USA > Pennsylvania > Adams County > Conewago in Adams County > Conewago : a collection of Catholic local history : gathered from the fields of Catholic missionary labor within our reach. > Part 2
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choicest blessing from Heaven.
""'I will not,'-such was the oath of the Governor of Maryland, -. I will not, by myself or any other, directly or indirectly, molest any person professing to believe in Jesus Christ, for or in respect of religion.'"-CHALMERS, 235; Mc- MATION, 226.
" An apprehension of some remote danger of persecution seems even then to have hovered over the minds of the Ro- man Catholics."-Third Assembly of Maryland, 1639.
It came, indeed, only too soon, and gave in exchange for Catholic toleration and a prosperous colonial government, all the evils of religious persecution in a reign of disorder and misrule.
Catholic Maryland is the brightest gem in the crown of States. Religion lent not her charms in vain. in the dark days of her trials in America, the church looked to Maryland for hope and encouragement. Whatever fault may now be found with the policy of the great lights of the church in Maryland, let it be said they acted well their parts, and laid the foundations of their building on solid rock. Now when the building is up in all its massive strength, and able to with- stand the beating rain and the fury of the storm, it is casy for little and petulant minds to pick flaws here and there in its rugged gray foundation stones ; but it requires the height of genius to accurately measure the labor and material that entered into its erection, and the depth of learning to outline the circumstances upon which the plan of structure was laid.
Catholic Maryland! I might never tire to wander in thy broad and beautiful fields of religious culture. Every plant and shrub and tree is so familiar and home-like, and reminds me of the gardens of my mother, the church. Every name is dear to a thousand memories in the household of faith. Thy laborers, I know them full well; they have worked in the Father's vineyard in the heat of the day and bore the burden of the toil ; they are Jesuits ! You meet them everywhere. cultivating the barren wastes and the broad fields of waving
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grain ; they never rest nor weary, and murmur not at their scanty pay. Happy Maryland ! I should like to count your treasures over, but it may not be. Time calls me away.
On Annunciation Day, 1634, the Pilgrims celebrated their first Mass at St. Clement's on Heron's Island. That sacred place is now a sand-washed waste.
In 1636, there were four priests in the Maryland mis- sion. The Indians were for the most part friendly to the Catholic missionaries, until excited and misled by the enemies of the church, when they turned upon their best friends in the world. Fathers White and Altham obtained a hut from the Indians and used it for a chapel. They converted the great Indian King, Tayac, and his wife, called Mary in bap- tism. At their marriage, Gov. Calvert and many distinguish- ed men came far distances through the wild country, to be present at the ceremony, which was made as impressive as the scanty facilities of a new settlement would permit. A cross was erected and the Litany of the Blessed Virgin chanted.
The first printing press in any British colony was set up by these Jesuit Fathers, and a Catechism printed for the In- dians. A copy is preserved in the archives at Rome. An Indian grammar and dictionary were also printed.
During Clayborne's rebellion, Father White was sent in chains to England. After many trials and sufferings, he was banished, but returned and died in London, Jan. 6th, 1657, in his 78th year.
The Maryland historians have allowed the missionaries the credit of their labors, but not as they deserved. The part they took in the settlement of the country was the lead- ing one, and great was the influence of their labors, and last- ing. Davis in his Day-Star pleads for justice to their mem- ory : Let not the Protestant historian of America give grudgingly. Let him testify, with a warm heart ; and pay, with gladness, the tribute so richly due to the memory of our early forefathers. Let their deeds be enshrined in our hearts ;
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and their names repeated in our households. Let them be canonized, in the grateful regards of the American ; and hand- ed down, through the lips of a living tradition, to his most re- mote posterity. In an age of cruelty, like true men, with heroic hearts, they fought the first great battle of religious liberty. And their fame, without reference to their faith, is now the inheritance, not only of Maryland, but also of America.
BOUNDARY DIFFICULTIES.
When we look over the broad and fertile fields of the Conewago Valley, we see in the great natural wealth around us the reason why every foot of its ground was so bitterly and persistently contested. The hard-working German farm- er was eager to push across the Susquehanna's legal barrier, and take up the rich bottom lands along the Codorus and the Conewago. The English gentry from the ranks of the Cal- verts, with their baronial ideas of grand estates, knew full well the value and advantages of these forest hills and val- leys bordering the tributaries which drained the land from the mountains to the rivers. The poor Irish peasant looked over the half-cleared patches with envy, and remembered the marshy wastes and barren hills of his own green isle with sadness. The restless, self-willed "squatter " comes along, despising metes and bounds as he does law and order, and cares only to go where he pleases and do whatever he wishes.
