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 94

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

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In the country there was great distress. The saw-mill of J. P. King was carried away. A house occupied by Samuel Boyer, who lived at King's paper-mill, was swept off. The bridges on the Baltimore Road were broken down; the stage was unable to travel the road on Monday. The large bridge over the Conewago, on the York Haven Road was destroyed. William Reeser, the founder of Liverpool, had just crossed over it.

FLOOD OF 1822.

In 1822, York suffered from another flood. A snow of between fifteen and eighteen inches deep, fell February 18th. On the 20th, a south wind arose, accompanied with heavy rain; the snow dissolved with rapidity, and on the 21st, the Codorus was within four feet four inches, of being as high as on the memorable 9th of August, 1817. From the vast quantity of floating ice, the flood was very destructive to bridges, mill-dams, etc. Three arches of the bridge in Market Street, York, and five arches of the then new stone bridge over Con- ewago, at Berlin, were thrown by the ice, the bridges being thereby destroyed.

The following is an account of the prin- cipal sufferers in York Borough. Mike Doudel's tannery, was much injured; he lost moreover, a shop and a considerable number of hides and leather. The dwelling-house and brew house of Samuel Welsh was much injured; he lost a framed store house. Jacob

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.

Schlosser lost his still-house and distillery. The stables of Jesse Spangler, Joseph Morris and Andrew Neuman were carried off. Jacob Sechrist sustained a considerable loss in his brick-yard.

DROUGHT OF 1822.

Persons who had lived nearly a century, had witnessed nothing like the great drought of 1822. There was no rain of any conse- quence from February 21st, the time of the flood, until some time in September, a period of about six months. Fountains which had been considered as perennial, were dried up. Grinding was not done at one mill out of ten; and where grinding.was done, the demand for flour was not supplied. Many farmers went twenty miles to mill, and then were obliged to return with a quantity of flour not suffi- cient to satisfy immediate want. An account of the drought written August 13th, says " the summer crops have almost totally failed; some fields will yield not a grain of corn, and the best fields not more than a few bushels to the acre." Shortly after this there were two showers, which relieved the country: the one fell on the 23d, and the other on August 24. The showers, however, did not extend to the north western part of the county, where the dis- tress was excessive. On September 13, 1822, there was not a drop of water to be seen in the channel of the Big Conewago, at the place where the bridge is thrown across it on the Car- lisle Road. At low water the stream there is generally from 90 to 120 feet wide. Turnips were raised in the bed of the stream that summer.

SNOW STORM.

In January, 1772, there was an uncom- mon fall of snow in York County. On the 27th, the snow was three feet and a half deep. A heavy rain then came on, which freezing, formed a thick crust. Nearly every man and boy now turned out to chase deer, for while the hunter could run fleetly on the crust, the poor animals struck through, and were unable to proceed far. The consequence was that (with exception of a few that were on the mountains, and in the more remote part of the county), the race was nearly extirpated. Before that time deer were common through- out the county; since then but few have been found.

HAIL STORM IN 1797.

The following account of a hail storm in the year 1797 is extracted from manuscripts left by the Hon. Thomas Hartley.

"On the *** day of June, 1797, there was a hail storm in York and the neighbor- hood, which as far as it extended, destroyed

the gardens and broke down the winter grain in a most extraordinary manner; there was hardly a hope that any would be saved, but the farmers were able, in the har- vest, to gather more than half of what they considered as lost. The hail stones were pro- digiously large. Several persons were in danger of losing their lives from them. Many fowls and birds were killed. Some of the stones were as large as a pullet's egg, or as the apples then growing. It is supposed that in York and Bottstown, fully 10,000 panes of glass were broken."

HAIL STORM OF 1821.

On May 29, 1821, an uncommon hail storm destroyed most of the grain in the neighborhood of York. On that same day the heat was uncommonly oppressive in the borough of Hanover; and in the evening there was violent thunder and lightning; but (a circumstance very strange) at the distance of three miles from Hanover, there was a destructive hail storm.

WIND STORM OF 1830.

A violent wind storm prevailed in York and vicinity on May 18, 1830. A number of wild ducks of a new species were dashed down in a terrific gale, into the streets of the town. They were beautiful specimens of the feathery tribe, on their way northward to the lakes, but were unable to encounter the vio- lence of the wind. The storm occurred dur- ing the night and the ducks, many of which were dead, were taken up by the citizens the next morning. About four miles from town many more were found. The storm caused considerable destruction to orchards and property.

