USA > Pennsylvania > Lancaster County > History of Lancaster and York Counties > Part 48
USA > Pennsylvania > York County > History of Lancaster and York Counties > Part 48
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Regimental Orders-Fifth Regiment. " BALTIMORE, Sept. 20, 1814.
"Captain Spangler's company of York Volunteers having permission to return to their respective homes, the lieutenant colonel cannot permit them to depart without thanking them for their soldier-like and orderly conduct. The few days- they were attached to the 5th regiment, was a momentous period of trial-they not only had to face the dangers of? battle, but to bear the inclemencies of weather and suffer all: the inconveniencies of fatigue, watching and hunger to which: the soldier is liable in the hour of alarm-those were met and borne by them with a manly fortitude, which does them honor and entitles them to the gratitude of Baltimore, and
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
particularly to the friendship and esteem of the officers and men of the 5th regiment, which are thus publicly and cheer- fully accorded to them.
"The following is a list of the officers and men composing the company of "York Volunteers," when that company marched from York on the invasion of Baltimore-August 29, 1814 :
Michael H. Spangler, Captain.
Jacob Barnitz, First Lieutenant.
John M'Curdy, Second Lieutenant.
George F. Doll, Ensign.
MUSICIANS .- John A. Leitner, Daniel Small, G. P. Kurtz.
NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS .- John Hay, Adam King, Joseph Schall, David Wilson, Charles Kurtz, Michael Hahn, John Kuntz, Daniel Updegraff.
PRIVATES .- Peter Lanius, Henry Sleeger, James Gibson, G, W. Spangler, Hugh Ingram, John Brickel, Thos. Mil- ler, Jacob Lehman, Jacob Wiesenthal, Jacob Frey, George Dunn, John M'Clean, George Holter, George Reisinger, Michael Miller, John Devine, John M'Anulty, John/Sinn, Anthony T. Burns, Jacob Gartner, Peter O'Conner, Chas. Stroman, Enoch Thompson, Henry Wolf, David Hoffart, Richard Coody, James Dugan, Andrew Kauffman, Charles Stuck, Hugh Stewart, Jacob Lottman, Sacob Sheffer, Pe- ter Siers, Jacob Reisinger, William Burns, Jacob Glessner, Emanuel Raab, Jacob Rupp, Grafton Duvall, Samuel Hays, George Beard, George Brickel, Christian Eshbach, Joseph Kerr, John Taylor, John Byron, Daniel Coyle, Jac. Herbst, Peter Grimes, Hugh M'Cosker, Abraham Keller, Henry Mundorff, G. M. Leitner, Walter Bull, William Nes, Dan- iel Heckert, James S. Connellee, David Trimble, J. W. Al- temus, Thomas Thompson, Chester Smith, E. W. Murphy, Robert Pierson, Daniel Baumgardner, Frederick Witz, Fre- derick Kercher, Jacob Noell, George Ilgenfritz, Geo. Laub,
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
Joseph Woodyear, Joseph M'Conniken, John Fisher, John Giesy, Jacob Levan, Jacob Stæhr, Peter Cooker, Hugh M'Lear, sen., Hugh M'Alear, jun,, David Kauffman, Wil- liam Warson, Dennis Kearney, Aaron Holt.
"Of the members of the above company, only about twen- ty-five are now (1834) living. The arduous duty performed at Baltimore, and the exposure to a number of damp and cold nights in September, to which many of them were un- accustomed, we have no doubt implanted in their systems the germs of diseases, by which they were afterwards hur- ried to their graves. Their gallant captain died on Sunday, the 7th of September, 1834, and was attended to his grave on the following morning Tuesday by a vast concourse of mourning relatives and friends, by the officers of the 94th Regiment, Pennsylvania Militia, by the survivors of the "York Volunteers," and by the following companies, "Wash- ington Artillerists," " Pennsylvania Volunteers," "Citizen Guards," National Grays," and "York Rangers."
The Codorus had risen several times, since the organiza- tion of York county, so high as to cause considerable de- struction of property. The flood of March, 1784, denom- inated the "Ice Flood," and the flood of October, 1786, did considerable damage; but neither of these was so destruc- tive as the flood of 1817, when the water had risen a fathom higher than it had risen in '86.
