USA > Pennsylvania > Lancaster County > History of Lancaster and York Counties > Part 51
USA > Pennsylvania > York County > History of Lancaster and York Counties > Part 51
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The present pastor is the Revd. Wallace.
* The Slate Ridge Church is near the Maryland line.
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
The Hopewell congregation was formed about the year 1760. In 1793, the Hopewell and York congregations were connected. Previous to '93 the Hopewell congregations had pastoral visits from several ministers deputed by the Presbytery.
There is also a congregation at Dillsburg, which has been in existence for many years. Their pastor is the Rev. J. H. Murray.
EPISCOPALIANS .- It appears that about the year 1760, "divine service had been performed, in York, according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England, and that preparatory measures were taken about the year 1765, for the erection of a house of worship by the Protestant Epis- copalians ; in that year Thomas Minshall was appointed to make arrangement towards building a church. In 1776, the Revd. Doctor Peters obtained, upon application to the proprietors, a lot of ground in York, for the site of a church and burial ground. The warrant for the lot was granted to Samuel Johnston, Thomas Minshall, and Joseph Aldum, trustees for the congregation. After various efforts, they succeeded in completing the building. u
A number of divines of the Episcopal church visited the congregation at this place ; among others of distinction, was the Rev. John Andrews, one of the missionaries in York and Cumberland counties, from the society for the propagation of the gospel. The first regular preacher, whose name ap- pears in the church records, was the Rev. Daniel Batwell, a missionary from England; he arrived shortly before the the commencement of the Revolution of '76. His opinion illy according with those imbibed by the Whigs, subjected him to some carceral inconveniences. He had leave given him to return to England, The church stood vacant ; or,
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
in other words, no church service was had in it for a space of five years.
In 1778 or '79, the Revd. John Andrews, late Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, came here, and continued to preach, rising a year ; after which the church was.vacant till 1784, when, July 6, the Revd. John Campbell took charge of the congregation, and remained till 1804. There was again a vacancy till April, 1810, when the Revd. John Armstrong became the regular minister, and remained till 1818. The Revd. Grandison Aisquith succeeded Mr. Arm- strong ; he, however, remained but one year.
In 1821, the Revd. Geo. B. Shaeffer was elected minis- ter, and entered upon the discharge of his pastoral duties ; but continued only a little more than a year ; when, in June, 1823, he was succeeded by the Revd. Charles Williams. After nearly two years labor here-being then elected Pre- sident of Baltimore College, in 1825-he left York, and was succeeded by the Revd. R. D. Hall, in 1826. Hall's suc- cessor was the Revd. S. V. E. Thorn, of Carlisle; he, how- ever, never located in York, but continued to reside at Car- lisle, and visited this congregation, statedly, every other Sabbath. Mr. Thorn resigned the charge of the congrega- tion in 1831.
THE MORAVIANS .- The Moravians, as early as 1744, made attempts to preach the gospel in this county. Sev- eral missionaries labored here, namely the Revd. Jacob Lischy, in 1744; and the Revd. Lawrence Thorstansson Nyberg; and in 1751, the Revd. John Philip Meurer, was appointed the first regular minister to labor at York, while another, whose name is not given, resided in Codorus town. ship.
. "The meetings for divine service were held in a private
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
house, until 1755, when a stone building was erected in the out-skirts of the town, on the banks of the Codorus, con- taining both a dwelling for the minister and a place of wor- ship. The latter was consecrated Dec. 21, 1755. This building is now occupied as a parsonage and school room. The present church was erected and consecrated in 1828.
The Moravians here had rising of twenty different pas- tors, since 1751, the time of the Revd. Meuer-these were the Revds. Engel, Neisser, Soelle, Schlegel, Schmidt, Herr, Lindenmeyer, Krogstrup, Schweisshaupt, Roth, Reinke, Huebner, Bochler, Molther, Beck, Rondthaler, Miller, Loeffler, Kluge,"Dober, Van Vleck, Lennert.
THE GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS .- The Sieben Taeger as they are commonly called have for their founder Conrad Beissel, who had seceded from the German Baptists about the year 1724, 'and in 1728, he and those associated with him, adopted the original Sabbath-the seventh day or Saturday-for public worship ; which has ever since been observed by the sect.
Conrad Beissel founded a monastic society, in 1732, at Ephrata, Lancaster county. This society was in a flowing condition for a number of years.
