History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 39

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1162

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home, he acquired an active practice. Appointed surgeon of the Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, during his three and a half years' service he carned the approbation of both officers and men through his diligence, skill, and courage in attending the wounded on the field and the sick in the hospitals, especially during the prevalence of yellow fever among the troops at Hilton Head, S. C., in 1862, where, owing to his care and skill in treatment and prompt and efficient sanitary regulations, the disease was quickly subdued within the limits of his command. At that post he was appointed a member of the board of medical ex- aminers for the Department of the South by Maj .- Gen. Hunter. He continued upon duty after the expiration of his three years' term, until the close of active operations north of the James River, and was then mustered out of service at Chapin's Farm, Va., having served three years and three months. During the summer of 1872 he visited Europe, in company with Maj .- Gen. Galusha Pennypacker, and together they traveled extensively through Great Britain and upon the Continent.

REV. WILLIAM M. WHITEHEAD, M.D., chaplain of the Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, was born Dec. 12, 1823, in Philadelphia. At the age of sixteen he ex- perienced strong religious convictions, and was baptized at Kaighn's Point. He was educated at Madison University, N. Y., and his ordination to the work of the ministry took place in the Calvary Church in 1850. The Beulah Church, Chester County, was the scene of his earliest ministerial labors. In 1852 he assumed the charge of the Frankford Church, where he labored seven years with great accept- ance. In 1858 he removed to Great Valley, Chester County. This pastorate he resigned after four years to accept the chaplaincy of the Ninety-seventh Regiment, in November, 1861. He continued with the regiment during most of the year 1862, but, his health becoming impaired, he resigned, and was honorably discharged Aug. 20, 1862. In April, 1863, he settled in Mckeesport, Alleghany Co., Pa., and in 1866 he accepted the call of the New Britain Church, in the eastern section of the State. A growing family and an inadequate salary prompted him to pursue a course of medical studics preparatory to practice in the healing art. He entered in 1871 upon his joint duties as pastor and physician in Woodbury, N. J. He had at in- tervals suffered from a return of chronic diarrhoea, con- tracted in the service. This now increasing, he was pros- trated on a bed of pain ; after lingering many months he died Jan. 30, 1873, and was buried at Great Valley church.

ELEVENTH CAVALRY.

The Eleventh Cavalry, originally known as " Harlan's Light Cavalry," was raised as an independent regiment in August and September, 1861, by Col. Joshua Harlan, of Philadelphia, under special authority from the Secretary of War, under which companies were raised in different States, Co. A being from Iowa, portions of E and F from New York, a part of I from New Jersey, M from Ohio, and the remainder from Pennsylvania. Co. B was from Chester County. This regiment served with distinction in the Army of the James, was engaged in many expeditions, and fought in numerous severe battles and engagements.

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HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FOURTH REGIMENT. Of the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers (nine months' service), Compa- nies A, C, E, F, G, I, and K were recruited in Chester County, and the three remaining companies in Delaware County. They rendezvoused at Camp Curtin, near Har- risburg, but before an organization could be effected they were ordered to Washington, and proceeded thither Aug. 12, 1862, under command of the senior captain, Joseph W. Hawley. Upon their arrival they went into camp near Fort Albany, and on the 17th the regimental organization was effected. This regiment, though but a brief period in service, made an honorable history, and was nobly engaged in two great battles,-Antietam, in September, 1862, and Chancellorsville, in April and May following. At the former it lost fifty in killed and wounded, and of the latter was Col. Hawley, its commander. It was mustered out May 17, 1863, at Harrisburg.

ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH REGIMENT.

