History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 101

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Evans, Samuel, 1823-1908, joint author
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1320

USA > Pennsylvania > Lancaster County > History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 101

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The tavern at this place was built considerably later than the bridge. About 1820 it was kept by Michael Brubaker, and then successively by Benja- min Martin, John Beck, and many others. It is now conducted by Rudy Youndt.

A post-office was kept at the tavern many years, and last at that place by John Beck about 1874. Eli Althouse was appointed, succeeding Beck, and is the present postmaster. The office is now between Bink- ley's Bridge and Eden.

Neffsville .- John Neff came from East Hempfield about 1806, and purchased the farm on which, about a year later, he laid out the village now known as Neilsville. Leonard Fiddler built the Neffsville House, and had for a sign a green tree. The hamlet, for some years after it was settled, went by the name of " Fiddler's Green." The brick house now owned by Mrs. Graver was kept many years as a tavern by -- Shugart. The Pennsylvania House was occu- pied about 1815 by a MI. Slater as a residence, and in it he kept the first store in the village, and the post-office when it was established. John B. Vechter also was postmaster for several years prior' to his death in 1833, after which his widow, who still con- tinues post-mistress, received the appointment.

A small brick- school-house on the site of the present one soon after the village was settled being found too small, in 1875 the present brick house was erected.

In 1880 about thirty persons of the Lutheran de- nomination organized a church at this place, and erected a meeting-house about thirty-five by fifty feet in dimensions, at a cost of fifteen hundred dol- lars. It was dedicated in the fall of the year. The pulpit is supplied by the Rev. J. Peters, of Manheim borough, and the Rev. J. Eckert, of Lancaster.

About a mile north of Netsville the Schissler Methodist meeting-house was erected about twenty years ago. It was then and is still supplied by cir- cuit preachers. It has a membership of only twelve persons.

The Neffsville Mutual Fire Insurance Company was organized in 1882, with Samuel Martin as presi- dent, and 1. (. Illyus secretary, and it is now in a thriving condition.

The village contains two hotels, a school-house,

O NILSVONVT 'SIKONMOL RIZKNYE

984

IIISTORY OF LANCASTER COUNTY.

church, post-office, brick-yard, harness-shop, wagon- shop, shoe-shop, a store, and about fifty dwellings.

Eden,-The land on which this hamlet is located was owned in 1845 by John Rohrer, David Binkley, John Stauffer, and David Herr. In 1848, John Rohrer gave land for school purposes. A school- house was erected, which was also used for a Union Church. (In late years it was purchased and devoted exclusively to religions purposes.) In 1850, Samuel Becher built a tavern where the present one stands, opposite the little church, and in the same year David Herr built a house upon another corner of the cross-roads, a portion of which he used as a store for a short time. Samuel Francis has sold goods in the same building for several years. The hotel has been kept successively by F. Weidler, Martin Schaffer, William Ray, John Beach, and others, and is now kept by John Bender.

Eden Nursery, near the village, was established in 1877 by Ezra W. Weaver, who now has five acres under cultivation.

Landis Valley .- This little settlement is on the Lancaster and Ephrata turnpike, about four miles from the former place. It contains a hotel, post-office, wagon- and blacksmith-shops, and cigar manufactory. In 1855, Jacob Landis built the hotel and kept it until his death, when the property was purchased by Isaac Landis. A post-office was established here in 1872, taking the place of the one which formerly ex- isted at Roseville. H. L. Blackbill was the first post- master. lle was succeeded by L. II. Longnecker, who is the present incumbent. He also kept the hotel. The Landis Valley Mennonite meeting house is a short distance from this village.1

Roseville .- At this place many years ago John Michael, Sr., the proprietor for a long period of the Grape Hotel, in Lancaster, was born and grew to manhood and kept a tavern. In 1836, Peter Frank- fort kept it, and at that time there was but one house on the site of the village besides the old tavern. Later a few honses were built up around the two, and the people occupying them growing many roses in their gardens, the present name was appropriately adopted when the cluster of dwellings had attained sufficient size to entitle it to one. It was first sug- gested by a traveler. For a short time there was a post-office here, but in 1872 it was removed to Landis Valley. Roseville contains a hotel, kept by C, B. Grube, a school-house, blacksmith-shop, and about a dozen dwellings.

