History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Part 47

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868- ed; John, J. J., 1829-
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, Brown, Runk
Number of Pages: 1424

USA > Pennsylvania > Northumberland County > History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania > Part 47

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

Privates: Henry Allison, Hiram Bird, William Brown, William H. Bowlen, Francis Beers, William Boas, G. N. Carlisle, Thomas Curtin, Nicholas Curren, William Carlin, John Clifford, John Curtis, Lewis Cham- berlain, Adam Derke, Thomas S. Dewees, John Donor, Michael Dooly, Joseph B. Eaton, Matthias Emes, William Eadie, William Early, William H. Gilger, J. B. Getter, Jesse Gensel, August Helt, Jacob Hess, Ephraim Hen- ninger, William Humes, Isaiah Hower, J. P. M. Haas, Isaac Haas, David Hine, Solomon Hill, Henry Irich, Jesse J. John, Robert Jones, William Jones, George D. John, William Kissinger, Joseph Kopp, Isaac Keiser, Frederick Kaseman, John R. Lake, Withington Lake, George Lebig, William Lebig, Charles Lebig, Michael McCarty, Ebenezer Matthews, George Madara, George W. Miller, Francis Moore, Henry Neihoff, John Rooch,

441

THE CIVIL WAR.

Jeremiah Rotharmel, John Rupp, Daniel Rupp, Thomas Reese, John E. Reese, Isaac Roup, Edward Stillwagner, Jacob Stillwagner, William Still- wagner, Daniel Stahler, John Strickland, John Sterrit, Jacob Treibly, Samuel Tiley, Jacob Tiley, John Tiley, Francis Tobey, Michael Tonney, Daniel Unger, John Vanzant, David Weaver, Elias Wagner, William E. Walter, Lucius Wynn.

Company I, Thirty-seventh Regiment, mustered in, July 1-15, 1863, and discharged, August 2-4, 1863, was composed as follows :-

Captain, William H. Wolfe.

First Lieutenant, John Peterman.

Second Lieutenant, Joseph R. Bright.

Sergeants: Henry J. Heinen, John H. Easton, Samuel Logan, William Gibson, Curran Cahill.

Corporals: William A. Runkle, Robert M. Longmore, Isaac Stadden, James Burnman, Robert Wilson, Samuel M. Miller, Milton Overpeck, Will- iam K. Wertman.

Musicians: Robert P. Bratton, David Robins.

Privates: John M. Buoy, Adam Batdorf, Daniel Burnman, Samuel Blair, Worthington Blair, John C. Balliett, James Bartholomew, Joshua H. Bart- lett, John H. Kreitzer, Charles E. Chase, John A. Christy, Andrew Dotts, Aaron Derr, John E. Eisle, Jacob Freese, William D. Fisher, Jacob F. Gauger, Benjamin F. Gauger, Adam Grassmier, Reuben L. Hatfield, Charles R. Hock, William H. Huth, Julius Hurlinger, John Hill, Samuel Hoagland, Albert Johnson, Ephraim Kram, William Kutz, John W. Lehon, John C. Lunger, James D. Lawrence, Jonathan Marriott, Joel R. Messinger, Joseph Mock, Daniel G. Marsh, Abraham Martz, William H. Marr, Charles C. Mc- Kee, Jacob Noriconk, John Sheets, David F. Speese, Thomas Satteson, Mat- thias Strine, Eli M. Trego, James Tate, John Tate, Samuel Van Buskirk, Morris Van Buskirk, William Walker, George W. Williams, Isaac G. Wolfe, William Weber.

SOLDIERS' MONUMENTS.

Several memorials of this nature attest the gratitude and honor of the citizens of Northumberland county for the services and sacrifices of the soldiers from her territory who lost their lives in the civil war.

