History of Cumberland and Adams counties, Pennsylvania. Containing history of the counties, their townships, towns, villages, schools, churches, industries, etc.; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; biographies; history of Pennsylvania, statistical and miscellaneous matter, etc., etc, Part 49

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Publisher: W. Taylor
Number of Pages: 1280

USA > Pennsylvania > Adams County > History of Cumberland and Adams counties, Pennsylvania. Containing history of the counties, their townships, towns, villages, schools, churches, industries, etc.; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; biographies; history of Pennsylvania, statistical and miscellaneous matter, etc., etc > Part 49
USA > Pennsylvania > Cumberland County > History of Cumberland and Adams counties, Pennsylvania. Containing history of the counties, their townships, towns, villages, schools, churches, industries, etc.; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; biographies; history of Pennsylvania, statistical and miscellaneous matter, etc., etc > Part 49

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256

HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.

Stayman was appointed president, and Levi Merkel, secretary, when Dr. Stadi- ger, chairman of the committee, presented a constitution and by-laws. In 1837, Samuel Shoop's horse was the first one reported stolen, and from that time up to the present, January 3, 1885, there have been only about forty stolen, less than one a year and all these recovered except six.

Officers of the Society: Dr. E. B. Brandt, president; J. O. Saxton, vice- president; C. B. Neisley, secretary; H. W. Pressel, assistant secretary; Martin Mumma, treasurer. Board of Managers: Henry Z. Zorger, 1 year; Jacob Kutz, 1 year; Martin Brinton, 1 year; John H. Bowman, 2 years; John Fought, 2 years; Samuel Mumper, 2 years. Past presidents, each elected for one year excepting where indicated: William R. Gorgas, October 22, 1836, to January 1837; Dr. J. F. Stadiger, elected January 1837; Jacob Shelly, 1838; William R. Gorgas, 1839; Michael Hoover, 1840; John Thompson, 1841 (2 years); Benjamin H. Mosser, 1843; George H. Bucher, 1844; Benjamin H. Mosser, 1845; Jacob Shelly, 1846; Christian Titzel, 1847; Benjamin H. Mosser, 1848; Lewis Hyer, 1849; Simon Oyster, 1850; Joseph Mosser, 1851; Jacob Shelly, 1852; Benjamin H. Mosser, 1853; Dr. Ira Day, 1854; Dr. R. G. Young, 1855; Levi Merkel, 1856; John C. Dunlap, 1857; George Sherbahn, 1858; Eli Grabil, 1859; John C. Dunlap, 1860; Dr. E. B. Brandt, 1861 (2 years); H. G. Moser, 1863; James Orr, 1864; J. O. Saxton, 1865; Henry R. Mosser, 1866 (2 years); William R. Gorgas, 1868; Dr. E. B. Brandt, 1869 (18 years).

Library and Literary Association. - At Mechanicsburg, in the autumn of 1871, steps were taken for the organization of "The Mechanicsburg Library and Literary Association;" and on April 4, 1872, a charter was obtained from the Legislature. Additions were made from time to time until several thou- sand choice volumes were secured, making it a well-spring of intellectual life to the community.

CONCLUSION.

Situated, as Mechanicsburg is, in the midst of a purely agricultural region, it is also one of the most enterprising industrial towns of its size in the State. It has become a productive center for certain kinds of manufactured goods. Among its leading industries may be mentioned the manufacture of agricult- ural implements; of carriages, particularly by the long-established firm of Schroeder; the iron foundry of Houck & Comstock, the inception of which dates back to 1847; and three spoke and wheel works, for the manufacture of wheels, spokes, hubs, etc., which has grown to be a distinctive industry of the town. One of these, that of Frederick Seidle, won medals at the Exposition at Philadelphia in 1876, at Paris in 1878, and at Atlanta in 1881, for superior work- manship and goods; while the shipment of any of these firms is not limited to our own country, but extends to France, Germany, Russia, England and Aus- tralia.