As early as 1758, there was a branch of the original society established at the Bermudian creek, in York county ; about fifteen miles from the borough of York. The leading members here were Frederick Reider, Jacob Kimmel, Mi- chael Kimmel, Joel Kimmel, John Meily, Samuel Fahne- stock, Daniel Fahnestock, Boreas Fahnestock, and others. Some few members still reside in the neighborhood of the place, (at East Berlin,) but they have been without preach- ing for many years. Those that remain, usually attend once a year, an Allgemeine Versammlung, or General Meeting,
* He Pasa Ekklesia, pp. 98, 111.
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
held at Snow Hill, in Franklin county. [See pages 211, 220.
CATHOLICS .- In the year 1776, Joseph Smith purchased a lot, with a house, in the borough of York, and conveyed the same, gratuitously, to the Catholics. This house was their chapel till 1810, when the present chapel was erected.
For many years they had no stated priest among them here-they were supplied from the Conewago settlement of Catholics, till 1819, when the Revd. Lawrence Huber lo- cated here, and staid six months. The second was the Revd. George D. Hogan, who came here in 1820. The third one was the Revd. P. J. Dween, who remained from 1822, till the day of his death.
The Catholics, recently, built a magnificent chapel at the west end of York county. The Rev. Sacce officiates there.
METHODISTS .- Some time in 1781, the well known Free- born Garretson visited York county, and preached, January 24, 1781, near York, at Worley's tavern, where " the first conversion to Methodism, in York county, was made." From that time onward, Methodism moved gradually along for some years, till a considerable society has been organized, who met at private dwellings, from time to time, till they succeeded in erecting a church for public worship. From 1781 to 1819, little is recorded of their progress. In the latter year, the Revd. Andrew Hemphill was stationed at York. The congregation then numbered about one hundred and ten white, and ten or twelve colored members. In 1821 the Revd. William Prettyman succeeded the Revd. Hemp- hill. In 1822 the Revd. Vinton was stationed at York, and · the Rev. Tobias Reily was placed on the York circuit. In 1823 the Rev. Larkin was stationed here; and in 1824 the
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
Rev. Basil Barry. In 1827 the Revd. Hemphill succeeded Barry. In 1829 the Revd. Henry Smith, and the Revd. James Brunt, were at the York station. In 1830, Smith was here alone. The Revd. John A. Gere supplied this station in 1831 and '32. In 1833 and '34, the Revd. Ed- ward Smith took charge of this station.
EVANGELICALS .- This sect, sometimes called Albrechts Leute, after the founder of this association, Jacob Albrecht, is of comparative recent origin. This denomination took its rise about the year 1800. The conspicuous ministers who were most active, when this society was in its infancy were the Revds. Jacob Albrecht, John Walker and George Miller, and of a later date the Revd. Adam Ettinger, who labored most faithfully for many years in York county, to promulgate the doctrines held by the Evangelical Associa- tion. A number of societies have been found, in this coun- ty within the last thirty years ; and several churches have been erected by them, and within the last three years, one in the borough of York. This sect like many of the modern ones manifest a commendable zeal in spread of their views; requiring as they do, of their ministers, some educational qualifications for the ministry.
BAPTISTS .- There is but one church of this denomination in York county-The house of worship is located in Dover township. It is known by the name of the "Dover Baptist Church." Most of the members live contiguous to the Co- newago creek.
The following from the pen of the Revd. J. Y. Allison, V. D. M. is the history and condition of the church.
" About the close of the eighteenth century, a few per- sons residing in that neighborhood, who believed they had experienced a change of heart, embraced the doctrine that
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HISTORY OF, YORK. COUNTY.
the immersion of a believer in water was necessary to con- stitute Christian baptism, and wrote to the Vincent Baptist Church, of Chester county, desiring that church to send a person properly qualified to baptize them. The request was granted, and about six or eight persons yielded obedience to the divine command, requiring them to be baptized in the name of the triune God. Not long afterwards, another minister of the Gospel visited the place and baptized a few others, and in the year 1804, those baptized, numbering ten or twelve persons, were duly constituted a church of God, denominated the Dover Baptist Church.
This church has never enjoyed pastoral labor, with the exception of four years. The remaining thirty-eight years of its existence it has been visited occasionally by ministers of the Gospel, but not so often as once a year. At one time this body was quite large but now numbers only twenty-six members.
Among the constituent members were several persons by the name of Davis. On the present list of names are Gun- kels, Lairds, Spanglers, Grays, &c.