The One Hundred and Seventy-fifth Regiment Infantry, Pennsylvania Drafted Militia (nine months' service), was composed of eight companies from Chester County and two frem Montgomery. The camp of rendezvous was in West Philadelphia, where the companies assembled in November, 1862, and a regimental organization was effected. On De- cember 1st the regiment broke camp and moved, via Wash- ington, to Fortress Monroe, and thence to Suffolk, Va., where it was made a part of the brigade commanded by Col. Alfred Gibbs. After a month's incessant drill, the regiment was transferred to the brigade of Gen. F. B. Spinela, and moved with other troops, during the closing days of the year, to Newbern, N. C., and went into winter quarters. Spinola's brigade here became the First of the Fifth Di- vision, Gen. Henry Prince, Eighteenth Corps, Gen. Foster. In March, 1863, when the enemy were threatening New- bern, N. C., this regiment threw up a strong line of earth- werks on the south side of the river Trent, and joined in repelling the attack, which was sluggishly made, on the town. It also made several expeditions in search of Col. Woodford's guerrillas, but never succeeded in inducing them to risk a fight. After retiring from Newbern, the enemy proceeded te Washington, on the Tar River, and laid siege to the town. The defense was conducted by Gen. Foster in persen, the little garrison consisting of about two thousand men. From Newbern to Washington direct was about thirty miles, but by water one hundred and twenty. Prince's division at once moved by water to the relief of Foster. Eight miles below the town, Prince found his way impeded by obstructions in the river, here a mile wide, and by heavy guns in carthworks on either sido. A year before, when Burnside made his descent upon the coast, the enemy had driven three lines of piles across the stream, and erected heavy bomb-proofs to command the passage. When the Union forces got possession, they con- tented themselves with opening a narrow way through the piles, and left the bomb-proofs unharmed. When the enemy came again, he had but to occupy them. An at- tempt was made by the gunboats to reduce these defenses, but, failing in this, the One Hundred and Seventy-fifth

Regiment was put upon a transport in tow of the gunboat " Whitehead," and with other troops moved up to pass the obstructions, but before reaching them it was signaled to retire. Prince subsequently abandoned further attempts at relief and returned to Newbern. A force under Gen. Spi- nola, of which the One Hundred and Seventy-fifth formed a part, which moved overland with the same object, was alike unsuccessful, meeting the enemy in force at Blount's Creek. The rebels, finding all attempts to reduce the place fruitless, and seeing a heavy force under Foster, who had escaped from the besieged town, gathering fer a descent upon their rear, raised the siege. Spinola's brigade was then ordered to Washington, and a part of the One Hun- dred and Seventy-fifth, under Lieut .- Col. Hooton, was posted at Fort Hill, and the other, under Maj. Smith, at an earthwork at Rodman's Point, Col. Dyer having been ap- pointed to a temporary command at Little Washington, under Gen. Prince. The regiment remained in this posi- tion for two months, and, this being a malarious district, it lost many men by sickness, among them Lieuts. Evan Shuler and Jehn E. Miller. Near the close of June the regiment was ordered north, and upon its arrival at Fort- ress Monroe was designated to join in the force then or- ganizing for a movement up the Peninsula. This order, however, was countermanded, and it was sent to the upper Potomac, to aid in intercepting the retreat of the rebel army from Pennsylvania. Upon its arrival at Harper's Ferry it was stationed on Maryland Heights, whence, after some delay and the final escape of Lee, it proceeded to Frederick, Md. It subsequently marched to Sandy Hook, where it was attached to Col. Wells' brigade of the Eighth Corps. With it the regiment assisted in laying a pontoon- bridge over the Potomac to the town of Harper's Ferry, and, crossing, had a sharp skirmish with the Twelfth Vir- ginia Cavalry, which was driven and the town occupied. Its term of service had now expired, and, returning te Philadelphia, it was, August, 1863, mustered out. Cel. Samuel A. Dyer, of Delaware County, was its commander.

MILITIA ORGANIZATIONS OF 1862.

The rebel army had no sooner achieved its triumph in the second battle of Bull Run than it hastened north ward and commenced crossing the Potomac. The southern bor- der of Pennsylvania lay in close proximity, all unpretected, and by its rich harvests invited invasion. The Reserve Corps, which was originally organized for the State defense, had been called away to the succor of the pressed army of Mcclellan upon the Peninsula, and was now upon the weary march, with ranks sadly thinned in the bard-fought battles of Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill, Charles City Cross- roads, and the second Bull Run, to again meet the foe, but powerless to avert the threatened danger. Therefore, on the 4th of September, Governor Curtin issued a proclama- tion calling on the people to arm and prepare for defense. He recommended the immediate formation of companies and regiments throughout the commonwealth, and, for the purpose of drill and instruction, that after three P.M. of each day all business houses be closed. On the 10th, the danger having become imminent, the enemy being already in Maryland, he issued a general order calling on all able-

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GENERAL HISTORY.