Mechanicsburg has, besides these industries, which we have mentioned, a planing-mill, wagon and plow works, tannery, two horse-net factories, boot and shoe factory, a brick-yard, a grain-fan factory, and a number of other indus- tries of lesser note. It is a handsome town for residence, the center of a rich agricultural community, of growing importance as a manufacturing center, and, in every way, one of the most prosperous towns of its size in the State.

257

BOROUGH OF SHIPPENSBURG

CHAPTER XVIII.

BOROUGH OF SHIPPENSBURG.

ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT EARLY REMINISCENCES-LIST OF ORIGINAL LAND PUR- CHASERS - EARLY HOTELS IN SHIPPENSBURG CHURCHES - CEMETERIES- SCHOOLS-NEWSPAPERS -BANK-SOCIETIES.

SHIPPENSBURG is the oldest town in the valley and, with the exception 2 of York, the oldest town in the State west of the Susquehanna River. The first settlement at this place is said to have been made by twelve families in June, 1730 .* In May, 1733, there were eighteen cabins in the settlement, which had, as yet, no name. These cabins were mostly at the eastern end of the town, which was the first to present the appearance of a village. "When the town was subsequently laid out by the proprietor, the point where Queen Street crosses King was selected as the centre."

The following letter, written in May, 1733, will serve to give some vivid idea of this settlement at that period:

May 21st, 1733.

Dear John: I wish you would see John Harris at the ferry and get him to write to the Governor to see if he can't get some guns for us; there's a good wheen of ingens about here, and I fear they intend to give us a good deal of troubbel and may do us a grate dale of harm. We was three days on our journey coming from llarrises ferry here. We could not make much speed on account of the childer; they could not get on as fast as Jane and me. I think we will like this part of the country when we get our cabbin built. I put it on a level pecse of groun, near the road or path in the woods at the fut of a hill. There is a fine stream of watter that comes from a spring a half a mile south of where our cabbin is built. I would have put it near the watter but the land is lo and wet. John Mc- Call. Alick Steen and John Rippry built there's near the stream. Hugh Rippey's daughter Mary [was] berried yesterday; this will be sad news to Andrew Simpson when he reaches Maguires bridge. lle is to come over in the fall when they were to be married. Mary was a verry purty gerl; she died of a faver, and they berried her up on rising groun, north of the road or path where we made choice of a prese of groun for a graveyard. She was the furst berried there. Poor Hugh has none left now but his wife, Sam and little Isabel. There is plenty of timber south of us. We have eighteen cabbins bilt here now, and it looks [like] a town, but we have no name for it. I'll send this with John Simpson when he goes back to paxtan. Come up soon, our rabbin will be ready to go into in a week and you can go in till you get wan bilt: we have planted some corn and potatoes. Dan MoGec. John Sloau and Robert More was here and left last week. * *

* Tell Billy Parker to come up soon and bring Nancy with him. I know he will like the coun- try. I forgot to tell you that Sally Brown was hit by a snaik, but she is out of danger. Come up soon. Yr. aft. brother

JAMES MAGAW.

In the year succeeding the Penn purchase of the land in the north valley, Edward Shippen obtained (in January and March, 1737) patents for two tracts of land, containing in all, 1,312 acres, on the first of which, west of the center and not far from the southeastern border stood the nucleus of the village, which thirteen years later, became, for a brief time, the county seat, and which, from that time until this has been known as Shippensburg.

E.lward Shippen, the founder and proprietor of Shippensburg, was born in Boston July 9, 1703. He moved to Philadelphia, where he married Miss Mary

"Their names were Alexander Steeo. John MeC'all, Richard Morrow, Gavin Morrow, John Culbertson Hugh Rippey, John Rippey. John Strain, Alexander Askey, John McAllister, David Magaw, John Johnston Soon after, Benjamin Blythe, John Campbell and Robert Caskey.

258

HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.

Plumley, in September, 1725. His fourth son, Edward (born February 16, 1729), became chief justice, and, by the marriage of his daughter Margaret, he was the father-in-law of Benedict Arnold. The elder Shippen removed from Philadelphia and lived in Lancaster. He died in 1781.