Arrangements are now being made by which Rev. Henry Essick, pastor of the Newtown Baptist Church, Delaware county, will remove to Dover, to preach the gospel there, and elsewhere in York county, under whose faithful labors, rendered efficient by the blessing of God, it is hoped the cause will be extended."
Note .- Among the first members of this church were Moses Davis, Susanna Davis, Anna Davis, William Smith, Sarah Smith, Phebe Hawk, William Laird, Anne Bear, Catharine Laird.
CHURCH OF GOD .- Sometime in 1830 the Revd. John Winebrenner, and the Revd. John Elliot, of Lancaster, and others, met in Harrisburg ; and after some preliminary mea-
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
sures had been agreed upon by them, organized an asso- ciation, holding, as a sect, sentiments, and observing prac- tices, different from many of the orthodox denominations of the present day,-assuming the distinctive name of " The Church of God"-discarding the' name of the founder, or founders of the association.
The Rev. John Winebrenner was the chief instrument, or means, in establishing this organization ; and hence, accord- ing to usus loquendi, when speaking of the founders of sects, the members of this association are frequently called " Wine- brennerians," a name which is not assumed by them-pre- fering, as they do, to be known by none other than that adopted by the founder of this religious denomination-"The Church of God."
Though this is a comparatively recently organised body, they have the names of some fifty ministers, enrolled in their ecclesiastical records in Pennsylvania- several of whom la- bor in York county, viz: the Rev. Kiester, Maxwell, and others.
GERMAN BAPTISTS .- The German Baptists, or Brethren, took their rise in the year 1708; some of this denomination emigrated to America in 1719, and dispersed themselves in different parts of Pennsylvania, some at Germantown, Skip- pack, Oley, Conestoga, in Lancaster county, and soon after the erection of York, some settled here. At present they are perhaps more numerous in this county than at any other period. As did the apoatles in the primitive ages of the church, so do the Brethren meet for worship in private dwellings.
Among their first ministers in this county, were Fathers Deardorff, Blaeser, and, at present, Heikes, Trimmer, and others. They discard all literary acquirements in their mi-
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
nisters.' Their manner of preaching, is simple and unaf- fected.
.11.
FRIENDS, OR QUAKERS .- When York was first erected, this respectable body of Christians was quite numerous in several sections of the county, however, principally in the north and north-western parts. At present their number is greatly reduced; not numbering, in all, more than from one hundred to one hundred and fifty members in the county.
Those still here, are principally classed as embracing the views of Elias Hicks.
MENNONITES .- At an early period of the first settlements made within the limits of this county, the Mennonites had several houses of public worship ; but, at present, the num- ber of their members is very small, and their places of wor- ship very few. The number of members not exceeding one hundred.
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APPENDIX.
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TOPOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS: COMPRISING A GEOLOGICAL SKETCH OF THE COUNTY; TOPO- GRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWNSHIPS, TOWNS, VILLAGES, AND CENSUS OF EACH OF 1840.
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CHAPTER I.
GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY.
The southern part of the county, according to the Report of the State Geologist's, is occupied chiefly by rocks of stratified primary class, consisting principally of talcose slates with occasional silicious strata, some of which approach the character of sandstone.
In some places are found beds of slate which may be split with great regularity into thin plates, yielding roofing slate of good quality. Extensive quarries of this material are worked in the neighborhood of Peach Bottom .* It also occurs in the slate ridge south of the limestone valley, about six miles east of York.
Near Slate Ridge Church, about four miles west of the Susquehanna river, are two or three belts of serpentine, one of which is crossed by the State line between Pennsylvania and Maryland. This serpentine is accompanied by chlorite slate, containing beautiful octohedral crystals of iron, asbes- tus, actinolite, titaniferous and magnetic iron ore, &c. Red oxide of titannium occurs in several places, but is most abundant near the State line, about nine miles from the river.
Beautiful cubic crystals of sulphuret of iron are found in the slate below Wrightsville, and are common in many other places ; being frequently found loose in the soil and having
15.
. : * See Peach Bottom township.
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
their external surface changed by rust from a bright golden yellow to a brown color. These abound a few miles below York.
Iron ore has been dug near Susan Anna Furnace, thir- teen miles south-east from York ; but it is found of a better quality, eight miles further west-ward near the turnpike road from York to Baltimore. On the canal, above M'Call's Ferry, purple sulphuret and green carbonate of copper oc- cur in the white quartz veins of the slate strata, but from appearances only in a small quantity.
