USA > Pennsylvania > Lancaster County > History of Lancaster County : to which is prefixed a brief sketch of the early history of Pennsylvania > Part 31
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On motion, this question was put to each battalion : Is it the opinion of the members present, that they approve of the appointment of John Dickinson, Esq. as President of the State of Pennsylvania, or not? Answer: The members of the second battalion are of opinion that a better choice of a President could not be made.
Colonel Ziegler, same opinion; seventh battalion, same; eighth battalion, same; ninth battalion: we hope the
*The persons who presided over the Executive council of Pennsylvania, from 1779 to 1790, were styled Presidents. The first under the constitution of 1779, was Thomas Wharton ; second, Joseph Read; third, John Dickinson ; fourth, Benja- min Franklin; fifth, Thomas Mifflin. In 1790, a new constitu- tion was adopted. Thomas Mifflin was elected governor, Octo- ber 12th 1790.
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Assembly have made a good choice, and if they have we thank them. Colonel Elder agrees in opinion with the ninth.
Resolved, unanimously, That the people have a right to assemble together for their common good, to instruct our Representatives, and to apply to the Legislature for- redress of grievances, by address, petition, or remon- strance.
Resolved, unanimously, That in opinion of the deputies. from the different battalions now met, that the complex- ion of the present House of Assembly is such that we have no reason to doubt that the independence and con- stitution of this state are safe, and that we highly approve of his excellency, John Dickinson, Esq. as President.
Resolved, unanimously, That we approve of colonel Rogers calling this meeting, as it has tended to remove doubts and unjust charges that were in circulation to the disadvantage of his excellency, the President of this state, and two of our members of Congress, James Wilson and John Montgomery, Esquires; and we conceive such meetings have a tendency to suppress false and malicious reports, and that thereby virtue may meet with its just: reward, and vice be depicted in its true deformity.
Signed, JOHN ROGERS, chairman .. J. HUBLEY, secretary.
Manheim, June 15th, 1783.
For the want of space, we are obliged to close, imper- fect as it is, the sketch of some of those incidents which occurred in this county during the Revolution, by noti -- cing some of the surviving Revolutionary soldiers, natives of this county.
Still a few of the patriotic Revolutionary veterans are living. Of this number is Mr. Philip Meck, of West Lampeter township, now in his 87th year. At the age
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of nineteen, he entered under Captain George Grove, the service of his country. He belonged to the "Flying Camp," established on a resolution of Congress, passed June 3, 1776, and consisted of ten thousand militia, whereof Pennsylvania furnished 6,000, Maryland 3,400, and Delaware 600. Meck was in several engage- ments. He was in the bloody engagement on Long Island, August 27, 1776, where Lord Percy and Grant commanded the British and Hessians, and a division of the American army was commanded by General Putnam. At the White Plains, October 28, 1776, and at Fort Wash- ington, November 1776. It was here Hezekiah Davis, one of the lieutenants in the Flying camp of Pennsylva- nia, was made prisoner, and held in captivity till Decem- ber, 1780. After this engagement, M. went to New Brunswick, and at the expiration of his tour of six months, was dismissed. The sufferings he endured were many ; and it is remarkable to see him now, far advan- ced in life, to enjoy unusual health, and the full possession of all his mental faculties. Mr. Meck was born in Lan- caster county.
John Gantner, born in Lancaster, July 4th, 1761. At the age of 17 enlisted in the service of the state of Penn- sylvania, under the command of Captain John Hubley ; under whose command he marched to Shamokin, and several other places. After sustaining the hardships of a winter campaign, he returned to Lancaster and was dis- charged. He afterward joined Colonel Armand's corps; was two years in the service of his country as a United States regular, and after many skirmishes, fatiguing marches, &c. he was honorably discharged. Mr. Gant- ner was a private in Captain Sharp's company of dragoons, and was on his march to Yorktown, when intelligence was received of the capture of Lord Corn-
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wallis ; they did not proceed to the place of destination.
George Leonard, also a native of this county, born September 13, 1758, enlisted in 1776 under Captain Mat- thew M'Donald in Philadelphia, having, however, served nearly two months before as a militia man. He was nearly three years in the service, and in several battles, .. viz : at Trenton, Germantown, Princeton.
