USA > Pennsylvania > Lancaster County > History of Lancaster and York Counties > Part 19
USA > Pennsylvania > York County > History of Lancaster and York Counties > Part 19
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The Court of Nov. term, 1735, appointed Randle Chambers, Jacob Peat, James Silvers, Thomas Eastland, John Lawrence and Abraham Endless, to view and lay out a road from Harris' Ferry towards Potomac, so as best to answer the necessities of the inhabitants.
Aug. 5, 1735, James Calder, Attorney at Law, on applica- tion, was admitted to practice in the Lancaster court.
June 20, 1736, the first German Reformed Church, in Lan- caster, dedicated-a log building, nearly opposite the present church-after 1771, when the new church had been finished, it was converted into a private dwelling and occupied as such till Jan. 14, 1836, when it was destroyed by fire. Rev. John Jacob Hook or Huck, V. D. M. was German Ref. pastor at Lancaster, in 1736.
Dec. 7, 1737-at night a smart earthquake was felt at Cones- toga and Philadelphia.
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Nov. 2, 1736, Alexander Pearcy-May 3, 1737, James Kea- ting-admitted to practice law at the Lancaster bar. In 1736-7 settlements commenced at Adamstown-first settlers were William Adams, Abraham Kearn, John Johns, Philip Steffy, Mathias Fansler, Flickingers and others.
"How to settle with some Doctors in olden times."-August 5, 1736, at a court of Gen. Quarter Session : Doct. William Smith, a vagabond and beggar, being convicted before the court of being an impostor, it is the judgment of the court that he re- cieve, in the town of Lancaster, ten lashes, and be conducted from Constable to Constable, and be whipped with ten lashes, in the most public place, till he comes to the bounds of the county, at Octorora, and there be dismissed." Be patient in suffering, as the Doctor said, when he received his pay.
In 1738, the number of taxables, in Lancaster county,-was 2560. About the year 1738, many emigrants from the Pala- tinate, Germany, settled in Brecknock township; among these were Jacob Guth, Christian Guth, who erected the first grist mill in the township; John Mussleman, Francis Diller, who erected the first distillery in Brecknock; Jacob Schneder, Francis Eckert, Herman Deis, Christopher Waldhauer, Wil- liam Morris, Englishman, and some others .- S. Bowman's Letter.
Member of Assembly for Lancaster county. 1731: John Koyle, Andrew Galbraith, John Musgrove, Thomas Edwrads- 1732: George Stuart, Thomas Edwards, Samuel Blunston, Andrew Galbraith-1733: Andrew Galbraith, Thomas Edwards, John Wright, John Koyle-1734: James Hamilton, John Em- erson, Andrew Galbraith, John Wright-1735 and 1736: James Hamilton; Thomas Edwards, Andrew Galbraith, Thomas Arm- strong-1737: James Hamilton, John Wright, Andrew Gal- braith, Samuel Smith.
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CHAPTER III.
Governor Thomas appointed-The county divided into eight Districts- Several new townships formed-John Wright's charge to the grand jury- Brief memoir of Wright-Serjeant attempts to instruct the Indians- Omish apply to the Assembly for an act of naturalization-Count Zin- zendorf in Lancaster-Visits Wyoming-Indians conclude to massacre him-Singular incident dissuade them-Attempts made to prejudice the Assembly against the Germans-Martin Meylin's house built-Church council convoked-Irish behavior or conduct at an election-Disputes between Irish and Germans-Murhancellin murders Armstrong and his two servants-Murhancellin arrested and imprisoned-Indian treaty held in Lancaster-Indians bark Musser's Walnut trees-Lutheran excite- ment in Lancaster-Lindley Murray born-Notes of variety.
ON the death of Governor. Gordon, James Logan, senior member of the council, discharged the duties of president, from August, 1736, to August, 1738, when he was superseded by George Thomas, Esq., a planter of Antigua, as Governor of the province and territories .- He was appointed in 1737, "but his assumption of office was delayed by the remonstrance of Lord Baltimore, against the right of the proprietaries to the Lower coun- tries. He met the Assembly of the province, on the 6th of August, 1738." He was Deputy Governor till 1747. During his administration, events of a local and general character transpired, of some interest to the reader; the leading ones shall be noticed.
