USA > Pennsylvania > Franklin County > Chambersburg > Historical sketch of Franklin County, Pennsylvania : prepared for the centennial celebration held at Chambersburg, Penn'a, July 4th, 1876, and subsequently enlarged by I. H. M'Cauley John M. Pomeroy, publisher. To which is added a valuable appendix by J. L. Suesserott, D. M. Kennedy and others, and embellished by over one hundred lithographic illustrations, drawn by W. W. Denslow > Part 4
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By the act of the 10th of September, 1787, our county was divided into four election districts, the first district composed of the town- ships of Guilford, Franklin, Hamilton, Letterkenny, Lurgan and Southampton, to vote at the court house in Chambersburg. The second district, Fannett township, to vote at the house of widow Elliott, in that township. The third district, composed of Antrim and Washington townships, to vote at the house of George Clark, in Greencastle; and the fourth district, Peters and Montgomery townships, to vote at the house of James Crawford in Mercersburg.
These provisions, drawn from the acts of Assembly, show that our forefathers were enabled to exercise the inestimable privileges of the ballot only at a great sacrifice of time, trouble and expense. Now we have our voting places often within a stone's throw of our resi- dences, and rarely, even in the rural districts, more than a few miles away, and all of easy and speedy access ; then the voters were compelled to travel many weary miles, over new, rough, and un- broken roads, and ford or swim unbridged and dangerous streams, if they desired to cast their ballots for or against the men or meas- ures of the day.
At the second county election held in October, 1785, James M'Calmont, Abraham Smith and John Rhea were elected members of the Assembly ; Jeremiah Talbot, Sheriff; and John Johnston, Coroner.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
The eleventh section of the act of Assembly, for the organization of a county, appointed James Maxwell, James M'Cammont, Josiah Crawford, David Stoner and John Johnston trustees to procure two lots of ground for the sites of a court house and prison for the new county ; and the twelfth section directed that the county commis- sioners should pay over to the said trustees a sum not exceeding one
31
Historical Sketch of Franklin County.
thousand two hundred pounds ($3,200) to be by them expended in the erection of the necessary public buildings.
On the 28th September, 1784, Col. Benjamin Chambers, for the nominal consideration of ten pounds, or twenty-six dollars and sixty-six and two-third cents, conveyed to the county of Franklin the lot on which the court house now stands, to be used as a site for a court house and public buildings, and no other ; and the lot on the north side of East Market street, opposite the present "Washington House," for the site of a county prison.
Messrs. Maxwell, M'Cammont et al, the trustees appointed by the Legislature to build a court house and jail for our county, con- tracted with Captain Benjamin Chambers to put up the former, and with David and Joshua Riddle to put up the latter. When these buildings were contracted for and what were the prices for erecting them cannot now be told, as all the records in relation thereto have been destroyed. The first payments on the court house were made in 1792, amounting to about £700, and its whole cost, so far as I can judge by the drafts granted Captain Chambers, was about $4, 100.00. It was not finished until 1794.
According to the advertisement of the trustees, the contract for the prison was to have been given out on the 10th of September, 1786. When it was made I know not. It was gotten under roof about 1791. In November, 1796, the sum of £337 10s. was paid on it, but it was not finished until about 1797 or 98, as appears by the ex- penditures made on account of it.
THE OLD COURT HOUSE.
This building was of briek, two stories high, and about fifty feet. square. It stood immediately west of the present building. its eastern wall being about four or five feet distant from the western end of the present court house, and it was occupied by the courts and public offices whilst the new building was being erected. It was then torn down, and the portico and steps of the present build- ing were put up on part of its site. It was well and substantially built, presented a rather pleasing appearance, and was fully sufli- cient for those early times. The main front faced Market street, and there was a heavy cornice all around the building. There were a cupola and bell on the building. The spire was surmounted by an iron rod, with a large copper ball on it next the top of the spire ; then above that a "Rooster," and above the latter a smaller ball. The main entrance was on the southern front, but it was not used for many years. A door in the western end, near the southern cor- ner, was the usual place of entrance. Opposite this last door was another door in the eastern end, opening into the yard. The court hall occupied all the lower floor. Along its southern side was a tier
.