THE MIRACULOUS FLOOD OF BEAVER CREEK.

This stream, a branch of Conewago, is one of three by the same name in York County. Dur- ing the summer of 1826, there was a singular cloudburst above the southern slope of Round Top, in Warrington Township, which caused a terrible flood along this stream. It was purely a local rain. Mr. Griffith, who was stand- ing one and a half - miles west of the mountain in the open air, did not get wet. At this point the sun was shining. The cloud was passing in a southwest direction. The water rushed down the sides of the mountain, tearing deep gulleys. The tan- nery of William Ross was taken away by the high water, and the leather taken down with the dashing current. Daniel M. Ettinger, of York, was an eye witness to this remarkable meteorological phenomenon, and

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METEOROLOGICAL.

describes it as follows: "On the morning of that day (Sunday), I was traveling from Dillsburg to Rossville, passing within a mile or two of Round Top, the highest mountain in York County. The top of this mountain was hid all the morning in a dense cloud. No rain fell where I was. When the cloud moved off, or rather disappeared, a great rush of water came down into Beaver Creek, which flows past the base of that mountain. On that Sunday a religious meeting was held near its banks. My sister, who is still liv- ing, attended it. She says, in the morning, she and others crossed the creek, in which there was but little water. Norain fell there on that day where the meeting . was held, which was but two miles from the mountain. During the meeting the flood came rushing along the channel of the creek, the first wave being about seven feet high. The cat- tle grazing near the creek were overtaken and carried off. There was great consternation and confusion at this meeting, on account of the flood." An old gentleman then living near the Conewago Creek, some distance above the mouth of Beaver Creek, observing the water in the Conewago running up its chan- nel, reversing its course, concluded the end of time had come. It is said that he ear- nestly employed himself, the best way he could, for the great change which he thought was just at hand.

THE FLOOD OF 1884.

The most destructive rain storm that ever visited southern Pennsylvania and central Maryland, came on the night of June 25th and the morning of the 26th, 1884. The amount of water precipitated greatly exceed- ed the rain-fall of 1817, and any other pre- vious ones known in the history of York County, and the devastation caused by the flood which soon followed, was very much more wide-spread in its destruction. York and Adams Counties in Pennsylvania, Fred- erick, Harford, Baltimore and Carroll coun- ties in Maryland, included the area over which the largest amount of rain fell on this occasion. It began to fall early in the eve- ning, gradually increasing in amount until 9 o'clock P. M., when it rained, rained, rained, continuously rained, one peltering, pouring stream of rain. There was no cessa- tion and very little variation. The flood gates of Heaven seemed open until 3 A. M., when it gradually ceased. In that space of time Nature astonished herself by precipitat- ing at various points in York County twelve inches of rain, a phenomenon astonishing to describe as having occurred within seven

hours in the temperate zone. It has only been equalled or exceeded in a few places with- in the tropics. The Codorus and Conewago creeks and their tributaries soon became large, broad streams-dashing, rushing, swelling, crashing, slashing, thrashing, smashing, tearing, spreading, foaming, roar- ing, raging rivers, causing great devastation along the entire lines of the creeks and rivu- lets. To the question, what caused it? the only answer is, the unprecedented rain-fall.

What caused the immense rain-fall ? Pe- culiar meteorological conditions of the atmos- phere; eastern currents of air from the At- lantic coast, freighted with an abundance of moisture, came in contact with currents from other directions, equally well charged with moisture. There was a change in tempera- ture; dense clouds, possibly a mile in depth, were formed, and rain was the result-a mi- raculous rain which for amount of water pre- cipitated in so short a time, was never before excelled in America, except at Honduras, in Central America.

Mr. Henry Wirt, of Hanover, since 1878, has regularly kept a record of amount of rain-fall each year in this locality, with the following results:

Inches.

1879 28.80

1880

37.20

1881 37.99

1882

35.99

1883 35.97

1884 49.46

The instrument used is an accurately made 5-inch rain-gauge. It will be noticed the amount of precipitation in 1884, greatly ex- ceeded that of previous years. The yearly average for Pennsylvania is about thirty- eight inches. The amount of rain-fall, as a rule, decreases in passing from the equator to the poles. It will be interesting and ap- propriate here to give a few statistics. The place where the greatest amount of rain falls in the world is in Cherrafronjee, India, near the Cossyah Hills, facing Bombay, caused by the ascending currents of monsoon winds from the Indian Ocean, namely 610 inches yearly. At Singapore it is 190 inches yearly ; Honduras, in Balize, 153 inches; Kingston, 83. The lowest amount of fall is in Vene- zuela, South America, 73 inches, and in As- trakan, Russia, 63 inches yearly. One me- teorological report states that 60 inches of rain fell in the mountain regions of Spain in twenty-four hours, a half-century ago.

