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 69

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 69

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HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE IN YORK COUNTY.

The progress of agriculture in York County is similar to that of the state and country in general, and, like the divisions of our coun- try's history, may be separated into epochs or periods.

The first period was during our colonial times, and may appropriately be termed the era of experiment.

The second period begins with the Declara- tion of Independence, and extends over a pe- riod of about fifty years, to the time when the cast-iron plow came into regular use. It was the time of great awakening.

The third period, of about thirty years, began about 1825 with the complete intro- duction of the cast-iron plow, and extended to the time when the reaper came into common use, about 1855. During this period, thrash- ing machines, which had already been in- vented long before, became almost universally used. Railroads were built, commercial fertilizers came into use, and there was

general advancement in agricultural interests.

The fourth period began when the reaper became common to the present time-in- cludes the steam-thrasher, improved harvesters and reapers, etc.

INDIAN FARMING.

In York County, agriculture began 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 corn- stalks were burned with the weeds. Long, hard stones, used as pestles, and concave ones used as mortars, have been found along the Susquehanna and on the islands in it. These were used in grinding the corn into a coarse meal, from which the "Johnny cake" was made. The corn patches were thus kept clear of obstruction by burning, except in some places the scrub oak, which the ordinary fire would not kill. These, the white set- tlers grubbed out when they commenced to till the soil.

MARSHES-GRUBENLAND AND HOLZSCHWAMM.

Among the Germans, these places obtained the name of the "Grubenland" from the word "grub," which signifies in German "a small tree." Tradition points out one of these Indian fields in Fairview Township, near the Yellow Breeches, where the Indians of the Shawanese tribes for a long time had an encampment. The Red Land Valley had one. There may have been numbers of them in the central part of the county. Well authenti- cated tradition locates them in the lower end in the Chancefords, Hopewell, the Windsors, Peach Bottom and Fawn. On these Indian fields, in the north and central portions of the county, thickets grew so dense that cattle and horses of the first white settlers, straying into them, were difficult to find; hence bells were put on both classes of these animals, that they might easily be found. This was before the era of fences. Some of the streams broadened and produced marshes. A large portion of Paradise and Jackson Townships were composed of swamps, in which grew tall hickory trees. The early German settlers called these tracts "Holzschwamm", meaning a woody swamp. The region they covered is now fertile and productive. Smaller swamps of a similar character existed around the pres- ent town of Hanover, also in West Manches- ter, Hellam, Heidelberg and Spring Garden, and other townships. There were natural

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meadows where tall grasses matted them- selves into a thick, compact sod. These were the deer pastures which the Indians loved to visit.

THE FORESTS.

In the limestone region, heavy timbers covered most of the land, with occasional meadows and swamps. Lighter wood cov- ered the southern belt of the county and the sandstone regions in the north. There were, however, many places in all sections of the county, where the native ash tree, elm, shell- bark 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 forests, until now they are rarely seen, and but few are growing to take their places.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EMIGRANT FARMER.

Mostof the emigrants to America belonged to the middle class. They were artisans, traders, farmers, mechanics. Those who came to York County were mostly farmers of three different nationalities, -English, Ger- man and Scotch-Irish, each of which, com- ing from a different country, had their own peculiar modes of tilling the soil. Some of these people had located for a time in Ches- ter 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 this county. Religious persecution, in most cases, was the cause of their emigration. Hence they came to America, with noble aims and, generally, were of high moral character. There may have been notable exceptions, but the imme- diate prosperity that attended them faith- fully illustrates that they were thrifty and industrious. Great wealth in European countries, then, was rare, except among the nobility. The gentry and the warrior, did not emigrate, but the working and business classes did. Some of them were not farmers to begin with, 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 feudal system nor nobility interfered; every man was lord of his own domain in Pennsylvania, and this is what gave character to the agricultural classes so early in our history.

There were a few emigrants from the Palatinate, who belonged to the lower order of peasantry. They came here as redemp- tioners, that is, they bought their own pas- sage to America by selling themselves into

temporary servitude. Many a one of them served out the appointed time on the newly formed farms of York County. Their de- scendants may now own the same farms and be prosperous citizens.

HOW OUR ANCESTORS CAME, AND WHAT THEY BROUGHT WITH THEM.