32
Historical Sketch of Franklin County.
of seats for spectators, some three or four in number, rising high up the wall. These were put in after the building was completed, and they crossed over and closed up the main door in the south side of the room. Between these seats and the bar, which occupied nearly one-half the floor, there was a space of about ten feet in width, paved with red brick. The bar was raised some two or three steps above this pavement, and the Judges' seat, which was on the north side of the room, was some two or three steps above the bar. The traverse jury box was on the east side of the bar, and the grand jury box on the west side, adjoining the stairs leading to the second story, in which there were a grand jury room and two traverse jury rooms.
THE OLD JAIL.
The first jail built by the county was of stone, two stories high, about forty by sixty feet in size, and stood on the north-east corner of Second and Market streets, where Peiffer & Dobler's coach shop now stands. It was often crowded with poor "debtors" in those early days, men who were so unfortunate as to be in debt and have no goods nor money with which to pay their liabilities. To honest men it was a fearful place; but rogues laughed at its nail-studded doors, iron bars and thick but poorly-constructed walls. Between the date of the formation of our county in 1784, and the completion of the "old stone jail " in 1798, persons charged with the commis- sion of grave offences in this county were kept in the jail at Carlisle. The county accounts for those years contain many items for the ex- penses of taking prisoners to Carlisle, keeping them there, and bringing them here for trial. Persons charged with offences of a minor grade were kept here in a temporary prison, and there are also numerous charges for "repairs" to that prison-for "iron for bars," for "leg bolts, manaeles, &c.," and for the pay of those who acted as "guards" at the prison. Tradition says that this prison was an old log house on the lot now the property of Levi D. Hum- melsine, on the west side of South Main street. That it was some such insecure place is evidenced by the expenditures made upon it above referred to, and also from the fact that in 1785, the commis- sioners of the county paid Samuel M'Clelland £2, 5s., 6d. for " un- derpinning the prison." There were no brick buildings here in 1785, and only three stone ones, viz .: Chambers' fort, John Jack's tavern and Nicholas Snider's blacksmith shop. All the rest were of logs, small and inconvenient, and it must have been one of the worst of these that was used as a prison at first, for only such an one would have needed "underpinning," and require bars, leg bolts, manacles, and guards to keep its inmates safely.
.
Nor were prisoners then allowed to spend their time in idleness whilst in jail, as at the present time. They were kept at labor, as is
SAMUEL PLUM
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RES. &WAREHOUSE OF SAMUEL PLUM, LEHMASTER'S STN. SOUTH PENN R.R.
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WAYNESBORO HOTEL. WAYNESBORO, PA. JAC.J.MILLER, OWNER.M.G.MINTER, PROPR
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Historical Sketch of Franklin County.
evidenced by the numerous expenditures for "picks and shovels" and "wheel-borroughs," and for the pay of the superintendents and keepers of the "wheel-borrough men."
THE PUBLIC OFFICES.
Between the years 1784 and 1809, a period of twenty- five years, Edward Crawford, Esq., held the offices of Prothonotary, Register and Recorder and Clerk of the Courts, and for twenty-two years he had his office in a building which he erected for the purpose, at his residence on east Market street, on the site now occupied by the law office of Messrs. Kennedy & Stewart. In the month of October, 1806, the first county offices were finished and occupied. The build- ing stood about twenty feet east of the old court house, facing on Market street, and cost about $2,500.00. It was of brick, two stories high, and about forty feet long by twenty-five feet wide. The Pro- thonotary and Clerk's offices were in the western end, and the Reg- ister's and Recorder's offices in the eastern end, the building being divided by a hall in the centre. In the rear of cach office was a smatl vaulted room for the preservation of the records and papers of the offices. On the second story were the offices of the County Commissioners, County Treasurer, Deputy Surveyor, &c. This building was torn down when the new court house was commenced, about the year 1842.