Dillersville is a small settlement a short distance northwest from Lancaster, between the Harrisburg and Manheim turnpikes. At this place is the junc- tion of the Pennsylvania and the Lancaster and Read- ing Railroads.

Fruitville is a small hamlet in the western part of the township.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

JOHN MILLER.

David Miller, the grandfather of the subject of this biographical sketch, was of Swiss descent, and a resi- dent of East Hempfield township, in Lancaster County. Ile married Elizabeth Miller, and had sons, Andrew, Christian, and Johu, and daughters, Mrs. Souder, Mrs. Kneisley, Mrs. Rathvon, Mrs. Peters, and Mrs. Kauffman. Mr. Miller died in his eighty-fourth year, on the Miller homestead, at Oregon, Lancaster Co. Their son Andrew was born Nov. 30, 1765, in Lancaster County, where, after enjoying the advan- tages of education common to the youth of that pe- riod, he became a farmer. Ile married Miss Eva Kauffman, whose birth occurred Feb. 9, 1778, and had children,-John, Elizabeth (Mrs. Frantz), and Susanna, who died in infancy. Mr. Miller, though participating in public affairs, and manifesting an in- terest in the development of his township, continned to follow agricultural employments until his death, on the 7th of May, 1832, while his wife survived until April 5, 1845. Their son John was born Jan. 16, 1797, in East Hempfield township, and became at an carly age an inmate of the home of his maternal grand- father. He was during his youth a pupil at the neigh- boring school, and in 1806, when nine years of age, re- moved with his parents to Manheim township. He soon became familiar with the labor of a farm, and when not thus engaged assisted in conducting a dis- tillery owned by his father. On the death of the lat- ter he inherited the estate, and continued to cultivate the paternal lands. In 1847 he abandoned farming, and was occupied principally in managing his pri- vate business interests and responding to the de- mands made upon him in the settlement of estates and as guardian and the custodian of important trusts. In 1857 he purchased the mill property ad- jacent to his home, and conducted it for a period of twelve years, in connection with his son-in-law, J. B. Nolt.

Mr. Miller was married in 1822 to Miss Charlotte, daughter of John Weidler, of Manheim township, who died aged ninety-two years. Their children are Martin, Mary Ann (Mrs. Jonas B. Nolt), Andrew, Susan (deceased), and Lavinia (Mrs. Aaron H. Summy).

Mr. Miller was in polities formerly a Whig and Anti-Mason, and later became a Republican. He still claims fealty to the latter party, though fre- ¿quently independent in his vote. Ile was in 1839 elected county commissioner, and served for a period of three years. Ile was for twenty-one years a school director of the township, and has held other minor offices. He is a cordial supporter of all religious de- nominations, though reared by his parents in the Mennonite faith.

The death of Mrs. Miller occurred in February, 1882, in her seventy-eighth year.

1 See history of the Mennonites in this volume.

JohnMiller

Henry Schreiner

JACOB MINNICH.

Jacob Esbenshade

985

MANHEIM TOWNSHIP.

JACOB MINNICII.

Jacob Minnich, an old'and respected citizen of Manheim township, Lancaster Co., Pa., died at Neffsville, April 16, 1879, aged seventy-seven years. One brother, Simon, died at the same age, and another brother, John, died March 31, 1882, at the age of eighty-two. His wife, Anna, a daughter of Zachariah Miller, was born Feb. 8, 1802, and died Sept. 16, 1882. Their children are Catherine, born Dec. 21, 1824, was married in 1843 to George Ham- bright, a harness-maker, who removed from Lancas- ter and settled in Neffville in 1836, where he carries on his business; Anna Elizabeth, born Nov. 5, 1826, wife of Henry Swope, of Mechanicsburg; Zachariah, born Dee. 3, 1828, a farmer and cattle dealer, of Man- heim township; Maria, born March 22, 1832, died young ; and Jacob, born April 11, 1839, died at the age of thirty-six years.

Jacob Minnich was born near Landisville, and was a son of Jacob and Barbara Minnich, farmers and distillers of that place. He was a young man of good habits, and during his minority learned the blacksmith's trade. Soon after his marriage, in 1823, he removed to Neffsville, where he carried on black- smithing for a number of years, and bought the old hotel known as the " Fiddler's Green," of which he was the hospitable landlord until 1854, when he built a brick residence, now the home of his daughter Mrs. Hambright, where he spent the remainder of his life.

