USA > Pennsylvania > Lancaster County > Lancaster > The story of Lancaster, old and new : being a narrative history of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, form 1730 to the centennial year 1918 > Part 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18
That the market house was erected in 1798, in- cluding the superstructure, is evidenced by the date on the West King side of the Lodge rooms.
At a meeting held January 21, it was resolved, 8
90
LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
"That butcher stalls in the new market house be numbered, and that the butchers meet at the house of Jacob Frey on the evening of the 30 following to draw lots as to the choice, except such as the Cor- poration shall think proper to except, and it is agreed that each butcher pay for his stall annually £ 3 in quarterly payments for the use of the cor- poration-the time to commence from the first day of January inst., with the exception of two days for the June fair." The stalls as set forth in the minutes are twenty-four in number. John deGraff drew number 4, Christopher Hager 5, Andrew Lieibly 7, Solomon Kauffman 8, John Leibley, jun., 12, John Yost 13, Philip Metzger 14, Philip Russel 15, Uriah Lambard 17, Jos. Hoover 18, Christopher Franciscus 20, John Leibly 22, Stephen Lutz 23, John Metzger 24.
It will be seen from the foregoing that the trade of butchering must have been quite a profitable business, otherwise so many of the best citizens would not have been engaged in it. If it was profitable for them it must have been a money- maker for the burgesses also.
What the impatient reader is anxious to know is when the present city hall was erected? It will be recalled, at a meeting of the corporation, January 1, 1795, the opinion of the court was read, "It is con- cluded and agreed that the Commissioners of the county with the approbation of the Court of General Sessions, acting in accordance with the Grand Jury's report, 'may erect a building for the public offices on the present site of the market house, that is to
91
DECISION TO BUILD CITY HALL
say, on the east end of the same, the breadth of which building shall be twenty eight or thirty feet from the south to the north, and the length thereof, forty five or fifty feet from east to west.'" This confirms the measurement taken by the chronicler. An examination of the dividing line proves beyond a doubt that both the market house and city hall were not built at the same year, or at least at the same time. But that both were erected and paid for out of county funds is not to be questioned. It could not have been built by the corporation unless they had gone a-borrowing. To fix the exact time the minutes of the burgesses fail to make entirely clear. However, along in 1801, the city hall was used by George Duffield, Controller General, or his deputy, Samuel Bryan, who, on refusing to pay rent, suit was brought against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
What remains for the records to show is that from the time it was erected down to 1854 neither the burgesses nor councils ever held their meetings therein. During this more than half century, it was used for such offices as the County Commis- sioners had determined. Nor is there any proof that the room set apart for the convenience of the burgesses, and to which they claimed the right to occupy under the agreement between Blue Lodge and the corporation, was occupied.
With a little patience, the reader may learn how the city of Lancaster came into undisputed possession of the much-disputed question of its ownership. It might be now stated, but it is better to wait and
92
LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
see what the council minutes may have to dis- close.
To show how poor the borough authorities were, at least in pounds, shillings and pence, it needs only be stated that from 1742 down until 1812 when redress came in the shape of an Act of Assembly authorizing the burgesses to levy a tax on all real estate, the receipts were never more than fifty pounds in one year. And while this tax levy was but a trifle, it raised a storm of protest among property holders who had bought up whole tracts within the town's two miles square, not to be utilized in the opening up of streets but to hold the same for a sudden rise in value.
However, at last the County Commissioners did fill up and "pike" Center Square, after the burgesses had made their report as follows: "Resolved that, having viewed the premises, we are fully of the opinion that the complaint of the petitioners is well founded in fact; that the water which flows on all four sides of the court house for want of proper drainage, stagnates in the Square, giving rise to a public nuisance as well as a public grievance."
This was the verdict of the burgesses, but as the square on which the court house stood was claimed by the County Commissioners, who, being slow to act, and the authorities without the legal right or money, this "goose-pond" was no doubt highly enjoyed by the boys until the county began to get busy. How the lawyers managed to find their way into the court of justice without stilts, we have no means of knowing.