"On Friday, August 8th, 1817, at 10 o'clock in the evening, clouds dark and blue were seen lowering, which was succeeded by a gentle rain. At midnight the rain in- creased; and by one it poured down in torrents, accompa- nied wich considerable wind. The storm continued till nearly 1 o'clock, on Saturday, P. M., when the sky became on a sudden, clear." The gloom of feeling caused by the unusual and incessant storm, had indeed caused some melan- choly forebodings; but all heaviness of soul was dissipated
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
by the view of a sky again clear and serene. Every where there was cheerfulness, without a dream of the approach of langer.
" By the rain, the Codorus had swollen beyond its banks. In the strength of its course, it swept away the large wood- en bridge, which connected George street with the York Haven Turnpike Road. The destruction of the bridge, however, did not excite the fears of the inhabitants. Many of them were amused at the novel sight of a bridge moving off with the current.
" The water, in the meantime, was rising rapidly-it soon covered Main street, from above Water street, on the east- ern to Newberry street, on the western side of the creek. The people now removed from the lower stories of their houses ; but no one foreboded the approach of disaster.
"At length news arrived that the large dam at Spring · Forge, on the Codorns, some miles above York, had yielded to the fury of the waters. This intelligence was communi- cated to the people who lived west of the creek, and imme- diately beyond the stone bridge in Main street. They were advised to save themselves by going to some place of secu- rity, while the water might yet be waded. They appre- hended, however, no danger, supposing that their houses would save them-and, consequently, they did not remove.
" The waters of the Spring Forge dam, and of the other dams above York, broken by the discharged fury of the first, came now foaming, rolling, roaring on, acquiring new strength as they progressed, and sweeping down every thing in their course, until finally lost in the Susquehanna. Be- fore the creek, however, had arisen to the fullness of its fearful height, Col. Michael H. Spangler, first, with a horse, and afterwards with a boat, removed many people from their houses, thereby saving them, most probably, from a death amid the waters. At one time there were eight persons at-
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
tached to the boat, so that it was almost impossible to make it move over the waves. A few minutes more, and it would have been too late to have saved these beings from the fury of a merciless element.
" The water had now risen so high, that communication between the people in their houses, and those on the shores, became impossible. As the danger of removing was greater than that of remaining, those who were exposed were obliged to continue where they were, each seeming affixed to the spot, fearing each moment, that in the next, they should be precipitated in the flood.
"The torrent now rolled through the streets of York, as though the fountains of the great deep had been broken up. The Codorus had swollen into a mighty river-it was from a quarter to a half mile wide, and deep enough to float the proudest war-ship that rides the ocean. On came the tor- rent, bearing on its broad bosom trophies of the ruin and destruction it had already spread throughout the region of its march. Bridges, the wood-work of dams, mills, houses, barns, stables, &c .. from the country above, all, in rapid succession, came floating through the town.
" House after house either rose on the water and was borne off, or was undermined and sunk beneath the waves. As the small and less strong houses were most exposed to danger, their inhabitants betook themselves to those which were more fortified against the element. Many beat holes from room to room, thereby ascending to the tops of their dwellings: and then, by jumping from roof to roof, they escaped. In some instances, the houses deserted were swept away in less than a minute from the time they were left.
"The houses in which the people mostly collected for safety, were Mrs. Margaret Doudle's, Jesse Spangler's and Jesse Love's. There were eight persons saved in Mrs. Doudle's house; six in Mr. Spangler's; and between twen-
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
ty-five and thirty in Mr. Love's. The people in these hou- ses remained for nearly four hours in continued expectation of instant death ; for the houses stood in the midst of a cur- rent which was on all sides overthrowing buildings appar- ently as firm as they. These houses, with several others, were watched from the shore with a breathless anxiety ; but though one corner after another had given, or was giving way, yet enough remained to secure the lives of those who were in them and upon them.
" Helpless relatives and friends were seen extending their arms from roofs and windows for assistance, expecting that the house which sustained them, would instantly yield be- neath them, or float down the torrent. The cries of the the living and dying were heard on all sides ; and every one was taking, in breathless agony, a last look at some dear object of affection.
"It would be a labor almost endless to recount all the hair-breadth escapes, and to detail every deed of individual prowess, for which this day will long be mentioned with a melancholy and a tearful recollection. Every thing which human power could effect, was done to aid and to save .- There were a few men whose exertions on this occasion en- titles them to honorable notice. Messrs. Penrose Robinson and John Wolf secured two coloured people who were floa- ting down the torrent on the roof of a house, at the risk of their own lives. Messrs. Seacrist, Eichelberger, Leitner, Cookes, Hart, Doughen, Detterman, and John Miller exer- ted themselves in boats, like heroes, fearless of the waves, and despising danger.