Mr. Minnich was officially connected with his township, and for some time postmaster at Netsville. He was highly respected as a citizen, was a man of strict integrity in his business relations, and judicious in the management of his affairs, George and Cath- arine Hambright's surviving children are Michael N., Albert A., Annice C., Alice G., Laura R., Iloward J., Anna M., Jacob M. ; their deceased children, George W., Ida MI., Ida C., and William.

HENRY SHIREINER.

Adam Shreiner, the progenitor of the family, came . from Germany about 1730 and settled in Manheim township, Lancaster Co., Pa., the homestead being still in possession of his descendants. His children of a farin of sixty-six acres and considerable means were Michael, Martin, Philip, and Valentine. Philip succeeded to the homestead property, and died in 1791. Philip's wife, Eve Catherine, bore him the following children : Michael (1749-1827); Martin (1769-1866), was a clock-maker in Lancaster; Philip Adam, a farmer in York County ; Anna Maria, wife of llenry Zelmer, of Lancaster; Margaret, wife of Frederick Hoffman, of Manor township; and Cathe- rine, wife of Nicholas Hess, of Lancaster County. Of these children, Michael succeeded to the homestead property, owned some two hundred and fourteen acres of land, served in the Revolutionary war, was supervisor of Manheim township for several years, a

director of the poor of the township, and a member of the Lutheran Church of Lancaster. His wife, Elizabeth (1762-1826), daughter of Henry Shitz, bore him children, who grew to maturity, as follows: Catherine, died in 1821, was the wife of Michael Lane (formerly " Lehn"); Michael, died in 1827; Martin, died in 1826; and Henry, the only surviving child, subject of this sketch. He was born on the home- stead April 6, 1804, obtained a good education in the schools of his native place, and for five winters fol- lowing the age of nineteen was a successful school- teacher. In 1827 he married Mary (1807-73), daugh- ter of George and Elizabeth (Swope) Bard, of Upper Leacock township. Their children are Adam, of Lancaster; Elizabeth, wife of A. W. Shober, of Lititz; Henry B., a farmer on the old homestead ; and Israel B., of Naperville, IN. Mr. Shreiner succeeded to one hundred and six acres of the homestead property, and there carried on farming from 1827 to 1859. In 1863 he removed to his present residence on the Lititz turn- pike, about three and three-quarters miles from Lan- caster. From 1821 to 1882 he served as surveyor, and his correct knowledge of mathematics has made his name familiar for his preciseness and care in estab- lishing the boundary lines of farms and lots in the vicinity. On July 30, 1832, he was appointed by Governor George Wolf a justice of the peace, and held the office by reappointment until 1850, and by election and re-election until 1875, a period of forty- three years, when he was succeeded by Christian L. Hunsecker. During this long period of public ser- vice his judgment of right between parties was pub- liely acknowledged by his continuance in office, and very seldom were his decisions appealed from to the higher courts.

JACOB ESBENSHADE.

Jacob Esbenshade's father, Peter Esbenshade (1769- 1845), a native of Germany, settled in Strasburg township (now Paradise), Lancaster Co., Pa. Ile was then a young man, without money, but possessed industrious and correct habits, self reliance, and a resolution to do something for himself. By economy and judicious management he became the possessor besides. He instilled into the minds of his children practical ideas, and gave them a practical education in business matters pertaining to the farm instead of attempting to give them what he was unable to,-a thorough education in mathematics, English, and elas- sies,-the result of which has been that his sons all became successful business men. His wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Lefever (1764-1834), a daughter of John Howey, bore him four children,-Henry, succeeded to the homestead property in Paradise township, and died at the age of seventy-seven years; Jacob, born Jan. 18, 1805, subject of this sketch ; David, a miller and merchant, and at one time a flour inspector in

986

HISTORY OF LANCASTER COUNTY.

Philadelphia (appointed by the Governor), is a resi- dent of Harrisburg in 1843, and is seventy-six years of age ; Joseph, a farmer in East Lampeter township, Laneaster Co.