The first of these was erected in the year following the close of the war by the survivors of Company C, Forty-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers. It is a modest shaft of marble, located in the old Sunbury cemetery, and was formally dedicated on the 16th of May, 1866, the Masonic fraternity, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, Independent Order of Good Templars, sur- vivors of the war of 1812, borough officers, and fire companies participating in the ceremonies, with John Kay Clement as chief marshal. The Rev. M. Rhodes, D. D., delivered the dedicatory address. The monument is inscribed

442

HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.

with the names of the following deceased comrades: Joseph Smith, Jacob G. Grubb, Peter Swinehart, Alexander Given, Martin Berger, Emanuel Beaver, Emanuel B. Walter, Sr., George Kramer, Jeremiah Haas, James Kennedy, John G. Sterner, George W. Bortle, Theodore Kiehl, George Keiser, John E. Will, James Brown, Jasper B. Gardner, J. Boulton Young, First Sergeant William Fry, Sergeant Peter Haupt, Sergeant William Pyers, Sergeant John Babtlow, George C. Watson, George Horner, Peter Wolf, Seth Deibert. It bears the following inscription :-

This marble is erected by the members of Company C, Forty-seventh Regiment Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers, as a tribute of respect to the memory of the dead of their company who fell in battle, and died from disease, starvation, and ill treatment while in rebel prisons-heroes, who sacrificed their lives that the Union 'might live.

The Shamokin soldiers' monument was dedicated on the 30th of May, 1871; the usual Decoration day observances were conducted, and the oration of the occasion was delivered by the Rev. T. S. Dewing of the Presbyterian church. The monument is thirteen feet high, and fifteen feet above the level of the ground. The base is a solid block of granite from the Gettysburg battlefield, and the sub-base is of American marble, uniform in color and quality with the shaft. The die rests on this, bearing upon the front panel the following inscription :-

Erected Under the auspices of Lincoln Post, No. 140, G. A. R., May 30, 1871.

Above the die is a six-inch molding, surmounted by a plain shaft, orna- mented by a raised shield in front bearing above it the words :-

TO OUR FALLEN HEROES.

The monument occupies a prominent location in the Shamokin cemetery, and is visible from nearly every part of the city. Within the circular inclos- ure that surrounds it are the graves of a number of soldiers.

The Northumberland County Soldiers' Monument Association was organ- ized, May 25, 1872, with the election of the following persons as an executive committee: John J. Smith, Heber Painter, P. H. Moore, A. N. Brice, John Kay Clement, T. S. Shannon, L. M. Yoder, S. H. Knowles, G. B. Cadwal- lader, D. C. Dissinger, H. G. Thatcher, Charles J. Fox, E. M. Bucher, H. F. Mann, and L. H. Kase, of whom Messrs. Smith, Painter, and Moore were presi- dent, secretary, and treasurer, respectively. The association was incorporated by the court of common pleas of Northumberland county, August 5, 1873. On the 4th of July, 1872, the site was marked out at the eastern end of Market square, by Alexander Jordan and Simon Cameron. The corner-stone was laid with the Masonic ritual on Decoration day two years later, May 30,

443

THE CIVIL WAR.

1874, but the completion of the work was delayed from a variety of causes, and it was not until the 4th of July, 1879, that the formal unveiling occurred. On that occasion it is estimated that twelve thousand people were present; there was a grand civic and military parade, in which a delegation from the Seventy-ninth New York Cameronian Volunteers, deputations from posts of the Grand Army of the Republic in neighboring towns, and thirteen fire companies participated; addresses were delivered by John Kay Clement, A. N. Brice, and James A. Beaver; and the monument was unveiled by Gov- ernor Henry M. Hoyt. At that time the officers and members of the associ- ation were as follows: president, John J. Smith; secretary, A. N. Brice; treasurer, P. H. Moore; G. B. Cadwallader, H. F. Mann, John Kay Clement, B. F. Keefer, J. E. Torrington, J. H. McDevitt, John Youngman, Thomas D. Grant, S. J. Packer, Lemuel Shipman, J. E. Eichholtz, E. M. Bucher, J. C. Irvin, H. D. Wharton, C. M. Martin, George E. Hoffman, John H. Heim, H. F. Manges, James D. Smith, D. C. Dissinger, W. C. Packer, and Emanuel Wilvert.

This monument is situated in the eastern part of the inclosed portion of Market square, Sunbury. It rests upon a pedestal, elevated upon a mound of earth, at the outer edge of which are four cannon, the appropriate accom- paniments of a memorial of this character. The names of twelve leading battles in which the troops from this county participated-Petersburg, Will- iamsburg, Wilderness, Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Fair Oaks, Vicksburg, Winchester, Gettysburg, Antietam, and Appomattox-are inscribed upon the shaft. The base bears the following inscriptions :-

Erected to the memory of the gallant soldiers of Northumberland county who fell in the battles of the great Rebellion.

