USA > Pennsylvania > Lancaster County > New Holland > The Three Earls : an historical sketch, and proceedings of the centennial jubilee, held at New Holland, Pa., July 4, 1876 > Part 5
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Indian tradition tells us two hundred years before the arrival of Penn, hardly an Indian was to be found in the present territory of Lancaster county. The Piquaws came about 1630. Fragments of other tribes, driven from the south by the whites, found their way hither. But they never became numerous, and as the settlements began to appear all through the interior, they began to disappear gradually, even as they had first come. Their tribal relations were broken up, and while some went northward and united themselves with the Six Nations, others slowly wended their way into Ohio and Indiana, joining their destinies with the tribes in those states.
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IRSTT
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BOUNTIES PAID FOR ANIMALS AND BIRDS.
of the Indian custom, of annunally burning the scrubby underwood; it was not a difficult matter to drive a cart for long distances through the woods in all directions.
Wages were moderate, and the cost of living correspond- ingly low. About the time of the Revolution, the earnings of harvest hands were two shillings and six pence for men, and one shilling six pence for boys; wheat at the same time was worth about five shillings, or sixty-seven cents per bushel.
BOUNTIES PAID FOR ANIMALS AND BIRDS.
During the first half of the last century, certain birds and animals were so numerous and hurtful to the farmers, that colonial bounties were offered for their destruction. Indian, crow and squirrel scalps, were all at a premium. Blackbirds were paid for at three pence per dozen ; wolves, fifteen to twenty shillings; squirrel scalps, three pence per head, and in the year 1749, no less than £8000 were paid for them, which would indicate a wholesale slaughter of 840,000 in that year: laborers became scarce because they could make more out of squirrel scalps than by days' labor : no wonder the county treasuries were empty and that these lively animals are so scarce now.
Of course, the first concern of these settlers was to house their families, and then to clear a field for the purpose of supplying their wants. Grass for the stock, was cut in the swamps and meadows, generally stacked on the spot, and removed when winter or necessity required it. Clover was little cultivated prior to the Revolution ; timothy even less, and much surprise was occasioned when hay was first cut on upland fields from these grasses. Sheep were not raised
Shortly after the Revolution the last of the red men had left this fair county nevermore to return .- Address of Redmond Conyng- ham. Watson's Annals.
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HISTORICAL SKETCH.
in great numbers; the wolves were numerous and made havoc among them. The abundance of mast made hog raising an easy and profitable task; but bears abounded, and having always been partial to fresh pork, the farmers were much molested by them. For many years, however, venison and turkeys were so abundant that they every- where formed the principal flesh food of the people. A twenty-pound turkey could be had for a shilling, and a fat deer for two shillings. Mutual assistance was freely ex- tended by the early colonists to each other; newcomers were aided in putting up their cabins and barns, and in housing their crops at the proper season.
SPORTS, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.
Between many of the manners and customs of every- day life, as they then existed, and those of our own time, a wonderful change has taken place. A generous hospitality was universally prevalent, and was calculated to promote good fellowship. Although their ways of life were primi- tive, and devoid of parade or ostentation, they were good, hearty livers, and enjoyed life. Tradition comes down to us freighted with stories of their pranks and pastimes. Horse-racing seems to have been a perfect passion with them. No less than three race courses have existed at different times in the vicinity of New Holland ; one at the east end' on the Ranck farm, one on the Mentzer property in the north-west, and a third in the south-west on Solomon Diller's land. It was not an unusual occurrence for these lively boys to dissect some irritable neighbor's cart or wagon into its component parts, transport them to his hay- mow or stable-roof, and there carefully unite them again, and whence the indignant owner at a considerable expend- iture of time, trouble and temper, might lower them to their proper place in the wagon shed. The annual Fairs
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SPORTS, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.
and Battalion day were times when the whole people gave themselves holidays, and all business was made to yield to the season of merriment and enjoyment: the huckster stands with their magnificent array of candies, oranges and ginger bread, were a sight which all the profusion and elegance of later times, can never drive from the recollec- tion of the boys of fifty years ago.