The Germans who came direct from the Palatinate country were inclined to come in colonies of ten or more families direct from their native country. After visiting some friends in Lancaster County, possibly, they made a bee-line for the place of destination, first subscribing to the proper oath of allegi- ance, as it must be remembered, the Friends were in their own bailwick, but the Germans were foreigners, invited here, however, by none less than the great founder of the colony, himself, who paid his addresses to them, in person, while in their native land, and offered them inducements to emigrate to his province, -a land of pure and undefiled religious liberty. The Germans brought with them large "iron-bound chests;" each family, if they could be afforded, had one of them. They can be seen yet in this county among their descendants. These were filled with homespuns and some of the most im- portant household utensils. One, two or more covered wagons, sometimes belonging to the emigrants, frequently the property of settlers in eastern counties of a kindred na- tionality, who hauled their fellow-country- men to their place of destination. In these wagons, including household articles, were stored some of the most essential imple- ments of agriculture, such as the wooden plow, the scythe, the hoe and the sickle. The settlement of a few German colonies can still be located in York County. The Scotch-Irish brought the ox-team, the horse and the most essential implements. Many of the first Quakers rode from Chester County and Delaware on pack horses; the grown and half-grown went on foot. Some of the most active went ahead, when passing into an en- tirely 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 wade which now may be embraced in the most fertile farms.

SELECTION OF LANDS BY FIRST SETTLERS.

Where, to whom, or to what people among the white settlers belongs the honor of break- ing the ground for the first farms in York County, the truthful historian cannot now chronicle. Emigrants located nearly at the

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.

same time in all sections of the county, and took possession of chosen tracts of land so rapidly from the period between 1730 and 1736, that hundreds of farms were laid off between those dates. The Scotch-Irish se- lected 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 representatives ahead to locate land. The Germans natural - ly selected such land as was similar to that from which the more prominent of them came, and heuce they fell heir to most of the limestone region, although, as the land war- rants show, there were many English who took up land in the Hallam and York val- leys. They did not long remain in posses- sion of them. Much of the land was taken up by English speculators, who, soon after the first settlements were made, disposed of their rights at a profit to the German emi- grants, who came flocking with great rapidity again into this county from 1740 to 1752. There were as many as 2,000 Friends located in the upper end of the county, in Fairview, Newberry, Warrington and adjoining town- ships, before 1760; they were all farmers, largely from Chester County and Newcastle County, Delaware.

Most emigrants had some money, with which, after getting the proper warrants, they located lands of their own selection, or purchased them of surveyors, at a very small cost per acre. Much land of the lower town- ships was taken up in 400-acre tracts. Some of the settlers of the 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 always at fault, and cannot be verified by the records in the land office. The early surveyors and speculators owned many tracts in York County. Among them were Thomas Cookson, surveyor, of Lancaster, Edward Slippen, of Philadelphia, and Joseph Pidg- eon, 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 Coun- ty, much of which he fell heir to when he married the widow of Thomas Cookson, of Lancaster. But the Fates were not propi-

tious with him, as he lost it all by some mis- haps, and died poor, in Carlisle, just after the Revolution. Michael Tanner, an intelli- gent German Baptist, one of the commis- sioners who laid off York County and after- ward located at Hanover as the first justice of the peace, was a very large landholder.

The land in the lower end, then contained many spots of scrub oak which were left un- burned by the Indians, who annually set fire to patches, on some of which they had culti- vated corn and beans; and some possibly used as hunting grounds were burned, yet this tradition is of doubtful authenticity. It is far more natural that the Indians burned patches of the land off for farming pur- poses, and such is the opinion of the earliest writers of intelligence. The "York Barrens," which covered a large extent of territory, be- came noted in the annals of York County long after the period of experimental farm- ing. Much land in the Chancefords, Hope- well, Fawn, Peach Bottom, and parts of Codo- rus and Manheim was cleared of wood, and for two or three years produced fair crops of wheat, barley, spelt or corn. It then became poor and would no longer grow these valua- ble cereals. Rye could be cultivated longer; finally it ceased to yield profitably, and then nothing but buckwheat could be made to grow with satisfaction. It was long known as a great buckwheat country.

When certain cultivated tracts became totally sterile, they were deserted, and new tracts cleared and cultivated. This is what gave rise largely to the name "barrens." In the southwestern township, the Germans learned to call them "barns."

INCIDENTS OF PIONEER LIFE.

The first settlers always located near some spring or gentle, running stream of crystal ' water. Springs were plenty, and Nature's drink was pure and wholesome. For a few days the covered wagon served as a home, oftentimes for more than one family, especi- ally for the children and females. The spreading branches of a large tree sometimes afforded shelter, until the log-cabin-occa- sionally a stone house-could be built. A few red men visited them, and the squaws to gather willow twigs for baskets, and gazed upon the newcomers with wondering admira- tion. But until 1756, during the French and Indian war, their ravages were never feared, and the few that remained, were on friendly terms with the whites. After that event the sight of a wild Indian was terror, even in this county. But within the present limits of it

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there were only a few incidents of depreda- tions being committed.