Pursuant to an act of Assembly, passed in 1739, for the dividing the county into districts, the justices of the courts of Quarter Sessions, made and agreed to the fol- lowing divisions: The first district was constituted of Hempfield, Lancaster and Hellam townships. Hellam is now part of York county. The second district em- braced Donegal, Paxton, Derry and Hanover. The last
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three are within the bounds of Dauphin county. The third district was composed of Sadsbury, Salisbury, Lea- cock and Strasburg. The fourth district of Warwick, Manheim, Lampeter and Lebanon. The last named is in Lebanon county. The fifth district included Cones- toga, Martic, Drumore and Little Britain. The sixth of Tolpehocken, Hidelberg, Berne" and Bethel;t all in Berks county. The seventh of Robinson, Cocalico, Car- naervon and Earl; the first is in Berks. The eighth was constituted of Pennsboro and Hopewell; both in Cum- berland; but since divided into fifteen or sixteen town- ships, in that county.
The year 1741, is remarkable in the history of the county, and in the life of the incorruptible John Wright, Esq., for his immoveable resistance to the encroachments made upon ancient usages. "During the administration of Governor Thomas, the enlisting of indented or bought servants, for soldiers, was first permitted to be
*Berne had been part of Tulpehocken, till May, 1738, when it was divided or separated from the latter, by order of the court.
+Bethel was part of Lebanon township, till May, 1739. The court ordered that it be divided and bounded as follows, viz :
" That the division line begin at Swatara creek, at a stony ridge, about half a mile below John Tittles, and continuing along the said ridge easterly to Tolpehockon township to the northward of Tobias Pickel's, so as in its course to leave John Benaugle, Adam Steel, Thomas Ewersly and Matthias Tise, to the southward of the said line ; that the northermost division be named and called Bethel-the southern division continue the name Lebanon."
#The number of bought and indented servants, who were thus taken from their masters, as appears by the printed votes of the Assembly, were about 276; whose masters were com- pensated by the Assembly for their loss sustained thereby, to the amount of two thousand five hundred and eighty-eight pounds .- Proud.
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carried into execution, in the province, before the act of parliament, in that case, was made; which being disa- greeable and injurious to many of the inhabitants, and contrary to ancient usage," John Wright, the mild but firm Quaker, of Wright's Ferry, of this county, and who had for many years been a member of the Assem- bly, spoke out freely and firmly against this measure; as a consequence, he fell a victim to Governor Thomas' in- tolerance. Having understood that the Governor in- tended to remove him from office; he had at that time been justice of the peace, and president of the Common Pleas, he attended the May session of the court, 1741, and before the new commissioners had been published, delivered a charge to the grand jury, which was pub- lished by their order; and which deserves to be en- graven upon the hearts of all who hate executive domination.
"As a new commission of the peace, for this county, is, I suppose, now to be published, in which my name, and some of my brethren, are, I presume, left out; I desire your patience and attention a few moments, while I give the last charge to the grand jury, which I shall ever do, from this place, and take leave of my brethren, the justices, and my friends, the good people of the county, as a magistrate.
"I have, for upwards of twenty years, borne a com- mission of the peace, in Chester and Lancaster counties, under the respective Governors of this province, and have · lived in familiar friendship and good understanding with all of them, until of late.
"About twelve years ago, under the mild and peace- able administration of Governor Gordon, I was one of those who were instrumental in procuring this part of the province to be erected into a separate county, and
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have contributed, according to my small ability, to have rule and order established and preserved among us. I have always attended the courts of judicature; except when want of health, or the service of my country, in some other station, require my absence ; and it has been my lot repeatedly to give the charge to the gentlemen of the grand juries from this place.
"I am now an old man; too old, if both opportunity and inclination should invite (which I am assured never will) ever to take the burden upon me again; and, there- fore, am willing to make you a few observations on power and Government, and the present posture of affairs here.
" I shall pass over the original of the English constitu- tion; the several steps and gradations, by which it has rose to the purity and perfection, it is at this day; the many attempts, which have been made to invade it, and the blood and treason, which have been spent, in defence of that constitution, and those liberties, which render tlie English nation so famous throughout the world.