For some time after the buying of the land by Mr. Shippen, the popula- tion of the town seems to have increased rapidly. Three years after (1740) the first fort was built. The whites, seeing that the Indians were becoming alarmed at the rapid increase of population, met at the public house of the Widow Piper, and determined to erect a fort. A time was fixed, the people assembled, cut the logs, and erected the building on the northeastern side of the towu. This was in the spring, and in the autumn of that year Gov. Thomas sent a garrison of twenty-two men to supply the fort. A well was af- terward dug by soldiers and citizens within the outward inclosure of the fort, the traces of which are still visible on Burd Street, just outside of what is known as the "Fort Field." This log structure was named "Fort Frank- lin," probably in 1755, to distinguish it from Fort Morris, which was then in process of construction.

As early as 1740 or 1741 a log flouring-mill was built by William Leeper (then of Shippensburg) on the west bank of the stream, south of the town. In this year, 1740, the Campbells, Culbertsons, Duncans, Reynoldses, Rippeys, Mc- Calls, Dunlaps, Pipers and Lowerys were among the leading families of the place. *

It is not certain when the town was first laid out, but it seems to have been as early as 1749. From the time of the Shippen purchase until February, 1763, the first inhabitants held their lots upon grants or permits issued by Mr. Shippen. In the above mentioned year deeds, or leases as they were then called, were issued by him, with the reservation of an annual quit-rent (of $1.663) on each lot of sixty-four feet four inches in breadth. After his death, in 1781, when the property descended to his sons, the quit-rent upon the re- maining unsold lots was $4.

When the county of Cumberland was formed in January, 1750, the first courts of justice were held in Shippensburg. This was, indeed, "the only town in the valley," and, although it had not regularly been so appointed, it was regarded as the county seat. There were but four terms of court held in Shippensburg; the first on the 24th day of July, 1750, and the last April 24, 1751.1 In this latter year the courts were removed to Carlisle (Letort's Spring), which had been chosen by the proprietors as the county seat, which action on their part caused great excitement and called forth a vigorous pro- test from the inhabitants of the upper end of the county. In what house the courts were held, in Shippensburg, is not known; there was, however, a pub- lic whipping post, which is said to have stood at or near the intersection of King and Queen Streets.

For some time after this period the growth of Shippensburg was slow. This was not owing to the removal of the courts, but to that terrible period of Indian depredation, which began in 1753, and ended in 1764.

Among the Indian depredations in 1757, near Shippensburg, are the fol- lowing: "On the 6th of June, 1757, two men were murdered, and five taken

*Francis Campbell was a man of culture, a ready and forcible writer, and one of the first merchants in Shippensburg. He died in 1790, Daniel Duncan built a stone house on Lot 52, in which he kept a store and tavern. His son Stephen represented the county in the Colonial Legislature, and was at onetime the heaviest tax-payer in the place The others were names of prominence, hut there is not a male descendant of any one remaining in Shippensburg to-day. See sketch by late Han. John Mccurdy.

¡This date is, by an error in the records, marked 1750, which make the four terms at Shippensburg stand thus: July 24, 1750; October 23, 1750; January 22, 1750; April 24. 1750. But those of July and October are the first on the records, besides which the next regular term in Carlisle, July 23, 1751, follows naturally, if we cor- rect the error.

259

BOROUGH OF SHIPPENSBURG.

prisoners, by a party of Indians, a short distance east of where Burd's Run crosses the road leading from Shippensburg to Middle Spring. The names of the killed were John MeKean and John Aguew, and those of the captured, Hugh Black, William Carson, Andrew Brown, James Ellis and Alexander Mc Bride. AH but Ellis, it appears, made their escape. These escaped prisoners stated that Ellis was the only one who remained, as a white girl, whom this band had captured in Maryland, previously becoming exhausted, had been killed and scalped by them on the evening before they made their escape. On the ISth of July. 1757, a band of savages surprised a party who were harvest- ing in John Cessna's field, about a mile east of Shippensburg. They ap- proached the field from the east through the woods, which bounded it on that side, and, when within short range, fired, killing Dennis O'Neiden and John Kirkpatrick; then rushing forward they captured Mr. Cessna, his two grand- sons, and a son of John Kirkpatrick. and made their escape with their prison- ers. There were other hands in the field at that time, but a thicket which stood between them and the Indians concealed them from view. The next day, in n tield belonging to Joseph Steenson, nine persons were killed and four taken prisoners."

