USA > Pennsylvania > Perry County > History of Perry County, Pennsylvania, including descriptions of Indians and pioneer life from the time of earliest settlement, sketches of its noted men and women and many professional men > Part 18
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Slowly sailing across the heavens their cagle eyes would detect a fish in the water hundreds of yards away, and at one fell swoop would fasten it between their beaks, and carry it to their young in the crags of the mountain where they nested. Their nests were built of sticks and twigs and were huge affairs when compared with the nests of other birds. It is related that when a tree upon which a pair nested, in a neighboring county, was cut, a small wagonload of kindling was gathered from the nest. Naturalists tell that these birds would tear down and rebuild their nests en- tirely, every third or fourth year, and in the intervening years would only rebuild the top or finishing part.
PASSING OF THE BUFFALO.
Many, many years ago this land was overrun by great herds of Buffalo, especially that portion of Pennsylvania which comprises the tablelands lying between the Juniata and Susquehanna Rivers. Part of Perry County, of course, is included in this domain, and Buffalo Township, Perry County, was named to perpetuate the memory thereof. There is a chapter in this book relating to Buf- falo Township, which was, by the way, the author's birthplace. · Its lands belonged to Greenwood Township, which was a part of Fermanagh Township-one of the original townships of Cumber- land County, when that county was formed. Buffalo Township became a separate unit in 1799, the very year in which the illus- trious Washington, the first President of the Republic, passed away. Even before one of the county's townships was named Buffalo, we find in annals relating to the pioneers and the Indians the name of Buffalo Creek, which rises in present Madison Town- ship, in the section known as Liberty Valley, and flows into the Juniata above Newport, and which was most probably named by the red men themselves. Then, besides Buffalo Creek and Buffalo Township, there is Buffalo Church, Buffalo Mills, New Buffalo, etc., within the limits of Perry County.
In 1655 a man named Vonder Donk published a history, in which he said: "Many of the Netherlanders have been far into the country more than seventy or eighty leagues from the river and seashore. We frequently trade with the Indians who come more than ten and twenty days' journey from the interior." He says
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
that half of the buffaloes have disappeared and left the country, and now "keep mostly to the Southwest, where few people go." The beavers, of which eighty thousand are killed annually, are also mostly taken far inland, there being few of them near the settle- ments.
Vast herds of buffalo once roamed the Susquehanna Valley, as they later did the plains of the great West, ever receding before the westward sweep of the pioneer. W. T. Hornaday says that the animals used to roam the country west of the Susquehanna, between Harrisburg and Sunbury, and the West Branch country of the Susquehanna. Other writers say that as late as 1773 there were probably as many as twelve thousand bison in the herds that came to this part of the country. Like Perry, Union County per- petuates the name in three of its nine townships and in other ways. According to Col. Henry W. Shoemaker, along Buffalo Path Run, in that county. can be plainly seen the marks made by the herd, al- though none have traveled it for almost a century and a half.
The country between Buffalo Township, in Perry County, and the three Buffalo Townships in Union County, and westward in northern Snyder and southern Union Counties, will ever be memorable as the scene of the "last stand" in Pennsylvania of the dwindling buffalo herd, in December, 1799. A coincidence, not strange however, is that Buffalo Township was created by the Cumberland County court-for Perry was yet a part of Cumber- land-within ninety days prior to this incident. Almost four hun- dred animals, unable to escape because settlements had grown up which entirely surrounded them, had remained hidden in the fast- nesses of the mountains to the west of Snyder and Union Coun- ties. That last winter of the closing Eighteenth Century was se- vere and, desperate for want of food, they braved the Middle Creek section of that territory, scenting a barnyard haystack of a settler. They broke through the stump fence and trampled to death the cattle and sheep within the enclosure. The owner and a neigh- bor succeeded in killing four.
The shots and attacking dogs drove them further down the val- ley to a cabin which stood near where Troxelville, Snyder County, is now located, being in the northwest section of that county. 'T'here the wounded leader of the herd, wild with rage, broke down the door and entered the cabin. As many as could enter followed. They were so tightly jammed in the cabin that the only way to get them out was to tear it away and release them. The mangled bodies of the wife and children of the owner, crushed beyond de- scription, were beneath them when released.
