History of York County, Pennsylvania : from the earliest period to the present time, divided into general, special, township and borough histories, with a biographical department appended, Part 122

Author: Gibson, John, Editor
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: F.A. Battey Publishing Co., Chicago
Number of Pages: 1104

USA > Pennsylvania > York County > History of York County, Pennsylvania : from the earliest period to the present time, divided into general, special, township and borough histories, with a biographical department appended > Part 122

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621

WEST MANCHESTER TOWNSHIP.

laid a small tax; John Bower was appointed tax collector. His duty was not a pleasant one. In some cases he was obliged to levy on personal property in order to collect the tax, so violent was the opposition. In one or two instances a horse was sold. Eleven schools were put into successful operation and the State appropriation, $100, received. The Mennonite meeting house was rented. One schoolhouse in the township could not be rented. A house was built at Foustown. Aughenbaugh's meeting house, now used by the Dunkers, was rented, as was also a Meth -. odist meeting bouse at New Holland. The rest were opened in such houses as could be obtained. The system soon proved a great success. One of the most singular features of this history was that the president of the board was publicly reprimanded by his fellow church members, and an effort made to have his name stricken from the church roll, on ac- count of the interest he took to advance the cause of education. They failed then, as many now do, to recognize that education and religion go hand in hand. A faithful pastor came to his rescue and prevented action.

TOWNSHIP OF WEST MANCHESTER.

FORMATION OF TOWNSHIP. -

W EST MANCHESTER was formed out of Manchester Township. A petition from a large number of signers was presented to the September Court of 1799, Judge John Joseph Henry, presiding, asking for the appointment of viewers to report a division of Manchester Township, which at that time, in the language of the petitioners, "is fifteen miles in length, which is three times its breadth; that there would be 350 taxable in- habitants in the remaining part of township after the proposed division; with such ex- tended limits, it is difficult for road super- visors, tax collectors and other officers to per- form their necessary duties." They, there- fore, asked that the request in petition be granted. It was favorably considered by the court, and Martin Kreber, Jacob Spangler, John Sharp, Esq., John Rudisill, John Roth- rock, and John Henisen were appointed viewers. They made a report recommending a division, which was approved by the court December 3, 1799. The draft of the sur- vey is described as follows: "A line begin- ning at a post on the banks of the Codorus, on

Jacob Gardner's land, thence through the lands of Joseph Uppdegraff and William Willis, across the great road leading to Prunk's Mill (now the site of Goldsboro), across Peter Sank's mill dam and lands of Daniel Worley and James Worley, along Green Brier Road to the Little Conewago Creek, crossing lands of Jacob Hahn, John Dobbins, Peter Lindt, and Philip Kreber; thence up the creek to Philip Wolf's planta- tion to the corners of Dover and Paradise (now Jackson) Townships; thence nearly due south to the west branch of the Codorus Creek; down this stream to its union with the south branch of Codorus, and down the Codorus to York Borough line, to place of beginning." The board of viewers, at the instance of petitioners, requested that this new district be called West Manchester.

The following letter, concerning the early settlement of this township, will be of inter- est.

YORK TOWN, APRIL 23, 1746.

To RICHARD PETERS:

Secretary of the Province of Pennsylvania.

The Bearer, Paul Dittenhaver, has purchased an improvement about three miles west from York, and paid £150 for it. The land was settled by Adam Dickinson, who it is said has an entry on your books, hy ye Proprietaries Order for settling the same on his obtaining license from.ye Indians, who lived thereabout. He applies for a warrant or Order of survey. You may suppose, from ye price, that it's a valuable improvement, and has been Long Settled. If there is any such Entry, I Doubt not the Proprietaries granting it. The land adjoins Casper Springer, Adam Fiel, Jacob Heestand and Nicholas Baghn. As these people have ye Proprie- tors' Grants, they are enroaching upon this Planta- tion on every side & destroying ye Timber so that if he does not Get an Order of survey, the place will be much injured."

Thy friend, THOMAS COOKSON, Deputy Surveyor for Lanc. County.