Corner-stone laid, May 30, 1874; Erected, July 4, 1879.

James Cameron, of Northumberland county, Colonel of the Seventy-ninth New York Cameronian Volunteers, fell at the head of his regiment at the battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861, aged sixty-one years.

" Give them the meed they have won in the past; Give them the honors their merits forecast; Give them the chaplets they won in the strife; Give them the laurels they lost with their life."

Colonel James Cameron, the first soldier from Northumberland county to lose his life in the war, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, March 1, 1801, and came to Sunbury with his parents in 1808. Thence the family removed to Lewisburg. After the death of his father he learned the trade of blacksmith; later he became a printer and editor, and published the Political Sentinel at Lancaster; he studied law, was admitted to the bar at Lancaster, and subsequently (August 4, 1851) to the bar of Northumberland county; at one time he was a superintendent on the Philadelphia and Colum- bia railroad; for some years he engaged in agricultural pursuits with profit

444

HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.

and success, and operated several finely improved farms near Milton. He also filled several positions of trust and emolument. When the civil war broke out he was stationed at Sunbury as superintendent of the Northern Central railway, but immediately resolved to enter the military service. He accepted the colonelcy of the Seventy-ninth regiment, Fourth brigade, First division, New York militia, popularly known as the Cameronian Highlanders, and fell at the head of his command while leading a charge at the first battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861. He was the first officer of his rank in the Union army and the first officer from Pennsylvania soil who fell in bat- tle in the civil war.

CHAPTER XIV.

SUNBURY.

THE TOWN PLAT-EARLY RESIDENTS-SUNBURY IN 1808-REMINISCENCES OF DR. R. H. AWL - PROMINENT MERCHANTS, 1772-1850 - EARLY HOTELS - MUNICIPAL ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT-FACILITIES OF TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTA- TION-INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY-BANKING INSTITUTIONS-GAS, ELECTRIC LIGHT, AND WATER COMPANIES-LOCAL PAPERS-THE POSTOFFICE-SECRET AND OTHER SOCIETIES - EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS-CHURCHES - CEMETERIES-BOROUGH OF EAST SUNBURY.

[THE site of Sunbury is an alluvial plain of triangular shape, evidently an island at some former period in it geologieal development and eminently rich in historic interest. At the time when definite knowledge regarding this region begins it was the site of the Indian village of Shamokin and the resi- dence of the great chief Shikellimy. Here the Moravian missionaries preached and taught, and Conrad Weiser met his dusky friends with that simple ingenuousness which formed the strongest element in his diplomacy; and here the provincial government erected Fort Augusta, the most formidable defen- sive work in central Pennsylvania, from which were directed the military move- ments throughout the colonial and Revolutionary periods which form so large a part of the history of the northern frontier during these eventful times. By the census of 1890 the population of the borough was five thou- sand nine hundred thirty.

THE TOWN PLAT.

Pomfret manor, a tract of several thousand acres surveyed for the Pro- prietaries in 1768, originally embraced the town site, which was doubtless selected from pecuniary considerations as well as on account of its natural

445

SUNBURY.

eligibility. The survey of the town was determined upon at a meeting of the Governor and Council on the 16th of June, 1772, when Surveyor General Lukens was directed to repair to Fort Augusta, and, with the assistance of William Maclay, " lay out a town for the county of Northumberland to be called by the name of Sunbury at the most commodious place between the fort and the mouth of Shamokin creek, into three hundred lots to be accom- modated with streets, lanes, and alleys and a commodious square in the most convenient place for public buildings: the two main streets to be eighty feet wide, the others sixty, and the lanes and alleys twenty feet; the lots to be sixty feet wide in front and two hundred thirty feet deep if the ground and situation will conveniently allow that depth. And it is further ordered that a space of at least one hundred twenty feet be left between the town line and the bank of the river: every other lot adjoining the square and fifty commo- dious lots besides to be reserved for the Proprietaries." In compliance with these instructions Mr. Lukens set out for Fort Augusta on the 18th of June, 1772, and the survey was completed in the following month.