Jacob Esbenshade left the homestead in 1829, and settled on a farm of one hundred and twenty aeres in Manheim township, near Binkley's bridge, which his ! father purchased, and which he farmed on shares until 1842, when he became the sole owner. Hle added to this until he became the owner of some six hundred acres of valuable farm land in the same township, a part of which he has already divided among his children. He built his present residence, a short distance off the Ephrata pike from Lancaster, in 1871. Mr. Esbenshade spent his time from boyhood to nearly fourscore years of age in agricultural pursuits, and has accumulated a large competency outside his real estate. Probably no man in Lancaster County has amassed a greater fortune than he by the protits of farming and labor, and his example of industry, fru- gality, and self-reliance i- worthy of imitation by the laboring man of the present generation. Ile has left all other business aside, and never even sought the official place so much desired by many in township matters ; yet he has remained true to the principles of the American government, and east his vote on the side of what he has conceived to be justice and right. He married, in 1832, Maria, daughter of David Bink- ley, and granddaughter of Christian Binkley, after whom Binkley's bridge got its name. She died in March, 1879, aged sixty-seven years, leaving children, -Elizabeth (wife of Levi Gross), Christian, Barbara (wife of Abraham Rohrer), Jacob, Maria, Henry, Peter, Isaac, Amanda (wife of Jacob Umble), and Anna (wife of Henry Haverstick).

Hle married his present wife, Elizabeth, widow of Jacob Landis, and a sister of his first wife, in June, 1881.

HENRY HAVERSTICK.

Henry Haverstick was born in Conestoga township (now Pequea), Lancaster Co., Pa., Jan. 18, 1818. In January, 1840, he married Elizabeth, daughter of John and Elizabeth Bau-man, of Laneaster township, in the same county. She was born March 11, 1817.

settled in Laneaster township in 1802, on the Andreas many in 1755), where he reared his children. Her mother was the sister of llon. Abraham Peters, first president of the State Normal School at Millersville.

Jacob, grandfather of Henry Haverstiek, died about 1833, aged seventy-two, in Conestoga township, where he had resided. His wife, Mary Keagy, a native of'Martie township, died at the age of sixty. They were members of the German Reformed Church at Lancaster. Their children were Abram, Jacob, John, David, and three daughters, all of whom settled in Lancaster County except one daughter, Catherine (Mrs. Barr). Of these, John, father of Henry Haver- stiek, born in Conestoga township, Nov. 5, 1796, was a farmer in Lancaster township most of his active business life. He held the offices of assessor and col- lector, and was otherwise publicly identified with local matters. Ilis homestead was near Wabank, on the Conestoga River.

His wife, Magdalene, daughter of Henry Neff, of Manor township, born Oct. 24, 1799, bore him child- ren, -- Henry, subject of this sketch ; Jacob, a farmer in Lancaster township; Levi, of Manor township; Elizabeth ; John, on the old homestead in Lancaster township; and Abraham, of Manheim township. John Haverstick was brought up under the influences of the church of his parents, but subsequently united with the Mennonite Church, with which his wife was connected. Both were living in 1883 in Manheim township. Henry Haverstiek had the ordinary ad- vantages of the common school during his boyhood for obtaining an education. He had little assistance pecuniarily in starting out in life. After his marriage he settled on the Carpenter farin, in West Earl town- ship, owned by his father. Here he remained until 1846, when he purchased one hundred and thirty-four acres of land in Manheim township, to which he has since added ten acres. He built a brick residence on his farm in 1852, and successfully carried on farming until 1876. Ile retired from farming in that year. He built his present briek residence adjoining his farm property in 1875, purchasing a small plot of ground from Jacob Esbenshade for that purpose in 1874. Mr. Haverstick was school director for six years following 1861, and was one of the organizers of the Neilsville Fire Insurance Company, of Man- heim township, in 1878, of which he has been a director and the treasurer since.

His children are Martha B., wife of Jacob E. Rank, Her father was a native of Laubersheim, Germany, who | of Lancaster township; Elizabeth B., wife of John J. Breneman, of Rapho township ; Catherine B., wife Bausman property (his uncle's, who came from Ger- | of Tobias D. Martin, of Warwick township; Anna B., wife of John R. Bricker, of Warwick township; Mary B., Henry B., Amelia B., and Abram L. Haver- stick. The two sons carry on the homestead farmi.