COUNTY COURTS.
I have already stated that the "county courts" in those days were held by such Justices of the Peace of the county as were specially commissioned to act as Judges of the said courts. Three of them formed a quorum to do business. They then held their offices for seven years; and by the 8th section of the act erecting our county, it was provided that the commissions of all Justices residing within the boundaries of the new county should continue in force until the expiration of their several terms. How many such there were I know not. I give, however, the names of such of them as acted as Judges of our courts after our county was organized.
The fifth section of the act erecting our county provided that the Courts of Common Pleas and Quarter Sessions should be held four times in each year, and that the Quarter Sessions should sit three days in each session, and no more.
This act was approved on Thursday, September 9th, 1784. On Saturday, September 11th, 1784, Edward Crawford, Esq., was ap- pointed and commissioned Prothonotary, Register and Recorder and Clerk of the Courts for our county. He was also at the same time commissioned a Justice of the county courts of our county. I sup- pose he was at the seat of government (Philadelphia) at the time, looking after the passage of the law creating our county, for on the same day he appeared before the Supreme Executive Council, and 5
34
Historical Sketch of Franklin County.
was sworn into office and got his commissions. On the next Wed- nesday, September 15th, 1784, four days afterwards, he was at home, and the first court held in our county was convened that day, be- fore Humphrey Fullerton and Thomas Johnston, Esq's, Justices for Antrim township, and James Finley, Esq., a Justice of Letterkenny township-all of them former Justices and Judges in Cumberland county, whose commissions were in force, and who were therefore qualified to hold court in Franklin county. There were no jurors present, no causes, civil or criminal, for trial, and I incline to the opinion that there were no lawyers present but one, John Clark, Esq., of the York bar, who was married to a daughter of Nicholas Bitting- er, who lived near Mont Alto Furnace. Mr. Clark was most likely here casually. He had been a Major in the Pennsylvania Line in the revolutionary war, had been a member of the bar of long stand- ing and of extended reputation, yet he was, on his own request, admitted to the bar of our county. Had there been any "brother attorney" present, entitled to the privileges of his profession, Mr. Clark would not have been compelled to request his own admission.
The second session of our county court, being the first business session, was held on Thursday, December 2d, 1784, in the second story of John Jack's stone tavern house, which stood where A. J. Miller's drug store now is, up until the fire of 1864. The Judges present were William M'Dowell, of Peters ; Humphrey Fullerton, of Antrim ; and James Finley, of Letterkenny ; Edward Crawford, Jr., Prothonotary and Clerk ; Jeremiah Talbott, Sheriff. The grand jury were thirteen in number, viz. : James Poe, Henry Pawl- ing, William Allison, William M'Dowell, Robert Wilkins, John M'Connell, John M'Carney, John Ray, John Jack, Jr., John Dick- son, D. M'Clintock, Joseph Chambers and Joseph Long.
The courts were held up stairs, and tradition says the crowd was so great as to strain the joists of the floor, causing great alarm to the Court and bar, and others in the house. Whether this tradition is true or false, I know not, but it is very probable that the incident did occur. That the courts were held in John Jack's house for several years, whilst the court house was being built, and up until 1789, inclusive, is conclusively shown by the following extracts from the county expenditures, found in the annual accounts of the Com- missioners for the years named, viz. :
1785. "By an order to John Jack for the use of his house to hold courts in, &c.," . . £12 7s. 6d. 1789. "By a draw given to Margaret Jack (John's widow) for the use of her house to hold courts in," . £ 9
1790. "Order to Mrs. Jack for fire wood and candles for the court," . £ 4 49. 5d. A change was then made, for in-
1790. "An order was issued to Walter Beatty for prepar- ing a place for court," . £15 6s.