They cared less for fashion than we do now; tight fitting buckskin breeches or coarse homespun was the common wear for men; houest home-made linen covered their brawny arms and broad shoulders, and it was only on state occasions, such as weddings and the like, that silver shoe and knee buckles and gilt buttons, glittered on their stalwart persons. Umbrellas were altogether unknown to the primitive settlers; a heavy woolen blanket shielded them from the rain by day and was often their couch at night. Boots and spectacles were little less than curiosi- ties here in the country a century ago. Cider was a favor- ite tipple with the early colonists; but then cider presses had not yet come into vogue; the apples were crushed by means of a stamper in a large tub or trough; the pumice was put into a suspended basket from which the liquor drained into a vessel beneath, the process being assisted by the application of weights and pressure of various kinds. The women invariably wore caps. A short gown of home- spun, falling a little below the waist, was the universally- worn outer garment. No calf-skin shoes were worn by the lower ranks in life of either sex. Pull-back skirts were unheard of; our good, old dames consoled themselves instead, by wearing half a dozen well quilted petticoats, which were relied on to keep them warm in winter, and which, we feel pretty sure, did the same in summer. The old-fashioned bonnet served both as head-gear and para-
الخطاب كماتكون وطاعة
العصر
சாடு வர் 1
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HISTORICAL SKETCH.
sol. There were no globe lamps in their parlors, no car- pets on their floors, and no paper on their walls. Wooden platters, pewter dishes, spoons and mugs, served them instead of plated ware and China. When the bride went any distance. to get married, she rode on a pillion before her father or some kinsman, but after the ceremony, she occupied a seat behind her husband.
"Riding double was no crime, in the good Queen Anne's time, Nor did the lady blush vermillion, sitting on her lover's pillion."
At burials, persons previously selected, passed around, giving those present a glass of wine and a piece of sweet- cake: this is not so foolish a custom as the one that came . in later, of setting such a feast before the friends and rela- tives after the funeral, as required a large slice of the deceased's estate to pay for .* Even down to a compara- tively recent period, before hearses came into fashion, the coffin was placed in a large Conestoga wagon, and the part of the wagon not taken up by the coffin, was occupied by the mourners, while a procession of horsemen, sometimes
*Since writing the above, I happened on a document, whose contents incline me to think I am in error in ascribing a compara- tively modern origin to the expensive funeral feasts so common in the rural districts. It is a bill for funeral expenses, bearing date of 1814, and translated runs in this wise:
s.
d.
For services of a cook
·7 6
Store bill
12 5
5
Cheese
1
2
9
Paid in New Holland store
19
4
For 1 calf.
1
0 0
For four bushels wheat. 1 17 6
17 12 6
As the deceased was a person of wealth, only such things were purchased as her own well filled country larder could not supply, and there will be no difficulty therefore in believing that thrice or more times the above sum was eaten up by the hungry acquaint- ances, who availed themselves of this last opportunity of mani- festing their regard, by sitting down to this lavish array of cold meats and cheese.
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SPORTS, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.
half a mile long, riding two by two, followed in the rear.
While they were honest, God-fearing men and women, their morality was not of that finely drawn kind that is so current to-day. Lotteries found much favor in their eyes. Was an enterprise, either public or private, in need of funds, a lottery was speedily organized to help it out. Some of the principal streets of Philadelphia were one hundred years ago paved with money raised by lotteries; was a church to be built, a steeple to be erected or a ranger company to be paid off, a lottery was the means to do it with. After all, were they worse than chancing at our church fairs, and were they not at least, as honestly conducted? Farmers, and farmer's sons, managed to thrive without one or more fine vehicles for purposes of pleasure. There were only thirty-eight carriages in all Pennsylvania in 1761 : the first person in these townships who owned one was William Smith, better known as "squire" Smith; it was a two-horse affair, and elicited much attention and comment .*
It is not generally known that prior to the present cen- tury, justices of the peace occasionally issued documents of the nature of passports or letters of security. A paper of this kind has come into my hands; it was issued by Fred- erick Seeger, a man known to many still living, as one of the most enterprising and prominent men of his time in
*Since the above was written, I have reason to suspect the claims of Squire Smith's wonderful coach to priority in point of time, can hardly be maintained. That primitive conveyance can hardly have rolled over the roads of Earl much earlier than the beginning of the present century: there are good reasons for be. lieving its era must have been about the year 1790, or perhaps a little later: it nowhere appears on the still-existing assessor's lists. The first vehicle of this kind, of which any official record remains, is one belonging to John and Thomas Kittera, prominent citizens of East Earl, who in the year 1783, were taxed £4 State money, for owning and using this convenient style of locomotion.