In the original town plat the streets extending north and south in order from the river are named Broadway, River, Deer, Fawn, and Short, inter- sected at right angles by Cranberry street, Strawberry alley, Dewberry street, Hulberry alley, Shamokin street, Barberry alley, Blackberry street, Goose- berry alley, Pokeberry street, Raspberry alley, Whortleberry street, Billberry alley, and Elderberry street, in order from the north. For some of these streets popular usage early adopted other names. Broadway became Water street; Penn, Mud street; Spruce, Bullet alley; Third, Back alley; Fourth, Hog street, and Shamokin, Market street. The present system of nomen- clature was established by borough ordinance, June 5, 1866, changing the name of Broadway to Front; of River, to Second; of Deer, to Third; of Fawn, to Fourth; of Short, to Fifth; of Elderberry, to Spruce; of Whortle- berry, to Walnut; of Pokeberry, to Penn; of Blackberry, to Chestnut; of Shamokin, to Market; of Dewberry, to Arch, and of Cranberry, to Race.

The most extensive addition to the original town plat is that part of the borough popularly known as CaRetown. This land also formed part of the manor of Pomfret; it embraced the site of Fort Augusta, and was the resi- dence of Colonel Samuel Hunter until his death, although it does not ap- pear that he ever acquired a proprietary interest. On the 10th of April, 1786, John Penn, Jr., and John Penn executed a conveyance to William Wil- son for three hundred forty-two acres of land, " the same place and tract of land whereon the late Colonel Hunter dwelt and part of the manor of Pom- fret," the consideration being one thousand twenty-six pounds specie. The purchaser was an American officer during the Revolution and associate judge of Northumberland county, 1792-1813; a biographical sketch is given in this work in the chapter on the Bench and Bar. On the 20th of October, 1790, he sold one moiety or undivided half part of this tract to Alexander Hunter;

446

HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.

the other moiety was deeded to Mary Scott, June 17, 1811, at a nominal con- sideration, and from this time (or possibly at an earlier date), the land was known as the Hunter and Scott farms. The latter, embracing one hundred forty acres, adjoined the original northern boundary of Sunbury borough; the former comprised one hundred fifty-three acres.

The upper division, taken in execution as the property of Alexander Hunter at the suit of John Cowden, was sold at sheriff's sale on the 22d of April, 1814, and purchased by Thomas Grant. In compliance with his will, his executors and executrix, George, William, and Deborah Grant, deeded it to Mrs. Nancy Hunter, widow of Alexander Hunter, October 16, 1817. By her will, dated July 26, 1833, Mrs. Nancy Hunter devised the farm to her son, Samuel Hunter. He died in 1852, and by the terms of his will it be- came the property of his sisters, Mary and Nancy Hunter and Elizabeth, wife of Henry Billington. One hundred six acres of this tract eventually came into the exclusive possession of Mary Hunter, by whom it was conveyed to Benjamin Hendricks by deed of August 9, 1859, and on the 25th of June, 1863, it was purchased from Mr. Hendricks by Joseph W. Cake.

Mary Scott died intestate, leaving her estate to her children, Samuel H. Scott, Mrs Sarah Gobin (nee Scott), wife of Charles Gobin, and Susan Scott. Samuel H. Scott also died intestate, leaving his estate to his sisters, Mrs. Sarah Gobin and Susan Scott, who sold the Scott farm to David Longenecker, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, February 4, 1854. It was purchased at sheriff's sale, June 27, 1857, by Joseph S. Silver, of Philadelphia, who deeded it to Francis W. Hughes, of Pottsville, August 28, 1857. It was purchased from Mr. Hughes, August 23, 1859, by Joseph W. Cake.

Having thus secured both the Scott and Hunter farms, Mr. Cake pro- ceeded to lay out the addition that bears his name. It was surveyed in Sep- tember, 1863, by P. W. Sheafer, of Pottsville, Pennsylvania; the principal streets extending east and west are Masser, Greenough, Packer, Amy, Alice, Julia, Joseph, John, and Main, intersected by Fort Augusta avenue and Sus- quehanna, Railroad, Scott, Thompson, and Moorehead streets. Of those last mentioned, however, several have not yet been opened.

The only other additions of any importance within the borough limits are those of Benjamin Hendricks, the executors of Henry Masser, John W. Fri- ling, Dr. R. H. Awl, and William & E. D. Lenker. Hendricks extended Second street below Spruce and opened Pine between Second and Third; Friling opened Pine street between Front and Second, and laid out several blocks below Spruce; Masser's addition comprises Vine street, which is parallel with Race and immediately north of it; Awl's and Lenker's additions are in the southeastern part of the borough.

