History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 169

Author: Prowell, George R.
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1372

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Trinity Church, of the Evangelical As- sociation, in the western part of the town- ship, was founded in 1871. There are two other churches of this denomination, one known as the Chapel, in the northern part of the township, built in 1872, and the

the present limits of in the southern part of the township. place. In 1847, a congregation was or- other Mount Pleasant church, built in 1880, ganized within Chanceford Township and a house of wor- ship was erected and dedicated December, Schools.

In 1834, when the free school system was established in Penn- sylvania by act of the legislature there were five schools in Chanceford

1848. Twenty-four persons presented let- ters from Chanceford Church and four from Hopewell or Round Hill. Hugh Long, Township. They were then supported by John A. Murphy and James Stewart were private subscriptions. Chanceford was quick to accept the provisions of the new

elected its first elders, and the name adopted by the organization was "New law and the schools in general have been in Harmony Presbyterian Church." David a prosperous condition. There are now in Workinger, Judge Valentine Trout and the township eighteen public school houses Colonel Robert Graham later served as bearing the following names: Clearview, elders. Rev. J. J. Lane, of Wrightsville, Trinity, Thompson's, Weiser's, Bethel, Guinston, Gipe's, Brogue, Shaw's, St. James, Battle Hill, Conrad's, Shenk's Ferry, Dellinger's, Millers, Collinsville, Glen-Allen and Hickory Grove. was installed as the regular pastor in 1853. The other clergymen who have ministered to this congregation in order of succession have been: Revs. J. L. Merrill, A. F. Mor- rison and J., P. McKee, the present pastor. The membership is about 250.

Chanceford Academy, situated one mile from the Brogue on the road leading to Shenk's Ferry, was opened in 1860 by Rev. Bethel Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church, near the village of Gra- Church. hamville, is one of the oldest Methodist congregations in the J. L. Merrill, pastor of New Harmony Church. Colonel George B. Murphy was president of the board of trustees. Some southern part of York County. The first of the other members were Joseph Griffith

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CHANCEFORD

and Samuel Reed. The academy flour- ried Hugh Bingham, the father of Rev. Dr. ished for severa. years under different in-

William R. Bingham, who became a prom- structors. Later the brick building occu- inent clergyman in the Presbyterian church pied by this school was used by the Guin- ston congregation for holding religious meetings.

and a trustee of Lincoln University. One of his sons, James Kelly, became a member of the York Bar.

There were other noted men born in

Noted Men. river rights over the Susquehanna, later known as Shenk's Ferry, other occupations. James Smith, a signer above Burkholder's Ferry. During the of the Declaration of Independence and one Revolution Joseph Reed commanded a of the earliest lawyers at York, lived for a company of Associators, the muster roll of time in the original Chanceford Township which will be found on page 270. One of after his parents emigrated here from the its members was David McKinley, great- grandfather of President William McKin- ley. For several months in the year 1781, Captain Reed and his men formed the guard for the British prison, situated four miles southeast of York. After the Revolution Captain Reed returned to his ferry and farm of seven hundred acres in Chanceford Township. He had purchased the Orson mill property, and during the remainder of his life followed the occupation of a farmer and miller until the time of his death Oc- tober 19, 1804. His property descended to his two sons, Joseph and William. Dr. Joseph E. Reed, of Lancaster, Pennsylva- nia, son of William Reed, served for a pe- riod of three years as surgeon for the Sec- ond Brigade, First Division, Fifth Army Corps.

In 1775 and some time before this, Captain Joseph Reed purchased the Chanceford Township who made their mark as clergymen, physicians, lawyers, and in north of Ireland. John Stewart, father of the wife of John Sherman, the great states- man from Ohio, was born in Chanceford and the home of. his nativity was twice vis- ited by Mrs. Sherman and her husband after the Civil War. John Stewart migrated first to the state of New York, and afterward settled in Ohio, and became president judge of the courts at Mansfield, Ohio, where he resided. W. F. Bay Stewart, one of the judges of York County, was also born in Chanceford. Among the prominent clergy- men born in this township were: William Bingham, D. D., William G. Stewart, and A. Thompson Stewart. Some of the noted physicians were: William. F. Smith, Joseph Murphy, A. Clarkson Smith, James Clark- son, A. P. T. Grove.

Archibald Thompson for many years owned the site of Manor Furnace. Michael Mckinnon, father of Dr. M. J. Mckinnon, of York, carried on the tanning business near Collinsville for many years. Another tannery was conducted by Jacob Tome in the northern part of Chanceford before 1860.