1865664
Historical Sketch of Franklin County. 35
Where this place was I know not, but it was no doubt some tem- porary selection. Walter Beatty was the sub-contractor, under Cap- tain Benjamin Chambers, for the building of the court house. The court house and the old stone jail were then being built. The latter must have been gotten under roof at least in 1791, for that year the Commissioners paid Walter Beatty "for preparing for the court to sit in the prison, £15, 19s." In 1792 they also paid Captain Benjamin Chambers, on the court house, £1,074, 10s., 3d. ; and that it was not finishe I in 1793 is shown by the fact that the Commissioners, by order of the court, paid that year to Walter Beatty, £10, 10s. "for detain- ing his hands from work on the court house." The Judges took possession and occupied the court house for county purposes before it was finished, and ordered Mr. Beatty to be paid for the lost time of his hands, as aforesaid.
At the second session of our courts, on motion of John Clark, Esq., Robert Magaw, Thomas Hartley, James Hamilton, Thomas Duncan, Thomas Smith, Ross Thompson, Ralph Bowie, James Ross, James Riddle, Stephen Chambers and John M'Dowell were admitted to practice the law in the courts of this county.
Our county courts, as thus constituted, continued to administer justice until the adoption of the constitution of 1790. That instru- ment went into force, for most purposes, on the 2d of September, 1790, but the third section of the schedule to it extended the commis- sions of the Justices of the Peace and Judges then in office until the first day of September, 1791.
· JUSTICES, WHO WERE JUDGES.
The following list gives the names of the Justices of the Peace who were Judges of our county courts for this county, from the 9th of September, 1784, to the 2d of September, 1791, with the townships they were appointed from and the dates of their respective commis- sions, which ran for seven years :
William M'Dowell, Peters,
November 13th, 1778.
Humphrey Fullerton, Thomas Johnston,
Antrim,
April 18th, 1782.
Antrim, April 18th, 1782.
James Finley, Edward Crawford, Jr.,
Letterkenny,
March 1st, 1783.
Chambersburg, September 11th, 1784.
James Chambers, George Matthews,
Peters, Hamilton,
September 17th, 1784. February 4th, 1785. March Ist, 1785.
John Rannels, Noah Abraham, John M'Clay,
Guilford, Fannett, Lurgan,
October 31st, 1785.
Richard Bard,
Peters,
March 15th, 1786.
Washington, March 27th, 1786.
Samuel Royer, John Scott, Chambersburg, August 4th, 1786.
Chambersburg, August 4th, 1786.
John Boggs, JAMES MAXWELL,*
Montgomery, August 26th, 1786.
November 2d, 1785.
* Commissioned PRESIDENT of the Courts.
36
Historical Sketch of Franklin County.
John Harring,
Southampton,
November 1st, 1786. April 16th, 1787.
John Martin,
Chambersburg,
December 8th, 1787.
James Maxwell,
Montgomery,
September 17th, 1788.
William Henderson,
Greeneastle,
September 25th, 1788.
James M'Calmont,
Letterkenny,
September 230, 1789.
Christian Oyster,
July 16th, 1790.
Thomas Johnston,
Chambersburg, Antrim, September 29th, 1790.
JUDGES UNDER CONSTITUTION OF 1790.
By the second section of the act of the 13th of April, 1791, the State was divided into five judicial districts. The fourth district was composed of the counties of Cumberland, Franklin, Bedford, Huntingdon and Mifflin. And the third section of the same act fur- ther provided that a President Judge, learned in the law, should be appointed by the Governor for each district, and not fewer than three nor more than four Associate Judges should be appointed for each county. They were each to hold during good behavior.
On the 17th of August, 1791, Governor Mifflin appointed the fol- lowing persons Associate Judges of our courts, to hold from the first of September following, viz. :
James M'Dowell,
Peters,
First Associate.
James Maxwell, Montgomery, Second
George Matthews,
Hamilton,
Third
James M'Calmont,
Letterkenny,
Fourth
On the 20th of August, 1791, Governor Mifflin also appointed Thomas Smith, Esq., President Judge of this judicial district, who continued to serve in that position until his appointment as an As- sociate Judge of the Supreme Court, on the 31st of January, 1794.
