History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 17

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

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" The fragments, which we were told of while engaged in the reconnoissance were the remains, no doubt, of the missing com- panion of the one we found a little inclined in posture, but firmly planted in the ground, it was when taken up, unbroken and perfect in form." In 1764-65, from the tangent point, Mason and Dixon ran a meridian line northward until it intersected the said parallel of latitude at the distance of five miles, I chain and 50 links, thus and there

HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

determining and fixing the northeast corner of Maryland.

In 1765 Mason and Dixon described such portion of the semi-circle around Newcastle, as fell westward of the said meridian or due north line from the tangent point. "This little bow or arc," reaching into Maryland, "is about a mile and a half long, and its middle width about 116 feet : from its upper end, where the three states join, to the fif- teen mile point, where the great Mason and Dixon's line begins, is a little over three and a half miles ; and from the fifteen mile cor- ner due east to the circle is a little over three-quarters of a mile-room enough for three or four good farms." This was the only part of the circle Mason and Dixon ran. The report of Col. Graham says the error in the curve of Mason and Dixon is not one of moment as regards extent of territory, as it abstracts from Delaware and gives to Maryland only about 18.78 of an acre. Their long west line or parallel of latitude we have had no occasion to test, except for a short distance, but the great care with which their astronomical observa- tions, contained in the old manuscript, were made, leaves no doubt of the accuracy of that part of their work. "The want of a proper demarkation of the boundaries be- tween states is always a source of great in- convenience and often of trouble to the bor- der inhabitants; and.it is worthy of remark, that as our survey progressed and while making the necessary offsets to houses on the east of the north line, we discovered that there was an impression among many, that the boundary of Delaware extended up to the north line, from the junction to the northeast corner of Maryland. W. Smith, a gentleman who had once served as a mem- ber of the Legislature of Delaware, resided (1850) a full half mile within the state of Pennsylvania, measured in the shortest di- rection from his dwelling house to the circu- lar boundary. We find also, by careful measurement, that Christiana Church is in Pennsylvania, full one hundred yards west of the circular boundary. The dwelling houses of J. Jones, Thomas Gibson, Thomas Steel and J. McCowan were all within the bounds of Pennsylvania, according to our trace of the circle from computed elements."

Under the auspices of the Royal Society of London, in the year 1768, the length of a

degree of latitude was determined by the measurements of Mason and Dixon, and as- tronomical observations made from them. The degree measured 363,763 feet-about 68.9 miles. The difference of latitude of the stone planted in the forks of the Brandy- wine and the middle post in the west penin- sular line, or the amplitude of the celestial arc answering to that distance, has been found to be I degree, 28 minutes, 45 seconds.

Mason and Dixon were allowed 21 shil- lings each per day for one month, from June 21, of the last year, and the residue of the time, 10 shillings and 6 pence each per day, for the expenses, and no more until they embarked for England, and then the allowance of 10 shillings and 6 pence ster- ling per day was again to take place, and continue until their arrival in England. The amount paid by the Penns under these proceedings from 1760 to 1768 was 34,200 pounds, Pennsylvania currency. The com- pass used by these distinguished surveyors is in the land office at Harrisburg.

The proceedings had for fixing the boundary line were approved and ratified by the King, by his order in council on the IIth day of January, 1769. A proclamation to quiet the settlers on the part of Pennsyl- vania bears date the 15th day of September, 1774. The Provincial Council had for some time represented to the Governor the abso- lute necessity of establishing by an ex parte proclamation, the lines of jurisdiction be- tween the province of Maryland, and the province of Pennsylvania, according to lines and boundaries agreed upon, run and marked by the Commissioners. But this proclamation was met with opposition, on the ground of the minority of the then Lord Baltimore, and by order of the King, the proclamation was withdrawn. Governor Penn represented in a letter to the British Secretary of State, that the people living between the ancient temporary line of juris- diction, and that lately settled and marked by the Commissioners were in a lawless state, and that his partial extension of juris- diction had quieted disturbances and given satisfaction to the people.