93
DECISION TO BUILD CITY HALL
To bear and forebear all kinds of inconveniences only goes to show that the dwellers of "Old Lancas- ter" were a patient, law-abiding people, willing to suffer to the limits of endurance anything and all things. Possibly they had more urgent matters to worry over from year to year to make both ends meet in trying to pay their annual ground rent.
The reason no mention is made of compelling owners or tenants to shovel their pavements after a two-foot snow, may have been owing to the fact that brick pavements were few and far between except around the square, where all kind of business flourished. But how little different in this twentieth century! Ordinances are passed requiring house- keepers to shovel the snow from their own side- walks, if not for their own convenience, at least for that of the traveling public. It has been said by a former mayor that "New Lancaster" has some of the worst pavements in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Being a judge of bricks, he might have added with equal force that many of these half-worn out bricks had come over on the "William and Sarah" as far back as the year 1709. But with all due respect for the feelings of owners of side- walks, a certain respect should be shown for aged women and especially for dainty shoes with heels that have not as yet become so high as to keep the skirts of young girls from being sent to the laundry every day in the week, Sundays, of course, excepted.
As for dust carried into the home of every well- regulated family, the responsibility rests equally between the city fathers and owners of automobiles
94
LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
who have to wear "goggles" to keep themselves from being blinded, or, what is worse, smothered by the volumes of dust turned up in their wake.
Turning over a nearly two-century old page of the "Corporation Book:" "Resolved that the firing off of guns and pistols on New Year's night, or at any other time, has likewise become dangerous, all persons violating this decree, shall pay twenty shillings for the use of the Corporation."
To the credit of the police force of today, the chronicler can say that this one particular ordinance has been fully complied with, for seldom do we hear of the firing off of a gun or pistol as during our boy- hood when pistols were carried and fired without fear of arrest.
As to smoking on the streets and alleys, and against which the goodly burgesses had issued their edict to frighten boys, the modern day text-books of physiology and hygiene used in all schools under state control have served their purpose.
Why smoking was more common among half- grown boys during the forties and fifties of the past century was owing to the fact that a "sixer" could be had for a big, round, copper cent! Cheap! Why, it was not until the government began to levy a tax on cigars and tobacco that the price went soaring skyward! Why the habit was not broken by the narrator from the standpoint of economy was to help the nation along in the raising of revenue. But even this is no good reason for twentieth- century boys to form the habit. Tobacco in any shape is not only a vicious but an extravagant habit.
95
DECISION TO BUILD CITY HALL
Don't begin it, my boys, and you will not have the trouble of stopping it when your bank account runs short! As chewing gum is indulged in by so many mothers, why give advice to girls?
The reason the minutes of the burgesses make no mention of the "curfew" is owing to the fact that no public school system had been established at the time, with no "truant" officer in evidence in making boys toe the mark in attending school whether they wanted to or not! However, this is not meant to convey the impression that all young- sters were allowed to reach the age of discretion without at least a familiarity of the three "R's,"- reading, writing and 'rithmetic-in the single and double "rule o' three," with spelling, at present, one of the lost arts. To have brought children up without the rudiments of an education would have been a criminal neglect of duty on the part of parents. The schoolmaster was abroad, if not in the home, at least in the church schools. But as the octogenarian author has other duties to per- form apart from that of turning schuylemaister, the story will be continued with the burgomasters' minutes to furnish the inspiration to complete the volume. If reflection be cast upon the present generation's fads and fancies, the hope is, they will be more forgiving when they reach their four-score. And so say all octogenarians!
CHAPTER VIII
OPINION OF CITY SOLICITOR SLAYMAKER AS TO THE FOUNDER'S BEQUEST
IN a hurried glance through one of the council- manic books of 1847, the searcher was delighted to find reference to the same troublesome question as to the right and title of city hall which had been erected out of money appropriated by the county.
The following resolution offered by a member of Select Council was read and concurred in by the common branch: "Resolved, that the City Solicitor be instructed to inquire into the ownership of city hall, and to ascertain on what pretext the County still occupies it with their offices?"