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HISTORICAL SKETCH.
these townships. I quote part of the paper:
"Commonwealth of Penna .- Lancaster Co. Fredk. See- ger Esq. one of the Justices of the Peace in and for the said county certifyeth-that the Bearer hereof John Stein, other- wise called Stone-of Brecknock Township in the said county, yeoman, is the eldest son of Leonard Stein, otherwise called Stone, late of Earl Township in the said county, yeoman, deceased, and one of the lawful heirs of the de- ceased. The said John intends to travel into Northumber- land county All persons are therefore re- quested to suffer the said John Stein to pass on his journey unmolested. In testimony whereof I have here- unto set my hand and seal this 16th day of May, Anno Dom. 1800. Fredk. Seeger.
To whom it may concern.
N. B. Should any person doubt the foregoing certificate, there are people in that county who know me well, and my hand writing-and Mr. Stein can make oath or affirma- tion that he did see me sign the above certificate.
Fredk. Seeger."*
Nowadays when we go prospecting in Iowa or on a visit to our cousins in Virginia, it never occurs to us to run to a magistrate for a document to identify or endorse us.
*Mr. Seeger left, among his papers, a brief autobiographical sketch of himself, whose very frankness stamps it with the seal of truth. It affords another instance of what honesty, fidelity and energy can accomplish when inspired by high purpose. Just such men have made this country what it is, and their example must have an influence for good. I make no apology therefore for inserting it here: the original is in German of which the follow- ing is a translation :
Philadelphia, April 4, 1780.
"A short account of my life and parentage ;- also a copy of my bap- tismal certificate in the event that it should be lost. Copy-In the name of the Most Holy Trinity :-- In the presence of witnesses-Wil- liam Ferdinand Frederick Seeger was born of christian parents in Diedelsheim, Palatinate, Jany. 16, 1750. The parents were Rev. Geo. Frederick Seeger, pastor of the evangelical Lutheran Church in Diedelsheim, & Catharine Frederica Nota Weisen, daughter of Rev. M. Gottlieb Weisen, pastor of the Lutheran church of
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GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES.
It is unnecessary to say much about the physical features of these townships; they are familiar to all.
Golshausen in the Palatinate. The sponsors were 1, Baron Ernst Fredk. Laris, 2, Baron Philip Fredk. Von Shonfeld, 3, Miss Maria Magdalina Von Sister, 4, Mrs. Ernstina Von Kechler, 5, Mrs. Maria Keckler Von -, 6, Rev. Christopher Charles Faber, 7, Mrs. Sophia Keller, 8, Mrs. Fred. Gottlieb Weis. This is taken from the record of ministerial acts in the hand writing of Rev. -, subscribed with my own hand and confirmed by my usual seal, Golshausen, April 14, 1776.
Christopher Joh. Hausrath, Pastor.
My beloved father died in the year - at the age of 57: my beloved mother departed this life in the year 1760. Even in my tender youth, no expense and pains were spared upon my educa- tion by my parents. My father had me not only attend church and hear the word of God, but also diligently attend school. I was also sent to a Latin school from my 6th to my 13th year, that with this and an acquaintance with other necessary branches of knowledge, I might the better get along in the world. For the parental love and faithfulness I experienced, may the great God reward my parents before the throne of the Lamb in heaven.
After my father found me qualified to renew my baptismal cov- enant by a public profession of my faith, I was confirmed in the 13th year of my age, and received for the first time the Lord's supper. Soon after I expressed my wish to learn the mercantile profession to which my father gave his consent. I then served a four years' apprenticeship in the city of Stuttgart with Mr. Barn- hard Fredk. Behringer. After this I went to Heidelberg where I was in the employ of John W. Godelman for two years. From thence I went to Manitz and entered the celebrated house of John George Gontzinger.