Naturally this state of affairs needed immediate attention, and messengers went up and down the valley summoning hunters to help exterminate the herd. Fifty men responded and started to
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hunt the bison which had fled to the mountain. In the meantime inore snow had fallen and their tracks were obliterated. After a two-day search they were found, buried to their necks in snow, at a spot near Weikert, along Penn's Creek, in the southwest sec- tion of Union County-the "blind end" of Buffalo Valley. Sur- rounded by snow of awful depth, almost frozen and at the verge of starvation thus perished the last herd of buffalo in the lands of William Penn. In January, 1801, a straggler was found and de- spatched at Buffalo Crossroads, near Lewisburg. A strange coin- cidence in this connection is that the last elk in the state was killed near the same spot, though not until almost a century later-1878.
EARLY MAPS SHOWING LOCATIONS.
Modern map makers for the great trunk lines of railroads show almost straight lines of these arteries of travel, yet the tourist finds his train taking innumerable curves while traveling over these "straight lines." Naturally all maps radiate from the given centre in the eye of the producer, and it is not strange to find, in the many old maps available, some things which are practically cor- rect, and much that is drawn from conjecture and description, sur- rounding the known locality. The inaccuracies of these old maps, with the facilities at hand for securing information, can be much more readily excused than the modern ones "with intent afore- thought to deceive." A man named Visscher published a map of New Netherlands in 1655 which shows with some degree of ac- curacy the course of the Susquehanna River, but with no west branch of it or no Juniata. During the following half century about fifteen different maps all contain the same river outline. West of the river, about where the Juniata belongs, he locates an Indian tribe known as the "Onojutta Haga."
Lord Baltimore had a map maker named Augustine Herman make a map of Maryland for him in 1670, and it shows Maryland coming up to the Blue or Kittatinny Mountain, including part of the Cumberland Valley. It shows a group of mountains about where Perry County is located and a note along the edge carries the information that "beyond these mountains the streams run to the west, either into the Bay of Mexico or the South Sea; that the first one discovered, a very great stream, is the 'Black Min- quas' River (the Ohio), on which lived the tribe of that name; that there was a branch of this river (the Conemaugh) opposite the Susquehanna (Juniata), which entered at some leagues above the fort." In 1698 Gabriel Thomas published a map, which places at least a part of Cumberland County in Virginia; in fact, Vir- ginia long claimed a large part of western Pennsylvania.
A man named Nicholas Schull, probably the most noted map maker of those early days, made a map of the new county of Cum-
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
berland which was authorized by an act of Parliament in January, 1759. Of the present names we find Kittatiny and Tuscarora Mountains, Horse Valley, Juniata and Susquehanna Rivers. Where the Cocolamus Creek is located he has a stream named the "Kakonalamus Creek." "Shareman's Creek" is also on this map. In the Blue Mountain he designates one gap and names it "Steven- son's." At a point near the present Perry-Juniata County line a lone settler is designated as "Barber's."
In 1770 a map appeared by W. Schull, with practically the same outlines but another settlement marked "Logan's," located on the line of the trail from Carlisle to Fort Shirley. The Conococheague Mountain is also marked and Logan's appears close to it. Cro- ghan's Gap (Sterrett's) also appears for the first time. Other streams added are Juniata Creek, Buffalo Creek and Wild Cat Run. Near the site of Millerstown, on the bend of the Juniata below Newport, and near Marysville appears the word "Saut." (Salt, in Scotch.)
When the commonwealth was new and its first governor, Thomas Mifflin, was in office, a map appeared which contained the names of the four townships then existing in what is now the county of Perry, as follows: Toboyne, Tyrone, Rye, and Greenwood. "Buffalo Hills," "Mahanoy Hill," and "Limestone Ridge" appear for the first time. Many mills are already marked, an account of which appears in our chapter relating to "Old Landmarks, Mills and Industries."
On a map in the Book of Deeds, page 128, in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, the territory opposite the Cove and located in Dauphin County, between the Blue and Peters' Mountains, is designated as "Saint Anthony's Wilderness."
CHAPTER IX.
PERRY COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
I 'T has virtually been handed down to us from father to son, even from Plymouth Rock and Jamestown, that somewhat like another nation, we were in a sense a chosen people-that some- thing greater than human foresight, something greater than finite wisdom had guided a persecuted people to these shores and be- stowed vision and faith upon those in whom rested the stupendous and responsible task of erecting a new government upon an tin- heard of scheme and following a new standard of life.