EARLY RESIDENTS.

In a list of the taxables of Augusta township in the year 1774 each of the fol-

447

SUNBURY.

lowing persons is accredited with a house and lot: Sebastian Crevous, George Cliver, Frederick Dunkelberger, Robert Desha, Martin Epley, Philip Ever- hart, David Fowler, Peter Gearhart, Charles Garmont, Solomon Green, Sto- phel Gettig, Samuel Harris, Jacob Haverling, Adam Haverling, Charles Hufty, Nicholas Kofield, William Maclay, Joseph McCarrell, Robert Mc- Bride, David Mckinney, Nicholas Miller, Frederick Reely, Zachariah Robins, Henry Reigert, John Ream (butcher), Gustavus Ross, Cornelius Row, Stephen Sutton, Thomas Steinbach, Michael Troy, George Vaughan, George Wolf, Jonas Weaver, John Weitzel, James Wild, John Wall, and Elias Youngman. As Sunbury was then the only town in Augusta township, it is fair to presume that this list includes the names of its principal inhabitants at that time. Colonel Samuel Hunter and Mrs. Alexander Grant resided north of the town, and Valentine Geiger at Maclay's mill a mile to the east but within the present limits of the borough of East Sunbury.

Colonel Samuel Hunter was born in the North of Ireland in 1732. His military career began in 1760; on the 2d of May in that year he was com- missioned as lieutenant in Captain Joseph Scott's company of Colonel Hugh Mercer's battalion of the Pennsylvania regiment, and on the 10th of Novem- ber, 1763, as captain in Colonel Turbutt Francis's battalion. He was at Fort Augusta in June, 1763, when the first intelligence of Pontiac's con- spiracy was received, and initiated the measures subsequently carried into execution by Colonel Burd for the defense of that post. In the following year he joined Colonel Bouquet's expedition, but was again at Fort Augusta in 1768 and doubtless earlier. On the 24th of March, 1772, he was com- missioned as one of the first justices for Northumberland county, from which he was elected to the Assembly, 1772-75, to the Committee of Safety, 1775-76, and to the Council of Censors in 1783; and when the militia organ- ized at the outbreak of the Revolution he was elected colonel of the First battalion, February 8, 1776. He was appointed county lieutenant, March 21, 1777, and reappointed, April 6, 1780; in this responsible position he directed the movements of the local militia during the Revolution, and his official correspondence is an invaluable contribution to the history of North- umberland county in that eventful period. He died at Fort Augusta, April 10, 1784, leaving a widow, Susanna (nee Scott), and two daughters, Nancy and Mary. The former married Alexander Hunter; the latter, Samuel Scott.

Alexander Grant, a native of Scotland, where he resided in the vicinity of Aberdeen, settled near the Susquehanna river immediately opposite Sha- mokin island prior to the organization of Northumberland county, and was elected the first constable of Augusta township in 1772. He died, March 21, 1775, leaving a widow and two sons, George and Thomas. Their mother was born on the 31st of October, 1718, and died on the 26th of November, 1821, at the great age of one hundred three years. George Grant was born, August 16, 1755; on the 19th of March, 1776, he was

4 48

HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.

commissioned as third lieutenant in Captain Weitzel's company; he was promoted captain in the Ninth regiment, May 3, 1777, and died on the North river three miles above New Windsor, Connecticut, October 10, 1779. Thomas Grant was born on the 20th of November, 1758, and died on the 16th of June, 1815. He served as sheriff of Northumberland county one term, 1785-88, and also as lieutenant and captain in the local militia. He was an active promoter of the Centre turnpike and during its construction disbursed the funds in payment for work, making frequent journeys to different points on the route with the money in his saddle-bags. He married Deborah, daughter of Robert Martin, of Northumberland.