When the town was laid out. the old Indian path became the main road, and was chosen for the location of King Street. Three-fourths of the resi- dents of the town, in 1751, lived upon that portion of this street, which lies between Washington Street and the top of the hill west of the toll-gate.

In the spring of 1755 the road-cutters were at work opening a road west. Braddock's army was in the field, and it was proposed to make Shippensburg the base of supplies.

On June 14. 1755, Charles Swain writes to Gov. Morris from Shippens- burg: "I arrived at this place on Monday, and judge there are sufficient buildings for storing the provisions without erecting any; these will want but a small repair, except the fastings, and to be had on easy terms, as they are all left. to be possessed by any one who will inhabit them. The owners do not seem inclined to take any advantage of their being wanted on this occasion. I find not above two pastures here: these but mean as to grass, from drought; but there is a fine range of forage for upward of four miles in the woods, quite to the foot of the South Mountain: also a good run of water, that the cattle will be continually improving after they come here. I shall use the methods practiced here of keeping their beasts together; have a constant watch on them; daily see to them myself. I can find but little cellaring here for secur- ing the pork, but have pitched on a shady and dry spot in the woods for mak- ing a cellar for what I can not store in such cellars as are in the town. There are no bricks here, and little lime at present, so the making of ovens would be difficult, and, if made of clay, then there would be some iron wanting. The principal expense which seems to attend the magazine here will be the hire of some person or persons to attend the cattle, also to watch the stores and pork, etc. * The coopers in these parts have plantations, and they but occasionally work at their trades * The mills, also, here have no bolting cloths. so that they make only a coarse flour." In another letter, dated July. 4, 1755 (just five days before Braddock's defeat), Mr. Shippen says: "I shall give orders to Mr. Burd's servant, a cooper, to take charge of some cattle, as Mr. Swain shall direct. The cattle are provided with a range of pasture. But the place which shall be agreed upon by the General ( Brad- dock) for the magazine, ought to be protected by at least twenty or thirty sol- diers; and there should be a blockade built, otherwise they (the Indians) may easily destroy the cattle, for they can march through the woods, undiscovered,

260

HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.

within twenty miles of Shippensburg, and they may come these twenty miles one way on a path, leaving Jacob Pyatt's near Tuscarora Mountain, on the right hand and see but two houses till they are within two miles of my place."

Within a few days after the writing of this letter Braddock was defeated, and the ominous danger-cloud which had threatened the inhabitants of the valley, burst.

At Shippensburg they begau immediately to erect another fort. This fort was called Fort Morris, after the Governor of the province. In a letter written by Charles Swain to him, July 30, 1755, he says: "A defeat is, I believe, be- yond doubt. I suppose that the people will now come fast into these parts, and shall use all expedition in forwarding a fort. I have pitched on a piece of ground of Mr. Shippen's, and the timber about here is all his; therefore should be glad he was to write about it, if your Honor thought proper, that there may be no afterclaps on his part." On November 2, of this year (1755), James Burd writes to Edward Shippen, at Lancaster: "We are in great con- fusion here at present. * * This town is full of people, they * being all moving in with their families-five or six families in a house. We are in great want of ammunition; but with what we have we are determined to give the enemy as warm a reception as we can. Some of our people had been taken prisoners by this party, and have made their escape from them and come in to us this morning. * * We have 100 men working at Fort Morris every day."

He also wishes that they would send guns-"great guns, small arms and ammunition"-from Philadelphia. This fort'seems to have been completed in 1756.

" It stood," says Hon. John McCurdy, "on the rocky hill at the western end of the town. The brick schoolhouse now standing there, which was built some [forty-two] years ago. stands within the boundaries of the fort, the foun- dation of a part of which can still be traced." The walls were built of small stone, with mortar which became hard, and were about two feet in thickness. The roof and timbers of the building were removed before 1821, and the re- maining portion of the walls were torn down in 1836 .*

In the sudden unslaught of the Indians, and the panic which ensued, in 1763, there was, on the 25th of July, 1,384 of these fugitives in Shippensburg, of whom 301 were men, 345 women, and 738 children, many of whom were obliged to lie in barns, cellars and sheds, the dwelling houses being all crowd- ed. Fort Franklin had, before this time, we are told, been enlarged with ad- ditions, and during the Indian troubles of this period the various sections were occupied by private families. It was afterward allowed to decay, and was torn down about 1790.