" There were ten persons who lost their lives by this flood ; they were Mr. Hugh Cunningham and lady, Mr. Daniel Updegraff (formerly editor of a paper entitled "The Expositor") Master Samuel Eichelberger, (son of Martin Eichelberger,) aged about fifteen years, a Miss Colvin of 13*
Y
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
York county, a child of Mr. John F. Williams, aged about two years; and four persons of colour.
"Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham, and Samuel Eichelberger were found in one and the same room, lying dead side by side. They were in part of Mr. Clellan's house, which was lodged a few perches from the channel against a tree. Out of this house, Mr. McClellan had been taken but a few min- utes before it was carried away. Mr. Joseph Wren, a sol- dier of the revolution, was found alive in the garret of the same house. Mrs. Williams' child was thrown from its cradle in sight of its mother, who was herself saved with difficulty.
" The following is a list of most of the buildings that were ruined or carried off by the flood, between Water and New- berry streets.
Michael Doudel's large currying "shop, tan house, &c., and his stock of hides and leather, all swept away. Jacob Barnitz's stone brewery destroyed. Samuel Welsh's brick brewery (with all its contents) nail-factory, and out-houses, carried off; and the brick dwelling house much injured .-. Jesse Spangler's hatter shop, stable, and out-houses destroy- ed; and his dwelling house, (occupied by him as a tavern) ruined. Mr. Schlosser's brick dwelling house, stable, and out-house destroyed. Joseph Morris' kitchen, stable, and out-houses destroyed ; his dwelling house greatly injured. Mrs. Morris' stable and out-houses destroyed; dwelling house injured. 3 Mr. Hantz's tavern, (occupied by Thomas Smith) stable, sheds, and out-houses carried off: the tavern and back-building all of brick, nearly ruined. Peter Ruhl's dwelling house, kitchen, and stable carried off. John F. Williams' brick grocery store, brick kitchen, stable, and out-houses destroyed : dwelling house ruined. Alexander Underwood's kitchen, stable, and out-houses destroyed : dwelling house very much injured. Messrs. Jessop's and
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
Davis's jeweller's shop carried off. Jonathan Jessop's cot- ton ware-house, with a large quantity of cotton ; his stables, and out-houses, all carried off. John Elgar's nail-factory, stable, and out-houses destroyed ; dwelling house greatly injured. George Rothrock's stables and out-houses destroy- ed. Mr. Lanius' stable and_ out-houses destroyed. Mar- tin Spangler's tan-house, two other houses, and stable de- stroyed; dwelling house injured. Jacob Smyser's tan-house &c., destroyed.
Mr. Inglefritz's stable was carried off. Mr. Jacob Gard- ner's tan-house, bark-house, barn, &c., carried off; dwelling house injured. Israel Gardner's new two-story brick house (occupied by George Lauman) with all its contents carried off : back buildings injured. Thomas Owing's back-build- ing and stable carried off; dwelling house ruined. John Love's tan-house, bark-house, stable, &c., carried off. The Rev. Michael Dunn's stable and out-houses carried off ; dwelling house injured. Weirich Bentz's two dwelling hou- ses, stables, and out-houses carried off. Mrs. Margaret Doudel's tan-house aud out-houses carried off: her large and strong two-story brick dwelling house very much inju- red by the falling in of the whole west gable end. Mrs. Rummel's stable, and Mr. Carnan's stable carried off. Mr. Behler's log-house and still-house in Water street carried off.
Mr. Siechrist's shed full of bricks carried off the whole of the curtain and wing walls of the stone bridge in High street broken down. In most of these cases the buildings and improvements were either entirely carried off, or were so much injured as to be incapable of repair.
" The tenants who suffered, and who mostly lost their all, were Martin Eichelberger, Mrs. M'Clellan, G. K. Kane, Samuel Hartman, George Lauman, Abner Thomas, and se- veral others.
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
" One account of the flood says, that 'seven tan yards, two taverns, three stores, two breweries, one candle and soap factory, one whip factory, two nail factories, one jeweller's shop, one coppersmith's shop, and several other shops, be- sides other buildings ; in all, fifty-four buildings were de- stroyed.' The same account says, 'The expanse of several miles of water below the town was covered with ruins :--- Roofs floating down with people on them, reaching and cry- ing for assistance; stables with dogs, fowls, and other do- mestic animals ; wrecks covered with tables, beds, bedsteads, chairs, desks, bureaus, clocks and clock cases, trunks, cra- dles, sideboards, and many other articles, both of furniture and clothing, dry goods and groceries, barrels, hogsheads, timber and mill-wheels, trees, wheat and rye sheaves, corn, oats, fences, &c., all passing along with lifeless bodies, down the torrent. In the country there was great distress. The saw-mill of J. P. King was carried away. A house occu- pied by Samuel Boyer, who lived at King's paper mill, was swept off, and with it went every thing Mr. Boyer had, ex- cept the clothes on his back. The bridges on the Baltimore road were broken down ; the stage was unable to travel the road on Monday. The large bridge over the Conewago, on the York Haven road, was destroyed. And so of a thou- sand other things.'