John Hooper, a Quaker, who came to America with Penn's colony in 1682, was one of the earliest settlers of the original Chanceford Township. He purchased a large tract of land upon which York Fur- nace was later built, and erected one of the first saw mills west of the Susquehanna on John's Run at the site of the weighlock. John Hooper was the great-grandfather of Colonel Robert Graham, founder of Gra- hamville.

Johnson K. Duncan, who won distinction as a soldier in the Confederate army, was born in Chanceford in 1827. He was grad- uated at the United States military academy in 1849, and became second lieutenant in the third Artillery, serving in the Florida hos- tilities against the Seminole Indians. From 1850 until 1853 he was attached to Forts Sullivan and Preble in Maine, on garrison duty, and was then assistant on the North- ern Pacific railroad exploration till Decem- ber, 1854. He resigned from the army in January, 1855, and became superintendent of repairs in New Orleans, in charge of the branch mint. marine hospital, quarantine warehouse, and Pas a l'Outre boarding sta- tion. From 1859 till 1860 he was profes- sionally occupied as civil engineer, surveyor and architect in New Orleans, becoming also in 1860, chief engineer of the board of

Colonel John Kelly, who lived on the public works of the state of Louisiana. At hills along Muddy Creek, owned a large the beginning of the Civil War he entered tract of land. One of his daughters mar- the Confederate army as colonel, but soon

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

was appointed brigadier general from Louisiana. He commanded Forts Jackson and St. Philip at the time of their capture by Admiral Farragut, on April 25, 1862, and became a prisoner of war. He died at Knoxville, Tennessee, December 18, 1862.

Valentine Trout, the last associate judge of York County, was born in Chanceford in 1817, and has resided there for the long period of eighty-seven years. He was elected associate judge of York County in the fall of 1873 and served the full term of five years. The new constitution for the state of Pennsylvania, that went into effect in 1874, discontinued the office of associate judge, in the large counties of the state, but Judge Trout served out his entire term, re- tiring from the bench in the year 1878.

The following interesting account of the Mckinley ancestry was furnished by Robert C. Bair, member of the York County Bar.

President

McKinley's

Ancestry.

The Mckinleys were among the pioneers of the lower end of York County. The section in which they settled had early been called by Maryland The Penns called it "Lower In 1745 Lower Hallam was

"Solitude."

Hallam."

divided into two townships,-Chance- ford and Fawn. Two years before this David McKinley and his family, consisting of a wife, three sons and one daughter, selected for his homestead three hundred and sixteen acres on the highest land in all that wilderness. Its summit overlooks en- tire Chanceford and Lower Chanceford townships, with their grand succession of ridges lying east and west, jutting on the deep grooved Susquehanna Valley. The view from its crest expands into a magnifi- cent landscape extending eastward to the far hills of the Octoraro and on the north fifty miles to the Blue Ridge mountains.

The neighbors of David McKinley called their tracts "Rippey's Park," "Morton's Fancy." "Myroch," "Perilous Adventure," "Descending Fountain," "Gwinston,""Small Gain," "Locust Spring." and "Craggy- mount." What David christened his land is not recorded, but he might well have titled its royal loftiness, "The Highland Chief." This tract in 1907 in its relation to roads and places is situated a short distance northeast from the village of Chanceford, also called Collinsville, and was the property, after-

wards owned by Joseph Tosh, the present owners being John and Thomas Tosh. It extended northeastward and included, as lands of his son Stephen, all that tract known now as Thomas and Jordan Mc- Kinley land toward the river hills. David McKinley laid his foundation and erected his half-stone and half-log house in a shel- tered rift near a large spring. When this homestead was planted eleven log houses had been already erected in the town of York-the homestead was twenty miles southeast of the eleven houses.

David Mckinley was a weaver.

McKinley.

David Like all who came with him to the barrens of York county, he had to struggle courageously against the stern opposition of natural dis- advantages. There was no cleared land. The soil was so poor that one or two sea- sons crops exhausted it, and another field had to be cleared. The sickel was his cham- pion reaper; the flail his steam thresher, and the palms of his hands his patent corn- sheller. There were no highways except the so-called Great Road to Yorktown and the river-there were only paths through the underbrush and woods. Deep ravines lay on all sides, through which rapid streams plunged down to the river, three miles off. Forests of chestnut, oak, sas- safras, poplar, birch and dogwood overgrew the hills, with here and there a natural clear- ing upon which stunted cedars sapped the thin and worn out soil. Through these wind-whipped stretches only bridle paths ran, following for the most part abandoned Indian trails that made short cuts from point to point of natural advantage.