Baltimore County, in the Province of Maryland, was formed in 1659. Many of the oldest deeds to property in the Conewago Valley, are from the Proprietaries of Maryland, when the land was claimed to be within the bounds of Balti- more County. For this reason, we do not agree with those who accuse the Maryland settlers of coming into the Province of Pennsylvania without leave or license. Chester County,
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to which the land originally belonged under the claims of Penn, was not formed until 1682, twenty-three years later than the formation of Baltimore County. Carroll County, now part of the border-line between the two States, was formed from parts of Baltimore and Frederick Counties, 1836. Tracing the land down on the Pennsylvania side, we find it was included in Chester County from 1682 to May 15th, 1729, when Lancaster County was formed ; in Lancaster until Aug. 9th, 1749, the date of the formation of York County ; and in York until Jan. 22d, 1800, when Adams, the present County, was cut off from York. Conewago Township was formed May 25th, 1800, out of parts of Heidelberg and Man- heim Townships, York County. Baltimore was laid out in 1729, on lands of Charles Carroll. Frederick was laid out in 1745; Georgetown in 1751; Hagerstown 1762; York in 1741; Hanover in 1764; Gettysburg in 1780; Littlestown in 1765; Abbottstown in 1753; New Oxford in 1792.
From various causes, the boundary claims and title diffi- culties through this border country, from the Susquehanna to what is now Mason & Dixon's line, were the longest in dispute and the most conflicting of any in the history of the Provin- ces. The poor settler might feel reasonably secure after hav- ing his tract entered in the Land Book for the County of Baltimore and that of the Philadelphia Land-Office, with a release from the Carrolls, but great is his surprise when along comes Dudley Digges, claiming to have an order from the Council to make him give up his lands! No wonder the set- tlers determined to defend their homes with their lives.
As soon as Penn's grant was announced, a difficulty arose between himself and Lord Baltimore about the dividing line. They met together several times, but never came to any sat- isfactory understanding. First they agreed to adopt the bor- der fixed by the decree of 1685, but royal decrees did not satisfy the increasing dissensions among the settlers. Quar- rels arose, in which the laws of both Proprietaries were in- voked, or taken advantage of and misconstrued. Many acts
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of violence were committed, and great evil and lawlessness existed. The courts of justice were far away, and there be- ing no real or recognized authority, designing men used this state of affairs to their advantage. Petitions were sent to the Governor and the State Council, and royal orders were at- tempted to be enforced, but the difficulties continued. The section of country became a refuge for evil-doers, as the laws of either Province could be resisted and protection claimed under the other. In the same way, taxes were refused to be paid by men who enjoyed all the privileges of government with those who contributed to its support, for the majority of the settlers were honest and well-meaning, ready to submit to lawful authority wherever established. A Temporary Line was run by commissioners from both Provinces, but the diffi- culties continued. In 1757, the Grand Jury of the County made all conform to the royal order, that titles were good no matter on which side of the Temporary Line located, and designated as far as possible to which Province they belong- ed. The final settlement of the troubles was made in 1766- 67, when by order of the English Court of Chancery, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, noted astronomers in England, run the present line, placing at every mile a stone with the letter P. and arms of Penn on one side, and the letter M. and escutcheon of Lord Baltimore on the other. Some of these mile-stones are standing to this day.
By the grant of Charles II. to Wm. Penn, the southern boundary of the Province of Pennsylvania was made " a cir- cle drawn at twelve miles distant from New Castle, north- ward, and westward to the 40th degree of northern latitude, then by a straight line westward." Lord Baltimore's north- ern boundary, by his grant, was also the 40th parallel, but the circle twelve miles distant from New Castle would not in- tersect the 40th parallel, the distance being more than the twelve miles prescribed by the charter. "Each party con- sequently claimed the intervening strip, and the adherents of
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each, ignorant of real or assumed lines, claimed much more than their lords and masters."-SMITH'S Annals of Hanover and History of York County.
Lord Baltimore's grant included all the present State of Delaware, and a portion of Pennsylvania, including the Counties of Chester, Delaware, Lancaster, York, Adams, Franklin, Fulton, Bedford and Somerset. In their attempts at settlement of the grant troubles, it was urged by the Penns that the Swedes and Dutch had settlements before the char- ter of Lord Baltimore was obtained.