On the 7th of January, 1775, a letter was received from the Earl of Dartmouth, Secre- tary of State, which says that "the letter of Governor Penn stated the case respecting the boundary line between Pennsylvania

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THE BOUNDARY LINE

and Maryland, in a very different light from that in which it was represented to me and the King; confiding in your assertion, that the extension of the jurisdiction of Pennsyl- vania up to line settled and marked by the Commissioners, had been so far from having the effect to disturb the peace of his subjects and occasioning violence and bloodshed, that it had quite a contrary ten- dency, and given universal satisfaction, is graciously pleased to approve the arrange- ment made by your proclamation of the 15th of September, and to permit you to recall that issued on the 2d of November."

The

Proclamation was accordingly issued on the 8th of April, 1775, extending jurisdiction to these

Boundary Line boundaries. In 1781, Commis- Completed. sioners and surveyors were appointed to run the boundary line between Pennsylvania and Virginia. They were directed to continue the line from the extremity of Mason and Dix- on's line twenty-three miles west, that is due west five degrees of longitude from the Delaware River, and then run a merid- ian line till it strikes the Ohio. This line was extended in 1782.

Archibald McLean, deputy surveyor for York County, who, during the Revolution, resided at the northeast corner of Centre Square, assisted in running the boundary line between Maryland and Pennsylvania. In 1760 John Lukens, of Philadelphia, sur- veyor-general of Pennsylvania, and Archi- bald McLean were chosen to serve on the commission appointed under the agreement between Lord Baltimore and William Penn. They were engaged in this work in 1760 and 1761, and probably up to the time that Mason and Dixon were employed to under- take surveying in 1763. Archibald McLean, who was a skilled surveyor and possessed an extended knowledge of mathematical science, was employed by the Commission- ers to aid in running the line from the Sus- quehanna to Dunkard's Creek. In this work, Moses McLean was the commissary for the surveying party. Two of the chain carriers and assistant-surveyors of this party were brothers of Archibald McLean.

In 1781, when Pennsylvania and Virginia decided to continue the boundary line, its full limit westward to the Ohio, both Archi- bald McLean and John Lukens were ap-

pointed surveyors. Before the work was begun, Lukens resigned the appointment and the actual running of the line was per- formed by Archibald McLean, until the sur- veying party met armed resistance at Dunk- ard's Creek, which now passes through the eastern part of Green County. The opposi- tion had come about on account of a differ- ence of opinions entertained by the people of the two states. In order to adjust these difficulties, the State of Virginia appointed Colonel Joseph Neville, in August, 1782, who, together with Archibald McLean, completed the provisional line to the south- west corner of Pennsylvania. It was not until 1783 that a permanent boundary line, as now marked, was astronomically de- termined by a new set of commissioners, who made elaborate simultaneous observa- tions of the occultations of Jupiter satellites, in order to determine the longitude of the western extremity of the line. James Madi- son, of Virginia, served on this commission, under whose direction this line was com- pleted in 1783. David Rittenhouse, the famous astronomer of Philadelphia, repre- sented Pennsylvania on this commission. At this time Thomas Jefferson was gov- ernor of Virginia.

In 1887 the Commissioners of

The York County, authorized by the

Report Legislature of Pennsylvania, com- of 1887. pleted an examination of the stones marking the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland, to the western boundary of the county. They started at Peach Bottom, where stone 24 is located. They went along on foot 41 miles. No. 24 is a short distance from the line bridge. No. 23 is in the Susquehanna River, having on it an iron plug, marked with a ring. No. 25, a five mile stone, has two coats-of-arms. They are oolite, a variety of limestone formed of round grains, like small fish eggs.

The following is the report presented of the condition of these stones in 1887 :

Number 24, good; 26 filled up one foot above ground; 27, good ; 28, good ; 29, needs straightening : 30, 31, good; 32, split and broken off: 33 to 40, good; 40, not found ; 41, 42, good ; 43, broken to pieces ; 44, good ; 45, lower end broken off, lying down; 46, 47, good; 48, used as a door-step; 49, broken and mutilated; 50, shipped to Balti- more ; 51, broken: 52, 53, 54, good; 55. 56,

HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

broken and in a grist mill; 57, good; 58, hunted the wild animals that roamed and good; 59, lying flat ; 60 to 64, good.