Peter Mauerer, born June 13. 1757, volunteered in 1776, under Captain John Henry, went to Philadelphia, Trenton, and Elizabethtown, N. J. After a tour of two months, he returned to Lancaster, and late in the fall, under his former captain, went to Philadelphia, thence to Burlington, Trenton and Elizabethtown, where they united with the main army in winter quarters-helped to build a fort. After serving a second tour, returned to Lancaster, and aided in guarding Hessian and other pris- oners, where rising of two thousand were kept. When the Hessian prisoners were taken to New York to be exchanged for American prisoners, Peter Mauerer was one of those who accompanied them. He saw Washing- ton and La Fayette frequently during the war; and in 1824 dined with La Fayette at Lancaster.
Peter Shindle, born April 29th, 1760, was also in the Revolutionary service. He went in the capacity of a fifer, in July 1776, under Captain Andrew Graaf, of Colo- nel George Ross' regiment; and in September, 1777, under Captain Stoever, of Greenawalt's regiment. He was promoted to brigade fife major. He was present at the battle of Brandywine and Germantown. He went out a third time under Captain William Wertz; and in 1778, he volunteered to aid taking the Hessian prisoners of Lancaster to Philadelphia, in Captain App's company.
Jacob Hoover, of the city of Lancaster, enlisted in the war of the Revolution in the year 1776, under captain
36*
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Bull of Carlisle ; and was in the battle of Long Island, August, 1776; battle of Brandywine, Germantown, Trenton and Monmouth, and several small skirmishes, and was regularly discharged in the year 1779, in Phila- delphia.
In a preceding part of our book, we noticed David Dieffenderfer and others. See page 207.
NOTES .- The winter of 1780, is denominated the " The Hard Winter." Ice was from 16 to 19 inches thick-frost penetrated the ground from 4 to 5 feet. During this winter the ears of the horned cattle, and the feet of hogs exposed to the air, were frost bitten. Squirrels perished in their holes, and partriges were often found dead .- Haz. 2; 379.
In 1781, Methodist ministers first visited Lancaster county ; and in 1782, what was then called "Lancaster circuit," was formed, and the Rev. William Partridge appointed to it as minister. It then contained seventy members of society ; the Methodist Episcopal Church not yet having been organized .- Among the early ministers who preached in the county, may be named : Reverends William Glendening, W. Jesup, Isaac Robertson, W. Hunter, J. P. Chandler and Simon Miller, a native of the county .- Goheen.
In 1782, John F. Mifflin, John Wilks Kittera and George Thompson, were admitted at the bar of Lancaster, to practice law.
Members of Assembly for Lancaster county for 1777 :- Cur- tis Grubb, Matthias Slough, George Ross and James Webb. 1778, John Gillchrist, Curtis Grubb, Alexander Lowrey, John Smiley, James Anderson, William Brown. 1779, James An- derson, John Smiley, John Gillchrist, Christopher Kucher, James Cunningham, William Brown, sen., Emanuel Carpen- ter, jr., William Porter. 1780. John Whitehill, Emanuel Car- penter, Jacob Cook, Christopher Kucher, James Anderson, Adam Reigart, James Cowden, Alexander Lowrey, Matthias Slough, James Jacks. 178], John Whitehill, Christopher Kucher, Jacob Cook, Jacob Carpenter, Abraham Scott, James Jacks, Matthias Slough, William Brown, Jacob Krug, James Mercer, James Porter. 1782, Joseph Montgomery, Christo-
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pher Kucher, John Whitehill, Samuel John Atlee, Abraham Scott, James Jacks, John Craig, Matthias Slough, Curtis Grubb, William Brown, James Mercer. 1783, Abraham Scott, William Brown, James Mercer, John Craig, Matthias Slough, Joseph Work, Adam Orth, Adam Hubley, Jacob Cook, William Parr, Robert Coleman.
CHAPTER X.
Lancaster county after the Revolution-Germans, and those of German extraction ; views on education-Franklin College established-First board of Trustees -- Reichenbach ; New Jerusalem Church ; the twelve articles received by that church-Improvements great in the county- Columbia laid out-Lancaster city, seat of government-Late war; means of Lancaster county-Notes of variety.