The charter of Maryland defined the western boundary by the meridian passing through the first fountain of the Po- tomac. Whether it meant the North or South branch is an open question to this day, and commissions were recently ap- pointed by the Legislatures of several States now divided by this line, to determine questions coming from boundary un- certainties.
Penn's policy always was, to issue no warrants for lands unless first obtaining titles from the Indians. The Indians west of the Susquehanna were subject to the Five Nations .- Penn empowered Thomas Dougan, Governor of New York, to purchase of the Five Nations their right and interest in the lands west of the river. The purchase was made about 1688. Jan. 12th, 1696, Dougan leased for 1000 years all his right and title west of the river to Wm. Penn for 100 pounds ster- ling and a yearly rent of a "pepper corn." Jan. 13th, 1696, Thos. Dougan sold to Penn all lands from the mountains or head of said river, and running as far as the Chesapeake .--- Penn was not satisfied but obtained a deed from the Susque- hannas, the originial, though defeated, owners of the soil .--- The Conestoga Indians denied the right of the Susquehannas to sell the lands west of the river. Penn, always ready to settle any claims against lands he held, purchased a deed from the Connestoga Indians. The Five Nations still assert- ed a right to said land, and they sent their chiefs to a great Council held in the country of the Onondagoes, in the sum-
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mer of 1736. A deed was signed Oct. 11th, 1736, by eight Onondagoes, six Senekaes, four Oneidas, two Tuscaroras, and three Cayugas, conveying said lands to John, Thomas and Richard Penn. This included all the Susquehanna River, castward as far as the heads of the springs that run into said river ; west to the setting of the sun ; northward to the moun- tains called by the Nations Tyannantasacta, or Endless Hills, and by the Delawares, Kekkachtananin Ilills.
"DIGGES' CHOICE."
Tradition has preserved but few names of the first set- tlers through the Conewago Valley. History has done no better. Historical researches ahead of us there are none ;- no old papers or writings ; even the original deeds are not obtainable. In Father DeBarth's time, all the books and papers kept at Conewago were taken to Georgetown.
The Father-General of the Society in Rome has a good record of the Jesuit labors in these provinces. Reports have been made up in this country from time to time, clothed in a Latin dress in presentable shape by order of the Provin- cial, and forwarded to the head of the Society. Some day !
In early colonial times, land, like timber, was so plenty and so cheap that large tracts were given away for the small- est service or the least consideration. In 1722, on the west side of the Susquehanna, 75,000 acres were surveyed as the Manor of Springgettsbury, for the Proprietaries of Pennsyl- vania, with the intention of preventing the Maryland author- ities from encroaching upon lands thus claimed. Thomas Cresap, a Marylander, had a grant of 500 acres along the river, on which disgraceful scenes were enacted and great in- justice done. Penn always treated righteously with the In- dians, but Cresap burnt their villages and murdered the in-
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habitants, and acted no better with the white settlers who had crossed the river from the east. Cresap was from York- shire, and was only fifteen years old when he came to the Maryland Province. The Winthrops, the Penns, the Wash- ingtons and the Calverts, all came from Yorkshire, and we would not be surprised to find that Digges and Clayborne also came from there. "The Manor of Maske " was survey- ed for the use of the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania, in 1740. It was six miles wide and twelve miles long, and was located in the western part of what is now Adams County, touching the Maryland line on the south. "Carroll's Delight " was surveyed under Maryland authority, April 3d, 1732, patented Aug. Sth, 1735, to Charles, Mary and Eleanor Carroll. There were two " Tracts," containing 5,000 acres. Many difficulties arose from these special reservations, and the conflictions in titles that they occasioned were felt down to the beginning of the present century. In several instances the original set- tlers interfered with the surveyors and threatened their lives.
For some reason, John Digges, a petty nobleman, obtained from the proprietor of Maryland a grant of 10,000 acres, Oct. 14th, 1727. He had the privilege of taking up any unim- proved lands in the Province. For this grant, Digges paid 184 pounds, 19 shillings, as pre-emption money, and a yearly rental of 13 pounds, 12 shillings, 11 pence, in silver or gold. In 1732, by the advice of an Indian Chief named Tom, Digges surveyed 6,822 acres lying on Tom's Creek, and called it " Digges' Choice." This tract took in all the beautiful Valley of the Conewago, on the Little Conewago and Plum Creeks, from the Pigeon Hill spurs to the springs that start these creeks. The original survey in 1732 crossed the Conewago and took in all the finest land adjoining on the west side .- Oct. 11th, 1732, the Maryland office issued to John Digges a patent for the land of his choice.