TOPOGRAPHY.

The township thus laid off is the form of an irregular triangle, with the northeast bor- der as a base, resting on Manchester Town- ship. The western boundary is nearly a per- pendicular line resting against Dover and Jacskon Townships. The southeastern bound- ary line follows the sinuous course of the placid Codorus, and forms a very crooked hypothenuse for our hypothetical triangle.

The land of this township has long been noted for its fertility and productiveness, and is part of the limestone belt which diagonally crosses York County. Nearly every acre of this township is under the highest state of cultivation, and all kinds of cereals grow lux- uriantly. The characteristic large bank barns and brick houses, which indicate the pros-

622

HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.

perity of the Pennsylvania German farmer, are very thickly set. During the months of May and June it is one continuous garden of beauty and plenty.

The York & Gettysburg Turnpike crosses this township, as did also the old "Monocacy Road" laid out in 1739, passing through Wrightsville, York and Hanover to Mary- land. The Hanover & York Railroad also traverses it. A considerable business is done at Graybill's and Bear's Stations. There are a number of large flouring-mills and one flint-mill within its boundaries. Since the annexation to York of Smysertown, with a population of 998, and Bottstown with 401, there are now no villages in the township.

The original settlers were largely German Lutheran, Reformed, German Baptist and Mennonites, many of whose descendants now occupy the lands taken up by their worthy ancestors a century and a half ago. There were, however, some English settlers, as the above letter indicates.

ASSESSMENT OF 1800.

The first assessment roll of West Manches- ter, in 1800, contains 150 taxable inhabit- ants, who were land owners, and 27 single men who. paid a poll tax of $1. The entire property valuation then was $97,500. The largest land owner was Frederick Eichel- berger, who was assessed with 1,025 acres, valued at $7,925. Frederick Eichelberger was elected to the State senate in 1819.

Martin Ebert owned a distillery, tannery and 500 acres of land. Weirick Bentz, George Eyster, Valentine Emigh, Philip Ebert, Peter Hoke, Jacob Hoke, Michael Lau, Mathias Smyser, Adam Wolf and George Philip Ziegler, Esq., owned distil- leries. Much of the grain then raised in the township was manufactured into spirits, and sold in Baltimore. Henry Wolf and Thomas Eichelberger owned tanneries. Henry Bare a fulling mill and hemp-mill, Jacob King, Alexander Underwood and Jacob Steiner owned grist-mills. There was but one colored slave assessed-"Tom," tradition says a good fellow, and outlived his master, Col. Michael Smyser, of Revolutionary fame, who was several times elected to the house of representatives and once to the senate of Pennsylvania. He was one of a committee of twelve men from York County, who col- lected money to send to Boston in 1775, ob- taining £6 2s. 1d. from his township. The last years of his life he spent quietly and died in 1810 on a farm, on what is now the Berlin road about three miles from York.

One hundred and ninety horses were as" sessed and 270 cows in 1801.

The census of 1880 reports this township as having a population of 2,476, being ex- ceeded in number of inhabitants, only by Spring Garden, Hopewell, Chanceford, Man- chester, North Codorus and Lower Windsor.

ASSESSMENT OF 1884.

The assessment taken in 1884 gives a valu- ation of $1, 740,000 of real estate and $48,880 of personal property. Number of taxables: 773; horses and mules 473, and their valua- tion $27,325; cows 658, and their valuation $16,450; aggregate amount of valuation assessed for county purposes $1,852,000, ex- ceeded only by Spring Garden and Manches- ter. Martin Miller was the first supervisor of the roads and highways of Manchester Township, in 1749; upon his resignation Henry Bott was appointed by the court to succeed him.

ST. PAUL'S LUTHERAN AND REFORMED CHURCH.

This church is locally known in this town- ship as Wolf's Church. after Peter Wolf, an early settler.

