- tation at the point referred to. The author- ities made no objection.
By virtue of a warrant from the Proprie- taries of Pennsylvania, bearing date Jamary 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 hun- dred acres of allowance land, upon which he had commenced a clearing, on the pres- ent site of the city, about the year 1707. The land included in the latter patent ex- tended from what is now the line of Cum- berland 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 regu- larly constructed 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 commodious one may be laid out from the Ferry of John Harris, on Susquehannah, to fall in with the High Road leading from Lancaster town at or near the Plantation of Edward 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." Subse- quently this was done, and the highway opened from the Susquehanna to the Dela- ware.
The most interesting of the early or pio- neer roads, historically considered, is that which was laid out through the territory lying west of the Susquehanna river-from " Harris' Ferry towards Potomac." It is the most interesting, because for a period of seventy years it was the great highway up and down which passed the produce of that large and fertile region ; because in the early provincial wars to which the Paxtang, Derry, and Hanover settlements gave many of their fathers and sons, it was the way by which they marched to meet the enemy and by which they marched to receive greetings from homes made safe by their valor; and because it has the unique distinction of hav- ing been the first effort of our forefathers to connect the wilderness with the civilization which lay beyond. It swept by our borders on the north and on the west ; and by reason of its location became the pioneer road of Western and Southern Pennsylvania. It was laid out six years before Cumberland county was created, and while all the territory west of the Susquehanna was within the jurisdic- tion of the courts at Lancaster. Hence in the archives at Lancaster is the only record now attainable of the various steps by which this road came into being. It was in con- troversy for nine years. The first trace of it is in 1735. It was surveyed by courses and distances and ordained as a lawful road in 1744. We have said that the first trace of this pioneer road appears in 1735. It was in November of that year when a petition was presented to the " Worshipful the Jus- tices of the Court of Quarter Session " at Lan- caster, from inhabitants on the west side of the Susquehanna river, opposite to Paxtang, praying that a roadway be laid out " from Joli Harris' Ferry towards Potomac." The petition was favorably regarded, and Randle Chambers, James Peat, James Silvers, Thomas Eastland, John Lawrence and Abraham Endless were appointed the viewers, with power in four of them to act. They reported a route for the road at the next sitting of the court, but the view had developed the usual result of great neighborhood agitation. In the winter of 1735, it is recorded that there met at the house of Widow Piper in Ship- pensburg a number of persons from along the Conedoguinet and Middle Spring to re-
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HISTORICAL REVIEW
·
monstrate against the road passing through " the barrens" and to ask that it be made through the Conedoguinet settlement as more populous and more suitable. When, therefore, the viewers made their report in February, 1736, they were confronted with the petitions of a " considerable number of inhabitants in those parts," who set forth that the said road, as it is laid, is hurtful to many of the plantations, is " further about, and is more difficult to clear" than if it was laid more to the southward. They, there- fore, prayed that a review of the same be made by " persons living on the east side of the Susquehanna." This conveys a delicate suggestion that personal or other interests had influenced the previous viewers, two of whom lived on the line as laid out. The court granted a review and appointed Will- iam Rennick, Richard Hough, James Arm- strong, Thomas Mays, Samuel Montgomery and Benjamin Chambers, to " make such alterations in said road as may seem to them necessary for the public good." Some of these lived west of the Susquehanna-others east of it. So the court did not fully share the suspicion of the remonstrants, but con- ceded something to the excitement of the moment. Little change, however, in the route was made, and to-day the turnpike from Harrisburg to Chambersburg passes over this very pioneer highway which a century and a-half ago exercised the early settlers. This was the opening of the high- way to the undeveloped West.
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 carth, 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 subdued 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 Mc- Clure, and, second, Mary Read, daughter of Capt. Adam Read, of Hanover, an officer of the Provincial service, was a prominent per- sonage during the Indian wars, and the principal military storekeeperon the frontier.
His letters to the governors and the officials of the Province and others 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 peril- ous 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 Rich- ard Penn, Esqs., proprietaries, to John Har- ris, Jr., bearing date of record " ye 19th Feb- ruary, 1753," that gentlemen was allowed the right of running a ferry across the Sus- quehanna, from which originated the former name of the place, which previous to the or- ganization of the county was known far and near as Harris' Ferry.
It appears from letters of John Harris, written to Governor Morris, that an Indian named Half King, also called Tanacharisson, died at his house on the night of the 1st of October, 1754. Rupp says that " he had his residence at Logstown, on the Ohio, fourteen miles below Pittsburgh, on the opposite side. George Washington visited him in 1753, and desired him to relate some of the particulars of a journey he had shortly before mnade to the French Commandant at Fort Duquesne." We find this note among the votes of As- sembly, 1754: "Dec. 17, Post Meridian, 1754 .- The Committee of Accounts reported 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 Indians that were with him." It may be interesting to know that the Half King was buried near the first John Harris at the foot of the mulberry trce.
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 inhabitants of the townships of Paxtang, Derry and Hano- ver, Lancaster county, bearing date July 22, 1754, and setting forth their precarious con- dition, was presented and read in the Coun- cil on the 6th of August following. It bore the signatures of Thomas Forster, James Armstrong, John Harris, Thomas Simpson, Samuel Simpson, Jolin Carson, David Shields, William M'Mullin, John Cuoit, Will- iam Armstrong, William Bell, John Dough- erty, James Atkin, Andrew Cochran, James Recd, Thomas Rutherford, T. McArthur, Will- iam Steel, Samuel Hunter, Thomas Mayes, James Collier, Henry Rennicks, Richard Mc-
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