William Maclay, whose connection with the early history of Sunbury and of Northumberland county was of the most intimate character, was born in New Garden township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, July 20, 1737, son of Charles and Eleanor (Query) Maclay. His father removed to Lurgan town- ship, Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in 1742, and there he grew to manhood. At the outbreak of the French and Indian war he was a pupil at the classical academy of Rev. John Blair in Chester county; entering the military service as ensign, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant on the 7th of May, 1758, in the Third battalion, and served with credit in General Forbes's expedition in that year. In 1763 he participated at the battle of Bushy Run, and during the subsequent progress of Bouquet's campaign was stationed in command of his company at one of the stockades on the route of the expedition. In the intervals of his military service he studied law, and on the 28th of April, 1760, was admitted to the bar of York county, Pennsylvania, although it is not probable that he ever engaged actively in the duties of the profession. He visited England at the close of the French and Indian war, and had an interview with Thomas Penn, one of the Pro- prietaries, relative to the survey of lands on the frontiers of the Province. It was in the capacity of a surveyor that his first acquaintance with the territory of Northumberland county began; on the 23d of February, 1769, he made the first survey in the valley of the West Branch, one of the tracts apportioned to the officers in the French and Indian war, in which he par- ticipated by virtue of his services. On the 24th of March, 1772, he was commissioned as first prothonotary, clerk of the several courts, register of wills, and recorder of deeds for Northumberland county, and was the in- cumbent of these respective offices until 1777. He was also commissioned as justice for the county, March 24, 1772, June 11, 1777, and January 24, 1785. In 1772 he assisted John Lukens in surveying the town of Sunbury, and in the following year erected a stone dwelling at the northeast corner of Arch and Front streets, the most substantial and pretentious of the early private houses of the county seat. Early in the Revolutionary struggle he entered actively into the support of the American cause, marched with the militia to the seat of war and participated in the battles of Trenton and

449

SUNBURY.

Princeton, and served as issuing commissary after his return to Sunbury. In 1781, 1782, 1783, and 1785 he was elected to the Assembly from North- umberland county, and in 1786 to the Supreme Executive Council; in Janu- ary, 1789, he was elected to the United States Senate as one of the first members of that body from Pennsylvania, his colleague being Robert Morris. The latter drew the long term, and Mr. Maclay accordingly retired on the 3d of March, 1791. His attitude toward the administration while a member of this body and its far-reaching results are thus stated by W. H. Egle, M. D .:---

His election to this body raised him upon a higher plane of political activity, but contact with the Federal chiefs of the Senate only strengthened his political convictions, which, formed by long intercourse with the people of middle Pennsylvania, were intensely democratic. He began to differ with the opinions of President Washington very early in the session; he did not approve of the state and ceremony attendant upon the intercourse of the President with Congress; he flatly objected to the presence of the President in the Senate while business was being transacted, and in the Senate boldly spoke against his policy in the immediate presence of President Washington. The New England historians, Hildreth and Goodrich, repute Thomas Jefferson as the " efficient promoter at the beginning and father and founder of the Democratic party." Contemporary records, however, show beyond the shadow of a doubt that this respon- sibility or honor, in whatever light it may be regarded, can not be shifted from the shoulders or taken from the laurels of Pennsylvania statesmanship. Before Mr. Jeffer- son's return from Europe, William Maclay assumed an independent position, and in his short career of two years in the Senate propounded ideas and gathered about him elements to form the opposition which developed with the meeting of Congress at Philadelphia on the 24th of October, 1791, in a division of the people into two great parties, the Federalists and Democrats, when, for the first time appeared an open and organized opposition to the administration. The funding of the public debt, chartering the United States Bank, and other measures championed necessarily by the adminis- tration, whose duty it was to put the wheels of government in motion, engendered opposition. Mr. Maclay, to use his own language, " no one else presenting himself," fearlessly took the initiative, and, with his blunt common sense (for he was not much of a speaker) and democratic ideas, took issue with the ablest advocates of the admin- istration. Notwithstanding the prestige of General Washington and the ability of the defenders of the administration on the floor of the Senate, such was the tact and reso- lution of Mr. Maclay that when, after his short service, he was retired from the Senate and succeeded by James Ross, a pronounced Federalist, their impress was left in the distinctive lines of an opposition party -- a party, which, taking advantage of the warm feeling of our people toward the French upon the occasion of Jay's treaty with Great Britain in 1794, and of the unpopularity of the Alien and Sedition laws, passed under the administration of President John Adams in 1798, compassed the final overthrow of the Federal party in 1800 .*

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

History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Part 47

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868- ed; John, J. J., 1829- Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Chicago, Brown, Runk Number of Pages: 1424

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868- ed; John, J. J., 1829-
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, Brown, Runk
Number of Pages: 1424