bodied men to enroll immediately for the defense of the State, and to hold themselves in readiness to march upon an hour's notice ; to select officers, to provide themselves with such arms as could be obtained, with sixty rounds of ammunition to the inan, tendering arms to such as had none, and promising that they should be held for service for such time only as the pressing exigency for State de- fense should continuc. On the following day, acting under authority of the President of the United States, the Gov- ernor called for fifty thousand men, directing them to report by telegraph for orders to move, and adding that further calls would be made as the exigencies should requirc. The people everywhere flew to arms, and moved promptly to the State capital. One regiment and eight companies were sent forward during the night of the 12th, and others fol- lowed as fast as they could be organized. On the 14th the head of the Army of the Potomac met the enemy at South Mountain, and hurled him back through its passes, and on the evening of the 16th and day of the 17th a fierce battle was fought at Antietam. In the mean time the militia had rapidly concentrated at Hagerstown and Chambersburg, and Gen. John F. Reynolds, who was at the time commanding a corps in the Army of the Potomac, had assumed com- mand. Fifteen thousand men were pushed forward to Hagerstown and Boonsboro', and a portion of them stood in line of battle in close proximity to the field, in readiness to advance, while the terrible fighting was in progress. Ten thousand more were posted in the vicinity of Greencastle and Chambersburg, and the Twenty-fifth Regiment was sent to guard the Dupont powder-mills, where the national armies were principally supplied. But the enemy was de- feated at Antietam, and retreated in confusion across the Potomac. The emergency having passed, the militia regi- ments were ordered to return to Harrisburg, and, in accord- ance with the conditions on which they had been called into service, they were, on the 24th, mustered out and disbanded. The organizations of 1862 of Pennsylvania militia were not mustered in, but those of the year 1863 were.

EMERGENCY TROOPS AND MILITIA OF 1863.

The triumph of the rebel army at Fredericksburg, in De- cember, 1862, and the still more signal success on the field of Chancellorsville, in the beginning of May, 1863, embold- ened the rebel leaders to again plan the invasion of the North. The purpose, though obscurely hinted at in rebel organs, was veiled in secrecy. When that army, flushed with two victories and recruited to giant proportions, with- drew from the Union front on the Rappahannock and be- gan to move into the Shenandoah Valley, much solicitude was felt to learn its destination, and serious apprehen- sions were entertained for the safety of the border States. Accordingly, as a precautionary measure, and that the North might be prepared for the worst, two new mili- tary departments were established, that of the Mononga- hela, embracing that portion of Pennsylvania west of Johns- town and the Laurel Hill range, and portions of West Virginia and Ohio, with headquarters at Pittsburgh ; and that of the Susquehanna, comprising the remaining portion of Pennsylvania, with headquarters at Harrisburg. The officers in command issued orders calling on the people of

the State to volunteer, and to aid in this work. Governor Curtin issued his proclamation of June 12th, inviting the attention of the people to the orders of these two depart- ment offices, saying that information had been obtained that a large rebel force had been prepared to make a raid into the State. It becoming daily more evident that the enemy intended to cross the Potomac in force, on the 15th the President called for one hundred thousand men to serve for a period of six months, unless sooner discharged, from the States of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, and West Vir- ginia, fifty thousand being from the former. This call was heralded by a proclamation from Governor Curtin, calling upon all men capable of bearing arms to enroll them- selves in military organizations, and to encourage others to give aid and assistance to the efforts put forth for the pro- tection of the State and country. Troops poured in rapidly to Harrisburg, called out only while this emergency lasted, and were mustered into the United States service either for six months or " for the emergency." The rebels invaded the State, and occupied Chambersburg and many other points in its line of operations. On June 28th the rebel leader, Lee, had discovered that the Army of the Potomac was on his flank, and couriers were sent out in all directions to summon in his scattered forces to the point towards which his main body was tending, the town of Gettysburg. Dur- ing the 1st, 2d, and 3d days of July the great decisive battle of the war was fought on the field about that now historic town. The militia and " emergency" men were, however, held after this for some time, and were employed on various duties, such as gathering in the wounded and stragglers from armies, in collecting the debris of the field, sending away the wounded as fast as their condition would permit, and some were stationed in the mining districts and in Philadel- phia, where collisions and disorders prevailed. The blood- less campaigns of the militia may be a subject for playful satire, but in the strong arms and sturdy hearts of the yeo- manry of the land, who spring to arms at the moment of danger, and when that danger has past cheerfully lay them down again, rests a sure guarantee for the peace and security of the country.

COLORED TROOPS.