When the Temporary Line was run in 1732, to serve as a boundary until the border difficulties could be finally set- tled. Digges' land was decided to be in Pennsylvania ; but his
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title was good, on account of a Royal Order then issued, which declared that all titles previously obtained, should hold good, no matter on which side of the Temporary Line, nor by which Province granted. Among the settlers on " Digges' Choice," were David Young, Adam Miller, Adam Weisser, JJohn Lemmon, 1732 ; they were the Kreutz-Kirche settlers, near Littlestown. and came from the east of the river.
Andrew Schreiber purchased 100 acres from Digges in 1734, for which he paid one hundred pairs of negro shoes .- Henry Sell came in 1735 ; Martin Kitzmiller in 1736; Adam Forney in 1737. Robert Owings, a Catholic and one of the first settlers with the Diggeses, surveyed and laid off land for Henry Sell and Martin Kitzmiller in 1739. On this land and about this time, Kitzmiller's mill was built. Before that the settlers had to go to the Susquehanna to have their wheat ground.
Settlements were made from the east of the river as ear- ly as 1710, and by 1720 the Marylanders had pushed north- ward as far as the Codorus. From that time date the troub- les between the Maryland and Pennsylvania settlers, ended at last by the running of Mason & Dixon's line, 1767. The claims of the Diggeses were never settled, but may be said to have died out. The land was too much mixed up in dispute to enforce them. The majority of the settlers acted honor- ably, as can be seen from the old deeds still preserved. Most of them held titles under Lord Baltimore first, and after the Temporary Line was run they secured titles from the Penns ; then they had a Right or Deed from JJohn Digges or his sons, which carried with it a release from the Carrolls. It is easy to understand why the title and boundary disputes contin- ued so long in bitterness and confusion, and only a wonder that the difficulties were not more serious in their results.
In November, 1743, Digges applied to the Pennsylvania Land-Office to take up as much land as would make his tract square. This was granted on condition that he should not
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disturb the German settlers, complaints having repeatedly been made by them that he refused to mark his line, and was constantly changing the amount of his grant. When Digges returned he told the Germans that he had concluded an agreement with the Land Agent at Philadelphia, by which they would be compelled to give up their lands to him. This caused great excitement. Thomas Cookson, Surveyor of Lan- caster County, was sent by the Governor of Pennsylvania to adjust the difficulties, but accomplished little or nothing to- wards that end. Officers were sent from Maryland to make arrests, but the settlers resisted them and swords were drawn on both sides. May 10th, 1749, the settlers joined in a peti- tion to Governor Hamilton of Pennsylvania, setting forth that Digges demanded one hundred pounds for every one hun- dred acres of land they held under Pennsylvania titles. The killing of Dudley Digges quieted the excitement of both claim- ants and contestants more than anything else, and after that matters were more readily adjusted on both sides. In Feb., 1752, in an altercation between a Maryland officer and his men and Martin Kitzmiller and his sons, at Kitzmiller's house, Dudley Digges was shot by one of Kitzmiller's sons ; whether accidentally or purposely, will never be known, but Kitzmiller was acquitted at the trial in Oct., when it was proven that the officer had no warrant and was in truth not even an of- ficer. Those engaged with the pretended officer, were Dud- ley and Henry Digges, sons of John Digges ; John Stackers, Patrick Koyle, John Seyfert and Anthony Worley. The sentiment of the people was against Maryland interference, and in full sympathy and favor with Pennsylvania authority. This applies particularly to the Germans, as certain promises had induced the Irish to desire them dispossessed of the land.
John Digges was the father of Edward, William, Henry and Dudley Digges. William Digges, who came to the col- ony with Lord Baltimore and attended him in several of his meetings with Wm. Penn, was doubtless the ancestor of these Diggeses. JJohn Digges lived with the Carrolls, and it was
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through them that he first come to settle the Conewago Val- ley. In or about 1800, some of the Diggeses still lived at St. Thomas, now in Charles County, and among the names that appear are Francis, Jane, John and Henry. Certainly John Digges and his family did not come alone to the Conewago Valley, but no other names come down to us. They were Catholics. Their association and friendly acquaintance with the Indians show the work of the missionaries, and that where they worshiped, whether under the humble roof of the settlers or in the rude wig-wam of the Indian, there the roaming Shawnee emigrant and the conquered braves of the northern tribes also bowed their knee.