Strangely enough, the first suggestion of a union of the Ameri- can colonies came from the Province of Pennsylvania, and from its proprietor, William Penn, who, as early as 1697, suggested it. The pioneers had crossed the ocean to be free, but as the colonies grew in size and in trade they found that the same forces that drew them from the mother country now drew them together. In 1754 Benjamin Franklin, another Pennsylvanian, elaborated upon the Penn idea.
When the first congress of deputies assembled at New York on October 7, 1765, the discerning ones saw in it a gleam of coming independence. When the heel of British oppression had descended with heavy tread upon the rights and privileges of the provinces and they arose in their wrath against the mother country, the pio- neers who inhabited that part of Cumberland County which is now Perry, were unable to offer much cash, as the Indians had twice driven them from their homes, scalped and carried off many, stolen what they could conveniently remove and burned or destroyed the remainder. Under such circumstances they were a people who really needed the help of others instead of being called upon for help, yet notwithstanding they gave of their substance, and to the first blast of the bugle calling recruits they responded. The first settlers to return after the second Indian invasion in 1763 went back in 1765, so that but ten years had elapsed until the necessity arose to defend the colonies. An effort, fathered at Philadelphia, to have the different sections of the province send delegates to a meeting there on July 15, 1774, to consider the indignities perpe- trated upon the provinces, was no doubt responsible for the fol- lowing described meeting :
. Echoing down the centuries is this first official record relating to independence coming from Cumberland County, of which the Perry County territory was an integral part. England, through
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II
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
its German-speaking king, was oppressing the colonies, especially New England, and a public meeting "of the freeholders and free- men" was held Tuesday, July 12, 1774, at Carlisle, with John Montgomery, Esq., in the chair. These resolutions show the pa- triotic spirit of those days, just as boys from Perry showed it in 1918 at Chauteau Thierry and the Argonne Forest in the World War, and as it was shown by Perry Countians in all the interven- ing wars. The resolutions :
1. Resolved, That the late act of the Parliament of Great Britain, by which the port of Boston is shut up, is oppressive to that town, and sub- versive of the rights and liberties of the colony of Massachusetts Bay : that the principle upon which the act is founded, is not more subversive of the rights and liberties of that colony, than it is of all other British colonies in North America; and therefore the inhabitants of Boston are suffering in the common cause of all the colonies.
2. That every vigorous and prudent measure ought speedily and unani- mously to be adopted by these colonies for obtaining redress of the griev- ances under which the inhabitants of Boston are now laboring; and secur- ity from grievance of the same or of a still more severe nature, under which they and the other inhabitants of the colonies may, by a further operation of the same principle, hereafter labor.
3. That a congress of the deputies from all colonies will be one proper method for obtaining these purposes.
4. That the same purposes will, in the opinion of this meeting, be pro- moted by an agreement of all the colonies not to import any merchandise from nor export any merchandise to Great Britain, Ireland or the British West Indies, nor to use any merchandise so imported, nor tea imported from any place whatever till these purposes shall be obtained; but that the inhabitants of this county will join any restriction of that agreement which the General Congress may think it necessary for the colonies to confine themselves to.
5. That the inhabitants of this county will contribute to the relief of their suffering brethren in Boston, at any time when they shall receive inti- mation that such relief will be most seasonable.
6. That a committee be immediately appointed from this county to cor- respond with the committee of this province, or of the other provinces, upon the great objects of the public attention ; and to cooperate in every measure conducting to the general welfare of British America.
7. That the committee consist of the following persons, viz: James Wil- son, John Armstrong, John Montgomery, William Irvine, Robert Callen- dar. William Thompson, John Calhoon, Jonathon Hoge, Robert Magaw, Ephraim Blaine, John Allison, John Harris, and Robert Miller, or any five of them.
8. That James Wilson, Robert Magaw, and William Irvine be the depu- ties appointed to meet the deputies from other counties of this province at Philadelphia on Friday next, in order to concert measures preparatory to the General Congress. JOHN MONTGOMERY, Chairman.