The flood of 1884 in York County was most destructive at York, and along the line

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.

of the Codorus Creek. The amount of rain-fall at no place in the county exceeded twelve inches. The writer of this, immediately after the flood, collected facts and statistics and published an article in the columns of the York Daily from which the following is abstracted:

· "I have endeavored to ascertain the amount of rain-fall in York County, especially in that portion of the county drained by the Codorus Creek and its branches, during the tremen- dous rain storm of last Wednesday night, with information gathered in Codorus, Springfield, Heidelberg townships and other points in Codorus Valley, I can safely esti- mate that the average depth of rain for that entire region was eight inches. The follow- ing calculation will show the immensity of this accumulation of water by the time it reached York. It will also show how futile and even foolish the argument is, that the Spring Forge dam, or all the other dams in the Codorus Valley together, were the cause of the disastrous flood in York on Thursday morning last. The comparison of their water bank-full, with the amount of rain-fall, is as a drop of water to a barrel-full.

" There are 160 rods or 43, 560 square feet in an acre. Taking the average 8 inches of rain or two thirds of a foot and multiplying 43,560 square feet by two thirds we have 27,040 cubic feet of rainfall to every acre. One cubic foot of water weighs 1,000 ounces or 62} pounds, which multiplied by 29,040 cubic feet gives 1,815,000 pounds of water to each acre; dividing this by 2,000 we have about 907 tons to the acre. There are 640 acres to each square mile, hence 580,480 tons to the square mile.

York County contains about 921 square miles, of which about 225 square miles are drained by the Codorus Creek and its branches above York. Hence 225 times 580, 480 or 130, - 608,000 millions of tons of water-fall during the night. Possibly three-fourths of this flowed down the Codorus, making 96,956,000 tons, as not more than one-fourth soaked into the ground owing to the fact it fell so rap- idly. Nearly all of this amount passed through York before 10 o'clock on Thursday morning. There was enough water passed Market Street, York, from Dr. Hay's residence to Gable's drug store, every ten minutes for four successive hours to have filled all the dams tributary to the Codorus Creek."

The Flood at York .- The actual loss to York County occasioned by this flood, was not less than $700,000; a vast amount of this loss was to the borough of York, caused by the Codorus overflowing its

banks. The course of the stream through the built-up portion of the town, measures about one and a quarter miles. The stream usually about eighty feet wide through Market Street, on this occasion was fully one fourth of a mile wide extending from Dr. Hay's residence on the east of the Codorus to Gable's drug store west of the same. An area of 100 acres of houses, streets and lots were under water. The rise began rap- idly about 5 A. M. Thursday morning; by 6 o'clock, it had grown into an angry flood, and so continued until 10 A. M. when it rapidly subsided. Fortunately there were no lives lost at York, but there were many thrilling adventures and miraculous escapes. One by one the bridges across the Codorus were taken away; at 7 A. M. all were gone. Bridges from up the stream, and buildings, farm implements, furniture, dead and living animals were seen in the passing waters. The stream rose so rapidly in headlong roll- ing waves, that many people were soon im- prisoned in their houses, on the second or third stories. The roaring of the waters, the crashing of the bridges, the crunching of the buildings, the thundering of logs and trees against the houses, terrified eveu the most courageous of them, and caused dread and apprehension of great loss of life by the. spectators. The water was twenty-five feet above the usual stage.

Heroic Deeds and Narrow Escapes .- Capt. John Albright and Frank Hubley saved the life of a woman and child on New- berry Street; Frank Ginter while attempting to save the life of Mrs. Berkheimer, his horse stumbled and they both narrowly escaped, through the assistance of others; Mrs. Berk- heimer was saved by Jacob Cookes, whose father in 1817 performed similar acts; Mrs. Elsesser and her children were saved by William Kable; Levi Erion rescued his wife and child from his flooded home by means of a horse; on Grant Street a number of persons were saved from attic windows with boats; Anthony Munchel swam to land with his wife on his back; John F. Patton, the energetic druggist, was in his store when a wave, several feet high, broke in the front door; the gable end fell in at the same time, and his escape was miraculous; High Constable Zorger cut a hole through the roof of his house and by means of a rope escaped with his wife; Frank Rohrbaugh, grocer, was for a considerable time in great danger; B. S. Bivenour swam a long distance to his house and saved his child; Policeman George Powell stood up to his waist in water, assisting persons in danger to escape; James

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METEOROLOGICAL.