Another account says, "all the barns, stables, and out- houses, with one or two exceptions, from the creek to New- bury street, were carried away. The buildings swept away or injured, such as dwelling houses, barns, stables and work- shops, could not be far from one hundred."
"It is estimated that the damage done to York and its immediate vicinity, amounted to more than two hundred thousand dollars. Nearly fifty families were nearly ruined. In short, many people worth from one to seven thousand
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
dollars on Saturday morning, were in a few hours reduced to poverty.
"As this great and awful inundation was a cause not of private calamities only, but of losses of a public nature, ap- plication was made to the legislature of the state for relief That body, at their first session after the flood, granted (on 13th Feb., 1818,) the sum of 5000 dollars to the commis- sioners of the county, to be applied in building and repair- ing the public bridges which had been destroyed or injured; and likewise the sum of 1000 dollars to the burgesses of York, to be applied in repairing the public streets of the borough.
In the year 1822, York suffered from another flood. A snow of between fifteen and eighteen inches deep, fell on the 18th of February. On the evening of the 20th, a south wind arose, accompanied with heavy rain; the snow dis- solved with unexampled rapidity; and on the 21st, the Co- dorus was swollen to a river. The water was within four feet and four inches of being as high as on the memorable 9th of August, 1817. From the vast quantity of floating ice, the flood was very destructive to bridges, mill-dams, &c., &c.
In particular, it may be mentioned that three arches of the bridge in Main street, York, and five arches of the new stone bridge over Conewago, at Berlin, were thrown down by the ice, &c., the bridges being thereby destroyed.
The following is an account of the principal sufferers in York borough:
The tannery of Michael Doudle was much injured-he lost, moreover, a shop, and a considerable quantity of hides and leather. The dwelling house and brew house of Sam- uel Welsh were much injured: he lost a frame storehouse. Jacob Schlosser lost his still house and distillery. The sta-
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
. bles of Jesse Spangler, of Joseph Morris, Esq., and of An- drew Newman were carried off. Jacob Siechrist sustained considerable loss in his brick-yard.
Though this flood did much damage, and was well an object of terror, yet the remembrance of it loses much of its interest, and its dread, on account of the greater power and far more destructive consequences of its predecessor.
The last flood spoken of, was followed by a very remark- able drought.
" Persons who had lived nearly a century, had witnessed nothing like the great drought of 1822. There was no rain of any consequence from the 21st of February, the time of the flood, until some time in September-a period of about six months. Fountains which had been considered as pe- rennial, were dried up. Grinding was not done at one mill out of ten;, and where grinding was done, the demand for flour was not supplied. Many farmers went twenty miles to mill, and then were obliged to return with a quantity of flour not sufficient to satisfy immediate want.
An account of the drought, written the 13th of August, says, " The summer crops have almost totally failed; some fields will not yield a grain of corn, and the best fields not more than a few bushels to the acre."
Shortly after this there were two showers, which greatly relieved the distress of the country-the one fell on the 23d, and on the other on the 24th of August. The showers, however, did not extend to the north-western part of the county, where the distress, arising from the drought, was still excessive. As a proof that the scarcity of water, at this time, was unparalleled, it may be mentioned, that on the 13th of September, 1822, there was not a drop of water to be seen in the channel of the Big Conewago, at the place where the bridge is thrown across it, on the road to Carlisle
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
road. At low water mark, the stream is generally from 90 to 120 feet wide."
The year 1830 is remarkable in the annals of this county for a great storm of wind.
On the 18th of May, 1830, a storm visited the neighbor- hood of York, and brought with a number of Ducks of a peculiar kind, heretofore unknown, and none like them ever seen by any of the oldest inhabitants.
These beautiful little animals, it is possible were on their way to the north lakes, the place of resort in their flights. The storm being sudden and very heavy, brought many of them to the ground, and next morning were taken by the people in this place and neighborhood. About four miles from York, a number of the same kind were taken.