The new nation, the United States of America, had come into being because the people could not help it, and as a protest against indignities, taxes and officers forced upon them by the mother country, rather than because of a great desire for it. In the reso- lutions adopted at this Cumberland County meeting, including what
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PERRY COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
is now Perry, the colonies, it will be noted, are named "Britishi America." Most Americans then held allegiance to their states more so than to a union of all, and many believed it possible to continue thus, independent of each other except pledged to work together on foreign affairs. For a period of eleven years-from 1776 to 1787-such a government, in fact, existed. George Washı- ington, soon to be the first President of the United States, in the meantime was conducting a movement for a united nation, by tak- ing the matter up with the various state governors and otherwise. But there was no unanimity. When the Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia in 1787 two great men-Adams and Jefferson -were absent in Europe as envoys; Patrick Henry, wedded to "state's rights," refused to attend, and John Hancock, Richard Henry Lee, and Samuel Adams, all fearing a too central govern- ment, remained away. Perry Countians will do well to remember that among the representatives was James Wilson, then only twenty-three years of age, of Cumberland (then their county), whom all historians agree was the most learned lawyer in the con- vention and who afterwards became a justice of the United States Supreme Court. In 1778 he removed to Philadelphia. He was elected to Congress in 1775 and 1782. He died in the South, in 1798, and his remains rested there until within the last two dec- ades, when they were disinterred and removed to Philadelphia.
James McLene was a member from the county to the Provincial Conference of June, 1776, and of the Constitutional Convention of the same year, as well as a member of the Supreme Executive Council from Cumberland County in 1778-79, serving in the last named body from Franklin County from 1784 to 1787.
Continental Congress adopted resolutions on May 15. 1775, rec- ommending the adoption of a state government by each colony. This resulted in a provincial conference held at Philadelphia on Tuesday, June 18, which met at Carpenters' Hall, and chose Thomas McKean president. It was unanimously resolved that a convention should be called to form a new government. The qualification for voters or electors were made as follows: must have attained the age of twenty-one years, have lived in the province one year or more, must have paid either a provincial or county tax, and swear that he would no longer bear allegiance to King George. Repre- sentatives to the convention needed the same qualifications, and in addition an affidavit that he "would oppose any measures that would interfere with or obstruct the religious principles or prac- tices of any of the good people of the province," and still further, sign a declaration of faith in the Trinity and in the Divine inspira- tion of the Old and New Testaments. It was determined that each county should have eight representatives or members, the election of whom should be held on Monday, July 8, and that four thou-
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
sand, five hundred militia be raised to join a flying camp to con- sist of ten thousand men in the middle colonies.
The convention met on Monday, July 15, in Philadelphia, and Benjamin Franklin was chosen president. It continued, including adjournments, until September 28, when the Constitution of Penn- sylvania was adopted and signed. The lawmaking power of the state was vested in a House of Representatives, the members of which were to be chosen annually by ballot on the second Tuesday of October, to meet the fourth Monday of the same month, no member of which could serve over four years. This body was to choose annually the state treasurer and delegates to the United States Congress, of which no one could be a member for more than two years successively and not be eligible for membership again until three years had elapsed. Until a proper apportionment could be made each county was to have six members of this Assembly.
When the threatened storm approached, our people were equally firm in their determination to resist all oppression. They made preparations, adopted measures and organized for defense. From the American Archives, Vol. II, page 516, the following is repro- duced, being the contents of a letter from a gentleman writing May 6, 1775, from Carlisle, the county seat :
"Yesterday the county committee met from nineteen townships, on the short notice they had. About three thousand men have already associated. The arms returned amount to about fifteen hundred. The committee have voted five hundred effective men, besides commissioned officers, to be im- mediately drafted, taken into pay, armed and disciplined, to march on the first emergency; to be paid and supported as long as necessary, by a tax on all estates, real and personal, in the county; the returns to be taken by the township committees; and the tax laid by the commissioners and as- sessors; the pay of the officers and men as usual in times past."
"This morning we met again at eight o'clock; among other subjects of inquiry this day, the mode of drafting or taking into pay, arming and victualling immediately the men, and the choice of field and other officers, will among other matters be the subject of deliberation. The strength or spirit of this county, perhaps may appear small, if judged by the number of men proposed; but when it is considered that we are ready to raise fifteen hundred or two thousand, should we have support from the prov- ince; and that independent, and in uncertain expectation of support, we have voluntarily drawn upon this county, a debt of about £27,000 per annum, I hope we shall not appear contemptible. We make great improve- ments in military discipline. It is yet uncertain who may go."