Boner attempted to make his horse swim the Codorus, and was only rescued by men in a boat; William Engles and some one else rescued the family of John Diehl; Kirk Sauders carried his wife and son on his shoulders through water nearly to his neck; Mrs. Henry E. Houser, living near the bridge, was at breakfast when the bridge tore ont the corner of the house, and the water dashed into the room; she narrowly escaped with her life. E. Chalfant also marvelously es- caped. In Grothe's row at the north end of Duke Street, about thirty families were saved with boats; Jere Horton and some of his employes were imprisoned on the upper story of Codorus Paper Mills; at the Mot- ter House, Christian Landis, proprietor, was getting his account books, when the water rushed in the windows-he ran up stairs just in time to escape being surrounded by the water; Mrs. Smith, who in the flood of 1817 was nearly drowned in the Motter House, was rescued from danger in this flood at her residence on Water Street. She was then ninety years old. There were many other similar adventures.

Ruin and Desolation. - There is not space in this article to give an adequate de- seription of the appearance of the flooded district and the ruin and desolation. Some of the names of persons who lost heav- ily by the flood are as follows: on Market Street, east of the bridge, Jonathan Owen, clothing store; Logan Marshall, liquor dealer; Theresa Seavey, milliner; Hantz & Bro., hardware; J. D. Harnish, con- fectioner; Lewis Shive, furniture; Misses Alleman, milliners; Henry E. Houser, butcher; Miss Doudel and Mrs. Croll, private residences. On Market Street, west of bridge, all was devastation from the creek to Newberry Street ; among the losers were William Wiest, grocer ; Peter "Wiest, dry goods merchant, lost very heav- ily; he had $28,000 worth of goods on hand; nearly all was damaged or swept away. Kaylor's bookstore; Frank Rohrbaugh, hard- ware and grocer; John F. Patton & Co., druggists, store was completely washed out and the goods taken away or lodged in the back yard, several thousand dollars loss; Baugher, Kurtz & Stewart's large foundry sustained a heavy loss; Vigilant Fire Co .; Isaac Heller, clothier; Joshua Green; H. J. Gresley, butcher; Michael Smyser, hardware; C. Landis; Motter House; Alexander Wantz, tinner; H. B. Schroeder; V. Welsh; E. M. Hugentugler, grocer; C. A. Klinefelter, hard- ware; Miss Sue Chalfant. The losses of these persons ranged from $500 to $20,000.

David P. Frank's carriage shops on Mason Avenue. were severely damaged. Along New- berry Street the scene was indescribable. Many houses were swept away, and all damaged. The Colored Church on this street was badly damaged. J. C. Fallon's plan- ing-mill, J. R. Davis' comfort works and soap factory, Jacob Allison & Co.'s brick- yard, were all badly damaged. The first floor of every house in the flooded district was covered with mud and slime, as well as the streets and alleys. The Empire Car Works, owned by Michael Schall; Barnitz's, Wilts', Gerber's, Fahs & Smyser's coal yards, and the Variety Iron Works, on the east of the creek-all sustained heavy losses. George Street, from railway to bridge, was submerged, as well as a large section of town north of the depot. Between York and Louck's mill, along the meadows there was a sight which was viewed by many people. Huge piles of rubbish, store goods, furniture, broken buildings, etc., were piled up in promiscuous confusion. Thousands of people visited York during the week following the flood to view the devastation. The generous peo- ple of the town soon took an active interest in the flood sufferers. Money was raised, relief committees formed, and many who lost property received a part of the value thereof. Several thousand dollars were distributed among the needy.

Destruction in Other Points in the County. -The greatest amount of rain fell west and southwest of York. At Spring Grove, P. H. Glatfelter lost heavily in the destruction of his property. George E. Miller, at that place, lost 400 tons of ice. A barn was carried away at Myer's mill and two horses drowned. Mr. Alwine's brick-yard was nearly ruined. At Menges' mill, the railroad bridge was taken away and the track was destroyed for yards. The coal-yard of P. H. Menges was flooded.

Miss Maggie Straley, aged twenty-one years, was drowned at Jacob's mills, four miles east of Hanover. She had gone out to assist in rescuing some pigs and was unex- pectedly swept away with the rushing waters, and thus unfortunately lost her life. The destruction of bridges, and the tearing up of railroad tracks was terrible at places, especial - ly of the Hanover Junction and the Hanover & York Railroads, and the trains could not run over them for several days.