At the next meeting the following opinion was rendered, "On the 16 of May, 1730, three lots of ground in the town of Lancaster were granted by James Hamilton in trust; the first for the use of the county whereon to erect a court house, the second for a jail, and the third, containing one hundred and twenty feet square, for the erection, keeping and holding a market for the ease and convenience of the inhabitants thereof, and others who have oc- casion to resort thither.
"On the first day of January, A. D. 1795, it was agreed by the officers of the Corporation, with the approval of the Court of General Sessions, that
96
97
CITY SOLICITOR'S OPINION ON BEQUEST
the county may erect a building for the use of the public offices on the present site of the market house to extend twenty-eight to thirty feet from south to north, and forty-five to fifty feet from east to west. In accordance with this agreement, a building for county offices was erected and has continued in use for these purposes up to the present time [1847].
"Upon this state of facts two questions arise- First, does the license of the Corporation of 1795 to the county to build on the market-house space bind the public? And if it does not? Second, will oc- cupancy for any length of time give the county a right to the ground covered by its offices, as against the public?
"The grant of the lot is declared to be for a specific purpose of arching, keeping and holding a market: The intention of the grantor is here dis- tinctly expressed, and all rights proven or exercised under the grant must be in strict accordance with its provisions.
"But further-the conveyance is stated is to be for the benefit not only for the city but also for others who may have occasion to resort to the market; thus dedicating the subject-matter of the grant to the use of the public. The Corporation has here not an absolute, but merely a qualified property right for a specific purpose; it is in fact no more than a trustee for the use of the public in general; none of its rights therefore with reference to this property (meaning the city hall) would be valid unless they were done in pursuance of the purposes of the grant-nor otherwise could they be
98
LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
binding upon its trust-the public. If any part of the lot could be appropriated to any other use than that specified in the grant, by a parity of reasoning, so also might the whole, and to any other use what- soever; and thus the intention of the grantor be frustrated and the benefit to the public entirely lost.
"The public to which use this property is dedi- cated is not the public of one generation, but of each generation successively as it makes its appear- ance on the stage of action, and no fraudulent, improvident or misconceived action on the part of the public or its officers at any particular period can be permitted to diminish or destroy the right of the future public. If this reasoning be correct then it is clear that the license by the Burgesses in 1795 could give the county no right to erect its buildings on the Square, set apart for the market house.
"It then only remains for us to inquire how the rights of the parties are affected by the lapse of time. With regard to private rights the lapse of time may be conclusive. The public interests require that there should be an end of strife, and when an indi- vidual with the strong, natural stimulus to action of an immediate personal interest neglects for a long space of time to assert its rights, the law in many instances presumes for the sake of peace that he has parted with those rights. As regards the public, however, no such presumption should with any propriety have place.
"The public is an aggregation of individuals, no one of whom usually conceives himself to have in
99
CITY SOLICITOR'S OPINION ON BEQUEST
the common property such a direct interest as all experience proves is alone sufficient to stimulate men to active and earnest efforts. Gradual and slight encroachment on public rights therefore rarely attracts attention, particularly if no special incon- venience is the immediate result. And thus the public, did the lapse of time furnish a bar to its claim, would find the circle of its rights steadily contracting until at length not a vestige of those rights would remain.
"To avoid such mischief as this, the Supreme Court has decided in a number of instances that the presumption does not arise against the public, and that the grant of a part of a street or square will not be presumed so as bar an indictment for a nuisance. In the case under consideration no such presumption can be admitted. Upon the title as set forth in the Corporation Book, depends all the rights with reference to the property in question. If the officers of the corporation had the authority to dispose of the market square for any other purpose than that mentioned in the original grant, then the county had the valid right to the space occupied by its offices. If however, as we suppose, those officers had no such right or authority, then the county buildings are a public nuisance and all parties occupying them are liable to indictment.
"A. SLAYMAKER, Solicitor for the city."