In 1762 two and one-half acres were pur- chased from Adam Ziegler for £5 6s. 5d. for church property. In 1763 a congrega- tion was organized by Rev. Nicholas Hornell, then pastor of the First Lutheran Church at York, and a frame church was built. About twenty-five years later this building was en- larged and remodeled. In 1855 the present large and commodious church was built; while the Lutheran congregation was under the pastoral care of Rev. C. J. Deininger, and the Reformed under Rev. D. Ziegler.

The ministers present at the corner-stone laying of the present church, were Revs. A. G. Deininger, A. Burg and J. O. Miller; at the consecration were Revs. A. H. Lochman, A. G. Deininger and J. Bossler. The succes. sive pastors of the Lutheran congregation were Revs. Hornell, Bager, N. Kurtz, Jacob Goering, J. G. Schmucker, J. Oswald, A. G. Deininger and C. J. Deininger. Rev. Leeser has lately succeeded to the pastorate. Rev. Deininger ministered to the congregation here from 1846 to 1885, the time of his death, during which period. in connection with his preaching, he baptized 1,010 infants, thirty- nine adults, officiated at 275 funerals and confirmed 611 persons-all connected with the Lutheran congregation of this church. · The present Lutheran membership is 400. The Reformed congregation was first served

623

NEWBERRY TOWNSHIP.

by the pastors from York, including Revs. Lischy, Geistweite and others. Of later date Revs. D. Ziegler, W. Kehm, Jacob Ziegler, and I. S. Weisz succeeded each other in the order named. The Reformed membership is about 300. The church is located in a rich agri- cultural region, about five miles west of York, one-third of a mile south of the "old five mile house" originally owned by Peter Wolf, on the York & Gettysburg Turnpike.

The attendance at Wolf's Church is very large, and it has for 120 years been a central point of interest in this township.

SHILOH CHURCH.

In 1883 this beautiful brick church was built along the Dover road, in this township, and when dedicated, May 27, of the same year, was given the above historic name. The officiating clergymen at the time of ded- ication were Revs. J. O. Miller, I. S. Weisz, G. W. Enders, P. Anstadt. The cost of the church was $4,600. The building committee were Jonathan Wilt, George Leckrone and Jesse Heilman.

Religious services had been held in Nei- man's school-house for many years before the church was built, by Revs. Lochman Warner, Anstadt and Lenhart. Rev. W. S. Porr is the pastor of the Lutheran congrega- tion of seventy-five members.

AN HISTORIC OLD MILL SITE.

The mill on the road from York to Dover is a very old structure. To the right of the road, on the Little Conewago, and 400 yards northeast from the present old building, was built, about 1738, one of the very first mills in York County, by Martin Weigle, who, only a few years before, had emigrated from Germany. He had tried first to build a mill on the Codorus, near York, but found that stream too large for his pioneer adventure. The Indians, who were his neighbors, came to view this encroachment upon their terri- tory with weird astonishment.

The ingenious German gave them a draught of whisky. They, soon became lively, and then went to work to assist in digging the mill race. For a considerable time that was the only mill west of York. The old stone one now standing was built before the Revolutionary war. The owner of it, during that period, was not very patri- otic toward the new government, and on sev- eral occasions was censured for uttering words that were questionable. About the time the Revolution closed, a company of soldiers on their march westward and toward their homes, put up with him several days,

encamped in a meadow near by, and made the well-to-do host prepare for them the best food his fine flour and other farm products would make. The mill was later owned by Michael Beltzhoover, and in 1802 bought by Dr. J. G. Schmucker. Daniel Gross and his son, Samuel, were subsequent owners, and in 1847 George Neiman purchased it. John Neiman, the present owner, purchased it in 1856.

THE TOWNSHIP OF NEWBERRY.

EARLY HISTORY.