Hard and patiently did the settlers go to work, with coats off, arms bare, and sweated brows, to fell the trees from which to hew the logs to erect the future homes. Logs were split, notched and appropriately ar- ranged, and then each settler assisted his nearest neighbor to do the heaviest work. The women who endured this new life were not idle. In homespun clothing and plain white caps, with the open air for a kitchen, and a few collected stones for a hearth, after the custom of the Gypsy of the present day, they swung, with chains and hooks, the pots and kettles brought from their native land, and prepared the coveted and heartily relished food. This food was either brought with them, or furnished by some kindly-disposed neighbor who had located earlier. A large log, a huge rock, or the " end gate" to the emigrant wagon, served as a table. Some- times a huge white oak or chestnut was cut at a proper height, around the stump of which these humble sons of toil, gathered to par- take of their frugal meals, until better ac- commodations were afforded. The men ate first; the women and children came last. Thanks were silently offered and there was but little profanity. The little children wandered into the near woods to observe the new attractions, but not too far from the cabin, lest the voracious wolf, or some un- friendly Indian might cause alarm. The timid deer and the sportive squirrel were fre- quently added to the newly-formed larder, and delicious fish which the aborigines so much loved to catch, were still left in abun- dance in the Susquehanna, the Codorus, the Conewago, and in all the streams. The table of the early settler was frequently supplied with them, as they were easily caught. The iron fish-hook was a necessary article for the emigrant, as was his flint-lock gun. The spade and the hoe, a necessary accompani- ment of the settler, were first brought into requisition, and soon a small patch was cleared and dug and planted with seeds and bulbs, which were ofttimes brought from across the ocean.

In some places the abundance of wood necessitated the destruction of some of it by burning or girdling the trees. Much timber was split into rails for " worm fence " to en- close the newly cleared tracts. The under- wood was " grubbed," dragged on heaps and burned, and a large flame from them was a common sight. There were no matches to light them as now. "Punk " and the flint- stone were commonly used to ignite wood, or

else live coals were brought from the open fires within the cabin. The age of stoves had not arrived in York County. The era of forges and furnaces came later. Then, as the 'season progressed, the old-fashioned wooden plow, drawn by the heavy draught horse or a pair of oxen, slowly turned up the soil, most of which, for ages unknown, had been undis- turbed. It is strange to think that the world existed so many thousands of years without her inhabitants even knowing of the richness of her treasures in the Western hemisphere. Stiff brushes tied together first served as har- rows to level and pulverize the soil. For a few years one plow was used by two or more farmers. The crops were planted or sown by the hand, and covered with a hoe or brush- wood. The soil being naturally fertile, crops grew abundantly without fertilizers, and to the " backwoodsman " the first harvest was a great delight.

EARLY MODES OF FARMING.

Many of the Quakers came to York County _ on pack horses, and there is a well authenticat- ed tradition that some of the first wagons they used were made here entirely of wood. The wheels were sawed from the thick trunks of the "gum tree" or the tough "buttonwood." As has been mentioned, some of these set- tlers brought their wagons with them. Spelt- wheat, barley and rye were first cultivated. They were cut with a sickle, thrashed with the flail, and among the very first settlers the chaff was separated from the grain by both being placed on a linen sheet, which two persons took hold of, and tossing the con- tents up in a current of air, a gentle breeze would blow the chaff away and leave the precious grain. Corn was shelled with the hand or by flail. Wheat or corn was ground the first year or two in a "pioneer mill,"-a mortar hollowed in the end of a log, or a stump in which it was ground, Indian fash- sion, with a pestle. Soon after the small grist- mill, run by water power, was constructed. During the first season the log-house, was com- pleted about fifteen feet long, ten feet wide and seven feet to the roof, at first covered with heavy bark, and, after the first year's crop, was carefully thatched [with straw. There was no cellar to it. On the garret or "loft," as it was termed. was stored the grain of the first year's crop. The next winter was spent by the husband in clearing more land, and taking care of his horse, cow, pigs, and sheep, which were expected to huddle to- gether, and live harmoniously in one com- mon stable. The wife would "ply her even- ing care" in front of the blazing hearth, on

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which the glowing "back logs" furnished both heat and light.

Before their first settlement in this coun- ty, agriculture had a fair foothold in this province. The domestic animals had been put into use, and all the cultivated plants grown in the mother countries, had been tried on American soil.

The plants peculiar to their native country were at first planted here. The intelligent reader will observe that the countries from which our ancestors came greatly differed then in modes of agriculture. Many of those differences were illustrated in this county, and hence were experimental, owing to the dif- ferences between the climate and meteorolog- ical conditions of our country with the places of their nativity. Corn, to them, was a new plant, native to America, and cultivated in a small way by the aborigines. Hemp, cotton, rice, spelts, oats, millet, lucerne, sainfoin, flax, mellon, rape, rye, oats, barley and buck- wheat were all experimented with in our own province, and most of them in our own county. Few of them remained in profita- ble cultivation. Hemp struggled a long time, and the old-fashioned "hemp-mill" is still remembered. It was cultivated in abundance in York County as late as 1812. Flax and its valuable product were known much later. It is still cultivated on a small scale. The "linsey-woolsey" made from it was used by our ancestors as an article of clothing.