In order to learn more of the world and to improve my fortune, I resolved to travel to Holland, with the hope of finding employ- ment in some large commercial house. My undertaking was un- successful, and this contributed to my coming to America, for as I saw no prospect of getting employment in Holland and did not wish to return to. my native land, the way to America was pre- pared. I crossed the ocean in the ship Minerva, Capt. Arnold, and landed in Phila. on Sep. 20, 1771. I had to content myself with the circumstances in which I then was, and with the ways of the country, which it is true, were not very agreeable. I was un- der the necessity of hiring myself to Benjamin Davids, an inn- keeper, for three years and nine months. My situation was un- pleasant, for my employment did not correspond with that to which I had been accustomed from my youth, in my fatherland. In the course of nine months my hard service ended, for with the
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HISTORICAL SKETCH.
Their geological formation belongs to the Paleozoic period; they lie entirely within the great limestone belt that traverses the county throughout its entire extent from east to west. Lying in the Conestoga valley, their location is unsurpassed by any districts in the state. That classic stream, the Conestoga, runs through them for many miles of its devious course, affording abundant water power for the numerous mills located on its banks. Muddy Creek in the north, Mill Creek in the south and the Cocalico in the west, are likewise important streams: innumerable smaller streams and runs traverse the country in all direc- tions, covering it with robes of green throughout the greater part of the year; all in all, it is one of the best watered sections of the county. Through the south- eastern part, runs the chain of hills, which we a little grandly, perhaps, call the Welsh mountains-a name given to them by the Welsh who established themselves along their rugged sides, and who thought they saw in the blue summits a resemblance to the familiar peaks of Wales. While they vary and give a rich and picturesque appear- ance to the general surface of the country, they have in the past, and will no doubt for a long period in the future, furnish ample supplies of timber for the necessities of the farmer. They are rich in stores of iron ore, but as yet, none has been dug in the Earls. The great mineral wealth of these townships consists in the inexhaustible stores of
aid of good friends, I found means in a becoming way to leave Davids, for the employ of Messrs. Miles and Wistar, where I re- mained three years and six months."
Mr. Seeger found his way to New Holland, where he succeeded in accumulating a large estate. He died March 13, 1835, aged 86 years.
For the privilege of copying the above document, I am indebted to H. A. Roland, esq., in whose possession it is.
THE
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TOWNS.
limestone that underlie them. In these the people have more certain and more enduring riches than if possessed of the treasures of Nevada or Peru : they will pour forth of their abundance whenever called upon, and will outlast time itself.
TOWNS.
The ever-varying surface of the country, everywhere affords sites for villages and hamlets, and these the wealth of the citizens has called into existence on every side. Hinkletown, Fairville, Vogansville, Brownstown, Farmers- ville, Goodville, Earlville and New Holland, together with many more, enable us to count our towns by the dozen .* The latter, as it is the oldest, is also the largest; for many years after its settlement it bore the name of EARLTOWN ; when this name was lost and that of NEW DESIGN acquired, is uncertain ; it bears this latter appellation in deeds and other papers down to 1763, or perhaps later, but at the time of the Revolution, it was called New Holland. Its first name, Earltown, was derived from its having been the first as well as most important town in Earl .; Its second name, New Design, was perhaps conferred upon it when it was surveyed and laid out in 1760; this name does not seem to have met with much favor, as it was soon lost and its present one given. Nothing is definitely known whence came the name of New Holland; probably it was given in grateful remembrance of the kind protection which Wil-
*See Appendix C.
¡The name Earltown was applied indifferently to the township as well as to the town. I find the assessor's lists almost invariably use that word instead of "Earl Township." Used in reference to the town, it seems a very appropriate name, and far more fitting than the one it now bears. It is a matter for regret that it was not retained.
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HISTORICAL SKETCH.
· liam of Orange had freely extended to so many of the homeless Swiss, Germans and French, who had sought refuge in the States of Holland .* .
NEWSPAPERS.