FIRST TAXES.
The following is a statement of the first tax laid in this county, in 1785 :
Districts. Collectors.
State Tax.
County Tax.
Antrim,
Samuel M'Cullock,
£365 5s. 7d. £57
1s. 4d.
Franklin,
William Shanon,
69
1
7
11
19 11 19 10
Fannett,
Nathaniel Paul,
179
8
30
36
8
Hamilton,
William Dickson,
207
10
35
7
Letterkenny, George Stinger,
321
11
7
54 50
18 9
Lurgan,
Gavin Morrow,
298
()
5
16 1
Montgomery, Thomas Kennedy,
812
6
5
51
7
4
Peters,
Hugh M'Kee,
272
10
1
4.4
10 ()
Washington,
Frederick Foreman, 262 16 11
4-4
15
£2,510 11 10
£418 4 6
Being, for state purposes, for county
$6,694 91
1,115 27 .
6
9
Guilford,
Peter Fry,
223
7
John Andrew,
Guilford, .
37
Historical Sketch of Franklin County.
The following is a statement of the property assessed in this county in the year 1786 :
TOWNSHIPS.
Acres of Land.
Price.
Lots.
Horses.
Cows.
Slares.
|Grist Mills.
| Fulling Mills.
Hemp & Oil Mills.
| Iron Works.
toto | Tanyards.
Antrim
30,992|£3
37
21
435
585
50
5
27
Franklin
1,153
5
96
>4
113
20
1
Fannett
19,962
2, 10s.
268
366
12 4
1
Guilford
21,335
2, 15
275
299
13 2
2
Hamilton
22,585
10
290
356
12
6
13
Letterkenny
32,917
2,
15
343
471
159
6
3
1
1
3
Peters
24,839
3
1
Southampton ..
17,904
2, 17
205
226
13
4
5
Washington ....
26,483
2, 10
400
533
3
7
7
1
8
2
3324 4141 227 40 32 3
4 96
2|13
The tax levied upon this property was £2,368, 9s., 8d., equal to $6,315.96, distributed thus :
Antrim, £331 17s. 11d., or, $885 08 .
Franklin,
92
8 12
7
246 48
Fannett,
· 191
203
7
7
542 35
Hamilton, .
212
8
5
66 566 47 774 54 66 296 81 16
Montgomery,
· 256
9
66 685 04
Peters, .
272
17 12 15
5
418 07
Washington,
248
13
0
663 07
£2,368 9 8
$6,315 96
...
10,526
2, 3
123
Improved.
491
548
46
1
18
369
455
30
3
4
Letterkenny,
290
11
0
·
111
8 6
To-day, though there is no state tax upon real estate, the taxes paid by the people of this county are as follows, viz. :
For state purposes on money at interest, &c., $ 6,144 00
For county purposes,
· 56,015 97 $62,159 97
From tax returns made in 1786 and 1788, for the township of Franklin, which was made up of the town of Chambersburg, and
31
6
Lurgan ..
Montgomery.
24,924
3 1 2 DIE- co | Saw Mills.
Sono ! Stills. 6
40 Unimproved. EL
16-4
11
511 07
Guilford,
-
Lurgan,
Southampton,
156
66 726 98
-
-
38
Historical Sketch of Franklin County.
some seven tracts of land adjoining, I gather the following results, viz. : That there were in the said township, in the said years-
1786.
1788.
Improved lots,
96
134
Unimproved lots,
40
- 24
Horses,
Cows,
115
126
Oxen,
6
4
Bulls,
0
1
Slaves,
20
18
Servants, .
6 6
Chairs,
0 1
Physicians, Four, viz. : Dr. Abraham Senseny, Dr. John Jack, Dr. George Sloan and Dr. Alexander Stewart.
Attorneys, Three, viz. : Andrew Dunlap, James Riddle, John Clark.