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HISTORY OF' YORK COUNTY.
CHAPTER X.
Education-Schools among the first settlers-Luther's views of schools-Systematic effort to establish schools-Schools patronised by the English and Quakers-Penn's views of the importance of education-York County Academy-Theological Seminary at York -Present state of education-Common schools, &c .- Note-Scheme of educating Germans, and others, in 1755.
Common Schools were encouraged as a matter of course, as soon as the first settlers had opened a field or two, erect- ed a few houses, and made other correspondent improve- ments. The early custom of the Germans was to have a ' person employed who discharged both the duties of the School master and partly that of the minister. Many of the first German settlers in Pennsylvania brought with them their school masters and ministers.
Common Schools, however, were few in number in this county, especially among the Germans before the arrival of the Rev. Muhlenberg in 1742, and the Rev. Michael Schlat- ter in 1746. It was the unceasing efforts of these fathers of the German churches; the former of the Lutheran, the latter of the German Reformed, to establish schools in con- nection with all the churches. They, like all great refor- mers, appreciated, and will ever appreciate, the importance of common schools. Luther-the immortal Luther-when speaking of schools and school masters, used the following emphatic language :
Die Schulen sind kleine, doch sehr nuetzliche Concilien und die edelsten Kleinode der Kirche; und die Lehre dersel-
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
ben ein koestliches Amt und Werk. Ich wollte das keiner zu einem Prediger erwaehlt wuerde, er haette sich denn Schon mit dem Unterricht der Kinder beschaeftiget. Wer dem Teufel in seinem Reiche einen Schaden zufuegen will, der ihn recht beisse, der mach sich an die Jugend und Kin- der, und suche bey ihnen einen Grund zu legen, der fuer und fuer bleibe.
No systematic efforts were made to improve the schools among the Germans, in Pennsylvania, till after 1751, when on the representation of Michael Schlatter, who had been some time in Pennsylvania, to the churches of Holland. A scheme was started by a society of noblemen of Europe, for the instruction of Germans and their descendants in Penn- sylvania. These foreign gentlemen "were truly concerned to find that any of their fellow subjects, in part of the Brit- ish dominions, were not fully provided with the means of knowledge and salvation. They considered it a matter of the greatest importance to the cause of christianity in gene- ral, and the protestant interest in particular, not to neglect such a vast body of useful people, situated in a dark, barren region, with almost none to protect them, or their helpless children, who are coming forth in multitudes, and exposed an easy prey to the total ignorance of their savage neigh- bors on the one hand, and the corruption of their Jesuitical enemies, on whom they bordered, on the other hand ; and of whom there were always, perhaps, too many mixed among them. Moved by these interesting considerations, these no- blemen and others, did accordingly take the good design into their immediate protection, and formed themselves into a so- ciety for the effectual management of carrying out the scheme ef instructing the Germans .- [See the close of this chapter.]
Schools were subsequently organized at Reading, Tulpe- hocken, York, Lancaster, Easton, &c., under the direction of the Rev. Michael Schlatter, as Visitor or Supervisor Ge-
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
neral of the schools; but met with little or no success, at least not commensurate with the importance of the enterprize. The designing-these are always to be found-persuaded the more ignorant, that it was a scheme gotten up to enslave them! The scheme for, and its effects upon those whom it was intended to benefit, evanesced, The consequence was, that schools were still few till about the time when the Lu- theran and German Reformed congregations were more per- manently organized, through the efforts of the Reverends Muhlenberg, Schlatter, and their coadjutors.
The English portion, especially their Friends or Quakers, had good common schools among them from their first set- tling in this county. This class of community always patron- ised and cherished schools, and education in general. The founder of this great State was a Friend, as well as a pa- tron of learning; he deemed education as indispensable among all classes, to secure, enjoy, and perpetuate the bless- ings of civil and religious liberty; and his views have ever been held as sound among the Friends. To show to some extent what these views are, an extract or two is presented from Penn's writings:
"Nothing weakens kingdoms like vice; it does not only disease Heaven, but disable them;"-" It is our interest to be good, and it is none of the least arguments for religion, that the piety and practice of it is the peace and prosperity of government; and consequently that vice, the enemy of religion, is, at the same time, the enemy of human society. What, then, could be more concerned for the preservation of virtue, than government? that, in its abstract, and true sense is not only founded upon virtue, but without the pre- servation of virtue, it is impossible to maintain the best con- stitution that can be made. And, however some particular men may prosper that are wicked, and some private good men miscarry, in the things of this world, in which sense,
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