With all their wealth and intelligence, the Earls had no newspaper until 1828. The anti-Masonic excitement that swept over the country at that time, gave us the "Anti- Masonic Herald;" Theophilus Fenn and Dr. Thomas W. Vesey were its editors; Isaac Ellmaker, Roland Diller, Nathaniel Ellmaker, and perhaps William Kinzer, fur- nished the sinews of war to carry it on. After a year's domicile here, it was removed to Lancaster, where it eked out a precarious existence for some eighteen months longer when it was merged into the "Examiner." It was not until 1873 that a newspaper came among us that made up its mind to stay : that one was the "New Holland Clarion," a sheet known to you all, and which, nothing but my respect for the modesty of its editors, prevents me from saying, is not excelled by any paper in the county, outside the city of Lancaster. In the west, the "West Earl Banner" flings its well printed sheets over a large and intelligent section of country, and in the east, the "Terre Hill Standard" spreads instruction and entertainment far and wide. The printer as well as the school-master is abroad, and when
1 *On June 19, 1760, a patent for 268 acres of land, with allow- ances for roads and highways, was granted to Michael Diffen- derffer, (son of John Diffenderffer, who located here in 1728). In the same year an attempt was made to lay out the town of New Holland regularly. Twenty-five lots were surveyed off this tract, each one with a front of five and a depth of twenty-one perches, subject to an annual ground-rent of seven shillings. Doubtless those who had already built houses along the sinuous street were unwilling to conform to the new demand for order and regularity, and in the absence of compulsory authority, building progressed as before. The result is before us to-day, and requires no lengthy commentary here.
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THEN AND NOW.
these go hand in hand, we need apprehend no fear for the future. They are the true conservators of order, intelli- gence and free speech, and where these prevail, progress and true civilization move forward side by side.
THEN AND NOW.
The imagination can hardly form an approximate pic- ture of the township as it was when laid out in 1729. Its surface a dark and almost continuous forest: devious Indian paths and a few almost impassable roads, the only avenues of travel. Here and there an isolated settlement and the wigwams of the aborigines, were the only human habitations in all this broad expanse. The resounding stroke of the forester's axe, or the sharp crack of his trusty rifle, were the most familiar sounds. The wealth of the few hundred souls then scattered over it, was not difficult of computation. Of public improvements there were few, or none at all : there was a mill or two, but we have found no trace of schools; most probably there were none then. Wagons and carts were owned only by the more well-to-do land-holders .* Rude habitations of logs and still ruder out-buildings, marked the pioneer's home.t There was promise in the prospect, but the day of fruition was not yet.
MATERIAL PROGRESS.
A century and a half has rolled away, and the day- dreams that must have at times floated through Hans
*Some of the first German farmers had no wagons and no roads to travel on for a long time. Some of them occasionally made a wagon to be used about the lot; the wheels of these were made of solid pieces of wood, sawed round. The harness of the horses were either ropes or strips of raw hide .- Rupp's note in Rush's Penna. Germans, p. 27.
+The house of a German could readily be told from one built by a Scot, Irishman or Englishman. If the house had but a single chimney and that one in the middle of the roof, it was a German's, but if the chimneys were at the gables, then it belonged to an owner"of some other nationality .- Schoepf's Reise durch Penn- sylranien, 1783. p. 185.
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HISTORICAL SKETCH.
Graaf's mind have been more than realized. The giants of the woods have been laid low by the march of civiliza- tion. The Indian trail has been succeeded by a network of roads and turnpikes, more intricate than the spider's web. A few days more and we shall hear the shrill neigh of the iron horse-that greatest creation of the human mind. The habitations of men are no longer scattered and lone; go where you will, they rise around you on every side ; no longer, however, in the primitive simplicity of 1729, but with all the accessories that wealth and cul- ture can gather around them. The hum of busy industry sent from your mills, and shops, and factories, evermore makes music in your ears. More than seven thousand souls, with a combined wealth of seven millions of dol- lars, live happily in your valleys and on your hills. Bridges span your streams, and the sound of many mill- wheels drowns their ceaseless murmur. From Hans Graaf's little mill in 1729, to the thirty-four well equipped grist and saw mills in these townships now, there is a step that proves German energy has not stood still in the land of its adoption. Churches send their tapering spires up- ward in your towns, and nestle quietly in the shade of country groves. The stately school-house rises on the village green, and dwells everywhere in the more secluded country retreats. From the three or four schools of the Revolutionary period, to the thirty-eight now in the Earls, we have a showing of which we need not be ashamed .*
*The following tables will serve to exhibit the present status of these townships in material wealth and prosperity.
Total pop. Taxables, Total val. of tax- Carriages, Saw & Schools. able property. grist mills.
Earl, 2975
865
$2,885,616
218
11
17
E. Earl, 2310
696
2,021,511
270
12
11
W. Earl, 1893
528
2,320,212
211
11
10
-
Total, 7178
2089
$7,227,339
699
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PROGRESS IN EVERY-DAY LIFE.
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