Merchants, Four, viz. : John Calhoun, Patrick Campbell, Samuel Purviance and Edward Fitzgerald.
Justices and ex-officio Judges of the courts, Four, viz. : John Boggs, Edward Crawford, Jr., John Martin and John Scott.
Inn Keepers, Twelve, viz. : Hugh Gibbs, John Martin, William Morrow, Wm. Shannon, Jacob Von Statinfelt, Benj. Swain, Fred'k. Reimer, George Gressinger, Wm. Bevis, Wm. Cowan, Benj. Swain and John Caldwell.
Estimating six persons to a dwelling, the population of Cham- bersburg in 1786, should have been five hundred and seventy-six persons, and in 1788, eight hundred and four persons.
The following lands were also assessed in the said township of Franklin in the years 1786 and 1758, showing conclusively that it embraced more territory than the mere plot of the town of Cham- bersburg, viz. :
John Alexander,
. 194 aeres.
George Chambers,
58
Benj. Chambers, Jr.,
Joseph Chambers,
James Chambers,
100
John Kerr,
· 300
66
Thomas M'Kean,
100
66
.
105
297 ،،
1154 acres.
CHAMBERSBURG IN 1784-8.
Colonel Benjamin Chambers, as I have already stated, laid out Chambersburg in 1764. The town plot was entirely east of the creek and south of the Falling Spring. Third street, now the bed of the railroad, was its eastern limit, and it did not extend further
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Historical Sketch of Franklin County.
south than where Mr. James Logan resides. The lots south of that point were laid out by John Kerr, taken from his farm of three hundred acres, and for a long time that part of the place was called "Kerr's town."
That part of our town north of the Falling Spring was laid out by_ Colonel Thomas Hartley, of York, in 1787. He purchased the land from Joseph Chambers, Esq., whose farm of near three hundred acres lay north and east of the town. Edward Crawford Esq., also subsequently bought of Mr. Joseph Chambers, the Jand between the railroad and the eastern point, and Market and Queen streets, and laid it out into town lots.
In 1791 Captain Benjamin Chambers, who had a farm of over one hundred acres along the west side of the Conococheague creek, laid out that part of the town.
Our town in those days (say from 1784 to 1788) presented a very different appearance from what it now does, or from what it did be- fore the great fire of 1864. There were no bridges of any kind across the creek. The east bank of the stream through the town site, with the exception of a few places, was quite steep, and covered with a forest of cedars, oaks and walnuts, and a thick undergrowth of bushes. There was quite a depression between Market street and the hill upon which the Baptist church stands, and a number of fine springs of water issued out of the bank at various points, and ponred their crystal treasures into the creek.
West of the creek was the farm of Captain Benjamin Chambers. The road from Strasburg and the north-western parts of the county came in on the same route it now does, but passed down to the " lower fording," at Sierer's factory, crossed the creek there and entered town by West Queen street.
Main street was not then opened north of the Falling Spring. The ground between the spring and the present residence of James G. Elder, Esq., was a deep swamp. The road towards Carlisle and the upper fording," at Heyser's paper mill, left Main street at King street, passed westward out King street to the Falling Spring, crossed it just east of where Mr. Martin Ludwig lately resided, passed north and east along the west side of the spring, over the old Indian burial ground, through the Presbyterian churchyard, skirting the base of the hill on which the church stands, and connected with the road in front of the church. The present pike leading to Carlisle was not then made. Indeed, there was no road from this to Shippens- burg east of the Conococheague. Persons going to Shippensburg and points east went out the Strasburg road and branched off' by the Row road. Mr. George K. Harper, who came to our town between 1790 and 1793, informed me that at that time Strasburg was a much more important point than Chambersburg; that the mail for the north and east went from Chambersburg by way of Strasburg, and
.
40
Historical Sketch of Franklin County.
that, because the transportation and travel over the mountains were done by horses alone, there was more life and energy at Strasburg than at Chambersburg, as many as one hundred and fifty pack horses, loaded with merchandize, arriving or departing at a time.
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