LANCASTER county, in common with other counties of this state, and the United States in general, during the struggle of the Revolution, paid but little attention to endowing and sustaining schools of advanced standing. In this county, education for many years fell far short of the wealth and leisure the citizens had to bestow upon the education of their sons and daughters, beyond that of a common school education. The citizens of this county, principally Germans, have always entertained peculiar views touching "college learning ;" they ever preferred being taxed to make ample provision for the erection of poorhouses and hospitals, and the maintenance of the unfortunate and poor, and cheerfully to pay towards educating the children of the indigent, than to aid in building college edifices, and endowing professorships .- Shortly after the close of the Revolution, the subject of education in this county received a new impulse.
In the year 1787, a number of citizens of this state, of German birth and extraction, in conjunction with others,
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from a desire to increase and perpetuate the blessings derived to them from the possession of property and a free government, applied to the Legislature for a charter of incorporation and a donation of lands, for the purpose of establishing and endowing a college and charity school in the borough of Lancaster. Their petition was granted; a board of trustees, as a corporate body, was established, styled, in honor of his excellency, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Esq., " The trustees of Franklin college, in the borough and county of Lancaster."
The first board of trustees were : the honorable Thomas Mifflin, Hon. Thomas M'Kean, Rev. John H. C. Hel- muth, Rev. Casper Weiburg, Rev. Henry Muhlenberg, Rev. William Hendell, Rev. Nicholas Kurz, Rev. George Troldiener, Rev. John Herbst, Rev. Joseph Hutchins, Rev. Fred. Weyland, Rev. Albertus Helfenstein, Rev. W. Ingold, Rev. Jacob Van Buskirk, Rev. Abraham Blumer, Rev. Fred. Dalecker, Rev. C. E. Schultz, Rev. F. V. Meltzheimer, Messrs. John Hubley, Joseph Hiester, Cas- per Schaffner, Peter Hooffnagle, Christopher Crawford, Paul Zantzinger, Adam Hubley, Adam Reigart, Jasper Yeates, Stephen Chambers, Robert Morris, George Cly- mer, Philip Wagner, William Bingham, William Hamil- ton, William Rawle, Lewis Farmer, Christopher Kucher, Philip Groenwaldt, Michael Hahn, George Stake, sen., John Musser.
Franklin college was located in North Queen street, known for many years as "The old store house," now as "Franklin row .* The college was opened for the instruction of youth, in the German, English, Latin, Greek and other learned languages; in Theology, and in the useful arts, sciences and literature. It remained in a
*The compiler occupies (1843) one of the apartments of " Franklin row."
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flourishing condition for several years ; owing, however, to some defect in the charter, and the pecuniary resources of the trustees failing, it was suspended .*
Among the first teachers of this institution was William Reichenbach, a native of Saxony, a man of classical attainments. In 1785, he left Germany; immediately on his arrival at Lancaster, was appointed professor of mathematics and German literature. About the same time Henry Von Buelow, a native of Prussia, a German nobleman, who had in his juvenile years adopted the military profession, visited America and spent some time in Lancaster. Buelow had embraced the peculiar views of Em. Swedenborg,t and with a view to disseminate
* See chapter XI on education.
¡These views being so peculiar and not generally known, we here devote a small space to presenting the leading doc- trines of the New Jerusalem Church. The founder of this church was Emanuel Swedenborg, son of a bishop of Skara. Emanuel was born 1689, at Stockholm. He was, it is admitted by all, a learned and pious man. He died in 1772.
The following twelve articles are received by the New Jeru- salem church :
I. THAT JEHOVAH GOD, the Creator and Preserver of heaven and earth, is Love Itselfand Wisdom Itself, or Good Itself and Truth Itself: That he is One both in Essence and in Person, in whom, nevertheless, is the Divine Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which are the Essential Divinity, the Divine Humanity, and the Divine Proceeding, answering to the soul, the body, and the operative energy in man: And that the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is that God.
II. That JEHOVAH GOD himself descended from heaven, as Divine Truth, which is the Word, and took upon him Human Nature for the purpose of removing from man the power of hell, and restoring to order all things in the spiritual world, and all things in the church: That he removed from man the powers of hell, by combats against and victories over them ; in which consisted the great work of Redemption: That by
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them, he brought with him, from Europe, a number of New Church works, for gratuitous distribution, and for sale. Reichenbach, on examining the doctrines, embra- ced and avowed them openly. He afterwards published several works on the doctrines of the New Church. One entitled Agathon, published in English and German, which was favorably received.