On Cabin branch run, five miles below Wrightsville, is a belt of limestone crossing from Lancaster county and termi- nating in a point a few miles west of the river, being sepa- rated from the limestone formation of York valley, by a slate ridge which extends west-ward from the river below Wrightsville. Near the western termination of this lime- stone is a valuable deposite of iron ore which has been ex- tensively mined for the supply of Margaretta Furnace, in its immediate vicinity. Pursuing the same range further to the west, we find banks of calcareous rock near the York Baltimore turnpike, and a little west of the Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad, ten miles south of York. Here the rock is quarried as a limestone, and though by no means pure, it is valuable for burning into lime for agricultural purposes. From this place it extends west-ward towards the village of Jefferson, being accompanied by iron ore which appears on the surface of the soil.
Extending west-ward from the Susquehanna at Wrights- ville, is a belt ot limestone, occupying the valley between the slate hills on the south, and the sandstones and slates of. Chicques ridge, which crosses the river above Wrights- ville. This limestone stretches west-ward by York, as far as to the Pigeon Hills, where it is divided into two branches; the southern extending south of those hills to Hanover, and
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
thence into Adams county ; while the northern is soon lost beneath the overlying red shales and sandstones north of the Pigeon Hills.
At several places, within its range, this limestone presents beds which are white, flesh colored, and variagated, where a beautiful marble might be obtained, if the strata were sufficiently thick and compact to afford solid blocks of suffi- cient size, to be profitably worked. Iron ore occurs at several places along the south side of Pigeon Hills, in the neighborhood of Hanover, and between this and Littlestown, in Adams county ; but some of it seems to be of rather in- different quality. A · dike traprock crosses the limestone valley four miles east of York, and another a little west of the borough of York.
The rocks of the Pigeon Hills consist principally of slates and sandstones, forming an elliptical range of elevations that extend from within eight miles of York to the western line of the county. The slate of these hills occasionally contains a green carbonate of copper, and fine specimens of foliated oxide of iron occur in the veins of white quartz, which tra- verse the slate. In the vicinity of Abbottstown, the foliated oxide of iron is abundant, especially near Pigeon Hills.
In the ridge prolonged westward from the Susquehanna, above Wrightsville, there is a hard white sandstone, with accompanying beds of slate, extending on the river from a little above Wrightsville, to the mouth of Codorus creek, above which a small point of limestone crosses the river, from the east side, appearing at the village of New Holland, and terminating a short distance west of the river. The western termination of the sandstone ridge, isa little east of the turnpike from York to Harrisburg.
North of this is a wide extent of the middle, secondary red shales and sandstones, the southern border of which overlaps the limestone at the river, above New Holland, and
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
west of it, rests upon the slate, on the north of the ridge last mentioned, until it reaches the main limestone of the valley, about three miles north of York. Thence ranging south-westward, the red shales and sandstones border upon the limestone, until, at a point about ten miles west from York, they meet the slate on the north side of the Pigeon Hills, and extend along their northern base to the line of Adams county.
The northern border of the red sandstone formation ex- tends to the limestone of Cumberland valley, meeting in an irregular line on the south of Yellow Breeches creek, and in the neighborhood of Lisburn, crossing that stream with Cumberland county. The upper beds of this formation are here marked by their usual conglomorate character, con- taining rounded pebbles of calcareous and silicious rocks .- The red sand stone in many places affords an excellent ma- terial for building, and has been much used for furnace hearths, architectural purposes, locks, aqueducts, bridges, and other uses where cut stone is required.
In the northern part of the county are many hills and ridges of the traprock, some of which are of such elevation as to assume the character of mountains. These are chiefly in the rough and rocky region between Conewago and Yel- low Breeches creek. Magnetic iron ore occurs in several places associated with these rocks ; traces of copper also ap- pear, and the altered shales and sandstones in the vicinity of the trap ridges about Lewisbury and Newberry contain foliated and micaceous oxide of iron, epidote, &c .*
Mineral Deposites .- The following is a list of minerals found in York county.
Quartz is abundant .- There abound hyalin, milky, fer- ruginous, drusy, auriferous, smoky, massive, prase, fetid, resinous, lydienne.
install * Trego's Geog. of Pa., pp. 373, '74.
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HISTORY OF: YORK COUNTY.
Colophonite, garnets, wavelite, chlorite, epidote, pipeclay, haloysit, talc, steatite, amphibole, mica, feldspar.
Carbonate of lime, white, yellow, blue, flesh colored, porphoritic.
Marle, in the vicinity of Dillsburg. (See Carroll town- ship.)
Oxides of iron-Octohedral crystals of, and micacious, magnetic, hoemetitic.