The remains of Dudley Digges are resting in the grave at Conewago. Not many years ago, John Aulebaugh, a citizen of MeSherrystown, remembered having heard his grandfather tell of the shooting of Dudley Digges. He saw the wounded man, shot in the bowels, and attended his funeral. The sight and excitement he declared could never be effaced from his memory, and so it has come down to the present from father to son, through three generations.
Another account of this unfortunate affair, claims that Digges acted upon a process obtained from the Court at Frederick. No doubt he acted entirely in the defense of his rights and interest, and believed he was pursuing a lawful course in reclaiming his property. Circumstances were against him. When the proprietors of Maryland failed to es- tablish their claim to the land, how could the Diggeses expect to succeed. The shooting occurred on the farm now called "Carrollton," lately occupied and owned by Francis A. Uhl. The place became a noted hostelry on the great wagon road from Philadelphia to Frederick.
Digges' widow and two children remained in Conewago (then Heidelberg) township, about a mile and a half south of McSherrystown, for several years after his death, when they removed to Frederick City, where the widow had a sister, and where she died in 1812. Her maiden name was Mary Lilly,
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a daughter of the first Lilly that emigrated to these parts, the ancestor of the present Conewago Lillys, whose name was Samuel, and who, in 1730, located on the old Lilly farm, above Lilly's Mill, now owned by one of his great-great-grand-sons --- and that has been in the family ever since, and where a woolen factory was carried on from about 1730 until about 1830, as many of the " oldest inhabitants " will recollect.
THE CONEWAGO VALLEY.
The Conewago Valley of one hundred and fifty years ago, was a dense forest of oak and hickory that covered the broad plain, and along the banks of the creeks grew the more valuable wood and beautiful trees,- the ash, poplar, walnut, water beach, sycamore and willow. Not many years ago, the stately trunks of some of the veterans of the forests stood along Slagle's Run and the Conewago and Plum Creeks, sad and lonely reminders of the days when they were kings of the forests. Some of them measured over three feet across the stump. The Conewago Valley of to-day !- look over it : Follow the narrow strip of woodland from north to south ; that marks the course of the Little Conewago : off to the west, over hills and valleys, the South Mountains limit the view, running south across the Potomac and the Shenandoah, north and east across the Susquehanna, the Schuylkill and the Del- aware. In the south and the east the valley broadens out along the shadowy woodlands of my Maryland. Right at your back rise the blue tops of the Pigeon Hills, that before long, alas ! will be cleared of the heavy chestnut growth which is struggling to get upward. What else ? Nothing but broad fields of waving grain ; large barns and houses, (barns before houses with the sturdy sons of toil,) beautiful homes and gardens,-thriving towns and villages in every direction. Everything easy, quiet and peaceful. May nothing ever mar
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its beauty or blight its happiness.
Hanover is the central point, on the Frederick Division P. R. W., the Hanover & Baltimore and Hanover & Gettys- burg Railroads ; 42 miles from Frederick, about 50 from Bal- timore and twice that distance from Philadelphia ; lat. 39' 46" north, long. 148° west of Greenwich. Conewago Chapel is 4 miles west of Hanover, in Conewago Township, Adams Co., Pa .; about 10 miles from Gettysburg, the county seat ; 7 miles from Littlestown, 4 from New Oxford, about 22 from York, 80 from Washington, 110 from Philadelphia; in lat. about 39° 45' north, long. 0° 0' 3" west from Washington .- The Post-Office address is McSherrystown, Adams Co., Pa.
It is said that all the early attempts at Catholic coloni- zation in these Provinces have been failures. How Conewago could have been more successful as a Catholic settlement, we cannot easily understand. Conewago Chapel is the parent church from which the Catholic religion spread over southern and western Maryland into Virginia, along the frontiers of Pennsylvania, into the very heart of its settlement, Philadel- phia itself. The churches at Hanover, Littlestown, Taney- town, Bonneauville, Gettysburg, Millerstown, The Mountain, Carlisle, Harrisburg, York, Paradise and New Oxford, are all fruits of the Conewago Missionary labors. The early Catho- lics, scattered within the bounds of these outlying missions, once looked to Conewago for all the spiritual aid they ever received. The missionaries in their long journey over the country, kept no account of their labors, and all that has come down to us are a few scraps of paper, where a child was baptized in the Path or Cove Valleys, a death-bed attended along the South Mountains, or a sick-call here or there,- twenty, thirty miles away. Take the large and flourishing congregations at all these places, their well-built churches and schools, and houses,-take the credit of all these away from Conewago, and yet there is left a successful Catholic colony of five thousand souls ; a fine, large and well-finished church,-Conewago Chapel; six hundred acres of the best
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