TN 1717, one year before the death of Willian Penn, Sir William Keith, then a distinguished Scottish nobleman, became lieutenant-governor of the Province of Penn- sylvania. Soon after this event, and before a complete title to lands west of the Susque- hanna had been obtained from the Indians, a tract of land in the northern part of the present area of York County was designated as "Keith's tract, called Newberry." June 15, 1722, Gov. Keith met the chiefs of three tribes of Indians -- the Conestogoes, the Shawanese and the Ganaways-a few miles below the site of Columbia, and formed a treaty with them. A few days afterward he directed the survey of Springetsbury Manor, which included the territory now around York. Gov. Keith, in his letter of instructions to the surveyors, directs that the northern limit of the manor shall be the southern boundary of his settlement, called Newberry, which seems to have been in the present territory of Man- chester Township. June 23, 1722, he wrote a letter here, which was carried by a messenger to the governor of Maryland. It related to the troubles and conflicts likely to arise con- cerning the settlement of lands west of the Susquehanna, now embraced within the county of York. This letter was written at "Newberry." He closed it as follows: "My fatigue in the woods has brought a small fever upon me, which an ounce of bark has pretty much abated, so that to-morrow I shall return home by slow journeys, directly to Philadelphia, where I should rejoice to see you." The exact location of the Newberry Settlement can not be definitely stated. It is quite evident, however, that the first author- ized settlements, within the present limits of York County, must have been made by ad- venturers, who were on peaceful terms with the Indians, and located on Keith's tract

624

HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.

with some kind of permits to locate land for permanent occupancy.

TOWNSHIP FORMED.

Newberry Township was officially laid out by the authority of the court at Lancaster, in 1742, and previous to the erection of York County. It then included within its bound- aries nearly all of Fairview and the eastern third of Conewago. In 1783, when its boundaries were still unchanged, it contained 33,107 acres of assessed land, had 15 grist and saw-mills, 296 dwelling houses -- 3 more than the town of York then, and more than any other township in the county. The popula- tion at this period was 1,704, a large propor- tion of whom were English Quakers, and an intelligent and industrious people. Even though of a non-resistant class, they early in the Revolution championed the cause of American freedom, and many of the sturdy sons of this township bravely fought in that war. Since the formation of Fairview from it in 1803. and of eastern part of Cone- wago, in 1819, its area is less than one-half of the original size. It is at present of an irregular shape. Its northern boundary, separating it from Fairview, is an artificial line: on the east is the Susquehanna River; on the south Manchester and Conewago Townships, with the Conewago Creek as the boundary line; on the west is a portion of Fairview and Warrington, with the Stony Run as a dividing line.

Newberry Township contains much fertile land, but the vast portion of it is quite hilly, and there is considerable woodland.

In 1884 there were 672 taxable inhabitants, with a property valuation of $727,645. County tax, $2, 758.

The population in 1880 was 2,244.

NEWBERRY IN 1783.

John Ashton. Cephas Atkeson, James Bain, Jacob Burger, Andrew Donaldson, Joseph Thatcher, Henry Krieger, Christopher Heingardner, Adam Holtzapple, William Hanna, John McCreary, Thomas McCad- dams, Hugh McKee, George Michael, John Ross, Jacob Rife, George Spence, Adam Shullar, Hugh Danner, Herman Uppdegraff, James Willis, William Willis, Jesse Wick- ersham, John Wilson, Thomas Watkins, Absolom Hall and Thomas Whinnery, all residents of Newberry (which then included Fairview), were weavers. There were at this time 821 sheep owned by the farmers of this township. Jacob Eppley was a chair-maker; William Baxter and John Driver were wheel- rights; Adam Collpretzer, William George,