Ilis great-grandfather, Michael Haverstick, came from Germany, and settled on a large tract of land | between Wabank and Danville, on the Conestoga JOIN R. MCGOVERN. Creek, in Lancaster County. He had four sons, John R. MeGovern, contractor, was born in County died at his home in Lancaster, Pa., Sept. 25, 1882. William was a silversmith in Laneaster; Rudolph, I Cavan, parish of Temple Port, Ireland, in 1816, and Michael, and Jacob farmers on the homestead. Michael flaverstick also had a mill on the Conestoga, | He came to America in 1836, then twenty years of now Musselman's mill, in Pequea township. age, and by his own personal effort, self-reliance,

Henry Haverstuck

987

MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP.

and without pecuniary assistance in starting out in life became widely known in the community 'and throughout the State as a successful contractor. Ilis first connection with railroad-building was in 1846, when the late Richard MeGrann had the con- tract for constructing the New York and Lake Erie Railroad. For a portion of this work Mr. McGovern, associated with the late Andrew Reilly, seenred a sub- contract, which he successfully fulfilled. He next superintended the construction of a tunnel at Co- lumbia, and subsequently, in connection with the late Bernard MeGrann and the late John Reilly, contracted for and completed a portion of the Penn- sylvania Central Railroad from Altoona to Pitts- burgh. He was next associated with Hugh Barr, of Philadelphia, in building a portion of the Leba- non Valley Railroad, which was quite an extensive work, taking three years for its completion. He was also interested in the construction of the East Penn Railroad from Allentown to Reading. His next ven- ture was a street contract of considerable proportions in the city of Wilmington. Del. He was associated with Maj. William M. Wiley in a contract on the Northern road in Dauphin County, and built that portion of the Reading and Columbia Railroad from Reading to Silver Springs, subsequently laying the ties and iron on the entire road. In connection with Michael Reilly he built that portion of the road ex- tending from Lancaster to Manheim, and he built the Sunbury and Lewistown Railroad, extending from Lewistown to Selinsgrove, a distance of forty- four miles, in connection with Michael Reilly and another gentleman. llis last work in railroad con- struction was on the I'nion Central, in Schuylkill County, about 1876. Prior to his marriage he pur- chased some fifty acres of land adjacent to the city, in Manheim township, where occupying a command- ing ground, sloping off' to the Lititz turnpike, was his residence, which he made a very desirable homestead, and where he spent the last few years of his life, de- voting himself exclusively to the cultivation of his farm.

Mr. McGovern was a consistent member of St. Mary's congregation, and a feature of his benevolent disposition was manifested in his frequent and lib- eral contributions to the church and to all works of charity. Whilst not obtrusive in the expression of his political views, his stanch adherence to the prin- ciples of the Democratic party was a striking point in his character. Mr. McGovern's life was a busy and useful one, and one, too, that was crowned with well-deserved and substantial success; yet amid all his care, his love of home was prominently exem- plified in his every-day life, and his peculiarly genial disposition manifested itself in the real pleasure he derived in constantly entertaining his friends at his pleasant home. Integrity in his business relations and a devotion to principle were leading traits in his composition. He married, in November, 1861, Cath-

erine J., daughter of Thomas and Mary (Dufly) McGovern, both of whom were born in County Cavan, Ireland, and coming to America while young, settled in Lancaster, where the former died, Jan. 5, 1882, aged seventy-five years. The latter, born in 1809, survives in 1883. Their children are Mary Elizabeth, Richard P., Catherine Josephine, Anna Maria, John Thomas, Teresa, and Gertrude Me- Govern.

CHAPTER LXVIIL

MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP.

The Indians-Legend of a Battle in the Vicinity of the Cove.'-When the first settlers located in Mount Joy township there were still a few Indians in the neighborhood, which is known to have been a favorite one with them for many generations prior to the advent of the pale-face. The region between the Big and Little Chikis, in Rapho township, and the adjoining lands in Mount Joy lying contiguous to the creek and surrounding the enrious cave, or cove, as it is more commonly called, known to the Indians as the Osres, or Stone Wigwam Isituated west of Little Chikis, near the old Heistand mill, now owned by the borough of Mount Joy), was, according to what seems authentic tradition, the subject of fierce con- tention and the scene of a bloody battle between two tribes. Mr. A. Bender, formerly of Mount Joy bor- ough, in a letter dated December, 1859, gives an ac- count of this sanguinary contest as he received it from a Western Indian. "In the year 1854," he says, " I took up my abode in a small village on the head- waters of Rock River, in Wisconsin, -inhabited by . Canadians, French, and halt-breeds, and the rem- nants of six or seven tribes or bands of Indians who speak different dialects. Among these was a very old prophet living (but now dead ) who could speak some English. This prophet was informed that I was from the ' land of Penn,' from towards the rising sun, and sent me a cordial invitation to come to his wigwam on a certain day ; that he wanted to hold a talk with me. On the appointed day I went to see him, and the following relating to your place is the sum and substance of what I gathered from his broken English.