David McKinley was a man of energy and public spirit. The necessity for "big roads" at once claimed his attention. Even before the organization of York County he was engaged in this important movement. Upon its organization, 1749, he gave his best efforts to the permanent improvement of Chanceford. . Petitions for roads were circulated among the inhabitants by David McKinley; and when they were signed he was back of their importance before the Court. He was a leading champion of the first highways leading away from the Sus- quehanna ferries, and was appointed with William Morrison who lived in what after- ward became Lower Chanceford, his prop-

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CHANCEFORD

erty being at the "Slab," among the first he was thrifty and shrewd, acquiring much road-viewers of Chanceford township to land. To his business of weaving he added lay them out. By his earnestness in public interests he, with William Morrison, was elected supervisor of Chanceford in 1750.

Although engaged in public affairs, David Mckinley was generally called upon to ap- praise the estates of his deceased neighbors, to administer upon them, or become bonds- man for other administrators or executors.

He died intestate, in the year 1757, leav- ing to survive him four children, John, the eldest, David, Mary, intermarried with Sam- uel Gordon of Fawn, and Stephen, the youngest. His estate, real and personal, amounted to 570 pounds. His body is sup- posed to rest in Chanceford or Guinston burial grounds although, as private grave- yards were common in those days, his bones may rest upon the homestead tract. His wife, Esther, and John McKinley, his son, were made administrators of the estate. The personal property was sold for 220 pounds, four shillings and eleven pence. The real property was by mutual agreement divided among the four children. John subse- quently purchased the original 316 acres from the heirs. This property or rather a part of it, is one among a few in Chanceford township that for 150 years has remained in the hands of and been dwelt upon by the lineal descendants of the settler ancestor. John McKinley, the great- John great-grandfather of the Presi- Mckinley. 'dent, was not born in America, nor is it possible to state that his birth-place was in Scotland or North Ireland. Following the occupation of his father, John was a weaver. Eight children were born to John McKinley and Margaret, his wife: David, born May 16th, 1755; Esther, 1765; Jean, 1767; Elizabeth, 1769, and Susanna, 1762. Three children born between 1755 and 1765 died in youth.

John Mckinley, called Big John, was a man well known throughout the lower end of York county. He was the keeper of a hotel at a point either on the old Bingham property, along the line of the original York Road, about a mile and a half to the right of the present York Road, going south, or about the site where old Thomas Coony later kept a tavern. Like his father, John was energetic and foremost in public enterprises and improvements. In his private business

blacksmithing and distilling. He was a Presbyterian and left the stamp of sec- tarianism on those who came after him in Chanceford. He, too, devoted himself to projecting in those early times what was as important an undertaking as building a trolley line nowadays, the erection of public roads.

He had horses and wagons. He made frequent excursions to the Baltimore, Lan- caster and York markets, carrying not only the simple product of his own loom and dis- tillery, but the scant surplus product of the carding machine, tilt-hammer, buckwheat fields and lambs and shoats of his neighbors. He was well known among the merchants and particularly the lawyers of York, to whom he brought much business. It would seem by the public records that when an appointment by the Court was to be made for Chanceford. John McKinley was fre- quently the appointee. He was identified closely with the local public militia service. He steadily increased his lands by warrant and purchase, loaned to his poorer neigh- bors, and was often obliged to take their property for mortgage or other security. John McKinley was a fearless man and per- fectly free to state his opinions on all public questions. In Chanceford during the years immediately preceding the outbreak of the Revolution the Scotch-Irish, while generally ardent patriots, were not unanimous on the great question whether or not the Colonies should attempt independence. The oppo- nents of independence were a small mi- nority. The John Plowman letters were read by them, and the influence of Dickin- son had the effect of placing many of his disciples among the Scotch-Irish in a false position. Not that they were the less pa- triots, they only differed as to policy. John McKinley was one of these, although his son David was in the war at the time.