For nearly a hundred years, from 1681 to 1768, a constant rivalry existed between the colonies of Maryland and Pennsylvania, between the partisans of Lord Baltimore and William Penn. The neighborhood of this line was a theatre of riot, invasion and bloodshed. The grant of land given to Lord Baltimore was to extend to the 40th parallel of latitude; that of Penn to extend northward three degrees, and westward from the Delaware River.

It was a constant matter of dispute be- tween the heirs of these two men as to the exact position of the dividing line. Penn- sylvania claimed the line was south of the parallel Philadelphia. Marylanders claimed that the line was between fifty and sixty miles farther north. On this claim they sold tracts of land to settlers, who came in, as far north as the position of Wrightsville. On Penn's claim settlers bought lands much farther south.

Mason and Dixon's line lies in latitude 39 degrees, 43 minutes, 23.6 seconds, about eleven miles due north of the village of Churchville, thirteen miles north of Belair, Maryland. The line runs due west. If pro- longed westward, Mason and Dixon's line would divide nearly equally the states of Ohio,Indiana and Illinois; cut the northern portion of Missouri off; very nearly be the dividing line between Kansas and Ne- braska; run through the northern part of Colorado and Utah : divide Nevada; cut off the northern portion of California and strike the Pacific Ocean below San Francisco.

Although this line extends only between Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Vir- ginia, previous to the Civil War, it is known to political history as the boundary line be- tween the slave states of the south and the free states of the north. All states south of this line were known during the Civil war as " Dixie."

CHAPTER VI PIONEERS AND PIONEER LIFE

The Primeval Forests-Clearing Lands- The Pioneer Home-Frontier Farming -Domestic Animals-The Old Time Harvest.

sported in their dense shade, and caught the fish which were abundant in the winding streams, and whose squaws raised small patches of corn and beans, were Indians, a dark, copper-colored race, whose origin and history previous to the settlement of the whites in this section will be found else- where in this work.

From the time of the earliest settlements made west of the Susquehanna, York County contained three distinct classes of people. Among the first to enter the county with permits to locate land were the English Quakers, nearly all of whom set- tled north of the Conewago Creek; some of them settled in the Redland and Fishing Creek Valleys as early as 1734, and a large number of them the following year. They migrated thence from Chester and Lan- caster Counties. A year later Warrington Township, which then included Washing- ton, was settled by people of the same re- ligious society. A few located in Man- chester. The Quakers obtained free grants for land from the Penns upon which to build their nteeting houses. One of these is standing in the village of Newberrytown, one midway between the last named town and Lewisberry, and a third in Warrington, one-half mile from Wellsville. Monaghan, which included the balance of the terri- tory in York County north of the Cone- wago, was at first populated by the Scotch-Irish, the same class of people who settled Cumberland County, and that portion of York now embraced in Adams County.

A large number of the early settlers were Germans, who populated the fertile valleys of the central, western, and southwestern parts of the county, beginning their settle- ments as early as 1734. There were a few English located in and around York. They were either Friends or members of the Church of England.

In the southeastern portion of the county, in the Chancefords, Fawn, Peach- bottom and Hopewell, a colony of sturdy Scotch-Irish located, commencing their set- tlements contemporaneously with the Ger- mans and the English above them. Some of them had settled there and obtained earlier.

The inhabitants who first gazed upon the lands under Maryland titles a few years primeval forests west of the Susquehanna

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PIONEERS AND PIONEER LIFE

Dense forests of valuable oak, The Primeval Forests. chestnut, walnut, hickory, pop- lar and ash timber covered the hills and valleys of York County when the whites first came. Many of these the ax of the industrions set- tler soon felled. in order to clear the land to sow his crops, while the red man of the forest was his neighbor. Some were hewn into logs to construct cabins; the chestnut and the oak to build fences; the walnut for making articles of household furniture. A large forest of primitive trees is now almost a curiosity to the prosperous York County farmer. If there be one, some avaricious individual is on the alert to purchase it, and fell the grand old trees for gain. An occa- sional large white oak, a tree which lives the longest in this section, is seen here and there on the farms of judicious husband- men, who will not permit any one to " touch a single bough." There are still a few chestnut trees standing along the fences and roadsides. under whose boughs our an- cestors rested their weary limbs during the harvest noon, and later in the sea- son their children, dressed in homespun and linsey-woolsey, gathered the precious nuts, while on the alert for the wolf and the deer.