At the time of these Indian troubles in 1763, and previous to it, various parties, and, among others, those living around Shippensburg, sent piteous appeals to the Government for aid, but they seem often to have been power- less, or to have turned a deaf ear to the supplications of these border inhabi- tants.

In February, 1763, Mr. Shippen began to issue the first deeds or leases to purchasers. and to those who had previously settled upon the lots. The list of the original purchasers, with the number of the lot is as follows:

* On the 19th of March, 1764, the Indians carried off five people from within nine miles of Shippensburg, and shot one man through the body The enemy, supposed to he eleven iu number, were pursued successfully hy about 100 provincials The houses of John Stewart, Adam Simms. James McCammon William Baird, James Kelley, Stephen Caldwell and John Boyd were burnt. These people lost all their grain, which they had threshed out with the intention to send it for safety further down among the inhabitants .- Gordon's History of Pennsylvania, p. 624.

261

BOROUGII OF SILIPPENSBURG.

1 Samuel Montgomery.

David Magaw. 3. 4 Francis Campble. 5 Peter Miller 6. 7 William Piper. 8 John Cunningham.

9 Anthony Maule.

10, 11 Richard Long. 12, 13. 14 Francis Campble. 15 Alexander Sterrit. 16 William Cowan.

17 .John Brady.

18 William Reynolds. 19, 20 James MeCall. 21 Robert Chambers.

22 John Cesna.

23 William llendricks.

24 George Ross.

25 Andrew Wilkins. 26, 27 William Barr. 28 Andrew Wilkins.

29 Thomas Finley.

30 Humphrey Montgomery.

31 Thomas Finley. 32 Daniel Duncan.

33 Isaac Miller.

34 John Montgomery. 35, 36 Samuel Perry. 37 John Corbet. 38 Daniel Duncan.

39 Blank.

40 Daniel Dunean. 41 Archibald Flemming.

42 James Lowery. 43 Andrew Keith.

44 James McClintock.

45 William Leeper.

46 Blank.

47 David McKnight.

48 William Barr.

49 William Sutherland.

50, 51 John Miller.

52 Martin Holderbaum.

53 Samuel Tate.

54 William Brookins.

55 Samuel Duncan.

56 Matthew Adams.

57 William McConnel.

58 Blank.

59, 60 Meeting-house, graveyard.

61 Richard Long. 62 Henry Davis.

63. 61 Edward Lacey.

65 Archibald Mahan.

66 James McKeeny.

67 Jacob Kiser.

68 Blank.

69 Dr. Robert McCall. 50 Blank.

71 George Taylor. 72. 73 Andrew McLean. 74 Church lot-free.

75 Benjamin Coppenheffer.

76 Robert Reed.

77 Joseph Campbell. CH John Reynolds. 79 ,Jacob, Milliron. 80 Valentine IIaupt.

81 Simon Rice.

82 Adam Carnahan. 83 James Reynolds. 81 Robert Peebles. 85 Anthony Maule. 86 James Dunlap. 87 Gideon Miller. 88 Andrew Boyd.

89 Joseph Parks.

90 Tristram Miller. 91 John Redott. 92 Anthony Maule.

93 James Reynolds.

91 George Elley.

95 William Duncan. 96 Anthony Maule.

97 John Mains.

98 Robert Brown. 99 John lleap. Meadow lot.

100, 101 Samuel Rippey.

102 Lucinda Piper.

103 Samuel Rippey.

104 Robert Peebles.

105 John Smith.

106 Anthony Maule.

107 Johnson Smith.

108 James Piper.

109 Samuel Rippey.

110 William Wilson.

111 Margaret MeDaniel.

112. 113 Benjamin Kilgore.