The colored men of Chester County did their propor- tional part in enlisting in the United States service and nobly fighting to suppress the great Rebellion. There were no separate colored companies or organizations as such formed in the county, but individually hundreds of this race-whose enslavement was the cause of secession and the war-were recruited from this county in defense of the nation, endangered by the slave-holders' oligarchy. Penn- sylvania raised no colored soldiery in its military organiza- tions, hence the colored men who enlisted went into tlie United States colored regiments and rendezvoused at Camp Penn, at Chelton Hills, a few miles north of Philadelphia. Here, from August, 1863, to September, 1864, were organ- ized the following United States colored regiments : Third, Sixth, Eighth, Twenty-second, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth, Thirty-second, Forty-first, Forty-third, Forty-fifth, and One- Hundred and Twenty-seventh, the latter from men en- listed and drafted in the State of Pennsylvania to serve

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HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

one, two, and three years. The recruits for the Twenty- fourth, Twenty-fifth, Thirty-second, Forty-first, Forty-third, and Forty-fifth were almost exclusively from Pennsylvania, and those in the remaining regiments were partly from this and partly from other States. It is impossible to get from the rolls the names of the colored men who went from Chester County to battle valiantly for their country, many

of whom went in regiments of other States; but investiga- tion shows that this race did its proportion in enlisting and fighting, and should accordingly have the proper credit for its patriotism and loyalty to the old flag of our fathers.

For the names of the officers and men from Chester County who served in the late Rebellion, see Appendix.

PROPRIETARY INTERESTS AND LAND TITLES.

INDIAN PURCHASES.

IT has been stated that the Swedes purchased from the Indians the western shore of the Delaware up to the neigh- borhood of Trenton, but this was afterwards denied by the natives, and there was also some uncertainty as to whether those who presumed to sell were the rightful owners. It was the policy of Penn to satisfy the natives for any real or imaginary claim to the land, and soon after his arrival we find him taking deeds from those who pretended to own the land in Chester County. The bounds of the purchases were rather indefinite, and frequently overlapped each other.

The first deed from the Indians for lands in this county is from an Indian king or chief called Wingebone, and conveys all his lands on the west side of Schuylkill, from the first falls upwards and westward, an undefined distance, or, as it is expressed in the deed, "as far as my right goeth." The form is as follows :

"I, WINGEGONE, this 25th day of ye 4th month called June, in ye year, according to ye English account, 1683, for me, my heirs and assigns, doe freely grant and dispose of all my lands lying on ye west side of ye Skolkill river, beginning from ye first Falls of ye same, all along upon ye said river, and backwards of ye same, as far as my right gocth, to Win. Penn, Proprietor and Governor of Pennsylvania, &c., his heirs and assignes, forever, for ye consideration of so much Wam- pum, and other things, as he shall please to give unto me, hereby for me, my heirs and assignes, renouncing all claims and demands, of any- thing in or for ye future. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, the day and year above written.

" WINGENONE."

Signed, sealed, and delivered in ye presence of JOSEPH CURTEIS, TAMANEN, MACHEMEN, WHEHELAN, METCHIPOKAN, KUPAUQUE.

The next conveyance is from two Indian chiefs, for the lands lying between the Schuylkill River and Chester Creek, and is in the following form :

"We, SECANE & ICQUOQUEHAN, Indian Shackamakers, and right owners of ye Lands Lying between Manaiunk als. Schulkill and Ma- copanackhan, als. Chester River, doe this 14th day of ye fitt month, in ye year, according to English account, 1683, hereby graunt and sell all our Right & title in ye sd Lands Lying between ye gd Rivers, begin- ning on ye West side of Manuiunk, called Consohockan, & from thence by a Westerly Line to ye gd River Macopanackhan, unto William Penn Proprietr & Govern' of ye Province of Pennsylvania, &c., his heirs

and assignes forever, for and in consideration of 150 fathom of Wam- pum, 14 Blankets, 68 yds. Duffills, 28 yds. stroud waters, 15 guns, 3 great kettles, 15 small kettles, 16 pr. stockins, 7 pr. shoes, 6 capps, 12 gimblets, 6 drawing knives, 15 pr. sissors, 15 combes, 5 papers needles, 10 tobacco boxes, 15 tobacco tongs, 32 pounds powder, 3 papers beads, 2 papers red lead, 15 coats, 15 shurts, 15 axes, 15 knives, 30 barrs of lead, 18 glasses, 15 hoes, unto ns in hand paid, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, hereby renouncing all claims and demands for ye future, from us our heirs or assignes, in, or to ye premises. In wit- ness whereof, we have herennto set our hands and seals, ye day and year first above written.

"SECANE.

" ICQUOQUEHAN."

Sealed and delivered in presence of PISERICKEM, PETEA RAMBO, SWAN SWANSON, PHILIP TH. LEHNMANN, Jos. CURTEIS, CATEMUS, an Indian King.