"And, first, I observe to you, Gentlemen of the Grand Jury, that the privilege of trials, by juries is counted older than the English Government, and was not un- known to the ancient Britons: juries are looked upon as essential felicity to English subjects; and are put in the first rank among English liberties; the reason given is this; because no man's life shall be touched, for any crime (out of parliament) unless he be thought guilty by two several juries ; and these juries, being substantial men, taken, from time to time, out of the neighborhood of the person accused, cannot be supposed to be biased; whereas, it is observable, that judges are made by pre- rogatives and many have been preferred by corrupt min- isters of state; and may be so again; and such ad-
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vanced as will serve a present turn, rather than those of more integrity and skill, in the laws.
"Juries are of two kinds, and are commonly distin- guished by Grand and Petit Juries; the former, which you are, have larger power than the other, as very plainly appears by the qualification, which you have taken. Your power extends to all offences within the county; and your office is principally concerned in two things, presentments and indictments; the difference of which is this, the first is, where you, of your own knowledge, or inquiry, take notice of some offence, crime, or nuisance, to the injury of the public, which you think ought to be punished, or removed, and give notice to the court, in writing, briefly, of the nature of the thing, and the person's name and place: this is called a presentment, and differs from an indict- ment in these two respects : first, in that it is not drawn up in form; whereas indictments are generally drawn up and presented to you, by the Attorney General and the witnesses qualified to attend you; and when you have examined them you either indorse, that it is a true bill; or, that it does not appear to you, sufficient grounds for the accusation, that the person's life, estate, or repu- tation, should be brought in question; all which is under- stood, by indorsing the word ignoramus. From hence, it appears, that you are appointed, as well to be guar- dians of the lives, liberties, estates, and even reputations of the innocent, as to be a means of bringing offenders to justice. And, as you are endued with a sufficient portion of understanding to know what offences are representable by you, I shall not enumerate them; having already said, they are generally under your notice ; but shall rather recommend to you, and your successors, a steady care, both for the security of the
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innocent, (for by you malicious prosecutions may be cropped in bud) and bringing offenders to the justice of the law ; that by their public shame and suffering, they and others may be deterred from the like offences, for the future.
"The office of a civil magistrate, or justice of the peace, is an office of high trust, and ought to be executed with great care, circumspection, and good conscience. Magis- trates may be looked upon as ministers under God, invested with some branches of power, for the public benefit, viz: To be a terror and scourge to 'evil doers, and to praise them who do well; and while they lead lives exemplary of this, and in their public actions, have this principally in view, distributing justice impartially, with clean hands and pure hearts, their post is truly hon- orable, and they are highly worthy of regard. But if they unhappily deviate from this rule, if they are found in the practice of those crimes, which they ought to punish and suppress, if they pervert justice for bribes, and op- press the poor and innocent, they therefore render them- selves highly unworthy of an office of so great a trust.
"I was always a friend to power, well knowing that good and wholesome laws, duly executed, are so far from being a restraint upon true liberty, that they are only as regulating springs to the passions, and productive of it; and our worthy founder, and first proprietor tells us, " That he composed his frame of Government with a view to support power in reverence with the people, and to secure the people from the abuse of power :" and these two are generally observed to attend each other, as causes and effects. And a noted professor of the law, in this province, some years ago, when he espoused the cause of liberty, and loaded with age and infirmities, took a long journey in defence of it, has these words on power: "It
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may justly be compared to a great river, which, while kept within due bounds, is both beautiful and useful; but when it overflows its banks, it is then too impetuous to be stemmed! it bears down all before it, and brings destruction and desolation where it comes."
"If, then, these are the ill effects of lawless power, every wise man ought to be on his guard, to prevent them, by keeping up the banks of liberty, and common right, the only bulwark against it.
"It was in defence and support of this great bulwark, against the attempts of power, under a pretence of serving his majesty, but done in such a manner as I apprehend, cannot be supposed was ever intended, or expected, by our most gracious sovereign; whose distinguishing char- acter is, to protect and not to oppress; and whatever burden the necessity of the times requires to be laid on the subjects under his immediate and just administra- tion, is Jaid equally and impartially; I say, it was to the opposition given by the House of Representatives, to the manner in which these attempts were made, and the just concern and dislike shewed thereto, that we may impute the late changes made in the commissions of the peace throughout the province, whatever other pretences they may be glossed with.