From the efforts of Von Buelow, who afterwards re-
the same acts, which were his temptations, the last of which was the passion of the cross, he united, in his Humanity, Divine Truth to Divine Good, or Divine Wisdom to Divine Love, and so returned into his Divinity in which he was from eternity, together with, and in, his Glorified humanity ; whence he for- ever keeps the infernal powers in subjection to himself: And that all who believe in him, with the understanding, from the heart, and live accordingly, will be saved.
III. That the Sacred Scripture, or Word of GOD, is Divine Truth Itself; containing a Spiritual Sense heretofore un- known, whence it is divinely inspired and holy in every syl- lable; as well as a. Literal Sense, which is the basis of its Spiritual Sense, and in which Divine Truth is in its fulness, its sanctity, and its power: thus that it is accommodated to the apprehension both of angels and men: That the spiritual and natural senses are united, by correspondences, like soul and body, every natural expression and image answering to,. and including, a spiritual and divine idea: And thus that the Word is the medium of communication with heaven,.and of conjunction with the Lord.
IV. That the government of the Lord's Divine Love and Wisdom is the Divine Providence; which is universal, exer- cised according to certain fixed laws of Order, and extending to the minutest particulars of the life of all men, both of the good and of the evil : That in all its operations it has respect to what is infinite and eternal, and makes no account of things transitory but as they are subservient to eternal ends ; thus, that it mainly consists, with man, in the connection of things tem- poral with things eternal; for that the continual aim of the Lord, by his Divine Providence, is to join man to himself and
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turned to Europe, there arose a small band of brothers about the year 1788, who hold the peculiar views of baron Swedenborg; among the first, besides count Buelow and Reichenbach, in this county, who were receivers of the doctrines of the New Jerusalem Church, were Fran- cis Bailey and family, Mr. Eckstein, Jacob Carpenter, the intimate friend of Buelow, Frederick Damish, a Saxon, a teacher of music. There still exists in this county, a respect-
himself to man, that he may be able to give him the felicities of eternal life : And that the laws of permission are also laws of the Divine Providence; since evil cannot be prevented without destroying the nature of man as an accountable agent ; and because, also, it cannot be removed unless it be known, and cannot be known unless it appear: Thus, that no evil is permitted but to prevent a greater; and all is overruled, by the Lord's Divine Providence, for the greatest possible good.
V. That man is not life, but is only a recipient of life from the Lord, who, as he is Love Itself and Wisdom Itself, is also Life Itself; which life is communicated by influx to all in the spiritual world, whether belonging to heaven or to hell, and to all in the natural world; but is received differently by every one, according to his quality and consequent state of re- ception.
VI. That man, during his abode in the world, is, as to his spirit, in the midst between heaven and hell, acted upon by influences from both, and thus is kept in a state of spiritual equilibrium between good and evil ; in consequence of which he enjoys free-will, or freedom of choice, in spiritual things as well as in natural, and possesses the capacity of either turning himself to the Lord and his kingdom, or turning him- self away from the Lord, and connecting himself with the kingdom of darkness: And that, unless man had such free- dom of choice, the Word would be of no use, the Church would be a mere name, man would possess nothing by virtue of which he could be conjoined to the Lord, and the cause of evil would be chargeable on GOD himself.
VII. That man at this day is born into evil of all kinds, or with tendencies towards it: That, therefore, in order to his
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able number of receivers and embracers of the New Church doctrines. In point of intellect and activity, unsurpassed by the same number, who, though few, did, unaided by other religious denominations, purchase a lot of ground in Lancaster city, and erected a neat New Jerusalem temple, in 1837, in which stated meetings for religious exercises are held. The exercises are conducted by a lay member elected for that purpose. The sacraments are
entering the kingdom of heaven, he must be regenerated or created anew ; which great work is effected in a progressive manner, by the Lord alone, by charity and faith as mediums, during man's co-operation : That as all men are redeemed, all are capable of being regenerated, and consequently saved, every one according to his state: And that the regenerate man is in communion with the angels of heaven, and the un- regenerate with the spirits of hell: But that no one is con- demned for hereditary evil, any further than as he makes it his own by actual life; whence all who die in infancy are saved, special means being provided by the Lord in the other life for that purpose.