James Hancock, George Kay, coopers; Thomas Warren, Samuel Nelson, John Mills and John McMaster, carpenters: Samuel Grove, gunsmith; Joseph Taylor, wagon-maker; Jacob Burger, James Eliot, Jacob Manly, Andrew Miller, Ellis Rogers, George Snyder, cordwainers (shoe-makers); John Willis and David Jenkins, masons; Edward Jones, sad- dler; Isaac Bennett, Jesse Hays, Matthias Rastler and William Randals, tailors; Eliza- beth Chesney, (widow of William Ches- ney) owned 4 houses, 470 acres of land, 1 distillery, 7 negro slaves 6 horses, 7 cows, 20 sheep and a ferry-entire, val- nation £2,620 in money, which was the highest in the township. The ferry men- tioned extended across the Susquehanna below the present site of New Market, in Fairview, and the land owned was afterward known as the Simpson property, later as the Halde- man estate. Eli Lewis who afterward founded the town of Lewisberry owned 850 acres of land, 6 dwelling houses, all valued at £1,018; John Prunk owned 3 dwelling houses, 250 acres of land, a saw- mill and a grist-mill, 3 horses and 6 cows-all valued at £1,104. His property and mill were located at the site of Golds- boro. The town was not built until sixty-five years after this date. Henry Geiger owned seventeen acres of land, a ferry, and the property at the Conewago Falls, where, through individual enterprise, considerable improvement had been made. It was after- ward the site of Conewago Canal Company, and later the York Haven Company. Entire valuation of Geiger's property was £1,018. Henry Forry owned land valued at £1,006; John Harman a tanyard and 200 acres of land, valued at £863; John Nicholas 250 acres of land and two dwelling houses worth £664. Saw and grist-mills were owned by Christian Fox, Godlove Fisher, John Har- man, William Love, James Mills, William Michael, John Prunk, Martin Shetter and William Willis. The blacksmiths of the townships were Jacob Highman, James Han- cock, Samuel Keller, William Malsby, An- thony Moore, Anthony Philips, Valentine Shultz, Frederich Shurger, Nathan Thomas and John Wire. Edward Jones was the only saddler; Dr. Robert Kennedy was the only physician regularly authorized to practice, who then resided in the township, which then had a population of 1,704. Lawrence Frost, who came from Chester County, taught a successful school for the Quakers, during the Revolutionary war, and for twenty years before. There are yet living people of that section who heard their ancestors speak of

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NEWBERRY TOWNSHIP.

his virtues. He was possessed of a good English education. James Webb owned the Middletown Ferry which was chartered in 1762. Some of the prominent land owners and farmers, whose descendants still reside there, were William Ashton, John Atticks, Thomas Brinton, Adam Bower, William Brat- ton, Christopher Coble, Simon Crone, Jacob Drorbaugh, George Ensminger, Philip Fet- row, John Fetro, Joseph Glancey, Cornelius Garretson, John Garretson, William Gar- retson, Jacob Hart, John Hursh, Joshua Hutton, Robert Hammersley, William Hunt- er, Andrew Klein, Michael Kern, Henry Kiester, Ezekiel Kirk, Hugh Laird, John Mills, John McCreary, Robert Miller, George Maish, - Jonathan McCreary, George Miller, Henry. Mathias, George Mansberger, John Nich- olas, William Nailer, Samuel Nelson, John Plow, John Postlewait, Michael Pollinger, John Rankin, Samuel Ritcheson, Jacob Rife, William Prowell, John Singer, Jacob Shelley, Christian Stoner, John Starr, James Shannon, Abraham Shelley, William Thor- ley, George Thorley, Joseph Taylor, Jacob Tate, William Thorp, Nathan Thomas, Dar- rick Updegroff, Samuel Vernon, Joseph Welsh, William Wilson, Robert Walker, James Welsh and Andrew Welsh.

NEWBERRYTOWN.

This village was laid out by Cornelius Gar- retson, in the year 1791. It is located near the center of Newberry Township, on a ridge of trap formation nearly two miles in width, and extending from a point north of Lewis- berry to York Haven. On many parts of this ridge are huge boulders of dolerite (granite) and the familiar "iron stone." A short distance west of town, at a point called "Roxbury," these boulders present to the eye of the observer a novel and interesting sight. A survey was made and forty-three lots laid out by the founder of the town. Soon after- ward the following-named persons purchased one or more lots: James Garretson, Henry Krieger, Esq., John Wilson, William Kline, William Wickersham, Samuel Miller, Will- iam Bratton, Christopher Wilson, Herman Kline, William Underwood, Zephaniah Under- wood, Elisha Kirk, Cornelius Garretson, John McCreary, Samuel Garretson, Jane Willough- by and Eli Lewis. Nearly all of these persons named were Quakers, some of them, or their ancestors, had located there and in the vicin- ity about fifty years before the founding of the town. Henry Krieger was of German origin, and for many years served as a jus- tice of the peace. Zephaniah Underwood