The introduction of the charcoal forges and bloomaries, and tanneries were the cause of cutting down hundreds of acres of timber land, which one hundred years of undisturbed growth could not now re- place.

In York County, agriculture be- Clearing Lands. gan with the Indians-with the squaw, who tilled the soil in a primitive manner. The Indians cleared patches of land along the streams and flats by girdling and burning down the trees, scratched the ground with sticks, and used sharp stones to hoe the corn and beans which they planted. and in the fall, the cornstalks were burned with the weeds. Long, hard stones, used as pestles, and con- cave ones used as mortars, have been found along the Susquehanna, upon the islands in that stream and in various parts of the county. These were used in grinding the corn into a coarse, meal. from which the corn cake was made. The corn patches were thus kept clear of obstruction by burn- . ing, except in some places the scrub oak, their places.

which the ordinary fire would not kill. 'These the white settlers dug out when they commenced to till the soil.

When the first white settlers crossed the Susquehanna, they found here and there along the streams a few patches of land that had been cultivated by the In- dians. The great York Valley extended from the river southeastward to the Mary- 'land line. In this valley were some marshy spots called by the German immigrants " Holzschwamm " and "Grubenland." Tra- dition points out one of the Indian fields in Fairview Township, near the Yellow Breeches Creek, where the Indians of the Shawanese tribe for a long time had a vil- lage. The Redland Valley around Lewis- berry had one. They were found in the central part of the county, along the Co- dorus and other streams. The earliest set- tlers pointed them out to their descendants in the Chancefords, the Hopewells, the Windsors, Peach Bottom and Fawn Town- ships.

Some of the streams during the wet sea- son broadened and produced marshes. A large portion of Paradise and Jackson Townships were composed of swamps, in which grew tall hickory trees. The region they covered is now fertile and productive. Smaller swamps of a similar character ex- isted around the present towns of York, and Hanover, also in West Manchester, Hel- lam, Heidelberg. Spring Garden and other townships. There were natural meadows where tall grasses matted themselves into a thick, compact sod. These were the deer pastures which the Indians loved to visit.

In the limestone region through the cen- tral part of York County heavy timber covered most of the land with occasional meadows and swamps. Lighter woods covered the southern belt of the country and the sandstone regions in the north. There were, however, many places in all sections of the country where the native ash tree, elm, shellbark and black walnut contended with the sturdy oak and the spreading chestnut for size and pre- eminence. The progress of the mechanical arts soon demanded the trunks of these monarchs of the forest, until now they are rarely seen, and but few are growing to take

HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Most of the first settlers in The America belonged to the mid- Immigrant Farmer. dle class. They were artisans, traders, farmers and mechan- ics. Those who came to York County were largely farmers of three different nationalities,-English, German and Scotch-Irish, each of whom coming from a different country, had their own pe- culiar modes of tilling the soil. Some of these people had remained for a time in Chester and Lancaster Counties; especially was this the case with the English Friends and the Scotch. Many Germans and Swiss came direct from their native lands to York County. Religious persecution and interne- cine wars were largely the cause of their emigration. Hence they came to America with noble aims and, generally, were of high moral character. There may have been ex- ceptions, but the immediate prosperity that attended them faithfully illustrates that they were thrifty and industrious. Great wealth in European countries, then, was rare, except among the nobility. The gen- try and the warrior did not emigrate, but the working and business classes did. Some of them were not farmers when they came here, but the necessity of the case made them farmers. They were a class of men who were to work out a great problem in the new world. Neither a feudal system nor a nobility interfered; every man was lord of his own domain in Pennsylvania, and this is what gave character to the agricul- tural classes so early in our history.

The Germans brought with them large "iron bound chests." Nearly every family, if they could be afforded, had one of them. A few of these old chests can be seen yet in this county among their descendants. They were filled with homespuns and some of the most important household utensils. One, two, or more covered wagons, sometimes belonging to the immigrants, but more fre- quently the property of settlers in eastern counties of a kindred nationality, brought their fellow-countrymen to their place of destination, west of the Susquehanna. In these wagons, including household articles, County, Delaware.