As little understood as the above-mentioned opinion may be by the public at large, it is quoted to show that even down to the year 1847 when the matter came up in councils, the present city hall
100
LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
had proved a bone of contention as to its ownership. As the reader shall learn, down until the year 1854 it was occupied by county and state officials, not to overlook the fact that a decade previous councils had tried to get possession of it, and which they finally did, by the right of purchase from the county, as shall be made clear in due time.
Allowing this question to rest temporarily, it was at a meeting of the burgesses, October 6, 1798, that an act, passed by the General Assembly for a "Nightly Watch," came before said body for action. As many of its provisions are worth reading, a few may be quoted.
"It is enacted by the authority aforesaid that the Burgesses shall have power to set up a number of lamps in such parts of the highways, streets and public alleys as to them shall seem to be expedient, and to contract with any person or persons for the lighting, trimming, supplying and maintaining the same. And likewise to employ any number of watchmen at such reasonable wages as shall be found expedient. Also, that these watchmen shall use their best endeavors to prevent fires, murders, burglaries, robberies, and other outrages and dis- orders within the Borough. And to that end, they shall apprehend all suspicious persons. And further, that if any minor, bound-servant, apprentice, negro, slave, or mulatto to be apprehended, he shall be sent to prison for any such length of time, not exceeding ten days, unless parents, guardians or mistress of such offender pay the damages aforesaid."
101
CITY SOLICITOR'S OPINION ON BEQUEST
The mention of apprentice, "slave," or bound- servants may sound strange in the ears of people living in this twentieth century, and yet during those early days, it was not unusual to see advertise- ments like the following:
"A White Negro-Fifty Dollars Reward:
"He is white as any man; but is a slave for life; his hair is red, but turned up before with a nice curl, has blue eyes, is a little cross-eyed, and but for this, would be very likely; is 5 feet two inches high, about twenty years old; had on and took with him, a light Summer coat of cotton, striped blue, swan- down vest." He was further described by the owner in the same characteristic way as such notices usually ran. Nor were slaves the only ones held in bondage; bound white boys, when apprenticed to a trade, were compelled to serve their time, usually from three to four years, and as for girls, few found employment like those of today, many of whom are to be found holding responsible positions in all departments of business. And who can say that the girls of "New Lancaster" are not making their boy friends stand up and take notice that they have come by their own both in the family and in the financial, social and commercial world?
There was a time, as far back as 1786, when William Henry, after holding numerous positions of trust, became county treasurer of Lancaster County, with his residence at the corner of Moravian and Market place. After his demise, his widow, Ann, continued to fill out his unexpired term. In
102
LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
many respects she was a remarkable woman, and the first that ever held either a city or county office. After raising a family of thirteen children, in 1798 she was laid beside her husband in the old Moravian graveyard.
However, there was one other Ann, the wife of George Moore, who held the position of postmaster until his death in 1798 when his widow, Ann, con- tinued to the year 1809. Following came Mary Dickson, as postmistress in 1828, holding it until 1850. On January 15, 1872, Mrs. Ellen H. Hager filled out the unexpired term of her husband, H. W. Hager. At the proper place the names of the post- masters, twenty-two in number, may be given, running from 1790 down to the present incumbent's appointment.
As will be seen from the foregoing, from the year 1786 to this year 1917, only three women held public office within the city of Lancaster. It has not been that they were not qualified, polite and accommodating. But, more of the women of Lan- caster as the story progresses.
As has been referred to, it was not until 1798 that an act was passed by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth, empowering the burgesses to set up lamps on the streets and alleys of the borough. Imagine, if you can, dear, disgruntled reader, of how, for nearly a half century, the streets of "Old Lancaster" were dark, except on moonlight nights. As there was no "Weather Bureau" to tell when the nights were to be clear or when cloudy, the people had to take their chances of getting to their homes as best they could. Plenty of those old in years
103
CITY SOLICITOR'S OPINION ON BEQUEST
can recall when, during moonlight nights, economy was practiced in the saving of either oil or gas.