On June 22, 1775, the "Colony of Pennsylvania," the name prov- ince having become obsolete, was authorized to raise eight com- panies of expert riflemen, instead of six companies, as authorized by the Continental Congress on the preceding June 14, to proceed to join the army near Boston. The result was that nine companies responded. Cumberland (always remembering that it still included Perry) sent one under command of Captain William Hendricks,
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PERRY COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
its first offering upon the altar of liberty. It was one of two com- panies to be assigned to accompany General Benedict Arnold (he who later became a traitor) in his difficult and historical march through Maine to the stronghold of Quebec. Captain Hendricks is recorded as a brave and good officer, but doomed to be killed in the attack January 1, 1776. These men were all enlisted in June, 1775.
Cumberland County then embraced all of Perry, and this com- pany was composed also of men from the present counties of Juniata and Mifflin (also a part of Cumberland), and at this late date there is no way of distinguishing the sections to which each inhabited, hence the entire list is reprinted.
ROSTER OF CAPTAIN HENDRICKS' COMPANY.
Captain, William Hendricks. Killed at Quebec.
First Lieutenant, John McClellan. Died on march, November 3, 1775. Second Lieutenant, *Francis Nichols.
Third Lieutenant, George Francis.
Sergeants, Dr. Thomas Gibson, of Carlisle (died at Valley Forge, win- ter of 1778) ; * Henry Crone, *Joseph Greer, *William McCoy.
Privates:
*Edward Agnew.
George Albright.
*Thomas Anderson.
*Philip Boker, w. at Quebec.
*Johını Blair.
* Alexander Burns.
*Peter Burns.
*William Burns.
John Campbell, k. at Quebec.
*Daniel Carlisle.
*John Corswill.
*Roger Casey.
*Joseph Caskey.
*John Chambers.
*Thomas Cooke, later a lieutenant.
*John Cove.
John Craig, later a lieutenant.
*Matthew Cumming.
Arthur Eckles.
*Peter Frainer.
*Francis Furlow.
*William Gommel.
*John Gardner.
*Daniel Graham.
*James Greer.
*Thomas Greer.
*William Snell.
*John Hardy. Elijah Herdy.
*John Henderson, w. at Quebec.
*James Hogge.
*James Inload.
*Dennis Kelley, k. at Quebec.
*Wm. Kirkpatrick.
*Robert Lynch.
*David Lamb.
*Thomas Lesley.
John Lorain. *John McChesney.
*Daniel McClellan.
*Richard McClure. Henry McCormick.
Henry McEwen.
*Archibald McFarlane, escaped.
*Barnabas McGuire.
*John McLinn.
John McMurdy.
*Jacob Mason.
*Philip Maxwell.
*George Morrison.
*George Morrow. Edward Morton.
*Thomas Mordoch.
*Daniel North.
*Daniel O'Hara.
*William O'Hara:
*John Ray.
*James Reed. George Rinehart.»
*Edward Rodden.
*William Shannon.
*William Smith.
*Robert Steel. Hugh Sweeney. Edward Sweeney.
* Abraham Swaggerty, w. at Quebec. Matthew Taylor.
*Henry Turpentine.
*Michael Young.
*Thomas Witherof.
*Joseph Wright.
Those marked with an asterisk (*) were captured.
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
Colonel William Irvine was commissioned in January, 1776, as commander of the Sixth Battalion, Pennsylvania Troops. One of the companies, under Capt. William Bratton, of what is now Mif- flin County, contained soldiers whose homes were within the con- fines of present Mifflin, Juniata, and Perry Counties. The roster of that company follows :
William Bratton, Capt.
Henry, Francis.
Thomas McCoy, Lieut.
Higgins, James.
Amos Chapman, Sergt.
Lee, Fergus.
Thomas Giles, Sergt.
Lloyd, Peter.
Timothy O'Neil, Sergt.
Lowden, Richard.
Edward Steen, Drummer.
McCay, Gilbert.
Jolın Waun, Fifer.
McCay, Neil.
Privates :
McGhegan, John.
Beatty. John.
McKean, John.
Carman, William.
Martin, Peter.
Carter, Patrick.
Moore, Fergus.
Daley, John.
Prent, John.
Donovan, Daniel.
Redstone, William.
Edgarton, Edward
Rooney, Peter.
Elliott, James.
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