The damage done along the Conewago and Little Conewago was very-great, as also along part of Muddy Creek. The grain crop was considerably injured, and much hay that was lying on the ground spoiled. The entire county suffered heavy loss.

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.

There was much other destruction in the county not herein named.

To the question: Will such a flood occur again ? we answer: Not likely. Even though more than two-thirds of York County is cleared land, the average yearly amount of rain-fall now is equal to what it was seventy years ago. Facts are stubborn things and they destroy theories sometimes.

The commissioners of York County. Messrs. Haines, Kiefer and Bentz. placed wooden bridges at the following place's, where the flood had taken away bridges previously placed there: Across Codorus Creek at Spren- kle's Mill, at the New Salem Road, and Hyde's Fording; iron bridges across the same stream at Penn, Princess, King, Mar- ket, Philadelphia and George streets, in York; two at Louck's Mill in Spring Garden Township, at Myer's and Brillinger's Mill, in Manchester Township; across the Little Con- ewago at Emig's and Neiman's Mills; across the Big Conewago at Gross' Fording, Diehl's Mill, Benedict's and Bower's Fordings; one across Bermudian Creek, across one of the many Beaver Creeks in York County at Mas- emer's Mill, two over Oil Creek near Menges' Mill. and one across Mill Creek in Peach Bottom. In all twenty-four bridges, nearly all iron. Their cost was $91,000. At the same flood Adams County lost 12 county bridges; Carroll County, Md., 21; Cecil, 15; Frederick, 20, and Hartford, 20.

THE METEORIC SHOWER OF 1833.

November 13, 1833, is signalized as the period of the greatest meteoric shower ever known on this continent, and was then de- scribed by one who witnessed it, as " grand, awful and sublime." Many superstitious people believed it was "the end of all things," and to them it was overwhelming and terrific. In the language of an old gentleman, still living, who witnessed the phenomenon, "it rained stars." Many of them were globular in shape, but in their rapid motion each one left behind a luminous tail, which the imag- ination of the credulous transformed into so many "fiery serpents." Some people spent the time in lamentation and prayer, owing to the horror of mind that seized upon them.

About 11 o'clock on Tuesday night, Octo- ber 12, 1833, some meteors were observed in the atmosphere. They continued to increase until 5 o'clock on Wednesday morning. when the heavens presented a sight grand beyond description. The radiating point for this latitude seemed to be a little south, south- east of the zenith. There were short inter- vals of cessation, and then there was no

space in the heavens, three times the diam- eter of the moon, which was not filled with the celestial fire-works, with many long translucent phosphorescent trains. Some large meteors darted across the heavens, leav- ing luminous trains behind them that were visible for ten minutes or longer. Ten thou- sand little meteors might be observed at a time igniting, falling perpendicularly for a short distance and then disappearing, to be followed by others. Not a cloud was visible, not a breath of air was perceptible. The luminous trail which each meteor left behind it, as it moved, gave the heavens almost the appearance of a solid mass of flame. The scene continued until their light was eclipsed by morning dawu.

Meteoric showers of a similar kind seem to occur about three times a century. The first one of modern times, familiar to history, took place on November 12, 1799, and was also noted for brilliant display. Another oc- curred 1866, when every intelligent person in Europe and America was awaiting the ap- pointed time. The display was prominent only in England. A shower may be expected in 1899.

TOPOGRAPHY.

TH THE topographical features of York Coun- ty consist, principally of easy-rolling hill and valley surface in a great variety of aspects. The county belongs to the open country of the great Atlantic plain, with an average elevation of about 500 feet above high tide at Philadelphia. A ridge of the South Mountains, with an elevation of about 1,000 feet, enters the northwestern corner of the county and terminates above Dillsburg. A spur of these mountains ex- tends across Fairview Township and down along the Susquehanna. They were formerly known as Priest's Hills, after David Priest, an early settler; they now are called Halde- man's Mountains or River Hills. Enclosed within the different smaller ridges are the fertile Redland and Fishing Creek Valleys, composed of the new red sand-stone and red shale formations. Round Top 1,110 feet above sea level, and its quiet neighbor, Knell's Hill, are isolated peaks of basalt or trap formation, located in Warrington Town- ship. The Conewago Hills, isolated ridges of South Mountain, cross the county toward York Haven. Above Wrightsville, as far as to the mouth of Codorus Creek, extending

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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 94

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