As it is with the human most readers are interested, special reference shall be made to the old stone jail which stood at the corner of Prince and West King Streets until its removal along about the year 1850.
And here it can be said that, although maybe deserving, the chronicler was never compelled to do "time" within its gloomy walls. However, there was one we happened to know, who was sentenced by Squire Van Camp for six months for some trifling offense. Taking pity on the poor fellow, at times we could see him standing looking through the bars. Unthreading one of his woolen socks, down he would drop the yarn, with note pleading for some of Mammy Gruel's sugar cakes and other goodies. Finding the yarn not strong enough, to the end of the cord we would tie a piece of kite string. This, when drawn up with a ginger-horse, maybe, at the end, would at times be seen by the good-natured jailor, who only smiled one of his pleasant smiles, recalling, as he doubtless did, how he had been a boy once upon a time himself.
Mention of kite string leads the narrator to ask all twentieth-century boys what have become of kites? Their reply will no doubt be that they have been ruled out by the many telegraph wires strung all over the town. Again, why do not boys play "shinny," town or corner ball any more? During our boyhood, the best exercise was in playing hop- scotch, mummydepeg, and other games now almost forgotten. Pitching pennies, a species of gambling,
104
LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
was a game usually practiced in an alley with no constable around. This game lasted until big coppers went out of use. And it is well for the boys they did, as they led to other gambling devices of which the town was full to overflowing during fair week, circus days, Whitmonday, April first, with the thimble-rigger at all times in evidence in roping into his drag net the unsophisticated country youngster, ever ready to beat the expert at his own game. However, whether boys are getting more out of life with so much to be seen and heard during these days, we have no means of knowing. In the olden times, boys were boys until they had reached their voting age; today, they pass as men at seventeen.
In repeated mention of the old jail, it must not be forgotten that on the site where it stood was erected Fulton Hall in honor of Robert Fulton who ran his first paddle-wheel steamboat on the Conestoga near by where yet stands the residence of the great patriot, General Hand who, as chief burgess wrote the letter to Senators and Repre- sentatives of the United States as far back as 1789.
Old Fulton Hall! Only those well along in years can recall the fairs held therein by the women of Lancaster during the war of the sixties! Oh! there is nothing like a war to bring to the fore woman's inherent qualities of soul, mind and body. That same womanly spirit dominant during Revolutionary times, bubbled forth during the dark days of the Civil War. Nor has it subsided in these trying days. With the passing of mothers and grandmothers, we have their granddaughters, members of the "Red
105
CITY SOLICITOR'S OPINION ON BEQUEST
Cross" and other organizations, each in its own way ready to sustain the President of the United States in his laudable ambition to maintain the rights of all citizens of whatever nationality.
Old Fulton Hall! It is no more as we once knew it. Known as the Fulton Opera House, so completely has it undergone change as scarcely to be recognized from what it was when first erected more than sixty years ago by Christopher Hager & Son.
And now, to what the pages of the "Corporation Book" may yet have to disclose.
9
CHAPTER IX
THE ESTABLISHING OF A BANK IN LANCASTER
FOR sixty years, from 1742 down to 1803, the borough of Lancaster was without a bank! And it was not until at a meeting of the burgesses the same year, that the following resolution was offered and passed by councils: "Whereas, The establish- ment of a bank in the Borough of Lancaster is con- sidered not to be contrary to the interests of its inhabitants, but rather expected to be promotive of the inland trade of this place and vicinity; it is therefore
"Resolved, That the President, Directors and Company of the Bank of Pennsylvania be, and are hereby permitted and invited to establish a branch of the said bank in the Borough, in conformity to the Act of Assembly incorporating the subscribers to the same, in case the said president and directors should think proper to do so."
On May 18, 1803, the bank was opened in the building which still stands on the northeast corner of West King and Prince Streets. The directors, twelve in number, were elected, with Adam Reigart, Jr., as president, and James Houston as cashier.
This branch of the Bank of Pennsylvania located in Philadelphia managed to weather the storm until about 1841, when failure of the larger brought failure
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.