" The old man said his ancestors and predecessors in office came from that land, that they had lived on the river called Su-quehanna, and that at the mouth of the Arroquas (which, according to his map, is the Swatara Creek), where it empties into I the Susquehanna, there lived a numerous band or tribe of Indians, known as the Arroquas tribe (prob- ably the Iroquois), and that a day's journey in a canoe down the great river Susquehanna to the

1 Condensed from a letter written by A. Bender, and quoted by Dr Adamı Sheller in an address delivered before the Mount Joy Lyceum, July 4, 1860.

988

HISTORY OF LANCASTER COUNTY.

mouth of the Canadaga (no doubt the Conestoga), ever full title to the before-mentioned grounds. After they had taken peaceable possession of their hunting- ground, they fixed their headquarters at the Osres, or Rock Wigwam, on the west stream, not a fourth of a day's journey from the great river. This place way long known to the hunters, and known with you as the cave. Here the twelve braves cast lots for a new chief, and the lot fell on one of the Canadagas. He had shortly before taken to himself a wife, a beautiful young maiden of the Chickasaw, a tribe still known in history, and the name of the creek on which is the cave where they lived was called after the new and young queen Chickasaw. One year after this event the young queen gave birth to a daughter, and ealled her 'Ollonga,' and the creek on the east boun- dary of their land, your Big Chikis, was called after the daughter Ollonga, and the streams at their june- tion, and from that point to the great river, was named by them Chickasaw Ollonga.1 at which place there lived another numerous tribe called the Canadagas (probably Connoudaughts or Conestoga Indians) ; that the dividing line of their hunting- and fishing-grounds was the creek that empties into the river at the 'Big O-res,' meaning in their language the Big Rock, and now known as Chikis Rock. After pausing and consulting his old parchment and hieroglyphic chart, by which it ap- peared to me he could trace out every creek and brook along the course of the river in Dauphin and Lancaster Counties, he then went on to say that up this creek a short distance it divided into two branches, meaning, no doubt, Little and Big Chikis Creeks, and that the land or territory lying in this fork, or between these creeks or streams, was once the cause of war and much bloodshed between these two tribes, owing to a misunderstanding respecting the proper bounda- ries. The Arroquas claimed east, or towards the rising sun, as far as the east stream ( your Big Chikis). " This small band, in the course of one hundred years from that time, became a numerous and powerful tribe, but atter Penn's treaty the white people, or pale-faces, came into the country and made settle- ments near them. They did not love them, and , rather than fight them left their home, their delight- ful headquarters, the Osres Wigwam, and emigrated westward toward the setting sun, and united with the Chickasaws." The Canadagas claimed west, or towards the setting sun, all the territory bounded by west stream or branch (your Little Chiki- Creek ). Their conten- tions and strifes about this disputed ground continued long, but was finally decided by a pitched battle, fought near the junction of the two ereeks. The two chiefs or head warriors of the above-named tribes each furnished as many braves and warriors as there were days in twelve moons. These armies, some seven The Cave and its White Hermit Occupant .- Con- nected with the foregoing, Mr. Bender gives an account of the cave, or cove, and its early-time hermit dweller. "When the first white settlers eame there were still a few families of friendly Iodians in the neighborhood, ; and at that time the cave was found to be inhabited by a white hermit. The early settlers called him the hundred in number, with their chiefs, met there on a clear day in the fall of the year; they were to com. mence the battle at sunrise and fight until sunset, and the party that remained master of the ground then was to be declared conqueror and hold the dis- puted territory. The battle was a fearful and terri- ble one. At sunset on that day there were left on . naked man. His singular history I will give you as the battle-ground seven of the Arroquas and five of' near as I can remember, having received it, when 1 the Canadagas. The fight then ceased, but on the .was quite young, from the lips of my grandfather, following morning was renewed, and after a short fight the seven Arroquas drove the five Canadagas from the ground. The disputed territory was then awarded to the Arroquas. This bloody battle was fought on the ground very near to Mr. Johnston's mill-dam, and about one hundred years before the treaty of William Penn with the Indians under the big tree on the Delaware at Philadelphia.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 101

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Evans, Samuel, 1823-1908, joint author Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1320

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Evans, Samuel, 1823-1908, joint author
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1320