"For this cause, my friends and countrymen, for the cause of English liberty, for standing in the civil defence of right and property, are we dismissed; and I rejoice, and am heartily glad, that I have been one of those, who are thought worthy of displeasure.
" And now, to conclude, I take my leave, in the words of a Judge of Israel. "Here I am, witness against me; whom have I defrauded; whom have I oppressed; or, of whose hands have I received any bribe, to blind my eyes therewith? And I will restore it."
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"May the Prince of Peace, who is the King of Kings, protect the people of this province from domestic foes and foreign enemies, is my hearty desire; and so I bid you all farewell."
"Respecting this same John Wright, it may be further observed, in this place, that he died about the year 1751, in Lancaster county, where he had lived, in .. the eighty-fourth of his age.
It is recorded of him, "That he was born in the year 1667, in Lancashire, in England, of religious and repu- table parents ; who were among the early professors of the doctrine held by people called Quakers, and lived and died highly esteemed members of that community. He was educated with a view to. the practice of physic ; but he declined pursuing it, and entered into trade, till the year 1714; when he removed with his family into Pennsylvania, well recommended by certificates, from his friends, the Quakers, in that part of England, both as to his moral character, and as a preacher, in the society ; with whom they had, for many years, lived in strict amity.
"Soon on his settlement in the province, his principles and conduct recommended him to the notice of the public : he was a representative to the General Assembly, for Chester county, and many years one for Lancaster county. In his station as a Judge, for the last county, he was noted for prompt, honest principles, and candor, and an inflexible integrity ; one instance of which ap- pears in the cause and manner of his dismission from that office, in 1741, as above mentioned.
"He continued to attend the Assemblies, till broken health, and an advanced age, rendered such attendance difficult, and sometimes impracticable ; although the people among whom he lived, from a long experience of
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his services, and regard to him, would not be prevailed on by himself, or his family, to name another in his stead, for that station ; but continued to return his name till he died.
"Through every station in life, his good will to man- kind, his love of peace and good order, and his en- deavors to give them a permanent footing in his neigh- hood, and in the county in general, were known to be his delight and study : his sense of religion, and the testimony he bore to it, were free from intemperate zeal, yet earnest, and attended with life and spirit, influenced by the love of God, and benevolence to his whole crea- tion ; such he continued, with his understanding clear, his mind calm, cheerful and resigned, to the advanced period of old age, when he expired without a groan."*
This year, 1741, a Mr. Serjeant, a gentlemen of New England, took a journey to the Shawanese, and some other tribes on the Susquehanna, and he may, it is proba- ble, have visited the Indians in this county, and offered to instruct them in the christian religion ; but they would have none of his instruction; they rejected his offer with disdain. The poor fellows had experienced, to their sorrow, too many wrongs at the hands of those who should have treated them kindly. "They re- proached christianity, judging it, as they did by the lives of those who professed to be christians. They told him the traders would lie, cheat, and debauch their daughters and sisters, and even their wives, if their husbands were not at home. They said further, that the Senecas had- given them their country, but charged them, never to receive christianity from the English."}
1742 .- A respectable number of the Omish, of Lan -. caster county, petitioned the General Assembly that a.
*Proud. ¡Proud, II. 312.
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special law of naturalization for their benefit, might be passed. They stated, “ They had emigrated from Europe by an invitation from the proprietaries; that they had been brought up and were attached to the Omish doctrine, and were conscienciously scrupulous against taking oaths-they therefore cannot be naturalized agreeably to the existing law." A law. was passed in conformity to their request .*
The year 1742, is also remarkable in the annals of this county, for the visits of Louis Nicholas Zinzendorf, usually called Count Zinzendorf. This remarkable man arrived in America in 1741, and in 1742, visited Lan- caster county and city. On his arrival, permission was granted him to preach in the court house. He made converts wherever he went; among his first fruits was the conversion of George Kline to his views, who after- wards, as may be seen from the sequel, aided in the pro- motion of a Moravian church in this county.t His *Haz. Reg.