John McKinley was a man of too much importance and courage to be frightened out of expressing his convictions, and stead- ily maintained that the Colonies ought not to go to war. However, when the Revolu- tion was well under way, he being favorably known to the Committee of Safety, as a man of influence and means, the military author- ities at York, with Archibald McClean, chief

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

of the local militia department, appointed brother John's daughters, Elizabeth, aged him wagon master for Chanceford Town- thirteen, and Susanna, aged ten years." ship. This drew forth a bitter petition, de- The homestead of John McKinley, the place he died, has long been known as the "Bingham Place," southwest of Collinsville, and now owned by the heirs of John H.' Small. nouncing the appointment, signed by many of his neighbors, but it was never shown that the petition had any substantial ground other than the personal prejudices of ex- cited partisans. David McKinley, the son of

On February 18th, 1779, John McKinley died, aged about fifty-nine years, leaving a widow, Margaret, one son, David McKin- ley, of the Pennsylvania militia, and four minor daughters. John Mckinley joined the dead in Guinston or Chanceford. His

Mckinley, Jr.

David John and Margaret Mc- Kinley, was born in

Chanceford township, May

16, 1755. The early years of his life were spent upon the farm of his father. His father, having adopted a boy by will disposes of his property as follows: the name of John McGinley, the two "April 24, 1778, item-To my beloved wife I give my plantation as long as she retains her widowhood; upon her marriage she is to give up possession of the property and choose for herself the best horse or mare about the house, and to have a new saddle and fifty pounds in cash, her bed and furni- ture. boys were raised together and learned the weaver's trade. There is no longer remembered any incident of David Mc- Kinley's boyhood. It was a family cus- tom or trait of the Mckinleys to relate, one generation to the other, the history of the lives and adventures of the dead fathers. All incidents in the life of David are now Item-I also bequeath to my son David all that he hath received from me, with my clothes and watch and twenty pounds in cash. Likewise, the remainder I order to be equally divided betwixt the lawful issue of my wife by me to wit: Esther, Jean, Eliza- beth and Susanna. forgotten. The later generation say they used to hear so much talk about those of the family who were engaged in the War of 1812 and the Revolution, that it provoked them when the old folks, visiting each other, began to tell over the twice told tales. They say "We left it in at one ear and out at the other."

Item-I also give unto my nephew, John McKinley, son of Stephen Mckinley, the sum of thirty pounds, to be paid to him out of the two tracts of land called "Small Gain" and "Locust Spring." I do hereby nomi- nate and appoint my well beloved friend, John Finley, and my wife Margaret my ex- ecutors."

Witness-ALEXANDER DOWNING JOSEPH JACKSON.

The only record had of the four minor daughters is this: "At an Orphan's Court held at the dwelling house of John Finley in Chanceford township, on the IIth day of January, 1782, before William Smith and John Herbach, Esq., Justices, etc., came Esther McKinley, aged seventeen years and upwards and Jean Mckinley aged fifteen years and upwards, two minor children of John Mckinley, and choose, respectively, Benjamin Pedan, Esq., of Chanceford, their guardian. On the same date came Stephen Mckinley praying the Court to appoint Benjamin Pedan, Esq., guardian of his

David McKinley joined the militia of Chanceford April 16, 1776, and was enrolled for service June 20, 1776. Fifty-nine men composed the company, under Captain Joseph Reed, Ferryman, of what is now Shenk's Ferry on the Susquehanna river. Of the fifty-nine members of the Sixth Com- pany, Sixth Battalion, York County militia, all did not go into active service, but David did. He served at different times in the companies of Captains McCaskey, Ross, Laird, Reed, Holderbaum, Slaymaker, Raub and Harnahan. He was in the skirmishes of Amboy and Chestnut Hill, and is said to have been one of the privates under Major Henry Lee when he captured Paulus Hook, an exploit which Congress characterized by a vote of thanks, "For the remarkable prudence, address and bravery displayed," presenting a gold medal to Major Lee and $15,000 for distribution among the non- commissioned officers and privates. He was certainly at the defence of Fort Washington, an account of which is given on page 181.

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CODORUS

The muster roll of the company in which Church in 1758. A complete account of this he served is found on page 270. church will be found on page 138.

After he left the army he went into Westmoreland County, which, at that time, included the entire western part of Penn- sylvania.

He married Sarah Gray, December 10th, ship is drained by different branches of the 1780, to whom was born William, James, Codorus Creek. The Western Maryland the grandfather of the President, Martha, extends along its western boundary; the

John, Sarah, Stephen, Rachael, Esther, Mary and Elizabeth.

His second wife was Eleanora McLean, who died 1835.

The second son of David and Sarah Mc- Kinley was James, born September 19th, 1783, married Mary Rose and resided in Mercer County, Pa. Their first son, Wil- liam Mckinley, born November 15, 1807, married Nancy Allison. The third son of William and Nancy Mckinley was William McKinley, Jr., born at Niles, Trumbull County, Ohio, January 29, 1843. He mar- ried Ida Saxton, 1871 ; became President of the United States March 4, 1896, and was assassinated at Buffalo, New York, Septem- ber 6, 1901.