Sulphuret of iron, in various parts of the county.
Copper-native, red, oxide, carbonate, sulphuret.
Gold-native; particles of which have been found, and strong indications of deposites of this mineral in several townships south of the limestone valley. ..
Sulphuret of lead or Galena has been found in small por- tions near the Susquehanna.
Anthracite coal .- A thin layer of coal has been discover- ed in several localities by those who have sunk wells as in East and West Manchester, or in digging cellars, as in Pa- radise township, at Brand's, when digging the foundation for the Catholic church in 1843.
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
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CHAPTER II.
STATISTICS AND TOPOGRAPHY.
York county contains an era of 900 square miles, and about 576,000 acres of cleared and uncleared land, the soil being limestone, slate, gravel, sienite or mountain rock. In 1838, when the agricultural statistics of Pennsylvania were taken, in York county, only eighteen districts out of thirty reported. From that imperfect return, we gather the follow- ing .- There were in 1838, 20,550 acres of limestone land cleared ; 8,050 acres uncleared ; 20,500 slate land cleared, 10,750 uncleared ; 92,650 gravel land cleared, 43,270 un- cleared ; 35,940 sand land cleared ; 20,660 of mountain rock; 10 acres known to contain iron ore .- The whole quantity of cleared land of all kinds 149,680; the whole quantity of uncleared land, but fit for cultivation 47,820 acres ; the whole quantity of uncleared land, unfit for culti- vation, 30,540 acres.
The average value per acre of cleared land $25-of wood- land fit for cultivation $15; of woodland unfit for cultiva- tion $5. The whole value of all the cleared land $3,225,- 110-of all the uncleared land $968,370. The whole num- ber of farms reported 1,984; the average size of each 110 acres ; the whole number of stone farm houses 569; the whole number of brick farm houses 115; of wooden farm houses 1,820; tenant houses 750; stone barns 340; brick barns 18; wooden barns 2,160; acres in wheat 10,360; in
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
rye 18,140 ; in oats 14,500 ; in barley 15 ; in corn 14,350; in clover 10,600; in timothy 5,140 ; acres of natural mea- dow 7,900 ; in potatoes 910; in turnips 15; in buckwheat 1,300 ; in hemp 10; in flax 80; average yield of wheat per acre 14 bushels; rye 12 ; oats 25; barley 20; corn 30; potatoes 150; turnips 120; buckwheat 17; flaxed dressed 175 pounds from the acre.
The whole quantity of lime used as a manure, 55,300 bushels, at 12} cents a bushel; from 60 to 70 were applied to the acre. One thousand six hundred and twenty tons of plaster were sowed in 1838.
It had in 1840, four furnaces, which produced five thou- sand one hundred and thirteen tons of iron; four forges, produced one thousand one hundred and eigheeen tons of bar iron; the furnaces and forges consumed fifteen thousand, two hundred tons of fuel, and gave employment, including mining operations, to three hundred and eight hands. The capital invested in the iron operations, amounted to seventy- four thousand dollars. The estimated value produced by mines $2,500, employed twelve men, capital invested in mining, $1,000.
The value of lime and other stone, valued at $6,300 ; em- ployed twenty-two hands; capital invested $5,100.
The number of horses was twelve thousand six hundred and seventy-three; thirty-four thousand, four hundred and twenty-five cattle; thirty-six thousand, three hundred and forty-seven sheep; fifty-six thousand, two hundred and nine- ty-seven swine ; poultry of all kinds estimated at $19,920; three hundred, fifty-seven thousand, five hundred and fifteen bushels of wheat were raised ; one thousand seven hundred and fourteen bushels of barley ; five hundred, ninety-seven thousand, one hundred and forty-four bushels of oats; three hundred, sixty-three thousand, eight hundred and eighty-six bushels of rye; twelve thousand, nine hundred and ninety
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.
bushels of buckwheat, six hundred thousand bushels of In- dian corn; fifty-six thousand, nine hundred and thirty-one pounds of wool; one thousand seven hundred and thirty pounds of hops; one hundred and seventy-three thousand bushels of potatoes ; there were made thirty-eight thousand tons of hay; twelve tons of hemp and flax were raised; one hundred and sixty-three pounds of tobacco gathered; one hundred and seventy-nine pounds of silk cocoons; nine thou- sand and seventy-two cords of wood were sold ; the pro- ducts of the orchard $13,044; one hundred and fifty-five gallons of wine were made. The value of home made goods was estimated $30,946.
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