This experimental farming of our ances- tors was so successfully tried before the Revo- lutionary period, that, since then, the intro- duction of few plants, except sorghum during the Civil war, can now be named. The sugar beet could be cultivated.

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

The cows brought here first were long- horned, hooked backward, many of them of brindle color. They were a large-sized, clean- limbed animal. Short-horns were not intro- duced until 1830, Devons much later, and Jerseys during the civil war. Long-wooled sheep were raised. Many farmers during the Revolutionary period owned from ten to twenty of these animals. Merino sheep were introduced from Spain early in the present century.

Previous to the settlement of America, the domestic animals of Europe fed on "natural " pastures. The grasses were not culitvated as they now are. The artificial seeding to grass only became common in Europe and America, toward the close of the last century. There were many kinds of grasses indigenous to this

section, but they were not well suited for pas- turing purposes; hence domestic animals deteriorated. The faithful horse and the ox, both of which were much used for farming, as well as the milk cow, deteriorated in size and form, and became smaller than their pro- genitors. The native Indian corn was found to be healthful and nutritious food for them, and greatly counterbalanced the influence of the grass food.

During the colonial period, the products of agriculture and of the forests constituted the principal articles taken " to market;" first conveyed from our county to Philadelphia and Baltimore on pack horses and afterward on rudely constructed wagons.

Since 1870, the fattening of cattle for mar- ket has become a very important business. Thousands of them are sold annually in the town of Hanover and shipped to Baltimore, a few to Philadelphia. In the fertile lands around York, and in many sections of the county, farmers find it a profitable business.

DISTILLING AS AN INDUSTRY AMONG FARMERS.

The successful introduction of rye, and the gradual increase in the cultivation of In- dian corn, led to the business of distilling liquor from these cereals. Wheat was also used in distilling. In fact, among the agri- cultural classes, it was a very important in- dustry, especially with the Germans and the Scotch-Irish. As early as 1770, there were sixteen distilleries in Dover Township, eighteen in Manchester, and equally as many in Hellam, Windsor, Shrewsbury, Manheim and Codorus Townships. Whisky after being made was hauled to Balti- more. The industrious Teuton and the impetuous Hibernian or Scotchman, did not fail in those days to quench his own thirst with some of the inspiriting fluid. It was a very common drink among the agricul- tural classes, and considered a necessity at harvest time. The whisky of those days, it is claimed, was pure and undefiled. Those were halcyon days for the manufacture of whisky. No internal revenue assessor need apply. Strange as it may seem, the Friends used it, but woe unto the one who drank too freely. He was sure to be " put out of meeting." There are a number of cases in the records of the Newberry and Warrington meetings, of members of the Society of Friends, being "brought before meeting " for imbibing too freely of ardent spirits. It was necessary for them to make a public acknowledgement of it, and they were then excused.

The business of distilling greatly increased.

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At first rye was mostly used. Then corn was found to be especially valuable for the same purpose. From 1810 to 1840, nearly one- fifth of the farmers of York County owned a "copper still," by which they. distilled their own cereals into whisky and hauled it to Baltimore. Hundreds of those stills were made in York and Hanover.

WAGONING.

Wagoning to Philadelphia and Baltimore became a great business, taking to these markets the supplies of grain, distilled liquors, etc., and returning with goods and merchandise for local merchants, or to be hauled to towns farther north or west. Most of the hauling was done in the winter, when the horses were not needed on the farm. The famous "Conestago wagons" were used, and many teamsters made it a business, year after year, to follow wagoning from Philadelphia and Baltimore to Pittsburg. Four, six, and eight-horse teams were common; some of the animals were furnished with bells, fitted so as to form an arch over the collar. The large wheel-horse carried the bass bells, and the other animals had bells producing differ- ent notes, selected to harmonize or chime. The wagons were masterpieces of workman- ship, with the wheels painted red and the bed blue. This wagoning business caused tav- erns to spring up without number along the leading thoroughfares. To men who followed this wagoning, the railroad was an innova- tion and an unwelcome improvement. The following song, which many persons yet re- member having heard, will illustrate the teamster's opinion of the new invention:

"May the d-l catch the fellow who first invented the plan

To make a railroad or a canal,

For they ruin our plantation wherever they do cross,

And they spoil our markets that we can't sell a hoss. CHORUS-Can't sell a hoss.

"Now come all you bold wagoners that have good wives,

Go home to your farms and there spend your lives;

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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 69

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