and his son were teachers among the Friends. They belonged to the Warrington Meeting. The streets named in the original plat were Main, on the road to Glancey's Ferry, on which the town is built; Union, Mill and Front Streets. Being located on the road leading from Lancaster to Carlisle, crossing the Susquehanna at a ferry chronologically known as Galbreath's, Lowe's, Glancey's and finally as the York Haven Ferry, Newberry- town became an important stopping place. In 1794 about 1,000 soldiers, known as the "Whisky Boys," passed through the then young village on their way to Carlisle, where they joined the army that was reviewed by President Washington, and marched to the western part of Pennsylvania, to quell the whisky insurrection. Benjamin House ac- companied them as a volunteer soldier. He lived somewhere in the immediate vicinity. There were others who did the same, but their names cannot now be ascertained. The soldiers came from Philadelphia and the eastern counties. It was during the month of October. They encamped one night in a meadow one mile northeast of Lewisberry, and the next day crossed the Yellow Breeches Creek at Lisburn, thence to Carlisle.

Among the Revolutionary soldiers of New- berry and vicinity were William Kline and Frederich Boyer (Byers).

William Kline, always known as "Billy" Kline, was one of the original lot owners of the village. In the Continental army he served in Col. Anthony Wayne's regiment, Capt. Fraser's company, from December, 1775, until March, 1777. He lived to a good old age, and died about 1830. He was accustomed to tell many thrilling stories of the daring bravery of his famous commander, and tradition says he afterward, in 1781, joined Gen. Wayne's army at York, on its march to the South.

Frederich Byers served in the detachment under Col. Almon, from 1777 to 1779, when he enlisted in a corps of cavalry under Capt. Selinki, and under command of Gen. Pulaski, he served in the corps until nearly the whole of it was destroyed. He lived until after 1820. The nick-name "Hessian, " applied to him, was altogether inappropriate, except that he nobly assisted to capture a number of them in the battle of Brandywine. These soldiers both became pensioners under the act of 1818.

This village did not grow rapidly, as it is now nearly a century old and does not exceed 200 in population. It is the voting place of the township.

The historic old Quaker meeting house

626

HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.

and burying ground are in the east end of the village. For the history of it, the read- er's attention is directed to the article on the "Friends," in this work, page

The first place of meeting was a log-build- ing near the present site of Mrs. Lydia Crull's house.

A short distance north of the village, Isaac Taylor, during the civil war and some years later, manufactured a considerable amount of sorghum.

Public Well .- Cornelius Garrettson and Hannah his wife, in 1803, for a consideration of 5 shillings, deeded to "the inhabitants of the town of Newberry, and for and in behalf ·of those persons who may at any time here- after attend the meetings of the Society of Friends, or for persons who may pass through the town for divers other causes," a well of water lying near the meeting house of Friends. The well is still in public use, and yields good water. It is near the old meeting house.

The Postoffice .- When York Haven was in its glory as a manufacturing center, the mail for Newberry and vicinity was obtained at that place. In 1826 Thomas Wickersham se. cured the establishment of an office here. It was on account of the postoffice that the name then became Newberrytown. At this time John Hays, then a youth, obtained a contract to carry the mail from York Haven to Newberrytown, once a week. Thomas Wickersham continued postmaster for ten years or more, and was succeeded by Adam Stevens, Jesse Hays, John Crull, Jacob Wolf, John B. Crull, Dr. Alfred Myers, Mrs. Crull and Servatus Hays.

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History of York County, Pennsylvania : from the earliest period to the present time, divided into general, special, township and borough histories, with a biographical department appended, Part 122

Author: Gibson, John, Editor Publication date: 1886 Publisher: F.A. Battey Publishing Co., Chicago Number of Pages: 1104

Author: Gibson, John, Editor
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: F.A. Battey Publishing Co., Chicago
Number of Pages: 1104