114 Blank.

115 Anthony Maule.

116 William Campbell.

117, 118 James McCall.

119 George MeCandless.

120, 121 Daniel Duncan.

122 Blank.

123 Blank.

124 David Ellis.

125 John Montgomery.

126 James Russell.

127 Blank.

128 John Montgomery.

129, 130, 131 Blank. 132 Thomas Atkinson.

133 Blank.

134 Robert Beatty.

135 Samuel Perry.

136 John Carnahan.

137 Samuel Perry.

138 John Cessna.

139 Alexander Askey.

140 John Mahan.

141 to (and including) 148 Blank.

149 Alexander John-ton.

150. 151 John Dietrick.

152 Abraham Beidleman.

153 Anthony Maule.

154 Jacob Lightner.

155 John Gregory. 156 George McCandless.

157 Jacob Kiser.

158 John Davenport.

159 Joseph Mitchel.

160 Thomas Moore.

161 John Dietrick.

162. 163 Frederick Shipley.

164 John Stall.

165 Christian Gish

262

HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.

166 Andrew Patterson.

167, 168 Blank.

171 Christian Gish. 172 Frederick Sheval.

169 Casper Sallsgibber.

173 Walter Welsh.

170 David Duncan.

The place in early days was sometimes spoken of as "Shippen's Farm." As a specimen of the deeds, an indenture made on the 13th of March, 1764, " be- tween Edward Shippen of the Borough of Lancaster, of the one part, & Archibald Machan, of the other," conveys, subject to the quit rent "a certain lot of ground Scituate within a certain new town called Shippensburg, in the county of Cumberland, containing in breadth sixty-four feet four inches, & in length 457, 4 inches, No 65, Bounded on the South by King Street & on the west by Lot No 60 granted or intended to be granted to James Mackeney, & on the east by Lot No 64 Granted to Edward Lacey & on the north by a fourteen foot alley, &c. (Signed) Edward Shippen."

In the Revolutionary war Shippensburg was prompt to respond to the call for men. Capt. Matthew Henderson, at the beginning of the war, raised a company of 104 men in Shippensburg, and another, but not a full one, was raised by Capt. Mathew Scott. It is said that at this time there "was scarcely an able bodied man in the place who was not enrolled in one or the other of these organizations."

In December, 1775, Capt. William Rippey, of Shippensburg, enlisted a company, of which he was commissioned captain January 9, 1776, which be- came one of the companies of the Sixth Regiment, commanded by Col. Irvine. With the brigade to which it shortly afterward belonged it was sent to Canada, where, at Trois Rivieres, Capt. Rippey with his colonel and most of the men were captured. Rippey made his escape, and after the war resumed keeping the Branch Hotel in Shippensburg-down to the time of his death in 1819.

Until 1790 there was uo postoffice in Shippensburg. Previous to this

time the people depended simply upon private carriers. But by an act of Con- gress in 1788, "posts" were established for the regular transportation of mails between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh by the route of Lancaster, York, Carlisle, Chamberstown and Bedford, from which mails were dispatched once in each fortnight. The first postmaster, at the establishment of the first "post " in Shippensburg, May 13, 1790, was Robert Peebles.

During the "Whiskey Insurrection" of 1794 Gen. Washington passed through Shippensburg, at which place he remained for some portion of the day. It is said the citizens gathered to pay him their respects, but others, a few days after his visit, in order to show their disapprobation of the use of a military force to suppress the insurrection, during the hours of night, erected a "liberty pole" on the corner where the council house now stands. This pole was afterward cut down at night by the opposite party-or by parties "to whom its presence was objectionable."

Although Shippensburg is the oldest town in the valley, it was not incor- porated as a borough until January, 1819.

The population of the place at various times was as follows: In 1800, it contained less than 800 inhabitants; in 1810, 1,159; in 1820, 1,410; in 1830, 1,308; in 1840, 1,473; and at present about 2,500. Although it has not increased rapidly in population, the town in other respects has improved greatly within the last quarter of a century.

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Author: Publication date: Publisher: W. Taylor Number of Pages: 1280

Author:
Publication date:
Publisher: W. Taylor
Number of Pages: 1280