NOTE .- Touching oaths, they maintain the following as set forth in their own words: Was das Eid Schwoeren angehet, davon glauben und bekennen wir: Das der Herr Christus das- selbe gleichfals den seinen abgerathen und verboten habe: naemlich, das sie keinesweges solten schwoeren, sondern das ja, ja, und nein, nein sollte seyn .- Glaubens Bekenntniss, Art. 15.
The Omish and Mennonites hold the same doctrines. They maintain that Christ in Matt. v. 34-37, totally and explicitly prohibited his followers the use of oaths, and has given them permission to ratify their cause with nothing more than a yea, yea or a nay, nay. His disciples, they maintain ought to be children of truth .- Illustrating Mirror, by John Herr, p. 127-133 Lanc. Ed. 1834.
+See chapter V.
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engrossing aim was to christianize the Indians. With this view he visited a distant part of Lancaster county- the Wyoming country-inhabited by the Shawanese Indians. Zinzendorf, and his little company, pitched their tents on the banks of the Susquehanna, a little below the town. This caused no small degree of alarm among the Indians; "a council of the chiefs was assem- bled, the declared purpose of Zinzendorf was deliber- ately considered. To these unlettered children of . the- wilderness it appeared altogether improbable that a stranger should brave the dangers of a boisterous ocean, three thousand miles broad, for the sole purpose of in- structing them in the means of obtaining happiness after death, and that too without requiring any compensation, for his trouble and expense; and as they had observed the anxiety of the white people to purchase lands of the Indians, they naturally concluded that the real object of Zinzendorf was either to procure them the lands at Wyoming for his own use, to search for hidden treasures, or to examine the country with a view to future con- quest. It was accordingly resolved to assassinate him, and to do it privately, lest the knowledge of the transaction
NOTE .- ZINZENDORF, the patron of the sect of the Moravians, was born at Dresden, May, 1700. He studied at Hale and Utrecht. About the year 1722, he began to preach and write to instruct his fellow men. He travelled extensively in Europe. In 1737 he visited London; 1741 he came to America, and preached in various parts in Pennsylvania. He with his daugh- ter, Benigna, and several brethren and sisters, visited various tribesof Indians. At Sheconneco he established the first Indian Moravian Congregation in America .. In 1743 he returned to Europe. He died at Herrnhut in 1760, and his coffin was car- ried to the grave by thirty-two preachers and missionaries, whom he had reared and some of whom had toiled in Holland, England. Ireland, North America, and Greenland. What mon- arch was ever honored by a funeral like this ?- Allen.
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should produce war with the English who were settling the country below the mountains.
" Zinzendorf was alone in his tent, seated upon a bun- dle of dry weeds, which composed his bed, and engaged in writing, when the assassins approached to execute their bloody mission. It was night, and the cool air of Sep- tember had rendered a small fire necessary to his comfort and convenience. A curtain formed of a blanket and hung upon pins was the only guard to the entrance of his tent. The heat of his small fire had roused a large rattlesnake which lay in the weeds not far from it; and the reptile, to enjoy it more effectually, crawled slowly into the tent and passed over one of his legs undis- covered. Without, all was still and quiet, except the gentle murmur of the river at the rapids, a mile below. At this moment, the Indians softly approached the door of his tent, and slightly removed the curtain, contem- plated the venerable man too deeply engaged in the subject of his thoughts to notice either their approach, or the snake which lay extended before him. At a sight like this, even the heart of the savage shrunk from the idea of committing so horrid an act, and quitting the spot, they hastily returned to the town and informed their companions that the Great Spirit protected the white man, for they had found him with no door but a blanket, and had seen a large rattlesnake crawl over his legs without attempting to injure him. This circum- stance, together with the arrival soon afterwards of Conrad Weiser, procured Zinzendorf the friendship and confidence of the Indians."" After spending twenty days at Wyoming, he returned to Bethlehem.
The Indians had been so repeatedly duped that their suspicions were nearly as often excited as those of the
*Chapman's His. of Wyoming.
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whites against their own brethren; however, with this difference, that in both cases under consideration there was no cause at all for these suspicions. The inoffensive Count, as well as the inoffensive Mennonite and Ger- mans, had the singular fortune to be noticed "with green eyes."
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