CODORUS TOWNSHIP.

Codorus was organized into a township in 1747. The word Codorus is of Indian That a great road is much wanted from York Town towards Baltimore Town as far as the Temporary Line. That a road has been laid out part of the way but not finished. origin, but its meaning is not clear. In the earliest official records, and in the writings of the missionaries and Your petitioners humbly pray that proper persons may be appointed to review the ground and lay out a road from George Mayer's plantation by the Widow Link's to the Temporary Line, where Tobias Amspoker, Jr., lately dwelt, there being now a good road in the Maryland side of the line from said Amspoker's late dwelling plantation to Baltimore Town. And your petitioners will pray. adventurers who visited the region west of the Susquehanna, the names "Codorus," "Codores," and "Kothores," were used to designate the winding stream, which drains a large part of York County, and flows into the Susquehanna above Michael Myer, Michael Miller, Wrightsville. Part of the land in the south- Philip Ziegler, Michael Hahn, Nicholas Vogel, Michael Wunford, ern section of the township near the state line was taken up about 1734, under Mary- Michael Beissel, George Meyer, land titles, before the temporary line be- Ludwig Reiser, Nicholas Schrom, Jacob Hover, Peter Wolf, tween Pennsylvania and Maryland was run. Ludwig Huber, Nicholas Koenig, A year or two later a number of Germans Johannes Weller, David Amspacker, Jacob Soeller, Jacob Ulp, began to take possession of the fertile spots George Keller, Jacob Hoak, in the northern part of the township, and Ulrich Huber, Daniel Cramer, Casper Kinsser, Daniel Diehl. what is now North Codorus. Many of the early settlers of this region belonged to the In the county assessment and census report of 1783, Codorus Lutheran and Reformed churches and emi- Tax List grated to this township, directly from Ger- in 1783. Township was then reported to have 199 dwelling houses, 189 many. There was a colony of German Bap- tists (Dunkers) who located in this section barns, 9 mills, 6 negro slaves, a population before 1750 and organized the Codorus of 1,304, and 27,975 acres of land not

George Lightner, in 1749, was the first township constable; Casper Cooper suc- ceeded him in 1751 ; Peter Brillhart, in 1752, and Peter Bingley in 1756. Codorus Town-

Hanover Branch Railroad along a portion of the northern boundary and the Northern Central Railway along a portion of the eastern boundary. Most of the land is in an excellent state of cultivation and yields abundant cereal crops. The population of Codorus in 1810 was 1,975; in 1820, 2,133; in 1830, 2,429; in 1840, 1, 131; in1850, 1,371; in 1860, 1,840; in 1870, 2,202; in 1880, 2,- 261; 1890, 2,322 ; and in 1900, 2,251. North Codorus was organized out of Codorus in 1840.

In 1758 a road was run from

Early Daniel Diehl's mill in Codorus to

Roads. Nelson's (now McCall's) Ferry. The following petition was signed by some of the first settlers of the township:

To the Worshipful His Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the County of York, met at York the last Tues- day of July, 1760.

The petition of the inhabitants of Codorus Township and parts adjacent humbly sheweth,

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

vacant. The population at that date was quite dense. The township furnished two companies of soldiers for the Revolution.

The following is a complete list of tax- ables of Codorus for 1783 :

William White,

John Wood,

Richard Weston,

Henry Wilhelm,

George Walter,

George Wehrly,

Nicholas Ziegler,

Jacob Ziegler,

Barnet Ziegler.

George Amspoker,

Adam Foltz,

Valentine Alt,

Henry Fishel,

Jacob Bear,

John Bealer,

Jolın Bauman,

Peter Gerberich,

Daniel Bear,

Christian Haffner,

Jacob Bailey,

Philip Gentzler,

Daniel Cramer,

Daniel Hamn,

George Bortner,

Samuel Glassick,

John Gantz,

Adam Miller,

Benjamin Bouman,

Franz Ganz,

Nicholas Ripold,

Michael Miller,

William Bouman,

Martin Getz,

Mathias Ripold,

Henry Fishel,

Henry Baker,

David Grier,

Michael Shultz,

Frederick Wilhelm,

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History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 169

Author: Prowell, George R. Publication date: 1907 Publisher: J. H. Beers Number of Pages: 1372

Author: Prowell, George R.
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1372