VIII. That Repentance is the first beginning of the Church in man ; and that it consists in a man's examining himself, both in regard to his deeds and his intentions, in knowing and acknowledging his sins, confessing them before the Lord, sup- plicating him for aid, and beginning a new life: That to this end, all evils, whether of affection, of thought, or of life, are to be abhorred and shunned as sins against God, and because they proceed from infernal spirits, who in the aggregate are called the Devil and Satan ; and that good affections, good thoughts, and good actions. are to be cherished and performed, because they are of God and from God : That these things are to be done by man as of himself; nevertheless, under the ac- knowledgment and belief, that it is from the Lord, operating in him and by him: That so far as man shuns evils as sins, so far they are removed, remitted, or forgiven ; so far also he does good, not from himself, but from the Lord; and in the same degree he loves truth, has faith, and is a spiritual man : And that the Decalogue teaches what evils are sins.
LL. IT. ILL
Sinclair's Lith.
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administered by a regularly ordained minister, who visits the congregation as often as the wants of the church demand.
From and after the year 1785, Lancaster county began to improve rapidly; towns in various parts of the county were laid out. Samuel Wright laid out the town of Co- lumbia in 1787, and in a few years afterwards others were laid out. Agriculture and commerce prospered .-
IX. That Charity, Faith, and Good Works, are unitedly ne- cessary to man's salvation ; since charity, without faith, is not spiritual, but natural; and faith, without charity, is not living, but dead; and both charity and faith, without good works, are merely mental and perishable things, because without use or fixedness: And that nothing of faith, of charity, or of good works, is of man ; but that all is of the Lord, and all the merit is his alone.
X. That Baptism and the Holy Supper are sacraments of divine institution, and are to be permanently observed ; Bap- tism being an external medium of introduction into the Church, and a sign representative of man's purification and regenera- tion ; and the Holy Supper being an external medium, to those who receive it worthily, of introduction, as to spirit, into heaven, and of conjunction with the Lord; of which also it is a sign and scal.
XI. That immediately after death, which is only a putting off of the material body, never to be resumed, man rises again in a spiritual or substantial body, in which he continues to live to eternity ; in heaven, if his ruling affections, and thence his life, have been good ; and in hell, if his ruling affections, and thence his life, have been evil.
XII. That Now is the time of the Second Advent of the Lord, which is a Coming, not in Person, but in the power and glory of his Holy Word: That it is attended, like his first Coming, with the restoration to order of all things in the spiri- tual world, where the wonderful divine operation, commonly expected under the name of the Last Judgment, has in conse- quence been performed ; and with the preparing of the way for a New Church on the earth,-the first Christian Church
37
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All was tranquility till 1794, when the Whiskey insurrec- tion took place in the western part of Pennsylvania ; many in this county began to fear that the stability of our government was not immovable, but their apprehensions were removed before the expiration of that year. From that period down to the present, there is little of special interest in the history of the county that is not common to the adjacent and even more distant counties of the state, except that Lancaster city was the capital of the state from December 1799, till 1812, when the seat of government was removed to Harrisburg. The law for locating the seat of government at the latter place, was approved 21st February, 1810; and the offices were re- moved from Lancaster 12th October, 1812. The com- missioners for that purpose were Robert Harris, George Hoyer, George Ziegler.
During the late war of 1812, '13, '14, no county in the state was more ready to meet the exigencies of the times than the militia and volunteers of Lancaster county .- Companies were raised, and prepared to confront the haughty invaders of our country, and effectually to curb the proud Britons in their headlong course against our common country.
Lancaster county, though of limited territory, has all
having spiritually come to its end or consummation, through evils of life and errors of doctrine, as foretold by the Lord in the Gospels: And that this New or Second Christian Church, which will be the Crown of all Churches, and will stand for ever, is what was representatively seen by John, when he beheld the holy city, New Jerusalem, descending from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
The writings of Swedenborg, in German, English and French, and other New Church publications, can be had at their Book Depository, kept by F. J. KRAMPH, merchant tailor, Lancaster, Pa.
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the elements, natural, physical, moral and intellectual, if these are properly cultivated, to secure to itself a niche of distinction in the Keystone State.
NOTES .- The winter of 1784, was considered one of the hardest winters for forty years. The same year there was a high flood of the Susquehanna.
Travelling in 1784. This year Frederick Schaeffer establish- ed a travelling accommodation stage, which occupied three days in returning to and from Philadelphia.
In 1792 the turnpike from Lancaster to Philadelphia, 62 miles in length, was commenced, and finished in 1794-cost $465,000; at about $7,516 per mile.
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