Scotch-Irish brought the ox-team, the horse and the most essential implements. Many of the first Quakers rode from Ches- ter County on pack-horses; the grown and half grown came on foot. Some of the most active went ahead, when passing into an entirely new section, with axes to clear away obstructions. There were in places fallen trees and hanging vines, streams to cross and deep morasses and savannas 'to Ivade.

Where, to whom, or to what peo- First Farms. ple among the white settlers be- longs the 'honor of breaking ground for the first farms in York County, the truthful historian cannot now chronicle. Immigrants located nearly at the same time in all sections of the county, and took possession of chosen tracts of land so rapidly from the period between 1734 and 1736, that many farms were laid off between those dates. The Scotch-Irish selected their homes in the lower end of the county, and in the Marsh Creek country (now around Gettysburg) on land with similar characteristics to that of the places of their nativity.

The Friends and the Germans, upon emi- grating, frequently sent their representa- tives ahead to locate land. The Germans naturally selected such land as was similar to that from which the more prominent of them came, and hence they fell heir to most of the limestone region, although, as the land warrants show, there were many Eng- lish who took up land in the valley of the Codorus. They did not long remain in pos- session of them. Much of the land was taken up by English speculators, who, soon after the first settlements were made, dis- posed of their rights at a profit, to the Ger- man immigrants, who came flocking into this county from 1740 to 1752, in large numbers. There were as many as 2,000 Friends located in the upper end of the county. in Fairview, Newberry, Warring- ton and adjoining townships before 1760; and they were nearly all farmers, largely from Chester County and Newcastle

Most of the settlers had some money, with which, after getting the proper war- rants, they located lands of their own selec- i

were stored some of the most essential im- plements of agriculture, such as the wooden plow, the scythe, the hoe and the sickle. The settlement of a few German colonies tion, or purchased them from surveyors, at can still be located in York County. The a very small cost per acre. Much land of .

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THIS WHEEL WAS USED TO SPIN FLAX HANKS AND TOW INTO THREAD. IT WAS OWNED BY THE HACKERT FAMILY IN YORK, AS EARLY AS 1780

WOOL WHEEL AND REEL OWNED BY ANCESTORS OF RACHEL BAHN IN HELLAM TOWNSHIP. AS EARLY AS 1775

A FLAX BRAKE MADE FOR THE KELLER FAMILY NEAR HANOVER, IN 1800

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PIONEERS AND PIONEER LIFE

the lower townships was taken up in 400 ceased to yield profitably, and then nothing acre tracts. Some of the settlers of the but buckwheat could be made to grow with satisfaction. It was long known as a great buckwheat country. When certain culti- vated tracts became sterile, they were de- serted, and new tracts cleared and culti- vated. This is what gave rise largely to the name "barrens." In the southwestern townships the Germans learned to call them " barns.'

limestone regions took up large tracts, but as a general rule, nearly all land purchased by settlers was taken up in 100, 200 and sometimes 300 acre tracts. The tradition that the ancestors of people now living, took up 1,000 or more acres, is nearly al- ways at fault, and cannot be verified by the records in the land office. The early sur- veyors and speculators owned many tracts in York County. Among them were Thomas Cookson, surveyor, of Lancaster; Edward Shippen, of Philadelphia, and Jo- seph Pidgeon, a surveyor of Philadelphia County, after whom the "Pigeon Hills" were doubtless named. George Stevenson, the intelligent Englishman who for sixteen years was clerk of the courts, prothonotary, register and recorder, all in one office, owned at one time as much as 10,000 acres in York County, much of which he fell heir to when he married the widow of Thomas Cookson, of Lancaster. But the Fates were not propitious with him, for he lost it all by some mishaps, and died poor, in Carlisle, just after the Revolution. Michael Tanner, an intelligent German Baptist, one of the commissioners who laid off York County and afterward located at Hanover as the first justice of the peace, was a very large land owner.

The land in the lower end, then contained many spots of scrub oak, which were left unburned by the Indians, who annually set fire to patches, on some of which they had cultivated corn and beans; and some pos- sibly used as hunting grounds were burned, yet this tradition is of doubtful authenticity. It is far more natural that the Indians burned patches of land for farming pur- poses, and such is the opinion of the earliest writers of intelligence.

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History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 17

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