A deed from Kekelappan reads thus :

"I, KEKELAPPAN, of Opasiskunk, for me, my heirs and assigns, do hereby give and grant unto William Penn, Proprietary and Governor of ye Province of Pennsylvania, his heirs and assigns, that half of all my lands, betwixt Susquahanna and Delaware, which lyeth on ye Susquahanna side ; and do hereby further promise, to sell unto him at ye next Spring, at my return from hunting, ye other half of my land, at as reasonable rates as other Indians have been used to sell in this river. In witness whereof, I have hereunto sett my hand and seal, at Philadelphia, ye 10th 7 ber, 1683.

" KEKELAPPAN."

Witnesses present. LASSE COCK, ESSEPENAICKE, PHILIP TH. LEHNMANN.

The following deed was made July 30, 1685, and em- braces a considerable quantity of land in Chester County :

" We, Shakkoppoh, Secane, Malibor, Tangoras, Indian Sakem- nkers, and right owners of ye lands lying between Macopanackan als. Upland, now called Chester river or ercek, and the river or creek of Pemapecka, now called Dublin Creek, beginning at the hill called Conshohockingthe river Manaiunck or Skoolkill, from thence ex- tends in a parallel line to the said Macopanackan, als. Chester Creek, by a south-westerly course and from the said Conshohocken bill, to ye aforesaid Pemapecka, als. Duhlin creek, by ye said parallel line north- easterly, and so up along the said Pemapecka creek, so fur as the creek extends, and so from thence north-westerly, back into ye woods, to make up two full daies journey, as far as a man can go in two daies, from the said station of ye said parallel line at Pemapecka; also begin- ning at the said parallel at Mecopanackan als. Chester ereek, and so

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PROPRIETARY INTERESTS AND LAND TITLES.

from thence up the said creek as far as it extends; and from thence north-westerly back into the woods, to make up two full dayes journey, as far as a man can go in two dayes, from the said station of the said parallel line, at ye said Macoponackan, als. Chester creek, for and in consideration of 200 ffathoms of Wampum, 30 ffathoms of duffells, 30 guns, 60 fathom of stroud waters, 30 kittles, 30 shirts, 20 gimblets, 12 pair of shoes, 30 pairs of stockins, 30 pairs of sizors, 30 combes, 30 axes, 30 knives, 31 tobacco tongs, 30 barrs of lead, 30 pounds of pow- der, 30 auls, 30 glasses, 30 tobacco boxes, 3 papers of beads, 44 pounds of red lead, 30 pair of hawkes bells, 6 drawing knives, 6 cnps, 12 howes, to us in hand, well and truly paid, by William Penn, Propri- etary and Governour of ye Province of Pennsylvania, and Territories thereunto belonging, the receipt whereof we hereby acknowledge, do, by these presents, grant, bargain, and sell, nnto the said William Penn, his heires and assignes forever, all and every the aforesaid tract of land, lying between the said rivers or crceks, of Pemapecka and Ma- copanackan, and from thence two days journey, backwards into ye woods as aforesaid, together with all right, title, and interest, that we or any others whatsoever, shall or may claim in the same; hereby for us, our heirs and successors, and all other Indians whatsoever, re- nouncing and disclaiming forever, any pretence, claim, or demand whatsoever, in or unto the premises, hereby sold to said William Penn, his heirs and assignes as aforesaid. In witness whereof, we, the said Indian Sakemakers, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this thirtyeth day of ye ffifth month, called July, and in the year, accord- ing to ye English account, one thousand six hundred eighty and ffive.

"SHAKAHOPPOH, "SECANE, " MALIBOR, "TANGORAS."

Great men of the Indians present :

TARECKHOCCA,

TENOUGHANT,

NESSAKANT, KACOCARAHOUS, NAHATTAS,

TONTAMEN,

TEPASKENINN.

Some four years thereafter " arrangements were made for ascertaining the western boundary of this strangely de. scribed tract." A letter from Thomas Holme, addressed "To my very loving friends, Shakhoppoh, Secanning, Mali- bore, Tangoras, Indian kings, and to Maskecasho, Wawa- rim, Tenaugham, Terreeka, Nessouhaikin, Indian shama- kers, and the rest concerned," informs them that he has ap- pointed Benjamin Chambers, of Philadelphia, " to mark out a westerly line from Philadelphia to Susquehannah, that the said line may be prepared and made ready for going the said two days' journey backwards hereafter," and desiring and requiring them, and all other Indians that had formerly been concerned in the said tracts of land, not to presume to offer any interruption or hindrance in marking tbe line, but rather to render assistance, if there should be occasion for it.

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History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 39

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts Number of Pages: 1162

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1162